Can you imagine the first symbol a hominid made about 100,000 years ago? It appears to have been a hashtag? What could it have been like for him or her to make the first downward line on a hard surface? It was generated more than likely by a thought that then became a symbol.  Maybe it was to say, “This is one, this one is two,” ad infinitum. The curve, then the circle, followed by a spiral? In each case, each marking was a symbol to generate a mark.

So, what is symbol? A mark, sign, or word that represents an idea, object, color, relationship, or answer. Symbols as allegories are interesting. Every plot element in an allegory represents something in the story. For example, in Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave,” everything in the cave is an allegory—from the cave to the people, fire, shadows, and chains. Plato explained the allegory by saying that “Those who are able to see beyond the shadows and lies of their culture will never be understood, let alone believed by the masses.” He speaks to the ignorance of humanity trapped in the conventional ethics formed by society. 

In Buddhism, the cave is a metaphor used to illustrate the illusory nature of the material world.  The cave represents the human condition where individuals are trapped in a limited perception of reality.  The shadows cast on the cave wall represent the material world, which is a reflection of deeper truths that can only be understood through philosophical inquiry and enlightenment.

Albeit related to symbolism, a metaphor compares two seemingly unrelated things, stating that one thing is another. In the Armida Trilogy, there are several such metaphors; however, the three novels are laden with symbolism. In fact, each chapter of two of the books is introduced with a symbol. And, Book II offers a chart of the symbols as used in Choir of Cloistered Canaries.

 In the first chapter of Daughters of the Dance, long hair becomes a symbol of the first character—her long hair is likened to her headdress.  It was, in biblical times, a way of identifying an individual’s social status and cultural identity. For women in biblical times, long hair was associated with femininity, beauty, modesty, and submission to a higher authority (both the husband and God).

In Choir of Cloistered Canaries, water as a healing element is present to symbolize life and vitality, purity and renewal, emotional depth, spiritual significance, and cultural importance.  In case we forget, the average percentage of water in the human body is roughly 60%. The percentage range of water varies slightly, usually within a 50 to 75 percent range. Water, moreover, has many uses in chemical processes as a working fluid to convert heat energy to mechanical energy. There is historical reference as to how a historical woman, Maria Hebraea (c. 300 C.E.) who invented several kinds of chemical apparatus such as the bain-marie. She made distillation a new invention. Carl Jung used Maria’s axiom—“One becomes two, two becomes three, and out of the third comes s the one as the fourth”—as a metaphor for wholeness and individuation.  Afterall, Maria was known for her alchemy, the first known Western alchemist.

There is another analogy to Choir of Cloistered Canaries that is embedded in the title:  “Cloistered,” synonymous with “caged.” In Buddhism, the cage refers to the idea that the mind and body are like a bird in a cage. The bird sees that it is not able to fly freely, thus the metaphor illustrates a sense of disenchantment and the desire for liberation from suffering. Unlike our current environment where we have to put up and shut up, it becomes difficult to recognize that there is a way out of the cage.  Book Three addresses this conundrum or challenge.

The third book, Even a Crow Knows How to Crack a Walnut in Clear Light, uses the Star of David to highlight the lost memory of two acute angle triangles, one inverted over the other (the Mazzorath). It reflects an origin from the Vedic and Upanishadic India around the first half of the first millennium B.C.E. In early Indian thought, the two halves (or acute angle triangles described the primordial Self split into two parts (male and female). Later, the Yin-Yang concepts in Taoism came about as early as the 14th-13th century B.C.E.  The Yin represents moon energy associated with reflection, inner awareness, and sensitivity; the Yang represents the sun energy associated with activity, dynamism, and vitality. This lays the foundation of Ana and her mother to find agency in a world still governed by male conventions in the 21st century. Thus, the Armida Trilogy reflects the struggle of women as the setting and finally a resolution to the challenge of being human and feminine.

As a mental exercise on current events, how would you view what the following gallery of images portrays? What do they symbolize?