Symbolic Perception: Seeing the World Through Sacred Eyes
By NICOLE LAU
Introduction: The Eyes of the Soul
Symbolic perception is the capacity to see beyond literal surfaces to the deeper meanings, patterns, and sacred dimensions that pervade reality. It is seeing with what the mystics call "the eyes of the soul"—a mode of perception that recognizes that everything means more than it appears to mean, that the visible world is the outer expression of invisible realities, and that ordinary experience is saturated with symbolic significance. This is not imposing meaning onto a meaningless world but discovering the meaning that is already there, woven into the fabric of existence itself.
Modern consciousness has largely lost this capacity, trained to see only literal surfaces, to reduce everything to mechanism and matter, to dismiss symbolic depth as mere projection or superstition. Yet symbolic perception is not primitive naivety but sophisticated awareness—the ability to hold multiple levels of meaning simultaneously, to see the archetypal in the personal, the eternal in the temporal, the sacred in the ordinary. Recovering this mode of seeing transforms everything: the world becomes alive with meaning, experience deepens into revelation, and the mundane reveals itself as miraculous.
Literal vs Symbolic Perception
Literal Perception
Characteristics:
- Sees only surface, physical appearance
- One-dimensional: things are what they appear to be
- Reductive: explains away depth
- Objective: observer separate from observed
- Disenchanted: world is dead matter
Example: A tree is just a biological organism, wood and leaves, photosynthesis and reproduction.
Symbolic Perception
Characteristics:
- Sees through surface to depth
- Multi-dimensional: things participate in multiple levels of reality
- Revelatory: discovers inherent meaning
- Participatory: observer engaged with observed
- Enchanted: world is alive with significance
Example: A tree is also axis mundi connecting earth and heaven, symbol of growth and life, manifestation of the World Tree archetype, sacred presence.
Not Either/Or
Integration: Symbolic perception doesn't deny literal reality but sees through it to deeper dimensions.
Both/And: The tree is both biological organism and sacred symbol—not one or the other but both simultaneously.
The Symbolic Attitude
Jung's Concept
Definition: The capacity to recognize that things mean more than they literally are, that they participate in archetypal patterns and reveal deeper truths.
Versus Literalism: Literalism sees only the surface; the symbolic attitude sees depth.
Versus Reductionism: Reductionism explains away meaning; the symbolic attitude discovers it.
Developing the Symbolic Attitude
1. Suspend Literalism: Don't assume things are only what they appear to be.
2. Ask "What Does This Mean?": Look for significance beyond surface function.
3. Notice Patterns: Recognize recurring themes, archetypal motifs, symbolic resonances.
4. Feel Into: Engage emotionally and imaginatively, not just intellectually.
5. Hold Paradox: Things can be both literal and symbolic simultaneously.
Levels of Symbolic Seeing
Level 1: Personal Symbolism
What It Is: Seeing personal experiences and objects as meaningful to your individual journey.
Example: A gift from a loved one becomes symbol of that relationship, carrying emotional and memorial significance.
Practice: Notice what objects, places, or experiences hold special meaning for you. What do they symbolize?
Level 2: Cultural Symbolism
What It Is: Recognizing shared cultural symbols and their meanings.
Example: The flag as symbol of nation, the wedding ring as symbol of commitment, the cross as symbol of Christianity.
Practice: Notice cultural symbols around you. What do they mean? How do they shape collective consciousness?
Level 3: Archetypal Symbolism
What It Is: Seeing universal patterns and archetypes manifesting in particular forms.
Example: Recognizing the Mother archetype in a nurturing figure, the Hero's Journey in a life transition, the Shadow in what you reject.
Practice: Look for archetypal patterns in your life, dreams, and the world. What universal themes are playing out?
Level 4: Ontological Symbolism
What It Is: Perceiving that visible reality participates in and reveals invisible reality—the physical as manifestation of the metaphysical.
Example: Seeing nature not just as biology but as revelation of divine intelligence, beauty as participation in Beauty itself.
Practice: Contemplate how physical forms participate in eternal patterns. What does this tree reveal about the nature of existence?
Level 5: Sacred Perception
What It Is: Seeing everything as sacred, as manifestation of the divine, as worthy of reverence.
Example: The world as theophany—God's self-revelation—every thing and being as sacred presence.
Practice: Approach all experience with reverence. What if everything is sacred? How does that change what you see?
Practices for Symbolic Perception
Contemplative Seeing
Method:
- Choose an object (tree, stone, flower, artwork)
- Gaze at it without analyzing
- Let it reveal itself beyond its literal appearance
- Notice what meanings, feelings, associations arise
- Ask: What does this participate in? What does it reveal?
Symbolic Journaling
Practice:
- Record daily experiences symbolically
- What did today's events mean beyond their literal occurrence?
- What patterns, themes, or archetypes appeared?
- What is the symbolic significance of what happened?
Dream Work
Dreams as Symbolic: Dreams speak in symbols, not literal messages.
Practice:
- Record dreams upon waking
- Don't interpret immediately—let images speak
- Notice symbolic resonances, archetypal patterns
- Ask what the dream is revealing, not just what it means
Nature as Symbol
Practice:
- Spend time in nature with symbolic awareness
- See natural forms as revelations of eternal patterns
- Notice what nature teaches symbolically
- Let the natural world be your teacher
Synchronicity Awareness
Jung's Concept: Meaningful coincidences that reveal acausal connections through meaning.
Practice:
- Notice meaningful coincidences
- Don't dismiss them as random
- Ask what they're revealing
- See them as the universe speaking symbolically
The World as Living Symbol
Everything Speaks
Symbolic Worldview: The entire world is symbolic—everything participates in and reveals deeper realities.
Not Projection: This isn't imposing meaning but discovering the meaning that's already there.
Participatory Universe: Reality is not dead matter but living presence that communicates through symbolic forms.
Reading the Book of Nature
Medieval Concept: Two books reveal God—Scripture and Nature. Both must be read symbolically.
Natural Symbols:
- Water: purification, life, the unconscious, flow
- Fire: transformation, spirit, passion, illumination
- Earth: grounding, stability, the body, manifestation
- Air: thought, spirit, freedom, communication
Practice: Learn to read nature's symbolic language. What is the world telling you?
The Symbolic Body
Body as Symbol: The body is not just biological but symbolic—it participates in and reveals archetypal patterns.
Examples:
- Heart: love, center, feeling, courage
- Head: thinking, consciousness, spirit
- Belly: instinct, gut knowing, grounding
- Symptoms: symbolic messages from the unconscious
Practice: Listen to your body symbolically. What is it telling you beyond literal sensation?
Obstacles to Symbolic Perception
Literalism
The Problem: Seeing only literal surfaces, missing symbolic depth.
Example: Reading myths as bad history instead of symbolic truth.
Solution: Practice seeing through the literal to the symbolic.
Reductionism
The Problem: Explaining away symbolic meaning as "just" psychology, biology, or culture.
Example: "Love is just chemicals in the brain."
Solution: Recognize that reductive explanations don't exhaust meaning—love is both neurochemistry and sacred mystery.
Projection
The Problem: Imposing your own meanings rather than discovering inherent symbolic significance.
Distinction: Projection is subjective imposition; symbolic perception is discovering objective meaning.
Solution: Test your perceptions—do others see similar meanings? Does the symbol have cross-cultural resonance?
Spiritual Bypassing
The Problem: Using symbolic interpretation to avoid dealing with literal reality.
Example: "My illness is just a symbol" (while ignoring medical treatment).
Solution: Both/and—address literal reality while also exploring symbolic meaning.
Integration: Living Symbolically
Daily Life as Sacred
Practice: See ordinary activities as symbolic and sacred.
Examples:
- Eating: communion, receiving life, gratitude
- Cleaning: purification, creating sacred space
- Walking: pilgrimage, journey, meditation
- Work: service, offering, creative expression
Relationships as Symbolic
Others as Mirrors: People in your life symbolically reflect aspects of yourself and archetypal patterns.
Practice: What does this person reveal about you? What archetype are they carrying? What is this relationship teaching?
Life Events as Symbolic
Everything Means: Life events have both literal and symbolic significance.
Practice: When something happens, ask both "What is this?" (literal) and "What does this mean?" (symbolic).
The Re-Enchantment of the World
From Disenchantment to Re-Enchantment
Disenchantment: Modernity reduced the world to dead matter, mechanism, meaningless stuff.
Re-Enchantment: Recovering symbolic perception reveals the world as alive, meaningful, sacred.
Not Regression: Not returning to pre-rational enchantment but integrating symbolic and rational perception.
The Sacred Ordinary
Paradox: Everything is both ordinary and sacred, mundane and miraculous.
Practice: See the sacred in the ordinary—the divine in the everyday, the eternal in the temporal.
Result: Life becomes richer, deeper, more meaningful—not by changing what is but by seeing what already is.
Conclusion
Symbolic perception—seeing the world through sacred eyes—reveals that reality is multi-dimensional, that everything participates in deeper patterns and meanings, and that the visible world is the outer expression of invisible realities. This is not primitive superstition but sophisticated awareness, not imposing meaning but discovering it, not rejecting literal reality but seeing through it to symbolic depth. Developing symbolic perception transforms experience: the world becomes alive with significance, the ordinary reveals itself as sacred, and life deepens from mere existence into meaningful participation in the great patterns and mysteries of being. The eyes of the soul see what physical eyes miss—not less than literal reality but infinitely more.
NICOLE LAU is a researcher and writer specializing in Western esotericism, Jungian psychology, and comparative mysticism.
