Increase Health, Happiness and Well-Being

 The human legacy is grounded in art. Using art for healing and to make sense of the world is as ancient and current a behavior as mankind has. There is ample evidence in the cave art of 50,000 years ago that humans utilized the power of art and symbols to improve their lives. Recent discoveries have pushed the timeline for humans creating art back to over 120,000 years ago and probably even much longer.

I am not saying that our early ancestors stretched out animal hides and created paintings to hang on the cave walls. What paleoanthropologists have discovered is far more meaningful, not only for our legacy but for us right now.

Cave paintings from Lascaux caves (Montignac, Dordogne, France) From WikiMedia Commons

Conceptualizing ideas in consciousness and then being able to represent them in visual forms that can then be understood by others is one of the defining characteristics of what it means to be human. 

A picture is worth a thousand words. You have heard that many times and for good reason. Words are not necessary to communicate a message. Symbols are tremendously powerful. A symbol instantly conveys a complete thought, idea and in most cases a volume of information and understanding to you.

Long before the written word, cultural knowledge was shared and passed down through ages by a variety of symbolic expressions like song, chanting, rituals, symbols and other forms of ceremonial practices. All cultures have agreed upon meanings for specific symbols created exclusively for them. However, most of the lasting and powerful symbols are understood and recognized by many around the world today.

You don't have to be a Buddhist, Hindu or Christian to understand and benefit from what each of those spiritual teachings has to offer by way of their symbols.  And by the same token, you do not have to be an ancient Celtic, Norse or Native American to embrace the ancient symbols from those cultures and to derive all the good from the natural forces of the universe that come to you once you understand the meaning of any particular symbol.

This how symbols will work for you to improve your well-being. 

 A symbol provides a pathway to the energies and forces in universal consciousness and channels those energies and forces back to you. 

Here is an example. The next photograph is the Native American Anasazi's Sun Spiral. 

This symbol is found on petroglyphs from the Southwestern United States. It has two parts, the sun and the spiral.

Universally in all ancient cultures around the world the sun is seen as the giver of life with healing energies. The spiral is one of the oldest spiritual symbols, painted or carved on rocks many thousands of years ago. The spiral represents the pathway from the outer world to the inner divine and back. It is a symbol of growth and change.

To the Anasazi, the Sun is the first healer of the People, the first Shaman. This symbol represents the sun's healing power that is constantly radiated upon you. The Sun Spiral helps you to recover from setbacks and returns you to a happy, healthy life in sync with a natural universal rhythm and harmony.

Ok, having said all that, how does it work to have the Sun Spiral symbol improve your well-being?

The intent of the Sun Spiral symbol is to provide a healing energy to you so you can heal from a setback or some set of difficulties. It's intent is to also bring happiness and harmony in your life. That is what the symbol was created for but it does not happen by magic.

I know it would be nice if there were objects that we could hold have some sort of transmission of healing come out of it and into us then we are healed.  This symbol does do that in a way but it is not magic, it is a straightforward principle. The power comes from your own consciousness via the pathway or connection the symbol gives you to universal consciousness.

Once you understand the meaning of what a symbol stands for, that knowledge is recorded in your consciousness. Thereafter every time you even glance at that symbol the full meaning of it is instantly known to you. In a flash you will know the symbol's intention is to connect you with the healing energies and powers in the universal consciousness, just knowing that will open a pathway to allow those forces to be available to you. 

This will work for you.  It works on several levels and in this blog I am going to explain how symbols can improve your well-being by looking at it from different perspectives.  

Please take a look at the beautiful handmade ceramic symbols I create and are available in my Etsy gallery here.