Symbolism as a Psychological Principle

Symbolism as a Universal Structure

Symbolism is not just an artistic movement or personal preference. It is not merely an aesthetic phenomenon of a particular era. Symbolism is a universal psychological structure that shapes human consciousness. No matter how much we lean toward the analytical or rational, the fundamental way we understand reality is symbolic.

The symbol, as the core expression of human existence, is never simple or singular. Even when our perception of reality is fragmented into individual parts – analytical labels, specific details – the symbol itself is not lost. It remains intact, threading through all these fragments with its deeper, unifying essence. Our use of language to mark the world is just one expression, one aspect of the symbol. It serves to describe what we might call symbol-thought – a fundamental idea that shapes our understanding of reality.

The symbolic nature of language manifests itself in everyday experiences. When someone watches a film but fails to grasp its essence, they have not succeeded in deciphering the symbol embedded in the film. The symbolism of the film is often broken down into symbols within symbols, or what we can call symbolic morphemes, components that form the totality of the symbolic discourse. Understanding the entirety of symbolism is a process, an active act of interpretation.

Interpretation as a Psychological Process

Interpreting symbols is not merely a mental activity or a voluntary task of consciousness. It is a fundamental function of existence. The interpretation of reality, through the symbols that represent it, is one of the core psychological processes. It does not require conscious effort but is a continuous, natural, and biologically ingrained process. We constantly interpret the world through symbols, without pause. This is our primary means of understanding existence. As a result of this uninterrupted process of interpretation, we define what we call Existence.

The very act of symbolic interpretation is not a choice, it is an inevitable part of human consciousness. Everything we perceive, we experience as a symbolic representation of reality, and through these representations, we shape, redefine, and affirm our understanding of the world.