Everyday rituals and sacred signs – living symbolic work

Symbolic work is not mysticism for the sake of mysticism – it is part of the human mind’s way of structuring reality, finding direction and comfort. Although we don’t always realize it, we use symbols in our everyday lives all the time. They help us make visible what cannot be said directly. That is why symbol work is so powerful – it works where words fail. When symbols come to life, they do so in many different ways – here are some examples of manifestations that you can take hold of yourself:

Tarot – the imagery of the inner world

When a person picks up a Tarot card, they are not just looking at an image – they are encountering a symbol that can reflect something deep and unconscious. The 78-card deck is like an archetypal theater: The Fool, Death, the Sun... characters and situations that evoke emotions, memories, premonitions in us. Tarot has traditionally been used for divination, but in Jungian psychology it is seen above all as a tool for self-knowledge.

Carl Jung described tarot cards as “psychological images, symbols with which man plays – just as the unconscious plays with its own contents”, as he stated in his 1933 lecture, Psychological Types, or, The Psychology of Individuation". Book by Carl Jung. Conclusion, p. 628, 1921. Tarot is therefore not a magic item but a deep atlas of symbols, the images of which can awaken the unconscious to speak. The meaning of the cards is not predetermined, but is created in the moment – ​​in the encounter between the interpreter and the card. Each drawing is like opening a conversation with one's innermost self.

Jung also linked Tarot-like methods to his concept of synchronicity: a phenomenon in which seemingly random events connect in a meaningful way. For example, when a person picks up a card that describes with surprising accuracy their inner state or the essence of their life situation, according to Jung, it is not a mere coincidence. The card is a meaningful and symbolic reflection of the present moment, the quality of the moment that brings the unconscious content to light.

Synchronicity works precisely where reason meets imagination and the experience transcends explanation: it is as if the inner and outer worlds were momentarily tuned to the same frequency. The Tarot card then acts as a clue through which life itself speaks to us, rather than the card simply answering a simple question posed to it. In other words, the apparent randomness of the Tarot cards can reveal surprising connections between the inner and outer worlds – like a mirror that the unconscious uses to communicate to consciousness. Jung believed that it is through such symbols that a person can come closer to themselves, become whole and grow.

Astrology – a symbolic language between heaven and mind

Astrology is a thousands-year-old system of symbols, in which celestial bodies and constellations represent different forces and themes in life. An astrological chart – or birth chart – is full of symbols: planets, zodiac signs and houses form a complex web that is interpreted as an individual’s psychic “fingerprint” or field of potential. Although the planets are physically distant, their symbolic meanings – such as Mars as a representation of action and energy or Venus as a symbol of love and values ​​– can act as a mirror to one’s own character traits and life stages.

Astrology also involves the principle of “as above, so below” – the idea that there can be correspondences between events in the universe and an individual’s inner experience. This principle has its roots in ancient Hermeticism, particularly the famous phrase from the Emerald Tablet: “Quod est inferius est sicut quod est superius, et quod est superius est sicut quod est inferius.” (That which is below is as that which is above, and that which is above is as that which is below.)

The phrase embodies the idea of ​​a reflective relationship between the cosmos and man – that inner and outer reality are structurally connected. Jung connected astrology to this principle through synchronicity : meaningful coincidences in which an external event and an internal state coincide without a direct cause-and-effect relationship.

According to Jung, astrology is one of those intuitive methods, like the I Ching or the tarot, through which one can approach the unconscious. He also described it as “the summation of all ancient psychological knowledge” – a system that embodies the archetypal forces with which the psyche is connected. Many people experience the interpretation of an astrological chart as an intuitive conversation with their own self: symbols give form to the invisible influences that we experience in our lives. They can be used to reach the invisible – perhaps not with scientific measuring instruments, but in the language of symbols that speaks to the soul.

Dreams – a gateway to the unconscious and the speech of the soul

Sleep is the human mind's natural stage for symbolic work. Every night our subconscious produces a mosaic of images, emotions and events that often violate the laws of physics and logic – precisely because dreams speak the language of symbols. In a dream, a house may represent one's own psyche, getting lost in a dense forest may represent uncertainty experienced in life, or a loose tooth may symbolize fear of loss or change.

Both traditional psychoanalysis and Jungian psychology consider dreams to be valuable messages: interpreting dream symbols can reveal feelings and motives hidden from the conscious mind. Jung saw dreams as a natural dialogue between different levels of the psyche, writing in The Red Book :

“I must learn that the dregs of my thoughts, my dreams, are the speech of my soul. I must carry them in my heart and walk back and forth with them, just as I would with the words of the person I love most. Dreams are the guiding words of the soul.”
—CG Jung, The Red Book: Liber Novus

Working with dreams is for many the most profound way to connect with the unconscious and the soul. Dreams don't always speak in circles - sometimes they show us directly what we haven't been ready to see or admit. Sometimes dreams bring insight, and sometimes they give us direction that only turns out to be correct later in life. There are also times when dreams don't just describe our inner world - they foreshadow something that has yet to happen.

Dream symbols can be like maps: they can guide, warn, confirm, or even resolve. They can express in a single image what words cannot even explain. The language of dreams is not always allegorical—sometimes it is precise. For those who stop to listen, a dream can be more than an inner mental phenomenon: it can be a dialogue with something greater than oneself.

A dream journal can act as a bridge between the visible and the invisible. It allows a person to begin to notice recurring patterns, listen more closely to their inner self, and build a connection with what usually remains on the edge of everyday life. When dreams are recorded and returned to, a silent dialogue begins to emerge with the deeper layers of the psyche – and sometimes with what seems to be bigger than ourselves.

Amulets and objects – deep meaning crystallized in form

Objects have an extraordinary capacity to carry meaning. When a symbolic relationship is formed between an object and an experience, it can become more than matter – a personal or communal sign that encapsulates something essential. Psychologically, such objects act as attachment surfaces for emotion, memory, power or hope. They can become anchored as part of a crisis, a transition, love or survival – and carry with them from year to year, from life situation to generation.

An amulet can be a stone carried in a pocket, a pendant around a neck, or a ring on a finger. But a meaningful symbol can also be a flag worn on a soldier's chest, a wedding ring, an object saved from childhood, a gift given by a specific person, a religious relic, or an element used in a ritual. They can serve as a psychic protection, a seal of transition, or a reminder of what belongs—or what is sacred.

In symbolic work, such objects often sit at the very center of the inner world. They touch something that cannot be put into words – the layers of memories, longing and presence that live in the object itself. They can serve as the core of a ritual, a shield or a message, but above all: they can support. In moments when a person is fragile or alone, an object can be what remains – what holds on. A small child squeezes a teddy bear when their mother is away. Similarly, we all sometimes look for something to hold close when nothing else will.

Such a symbolic object is meaning crystallized in form . It does not need to be justified, because its power comes from what it means to a person. It does not just remind us of the meaning – it makes it true.

Rituals – a place of inner transformation

A ritual is not a symbol. It is an event in which a symbol becomes reality. A symbol is no longer a sign of something – it is a force that acts. And when it acts, a person changes.

There are rituals where something deep inside knows before the mind reaches out. Moments where time breaks, and the stories of families, the dead, deities, primal forces emerge – not as memories, but as presence. Rituals where a person is not only comforted, but redressed, carried over the threshold, lowered to the ground, lifted from the water, bound to timelessness, the lineage, the world that carries. Ritual makes visible what has been present all along.

Where the logical mind wants to understand, ritual bypasses understanding. It goes into the body, into the nervous system, into the cells. It doesn't need an explanation. It knows. And sometimes it tears apart. Because something new can't be born if the old hasn't been allowed to die.

This kind of change is not written down. It is imprinted in muscle memory, in the heart, in the spine. And when it is done right, a person never goes back to the way they were – not even when everything looks the same on the outside.