- printed softcover workbook
- size: B5 (17.6 × 25.0 cm)
- number of pages: 67
- language: Finnish
- author: Minna Kirsi / Semiphoras Oy
A single symbol can open up an entire inner world.
Have you ever had a dream that continued to trouble or fascinate you after waking? Or has a figure or image come to mind whose meaning you have been unable to explain? This workbook allows you to experience what such a symbol begins to reveal and how it can deepen your self-knowledge and understanding of your own life.
Working with a Symbol teaches an independently practised method developed by Minna Kirsi. The workbook guides you through a seven-day journey with one symbol. Day by day, you approach it from different directions and observe what it evokes in your mind, body, memories, shadow and actions.
During the process, you examine your chosen symbol from different perspectives. You explore its connection to your own life, its personal, cultural and archetypal meanings, the opposites and shadow it evokes, and your bodily experiences. Finally, you bring together what the process has brought into your awareness and consider what this understanding means in your own life.
Alongside the exercises, the workbook offers material that deepens your understanding of the psychology of symbols, the unconscious and the thought of C. G. Jung. It also considers memory, bodily responses and the formation of meaning.
What can a symbol tell you about yourself?
In this workbook, a symbol can be any image, figure, object, animal, place, word or other element that, for some reason, feels more meaningful to you than usual. It may recur in dreams or thoughts, catch your attention in everyday life, or remain in your mind after a single powerful experience.
In Jungian thought, symbols can bring into consciousness psychic content that we do not yet recognise or understand within ourselves. Working with a Symbol teaches a method for understanding the message conveyed by a symbol and exploring why this particular symbol has emerged, what it evokes, and how it may relate to your life situation, emotions and inner world. Symbols are the language of the unconscious. Through them, the unconscious conveys information, and by working with symbols a person can develop a relationship with their own unconscious.
The workbook gives you a method to return to whenever a new symbol emerges or a familiar symbol once again begins to feel significant.
You can read more about how the unconscious speaks to us through symbols here:
In the workbook, you will work with
- the personal meaning of a symbol
- cultural and archetypal meanings
- shadow and opposites
- bodily responses evoked by a symbol
- experiential exercises
- applying the understanding gained through the process to your own life
The workbook is designed for independent work. You can progress at your own pace and return to the method later with new symbols.
What does Working with a Symbol include?
- a clear seven-day structure
- daily exercises
- sections that deepen your understanding of symbols, shadow, archetypes and the unconscious
- space for your own answers and observations
- guidance from recognising a symbol through to integration
If you are looking for a downloadable version, see the digital PDF workbook.
About the author
The workbook was written by Minna Kirsi, a psychoanalytic psychotherapist and founder of Semiphoras Oy. She has spent a long career working with inner processes and has studied symbols, dreams, archetypes and the workings of the unconscious for decades. The Working with a Symbol method grew out of this professional experience, long-term study and her own work with symbols.
Read more about Minna Kirsi
Important information
This guide is intended for self-directed work with symbols. It is not a substitute for psychotherapy, psychological counselling, medical assessment or other professional support.
