Up: [[Symbols]] Created: 2026-02-10 I love the etymology of the word “symbol.” It has so many evocative connotations. Symbol comes from the ancient Greek verb “symbollein” which means to throw together: “sim” together and “bollie” to throw. There is an opposite to symbollein which is diabollien. “Dia” means across. So where symbollein brings things together, diabollien throws everything into confusion. How diabolical! In ancient Greece, the word “symbolon” also meant a token, a bone or a coin, that was broken in half, each half given to individuals who might need to recognize the other person as an ally in the future. Jungian analyst Ken James makes a terrific psychological parallel to this: > [!Orbit] [[Ken James]] in Companion Guide to *Active Imagination* course > When the images come from the unconscious and present themselves to the ego, the ego brings its abilities to that symbol. It’s like we bring together the two parts of our being, the unconscious and the conscious part, the ego. And we put it together for the purpose of cementing some sort of deep connection between these two realms. So when we work with symbols, we are really working with profound energies linking the unconscious with the conscious mind. (p. 19)