SYMBOLS DISCUSSION - Intangible subjects
Aum (also Om) is a sacred syllable in Hindu and Buddhist religions. It is placed at the beginning of most Hindu texts as a sacred exclamation to be uttered at the beginning and end any prayer or mantra.
Among other meanings Aum is said to be the primordial sound that was present at the creation of the universe. It is said to be the original sound that contains all other sounds, all words, all languages and all mantras. In essence, Aum is the signifier of the ultimate truth that all is one.
For both Hindus and Buddhists this syllable is sacred and so laden with spiritual energy that it may only be pronounced with complete concentration.
This week for homework I want you to find a symbol that is derived from a sound. It's not an easy one but think about it for a second and there are some obvious ones.
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
SYMBOLS DISCUSSION - Groups and movements
This week we again look at something that has been changed from it's original meaning but was used to identify a group of people.
The Pink Triangle (Rosa Winkel) was first used in Nazi concentration camps in Germany to identify gay male prisoners.
Every prisoner had to wear a triangle to denote why they had been incarcerated. The jewish prisoners had the yellow, Jehovah's Witnesses had purple, emigrants blue, political red. The colour pink was used not because of its femininity but because pink at that time was seen as a male colour, as was the other shades of red.
The pink triangle was particularly bad to have as most pink triangle prisoners were simply re-imprisoned after the war by the Allied-established Federal Republic of Germany. Some of them stayed imprisoned for up to 20 years after the last shot had been fired.
In the 1970s the gay rights movement adopted the inverted pink triangle and reclaimed it for their own. It is seen as second in popularity only to the rainbow flag which is most known for gay pride.
As you may have guessed your homework for next week is to find a symbol that identifies a group of people for good or bad.
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
INSPIRATION & EXTRAS
Can you work out what type of logo these are (Picture mark, Letter mark or Word mark?)
___________________________________________________________
Obvious is Good - Google business cards, simple, obvious and a brilliant idea.
___________________________________________________________
Yin-yang - In Chinese philosophy, yin-yang describe the mutual relationship between two opposing sides. The sides are opposite and, at the same time complementary to each other. One cannot exist without the other.
Yin "shady place, north slope, south bank (river); cloudy, overcast"
Yang "sunny place, south slope, north bank (river), sunshine"
The four laws of Yin-Yang
1/ Yin-yang are Opposing - they are polar opposites. In viewing one you must also acknowledge the other. To have happiness you must have sadness, to have summer you must have winter.
2/ Yin-yang are Mutually Rooted - they complement each other. They are one, this is the reason that the correct way of saying it has no 'and' between them. The term always expresses the two making up the one.
3/ Yin-yang Mutually Transform - they transition after the maximum effect. Once one part is at it's peak, the other starts to grow.
4/ Yin-yang Mutually Wax and Wane - As one aspect declines, the other increases to an equal degree. For instance, in the cycle of the year, the long days of summer gradually shorten and the nights gradually lengthen as winter approaches.
As a young boy the symbol had a very different meaning for me. My first surf board was a T&C and I used to look down on that symbol every day when I went for a surf after school. I loved that board and I used to draw the symbol all over my school books, my bag, the desks. You can imagine how surprised I was when I first saw someone with a tattoo – I mean, I loved the symbol but I was hardly going to tattoo it on my body. I started to get really confused when I first went to karate lessons and saw the symbol. I thought that T&C was sponsoring the school.
