By Independent News Roundup
An abstract symbol is a visual shape that represents a complex idea, feeling, or concept. Humans have been using them for at least seventy-seven thousand years and some are somehow seen all across the world.
Mircea Eliade wrote that “the symbol reveals certain aspects of reality—the deepest aspects—which defy any other means of knowledge.” These symbols are able to convey things that are too complex for words, and because of this, the symbols themselves are seen as sacred objects by the human mind.
Neuroscience has mapped the cognitive order of operation for processing abstract symbols and one of the key findings is that the brain treats highly familiar symbols, such as logos, religious icons, and letters of the alphabet, more like objects than abstract shapes. These symbols have dedicated neural pathways in the brain. fMRI studies show that familiar brand logos activate neural patterns similar to those activated in personal relationships.
Abstract symbols evoke emotional responses that are processed before rational analysis engages. The subconscious mind responds first, and this initial response often overrides conscious evaluation, especially when it’s highly emotional. To regular customers of McDonald’s, the Golden Arches logo triggers approach behavior. And a blue donkey and red elephant can trigger emotions strong enough to keep millions of Americans from ever thinking rationally.
When a familiar symbol is inverted, the subconscious experiences what is known as “expectancy violation” or “prediction error.” It sees the somewhat familiar symbol as an alien threat, which triggers a cognitive dissonance where all existing associations start to become uncertain, and the individual unknowingly begins to doubt themselves on a subconscious level.
Many researchers on the subject propose that inversion creates a pollution of the sacred, empowerment of the transgressor, and horror in the observer.
The pentagram was seen as mathematical perfection in Ancient Greece, as the five wounds of Christ in early Christianity, and during the Renaissance it was the microcosm of man and the elemental balance of earth, air, fire, water, and spirit, with the spirit point ascending. In the nineteenth century, de Guaita illustrated the inversion of the pentagram as a goat’s head. The inverted pentagram has the spirit point descending, and now triggers negative emotions in the minds of millions.
The Sanskrit word, Svastika, translates to English as, “well-being.” This symbol has been used for millennia to symbolize the good fortune of having the sun and it’s seasons. In the early 20th century, the good luck swastika symbol was used by Coca-Cola for promotion, and featured on the Boy Scouts Thanks-Badge worldwide. The National Socialist German Workers’ Party adopted the swastika as a party emblem in 1920, and after five thousand years of positive associations, this ancient symbol of good fortune is today seen by many as quite the opposite.
The practice of using symbols to trigger a subconscious response in humans was mastered by the three Abrahamic religious traditions. The cross, crescent, and hexagram have been used to condition and divide billions of people. And the hexagram, popularly known as the Star of David, is not an ancient biblical symbol, it is an ancient symbol of the East representing Shiva/Shakti, masculine and feminine energy, and later in Hermetic traditions, the union of fire and water elements. This ancient hexagram star was used by Jews starting in the medieval period, and officially became “Jewish” at the First Zionist Congress in 1897, and was amplified in 1948 when it was incorporated into the Israeli flag.
For thousands of years this hexagram triggered the idea of divine union, balance, and harmony. And for millions today it now triggers strong emotions of an ethnostate religious identity, and/or genocide.
Conscious awareness of this conditioning does not eliminate its effect on the mind. One must actively reprogram their own mind, and often, adapt. This can be done with practicing mindfulness and becoming aware of autonomous thoughts and functions of the self.
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