Everyday Canvas

Symbols and Angels

For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" 

Prompt: William Butler Yeats defined symbols as “images that are living souls.” Can you think of and talk about a few symbols in your culture or in your life that you hold dear that might fit Yeats’s definition?

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Aren’t symbols something? They affect the trajectory or our thoughts and ideas, especially when we are not aware of their existence at the moment. Take gestures for example. In our culture, a hug or a kiss on the cheek symbolizes close ties; in French and Mexican cultures they are only basic greetings. Still, in some other cultures, actions like that may be taken as stepping over your bounds. In that context, I like the waving of a hand as a friendly greeting, especially now that we are practicing social distancing.

Then, as symbols, there are the traffic signs, logos, flags, drawn depictions of animals and objects. I think this symbol thing started with the dawn of the mankind since we can observe them from the petroglyphs, the carved or scratched signs or simple figures on rock, or hieroglyphs on the walls of caves and tombs. This shows, whether we admit to it or not, symbols have a way of entering our lives.

When I think of the drawn symbols, I like the figure of the dove which means peace, whereas the bird dove in real life is a chatterbox that argues with all other birds. Go figure! Still, I like that image and what it represents. I also like the butterfly that, in myth and art, signifies transformation.

Then, there are religious, national and international symbols, which we should all respect like the flag of our country as well as those of other countries.

My favorite symbol is the ocean, as I think of myself as a drop meant to be blended into the vastness of its whole. To me, the ocean symbolizes unity and togetherness as well as resilience and depth. That ocean in my mind can withstand, clean, and digest all the ills of this world and possibly of the entire universe. Just, maybe.

For: "Space Blog" 

Prompt: From Sharmelle'sThankfulExpressions ’s "Angel’s Surrounded by The Rainbow" 
“They are giving us blessings even though humans in the world cannot see the angels, we are happy for all of our blessings.”

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Sharmelle, in her poem, assigns an angel to each color of the rainbow, turning the colors into symbols for the angels’ positivity.

Angels, as divine creatures, flood the texts of scriptures in almost all religions. They are the ministering spirits who live for eternity and who can influence us through our senses and intellect. Most of us believe in them and treat them as we would our dearest and most loving friends, since we’ve been told that they watch over us.

I think, the idea that angels exist is a positive thing and the poem does justice to that idea. After all who doesn’t want to be encouraged to become a better and happier person?