SubscribeI have been reflecting on my device recently, asking myself if it’s too simple, if I should have made some more of the symbolism in it easily recognisable. Whilst pondering this I started thinking of the philosophy of symbolism in personal things. How symbolism is used and for what reasons.
Is it necessary for symbolism to be apparent to all? After all, isn’t symbolism sometimes used as a code to hide certain aspects from those not initiated, whilst allowing those knowledgeable to understand it’s true meaning? Take someone’s personal Arms for instance… It isn’t necessary for you to understand what it means for you to recognise it, however for those close to the person or even the subject, the symbolism in it can be as plain as day. Butchers in medieval times used crossed axes as a badge for their job, yet today if we saw crossed axes on a shop sign would we understand what they were?
My Arms has a lot of symbolism in it, from a mythical creature which stirs my heart, to a state of mind with references to Australia, and most obviously part of what interests me in the SCA (incidentally it also describes my skill at said interest). There is even a very vague reference to my first attempt at being a part of the SCA in that my device uses the original device I drew up in 1993 as a basis. I won’t try and tell you that all of the symbolism in my device was planned to be there, a lot of it was, other parts were discovered later.
How much symbolism can you see in my device?
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