It is generally accepted that anything religious or mystical shuns objective, analytical judgement. Such judgement not only ignores the spirit, it kills it. The deepest truths can only be approached through myths and symbols. A philosophical treatise or exegesis cannot convey them. Truth can only be identified by those who already know it. However, this recognition lies dormant within each of us. It is the Mysteries [or tales, meditation, a good sadhana] that raise this unconscious knowledge of truth to the level of consciousness.

This result is not achieved by intellectual explanations but through symbols and mystery plays, in which truths appear in a dramatized form. In fact, all religions, all mystical schools and all esoteric societies have used and still use symbols in their teaching, simply because everything that interests them cannot be transmitted or expressed in any other way.

A symbolic approach operates in an entirely different way from an intellectual approach. The latter is aimed solely at the intellect, leaving aside the rest of the individual: it is still a construction of thought. A truly universal archetypal symbol operates in depth; it reaches the unconscious essence of the individual who thus recognizes it from within. It completely shakes him. It strengthens, it changes him.

A symbol is never absolute and objective. It is open to a variety interpretations. It is coloured by different nuances depending on the individual. It is subjective and adapts to a particular situation. It is like a mirror which, without undergoing any alteration constantly reflects different images depending on who is looking at it. The more symbols there are linked, the richer and deeper their sphere of operation. Together they define and illuminate each other.

In short: a symbol, for those who who meditate on it and can lose themselves in it, is like a door which opens to a new perspective of consciousness. Symbolism is neither exact nor transmissible like mathematics. It is not a science; it rather creates atmosphere and reveals, like poetry. A symbolist is, above all, a poet, just as all poets are free symbolists. For they, too, work with the help indications and presentiments.

In light of the foregoing, you will understand that you should not expect exact explanations of the kind like “this is the meaning of this symbol, and that other one means that”.

Extract from Johfra, Les Signes du Zodiac