 The Alethiometer
How to Read
Definitions
History
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Definitions of Symbols
of
the Alethiometer |
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Hourglass
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Time
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Death,
change ...
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Sun
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Day
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Authority,
truth ...
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Alpha
and Omega
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Finality
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Process,
inevitability ...
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Marionette
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Obedience
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Submission,
grace ...
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Serpent
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Evil
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Guile,
natural wisdom ...
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Cauldron
(crucible)
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Alchemy
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Craft,
achieved wisdom ...
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Anchor
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Hope
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Steadfastness,
prevention ...
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Helmet
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War
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Protection,
narrow vision ...
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Beehive
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Productive
work
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Sweetness,
light ...
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Moon
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Chastity
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Mystery,
the uncanny ...
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Madonna
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Motherhood
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The
feminine, worship ...
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Apple
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Sin
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Knowledge,
vanity ...
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Bird
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The
soul (the dæmon)
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Spring,
marriage ...
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Bread
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Nourishment
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Christ,
sacrifice ...
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Ant
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Mechanical
work
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Diligence,
tedium ...
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Bull
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Earth
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Power,
honesty ...
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Candle
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Fire
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Faith,
learning ...
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Cornucopia
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Wealth
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Autumn,
hospitality ...
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Chameleon
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Air
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Greed,
patience ...
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Thunderbolt
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Inspiration
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Fate,
chance ...
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Dolphin
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Water
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Resurrection,
succor ...
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Walled
garden
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Nature
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Innocence,
order ...
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Globe
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Politics
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Sovereignty,
fame ...
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Sword
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Justice
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Fortitude,
the Church ...
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Griffin
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Treasure
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Watchfulness,
courage ...
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Horse
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Europe
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Journeys,
fidelity ...
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Camel
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Asia
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Summer,
perseverance ...
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Elephant
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Africa
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Charity,
continence ...
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Crocodile
(caiman)
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America
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Rapacity,
enterprise ...
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Baby
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The
future
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Malleability,
helplessness ...
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Compass
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Measurement
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Mathematics,
science ...
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Lute
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Poetry
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Rhetoric,
philosophy ...
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Tree
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Firmness
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Shelter,
fertility ...
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Wild
man
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Wild
man
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The
masculine, lust ...
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Owl
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Night
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Winter,
fear ...
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Each
symbol has one primary meaning and a range of subsidiary meanings, which
is potentially infinite. However, the subsidiary meanings are all related
by association to the primary meaning. So, for instance, the sun symbolizes
(1) day, because it is during the day that we see the sun. It also symbolizes
(2) authority, because the sun is the most powerful thing in the sky.
Another meaning is (3) truth, because by the sun's light we can see the
true forms of things. The sun range continues:
(4)
kingship (or political authority of any kind), because the king is the
sun around whom the court or the state revolves;
(5) a particular
king or leader (in the context of a query to the alethiometer, it will
be obvious which one is meant);
(6) Phoebus
Apollo, and thus rationality and the intellect, as opposed to the baser
emotions;
(7) archery
(Apollo's bow and arrows) and thence
(8) the
power of administering punishment at a distance, including
(9) plague;
(10) the
creative arts (through Apollo's patronage of the nine Muses);
(11) the
laurel (through Apollo's love for Daphne), and thence
(12) honor,
prizes, fame, through Apollo's awarding of the laurel wreath;
(13) divination
and prophecy (through the Delphic Oracle);
(14) pastoral
husbandry (Apollo's flocks and herds), and thence
(15) a
particular farm, and thence
(16) a
particular beast;
(17) homosexual
love (Apollo's love for Hyacinthus);
(18) gold...
And so on,
infinitely. No one has ever reached the end of a symbol range, even though
some have been explored to the depth of a thousand or more meanings.
Each symbol
is thus capable of expressing a multitude of ideas, but each subsidiary
meaning carries with it some quality of the primary one, even when it
may appear to coincide with a meaning in another range. For example, the
meaning "sea" appears both as number seven in the dolphin's range and
number four in the anchor's, but it signifies different things in each.
In the dolphin range, it means "the sea as wide, nourishing home", and
in the anchor range, the sea as danger and unpredictability." A skillful
reading of the alethiometer would have to take into account not only the
meaning itself, wherever it comes within the range, but also the significance
lent it by the range itself.
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