The Power of Metaphor

Metaphors serve as an image, object or idea out of which a whole series of corresponding images and ideas can emerge that are of a similar nature or behavior. Metaphors are energetic patterns that lend themselves to storytelling. To interpret a situation or circumstances symbolically is to identify and become aware of its underlying nature through the qualities that it is comprised of.

Metaphors serve as principles that have energetic living patterns inherent within them that create order or structure in the form of behavior or function. If you take an object, say a yellow flower, cultivate a feeling of reverence, then observe the flower through that feeling state, become fully present within, giving it your full attention, the qualities and essential nature of the flower rise up in the imagination and a whole series of associated (like) thoughts spontaneously emerge out of it that are of the same nature, that have the same qualities being expressed in their “essential” make-up.

When we tell stories about our life, our circumstances, or the way things are, we are not acting to capture any real aspect of the situation in a neutral or factual manner, but rather indicating the spiritual forces being activated within us by the external stimulus that fashions stories of a similar nature. The stories we tell, about ourselves, our life, and the way things are, once awakened in us are expressed by calling them forth with the spoken word. We give them a meaningful foundation as a living concept that can be readily seen as a possible within a given situation.

All perception arises as a personal interpretation that has meaning through its symbolic correspondences. Our stories, how we make sense of things that give us a consistent type of experience, are like archetypal patterns that embody human characteristics as pathways of expression.

An archetype is a living pattern as an expression of a particular quality that has a “role” inherent within it and lends itself to a particular type of character that tells a universal story. Archetypes are metaphorical principles that excite, embody and express energy of a certain quality. Qualities can be perceived as feeling sensations that give rise to corresponding thoughts. Thoughts create conceptual patterns that have action inherent within them. In this way, qualities that exist within us as potential - once awakened - become living forces that fashion experiences of a similar nature as a form of expression that simultaneously defines our character, creates our identity and establishes fundamental patterns as habitual templates that can be acted out naturally from that point forward.

Linda Gadbois, Ph.D.(c) CCHt., RMT
Professional Educator, Trainer, Mentor and Consultant for Personal Transformation, Conscious Creation, Business Psychology and Creative Mind Development
www.creativetransformations.com
www.lindagadbois.com
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