1.

A symbol is a trans-dimensional reality

which vibrates on different levels of consciousness

and in different worlds

like a chord struck on a harp.

A myth is a compound symbol.

2.

Who hears the most notes in the chord

knows most truly.

3.

Imagination is the medium that carries

the rapturous sound from world to world.

4.

A fact is a one-stringed banjo with no frets

played by an idiot child:

a lead penny dropped in a cup.

5.

The shackled mind values fact

as the supreme conveyer of truth,

while symbol and myth are held to be at best frivolous,

and at worst

are equated with falsehood.

6.

I have a cavity.  Fact

My crayon is broken.  Fact

The paperclip is on the desk.  This is a membrane.

Fact.  Glorious fact.

7.

Isis restores Osiris from the dead. 

In exile, Psyche roams from Cupid's bed.

Every leaf and pebble has a soul.

The sun is the body of a living god.

When you say it, you hear the vibrations in waves,

 rolling between the worlds.

8.

This rose is a symbol of itself.

It is beautiful because it reflects the rose

which blooms in each of the various heavens

and in the heart of God

which is the true rose.

9.

The fact-rose dies today.

But there has never been a time when the true rose

was not blooming and fresh and alive.

10.

The rose-as-fact points to dust and death.

The rose-as-symbol points to eternity and bliss.

(Yet they are the same rose.)

11.

Who lives in a world of facts abides with ghosts

and is a ghost.

12.

Who lives in a world of symbols

abides in paradise without end,

and is an angel

and more than an angel.

By Tod Jones

In Search of Magical Realities

 

Tod enjoys a good glass of wine and a quiet day at home.  He is a professional amateur and an unrepentant romantic who has never managed to make any money at all.

"Praise to the World Queen, the high messenger of a holier world, a nurse of blessed love - she sends you - tender, beloved - Night's lovely sun, - now, I wake - for I'm yours and mine - you called the Night to life for me, - humanized me - consume my body with spirit fire, so I can mix with you more intimately, airily, and then the wedding night will last forever."

                                                                                  - Novalis

                                                                                    Hymnen an die Nacht

 

Tod has been a member of Enchanted Folk since November 2007

members.enchantedfolk.com/foxtuft