The 13 Moon Calendar introduces a veritable universe of interlocking, interrelating symbols. So, having used the 13 Moon Calendar since 2002, I’ve been thinking about symbols for a long time.
Symbols run our world. Logos, political campaigns, icons, emojis are everywhere. The written word appears abstract next to all these symbols.
The tricky thing about symbols is they can be loaded with tons of information. If letters and numbers (and even words) are like 3.5″ floppy disks, then symbols are like 1GB flash drives. <Yes indeed. Expect many metaphors from here on out! … Let’s make a game of it: If you can count all the metaphors in this article, I’ll give you something special 😃>
Symbols have been used all throughout history as umbrellas to organize ideas, people and more. Symbols are POWERFUL!
A symbol that stimulates pride in one’s culture may also generate disdain toward another culture. Or, depending on what side of “history” you are on, a symbol that once invoked one feeling may now invoke another. And, like symbols themselves, their effects aren’t strictly “good” or “bad”.
Take for instance the Venezuelan flag. Ten years ago this may have invoked the thought of Hugo Chavez along with whatever thoughts you have about socialism. But now that the country is in the midst of a serious national crisis, it may invoke your feelings of altruistic solidarity with the Venezuelan people. And this is an admittedly simplistic example of how rich of a role that symbols play.
Let’s talk about logos – arguably the most prevalent type of symbol that exists on this planet.
Every time you see the “golden arches” of a certain fast-food chain, what is invoked in you? Surely, much more than just the name of the business. And here, even the phrase “golden arches” acts as a totally valid stand-in for the symbol itself, effectively “loading” the symbol into your mind’s eye along with all its synaptic connections in your psyche. Through advertising, a company ties concepts, beliefs and even emotions to their logo.
Every advertisement you have seen about any business is 100% registered in your subconscious. That awkwardly over-intimate car commercial? That 15 second video ad on YouTube that made you LOL? These always (mostly) prominently include the business’s logo. This is because a logo is like a living voice that can communicate basically whatever the advertisers want it to.
This isn’t to say that business is evil and we are helpless victims and slaves to marketing, but to explore the question: Is the real estate of our subconscious mind being filled up with humongous and ever-sprawling storage units of all the sense impressions we’ve ever had from marketing and advertising? If so, then our subconscious is like a planet, and these storage units are like entire countries hell-bent on globalization – competing with and absorbing into each other by turns. <Watch out now! When you use “like” or “as” it’s a simile, not a metaphor 😉>
Even now, most companies in the world are just subsidiaries of relatively few mega-corporations: See this article from 2011 – I wonder, is this more true or less true now, six years later? Hmm!
But rest assured: We’re done with this particular side-tour of symbolism. Beyond here lies Wildspeculationland and Infuriatingconspiracyburg – two places I’m really not interested in visiting for any purpose.
The goal here is to illustrate the power of symbols in our lives.
Of course there are plenty of symbols that exist for pure intent, such as the widely unknown yet totally visionary Banner of Peace symbol, and many others. But, I think that just about all of the symbols in the world – at least the ones that the majority of us are familiar with – are embedded in (and maybe even embed us in) an outdated world-view.
What we need now are symbols that affirm something that we are all coming to know: We are all One Human Family (Thanks Key West, Florida!). The moment we saw the image of the whole Earth in 1969 – the human race was shown that we really are all on the same boat (no matter its shape). This image of Earth from space sparked the Whole Earth Movement, Earth Day and more.
The 13 Moon Calendar introduces a language of symbols which affirms and strengthens the sensibility that we are all parts of one interconnected whole.
With the 13 Moon Calendar every day has a galactic signature, which comes with its own symbols. That means your date of birth has a galactic signature, which becomes your galactic signature. By identifying with our galactic signature we can expand or liberate our identity beyond our conditioned circumstances.
What does this mean? Hopefully that we can feel greater kinship with more people. As a Red Rhythmic Dragon I share a kinship with every other Red Dragon in the world – and there are surely way more Red Dragons on Earth than the entire population of the country I happen to have been born in. What’s more is that all the galactic signatures are equal, and have unique relationships to each other – they are all kindred to each other.
The symbols in the 13 Moon Calendar are unifying, imagination stimulating, cyclically consistent and universal. Any person from any culture can learn these symbols and share a common experience with someone from a totally different culture who is also learning the language of the 13 Moon Calendar. And since these symbols aren’t the property of a corporation, it is the people themselves who create and share their meaning (beyond the few simple code words or phrases that each 13 Moon Calendar symbol is assigned).
People are one thing that all cultures have in common. And the new symbols contained in the 13 Moon Calendar are codes for creating a bridge that can connect all cultures.
Hey! I'm Jacob Rhythmic Dragon