UNDERSTANDING SYMBOLIC PROCESS; METAPHOR, VIBRATION AND FORM

ABSTRACT

Metaphor, Vibration and Form identifies a process that underlies all ritual enactment. Whether it is Joseph Campbell’s analysis of the Hero’s journey, Victor Turner’s theoretical and experiential interest in symbols, or Charles Laughlin’s cycle of meaning, there is at work a particular kind of behavioral transformation system. It begins with the mind and the meanings provided metaphorically for symbols, then proceeds to an intense focus on symbolic sequences in meditation or in ritual dramas, so that the metaphor is taken into the body as physical experience. From this physical "ownership" of the metaphor, the properties associated with it are encouraged, socially and ritually, to come to the surface and be enacted in the form of everyday behavior. Questions of symbolic appropriation, the redundancy of symbol and professional responsibility are addressed in the concluding remarks.