ymbols and 
ymbolism
ymbols and ymbolism
Application of symbolism Although many of the above chapters include titles that suggest applications of symbols and their related entities, there is a growing body of work that is more concerned about how symbolism can be used to achieve specific goals, or be integrated into human lives, than in the analysis of symbols or symbolism. In this chapter I am focussing on those publications whose central point is the integrating of symbols (be they graphics, images, rituals, or myths) into personal lives or situations.
Most of this relatively new material comes from an ironic application of the pragmatic theory to pragmatism. First, pragmatism dismissed symbols as "ornaments and ornamentation." The idea was, "Cut to the chase; the bare structure is all that matters." Much of this originated with the Protestant Reformation and its reaction to the excessive statuary and other "ornaments" in churches that the Protestants viewed as idolatry. (Sadly, these very items were orignally created to act as symbols for the illiterate to understand much of the Bible and theology of the Church. Strange that the growth of literacy also created a literalism, that ignored the significance of the symbols.) Regretably, too much of anthropology still seems to analyze symbols and the phenomenon of symbolism itself as ornament, albeit as an ornament valued by primitive (meaning pre-scientific, pre-pragmatism) cultures. (And this, despite that most "primitive" cultures are extremely practical in all they do, even in rituals and beliefs.) Late in the twentieth century, however, there came a backlash against this insignification. Without symbols (and I reject the anthropological, circular definition that "all words are symbols"—therefore, the definition, by its self-definition, is meaningless because it can only be defined by symbols and no thing may be meaningfully defined by itself) life becomes meaningless and communication has no significance, only irrelevant sounds, random motions, or random blots of color. As a result of this practical loss of meaning, at the beginning of the third millenium, people seem to be seeking what is meaningful. The difficulty is to put meaning into life without it seeming artificial, and thereby false (or irrelevant.)
The result has been for "experts" to suggest ways to incorporate the insights of anthropology, psychology, religion, and other fields into practices that enhance our enjoyment of life or that strengthen practices and movements the authors consider essential to modern life. What are some acts that can make life meaningful? How can we includes images or rituals in our lives, and do so without their repeated use becoming meaningless?
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