Patterns & Metaphors
Animals
Template:
Most of the creatures that appear in symbolism can be classified as microbes, joint-legged arthopods (insects, crabs, etc), worms, fish, amphibia, reptilia, birds and mammals, according to their physiology and anatomy. Equally they can be categorized by the habitats they traverse, namely air, water, land, and the sub-classes of these such as sea, lake, river, or mountain, forest, desert, etc. Both the appearance (physical and behavioural) and the habitat provide symbolic connotations. Man's relationship to animals and his assessment of these relationships provide other categories of animals: domestic, pets, transport, economic, wild, dangerous, rare, endangered, exemplary and mysterious. The body parts and secretions of animals also provide symbols as: rhinoceros horn, cock's comb, tentacles, claws, needles, fangs, tail, sting, wings, paw, rattle, antlers, mane, scales, gills, fur, feathers, beak, snout, trunk, jaws, whiskers, shell, venom, egg, musk, pupae, pouch, hump, sac, webfeet, etc. Aggregate creatures provide such symbolic language as herd, flock, drove, swarm, flight, etc; and by their unwelcome presence: plague, infestation, etc.
Metaphor:
From the ancient times specific animals were affiliated to components of the psyche, taking the well-known forms of totemism and animal heraldic figures. In a deep sense there possibly are at least two animals inside each person, the one that he is born with and the one that he acquires. One represents his inner nature or inclinations; the other (one or two) the circumstances in which these may be expressed, either guarding the person and facilitating his self-expression, or acting otherwise. People's choice of pets man reflect the nature of the inner animal. The fact that people are inordinately and passionately attached to some specific animals is evidence of the fact that as outer beings they correspond to inner realities. The following avid pastimes and pets may be considered from the symbolic viewpoint: keeping monkeys, pigeons, canaries, parrots, tropical birds; falconry and fowling; pearl-diving, crafting, deep-sea fishing, fly-casting, trolling, netting, dolphinarium tending, tropical fish collecting; horseback riding, steeplechasing, race betting; herding, husbandry, hunting; chicken farming, mink ranching, pig farming, cattle ranching; cock-fighting, alligator or bear wrestling; and finally, the keeping of very loved pets of rabbits, turtles, hamsters, mice, and cats. Bee-keeping and butterfly-nettling also appear in symbolic imagery. In a unique place is the dog. He represents the magical, intimate 'familiar' of a person, or the Jungian Shadow, according to some writers. In another psychological sense he represents the 'inferior' functions. Thus his characteristics, e.g. training, are symbolically significant in expressing one aspect of personality development. The colour of the animal asserted in the Middle Ages that the devil was a black dog.<
