Symbols unrelated to human experience

When symbols, rites, ceremonies, myths stop pointing beyond themselves to human experiences of reality they become meaningless gestures repeated for the sake of repetition. The vast majority of symbols are constantly being redefined and re-invested with meaning and those that are not are soon dropped from use. In some few cases, usually because of especially rigid social systems or extremely powerful connotations, symbols remain in use without a clear understanding of their relationship to human experience.