Symbols - What does heaven look like
Hollow men
We are a body that has both form and function, thus there is a physical layer and a layer of spirit. In much very early literature, this was symbolically represented as a 'hollow man'. There is a certain amount of shared symbolism with the idea of clay which is also used in numerous texts to mean form, but more specifically the body.
Hollow men are also sometimes referred to as Hollow stones. A hollow stone is simply symbolically the same thing as a Hollow man - they have a hard outer shell and an inner soul. Thus we have a symbolism that is the same as the crab, the man in armour, the chrysalis, the oyster, the Pitcher or jug and so on. Form and function.
Archaelogists have said the little figure below is an incense burner, but in fact he is a hollow man with his little apron and purse.
Observations
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- Eliot, T S - Hollow Men 01
- Jili, Abd al-Karim - Al-Kahf wa al-raqim - 120 Section 11
- Keightley, Thomas - The Elle woman
- Mircea Eliade - The stone ones
- Picts – Basic truths - As above so below
- Plensa, Jaume - El alma del Ebro
- Spender, Stephen - The Human Condition
- Tranströmer, Tomas - The Forgotten Commander