Symbolism is so common a practice in our world that most of us have and use symbols without even being aware of them. I watch a TV show called the ‘American Pickers’ every once in a while, where two people travel around the country looking for people they call collectors. These collectors have collected stuff that they felt had greater value than what they purchased it for. After years of collecting they may have garages full or even barns full of stuff that they now want to get rid of to make room for other collectable stuff. Many of them have old signs that at one time were symbolic of a now defunct business or social club, toys, antiques, etc. The pickers offer them enough money to make them interested in selling but low enough to make sure they can resell the objects for a profit margin themselves. The pickers have a nice showroom and sell to people who have nostalgic memories about the items they show. People who buy, usually want to decorate their homes or ‘man caves’ with old signs and/or license plates etc. I remember having three or four old license plates nailed to the wall of my tool shed years ago. I can see why people would want to collect certain things. They are symbolic items, symbolic of family, of a better time or even a place in their youth. They want to see the items on their walls that remind them of their youthful friends, family or just a better time. My wife and I no longer live in a home with a garage or a man cave but rather an apartment with very little space for symbolic memorabilia. But I still like to walk through museums or junk sales to see what they have to sell. Many of their things remind me of the olden days, family and friends and places. I understand the draw, the magnetism of old things. They are symbols of old times, for example, high school or college athletic teams. Even professional teams have symbols on their uniforms that are unique to them and represent them. Religious organizations, likewise, use symbolism in their religious presentations.
A symbol is a thing or even an act that represents another, even a different thing. In religion, for example, baptism is symbolic of washing away someone’s sins. Kneeling down, closing of one’s eyes, bowing or even prostrating oneself is a sign of worshipful prayer. There are many exercises in religious services that are symbolic of worshiping God or gods. A Chinese Emperor’s grave site was excavated not too many years ago and they found hundreds of clay, life sized soldiers symbolically standing guard over the emperor’s grave. People are symbolically oriented, there are very few things that we do or have in our lives that are not symbolic or that do not have a symbolic counterpart. Is it a bad thing? Not hardly, but we ought to be aware of it. It is actually fun to see a thing and be challenged to figure out what that thing symbolizes.