What does the website logo mean, and what do I mean by Logos? As you may have noticed, the T and S aren’t only the initials of my name and my calling, but also a serpent on a tree symbol—symbolum also having an interesting etymology denoting the Apostles’ Creed (as the mark of a Christian)—so what mark or token have I thrown together and why?
Like the concept of Logos, it’s rich and multifaceted!
The symbolism
First, there’s arguably the most popular understanding of it from the biblical and Judeo-Christian tradition, namely, temptation and the fall (the questioning and awakening serpent on a tree later identified as Satan), but also healing and redemption (the bronze serpent on a pole/cross/tree later compared to by Christ). The archetypal “hostile brothers” are also both compared to morning stars and lions, but I find the shared metaphor and imagery of snake on a tree most compelling—probably for mostly implicit/unconscious reasons becoming increasingly explicit/conscious.
As C. S. Lewis aptly summarizes in Mere Christianity:
“Christ told us to be not only ‘as harmless as doves’, but also ‘as wise as serpents‘. He wants a child’s heart, but a grown-up’s head.”
The motif also spans ancient Near Eastern and mythological roots (lord of the good tree, cosmic order and chaos), as well as esoteric and eastern traditions (kundalini and chakras, rebirth and renewal) and Greco-Roman mythology (the Rod of Asclepius and Caduceus of Hermes/Mercury).
Trees are also good symbols of growth, especially financial growth and flourishing, as well as burning bushes as following one’s calling/interest.
What is Logos?
As you may know, my approach is philologia and philosophia, i.e., love of learning and love of wisdom, so let’s briefly talk about that delicious word Logos—partial root of words like philology, psychology, and any other -ology denoting a subject of study or interest. As is best practice in logic—another Logos word—let’s define terms I think are particularly important that will come up later:
Logos | ˈlōˌɡōs |
noun Theology the Word of God, or principle of divine reason and creative order, identified in the Gospel of John with the second person of the Trinity incarnate in Jesus Christ.
• (in Jungian psychology) the principle of reason and judgment, associated with the animus. Often contrasted with Eros
origin Greek, ‘word, reason’.
dialectic | ˌdīəˈlektik |
Philosophy noun [usually treated as singular] (also dialectics)
1 the art of investigating or discussing the truth of opinions: the lifeblood of the liberal arts is debate, dialectic, inquiry, and challenge.
2 inquiry into metaphysical contradictions and their solutions: a book on Marxist dialectics | he based his philosophical analysis on Hegelian dialectic.
• the existence or action of opposing social forces, concepts, etc.: I placed the political dialectics of the country into perspective.
The ancient Greeks used the term dialectic to refer to various methods of reasoning and discussion in order to discover the truth. More recently, Kant applied the term to the criticism of the contradictions that arise from supposing knowledge of objects beyond the limits of experience, e.g., the soul. Hegel applied the term to the process of thought by which apparent contradictions (which he termed thesis and antithesis) are seen to be part of a higher truth (synthesis)
adjective relating to dialectic or dialectics; dialectical: career skills such as critical and dialectic thinking.
origin late Middle English: from Old French dialectique or Latin dialectica, from Greek dialektikē (tekhnē) ‘(art) of debate’, from dialegesthai ‘converse with’ (see dialogue).
logocentric | ˌlôɡəˈsentrik |
adjective regarding words and language asa fundamental expression of an external reality (especially applied as a negative term to traditional Western thought by postmodernist critics).
derivatives logocentrism noun
origin 1930s: from Greek logos ‘word, reason’ + -centric.
Source: New Oxford American Dictionary, viewed in Apple’s Dictionary app.
The great conversation
What interesting definitions that compactly and elegantly summarize meaning! Propositional knowledge may be imperfect semantic data—compared to a nirvana of communication like the neural queue in Avatar—that modern Western culture overemphasizes but man, just the fact that we use words—written and spoken—to criticize words is revealing.
Let’s revive the ancient Greek use of dialectic in order to discover the truth, let’s investigate St. John’s radical synthesis of Logos, and let’s be part of the great conversation/dialogue, i.e., dia ‘through’ + logos ‘word’.
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