Because some things are felt before they’re understood.
Art is a language that speaks beyond words. And within that language, symbols are the secret whispers – the shapes, creatures, colours, and patterns that carry deeper meanings. They stir something in the soul long before the mind catches up.
If you’ve ever been drawn to a painting and felt a mysterious pull toward a particular element – a crow, a spiral, a certain flower or colour – you were likely responding to a symbol.
In this post, we’ll explore how to notice, interpret, and trust the symbolic language in art… and how these symbols might be speaking directly to your soul.
What Are Symbols in Art?
Symbols are visual elements that hold meaning beyond their literal form. A circle might represent unity or eternity. A dragonfly might suggest transformation. A doorway could symbolise initiation or a threshold moment in your life.
Sometimes these meanings are rooted in ancient myth or collective memory. Other times, they’re personal – born from the artist’s story or from the quiet conversation between the artwork and the viewer.
Art becomes a mirror. And the symbols reflect what’s rising within you.
The Power of Intuition
You don’t need a textbook to understand symbols in art. You only need your intuition.
Start by asking yourself:
- What element am I drawn to first?
- How does it make me feel?
- Does it remind me of something in my life right now?
Symbolism isn’t about rigid definitions – it’s about resonance. What matters most is your response. Trust that. Your soul knows what it’s seeing.
Common Symbols and Their Meanings
While every symbol can carry different meanings for different people, here are a few that often appear in mystical and intuitive art:
- Spirals: Personal growth, evolution, life force
- Birds: Freedom, perspective, the voice of spirit
- Moon: Cycles, intuition, the feminine
- Wildcats (like lynx or leopard): Fierce independence, hidden knowledge, intuition in the dark
- Golden Jewellery: Inner wealth, sacred worth, the treasures of the soul, sun, masculine
- Flowers: Beauty, tenderness, the blooming of the heart
- Plants: Growth, renewal, connection to nature and life’s green wisdom
- Portals (doors, windows, thresholds): Transformation, initiation, stepping into the unknown
- Mandalas: Wholeness, inner harmony, the sacred pattern of the universe
- Celtic Runes: Ancient guidance, ancestral wisdom, connection to unseen realms
In my own paintings, I often embed symbols intentionally – some as blessings, some as invitations. You may find them hiding in textures, shapes, or woven into the strokes themselves.
When Art Speaks Back
Sometimes a symbol will catch your eye and follow you. You keep seeing it – in dreams, in books, in your walks through the woods. That’s not coincidence – it’s conversation.
Pay attention. That symbol might be a guide, a reminder, or a signpost on your path.
Let art be your oracle. When you find a piece that holds a symbol calling to you, ask: What do you want me to know?
Creating Meaning Together
One of the most beautiful things about symbolism is that it’s not static. The meaning can change depending on where you are in life, and how your heart meets the work.
You might buy a painting because you love the colours… only to realise, months later, that the crow in the corner was preparing you for a transformation. Symbols often reveal themselves slowly, like petals unfolding.
You and the art are in a living relationship.
Symbolic Closing
Art speaks in layers. Symbols are the deep, pulsing language of that speech.
You don’t need to decode them perfectly. You only need to feel. To trust the way you’re drawn. To let yourself be moved.
And sometimes, to remember that the symbol you see in the painting… is also something rising in you.
⸻
Until the next brushstroke.
Anna-Lena
