Tomorrowland

Signs of the Times: the Ourobouros & Enso

A 15th century ourobouros contrasted with an enso, the Zen symbol of cyclicality.

To Plato, the self-consuming animal was the first beast alive. The creature represented perfection and self-sufficiency: an ideal manifested in the figure of the snake gobbling up its own tail. Interestingly, a similar symbol of regeneration and harmony was flourishing in the East: the enso.

In both versions, there's something very snake-like about the design. Serpents have long symbolized knowledge, wisdom and the paradox of being. Their venom heals and destroys. They slough off their skin, leaving behind a convincing simulation of a real creature. The dual nature of the ouroboros is similar to that of the cross: an instrument of death which transforms into a sign of life. It speaks to the mercurial possibility that at all times, in any situation, things may flip to their opposite nature. (There's a great quote in the epigraph to Hardt & Negri's Empire: "Every tool is a weapon if you hold it right.")

Both icons capture the symbolic union of opposites. However, the enso is the more abstract version of the two, which is probably why it has survived into the 21st century as a corporate icon.

The Joseph Campbell Foundation uses the enso as their logo, which isn't really a stretch, considering the mythological nature of their pursuits. Humanized, the company of Mac inventor Jef Raskin's son Aza, just released a stunning new piece of productivity software called Enso. But it was the Lucent Technologies coffee-stain logo that catapulted the enso to pop celebrity. Here's a fascinating AIGA article on the history of Lucent's logo (or "The Brown Ring of Quality," to quote Scott Adams.)

All symbols, sacred or no, are up for grabs in the hyperreal realm of image-conscious pop couture.

Signs of the Times: the Sri Yantra

A sri yantra wall hanging by artist Maria Strutz.

For some time now, I've been infatuated with the reappearance of ancient symbols in contemporary culture. From "Jesus fish" bumper stickers to trendy corporate logos, symbols abound. Yet their historical and mythological meanings are often lost on our brand-happy populace. People assume that the stories and symbols of their lives are new, or sprouted from the forehead of Walt Disney himself. The truth is often much darker, more complex and certainly more fascinating.

Today marks the first entry of "Signs of the Times," a Tomorrowland series dedicated to exploring the hidden archeologies of pop imagery, corporate logos and religious icons. I'm a firm believer in the idea that symbols can be invested with hypnotic, near-magical power—for good, for bad, for whatever—particularly in an age such as ours which privileges and rewards visual literacy. I'm also committed to posting at least one of these entries a week. Suggestions are absolutely welcome and encouraged.

For our maiden voyage into the unchartered waters of the pop symbolic, I've decided to look at the ancient Vedic symbol of the sri yantra (shown above). Did anyone watch this weekend's Saturday Night Live? Rainn Wilson hosted, so it only made sense for the NBC overlords to show the trailer for his new movie, The Last Mimzy. Curiously, the sri yantra appeared no less than three times in the 30 second spot. So what exactly does it mean?

The sri yantra is an ancient mandala, which is to say a pictoral representation of the universe in microcosm. A spinning disc of cosmic energy. In traditional yantras (and in the one above), an outer ring of 16 lotus petals and an inner ring of 8 lotus petals both point to the eight-fold path, the way to the end of suffering. At the center of the yantra is the dot, the bindi, the infinite point (also seen as a decorative "third eye" on the forehead).

What differentiates the sri yantra from other mandalas is its interlocking matrix of triangles, investing it with an androgynous quality. The design has near-equal female and male attributes, representing a harmony (or union, some may say) of the sexes. The triangles pointing upward signify the lingham, the phallus, the male energy. Those pointing downward are said to be the yoni, the female, the receptive, vulvic energy. The triangles ultimately function as a sort of optical illusion: they draw in the attention of the focused meditator while reducing the influence of peripheral visual distractions. The effect is quite hypnotic, and makes sense that Hollywood would metaphorize it as a "portal" to another reality.

What other symbols are floating out there in the cultural landscape, begging to be unwrapped, dissected and decoded?