A symbol is
compressed knowledge
The I Ching encodes sixty-four archetypes from two marks and six positions. Symbols aren't decoration — they are lossy compression of complex truth.
The I Ching encodes sixty-four archetypes from two marks and six positions. Symbols aren't decoration — they are lossy compression of complex truth.
For millennia, knowledge was integrated. Alchemy, astrology, medicine, philosophy — one system, encoded in symbols. Not superstition. Compression.
William Blake, Newton (1795)
Newton studied alchemy, prophecy, and sacred geometry — but the revolution he triggered narrowed what counted as knowledge. What could not be measured lost its prestige.
The Enlightenment gave us reductionism. Powerful — but it broke knowledge into pieces so small we forgot the whole.
Not a rejection of science — a reunion with what came before it. Symbols compress reality. Systems make decisions repeatable.
Precision in method. Flexibility in execution.