I was reading through a chapter about Power Symbols in Rosemary Altea's book: 'You Own The Power - Stories and Exercises to Inspire and Unleash the Force Within'. I can't imagine too many people these days would own a 'lucky' rabbit's foot, but some might still hold out for a 4-leaf clover. A cross is an obvious symbol of power for Christians, not that it gives you power, it 'simply empowers us, reminds us of the power we already own.' Rosemary outlines an exercise to find or discover, or further develop your own personal power symbol, drawing on the tradition of Native American Indians of a vision quest. I was stirred by the words: 'You are seeking a vision, a quest of great importance, searching for a symbol, a symbol of great energy, of great power, which you will be able to use all through your life and in any circumstance.' Wow!
The next evening, I was walking to an event when what I'd been reading came back into mind...hmmm....What was my power symbol? That little quest-thought went out as I continued to walk along. I was interested to see what would turn up. Rosemary had said, 'Your vision quest may take you no more than a few minutes, or it may take days or weeks.' . I took a few steps further and there on the pavement was - a banana. Really? Really?!!
The thing about a symbol is that it's packed with meaning - lots and lots of filo pastry like layers - the way dream symbols can have several meanings and off-shoot connections; the way a word can several resonances of association in a poem. So, given my banana - how did I relate to that - personally?
A few weeks earlier I had told a group of fellow budding journalists that it had been my nickname at school (my brother still occasionally calls me by that name). I couldn't believe it when I came across a book a writer called Banana Yashimoto - what a Brilliant Name! She owned it - made it a success; it wasn't something foisted on her as a way of diminishing her power - or perhaps it had started that way and she'd turned it around? The same way the Impressionists turned their 'disparaging' description around to serve them - the same way folk have turned 'Queer' into a self-proclaiming torch-light. Power.
When I came home later that evening, I remembered years earlier I'd found, and kept, a banana symbol lying on the grass at the start of a walk from Hove Park: bright yellow plastic - it had stood out so starkly and was so 'misplaced' it made me wonder. It had the quality of a dream symbol - that maddening specificity, only what does it mean?
Maybe finding the symbol takes minutes, and the real vision quest is the bit that takes time - to work out the significance? Or maybe I'm just bananas?
I came across an interesting article by Marina Warner about The Biography of a Banana. The association with slapstick pratfalls (I was glad my banana was intact: no slip-ups, no public shame, thank you!); the sexual connotations etc. She also added a great story from Indonesia that explains why parents give birth to children who then succeed them, and so the process repeats - all from the choice the first couple made to refuse the gift of a stone from God, preferring His alternative - the banana (both gifts were lowered down to them on a rope - cute detail!).
Further research yielded the fact that for the Chinese, a banana offered on an altar would signify a wish for education, and brilliance at work, or school. Excellent! Elsewhere I learned it was a symbol of fertility, potency, and prosperity. But as with dream symbols, it's always best to tap into one's own personal associations.
So, I shall hold my banana in mind - see if it yields any other clues. i know from doing intuitive exercises in the past that it's important to really milk the symbols, or objects for all their worth: size; shape; colour; origin; weight etc; then take it a stage further, by considering personal associations: memories; dreams; incidents; anecdotes etc; then a stage further still, more detached, looking at the object as though an alien and not knowing it's true purpose or significance - opening the way for a broader understanding, for example a banana can be used to create a SMILE - when held in front of the face - a prop for acting. If monkeys had a jungle equivalent of the Olympics, might banana throwing be one of their events?
On my found banana is a sticker - it's a Fairtrade banana, from Panama, with FFLF0042 printed on it. Strange, really, to have such a gloriously free and natural fruit be stamped by the mark of industry and ownership. the business of bananas. From Panama to Hove: that's quite a journey. A banana holiday, or working holiday, which is actually what I would like to do myself: to make holidays pay! Someone lost, or dropped this banana. Did they realize? Did they leave it once it hit the pavement, now considered 'dirty'? It's a marked banana, but it's what's on the inside that counts. inside it's clean, and pure and beautifully intact (i'm sure). It has a thick skin - something I aspire to! Maybe that's a message to me to keep in mind? It's a funny fruit - it can't help it - the smile it can imitate is keyed into its whole being - it's just Not like an apple or pear - it's awkwardly, innocently sexual whether it likes it or not - it's a lewd fruit! And this one is an individual - out on it's own - in Brighton.
www.nationsonline.org - food symbolism
www.photovault.com - ditto
www.independent.co.uk/The BiographyofaBanana
www.christiansymbols.net
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