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Fire/Earth/Water/Air/Blood/Colour Symbolism

Symbol: a word or phrase that that represents/stands for an object or event which in turn

signifies/represents/means something beyond itself. Ex. a peacock symbolizes pride /

the rising sun symbolizes birth/ the setting sun symbolizes death/ the sun symbolizes life/

rice symbolizes fertility/ doves symbolize love, innocence, purity

Fire Symbolism – represents civilization/light/goodness / destruction/ rebirth/

transformation /cleansing/ sacred fire/fire of revelation/passion/ hellfire/phallic power.

Remember that fire symbolism can be seen as the act of burning so that fire imagery can

include acid or radiation types of images. Fire is also connected to male power.

Fire is the source of life. We all huddle around fires when we are cold. We build

fires outside when we are at the beach or outdoor parties. Fires represent civilization. The

hearth/fire place is the heart of the home. The Olympic Torch is a fire symbol. The torch

represents all civilizations coming together in peace. The Olympic Torch is carried

around from country to country and used to light the torches of those countries. Fire

becomes a symbol of community.

Fire is a symbol of death and destruction. Fires destroy cities. In the Bible, Sodom

and Gomorrah are cities of sin that are destroyed by God. Here, fire symbolizes both

death and cleansing since the fire cleanses the cities of sin/evil. A nuclear bomb is a

symbol of the fire of destruction. Fires can symbolize apocalypse – end-of-the world

imagery. When Deadpool is transformed into a superhero, he is tortured with pain

(baptism by fire is when one goes through great suffering and is transformed by the

suffering into something else – not all transformations/rebirths are positive – they

sometimes lead to becoming the monster). The entire warehouse that Deadpool is kept

prisoner in is on fire and burns down around him. When the fire ends, Deadpool digs

himself out of the ashes like the phoenix is reborn from the ashes and is transformed into

the superhero. He is covered with horrible scars. Often when one is transformed/reborn

through fire, one is marked/scarred by fire. Sometimes, one is connected to whiteness as

a symbol of rebirth/transformation. For instance, Gandalf the Grey becomes Gandalf the

White. When Rogue (X-Men) comes into her power, she gets a long streak of white hair.

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Light is seen as good. Light keeps us safe from darkness and gives us hope. We

light candles in solemn ceremonies to show we are connected to each other.

The idea of fire as rebirth or transformation can be seen in superhero movies or

fantasy: Ex. Bruce Banner being exposed to gamma radiation and turning into the

Incredible Hulk is an image of rebirth through fire. Then, he turns into the Incredible

Hulk afterwards when he becomes angry (passion) which is another image of fire as

transformation. The phoenix is a symbol of fire/death/transformation – it is a bird that

lives a thousand years, dies, and is reborn through fire. Gandalf the Grey fights the fire

monster in the caves and falls down (symbolic death). When Gandalf climbs back up

(symbolic rebirth), he is reborn as Gandalf the White. The Fantastic Four are in outer

space when they are hit by a wave of space radiation and are transformed into

superheroes.

An example of the fire of revelation can be found in the Bible – Moses talks to

God who is a Burning Bush – the bush is on fire but does not burn and receives the 10

Commandments from God (revelations from a sacred source).

Water Symbolism – represents life/ cleansing/ rebirth/ transformation/ death/

destruction/ sacred water – eternal life/ yonic symbol/ yonic power/ mirror is a water

image re: reflection. Going into water is a death image and coming out of the water is a

rebirth image. Remember that water can be ice or snow imagery as well. (Steam imagery

is often connected back to fire because it burns.) Water is also connected to female

power.

Water is a powerful symbol of life. Without water, we would all die so an image

of water – water in a cup – a bubbling spring become symbols of life. Sacred water is

often connected to immortality. The Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides movie

is about the Fountain of Youth – a search for eternal life.

Water represents cleansing and rebirth. Water is used in baptism ceremonies

where the person is cleansed of sin and reborn into a Christian community. Water is a

powerful image of death as well – could be literal death (drowning) or transformation

(someone is reborn through water – often in horror, monsters come out of the water or

earth). In the Bible, God causes rain to fall for 40 days and 40 nights to cover the earth

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with water in order to cleanse the earth of sin by destroying the world – this image of

water is both apocalyptic (end-of-the-world) as well as cleansing. Often at the end of a

horror movie, a character will get rained on or drive into a lake and then swim up through

the water. This image is of rebirth and cleansing as the character washes away the blood

on them as it was necessary for them to kill to survive. Then having been cleansed of the

sin of killing, the character is reborn and can return back to civilization as a human being

and not as a monster.

Because water causes reflections, other things that reflect, such as mirrors,

become water symbols. Just like monsters come out of the water, monsters come out of

mirrors as well. Mirrors are like doorways between our world and the supernatural world.

If you look into a mirror and say, “Bloody Mary” three times, the superstition is that

Bloody Mary (a monster) will come through the mirror and kill you.

Earth Symbolism – female/ yonic/ long-lived/ sense of almost forever when you

compare things to the earth – “I will love you as long as the mountains stand.” –

comparing human/mortal/short-lived time to something that is almost eternal. Going into

the earth is a death image and coming out of the earth is an image of rebirth. The earth

represents female power and in horror is often associated with monsters coming from the

earth. Caves are earth symbols – they often connect characters to the supernatural. To go

into the earth (like a cave or grave) is like dying – the person who you are symbolically

dies. You then encounter the monsters/the supernatural in the earth. You survive by

killing. However, in order to return to civilization, you must be reborn through the earth.

Often, a character will dig him/herself out of the earth as a symbol of rebirth. Remember,

not all rebirths are positive. Vampires/mummies/zombies are all monsters that went into

the earth (graves) and were reborn as monsters.

Air Symbolism - not as substantial/heavy as earth imagery – a feeling of lightness like

smoke and clouds etc. still capable of destruction re: winds/tornadoes etc. Heaven

imagery – going up through the earth towards heaven – apotheosis – to become divine. If

you ever watch cartoons and see a character in the cartoon die. Sometimes, another

cartoon character will play a harp as the dead character’s soul floats up to Heaven – that

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is a kind of apotheosis. There is not a lot of air imagery in horror. Air does represent life

and death since you need air to breathe and too much air can kill you re: tornadoes/winds

etc. However, air is sometimes used in horror to blow out a character’s light/candle which

puts the character into danger. Air can be seen as sacred or supernatural. Sometimes, a

wind that blows can be the sign that the supernatural (good/evil) is present in a space.

Blood Symbolism - Blood is one of the most important symbols in literature. Blood

represents life since without blood one will die. Blood represents death since loss of

blood leads to death. Blood represents pain and suffering which is an important part of

transformation. Blood represents fertility so blood sacrifices are often necessary for the

land to be fertile and give life. Blood represents transformation. A character must become

blooded (the ritual act of having the blood of one’s enemy/one’s prey marked on one’s

face as one kills for the first time) in order to survive the wilderness. Then the blood must

be washed from the character’s face in order for the character to be cleansed and return

back to civilization. BLOOD is POWER! Because blood is so important in literature, the

most important thing to remember is that blood represents power that can either be sacred

or demonic power. The more blood that is spilled, the more powerful the land or the

person becomes. Blood-guilt is an important idea in horror. The belief is that the

crimes/sins of one’s ancestors pass down through the generations. Thus, we are

responsible for the crimes of our ancestors because of blood-guilt. The best known

example of blood guilt is from the Bible. Adam and Eve eat the apple from the Tree of

Knowledge and are banished from the Garden of Eden into the wilderness. Adam and

Eve’s sin is known as Original Sin. Original Sin passes down to every human being due

to the concept of blood-guilt. Baptism is meant to cleanse humans of Original Sin.

Utopia – a perfect place like Heaven or the Garden of Eden. A place that is so perfect it

cannot exist on earth. The adjective is utopic.

Dystopia - a hellish place like Hell or an apocalypse. The adjective is dystopic.

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Basic Colour Symbolism (Western):

One of the most difficult things when trying to interpret colour symbolism is

remembering that different colours have different meanings in different cultures. Also,

even within a culture, the same colour can have different possible symbolic meanings so

interpretation can sometimes feel like one is playing a guessing game.

Red – passion/love/anger/lust/evil/fire - civilization

Green – life/sickness/jealousy/envy/youth

Yellow – life/sickness/disease/ gold – precious

Blue – innocence/purity/death

Purple – rebirth/transformation/magic/power

White – innocence/purity/ sometimes death

Black – evil/ powerful/ wilderness – the absence of light/ death