Beyond Myths: Symbolism as a Means of Communication with the Gods

Abstract

This paper analyzes the transition of communication systems from prehistoric shamanism to the institutionalized religions of Antiquity, exploring the hypothesis that symbolism functioned as an essential mediation protocol between the human and the spiritual realms (perceived as immaterial). As social and demographic complexity increased, utilitarian shamanism evolved into state religion, while preserving shamanic invocation mechanisms within ecclesiastical rituals. The study examines the use of symbols as a method of communication with entities that, in ancient conception, lacked biological support (body/brain) and therefore could not employ verbal language, relying instead on an archetypal mode of expression comparable to the subconscious processes described in analytical psychology. Evidence of symbolic coding is discussed, including the Sumerian numerical hierarchy (the 12 “magic numbers” as ranks of authority), astrosemiotics (the identification of deities through planetary and orbital configurations), and zoomorphic (snake/bird) and spatial (East/West, North/South) binary dichotomies. Finally, the paper traces the evolution of these sacred symbolic systems into logographic and alphabetic writing, suggesting that the foundations of human communication remain embedded in a symbolic matrix originally associated with interaction with the sacred.