Beyond Myths: Symbolism as a Method 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). The author argues that as social and demographic complexity increased, utilitarian shamanism evolved into state religion, while preserving shamanic invocation mechanisms within ecclesiastical rituals. The study investigates the use of symbols as a method of "dialogue" with entities that, in ancient conception, lacked biological support (body/brain) and thus could not use verbal language, resorting instead to an archetypal language similar to the subconscious processes described by analytical psychology. Concrete evidence of coding is examined: the Sumerian numerical hierarchy (the 12 magic numbers as ranks of authority), astrosemiotics (the identification of deities through the inverse orbital position of planets), and zoomorphic (snake/bird) or spatial (East/West, North/Sud) binary dichotomies. Finally, the paper traces the evolution of these sacred symbols into logographic and alphabetic writing systems, demonstrating that the foundation of human communication remains anchored in a symbolic matrix originally intended for interaction with the sacred.