what do these symbols mean?

[epsilonsmirror]

A griffin- half eagle and half lion.
A sphynx- half woman half lion.
A lamia- half woman half snake.
A centaur-half man half horse.
A minitaur-half man and half bull.
A mermaid-half woman and half fish.
A chimera-part lion,part dragon,part eagle and part snake.
A harpy-part woman part eagle.
A basilix a huge snake with a human eye.
A dragon part bird part snake and part cat.
I am constantly being confronted with these creatures and a few others any help in interpretation would be helpful.

[suzisco]

The things that you see are all from mythology.  they represent all sorts of things that happen in a man psyche.  Ie a centaur is seen as a woodland man, mystical and full of folk lore centaurs protect the woods and the culture around this.

A basilisk was a creature that could turn man into stone with one look.  it is seen as an evil creature that was cursed and doomed to a miserable life.

The minotuar was a creature that was originally created by a union between queen Pasiphaë and a white bull, so this represents, lust and revenge of the gods.

I hope you see where i am coming from, each of the creatures you talk about has an extreme human emotion/atribute.  you would need to look to see where you are seeing this symbol and in what context and then apply it to your life.  I suspect somebody is trying to tell you something about yourself.

Suzi

[KHEM]

A griffin- half eagle and half lion.
A sphynx- half woman half lion.
A lamia- half woman half snake.
A centaur-half man half horse.
A minitaur-half man and half bull.
A mermaid-half woman and half fish.
A chimera-part lion,part dragon,part eagle and part snake.
A harpy-part woman part eagle.
A basilix a huge snake with a human eye.
A dragon part bird part snake and part cat.
I am constantly being confronted with these creatures and a few others any help in interpretation would be helpful.

I like your symbols, they mean a lot of various things but I will only give you something to start from and how to interpret them, the rest I leave you the opportunity to find out by yourself, it is so much fun...
They are plenty of books available on them

As the sage Suzisco said, these are creatures that talk directly to your psyche and so much the better...They are not only from the Greek and Roman mythology but also from the Zodiac, from Ancient Egypt and many other cultures, so you sometimes have to dig real deep to find the meaning; that's what I said it is fun because you find the meanings by doing comparisons and "connecting dots" .Besides those cultures are complementary, it is not like one said something and the other said another thing. The details they give are complementary for better understanding.

ok, let's start by my favorite one

The griffin : half eagle and half lion

the Eagle = king of birds = stands also for the evolved soul=higher self

the Lion   = king of animal/jungle = stands also for the body and the material world.

The very fact that the griffin is made of those 2 animals means that it stands for the evolved soul that has mastered the material world and its weaknesses.

The position of the animals is also "talkative" : we are told that the eagle part is before and the lion is behind. In symbolism, all details count. The position of the constitution of the griffin means that we have to put forward our Divine nature and the lower nature behind. It is common knowledge that if you want to grow spiritually, that's the right way to proceed.

Example : Jesus
Well,if you see him as somebody who was Divine and also a human, then you can say that the the griffin stands for the consciousness of Jesus.

I don't know if you are aware of the stories on the griffins. Some cultures state that these animals were royal and they were given the Royal thrones to look after. Now,if even the kings chose as security guards griffins it is because they have Unlimited Attention. You can learn more about the eagle and the lion if you want to, and you will be surprised to find out what nature gave them . You will also understand more why I say that.

all that connected means that the griffin stands for Eternal vigilence on the Path.
It also stands for all the positive qualities associated to that state of mind like vigilence, attention, awareness...

How to use it?

Being a symbol it talks to your subconscious.
Now that you know its meaning, if you want, you can carry an image of the griffin or place it everywhere where you can see it often (many times a day) and you will notice your awareness on the path increase over time .That's just how symbols work...

In symbolism, you have to look at the animal,object and other things as they are in real life,know them thoroughly and then "connect the dots" with the spiritual knowledge you have.

I take a simple example: if you have no idea how the eagle behaves or what faculties it has in real life, you will never understand what the eagle stands for in symbolism, let alone the griffin.
It is important to understand their origin in mythologies too.


The other key in symbolism is details, you have to pay attention to everything. Nothing is left "by chance" , everything counts.

Let's take another one:

The mermaid : Half woman Half fish

Woman in symbolism stands for soul , a normal one. Not necesserely an evolved one. Just soul.

Water in symbolism sometimes stands also for the soul but this time it has to do with the subconscious mind and its deepness. The ones with emotions

The symbolism of the mermaid is not that easy to spot because it varies depending on many factors (the story, the scene..)

It may represent intuition,hope,sexual attraction but also the negative aspects of one's personality self criticism, lust, deceit

Well, you can start by those and I am sure you will easily understand the others.


I will finish by giving some hints with the others:

bull sometimes stands for the sexual force, desire,attraction
The horse sometimes stands for freedom (not always the positive side of it, depending on who rides it)

The snake may mean Life,healing or desire, emotional nature ;
same as dragon but more powerful
eye stands for Spiritual protection or evil eye or spiritual perception

For each you might also consider the opposite quality

[suzisco]

That was really interesting.  thanks for the input.

Suzi

[anchlim]

these symbols are really interesting. and if one is a fan of the harry potter series...these symbols come to live in the books very often.

[KHEM]

these symbols are really interesting. and if one is a fan of the harry potter series...these symbols come to live in the books very often.

Very true they appear frequently in books for children; not only Harry Potter but also Narnia,the Golden Compass, Pan's Labyrinth, LOTR ... and the list goes on.

[blueazurelight]

For those that are a mixture of animals, try looking at Ted Andrew's books on Animal Speak. Ted has a lot of wisdom in understanding what animals can teach us through their symbolic meaning. As for those that are part animal, part human, once you find the animal meaning, ask yourself 'what does that mean to a human?' For example, a horse is symbolic of freedom. What would freedom mean, or look like to a man/woman? I find this approach more helpful than an esoteric, mystery school approach as the latter can be quite subjective does not necessarily offer any useful advice.
Hope this has been of help.