Both on the material and spiritual planes the ark symbolizes the power to
preserve all things and to ensure their rebirth. The Ark saved Noah and his
family from drowning in the Biblical flood; it has become, in Christian ideology,
a way of saving believers from the "engulfing sea of godlessness" (Biederman,
17). It can be seen as the instrument of God's justice and punishment at the
same time. In psychoanalysis, the ark is an image of refuge in the WOMB.
Along with the RAINBOW, the ark is a sign of
'Oneness', two halves of the world egg, with the ark floating on the lower waters
and the rainbow in the upper waters. In medieval mysticism, it is often symbolic
of the heart (or of the mind, or of thought).
Up one level
Back to document index