First it means the male organ, which unites the two parents in sexual intercourse but afterwards it develops further meanings which are derived from this first one. The other symbol I want to talk to you about is that of the bridge, which hasīeen explained by Ferenczi (19). You know, perhaps, that the mythological creation, Medusa's head, can be traced back to the same motif of fright at castration. According to Abraham (1922) a spider in dreams is a symbol of the mother, but of the phallic mother, of whom we are afraid so that the fear of spiders expresses dread of mother-incest and horror of We have also found several fresh symbols, at least two of With a special cloak known as 'Aba' and speaks the following ritual words: 'Henceforth none save I shall cover thee!' (Quoted from Robert Eisler). I hope it will impress you when you hear that Theodor Reik (1920) gives us this information: 'During the extremely ancient bridal ceremonial of the Bedouins, the bridegroom covers the bride An instance of this sort is the symbol of an overcoat or cloak. In such cases confirmations from elsewhere - from philology, folklore, mythology or ritual - were bound to be especially welcome. There are some which we believed we recognized but which nevertheless worried us because we could not explain how this particular symbol had come to have that particular Let's see what had to say Freud about several symbols: Points to the human sexual life, more precisely to sexual organs. These symbols that at first sight seem to be very different have a unique signification in Freud's view: they Symbols are also present in neurosis - or more precisely in their thought content. But they are also present in the awoken life - in the culture of people, in religiousīelieves, in myths and folklore. Symbols appear especially in dreams - in nocturnal and diurnal (fantasies) as well. Staff can suggest more than a snake to Freud. I did not use by chance this example because If we compare, for example, a snake with a staff, when the compared object - the snake - is no longer specified, we only have the staff which could be a symbol for the snake. What is a symbol? Freud defines the symbol as a comparison where the compared termĭisappears.