The elephant and the three blind men as an example of interpretation as a question of perspective

A good example of the different interpretation as a question of perspective is the analogy with the three blind men who stand in front of an elephant for the first time and have to describe it.

Three blind people are brought to an elephant and have the task of describing it. The first, standing at its side, feels a leg and says: Big and strong like a tree! The second stands by the head and feels the trunk. His judgement is: Strong and flexible like a snake. From behind, however, comes a contradiction: No, rather slender and flexible and like a frayed rope.

Other cultures, other perspectives and scripture

Magic signs

When signs appeared that were carved into stone or clay, they were initially regarded as something magical, a secret message that had to be unravelled. Of course, the perspective of the observer played a decisive role.

The evolution of writing: from pictograms to complex content

The first characters were pictograms, i.e. stylised figures or simplified graphic representations. Over time, they were strung together to reflect more complex content.

Scripture in the context of different cultures

Writing is something fascinating, because abstract contents can be conveyed with simple signs. The prerequisite for this is, of course, that one knows the signs and knows how to interpret them. Moreover, they are bound to a certain cultural area, so their specific meaning often results from the consensus of those who use them. Thus, not only the signs themselves, but also the perspective of the respective culture shape the message of the signs.

Culture, gaze and writing direction: right- or left-handed?

In other words, depending on the direction of the view, the same characters can produce a different content and message. In Europe, writing has always been right-handed, i.e. written from left to right, whereas in the Semitic world it was left-handed, i.e. set from right to left.

Right / left as a mental perspective - a thought experiment

Right - left: Male - conscious / female - unconscious

As a thought experiment on the subject of perspective, one can also give meaning to the distinction between right and left. In this case, the right side stands for the active-acting consciousness that expresses itself through material reality ("male"). In contrast, the left side as passive-supportive ("female") represents the unconscious, inner and hidden.

Close the room or open it?

This means, in other words, regarding the right-left distinction: While material reality limits space and perception to facts (right, "male"), the unconscious (left, "female") opens up new dimensions and possibilities. From this one could conclude that writing running from left to right reduces and narrows the perspective on material reality, while writing from right to left leads matter into the vast space of the unconscious.

Example of interpretation as a question of perspective

Cover picture: Jealousy drama or new creation?

The second creation account of the Bible

The second creation account in the Bible contains a somewhat strange story. For after God had shortly before created man in his own image, namely as a man and a woman, in this account he "builds" a woman as a "man". He builds her from the rib of the man whom he has sunk into a deep sleep.
How is this to be understood? Is this not the opposite of the original creation account?

[S. The second creation account of the Bible: the female].

With a twinkle in the eye, one can ask the question whether there is not a "different" perspective or source in the Bible, with the perspective from left to right.

To do this, read the above diagram again, from left to right:

Legal approach: a jealousy drama

1. Left: Two men and a woman.
2. Middle: One man is bending over the other, who is lying on the floor. In his hand he holds something long and curved.
3. Right: There is only one man left and maybe the woman in the background.

Interpretation: a jealousy drama?

This series of pictures can be interpreted in this way: A man desires the wife of another (1st picture). There is a fight between rivals in which one kills the other with a dagger or sabre (2nd picture). The winner triumphs and can now take the wife (3rd image).

Left-hand view: a new creation?

If this series of pictures came to the Middle East, where the left-hand reading was the usual one, it made no sense to the viewer at first. What he saw in the first picture (right) was a man. The second picture in the middle showed another man lying on the ground. Bending over it, the first man held something long and crooked in his hand. In the third picture (left), a woman had suddenly joined him ...

Hm, what did that mean? - What secret might lie hidden behind it?

Interpretation: The Creation of Woman

An interpretation with regard to the direction given by the third image could have looked like this:

1. First there is one, a strong one ... Perhaps a god?
2. He bends over a second figure lying on the floor and holds something long and crooked in his hand ... It has the shape of a rib ... What might that mean? What about the rib? Maybe the next picture will tell us?
3. In the third picture there is another new situation: the strong man is still there. But now the second man is also standing upright. The crooked one is gone, and instead there is suddenly also a woman. - If that is not magic ... or an act of creation?

If you are prepared to take a different perspective in between, you may discover something surprising.
Let's stay tuned!

Interpretation as a question of perspective and the truth

Universal validity of fundamental truths

Independent of perspective

Nevertheless, this can be said of the different ways of looking at things, which the various cultures and religions in particular also have:

A deep, fundamental truth remains regardless of a change of perspective.

The example given of the second creation: commonalities in interpretation

With regard to the above example, it can be said that both ways of looking at things express these fundamental truths:

1. The strong has the power to create new reality (whether through a word of love or an act of violence).
2. This new reality has an influence on the environment and changes it. (In the case of the woman's injury through violence, it may be that she becomes a "male", namely aggressive and power-oriented, see The Pain Body of the Woman).
3. This is tantamount to a new creation.

Further texts:

Interpretation of fairy tales and myths like dreams
Images and symbols - the magic of the unconscious
The language of images and the rational mind