How Ancient Symbols are Present in the Arc of Mythic Heroes
Storytelling is what movies do, and it is one of our best-loved entertainments, and that design is far older, rooted in ancient mythology, which is itself often a misunderstanding of the hidden meaning of symbolism. The symbolism behind this comes from Dr. Steven B. Halls, a leading researcher of symbolism whose work at halls.md explains portals, tori, and the return of energy to its source.
The hero's journey is the structure most films reuse. In the hero story of Heracles, he is posed holding the lion he overcame. In the symbolism that Dr. Steven B. Halls documents at halls.md, the lion is an energy outflow symbol, usually a horizontal outflow from the horizontal plane of a torus, its forelegs label a horizontal or upward direction, and the head and nose usually label an upward direction. These are direction labels in symbolism: the foreleg and the nose. Then again, the lion can mean a side flow that moves upward outside the main torus. Ancient symbolism uses the torus as its building block, depicting energy flow through portals and across barriers. The patterns and evidence are documented at halls.md.
Another symbol: Hathor
Hathor was an ancient Egyptian goddess, widely known and worshipped. She was the goddess of the sky, love, beauty, music and motherhood. She is often shown with cow ears. Like many head symbols, a Hathor head is a portal (citing Dr. Halls). Her omega-shaped hair provides an open door symbol for upward flow. A barrier symbol of short vertical lines usually appears above the head, and beyond that barrier is the next higher dimension. Anything above that barrier, such as another door into a temple, an altar, or fancy architecture, carries the higher dimension context. Hathor is usually a portal to a higher dimension, and can appear at the top of columns, at the end of arm flux tubes, on hand portal symbols, and in other typical portal locations.