Thu 5 Feb 2009
I found this using StumbleUpon and found myself going back to it over and over. Existentialist philosopher Martin Heidegger once said that “Language is the house of the truth of Being”. What is so interesting to me is how this flow of language is a mirror of the flow of spiritual ideas and religious concepts throughout history as well.
Click on the image to enlarge it:
I think that this image almost looks like the wings from an Egyptian hieroglyph. Or perhaps even the faravahar symbol of the Zoroastrians. Crazy?
Well, in any case, that ancient language carried with it many concepts such as monotheism, salvation, heaven, angels, demons, moral responsibility and spirituality. They traveled from those ancient roots all the way through history to us and our modern languages and religions.
Heidegger also said “Man acts as though he were the shaper and master of language, while in fact language remains the master of man.”
Isn’t that fascinating?
Image Source: Bartleby
thanks so much for this thoughtful reflection… I was searching for information on the purported Indo-European root of “spill” and “spoil” — how poetic to find your site and this post