Boat: The Symbol

So here we come to the next image / symbol – a Boat. Typically a boat is something that floats over water. It is used for transportation and travelling over water. So boats can be used in seas, oceans and even rivers. Usually, a boat will have someone (a person) who rows it across the particular water body. Alternatively, there is a motor and a complicated system that allows the boat to be controlled and directed from somewhere else.



Based on this, we can see that a boat is a vehicle that is used to travel over water. Water represents the unconscious. Water represents the emotional content of our personality. Water also represents the intuitive and creative forces prevalent within our psyches. So when we see something which is not only able to float over this water, but also cross it, we are talking something really huge here!
So a boat is a vehicle in which we can cross over emotions and travel through the confusion of the unconscious forces prevalent within our lives. It gives us the means of ‘staying afloat’ over these feelings and emotions.

A boat also has a great role to play in myth. Noah’s Ark was a boat which saved Noah, his family and a whole lot of animals and birds from the great flood. A similar myth exists in Hindu Mythology as well. Apparently, Manu built a boat on the advice of Matsya (the avatar of Vishnu, in the form of a fish that kept on growing in size) and when the great flood came, Matsya towed the boat onto a mountain top.

In Greek mythology, Charon was a ferryman who took the souls of the dead into the Underworld via a boat, and by crossing the river Acheron (the river of woe). As payment for services rendered he would take a coin from the people. And so, when any dead Greek was burnt, a coin was placed in the mouth of the dead body, so that he could pay the ferryman.

According to Egyptian mythology, the Sun god Ra would travel in a boat during the night time, going from the west to the east. This was because a boat was necessary for him to travel through the waters of the heavens and the underworld. Even during the day, the sun god Ra would travel the skies of the heavens in a boat. This boat was depicted as a huge galley (called ‘Madjet’ which means ‘becoming strong’). The boat used during the night time was a small barge (called ‘Semektet’ which means ‘becoming weak’).

Seeing an image of a boat in a dream thus symbolizes that one is crossing a great patch of emotions or unconscious forces. It is said also, that if the water is calm, then the passage is smooth, and if the water is rough, then the passage is not so smooth.

Even in Tarot, there are cards which show a boat. The Death card has small boat traversing a river, while the Six of Swords card shows a man ferrying a woman and a child in a boat. Both these cards are cards of change or transformation. The Death card talks of the ending of the old which paves the way for the change, the new dawn, or the new beginning. The Six of Swords card is about going from a place which is full of emotional upheaval to a place which is emotionally calm. It even shows the distant shore on the other end. There are other cards as well which show images of boats / ships that float in the water. In these cases, often ships are said to be messages. The reason being that in the olden days, ships were used to carry messages from one place to another, while also having their functions in the travel and trade industries.

Writing about the boat is interesting for me. Remember, in my previous post I had mentioned that I was beginning something new in my business…well, the venture is taking off and moving along quite well. Not without its own ups and downs, this venture is also a good cause for me to cross some emotional barriers about my own self. I am learning new things about myself every single day. And every step along the way is increasing my confidence in myself. And yes, in order to do all this I have had to remain in constant communication with the people I am collaborating with. So yes, e-mail messages are also flying about!

Interesting, wouldn’t you say!