Heart

The heart is the center of a person, her core, pumping the life-giving blood throughout the body. If the heart stops beating, she dies. It is a symbol of life itself.  

Emotions  

The heart is also the center of our emotions or "emotive thoughts" (and in this way, more closely linked to the unconscious than the head). It is famously associated with love and is a symbol of love. Grief can cause the heart to break. 

The True Self  

Someone with a big heart is kind and compassionate; a person with their heart in the right place knows right from wrong. Courage, love, and empathy are emotions we associate with the heart. Richard I’s success as a military leader earned him the epithet Lionheart.  

Conversely, a person who is cruel and indifferent to others is called heartless. The evil knight in Mio, My Son has a heart of stone, and so on. Thus, the heart is a symbol of a person’s true self. Perhaps that is why Anubis weighs a person’s heart after death to assess her true nature. – The expression the heart of the matter refers to the most central aspect of something. 

Soul and Core

As the center of a person, the heart symbolizes who we truly are and represents our soul. If “the heart isn’t in it,” we can study anything for as long as we like, but it serves no purpose; we learn nothing. However, if it comes from within—if we truly learn something, know it inside and out, have learned it by heart.  

Genuine and True  

Thoughts in the head are fleeting, coming and going like birds, but if we carry something in our heart, it is truly part of us and cannot escape. One must feel in order to truly learn or experience something—the heart must be involved. Otherwise, it is not real or genuine. If something “comes from the heart,” it is completely honest.  

The Body  

Generally, the part of the body below the heart relates to instincts, while the part above the heart pertains to the conscious ego and possibly its complexes.  

Heat  

The heart and blood are considered hot and are symbolically close to fire.  

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