Tears, Crying

Tears are, of course, associated with emotions—not only sorrow and sadness but also joy, revelation, being moved, compassion, and relief. In fairy tales, they are linked to renewal, purification, and reconciliation. In rituals dedicated to gods such as Osiris and Attis, tears were used to promote nature’s rebirth. (Compare Washing.) In mythological contexts, they can be seen as “sacred water.” The saltiness of tears ties them to the symbolism of salt (cf).  

Dissolution and Renewal

Tears soften us, melt us—“your eyes are soft with sorrow,” as Leonard Cohen expressed in a bittersweet song. Alchemists associated tears with solutio, a stage that dissolves and purifies through water. It is not uncommon for creative individuals to feel melancholic and downhearted before beginning a new project, as if dissolution and renewal are prerequisites. Similarly, one of the initial stages of alchemical work is liquefactio, the dissolution of the prima materia. While this refers to the melting of metals, alchemists connected it to tears and despair.  

Becoming sad and giving in to tears is an abaissement du niveau mental, which allows the contents of the unconscious to emerge.  

In fairy tales, it is a common theme that when the hero or heroine can do nothing but cry, the turning point arrives—the new begins to emerge.  

The hard and rigid are dissolved by tears. From this dissolution, something new arises. Crying is like losing control, surrendering to the water, and fearing one might drown; but one resurfaces, breathing fresh air, renewed. Transformation requires the courage to let go of rigidity and face this dissolution. If one’s inner life is compartmentalized, one cannot cry; but when tears emerge, the walls between the inner rooms dissolve. It is both dissolving and liberating. (Compare Play.) The hard becomes soft, dissolves, and one emerges as a new person.  

Spiritualization  

Similarly, tears transform the physical into the spiritual—not only because they are linked to otherwise invisible emotions or because of water’s symbolic qualities. When Mary Magdalene saw that Jesus’s tomb was empty, her tears flowed, after which she saw Jesus’s spirit (John 20:11). One might say her tears spiritualized Him. (According to the principle post hoc ergo propter hoc, “what follows is caused by what precedes,” which is central to understanding dreams and other symbolic expressions; the disciples who saw the empty tomb without tears also did not see the risen Christ.)  

Materialization of the Spirit  

Medieval mystics regarded tears as a physical manifestation of the Holy Spirit within the soul. (See also Dew.) In other words, tears are a physical manifestation of something psychic/spiritual, a manifestation that can be impossible to hold back—something within that must be expressed outwardly. Tears are the body’s manifestation of inner, unfeigned life. Tears have always been associated with the sacred and have sometimes been used to ward off evil. They are described as something precious, like pearls, jewels, amber, even sunbeams.  

Purification and Healing  

Tears, as mentioned, have purifying qualities; this is evident in many fairy tales and is associated with washing. In the New Testament, a sinner washes Jesus’s feet with her tears and her hair (Luke 7:37), an act that grants her forgiveness of sins.  

As a symbol, tears share qualities with saliva; for example, Jesus heals blindness with saliva, just as Rapunzel heals the prince’s blindness with her tears.  

The connection between sacred tears and purification, healing, and renewal appears in many contexts. If we have dirt in our eyes, they water, and tears wash it away. Similarly, if we have “dirt” in our inner lives, tears can cleanse that too.  

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