By Charmaine Graves
Reverse Speech Metaphor Dictionary, THUNDER: a symbol of power and presence; to release power; to speak with strength and conviction
Thunder in Mythology
In many cultures, Thunder, has a rich and dominant place in history and mythology. Due to the power of its sound, and the accompanying lightening bolts that both destroyed the land and lit up the sky.
There are not only gods, but kings, marshalls, generals, lords, demons, and all sorts of personifications of Thunder, which are found across the planet. And often, the chief deities or spiritual representations of the gods found in most ancient cultures, will include a personification of Thunder.
Thunder often shows up, through cultural personifications, as a metaphor for power, attention, sharpening of awareness, and causing a fear that aligns, and animates or invigorates.
We find this fearsome and aligning quality of thunder, in cultural myths throughout the Mediterranean, North and South America, Africa, Asia, Europe and so on. Every ancient culture has something to say about thunder. Myths and beliefs abound in history, surrounding how Thunder has bestowed, been called upon, or can be appeased or regarded. And about what it can do, has done in the past, as a personified consciousness.
In these beliefs, we find Thunder is rich in metaphoric meaning.
Native American Thunder Symbolism
Closest to home, North American indigenous myths and spirituality has a rich Thunder history. Being responsible for creating the sound of thunder, we find in the indigenous North American legendary creature called the Thunderbird. As a courier from another realm, this large bird like spirit, it brings justice, power and glory.
There are also tales of Thunder beings, who visit from their sky-home,
There are many other Thunder gods and spirits, some positive and some bringers of death. Many tribes believed that the voice of thunder was the power behind the floods, wind, or drought, and also the rains and renewal of life – in this case, the source of life-giving, or death-bringing circumstances. Lightening, in some tribes, was considered as being the flash of the Thunder’s eyes.
It is also believed that the native drums contain the power and connection to the thunder, and when ceremoniously beaten, can create a link to the world of the spirit and a voice straight to the creator’s ear.
Our derived metaphors are of power, justice, renewal or defeat.
Hindu Tradition
Thunder is believed to be a symbol of the voice of god, or a heavenly voice. For example, in the Upanishads, Brammah speaks through thunder, uttering “da, da, da” .. and this becomes, for those in the Hindu tradition, a lessons from the original god, creator of the plethora of hindu deities born from the one original space. The DA DA DA, considered the voice of God, through thunder, represents God alerting man, instructing man, and continually re-structuring man into compassionate order. Three words, all beginning with “da” the sound of thunder, are “Datta,” “Dayadhvam,” and “Damyata.” In direct translation, they mean “give,” “compassion,” and “control.”
This Da Da Da, becomes is a constant reminder, through the sound of thunder to earthly beings to remember to practice restraint, charity and compassion, and that the gods above are overseeing, and alerting man with the reminder, or warning, of thunder. God warns, man comes into alignment or humble submission, and reforms and lack of compassion, to move forward in goodness.
Also in the Hindu tradition, the famous sanskrit texts called the Vedas, presents Indra, their God of Thunder. He announces himself with the boom of thunder, it’s an awakening call to stand and march against the enemy. It’s an empowering sound, accompanied by thunderbolts (lightening), a metaphor often closely related to thunder.
In hinduism, Thunder (and accompaningy lightening) represent divine communication and instruction from God – awareness or opening of the mind, and the subsequent defeat of darkness. The metaphors for Thunder being very connected to the a teaching god prodding each person higher in their spiritual life. Thunder reminding, serving as a wakeup call, and a defeat of an enemy of ignorance and evil.
European Gods of Thunder
Zeus in Greek mythology, Thor in Norse mythology need no introduction as our familiar and most well-known Gods of thunder. Zeus being the Greek god, connecting the power of thunder to metaphors of order, law and justice. While Thor’s Thunder style metaphors connect more to being honourable and noble in war, and to bestow blessings of safety and fertility (for example he was called upon at weddings, crop rituals, etc.)
In Slavic Pagan mythology, Perun, a God of thunder is again found as being the highest of gods. Similar to Zeus and Thor, and other ancient gods, Thunder is a mark of the highest spiritual position in a pantheon of personifications of the divine nature. Perun likewise shows up with weapons of war (axe, hammer, arrows) and his name means to “strike” and “slay”. Fire, the eagle, and the oak tree as other common representations of Perun, all lend to metaphor themes that are shared with other Thunder gods.
African Religion, Shango the Thunder God
Shango, or Chango, is a warrior king, an Orisha or spirit manifestation of the supreme God, according to the Nigerian yorbua tribe. Shango has also made his way, and his power known, within some Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Brazilian sects, from the dispersed african-influenced religions.
His name is derived from Shan (to strike violently), and Go (to bewilder).
When thunder is heard, it is taught in this tradition, that one must respect Shango with a call and a salute to this Thunder God, acknowledging him as a powerful face of the Divine. Fear, respect, and turning towards the personification of thunder is seen here once again.
“Changó (Shangó) is the owner of fire, lightening, thunder, and war, but he is also the patron of music, drumming, and dancing. He represents male beauty and virility, passion and power.”
Here we see the metaphors of Thunder are again very masculine, but also have a feminine aspect of creative dance and music.
Thunder in Scripture
Thunder is often spoken of in the bible. Jesus’ disciples James and John for example, were called the Sons of Thunder. In some translations, Sons of Thunder was translated instead as Quivering Main – and this shows some historical understanding of the resonance of “Thunder” meaning shaking or quivering as a metaphor. (Mark 3:17).
Thunder was also used in reference, in the Old Testament, to the Voice of God (Psalms 18:13, Job 37:2). And when God spoke, or sent thunder, people were afraid and submissive. Contributing to the metaphoric meaning of Thunder as a shock, and organizing factor, and display of authoritative power.
Thunder in Divination
IChing
In the ancient Chinese divination technique, the iChing, the text for a reading that includes “Thunder” again shows thunder as a shocking and organizing burst. In this case, iChing reading number 51 – translated as The Arousing, or Shock, or Thunder – tells of a violent energy that “arouses terror”. The symbol is Thunder, and the text speaks of bursting forth, causing fear, trembling, then also laughter.
IChing or the Book of Changes, is a well-known text to accompany the divination – a way to interpret and instrict those seeking predictions of the future, and how to step ethically on their path. Considered a book of wisdom, it was used as a manual for Chinese rulers. The advice, which reveals great metaphorical content regarding, says this about thunder, when it shows up in a prediction:
There is a “shock that comes from the manifestation of God within the depths of the earth makes man afraid, but this fear of God is good, for joy and merriment can follow upon it. When a man has learned within his heart what fear and trembling mean, he is safeguarded against any terror produced by outside influences. Let the thunder roll and spread terror a hundred miles around: he remains so composed and reverent in spirit that the sacrificial rite is not interrupted. This is the spirit that must animate leaders and rulers of men-a profound inner seriousness from which all terrors glance off harmlessly.1
Tarot
The Tower Card, is a prediction that focuses more on lightening, but the two often go hand and hand, and interpretations vary whether or not The Tower card symbolism includes the sound, along with the bolt, or not. It’s worth briefly noting however, that the Tower, hit by lightning, is a symbol for “sudden change, upheaval, chaos, revelation, awakening.” 2
1 The I Ching or Book of Changes, translation by Hellmut Wilhelm and Cary F. Baynes
2 The Rider-Waite Tarot Deck, by Arthur Edward Waite and Pamela Colman Smith, 1975
Dreams
“Thunder Dream Symbol – Thunder is a tool of the gods to wreak havoc on the population of the earth. It is not only a symbol of divine intervention, but also of divine judgment..”3
Cledonism
Cledonism was popular among the ancient Greeks, and not much is known, and is not a practice in modern day. But we find, in Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus hears thunder after asking for a sign and takes this as a mark of approval from Zeus. Again, God speaking, announcing, from a bold sound from the heavens. Cledonism was a form of divination that took into consideration many natural elements, and Zeus being the God of Thunder, it was expected that his voice would answer through thunder.
Brontomancy
Also ancient, and as far as we know, no longer used as a divination tool, Brontomancy was used in ancient Greece, and more exclusively used thunder alone, as a form of divination. Bronto + -mancy; from the ancient greek word brontḗ (thunder) and manteí (prophecy).4
The way this worked, was through an analysis of the characteristics of the sound of thunder. Depending on intensity, duration, distance, volume, the type of rumble, the direction the thunder was coming from, even the day of the week it occurred – all of these factors indicated something specific. And together, a skilled practitioner would make predictions. Predictions were both general and specific: detecting good or bad omens, or whether happy or disastrous themes were active. Predictions included learning if an educated man would die, or a harlot was near, or there would be plenty of grain for the people.
3 Dream Dictionary, 2016, by Stephen Klein
4 http://www.occultopedia.com/b/brontomancy.htm
Thunder for the ancient Greeks, especially for those of this belief system, was very much a voice, both of warning and celebration. Permission from the gods to rejoice, or instruction to be wary and look out for evil.
Thunder in Literature
A few references here below show a foreboding and god-like quality to Thunder. Often time in poetry and literature, themes of weather set the stage and create imagery that suggests and contributes to the theme the writer is wanting to express. Storms and lightning and thunder are often present in stormy emotional or challenging situations.
The calm after the storm is often a time of restructuring and rebuilding as well. In many creative works, various insights and new ways of being often surface after a storm.
Thunder Mutters, by the famous English poet, John Clare
Thunder is John Clare’s poem is getting ready; “Ready to burst slow sails the pitch black cloud”.
Emily Dickinson’s, A Thunderstorm
‘The wind begun to rock the Grass’, and describes the chaos that a storm wreaks upon the world. She personifies thunder in a powerful way: ‘The Dust did scoop itself like Hands / And threw away the Road.’
Augusta Webster, a Victorian poet in the 1800s, wrote Circe, about storms, with thunder as her hint of hope. She says of thunder: and low dull thunder rolls along the beach: there will be storm at last, storm, glorious storm. And she writes,
let the storm break up the sluggish beauty. And she longs to experience “change and growth”, and “subtle joy”, the rumble of the thunder on the beach gives her hope of the change to come.
W. H. Davies wrote a poem celebrating the benefit of thunder, called Leisure. He uses thunder as a metaphor for the mind’s dark and wild mood. And this helps him, he appreciates the destruction and movement thunder causes as it helps him as a writer, with “raining down words”. Thunder is a stimulus for his creative surge.
T. S. Eliot, in his famous poem The Waste Land, has a section called, What the Thunder Said. Like in the vedic scriptures, to Eliot, Thunder says Da Da Da (see Thunder in Hinduism above), and he interpreted thunders voice as “giving”, “sympathizing” and “controlling”.
We also see Jean Toomer, focusing on more of the positive effect of storms, writes a poem called Storm Ending. of thunder, He speaks of thunder as blossoming, flourishing, and thunder as part of the rejuvenating rain that falls down on the land. He begins with thunder blossoming “gorgeously above our heads” and concludes his poem, “Dripping rain like golden honey; And the sweet earth flying from the thunder.”
Examples of thunder in literature are vast, on final example here is from a book called, “Sound of Thunder”, where thunder is used as a symbol for a dinosaurs steps (a warning to man), and also the protagonists gun (destructive capacity of man not heading natural danger, but rather wanting to battle). Warning steps, and warning shots, and an ominous and foreboding symbol of both man and beast readying for battle.
The Science of Thunder
Thunder can be likened to a sonic boom – its a sonic shock wave. Interestly created by lightning and the rapid expansion that impacts the cooler air (faster than sound would normally travel). While the historic expression hints that thunder comes first chronologically – “Thunder and lightning”, not “LIghtening and thunder” – it is the lightning that creates the thunder.
Often we hear thunder before looking around to see. Sound being more pervasive that the flashes of light which may not immediately be in view. Often then, hearing thunder becomes, more often, a first indication a storm is imminent. Our 1st alert to the heavens moving. And as our ear hear, and understanding often comes more from earing, the metaphor of Thunder as a voice that alerts, instructs and promotes order, is fitting.
Reverse Speech Thunder Metaphor
The Metaphor in Reverse Speech becomes a succinct summary of the metaphors found throughout history, related to thunder as a voice, and one of power, both in instruction and action or consequence.
Reverse Speech Metaphor Dictionary: THUNDER: a symbol of power and presence; to release power; to speak with strength and conviction