Metaphor Atlas

Explore the library through its landscapes.
Ten illustrated starting points connect landscapes, structures, sound, time and transformation. Choose an illustration to open its article, then follow the connections into the wider collection.

This atlas is a visual browsing guide to the Metaphors of Movement reference library. Its groupings connect subjects for comparison; they do not assign fixed meanings to an image or replace the training.

Prefer an ordered route? The space and movement guide connects several of these subjects. Use the glossary for terminology or the Video Library to browse related recordings.

Choose a starting point

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  Orientation
  Maps, compasses, landmarks and routes.

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  Inside and outside
  Rooms, access, concealment and thresholds.

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  Water and boundaries
  Containment, release, inundation and recession.

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  Light and distance
  Solitude, visibility, position and guidance.

Connection, forces and change

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  Separation and return
  Refuge, isolation, contact and passage.

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  Weight and support
  Balance, contact, stability and tipping.

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  Pressure and release
  Compression, containment, outlets and rupture.

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  Time and anticipation
  Intervals, cycles, deadlines and waiting.

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  Voice and response
  Calling, listening, repetition and recognition.

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  Changing form
  Growth, enclosure, shedding and emergence.

The ten images are original, AI-generated editorial illustrations of imagined scenes. Source and creation details are recorded on their file pages.

Follow a reading route

Finding a way

Begin with Maps, Compasses and Lost Bearings, then compare Paths and Trails, Mazes and Labyrinths and Fog and Mist. A missing direction, a complicated route and an obscured view present different questions. Add Obstructions when a route is known but passage is blocked.

Entering, leaving and gaining access

Move from Houses, Rooms and Hidden Spaces to Doors, Gates and Thresholds, Locks and Keys and Fences, Boundaries and Borders. Compare a place that is hidden, an entrance that is locked and a boundary that is crossed. Bluebeard supplies a literary example of permission and forbidden access.

Crossing and being carried

Read Bridges alongside Rivers and Civilisations, Currents, Tides and Undertows and Floods, Dams and Breaking Banks. A crossing, a current and a spreading flood organise movement differently. Ships and Anchors and Moorings add floating, travelling and holding a position.

Seeing and being seen

Start with The Hermit, Lanterns and Solitude, then explore Shadows, Elevation and Hills and Mountains. Compare the placement of a light, the position of its bearer and the route between the bearer and anyone else. For model-specific practitioner commentary, continue to Hurts.

Separation and connection

Compare Islands, Castaways and Exile with Echoes, Silence and Unheard Voices. A distance can prevent travel, interrupt communication or make a returning signal noticeable. Add Bridges and The Hermit, Lanterns and Solitude to compare a connection across a gap with a chosen position apart.

Holding, carrying and releasing

Read Gravity, Balance and Support alongside Burdens, Foundations and Ground and Pressure, Compression and Explosion. Notice what carries a load, where force acts, and whether movement involves tipping, compression or an opening. Containers and Floods, Dams and Breaking Banks extend the comparison to boundaries and outlets.

Waiting and changing

Move between Clocks, Seasons and Waiting Rooms and Metamorphosis, Cocoons and Shedding Skins. An interval, a recurring cycle and a change of form describe different processes. Compare The Sleeping Beauty, Trees and Doors, Gates and Thresholds for stories and images of duration, growth and emergence.

Browse the wider landscape

Area	Places to explore
Ground and support	Foundations and Ground, Rocks, Fields, Pits, Holes and Trenches
Height and passage	Hills and Mountains, Valleys, Stairs and Ladders, Tunnels
Water and shore	Oceans, Lakes, Wells, Beaches & Shorelines, Swamps
Weather and visibility	Clouds, Fog and Mist, Ice, Snow and Frozen Landscapes, Lightning
Enclosure and connection	Containers, Ties and Binds, Nets, Webs and Traps, Burdens
Movement and repetition	Trains, Cars, Flight, Falling, Wheels, Treadmills and Roundabouts

Ways to compare two images

When reading across articles, keep the physical arrangement in view:

• Position: above, below, inside, outside or between.
• Access: visible, reachable, open, locked, hidden or forbidden.
• Movement: chosen, blocked, carried, repeated or interrupted.
• Relationship: attached, separated, supported, pursued or accompanied.
• Change over time: arriving, waiting, rising, receding, returning or leaving.

These are prompts for comparing texts and pictures, not a procedure for interpreting another person's experience. The individual articles identify their sources and distinguish story events from commentary.

Compare related images

The Comparative Metaphor Library develops the atlas's reading questions through sourced expressions, literary passages and worked comparisons.

• Being Stuck: Barriers, Loops and Waiting compares obstruction, repetition, sustained effort and deferred departure.
• Agency and Motion: Moving and Being Moved separates propulsion, direction, control and restraint.
• Inside and Outside: Shelter, Confinement and Belonging compares access, protection, exclusion and membership.

Take the comparison further

• Metaphor Across Languages and Cultures compares original wording, literal glosses and translations, with documented expressions and research on time, gesture and colour.
• Presentation Companion Library connects the Metaphor Society programme with reading routes, comparison questions and a source-based note-taking guide.

Other ways to browse

Subject index | Stories and literature | Concepts and language | People and authors | Idioms A-Z | All articles A-Z