Among different kinds of rhetoric in language, metaphor is certainly one of the most influential. At the literary level, metaphor denotes a comparison



between two things.

Over the centuries, metaphor has played a major role in religious preaching. Often we are amazed by the metaphors used in the Bible, particularly in the

quoted words of Jesus Christ. Beyond religion, there are healers and philosophers who have used metaphor to get closer to the people.

One of the differences between metaphor and other forms of language is the fact that metaphor can carry a high and intense suggestiveness. Many of the

suggestions may well sneak past our conscious mind, but they work wonders on the unconscious mind of every individual.

The influence of metaphoric language is not restricted to poetry, preaching, philosophy and persuasion. It has a deeper impact: on our thoughts. From a

larger perspective, metaphor can be seen as the language of our thoughts. In fact, we think with the help of association ? thinking of one thing in terms of

another ? which is synonymous with metaphor.

That metaphors are significant in our thought process can be established by a simple example. Take a few coins and arrange them to represent the members of

your family and your friends. Now, assume that due to some reason, you have to remove one of the coins.

You may find you experience a lot of hesitation, even though these are just coins. Once you have used the coins as a metaphor, as representative of your near

and dear ones, you have attached emotions to them as well. This indicates how important metaphors can be ? and proves that the language of metaphor can be

more emotionally resonant than ordinary language.

If you pay careful attention, you will notice that metaphors abound in our everyday speech. These metaphors spring from the unconscious mind, and come out

spontaneously. Psychotherapist David Grove developed a process called Clean Language that uses these metaphors to connect the unconscious with the conscious.

This proved effective in healing major traumas.

When a person receives training in using Clean Language and metaphor, he can better understand the functioning of another's unconscious mind. As a result, he

can establish a stronger communication with the other person, and find ways to communicate that would suit both of them better.

Grove's Clean Language questions had few metaphors in them. When they were asked, the inner recesses of the unconscious mind tended to open up to him, his

clients? metaphors became clearer, and transformation resulted.

Penny Tompkins and James Lawley studied and extended Grove's work and published their book Metaphors in Mind: Transformation Through Symbolic Modeling in

2000. More recently, Wendy Sullivan and Judy Rees have written Clean Language: Revealing Metpahors and Opening Minds.

There are courses that can teach you to use Clean Language and metaphor and so understand yourself and others better. They use clean change cards and

guidelines that can make your task even easier.