St James Ethics Centre's logo
St James Ethics Centre's logo, developed in 1996 and updated in 2002, comprises four alchemic symbols.
In popular memory alchemists were proto-chemists who sought to uncover the secrets of nature such as how base metals could be transmuted into gold and how to distil the elixir of life.
Yet the alchemists' quest was both more complex and refined. They were not solely concerned with the material world.
This touches the Ethics Centre's conception of its role, which includes fostering and supporting practical change while not losing touch with the deeper springs of human consciousness and identity.
The alchemist's approach reflects the Ethics Centre's understanding that there is a universal ethical sense and, properly understood, there is a shared set of values which informs most people most of the time. At the same time, the focus on process is important. Only an appropriate process offers the possibility that a transformation in thinking and understanding might occur.
Each alchemic sign is set on a piece of slightly woven parchment that bears the sign's meaning in modern typescript. Each sign relates to a process, and together these encapsulate St James Ethics Centre's core characteristics:
- An appreciation of the past combined with an orientation to the future
- Practical assistance based on sound theoretical principles
- An approach which is gentle in nature
- An approach which is non-judgemental
The strength of a good symbol is that many meanings lie hidden for future discovery. We believe our logo has this quality.
Read more about our logo and its relationship to the Ethics Centre's work, click here to read an article addressing these issues from our 1995-1996 Annual report.