Sacred symbol

as symbol (pratika) it expresses an idea, and is not the likeness of anything presented to the eye's intrinsic faculty. Nor is the aniconic image less or more the likeness of Him, First Principle, who is no thing, but whose image it is, than is the "human" form. To conceive of Him as a living Tree, or as a Lamb or Dove, is no less sound theology than to conceive of Him as Man [...]— Coomaraswamy