The natural world
When Aquinas talks about nature, he describes more than just what he sees. He describes the relationships between flora and fauna, and the balanced state of a habitat. He sees humans as a part of that habitat, because it was ordained by God, and he even questions the role of society in light of our mutual co-habitation of a real environment.
The spheres of order
Another kind of imagery can be found in the abstract thought images Aquinas uses by invoking metaphors and logic. He says the earth has a metaphysical aspect that is invisible and which governs our reality according to a hierarchy, which he categorizes as concentric circles with different natures and patterns. He is saying that a mandala might nicely describe the invisible order of the universe—the "heavenly spheres."
Imagery suggesting God's divinity
For Aquinas, the questions of theology are built into the human experience. He views them as native and instinctual, so he sees the entire mind as a suggestion of God's divinity. Another way of saying this is that he sees the imagery of the human experience as evidence of a divine creator, because the imagery of life is far too beautifully arranged and timely to ignore (says Thomas). Of course, this is the only way to "view" God for Aquinas, except in his vivid and imaginary descriptions of the angelic realm.
The imagery of knowledge
The book is a compendium, so it implies the imagery of human knowledge and academy. Part of the reason this book was historically significant is simply this aspect of it. Because no one told him how to arrange his thoughts, his arrayment of them in questions, his thorough format for approaching language and thought with rigor, and his act of writing them in ink—these are all indications that he believes the writing process is part of the sacred duty of man. His academic imagery suggests that he is a scholar.
