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Dictionary of Symbols
This comprehensive and thought-provoking guide explains the language of symbols. Tom Chetwynd describes the major characteristics that recur in all symbolic material.
Paperback
First published July 15, 1982
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 11, 2021
A very different book than I expected from the cover art. I have found much of the content useful in the situations I am in right now, but this might not be the case for all readers. Furthermore, several of the theories the author relies on in some chapters I genuinely do not understand.
In his ”Dictionary of Symbols”, author Tom Chetwynd does not just Iist the meanings that particular symbols have in art, literature, religion etc throughout the course of human history. He also delineates the symbols' role in different psychological schools of thought and their methods for dream interpretation, to the point that Chetwynd starts with a ”how to use this book” introduction going through the basics of dream interpretation. Since I have rekindled my interest in dream interpretation over the course of 2021 as a result of suddenly having more weird and complicated dreams than typical, I have found these parts handy for getting a clear meaning out of my dreams. However, I also get mostly useful results out of the methods provided by Freudian and Jungian psychology, those 2 schools of psychology Chetwynd focuses on here, and I know from experience that these do not achieve the desired results for everyone. Another thing I appreciate is Chetwynd clearly explaining many concepts in Jungian psychology I find confusing in Jung's own formulation. (as mentioned in my reviews here for ”The Portable Jung” and ”Man and His Symbols”, I find Jung's methods useful in practice but I don't always find his own explanations for why they work satisfying and he often uses very different language to describe them than I would myself)
I should mention that Chetwynd has a rather loose definition of ”symbol” extending it to motifs and narrative devices, concepts in psychology, even stock characters in literature. Several entries are devoted to explanations for Chetwynd's favourite literary works (e. g. Kenneth Grahame's ”The Wind in the Willows”) and his analysis of their central themes. There aren't anywhere as many illustrations as one might expect from title, quite a few people picking it up will probably be disappointed as a consequence.
As can be expected from an author who is a huge fan of C. G. Jung and his disciples, Chetwynd takes religion and occultism very seriously so he describes the various symbols' roles in different religious and occult traditions in great detail as well. The entries for alchemy, astrology, Kabbalah, Tarot, and so on function as concise and accessible introductions to those traditions. Chetwynd also takes great pleasure in citing all his sources, so I have gotten an impressive reading list out of him.
So why just 3 stars? Well, as befits a book relying on Freudian and Jungian psycho-analysis Chetwynd's ”Dictionary of Symbols” contains quite a few parts on sexual symbolism and human sexuality... and to be frank, his sexual politics baffle me. On one hand he sometimes describes homosexuality and unusual levels of nonconformity to gender roles as results of a dysfunctional relationship to the anima/animus... yet elsewhere he describes bi/pansexual and nonbinary people as having a more completely realised self than people who do not fall into any of those 2 categories. Since I am not a LGBT person I know I should tread carefully here, but the matter of fact is that I myself can't make heads or tails of where Chetwynd is going with this.
Bottom line: I found much of this book useful for dream analysis as well as making heads and tails of traditional occultism; the author's sexual politics, however, I do not understand at all so even I find it hit-and-miss. It is also near certain that people who have no use for Freudian and Jungian psycho-analysis will get much less out of this book than I did.
In his ”Dictionary of Symbols”, author Tom Chetwynd does not just Iist the meanings that particular symbols have in art, literature, religion etc throughout the course of human history. He also delineates the symbols' role in different psychological schools of thought and their methods for dream interpretation, to the point that Chetwynd starts with a ”how to use this book” introduction going through the basics of dream interpretation. Since I have rekindled my interest in dream interpretation over the course of 2021 as a result of suddenly having more weird and complicated dreams than typical, I have found these parts handy for getting a clear meaning out of my dreams. However, I also get mostly useful results out of the methods provided by Freudian and Jungian psychology, those 2 schools of psychology Chetwynd focuses on here, and I know from experience that these do not achieve the desired results for everyone. Another thing I appreciate is Chetwynd clearly explaining many concepts in Jungian psychology I find confusing in Jung's own formulation. (as mentioned in my reviews here for ”The Portable Jung” and ”Man and His Symbols”, I find Jung's methods useful in practice but I don't always find his own explanations for why they work satisfying and he often uses very different language to describe them than I would myself)
I should mention that Chetwynd has a rather loose definition of ”symbol” extending it to motifs and narrative devices, concepts in psychology, even stock characters in literature. Several entries are devoted to explanations for Chetwynd's favourite literary works (e. g. Kenneth Grahame's ”The Wind in the Willows”) and his analysis of their central themes. There aren't anywhere as many illustrations as one might expect from title, quite a few people picking it up will probably be disappointed as a consequence.
As can be expected from an author who is a huge fan of C. G. Jung and his disciples, Chetwynd takes religion and occultism very seriously so he describes the various symbols' roles in different religious and occult traditions in great detail as well. The entries for alchemy, astrology, Kabbalah, Tarot, and so on function as concise and accessible introductions to those traditions. Chetwynd also takes great pleasure in citing all his sources, so I have gotten an impressive reading list out of him.
So why just 3 stars? Well, as befits a book relying on Freudian and Jungian psycho-analysis Chetwynd's ”Dictionary of Symbols” contains quite a few parts on sexual symbolism and human sexuality... and to be frank, his sexual politics baffle me. On one hand he sometimes describes homosexuality and unusual levels of nonconformity to gender roles as results of a dysfunctional relationship to the anima/animus... yet elsewhere he describes bi/pansexual and nonbinary people as having a more completely realised self than people who do not fall into any of those 2 categories. Since I am not a LGBT person I know I should tread carefully here, but the matter of fact is that I myself can't make heads or tails of where Chetwynd is going with this.
Bottom line: I found much of this book useful for dream analysis as well as making heads and tails of traditional occultism; the author's sexual politics, however, I do not understand at all so even I find it hit-and-miss. It is also near certain that people who have no use for Freudian and Jungian psycho-analysis will get much less out of this book than I did.
March 26, 2021
Brilliant but NOT this edition - very small print
August 15, 2026
I thinkI'd bought this book originally because I thought it would actually be a dictionary of symbols but it really seems to be a jungian dictionary and relates to jungian interpretations of symbols...for example the appearance of a snake in a dream.
I guess, if one is a Jungian, then the dictionary is invaluable, but if you are looking for information on more general symbols, say, like the sun, it is not so good. Yes it mentions the sun but the significance of the sun to many religions etc is rather casually dismissed. symbols have evolved with man, and primitive man especially was all too inclined to be overwhelmed by the horror and splendour of life as a whole, seemingly chaotic. He suggests that symbols are man's ancient way of ordering this chaotic array of direct experience, assimilating it to his particular life and destiny. They exclude the irrelevant and focus the individual's attention on the particular application of the grander vision of vast space, endless time.
I found the section about Archytypes interesting ....I guess because archetypes are a foundational idea of Jungian psychology. Though he doesn't really seem to understand basic biology. For example this: "Nature splits into MASCULINE and feminine in order to reproduce. In symbolism this archetypal split is expressed on every level from god and goddess, down through to the mineral realm where every object can be given symbolic gender because of associations with male or female characteristics". Now something like this split into male and female is common in the more "advanced" species, it is not so common in the millions of species of bacteria, viruses, and even algae and ferns ...and even some vertebrates are hermaphrodite. So his sweeping statement about male and female may apply to humans (and even here it's only part of the story as there are well documented five distinct genetic variations on this.
And then he moves into something like this:
Symbolism is inevitable. It doesn't deal with what may or may not have happened in a remote age, like geology, for example, but deals with immediate experience. Although man may be confronted by chaos on the one hand or at one time, he is also confronted by order. Typical patterns and sequences emerge in different contexts and are inter-related......The basic feature of the patterns is that simple units are linked up to form more and more complicated combina-tions........Some Symbols of the Fourfold Archetypal Patterns and Sequences:- The Four SEASONS of the Year, which are related to the Four PERIODS of Life; The Four ELEMENTS: The Four DIRECTIONS; The Four Suits in the TAROT. Well all of these are human constructs. The Australian Aboriginals identify something like six seasons of the year. One can have as many cardinal directions as you desire. Mostly we've chosen four but this is not a law of nature. As for the Tarot cards!!!!!!!
So generally, not impressed with his dictionary. But still full of esoteric mumbo jumbo and interesting from that perspective. And there is also some quite reasonable material, even if it may be abbreviated. Two stars from me.
I guess, if one is a Jungian, then the dictionary is invaluable, but if you are looking for information on more general symbols, say, like the sun, it is not so good. Yes it mentions the sun but the significance of the sun to many religions etc is rather casually dismissed. symbols have evolved with man, and primitive man especially was all too inclined to be overwhelmed by the horror and splendour of life as a whole, seemingly chaotic. He suggests that symbols are man's ancient way of ordering this chaotic array of direct experience, assimilating it to his particular life and destiny. They exclude the irrelevant and focus the individual's attention on the particular application of the grander vision of vast space, endless time.
I found the section about Archytypes interesting ....I guess because archetypes are a foundational idea of Jungian psychology. Though he doesn't really seem to understand basic biology. For example this: "Nature splits into MASCULINE and feminine in order to reproduce. In symbolism this archetypal split is expressed on every level from god and goddess, down through to the mineral realm where every object can be given symbolic gender because of associations with male or female characteristics". Now something like this split into male and female is common in the more "advanced" species, it is not so common in the millions of species of bacteria, viruses, and even algae and ferns ...and even some vertebrates are hermaphrodite. So his sweeping statement about male and female may apply to humans (and even here it's only part of the story as there are well documented five distinct genetic variations on this.
And then he moves into something like this:
Symbolism is inevitable. It doesn't deal with what may or may not have happened in a remote age, like geology, for example, but deals with immediate experience. Although man may be confronted by chaos on the one hand or at one time, he is also confronted by order. Typical patterns and sequences emerge in different contexts and are inter-related......The basic feature of the patterns is that simple units are linked up to form more and more complicated combina-tions........Some Symbols of the Fourfold Archetypal Patterns and Sequences:- The Four SEASONS of the Year, which are related to the Four PERIODS of Life; The Four ELEMENTS: The Four DIRECTIONS; The Four Suits in the TAROT. Well all of these are human constructs. The Australian Aboriginals identify something like six seasons of the year. One can have as many cardinal directions as you desire. Mostly we've chosen four but this is not a law of nature. As for the Tarot cards!!!!!!!
So generally, not impressed with his dictionary. But still full of esoteric mumbo jumbo and interesting from that perspective. And there is also some quite reasonable material, even if it may be abbreviated. Two stars from me.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews