The Lost Language of Symbolism Volume 1

by Harold Bayley

Mining information from mythology, folklore, religious texts, and fairy tales from around the world, a foremost expert on symbols explains word origins and their meanings. The ultimate symbols are the letters and words in language as Bayley moves beyond mere pictures to understand the vital messages that have been ignored or lost across the centuries.

Genres: History, Mythology, Art, Nonfiction, Reference

Audible Audio

First published June 1, 1974

Reviews

[Anima · Rating 4 out of 5]

“…pyr, the Greek for fire. The word pyre, meaning with us a funeral fire, is the base of pyramid (Greek pyramis) and the pyramid or cone was apparently at one time a universal symbol of the Primal Fire. The Brahmins express SIVA, the God of fire, by a pyramid; and in the Buddihst Temples of Japan the Five Elements- Ether, Air, Fire, Water and Earth-are denoted respectively by a Ball, Crescent, Pyramid, Sphere, and Cube…..Plato assumed the Pyramid to be first of all forms, and Plutarch mantains that “the only first form is the Pyramid.”..
One must postulate a root fu, meaning fire, to account for such word as feu, fuoco, fuego, fuse, fuzee, feuer, fever, fire, etc,,, The fabulous Phoenix, said to have been born of fire, resolves into fo en ix , the Fire, the One Great Fire….
The Chinese call the yellow Phoenix a To Fu (resplendent fire?) and say that whenever the world is peaceful the note of the To Fu “ will be heard like the tolling of a bell”

[RRex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some content is pure BS, but there is some gold.

A deeper read yielded more than expected.

A definite must-read for students of etymology.