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Λεξικό παραδοσιακών συμβόλων
In nearly 1500 entries, many of them strikingly and often surprisingly illustrated, J. C. Cooper has documented the history and evolution of symbols from prehistory to our own day.
With over 200 illustrations and lively, informative and often ironic texts, she discusses and explains an enormous variety of symbols extending from the Arctic to Dahomey, from the Iroquois to Oceana, and coming from systems as diverse as Tao, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, Tantra, the cult of Cybele and the Great Goddess, the Pre-Columbian religions of the Western Hemisphere and the Voodoo cults of Brazil and West Africa. 210 black-and-white illustrations
With over 200 illustrations and lively, informative and often ironic texts, she discusses and explains an enormous variety of symbols extending from the Arctic to Dahomey, from the Iroquois to Oceana, and coming from systems as diverse as Tao, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, Tantra, the cult of Cybele and the Great Goddess, the Pre-Columbian religions of the Western Hemisphere and the Voodoo cults of Brazil and West Africa. 210 black-and-white illustrations
613 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1978
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764 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
June 7, 2012
I came across this book in the library years ago and finally bought a copy just recently. There are a lot of books on symbolism but I have always found this one particularly useful, because of its format.
The format is alphabetical and each entry covers several different cultures and their particular symbolic use of the particular image, but each entry starts with its universal or general symbolic meaning.
This means that the book is useful both for the student of particular cultures and their symbology, and symbology in general.
It is superior to other symbol books because it treats its subject matter more seriously, divested of any new age fancifulness, and is much more comprehensive and methodical.
Too often these days, religious debates become polarised into textual literalism or what might be called scientism, crude materialistic literalism. The symbolic aspect of religious systems appears to be overlooked, but that aspect is perhaps the key to understanding them. Certainly, for me, the key to understanding Christianity came in large part from the brief discussion of "Dying Gods" contained in this book. To recuperate traditional symbolism, to wrest it from the hands of frauds and dogmatists, or literalists who misuse it, and to use it artistically is to me strongly appealing, and this is why this book is so useful. Without a knowledge of symbolism, you are, in effect, illiterate before art and religion. This book provides the reader with a good general guide to traditional symbols, and thus the essential meanings of religions and cultures, and their expressions in art. To be symbolically literate is a good hedge against both neurotic literalism and crude materialist reductionism.
The format is alphabetical and each entry covers several different cultures and their particular symbolic use of the particular image, but each entry starts with its universal or general symbolic meaning.
This means that the book is useful both for the student of particular cultures and their symbology, and symbology in general.
It is superior to other symbol books because it treats its subject matter more seriously, divested of any new age fancifulness, and is much more comprehensive and methodical.
Too often these days, religious debates become polarised into textual literalism or what might be called scientism, crude materialistic literalism. The symbolic aspect of religious systems appears to be overlooked, but that aspect is perhaps the key to understanding them. Certainly, for me, the key to understanding Christianity came in large part from the brief discussion of "Dying Gods" contained in this book. To recuperate traditional symbolism, to wrest it from the hands of frauds and dogmatists, or literalists who misuse it, and to use it artistically is to me strongly appealing, and this is why this book is so useful. Without a knowledge of symbolism, you are, in effect, illiterate before art and religion. This book provides the reader with a good general guide to traditional symbols, and thus the essential meanings of religions and cultures, and their expressions in art. To be symbolically literate is a good hedge against both neurotic literalism and crude materialist reductionism.
October 22, 2025
I think this is a wonderful, almost pocket-size symbology dictionary that covers a lot of ground and serves as a good starting point to pull at the threads of interest.
February 4, 2024
This is probably the proper place to do the arduous mining that is inevitable in the search quest for the metals that come together in the alchemical amalgamation. This is where the fragments of the past are made explicit, in these symbols that permeates our language.
My guess is that the zodiac, in the center of which is the swastika, summarizes the perception of the cosmos for natural man. The magi from the east of course find christ in the center of this, which is what girard does with human sacrifice. When one understands what this means, i.e. what it means to be human, only then can one fully understand what it means to be a "Christian". (Grundtvig said it, Menneske först og kristen saa). This is the message of both C.S. Lewis and JRR Tolkien albeit in implicit form.
In opposition to this attitude, 20th century religion, fundamentalism, the heritance of 19th century romanticism constituting magic opiates for the masses, escapism, if you like, IS STILL PERFORMING THIS EXACT FUNCTION, AND IS DEFENDED BY SELF APPOINTED APOLOGISTS USING some of the RETHORIC FROM THE GENIUSES THAT WROTE HISTORY, only WARPED TO SUIT THE AGENDA OF NATURAL MAN. Romantic fundamentalism is participating in the swastika, but its human sacrifice, the secret murderous violence needed to bring the group together, in old times overt on the town square, is made covert and is swallowed by the individual person in the mythology of individualism, and is coming to play overtly in the modern practice of self-harm, depression and suicide.
My guess is that the zodiac, in the center of which is the swastika, summarizes the perception of the cosmos for natural man. The magi from the east of course find christ in the center of this, which is what girard does with human sacrifice. When one understands what this means, i.e. what it means to be human, only then can one fully understand what it means to be a "Christian". (Grundtvig said it, Menneske först og kristen saa). This is the message of both C.S. Lewis and JRR Tolkien albeit in implicit form.
In opposition to this attitude, 20th century religion, fundamentalism, the heritance of 19th century romanticism constituting magic opiates for the masses, escapism, if you like, IS STILL PERFORMING THIS EXACT FUNCTION, AND IS DEFENDED BY SELF APPOINTED APOLOGISTS USING some of the RETHORIC FROM THE GENIUSES THAT WROTE HISTORY, only WARPED TO SUIT THE AGENDA OF NATURAL MAN. Romantic fundamentalism is participating in the swastika, but its human sacrifice, the secret murderous violence needed to bring the group together, in old times overt on the town square, is made covert and is swallowed by the individual person in the mythology of individualism, and is coming to play overtly in the modern practice of self-harm, depression and suicide.
June 25, 2022
Not the greatest. A lot of entries sure, but I wouldn't call it 'illustrated' exactly. There are some illustrations but also many photos of old artifacts. That may be useful to some but I was hoping for all illustrations because of the title. Also there are only 2-3 photos per page and many more symbols than that on most pages.
December 5, 2020
Great reference book.
March 18, 2022
Used it as basis for my thesis.
August 6, 2024
2.4
Poorly researched and vague. The illustrations are good and useful but the captions often contain more information then the entire hand wavy entry itself.
Poorly researched and vague. The illustrations are good and useful but the captions often contain more information then the entire hand wavy entry itself.
March 4, 2017
اثناء حوار لك مع صديق أو مجموعة من الأصدقاء يستعمل بعضهم مفردات قد لا تكون مبهمة لك وأحيانا تشعر بالخجل كونك لاتعرف هذه المصطلحات، وحتى لو بحثت عنها في الويكيبديا أو الإنترنت فإنها تبدو غامضة بعض الشيء لكن هذا الكتاب يرفدك بكل ماتحتاج وبسلاسة بعيدة عن التفلسف!
كتاب استحق الخمس نجوم كونه كتاب شامل لكل الرموز والمصطلحات التي نستخدمها في حياتنا اليومية، في الدراسة والعمل والنقاش وفي البيت وتقريبا في كل مفصل من مفاصل حياتنا اليومية.
اعتقد ان هذا الكتاب ضروري أن يتواجد في كل مكتبة. عليكم باقتنائه!
كتاب استحق الخمس نجوم كونه كتاب شامل لكل الرموز والمصطلحات التي نستخدمها في حياتنا اليومية، في الدراسة والعمل والنقاش وفي البيت وتقريبا في كل مفصل من مفاصل حياتنا اليومية.
اعتقد ان هذا الكتاب ضروري أن يتواجد في كل مكتبة. عليكم باقتنائه!
September 13, 2018
Antes de comenzar esta reseña, deberé acotar que es la misma con la que se presenta el libro aquí (aunque faltan unos párrafos más) e incluso la tapa que se muestra la realicé yo mismo. El diccionario es genial, me sirvió de guía para elaborar un proyecto que hice hace ya algunos años sobre la Simbología en el Arte, en realidad, es muy recomendable para todo aquel que quiera entrar en el profundo y profuso universo de los símbolos y los arquetipos.
Dejaré aquí la reseña completa que hice por aquel entonces.
El libro Simbolismo: Lenguaje Universal es un rico sumario de los símbolos más característicos de la tradición universal, y cuando hablamos de símbolo, este no puede ser más que universal, en el sentido más lato de la palabra, puesto que ha sido encunado, concebido, codificado y proporcionado por todas las civilizaciones existentes desde tiempos remotísimos y en una gran pluralidad de vertientes culturales, de hecho, ni siquiera podemos afirmar que se trata de una invención netamente intelectual, es decir, que tenga en tal o cual país o civilización un origen determinado, pues, ciertamente, el símbolo comprende más que un factor “intelectivo”, un factor “intuitivo”; de modo que pertenece más bien al ámbito humano por excelencia, ya que los símbolos encierran un
significado arquetípico interior que conduce a la sublimidad de la conciencia colectiva, tiene “la virtud de contener en unas cuantas líneas convencionales el pensamiento de distintas épocas y los sueños del genero humano. Enciende la imaginación y nos lleva al reino del pensamiento no verbal”. Este pensamiento no es el del yo individual; el símbolo no puede crearse artificialmente o inventarse por mor de una interpretación y capricho exclusivamente personales: trasciende lo individual para alcanzar lo universal y es innato en la vida del espíritu.
Bajo estas premisas universales la autora nos presenta los simbolismos esenciales de mayor connotación arquetípica, o por lo menos los símbolos más acuciantes dentro de la relación arquetipo-símbolo que han sido más remanidos en la tradición universal como son: el simbolismo del centro, el hogar, el umbral, el círculo, la cruz y el cuadrado, el árbol, las serpientes y dragones, así como otros animales, flores y frutos que han formado parte del entramado simbólico universal; asimismo dedica varios capítulos a los rituales que igualmente han permanecido dentro de estos mismos parámetros ecuménicos como son los ritos de iniciación, las festividades, los juegos y las
representaciones teatrales, sin dejar por fuera, claro está, los simbolismos de los números, el cuerpo y la indumentaria que no dejan de concentrar lo “misterioso” de losarquetipos. De modo que podría decirse que este es un libro quasi introductorio a su gran enciclopedia ilustrada de los símbolos tradicionales.
Dejaré aquí la reseña completa que hice por aquel entonces.
El libro Simbolismo: Lenguaje Universal es un rico sumario de los símbolos más característicos de la tradición universal, y cuando hablamos de símbolo, este no puede ser más que universal, en el sentido más lato de la palabra, puesto que ha sido encunado, concebido, codificado y proporcionado por todas las civilizaciones existentes desde tiempos remotísimos y en una gran pluralidad de vertientes culturales, de hecho, ni siquiera podemos afirmar que se trata de una invención netamente intelectual, es decir, que tenga en tal o cual país o civilización un origen determinado, pues, ciertamente, el símbolo comprende más que un factor “intelectivo”, un factor “intuitivo”; de modo que pertenece más bien al ámbito humano por excelencia, ya que los símbolos encierran un
significado arquetípico interior que conduce a la sublimidad de la conciencia colectiva, tiene “la virtud de contener en unas cuantas líneas convencionales el pensamiento de distintas épocas y los sueños del genero humano. Enciende la imaginación y nos lleva al reino del pensamiento no verbal”. Este pensamiento no es el del yo individual; el símbolo no puede crearse artificialmente o inventarse por mor de una interpretación y capricho exclusivamente personales: trasciende lo individual para alcanzar lo universal y es innato en la vida del espíritu.
Bajo estas premisas universales la autora nos presenta los simbolismos esenciales de mayor connotación arquetípica, o por lo menos los símbolos más acuciantes dentro de la relación arquetipo-símbolo que han sido más remanidos en la tradición universal como son: el simbolismo del centro, el hogar, el umbral, el círculo, la cruz y el cuadrado, el árbol, las serpientes y dragones, así como otros animales, flores y frutos que han formado parte del entramado simbólico universal; asimismo dedica varios capítulos a los rituales que igualmente han permanecido dentro de estos mismos parámetros ecuménicos como son los ritos de iniciación, las festividades, los juegos y las
representaciones teatrales, sin dejar por fuera, claro está, los simbolismos de los números, el cuerpo y la indumentaria que no dejan de concentrar lo “misterioso” de losarquetipos. De modo que podría decirse que este es un libro quasi introductorio a su gran enciclopedia ilustrada de los símbolos tradicionales.
May 14, 2014
Incredible book. Absolutely thrilled with the fact that I bought this.
WHAT an insight into the pseudo-science of symbols, as they have been used throughout the human ages!!
It's hard to put into words, the realizations you make about this world and our human history while reading this book.
A lot of higher-level philosophical embodiments are embedded within most symbols, as well as pagan culture. Quite eye-opening.
The book is laid out in the form of an encyclopaedia/dictionary, with the each designated word written in bold, followed by an explanation.
Every two pages include pictures or images, regarding the described symbols. The images really add extra quality to the book.
Definitely the type of book you'd always want to have in your library, for instant referencing when needed. A useful addition indeed.
WHAT an insight into the pseudo-science of symbols, as they have been used throughout the human ages!!
It's hard to put into words, the realizations you make about this world and our human history while reading this book.
A lot of higher-level philosophical embodiments are embedded within most symbols, as well as pagan culture. Quite eye-opening.
The book is laid out in the form of an encyclopaedia/dictionary, with the each designated word written in bold, followed by an explanation.
Every two pages include pictures or images, regarding the described symbols. The images really add extra quality to the book.
Definitely the type of book you'd always want to have in your library, for instant referencing when needed. A useful addition indeed.
August 12, 2010
I purchased this wonderful book years ago in a little New Age shop in Minneapolis. While I was browsing, the shopkeeper came up to me and simply said "I really feel you should have this book." Another reviewer called this "indispensable" and I couldn't agree more. I reference this book on a regular basis, whether trying to interpret dreams/visions, understand the world of religions, design a tattoo, appreciate ancient art, etc. Its uses are endless. Keep it on your bedside table.
November 6, 2010
Although not designed as a dream symbolism book for me its the best "dream" book: it helps you see so many dimensions from different cultures and often surpisies me with the sheer richness of human symbols. Its also delightfully concise.
October 13, 2012
An alphabetical listing of topics and ideas. Each of the ideas or topics has a discussion about the various symbols that were just to convey it. The symbols come from a variety of heritages. Many pictures showing a symbol are provided as part of the symbol.
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January 31, 2013Great overview of symbols across many different times and cultures. Brief yet exhaustive amount of entries to prompt further research. Great as a thesaurus of imagery for creatives! I rarely don't have this to hand...
September 2, 2015
An interesting appraisal of elements of symbolism throughout the world, and different cultures. I found that the book was a little deficient in some areas, and other areas were perhaps a little verbose, where a more concise summary would have done.
March 25, 2009
Indispensible
November 4, 2010
Recommended from a illustrator. Great source of inspiration from an artist standpoint and comprehensive look at symbols and their meanings. Indispensable reference point.
January 30, 2015
Es una buena fuente de introducción de símbolos tradicionales.
November 24, 2020
Siempre es bueno darse una vueltita por este tipo de libros. Es una buena fuente de consulta.
September 29, 2009
The surprising machinations symbolism has gone throught to the present day.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews