Customer Reviews

Ariadne's Clue: A Guide to the Symbols of Humankind

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one of the most important, scholarly yet immmensely readable and accessible books on the subject of symbols, dreams and man's search and need for meaning written in recent years. The author's style is direct and lucid. He bridges the mystical and scientific in a way that few can do. In so doing brings the reader to a level of understanding which reflects the author's own evolutionary biological perspective, yet all the while paying homage to the miraculous function of the numinous in the human psyche. Anyone interested in dreams and symbols, their biological, psychological and spiritual significance should read this beautifully written book. Any person pursuing their own analysis or training in analytical psychology, dynamic psychotherapy or psychology will be edified and much enriched by it. It is a gem to be bought, treasured, read and re-read many times.

I have worked with over a dozen symbol dictionaries. This one holds promise. If I am reading through the pages with no particular goal in mind it is intriguing, fun and sometimes has a unique perspective compared to my other texts. It is fairly rich in content for many of the symbols. Unfortunately when intentionally searching for a specific symbol through the index, the page numbers listed were often frankly wrong -- by more than a page or two. Very frustrating. Unfortunate. Now I find myself reaching less and less often to even try this resource. I would suspect that this is more a publisher/editor technical problem, than it is the the fault of the author. If the indexing is fixed in future editions, my rating would likely improve substantially.

Perhaps I should keep my book for pleasure and they should (thoughtfully not haphazardly) turn it into a Kindle product to solve the indexing problem.

A book rich in many ways. It shows how man is tightly bound to his/her archetypes and evolutionary history. Almost everything humans feel, think, do, or fantasize has roots in evolution. Symbols are representing the archaic longings and perceptions that were incorporated into our brain/mind.

The only problem I had was that the language of the writing, although very rich in content, was unnecessarily tangled and complex. Such complexity did not add to the value of the writing. It just made it less enjoyable to read.

Overalll, however, a very good book that gives one insights to the depths of human evolutionary nature. I recommend it.

The introductory chapters are quite useful to understand man's relationship with symbols, but as I see it, the major goal of the book is to provide an inventory of the most frequently occuring and most obvious symbols. They are grouped around given topics and are briefly described. I liked the general introduction better than the symbol descriptions, which I found too short and general.

This is an excellent ultra-Darwinian analysis of archetypal material. The best book written on the subject. I have always wondered the origins of the social taboos and customs, and found answers in this book. Strongly recommended.

Steven's has presented another landmark book in his continuing endeavor to forge Jungian psychology into a comprehensive field that incorporates evolutionary psychology and places it on a firm empirical basis. This is a must for any psychology buff and represents part of a revolutionary frontier in the study of the human mind. I highly recommend Stevens and Price's "Evolutionary Psychiatry: A New Beginning".

if i could give more than 5 stars, ill wholeheartedly give this book the rating it deserves! i guess anyone who believes that dreams are indispensable in leading us towards the fulfillment of our destiny (individua tion)should definitely read this book. ariadne's thread indeed serves its name right as it almost literally makes our journey in the labyrinthe easier. reading this book also made me fully understand and appreciate the phenomenology of the numinous which remained quite murky for me before encountering ARIADNE'S THREAD. i hope that reading this book will be of help to you readers, as much as it has been an illuminating experience for me. let's give this book and anthony stevens a standing ovation :)

I have read both the above book and Private Myths by Dr. Stevens, and learned a great deal. The author writes clearly and energetically. There is one suggestion I'd like to make. For those of us who do not have a religion in which the term "God" is meaningful, I would like to recommend using the word "Nature" when indicating "highest" cosmic power.This term is consistent with Jung's position, and certainly will resonant with peoples wuch as Asian (I am one), American Indians and most others.

This is a book gives significance and meaning to everything that pops in your head. It is filled with possible representations of things that you would otherwise, look over. I don't always agree, yet it is filled with interesting and somewhat new theories about dreams.