Customer Reviews

Lost Language of Symbolism Volume 1 (Vol I)

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

 

 

A weird, wonderful and cranky book. The author advises you to skip the first few chapters because they are a bit obsessive and not very interesting to most people (they are actually fascinating, but it's great to see modesty in an author). The symbolic meaning of watermarks is explained, but that's just the start, soon the book gets in full swing going off on fascinating tangents left right and centre. Ancient myths, the masons, rosicrucians & templars .Lots of highly speculative etymology of words like "cucumber" (translated as "mighty-fire-father" if I remember right). Smashing stuff. Read it and be confused

Harold Bayley's work will imortalize this scholar. His global linking of myth, legend and fact is a milestone. This wreat work was written long before the word "diffusion" was outlawed from scholarly endevour. Bayley correctly points out the global scale and diffusion of myth, legend tales and symbolism. The sections concerning Lugh, Hu, Stonehenge and Avebury are must reading for every scholar of the ancients.

This is an unaltered reprint of a book published in 1912. It's primarily interesting as an example of what amateur scholars (especially in Britain) were putting out in that era. Cranky and usually hilariously offbase, but often fun to read. The author's etymological speculations are remarkable: a supposed root AK is the basis of Heracles, zodiac, yak (the animal), akbar ('great' in Arabic): ironically, the correct etymologies of these items were already well-known in 1912, though not, it would seem, to Mr. Bayley. The author's analysis of the Cinderella story will leave your head spinning!

As stated by the author in the introduction, he's fully aware how open his position are to attack, anyway it is better to run some risk of ridicule rather than ignore or suppress clues that under more accomplished hands may yield discoveries of high and wide interest.

This is so true, as any scholar has to be open to new discoveries and take nothing for granted either. It's not only about symbols, but the way science must operate as history itself is such a wide land of omissions and uniformitarian positions which more often than what is publicly accepted fails to reveal its true face because of dogmas and bias.

Great book, a really true inquiry into humankind's origin.

One of the best books I have found to truly outline symbolism in not just religion but also in myths, fairy tales, legends and signs. I greatly recommend it for its incredible depth and insight.

This onetime popular (Some might call it a landmark work) tome by Harold Bayley was first published in 1912 and has gone through several publications since that time. This 2006 Dover publication is an exact and unabridged one-volume republication of Volumes I and II of the original work which was published in England.

There are a couple of items that need to be noted before a person reads or, more importantly, purchases this work. There has been some confusion over the past several years as to the author. The author of this work is Harold Bayley. It is NOT Harold Walter Bailey the noted English scholar, linguist and one of the greatest Orientalists of the twentieth century. Doctor Bailey died in 1996. Both men published a book with a very similar title....double check the author's name before you make your purchase.

Our Harold Bayley, the author of this book, was, as another reviewer has pointed out, a rather eccentric Englishman; an amateur, granted a well educated one, but simply did not have all of the academic credentials or background of Bailey. I am not sure why, but I have run across several discussions and reviews where these two men have been mixed up.

It should also be noted that when reading this work, it is most helpful to have some previous knowledge of the subject. Some of the statements this author makes, some of his assertions, some of his "facts" can best and most kindly be described as imaginative. Folks, I simply do not know where some of this man's statements came from or what is thought process was in coming to many of his conclusions.

But all that being said....

I do love this work. It can be used by either reading right through it, cover to cover, or it can be used as a reference book for research. As a matter of fact the only reason I laid my hands on it to begin with was that I was very interested in what the author had to say about the age old story of Cinderella. After reading this section I was hooked.

Bayley covers a lot of ground in this work from the origins of Santa Claus to Cinderella and how symbolism has played a role in fairy tales, religion, mythology and folklore. It explains why we are still influenced by it to this very day.

This work is accompanied by more than 1,400 illustrations, from the very primitive to the extremely sophisticated. It should be noted that the portion of this book which is in fact volume II of the original delves into the sacred and mystic world.

The author can be cranky and funny; all in the same paragraph. He is extremely exact and the work is very well footnoted.

Now don't take me wrong. I am not putting this work down...not in the least. A reader will glean much good information from its pages and most certainly will be given a great amount of food for though. I will say though that the reader must consider the source and not take everything the author has said as gospel or written in stone. I am giving this one five stars not because it is the beginning and end of all books covering this subject, but because it is an absolute hoot to read and just chucked full of interesting bits of this and that and I highly recommend its reading if you are interested in such matters.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks