Customer Reviews

The Secret Language of Symbols: A Visual Key to Symbols and Their Meanings

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a splendid book. It's chock-full of wonderful illustrations covering topics as diverse as can be, from astrology to Heraldic animals, the four elements to the Kabbalah. In the introduction we are given an overview of various schools of thought about symbols, including Jungian as well as various culteral perspectives.

The chapters of the book include: The Power of Symbols; The World of Symbols; The Uses of Symbols; and Symbol Systems. Covered topics include: Gods; Myths; Ritual, Magic and Prayer; Dream Symbols; Mandalas and Yantras; Mazes and Labyrinths; Numbers and Sounds; Colors; Animals; Dragons and Serpents; Hybred Creatures; Trees; Flowers and Plants; the Elements; the Sun, Moon, and Stars; Good and Evil; Gods and Goddesses; Witches, Priests and Wizards; the Tarot; Astrology; Chakras; the I Ching; and more.

There is also an excellent index, glossary, and suggested further reading list. All in all a wealth of information, both written and visual well worth buying.

I've been really interested in symbols and this book gives a good overview of a wide variety - it cuts across all sorts of religions and categorizes symbols into chapters that make comparison easy. I particularly like the chapter on the Natural World where elements such as trees are discussed across many cultures. Really neat. I have the 1993 edition and the pictures are terrific. I say that this is an intro to symbols because I'm sure a whole chapter or book could be written on something like sun, moon and stars which in this book is given two pages. Great overview though. I really like how comprehensive it is in terms of breadth.

From what I can see, the content is the same as the 1994 edition, however, the pages are so small that many illustrations are printed over onto 2 pages. The colors are better in the 1994 edition also.

Buy the 1994 edition, it is beautifully illustrated, with descriptions are complete, without boring you too much information.

This is one of the first books that sparked my interest in symbolism, its origins and meanings. It's done in an easy to read way w/ mostly color illustrations. While symbolism detail is brief, it does enough to spark the interest to want more. I really enjoyed it as a casual read and moved on to other more informative texts in specific areas based on the book.

A wonderful book. The highly readable text & awesome selection of fine arts illustrations make "The Secret Language of Symbols" one of the best in its genre. While it will serve well as an introductory book to various oracular & spiritual symbols, it offers much for the expert, also. It is extremely important that everyone who relies on oracles & predictive astrology go behind those useful functions to the deep foundations of life-affirming poetry & metaphor that are always present. You will feel closer to the natural world no matter where you live, & your heart & your brain will be more cooperative with each other.

Bob Rixon

This book is set up differently from others I've seen in that it is divided into categories such as plants, animals, water, etc. The result is an easier reference than some other books I've used. Definitions are well-written.... as if the author is speaking with you rather than dictating dry facts. The illustrations are lovely, too. On the downside, the illustrations take up space that may otherwise have been used for additional listings. This book is, I think, a matter of quality over quantity, which is fine for me.

On the positive side: The book is full of color illustrations, ranging from the banal to fairly decent reproductions of art or other visual representations; it's a nice (pocket) size if you want to read it on the go -- I don't know why anyone would, however -- but big enough to be readable in an armchair. In addition, there are several symbols that I just wasn't familiar with (e.g. Eastern religious symbols), so it is educational, to an extent

On the negative side: I could have written the captions/descriptions for most of the symbols I'm familiar with, which causes me to wonder if those symbols I'm unfamiliar with bear equally trite and pedestrian explanation. Yes, I think it's common sense that monks represent piety, or that the phoenix is a symbol of resurrection and immortality. In addition, I feel that the symbols I know a good deal about aren't given the explanations they deserve; for example, Aesclepius (Greek god of healing) isn't even mentioned in the caption under "Caduceus," which has gradually come to be a symbol of the medical profession. And the prevalent Medieval/Renaissance symbol of the "memento mori" isn't even included in the book. Lastly, there are a few typographical errors that the edition's content was prepared sloppily, in general.

Overall, this edition is not worth it. If you're looking for a specific type of symbol resource, I would look into a book geared toward that field (e.g. Occult Symbology). Otherwise, Jung has several published resources you might consider (regarding Archetypes or Alchemy symbology). Go with those instead.

I got this book as a gift, and as gifts go, I can deal with it. The commissioned artwork by Hannah Firmin ranges from mediocre to horrible, but fortunately it only accounts for about half of the book's illustration. The other half includes decent reproductions of many beautiful and rarely-seen paintings, statues, manuscripts, etc., both ancient and modern. As for the text, its perusal "may be omitted with advantage." It is just sufficiently quaint and insipid enough to meet one's general expectation of this sort of book. Anyway, in spite of its flaws I do refer to it from time to time as a visual resource. Also "Art and Symbols of the Occult" by James Wasserman, a similar compendium of rare and fascinating images with unnecessary text. There are lots of books out there of a precisely similar nature.

This book gives a broad overview of many types, origins, and uses of symbols. Is worth reviewing, but will not make one an expert.

Lots of information, there of course could always be more. There are aspects to lots of the different symbols presented that could be expanded upon. For a "short" book on the subject, it does a great job of giving an overview of many many different symbols, religions, mytholgies, and histories.