Originally published: New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 2006.

Offers photograph illustrations and essays on numerous symbols and symbolic imagery, exploring their archetypal meanings as well as cultural and historical context for how different groups have interpreted them.

Womack offers a concise and easy-to-read overview of the power and meaning of symbols in all human societies. She describes how symbols_images, words, or behaviors with multi-layered meanings_are mechanism of communication. She demonstrates how we experience the power of symbols in all aspects of human life: birth, death, love, sexual desire, and the need for food and shelter. Womack investigates the use of symbols in the language of religion, healing, politics, social organization and control, popular culture, psychology, philosophy, semiotics, magic and expressive culture, including art, aesthetics, literature, theater, sports, and music. The author's eclectic, anthropological approach incorporates the social, conceptual and psychological dynamics of symbols. Her new book is an essential introductory textbook for courses that define fundamental concepts in religion, cultural anthropology, communication, and art.

Introduction to Art: Design, Context, and Meaning offers a deep insight and comprehension of the world of Art. Contents: What is Art? The Structure of Art Significance of Materials Used in Art Describing Art - Formal Analysis, Types, and Styles of Art Meaning in Art - Socio-Cultural Contexts, Symbolism, and Iconography Connecting Art to Our Lives Form in Architecture Art and Identity Art and Power Art and Ritual Life - Symbolism of Space and Ritual Objects, Mortality, and Immortality Art and Ethics

Discusses the elements of a sign, and looks at pictograms, alphabets, calligraphy, monograms, text type, numerical signs, symbols, and trademarks.

How did a symbol such as the cross, which today is so commonly associated with Christianity, come to appear in the pre-Columbian art of Central America? Why does the crow stand for death, evil and bad luck in Europe - but signify a creative and civilising force in Native American culture? Every traditional symbol bears an elemental power that transcends boundaries and holds significance for many cultures. But the ways in which we interpret such power have varied tremendously around the world and through the ages. In Symbols and their Meanings, author and art historian Jack Tresidder explores core symbols from across global cultures, through themes common to the world's spiritual imagination. Thought-provoking and visually stunning, Symbols and their Meanings offers a uniquely accessible compendium of symbols and symbol systems, and shows how the profound messages conveyed by symbols have enriched the world's cultural and spiritual heritage.