An alphabetical reference with more than 1,500 entries that trace symbols to their cultural, religious, or mythological origins, and explain the hidden or encoded meaning that lies concealed beneath objects' and concepts' ordinary, outward appearance.

"Tracing symbols to their cultural, religious, or mythological origins, The Element Encyclopedia of Symbols explores a wealth of objects and concepts, and the hidden or encoded meaning that lies concealed beneath their ordinary, outward appearance. Entries range from examples of metaphor and allegory to the symbolic meanings of numbers, letters, astrological and alchemical characters, as well as a rich array of abstract concepts that find their tanglible expression in the universal language of symbols."--BOOK COVER.

Animals and their symbolism in diverse world cultures and different eras of human history are chronicled in this lovely volume.

This lavishly produced voulume is the first reference work to focus on the symbols, meaning, and significance of art in native, or indigenous, cultures.

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.