A Dictionary Of Symbols
Byj. E. Cirlot
Translated from the Spanish by Jack Sage. Foreword by Herbert Read. Symbolism was an essential part of the ancient art of the Orient and of the medieval tradition in the West. It has been lately revived in the study of the unconscious, both directly in the field of dreams, visions and psycho-analysis, and indirectly in art and poetry. At the same time, the Gestalt theory of Kohler and Koffka, in pointing out the autonomy of ‘facts and expression’ and the parallel between the physical and the spiritual, has given renewed significance to the ancient principle of the Tabula smaragdina,‘What is above is what is below’. The basic aim of this work is to create a ‘centre’ of general reference for sym- bological studies by clarifying the unvarying essential meaning of every symbol. The author uses the comparative method, specifying the precise sources of information taken from a great number of widely varying fields. This new edition of J.E. Cirlot’s book incorporates extensive revisions from the first edition of 1962.
NY. Philosophical Library, Inc. 1962. 497p.