Up: [[Symbols]] Created: 2025-10-25 ### General Dictionaries - *The Book of Symbols: Reflections on Archetypal Images* by The Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism (ARAS) This was the first symbol book I purchased. If you want visual images, it is the gold standard. It’s from Taschen, the art book publisher, so it is gorgeously designed and filled with colour plates of symbols as they are represented by different cultures at different times. It consists of five sections: Creation and Cosmos, Plant World, Animal World, Human World, Spirit World. ARAS is an organization in New York that houses 18,000 images, accompanied by scholarly commentary, collected over an 80 year period. You can search the [archives online](https://aras.org/archive-search?keywords=unicorn), and also participate free of charge in their superb range of programs. - *A Dictionary of Symbols* Revised and Expanded by Juan Eduardo Cirlot Recommended by my analyst and very useful. It has far fewer images than ARAS and they’re small and in black and white. So if you’re an artist looking for ideas, go with ARAS online or the book. But Cirlot is super comprehensive with thousands of listings and a superb cross-referencing index. - *An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Traditional Symbols* by J.C. Cooper In terms of illustrations, this one would be between Cirlot and ARAS. It has photographic plates rather than Cirlot’s sketches, but they’re all in black and white and there’s only one per symbol rather than ARAS’s several. Like Cirlot, this book is a dictionary with listings in alphabetical order. It’s good, but I don’t find it as comprehensive as Cirlot and it doesn’t have an index. - *Ariadne’s Clue: A Guide to the Symbols of Humankind* by Anthony Stevens This is a scholarly work by a Jungian analyst and psychiatrist. The first section is about symbols and then it’s followed by four sections: the physical environment; culture and psyche; people, animals and plants, and the body. There’s good information here but it’s more difficult to find things because there are two indexes, a general one and a symbol one. Unfortunately, there’s also a mismatch between the page number listed in the index and the actual page where the information can be found. - *Signs & Symbols: An illustrated guide to their origins and meanings* Dorling Kindersley Like all DK books, this one is loaded with images all displayed in beautifully designed two pages spreads. Information, though, is sparse, often just a caption for each image. ### From a Feminist Perspective > [!Orbit] Barbara Walker in *The Woman’s Dictionary of Symbols and Sacred Objects* > While it is true that symbols are whatever one cares to make of them, it is also true that Western civilization’s symbolism has gone in directions that ignore or belittle the female principle. A case in point is that women have been encouraged to worship a cross, which is known to have been a phallic symbol throughout most of its historical career. There are dozens of time-honoured female symbols that would be more appropriate for contemplation by women seeking contact with their own inner essence. (p. xi) * *The Woman’s Dictionary of Symbols and Sacred Objects* by Barbara Walker The 753 entries are organized by the shape of the symbol or the type of sacred object so there are sections with titles like ‘Round and Oval Motifs’, ‘Secular-Sacred Objects’ and ‘Body Parts’. An index makes this book easy to reference. There are black and white sketched illustrations throughout the book. They are good for sketching or photocopying if you aren’t confident in your drawing skills. - *The Woman’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets* by Barbara Walker This isn’t a symbol dictionary but I’m including it here because it gives feminist interpretations of word origins, legends, superstitions and customs from pre-patriachal times. ### Animals - *Animal Life in Nature, Myth and Dreams* by Elizabeth Caspari Another recommendation from my analyst and absolutely indispensable if there are animals in your dreams. It has entries, organized alphabetically, from Albatross to Zebra, each with a photograph, basic information including habitat, weight, longevity etc, and then detailed information including what the animal’s various behaviours often symbolize in our dreams. - *Animal Power* by Alyson Charles I love the art in this book which is a full page vibrant graphic style for each animal from alligator to zebra. However, I don’t take it seriously as a symbol dictionary. It’s really intended for looking up your spirit animal, what the author calls power animal, and finding out what ‘energy medicine’ the animal brings and what ‘power practice’ you can employ. I’ve included it here because I use it as a second source after consulting Caspari to see if there’s similarity between the two books. There almost always is, but it’s only useful if you’ve read Caspari’s account first. ### Birds - *Ornithography: An Illustrated Guide to Bird Lore & Symbolism* by Jessica Roux This is a new purchase I haven’t explored yet. I bought it because Roux is a best-selling illustrator who has done a full page painting for each of 100 birds and given both keywords as to their symbolism and a paragraph of lore about the bird. The index is by symbolic meaning. - *Bird Magic: Wisdom of the Ancient Goddess for Pagans & Wiccans* Another new purchase I haven’t used. This looks like it might be a cross between Caspari and Charles’s animal books. It has the basic information of Caspari and the 'magical workings’ and ‘make connection’ of Charles. There’s a small black and white illustration of each bird.