The ancients attached the utmost importance to the significance of trees, their poetic and impressive language. We find this when we read the Scriptures, look at our oriental rugs, or examine a Gothic cathedral. -from "Trees" What did the dolphin symbolize to the ancient Egyptians? What color is traditionally associated with the intellectual discipline of philosophy? Why did the English and Irish dread the coming of a banshee? This highly browsable and amazingly informative little volume, first published in 1912, is a guide to ancient symbology-including trees, colors, numbers, animals, angels, fabulous creatures, demons, gems, and crosses and other geometric and architectural forms-that offers the reader at a glance the interrelated crosscultural context for emblems of power, magic, and meaning. Artists and designers will find enormous inspiration, readers of mythology will find necessary grounding, and the merely curious will find endlessly engaging historical tidbits.
