A Dictionary of Symbols (original 1971; edition 2002)

Endlessly fascinating. Kind of a bible for me. ( )

I used to hoard symbol dictionaries and this is one of my favorites. Each book entry has enough information without being overly detailed or scholarly. Many entries include a 'Jung interuptation' of the symbol, along with references to art, world mythology or literature. Pictures are also included and render decently on tablet eReaders.

Cirlot was born in Barcelona in 1916 and became interested in the symbolism of modern art. He believed symbols were present in all art and had a psychological interpretation. Art eventually moved from the symbolic to "states of feeling" and the symbolic art was lost. This led Cirlot to study symbolism and he later wrote this book.

Below is the entry on butterflies.
Among the ancients, an emblem of the soul and of unconscious attraction towards the light. The purification of the soul by fire, represented in Romanesque art by the burning ember placed by the angel in the prophet's mouth, is visually portrayed on a small Mattei urn by means of an image of love holding a butterfly close to a flame. The Angel of Death was represented by the Gnostics as a winged foot crushing a butterfly, from which we may deduce that the butterfly was equated with life rather than with the soul in the sense of the spirit or transcendent being. This also explains why psychoanalysis regards the butterfly as a symbol of re-birth. In China, it has the secondary meaning of joy and conjugal bliss. [A Dictionary of Symbols by Juan Cirlot P366] ( )

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LOVE this book! As it is compiled by a poet, the references encompass art, language, philosophy and mystical subjects giving it dimensions lacking in other symbology reference works. One of my favourites!! :) ( )

An interesting book just to peruse through at random. ( )