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Traditional symbols form a visual shorthand for ideas, yet their functions and meaning extend far beyond that--for thousands of years they have enabled artists and craftsmen to embody and reinforce beliefs about human life in immediate and powerful images. This accessible and comprehensive guide features more than 2,000 major themes from Absinthe to the Zodiac: figures and symbols found in myth, literature and art, as well as those that have entered into the mainstream of everyday life. Covering classical and other mythologies, Biblical themes and traditional symbols from cultures across the world, this wonderful dictionary has thorough yet concise entries on individual animals, plants, objects, supernatural creatures, mythical episodes, miracles, and many other topics.