The Element Encyclopedia of Secret Signs and Symbols
The Ultimate A-Z Guide from Alchemy to the Zodiac
Adele Nozedar
HarperElement
An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
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HarperElement is a trademark of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
The material in this book is taken from The Element Encyclopedia of Secret Signs and Symbols, first published by HarperElement in 2008
© Adele Nozedar 2008
Adele Nozedar asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
Illustrations from Tarot de Marseille Convos reproduced by permission of AGM AGMüller, CH-8212 Neuhausen, Switzerland.
© 1999 AGM AGMüller. Further reproduction prohibited.
A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
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Source ISBN: 9780007283965
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Version: 2019-07-29
For Adam and for the seven secrets
‘In every grain of sand there lies Hidden the soil of a star’
Arthur Machen
‘I do not need a leash or a tie To lead me astray In the land where dreams lie’
Yoav
In Nature’s temple, living pillars rise Speaking sometimes in words of abstruse sense; Man walks through woods of symbols, dark and dense, Which gaze at him with fond familiar eyes.
Like distant echoes blent in the beyond In unity, in a deep darksome way, Vast as black night and vast as splendent day, Perfumes and sounds and colors correspond.
From “Correspondences,” Charles Baudelaire
Table of Contents
Part One Signs and Symbols of Magic and Mystery
Part Four Flowers of the Underworld
Part Five Sacred Geometry and Places of Pilgrimage
Part Seven Sacred Sounds, Secret Signs
Part Eight The Body as a Sacred Map
Part Nine Rites and Rituals, Customs and Observances
Part Ten The Nature of the Divine
The aim of this book is to seek a true understanding of the secret signs, sacred symbols, and other indicators of the arcane, hidden world that are so thickly clustered around us. During this process, we’ll shed light on the cultural, psychological, and anthropological nature of our signs and symbols. We’ll also be surprised to discover that many of the everyday things we take for granted can hold hidden secrets, and by having the key to this knowledge we’ll gain an insight into the minds and concerns of our forbears who constructed these symbols.
NO BEGINNING, NO END: ANATOMY OF A SIMPLE SYMBOL
Rodin said, “Man never invented anything new, only discovered things.” While it’s true to say that some symbols have been man-made for a specific purpose, it’s equally accurate to argue that everything is inspired in some way by the natural world around us, by the forms of nature, plants, animals, the elements. Even a reaction against the fluid forms of nature is generally inspired by a desire to provide an alternative. Sometimes the revelation of a natural symbol is immediate; other such discoveries are the result of years of painstaking observation.
One of our simplest symbols has elaborate and arcane origins.
Here is a picture, not of a manmade or computer-generated pattern, but of the shape made in the sky by the Planet Venus. Venus is the only planet whose dance around the Sun in the depths of space describes such a definite and distinctive form, and we can only imagine the sense of wonder that must have been felt by the ancient Akkadians who first charted the design. They also realized that the Morning Star and the Evening Star, previously considered to be two separate celestial bodies, were one and the same. This discovery had a profound effect, which has cast such a long shadow over the archeology of symbols that we are still governed by it today. Here’s why.
Because