The Element Encyclopedia of Secret Signs and Symbols. Adele Nozedar

      

      The Element Encyclopedia of Secret Signs and Symbols

      The Ultimate A-Z Guide from Alchemy to the Zodiac

      Adele Nozedar

       Copyright

      HarperElement

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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

      Ebook Edition © DECEMBER 2009

      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

       Cover Page

       Title Page

Copyright

       Epigraph

       Introduction

       Part One Signs and Symbols of Magic and Mystery

Part Two Fauna

Part Three Flora

       Part Four Flowers of the Underworld

       Part Five Sacred Geometry and Places of Pilgrimage

       Part Six Numbers

       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

       About the Publisher

       INTRODUCTION

      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