The unvarying essential meanings of around 1,000 symbols and symbolic themes commonly found in the art, literature and thought of all cultures through the ages are clarified.

`Images and their significance defined in a remarkable reference work.' - Linda O'Callaghan, Sunday Telegraph

`The author's erudition shines through the several hundred items in the dictionary, many of them scholarly essays in their own right. A volume for browsing and learning.' - Psychological Medicine