Symbols and Their Hidden Meanings: The Mysterious Significance and Forgotten Origins of Signs and Symbols in the Modern World

Our world is constructed out of symbolic abstractions, each with their own assumptions and messages that speak to us on the deepest levels. Some are banal and designed to be obvious. Others are manipulative, like the towering height of a cathedral nave, meant to inspire religious awe. Some are mysterious, occluded, left as messages and signposts to the few who understood, such as the traditional alchemical teachings of the Rose Cross. From the heights of religious art to the cultural depths of gang tattoos, hidden meaning is encoded into every aspect of society. Symbols explores this hidden world, looking at over 100 of the most powerful, evocative, mysterious and exciting of those that are present in the world today.