Symnbols.net

This site is all about the myriads of ways humans express and communicate ideas, thoughts, feelings, beliefs, hopes, dreams, and even nightmares. Civilizations, religions and cultures, and even families, clubs and gangs, have found unique ways to encode their understandings of themselves and the world through symbolism.

The menu on the left provides links to the many categories of symbols offered here.
For example, click:
Ancient to explore Ancient Symbols,
History to explore History of Symbols, or
Religious for Religious Symbolism.

Since Symbols.Net is a directory, much of what it does for you is provide links to other websites which may contain the information you are seeking. But there is also significant information provided right here at Symbols.Net.

Example:

This sample of african "Adinkra" symbols is from: Adinkra Symbols of West Africa
An illustrated guide to the African symbols called Adinkra used in Ghana, West Africa, with an adinkra index and high-quality adinkra images.
www.welltempered.net/adinkra/

Embroidered Textiles: A World Guide to Traditional Patterns

Embroidered Textiles: A World Guide to Traditional Patterns

Product Description
The only worldwide survey of embroidered textiles: a remarkable visual panorama.

Embroidery has been practiced for thousands of years, and the variety is astonishing: gold-embroidered Chinese court insignia, landscape-worked Japanese kimonos, Sumatran sarongs, Indian saris, Afghan chain-stitched purses, Turkish napkin borders, Ghanaian patchwork banners, Egyptian head shawls, Moroccan cushion covers, Hungarian sheepskin jerkins, Slovakian bed curtains, German folk dress, Dutch bonnets, Breton coifs, Sicilian ecclesiastical cloths, Spanish sleeves, North American Indian quillwork pouches, Mexican blouses, Panamanian molas, Peruvian Nasca textiles, and more.

The book is organized into four main sections, covering every aspect of embroidered textiles:
•Guide to Identification: the key fabrics, materials, stitches, motifs, and styles;
• The Decorative Power of Cult: recurrent mythological symbols, including Great Goddess figures, Trees of Life, and symbols of the Hunt;
• Religion and Its Patterns: the main symbols of all the major religious and spiritual systems;
• The Magic of Embroidery: protective and strengthening devices rooted in ancient beliefs and superstitions.

There are 500 illustrations (over 360 in color), including specially taken color photographs, maps, line drawings, and a dictionary of stitches. Complete with a glossary, a guide to textile collections around the world, and advice on collecting and conserving textiles, this comprehensive survey, now in an enhanced format and completely revised, will be invaluable to anyone interested in fashion, textiles, crafts, and design.

About the Author
Sheila Paine is a world expert on tribal societies and textiles.

Art Doll Adventures: Exploring Projects and Processes through Cultural Traditions

Art Doll Adventures: Exploring Projects and Processes through Cultural Traditions

Product Description

Doll-making inspired by cultural icons

Finding meaning in your art is one thing; doing it for the fun of the creation is another. How do they go together? Making dolls inspired by cultural icons brings new meaning to your work and helps you connect with larger universal truths. Doll makers are very conscious of and interested in the history of the human/female figure and cultural icons, and often use them as starting points for their designs. Spirit dolls, African icons, goddess figures, and Hopi katichinas are all popular forms.

Using history as a starting point, Lisa-Li Hertzi has created five exciting doll projects, inspired by five very different cultural and historical icons/figures. Through the projects, she explores the creative process, the meaning and significance of each figure, and teaches techniques that doll makers are currently experimenting with: journaling, collage, mixed media, and found objects. Each doll is presented as a step-by-step project with complete instructions, and is followed by a gallery featuring interpretations by leading doll artists of the same cultural figure. Fantastic full color illustrations and patterns by the author are included.

About the Author

Lisa-Li Hertzi is a professional illustrator, graphic designer, and artist, and runs the art department for Squadra Inc. USA. She is known for her eclectic line of cloth doll patterns, ranging from the Boulder Goddess which is based very roughly on the Venus of Willendorf, to Lilly, a Feisty cowgirl to the EarthSky Man, who was inspired by a raft trip down the Colorado River. She is a popular teacher, using both her patterns and classes to explore art, science, history, the figure, color, and more.

Masks: Faces of Culture

Masks: Faces of Culture

From Library Journal
Companion to an exhibition currently at the Saint Louis Art Museum, this volume is exactly what it claims to be: a survey of the phenomenon of masks. On the surface, this may seem to be a simple undertaking, but it is not. Mask-making is a deeply human endeavor fraught with meanings. Starting with prehistory and extending to the present age, this book thoroughly examines the many reasons for making and wearing masks. Rites of passage, warfare, and drama are all addressed, from the earliest known examples in Egypt, Australia, and MesoAmerica to football helmets and Star Wars characters in the present day. Six fascinating essays, including contributions by John Emigh (theater, Brown Univ.) and Lesley Ferris (theater, Ohio State Univ.), are interconnected by stunning illustrations. This is definitely the book for anyone wishing to sample the subject. Highly recommended. A Susan M. Olcott, Columbus, OH

Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

1000 Symbols: What Shapes Mean in Art and Myth

1000 Symbols: What Shapes Mean in Art and Myth

From Library Journal
The authors, both British art historians, are joined by 12 other experts in this field to present an amazing array of multicultural interpretations of the world as condensed into symbolic images. They define a symbol as "something that a particular culture considers to mean something else." Each entry features a blue line drawing of the symbol in a generalized pictographic style. Although the quantity of images could have been overwhelming, the symbols are extremely well organized into numbered columns that correspond with the alphabetical front index, or "symbol finder." This index is invaluable because the text itself is composed of eight thematic chapters, among them "Heaven and Earth," "Characters and People," and "Objects and Artifacts." Pertinent cultural meanings for the symbols are refreshingly worldwide, covering Africa, Europe, the Middle East, the Far East, the Americas, and the Pacific.

Many of the connotations are religious in nature, with references ranging from Aztec beliefs to Mesopotamian mythology to major contemporary religions. The editors encourage readers to "dip" into the book and then follow the threads of capitalized cross references. After doing so, one will never think the same way again about eyes, rabbits, roses, swastikas, the color white, and 995 other things. Even libraries with standard reference works like James Hall's Illustrated Dictionary of Symbols in Eastern and Western Art will want to add this one, not just because of its larger number of symbols but for its greater global coverage. Enthusiastically recommended for all public libraries.
Anne Marie Lane, American Heritage Ctr., Univ. of Wyoming, Laramie

Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.