Signs, Symbols & Omens

by Raymond Buckland

As human beings, we live in a world of symbols. From traffic signs to the very letters that comprise these words, symbols are woven into every aspect of daily life. Since prehistoric times humans have used symbolic representation to communicate with each other and with the divine. In Signs, Symbols & Omens , leading occult authority Ray Buckland describes the form and meaning of over 800 symbols from ancient and modern religions, magical traditions, and indigenous cultures around the Understand the symbols used throughout human history and gain a deeper appreciation for the depth of the human experience and the vast uncharted realm of the collective unconscious.

Genres: Reference, Witchcraft, Wicca, Occult, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Religion

264 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Raymond Buckland was a highly influential figure in the development of modern Wicca and the occult in the United States. Born in London, he became interested in the supernatural at an early age and was initiated into the Gardnerian Wiccan tradition in 1963 by Monique Wilson, a high priestess appointed by Gerald Gardner. After emigrating to the U.S. in 1962, Buckland introduced Gardnerian Wicca to the country, founding its first coven in New York in 1964. He later developed his own tradition, Seax-Wica, inspired by Anglo-Saxon paganism, and published The Tree: Complete Book of Saxon Witchcraft to make it accessible to all.
In 1968, he established the first Museum of Witchcraft and Magick in the U.S., which helped normalize and educate the public about Wicca. Over the course of his career, Buckland wrote more than sixty books on Wicca, divination, and the occult, including Witchcraft from the Inside and Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft, both regarded as essential texts in Neopaganism.
Throughout his life, Buckland remained a prolific teacher, writer, and practitioner. He continued to write and teach until his death in 2017, leaving behind a lasting legacy that shaped the spiritual practices of countless Wiccans and Pagans worldwide.

Reviews

[Bon]

Goodreads had marked this as read with a rating? Lol time for a PW change 😅

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whilst there is a very broad range of symbols covered, little detail is provided about their meaning, context, history, use, etc. This is more intended as a reference guide, to dip in and out of, and it is perfect for that. If used in conjunction with Buckland's other works, it is a really useful resource :)

[Molly Poynter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like being able to know which animals represent what (in dreams or while awake), what colors mean, and what they represent. A fun book with lots of valuable information

[Marilyn Auman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really more encyclopedic than a sit and read type of book....very interesting though

[My work is never done · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well I am going to be brutally honest, I question the veracity of a lot of the claims he makes here. I would have said I recommend this to beginners, but I found that even the basic information was lacking in much information.

While he did give a basic outline of Alchemy and even put fourth a few ideas as to it's origin, he also doesn't complete the information.


He makes the usual statement that Alchemy was mostly about changing metals into gold and silver, HOWEVER genuine Alchemists were concerned with natural transformations as well as the unnatural variety to make medicines. He even neglected to state that the Philosopher Stones (many stones that could be created by almost any Alchemist) could recreate all manner of magickal potions as well as the famed Elixir of Life which was the obsession of most Alchemists.


He also does not devote too much time to the chapters. At most he only writes 4 or 5 pages. I can understand the book can not be too big, but still, even short stories are longer than the chapters in this book. That is not a fair enough coverage of the facts.

I also question the veracity of the magickal systems he claims are old magick and whether or not they actually work on their own. I mean, if you have enough faith anything can work, but genuine magick can work even without a faith base. His explanation of the symbols I am very satisfied with however.

He does his best to put as much of the symbols as possible to reveal their meaning. He also put in as much of the Egyptian Alphabet as possible. His chapter on Voodoo is also very intriguing. It did have some rather interesting information and even revealed Baron Samedis other names (Ghede his true name and Baron Cimietre sorry for the misspelling of the last one) but, I find that I can not help taking a pencil to add information to the pages where I believe relevant information has been left out.


For instance, he did not explain that the belief that Hermes Trismegustes was Thoft in a human body was only a belief held by Hermetic Gnostics, he wrote it as if it were fact and a belief that is held by everyone universally.

Hermes Trismegustes was a Mage of the Hermetic Mystery school who believed as many Hermetists believe, that the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoft were one and the same. He wrote so many books and his power was so great (on par with Merlin) that he was mistaken by many to have been Thoft/Hermes (Hermeticism is nothing more than a religious doctrine that came from the Greek Interpretation, a nationalistic view point where the Imperialist Greeks invaded other countries, and then started reinterpreting other cultures and religions based on their own.)

Hermeticism is just the last visage of Greek Interpretation from an Imperialist standpoint. Granted there are some positive things about Hermeticism, and the way they combine Thoft's energy with Hermes seems to complement them both.

But to say that they are the same, and then to claim that Hermes Trismegustes was an incarnation of these gods is not only rather insulting to those who do not believe in Hermeticism, but out right blasphemy at equating this man with gods. I do believe he held a god-like power, but I do not believe he was a god let alone Thoft or Hermes.

And if the author is going to make such claims he should put in the evidence to back it up. But those are just my two cents. I could be wrong, I could be right.

[John Jonzzman · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's fantastic the amount of research Mr. Buckland did on various world religions & symbols.

[Cevizin_kitaplari · Rating 5 out of 5]

#işaretlersembollervealametler #raymondbuckland #signssymbolsandomens

Herkese merhaba size bir aydır beni en mutlu eden kitapla geldim desem. Öncelikle yıllardır okultizm üzerine kitapları okuyorum. Tarih boyunca araştırmacılar ya da rahipler tarafından kaleme alınmış yine okultizm içerikli kitapları da PDF şeklinde bir şekilde bulup hepsini okumuşumdur. Hatta yine bu yazarın4 kitabı da elimde var 😁😁😁#completebookofwitchcraft harikadır. Bir wicca olmamın da bu işte ekstra bir katkısı var tabii ki. Özellikle eski dinleri de araştırıp bana doğru gelen bir biçimi yakaladıktan sonra okültizm üzerine gitmiştim. Yazarın da wiccan olduğu bilinir. Bu kitabı çok sevmeme gelirsek zamanında araştırıp bir yandan defterime gördüğüm sembolleri falan çizerdim. Kitabın içinde çizdiğim bazı sembolleri bulmamla beraber diğer sembolleri de bir arada görüyor olmak iyiydi. Sadece kitabın ciltli ve kuşe kağıda basılmasını dilerdim. Ben semboller haricinde anahtarlar üzerine de çalışmıştım özellikle varlıkların çağrılması ya da alıkonulması üzerine bazı anahtarlar vardı. Tabii bu kitapta bunları bulmanız mümkün değil. Ancak yine bazı cin ve ruhların mühürleri bulunuyor yine meleklerin de mühürleri var bu mühürleri de zamanında defterime çizmiştim. O yüzden bu kitap gerçekten benim için oldukça kolaylaştırıcı bir etken oldu. İçinde farklı medeniyetlere ait sembolleri bulabileceğiniz gibi ritüellerde kullanılan ya da astroloji ve simya ile ilgili sembolleri de bulabiliyorsunuz. Yazar kendi kitaplarından aldığı kısımları koyduğu gibi farklı kaynaklardan da yararlanmış özellikle kaynakça kısmında merak ettiğiniz sembol ve işaretleri hangi kitaplardan bulabileceğiniz belirtiliyor. ileri okuma için bunlar da önerilir. Kitap sık sık bakabileceğim güzel bir kaynak oldu benim için. Siz de tarih boyunca kullanılan sembolleri merak ediyorsanız öneririm.

[Kate Atonic · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a reference book, this will provide a very broad overview of symbols from many subjects: alchemy, astrology, Egyptian hieroglyphics, aboriginal and Native American cave art, Aztecs, Freemasonry, magical alphabets, and more mainstream religious iconography. It doesn’t offer much in the way of context or depth, though. I had picked this up hoping to understand how runes were meant to foretell the future, but instead it just shows several versions and the equivalent phonetic sound of the symbol. There are signs and seals of various demons and spirits, but no details as to what those demons and spirits are known for.

Biggest eye-roll:
“For whatever reason” the aboriginal cave paintings at Unbalanja Hill depict a lot of women, all with big breasts. It’s a mystery for the ages, Buckland.

[Rabab · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so fun to read, and it had many interesting information.

I think it's a good start for anyone interested in Spiritual symbolism and Magick.

But somehow the information about Islamic symbolism was not accurate, at least from a muslim point of view. And also I didn't agree with the idea of linking Christianity and Judaism to Polytheism, it's as if he was stating that all monotheistic religions were originally polytheistic, or at least this is what I understood.

Nonetheless, this book is good and I recommend it, it could be a good start for a deeper research to anyone interested in religions and spiritual practices from ancient times to modern day.

Oh and I have to say that I really enjoyed the part about Omens :)

[Pluviostar ~ (Adriano) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Curioso, anche se è sempre da prendere come una sorta di taccuino.
Vi sono riportate le nozioni primarie sulle simbologie, divise in credo e credenze culturali, da integrare con altre tipologie di ricerche a seconda delle proprie necessità.

[Christopher Heckman · Rating 3 out of 5]

About the only flaw that I saw was the magic square on page 154 (although there might be others). The square of Venus has a square labelled 81 which should actually be 18, and one of the 43s (the one in row 2) should be a 48.

[Jayde Mackenzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very interesting to look at, there is a lot of interesting information about symbols and religion. I really enjoyed the illustrations

[Alyssa Mayley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although not quite as in depth as I was hoping for, still a good reference for many different symbols and signs.

[Tara Dobbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great source for writers to understand symbolic concepts.

[Michael P · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good book that I turned to often in order to cross reference

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wielka Księga okazała się w gruncie rzeczy małą książeczką o średniej jakości treści...

[Sumer Sebik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great introduction. More emphasis is placed on Christian and Western traditions

[Samantha McGuire · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book helped me gather together symbols and learn the meanings and included them in a personal book of shadows/grimoire. It includes hundreds of pictures of these symbols and categorized them into different sections so they are easy to find. It is a great contribution to my library.

[stonersiren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't say much about the accuracy, since I picked this book up to research that exact subject, which means I didn't know much about it before then. But it's very practically written and gives and interesting insight behind many symbols.

[Jeff Beland · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent basic reference book. exactly what it claims to be. I won't say it's the greatest but I find it very useful.

[Netra Stocker]

Ehh

I expected more. Maybe I set myself up for failure with this purchase, def wish I had a hard copy instead so I could at least get a couple bucks back.

[Johnny Frazier · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a good book with basic limited information.