A Dictionary of Symbols Quotes

“Realistic philosophy sees chaos as the earliest state of disorganized creation, blindly impelled towards the creation of a new order of phenomena of hidden meanings. Blavatsky, for example, asks: ‘What is primordial chaos but the ether containing within itself all forms and all beings, all the seeds of universal creation?’ Plato and the Pythagoreans maintained that this ‘primordial substance’ was the soul of the world, called protohyle by the alchemists. Thus, chaos is seen as that which embraces all opposing forces in a state of undifferentiated dissolution. In primordial chaos, according to Hindu tradition, one also meets Amrita—immortality—and Visha—evil and death (9). In alchemy, chaos was identified with prime matter and thought to be a massa confusa from which the lapis would arise; it was related to the colour black. It has also been identified with the unconscious.”
― Juan Eduardo Cirlot, A Dictionary of Symbols

“The relation of destiny with the cyclic process is implied in the figures of the legendary Tarot pack; the wealth of symbolic knowledge which is contained in each and every one of its cards is not to be despised, even if their symbolic significance is open to debate. For the illustrations of the Tarot afford clear examples of the signs, the dangers and the paths leading towards the infinite which Man may discover in the course of his existence.”
― Juan Eduardo Cirlot, A Dictionary of Symbols

“Colour-symbolism usually derives from one of the following sources: (1) the inherent characteristic of each colour, perceived intuitively as objective fact; (2) the relationship between a colour and the planetary symbol traditionally linked with it; or (3) the relationship which elementary, primitive logic perceives.”
― Juan Eduardo Cirlot, A Dictionary of Symbols

“How could a legend be kept alive and perpetuated if each generation had not ‘intimate reasons’ for believing in it?”
― Juan Eduardo Cirlot, A Dictionary of Symbols