The Encyclopedia of Symbolism

If you fancy yourself as a "no-nonsense" individual; someone who likes to get to the point sooner than later, this is the symbolism/dream interpretation book you've been looking for.Mr. Todeschi cuts right to the chase. His explanations are to-the-point and very informative. Upon reading the review for this book and "Dictionary of Symbolism" by H. Biedermann (and, of course, actually reading the two), I most definitely favor Mr. Todeschi's book. While "Dictionary" goes more in-depth, has a picture-appendix of the symbols covered as well as adding them throughout the text, and provides an overall history for each symbol, I wasn't thoroughly satified after reading the descriptions. "Encyclopedia", however, gave me the impression that the author wanted to not only explain the symbol, but show me how it might be interpreted in several simple ways. One might argue that "Dictionary" does the same. This may be so. To this I would have to say that I felt Mr. Todesci's approach to be more helpful. On top of that, although I haven't done a count comparison of symbols each book contains, I would have to say there are more in "Encyclopedia". When I was looking for an answer, the text showed me the way. It gave me that warm, happy feeling that some therapists and psychologists might consider a goal for healing one's inner person: closure. (Everybody let out a relieving sigh.............)

I've used Mr. Todeschi book for about 8 months for insights in interpreting my dreams. I've been recording dreams for 20 years, and I've found this book to be the best single source for insights into the possible meanings of the images. Even if none of the potential descriptions in this book rings true for a particular dream (and the book recognizes that the meaning of a symbol can change), what is provided is often an excellent trigger for seeing other possibilities. Using this book has also helped me make that step to not just understanding the individual symbols in my dreams, but to be able to piece them together to form a coherent message. The Encyclopedia of Symbolism by itself will not interpret your dreams anymore than a book on how to paint will create a painting for you, but it is a great help, and should be in the library of any serious dream/visualization interpreters.

I found this book to contain an element lacking in other dream interpretation guidebooks. It allows for latitude in personal interpretation which is essential to accurate dream interpretation. Unlike other books of this kind the author gives several possible meanings, allowing the reader to determine which definition is applicable in her or his life.

The book is really about dream interpretation. It is an excellent guide to working with dreams and is used in my dream interpretation class as the primary resource book. It makes dreamwork accessible by anyone!