Topics
Herbs, stones, incense and colours: the symbolic language of nature in tradition, gathered as in an old herbarium.
Herbs & tradition
Plants and herbs in myths, historical herbals and folk traditions, read as symbols.
Stones & crystals
Gems, sacred stones and crystals in history, lapidaries and world cultures.
Incense & perfumes
Resins, incense and sacred perfumes in the history of religions, from Egypt to Japan.
Colours & symbols
Colour symbolism in traditions, heraldry, liturgy and art.
Featured articles
The almond tree: the watchful tree, Aaron's rod and the mandorla
The almond as a symbol: Jeremiah's wordplay, Aaron's budding rod, the menorah, Phyllis and Demophon, the mandorla of sacred art and Van Gogh's blossoms.
Amethyst: the stone of sobriety, of wine and of violet
Amethyst in symbol: the Greek amethystos «not drunken», the Renaissance myth of the nymph and Bacchus, liturgical violet and the bishop's ring.
Agrippa's planetary suffumigations in De occulta philosophia
Suffumigations in Agrippa's De occulta philosophia: how planets match fragrant roots, flowers, woods and resins, and the legacy of these correspondences.
Beatrice's three colours: white, green and red in Dante
White veil, green mantle, flame-coloured gown: Dante dresses Beatrice in the colours of the theological virtues. Their meaning in the Vita nova and Comedy.
The fern and the invisible flower: legends of a flowerless plant
The fern in tradition: the flower that blooms at midnight on Kupala night, Gogol, the seed that makes one invisible and the meaning of the hidden.
The diamond: adamas, the unconquerable, and the vajra of tradition
The diamond in symbol: the Greek adamas «unconquerable», Pliny's beliefs, the Indian vajra, Dante's diamond threshold and the betrothal ring.
Gold, frankincense and myrrh: the meaning of the Magi's gifts
The gifts of the Magi in Matthew's Gospel: why gold, frankincense and myrrh, how Irenaeus and Origen read them, and the Magi who became kings.
Colour names in languages: how cultures divide the spectrum
Homer's wine-dark sea, the blue and green some languages do not separate, the basic colour terms: how different cultures give names to colours.
Hyssop: the herb of purification from Passover to the Asperges
Hyssop in the Bible and liturgy: the bunch dipped at the first Passover, rites with cedar and scarlet, Psalm 51, the Asperges me and the sponge of Calvary.
Jet: the black stone of mourning and of the pilgrim
Jet in history: Pliny's gagates, the azabache of the Santiago pilgrims, the figa against the evil eye and the mourning jewellery of the Victorian era.
Incense in China: boshan censers, temples and incense clocks
Incense in Chinese civilisation: mountain-shaped boshanlu censers, temple sticks, ancestor worship, incense clocks and the meaning of the name Hong Kong.
Goethe's Theory of Colours: colour between light and darkness
For Goethe colour arises where light meets darkness: the Theory of Colours, the colour circle, the moral effect of colours and the dispute with Newton.