This is a companion volume to Olderr's Symbolism: A Comprehensive Dictionary. The earlier dictionary was arranged by symbol and told what the meanings were. The present work goes the other way (but it is not simply a refiguring of the data). It presents ideas, situations or objects (ancient to modern), and gives the appropriate symbols (allusions, associations, attributes, or emblems).
Some examples are: one of the symbols for "hell" is descending stairs; an attribute of Saint Benedict is a raven; joy after sorrow is symbolized by the gemstone amber. Literary, artistic, religious, heraldic, numerological, folkloric, occult, psychological, and biblical usages are included.