Book excerpt: Ancient peoples articulated and made sense of their lives through the powerful world of symbol, and Christianity absorbed such symbols as blood, corn, fire and water, adding new dimensions of meaning to each one. By medieval times, these symbols provided access to a many-levelled world in which pagan and Christian truths shed light upon each other. During the Age of Reason, the language of symbol was spoken less, and now that symbols are valued once again, Christians often fear to reconnect religious symbols with their ancient roots. As a result the symbol world of modern Christians is often a pale shadow of the world their forebears inhabited. This book selects dominant Christian symbols and places them against the archaic background from which they grew, drawing on myths and rituals of both ancient and contemporary cultures, thereby integrating the worlds of symbol and reality, sacred and secular, myth and history.