(Paperback)

"Originally published in French as Le Chamanisme et les techniques archaigues de l'extase by Librarie Payot, Paris, 1951" -- title page verso.

(Paperback)

"Harper Torchbooks paperback edition published under the title Cosmos and history, New York, 1959"--Copyright page.

(Paperback)

Shows that myth and symbol constitute a mode of thought that not only came before that of discursive and logical reasoning, but is an essential function of human consciousness. The author analyzes powerful and ubiquitous symbols that have ruled the mythological thinking of East and West in many times and at many levels of cultural development.

(Paperback)