A beautifully illustrated compendium of our major religions past and present as well as myth, folklore and symbolism. This book looks at the extraordinary variety of ways in which the existence of the spirit has been manifested in myth, faith and ritual: from the world of the Siberian shaman, who travels in a dream-trance to the spirit domain to bring back healing wisdom for his people, to the Zen Buddhist monk, whose life of meditation and ceremony is full of spiritual challenge. Looking at major belief systems and religions past and present, myth, folklore and superstition, as well as the esoteric wisdom of lost civilisations, The Language of the Spirit provides a multifaceted portrait of man's attempts through history to find a meaning of the spirit.