Philippa Joseph

The ceiling of the Tomb of the Diver, Paestum, c.480 BC. Peregrine/Alamy Stock Photo.

‘The Diver of Paestum’ by Tonio Hölscher review

The Diver of Paestum: Youth, Eros and the Sea in Ancient Greece by Tonio Hölscher – and translated by Robert Savage – searches beneath the surface for the meaning behind a beguiling fresco.

A mizusashi jar created during the Azuchi-Momoyama period in the Saga Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan, 16-17th century.

Chadō

The ‘way of tea’ is a ritual experience that embodies the natural world with all its imperfections.

Wantapiri by Malcolm Maloney Jagamarra, 1994.

Jukurrpa

The sacred sites of Aboriginal art.

Tlāloc

The Mesoamerican god of rain brings water to a world surrounded by it.

New Heights

Admiring the world’s most famous ceiling.

Representation of the Prophet Zachariah’s vision of a menorah between two olive trees, by Joseph Ha-Zarefati in the Cervera Bible, c.1300.

The Menorah

The oldest continuously used religious symbol in the western world.

Agere Ifá, early 20th century. Mead Art Museum, Amherst College.

Ifá Divination

Patterns in dust reveal the right verses to live by.

Kali

The mother goddess brings death and destruction – to those who deserve it.

The Moai of Rapa Nui

Easter Island’s stone ancestors carry messages for the gods.

The Phoenix

A symbol of rebirth and redemption, the phoenix itself has been born and reborn – from ancient Egypt to New York.