Also known as processual symbolic analysis, the symbology concept was developed by Victor Turner in the mid-1970s to refer to the use of symbols within cultural contexts, in particular ritual. In anthropology, symbology originated as part of Victor Turner's concept of "comparative symbology". Turner (1920-1983) was professor of Anthropology at Cornell University, the University of Chicago, and finally he was Professor of Anthropology and Religion at the University of Virginia. In 1940, Robert A. Heinlein used "symbology" in Blowups Happen, a mathematics-based short story. He uses the word as a way to establish conceptual connections between behavioral psychology and mathematics.
Symbolism is the use of a symbol to send a message. For example, the simple symbolism of a cross is to represent Christianity. Symbology is the symbolism and how it is used in ritual (aka "ritual performance"). For example, on Good Friday of each year a man dressed in a white robe will bear a large wooden cross on his shoulders, dragging it along cobble streets in Jerusalem. People in the crowd watching will offer to take the cross to relieve the man of his burden. Within the ritual context or drama, the symbol of the cross is grouped with other symbols, such as the white robe and the location.
