Frontmatter -- Acknowledgments -- Contents -- Introduction: Explaining and Misunderstanding How Signs Work -- 1 Ancient Ideologies of Ineffability and Their Reverberations -- 2 Speech Acts and Divine Names: Comparing Ancient and Modern Linguistic Ideologies of Performativity -- 3 Creating the Forbidden Sign: Ancient and Modern Debates about Proper Representation -- 4 Late Antique and Modern Semiotic Models of Letter and Spirit -- 5 A Semiotic Approach to Ascent Liturgies -- 6 The Indeterminate Meaning of Burning Man Rituals and Modern Notions of Spirit -- Conclusions -- Appendix 1: Ninja and Tijuana Vows -- Appendix 2: Marry Yourself Vows -- Bibliography -- Index of Persons -- Index of subjects