Arkana-Verlag is a German publisher specializing in esoteric, spiritual and psychological literature, operating as an imprint within the Penguin Random House Verlagsgruppe in Munich.[1] The publisher’s official website describes its program as covering personal development, self-knowledge, holistic health methods and spirituality, from Western traditions to Buddhism.[2]
Design and History
Arkana-Verlag emerged in 1998 from the Goldmann Esoterik paperback series, which Goldmann Verlag had published since 1980 under the name Goldmann Esoterik and later Goldmann Arkana.[3] The publisher is described as one of the most traditional and largest in the psychological-spiritual book market.[4]
Documentation of the publisher’s visual identity is limited. A logo database credits the original Arkana-Verlag symbol to designer Rolf Arnold in 1970, describing it as a rectangular mark using negative space.[5] However, this attribution comes from a secondary logo database rather than an official or primary source, and no independent confirmation of the designer, the 1970 date, or the original design’s appearance has been located. The current logo used by the publisher on its official Penguin Random House page is not described in any available primary documentation.
Meaning and Symbolism
The name “Arkana” derives from the Latin arcanum, meaning secret or mystery, a term historically associated with esoteric knowledge. The publisher’s focus on esoteric and spiritual literature is well documented,[2] but no official source explains any specific symbolic meaning embedded in the logo itself. Claims about the mark’s intended symbolism cannot be verified from available evidence.
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