Ancient Pagan and Modern Christian Symbolism Part 2

When two individuals who have much in common go over the same ground, it is natural, indeed almost necessary, that they should dwell upon identical topics. Hence it will be found that there are points which are referred to by us both, although possibly in differing relations.h.i.+p.

As my own part of the following remarks were printed long before I saw Mr. Newton's ma.n.u.script, I hope to be pardoned for allowing them to stand. The bulk of the volume will not be increased to the extent of a full page.

If I were to be asked the reason why I differ from Mr. Newton in his exalted idea about the adoption of certain bodily organs as types, tokens, or emblems of an unseen and an inscrutable Creator, my answer would be drawn from the observations made upon every known order of priesthood, from the most remote antiquity to the present time. No matter what the creed, whether Ancient or Modern, the main object of its exponents and supporters is to gain over the minds of the populace.

This has never yet been done, and probably never will be attempted, by educating the mind of the mult.i.tude to think.

In Great Britain we find three sets of hierarchs opposed to each other, and all equally, by every means in their power, prohibit independent inquiry.

A young Romanist convert, as we have recently seen, is discouraged from persevering in the study of history and logic; a Presbyterian is persecuted, as far as the law of the land permits, if he should engage in an honest study of the Bible, of the G.o.d which it presents for our wors.h.i.+p, and of the laws that it enforces. A bishop of the Church of England is visited by the puny and spiteful efforts of some of his nominal equals if he ventures to treat Jewish writings as other critics study the tomes of Livy or of Herodotus.

One set of men have banded together to elect a G.o.d on earth, and endeavour to coerce their fellow-mortals to believe that a selection by a few old cardinals can make the one whom they choose to honour "infallible."

Another set of men, who profess to eschew the idea of infallibility in a Pope, a.s.sume that they possess the quality themselves, and endeavour to blot out from the communion of the faithful those who differ from them "on points which G.o.d hath left at large."

Surely, when with all our modern learning, thought, and scientific enquiry, hierarchs still set their faces against an advance in knowledge, and quell, if possible, every endeavour to search after truth, we are not far wrong when we a.s.sert, that the first priests of barbarism had no exalted views of such an abstract subject as life, in the higher and highest senses, if indeed in any sense of the word.

Another small point of difference between my friend and me is, whether there has been at any time a figured representation of a _kakodoemon_--except since the beginning of Christianity--and if, by way of stretching a point, we call Typhon--Satan or the Devil--by this name, as being opposed to the _Agathodoemon_, whether we are justified in providing this evil genius with wings. As far as I can judge from Chaldean and a.s.syrian sculptures, wings were given to the lesser deities as our artists a.s.sign them to modern angels. The Babylonian Apollyon, by whatever name he went, was winged--but so were all the good G.o.ds. The Egyptians seem to have a.s.signed wings only to the favourable divinities.

The Jews had in their mythology a set of fiery flying serpents, but we must notice that their cherubim and seraphim were all winged, some with no less than three pairs--much as Hindoo G.o.ds have four heads and six, or any other number of arms.

Mr. Newton a.s.sumes that the dragon mentioned in Rev. xii. was a winged creature, but it is clear from the context, especially from verses 14 and 15, that he had no pinions, for he was unable to follow the woman to whom two aerial oars had been given.

The dragon, as we know it, is, I believe, a mediaeval creation; such a creature is only spoken of in the Bible in the book of Revelation, and the author of that strange production drew his inspiration on this point from the Iliad, where a dragon is described as of huge size, coiled like a snake, of blood-red colour, shot with changeful hues, and having three heads. Homer, Liddell, and Scott add--used [--Greek--] indifferently for a serpent. So does the author of Rev. in ch. xx. 2. I have been unable to discover any gnostic gem with anything like a modern dragon on it.

Holding these views, I cannot entertain the proposition that the winged creatures in the very remarkable gem already referred to are evil genii.

In a question of this kind the mind is perhaps unconsciously bia.s.sed by comparing one antiquarian idea with another. A searcher amongst Etruscan vases will see not only that the angel of death is winged, but that Cupid, Eros, or by whatever other name "desire" or love goes, frequently hovers over the bridal or otherwise voluptuous couch, and attends beauty at her toilet. The Greeks also gave to Eros a pair of wings, intended, it is fancied, to represent the flutterings of the heart, produced when lovers meet or even think of each other. Such a subordinate deity would be in place amongst so many s.e.xual emblems as Plate iv. Fig. 3 contains, whilst a _koakdoemon_ would be a "spoil sport," and would make the erected serpents drop rather than remain in their glory.

These matters are apparently of small importance, but when one is studying the signification of symbolical language, he has to pay as close an attention, and extend the net of observation over as wide a sea as a scholar does when endeavouring to decipher some language written in long-forgotten characters, and some divergence of opinion between independent observers sharpens the intellect more than it tries the temper.

PAGAN AND CHRISTIAN SYMBOLISM.

PLATE I.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate I 054]

This is taken from a photograph of a small bronze image in the Mayer collection of the Free Museum, in Liverpool. The figure stands about nine inches high, and represents Isis, Horus, and the fish. It is an apt ill.u.s.tration of an ancient custom, still prevalent amongst certain Christians, of reverencing a woman, said to be a virgin, giving suck to her child, and of the a.s.sociation of Isis, Venus, and Mary with the fish. Friday, for example, is, with the Romanists, both "fish day," and "dies Veneris." Fish are known to be extraordinarily prolific. There was a belief that animals, noted for any peculiarity, imparted their virtues to those who ate them; consequently, tigers' flesh was supposed to give courage, and snails to give s.e.xual power. The use of fish in connubial feasts is still common. Those who consider it pious or proper to eat fish on Venus' day, or Friday, proclaim themselves, unconsciously, adherents to those heathen ideas which deified parts about which no one now likes to talk. The fish has in one respect affinity with the mandrake.

Since the first publication of this work, a friend has suggested to me another reason, besides its fertility, for the fish being emblematic of woman. From his extensive experience as a surgeon, and especially among the lower order of courtesans, he has repeatedly noticed during the hot months of the year that the parts which he had to examine have a very strong odour of fish. My own observations in the same department lead me to endorse his a.s.sertion. Consequently, I think that in warm climates, where the utmost cleanliness can scarcely keep a female free from odour, scent, as well as other attributes, has had to do with the selection of the fish as an emblem of woman.

Still further, I have been informed by another friend that in Yorks.h.i.+re, and I understand in other counties of England, the _double entente_ connected with the fish is so marked that it is somewhat difficult to render it into decent phraseology. It will suffice to say that in the county mentioned, Lais or Phryne would be spoken of as "a choice bit of fish," and that a man who bore on his features the stamp which is imprinted by excessive indulgence, would be said to have indulged too much in "a fish diet." I do not suppose that in the Yorks.h.i.+re Ridings the folks are unusually well acquainted with mythology, yet it is curious to find amongst their inhabitants a connection between Venus and the Fish, precisely similar to that which has obtained in the most remote ages and in far distant climes.

It is clear from all these facts that the fish is a symbol not only of woman, but of the yoni.

PLATE II.

Is supposed to represent Oannes, Dagon, or some other fish G.o.d. It is copied from Lajard, _Sur le Culte de Venus_, pl. xxii., 1, la, and is thus described, "Statuette inedite, de gres houiller ou micace, d'un brun verdatre. Elle porte par devant, sur une bande perpendiculaire, un legende en caracteres Syriaques tres anciens (_Cabinet de M. Lambert, a Lyon_)." I can find no clue to the signification of the inscription. It would seem paradoxical to say that there is something in common between the bull-headed deity and Oannes. It is so, nevertheless. One indicates, _par excellence_, physical, and the other s.e.xual, power. That Oannes may, for the a.s.syrians, represent a man who played a part with them similar to that of Penn among the Indians of Pennsylvania, I do not deny; but, when we find a similar fish-G.o.d in Philistia and Hindostan, and know that Crishna once appeared as a fish, the explanation does not suffice. It is curious that Jesus of Nazareth should be called or "a fish"; but this only proves that the religion of Christ has been adulterated by Paganism.

Figs. 1 and 4 are ill.u.s.trations of the antelope as a religious emblem amongst the a.s.syrians. The first is from Layard's _Nineveh_, and in it we see carried in one hand a triply branched lotus; the second, showing the regard for the spotted antelope, and for "the branch," is from Bonomi's _Nineveh and its Palaces_.

Fig. 2 ill.u.s.trates Bacchus, with a mystic branch in one hand, and a cup in the other; his robe is covered with spots arranged in threes. The branch is emblematic of the _arbor vitae_, or tree of life, and its powers of sprouting. Such a symbol is, by outsiders, figured on the houses of newly married couples amongst the Jews of Morocco, and seems to indicate the desire of friends that the man will show that he is vigorous, and able to have many sprouts from the tree of life. It will be noticed that on the fillet round the G.o.d's head are arranged many crosses. From Hislop's _Two Babylons_, and Smith's _Dictionary_, p. 208.

Figs. 8 and 5 are intended to show the prevalence of the use of spots on priestly dresses; they are copied from Hislop's _Two Babylons_, and Wilkinson, vol. vi., pi. 88, and vol. iv., pp. 841, 858. For an explanation of the signification of spots, see Plate iv., Fig. 6, infra.

Fig. 1 represents an a.s.syrian priest wors.h.i.+pping by presentation of the thumb, which had a peculiar signification. Sometimes the forefinger is pointed instead, and in both cases the male is symbolised. It is taken from a plate ill.u.s.trating a paper by E. C. Ravenshaw, Esq., in _Journal of Royal Asiatic Society_, vol. xvi., p. 114. Amongst the Hebrews, and probably all the Shemitic tribes, _bohen_, the thumb, and _ezba_, the finger, were euphemisms. They are so in some parts of Europe to the present day.* The hand thus presented to the grove resembles a part of the Buddhist cross, and the shank of a key, whose signification is described in a subsequent page.

PLATE III.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate III. 059]

PLATE IV.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate IV. 062]

Fig. 2 is a Buddhist emblem; the two fishes forming the circle represent the mystic yoni, the sacti of Mahadeva, while the triad above them represents the mystic trinity, the triune father, Siva, Bel, or Asher, united with Anu and Hea. From _Journal of Royal Asiatic Society_, vol.

xviii., p. 892, plate ii.

Fig. 3 is a very remarkable production. It originally belonged to Mons. Lajard, and is described by him in his second _Memoire_, ent.i.tled _Recherches sur le Culte, les Symboles, les Attributs, et les Monumens Figures de Venus_ (Paris, 1837), in pages 32, _et seq_., and figured in plate I., fig. 1. The real age of the gem and its origin are not known, but the subject leads that author to believe it to be of late Babylonian workmans.h.i.+p. The stone is a white agate, shaped like a cone, and the cutting is on its lower face. The shape of this gem indicates its dedication to Venus. The central figures represent the androgyne deity, Baalim, Astaroth, Elohim, Jupiter genetrix, or the bearded Venus Mylitta. On the left side of the cutting we notice an erect serpent, whose rayed head makes us recognise the solar emblem, and its mundane representative, _mentula arrecta_; on a spot opposite to the centre of the male's body we find a lozenge, symbolic of the yoni, whilst opposite to his feet is the amphora, whose mystic signification may readily be recognised; it is meant for Ouranos, or the Sun fructifying Terra, or the earth, by pouring from himself into her.

* A friend has informed me, for example, that he happened, whilst at Pesth, to look at a gorgeously dressed and handsome young woman. To his astonishment she pointed her thumb precisely in the manner adopted by the a.s.syrian priests; this surprised the young man still farther, and being, as it were, fascinated, he continued to gaze. The damsel then grasped the thumb by the other hand; thus indicating her profession. My friend, who was wholly inexperienced in the ways of the world, only understood what was meant when he saw my explanation of Fig. 1.

The three stars over the head of the figure, and the inverted triangle on its head, are representations of the mythological four, equivalent to the Egyptian symbol of life (figs. 31, 82). Opposite to the female are the moon, and another serpent, which may be recognised by physiologists as symbolic of _tensio c.l.i.toridis_. In a part corresponding to the diamond, on the left side, is a six-rayed wheel, emblematic, apparently, of the sun. At the female's feet is placed a cup, which is intended to represent the pa.s.sive element in creation. As such it is a.n.a.logous to the crescent moon, and is a.s.sociated in the Roman church with the round wafer, the symbol of the sun; the wafer and cup thus being synonymous with the sun and moon in conjunction. It will be observed that each serpent in the plate is apparently attacked by what we suppose is a dragon. There is some difficulty in understanding the exact idea intended to be conveyed by these; my own opinion is that they symbolise Satan, the old serpent that tempted Eve, viz., fierce l.u.s.t, Eros, Cupid, or desire, which, both in the male and female, brings about the arrectation which the serpents figure. It is not to be pa.s.sed by without notice, that the snake which represents the male has the tail so curved as to suggest the idea of the second and third elements of the trinity.

Monsieur Lajard takes the dragons to indicate the bad principle in nature, i. e., darkness, night, Ahriman, etc. On the pyramidal portion of the gem the four sides are ornamented by figures--three represent animals remarkable for their salacity, and the fourth represents Bel and Ishtar in conjunction, in a fas.h.i.+on which can be more easily imagined than described in the mother tongue. The learned will find the position a.s.sumed in Lucretius, _De Rerum Natura_, book iv., lines 1256, seq.

Fig. 4 is also copied from Lajard, plate i., fig. 10. It is the reverse of a bronze coin of Vespasian, struck in the island of Cyprus, and represents the conical stone, under whose form Venus was wors.h.i.+pped at Paphos, of which Tacitus remarks, Hist, ii., c. 8, "the statue bears no resemblance to the human form, but is round, broad at one end and gradually tapering at the other, like a goal. The reason of this is not ascertained." It is remarkable that a male emblem should be said to represent Venus, but the stone was an aerolite, like that which fell at Ephesus, and was said to represent Diana. It is clear that when a meteoric stone falls, the chief priests of the district can say that it is to be taken as a representative of their divinity.

My very ingenious friend, Mr. Newton, suggests that the Venus in question was androgyne; that the cone is a male emblem, within a door, gateway, or delta, thus resembling the a.s.syrian grove. It is certain that the serpents, the two stars, and the two candelabra, or altars with flame, favour his idea.

Fig. 5 represents the position of the hands a.s.sumed by Jewish priests when they give the benediction to their flock. It will be recognised that each hand separately indicates the trinity, whilst the junction of the two indicates the unit. The whole is symbolic of the mystic Arba--the four, i, e., the trinity and unity. One of my informants told me that, being a "cohen" or priest, he had often administered the blessing, and, whilst showing to me this method of benediction, placed his joined hands so that his nose entered the central aperture. On his doing so, I remarked "_bene nasatus_," and the expression did more to convince him of the probability of my views than anything else.

Fig. 6, modified in one form or another, is the position a.s.sumed by the hand and fingers, when Homan and Anglican bishops or other hierarchs give benediction to their people. A similar disposition is to be met with in Indian mythology, when the Creator doubles himself into male and female, so as to be in a position to originate new beings. Whilst the right hand in Plate VII. symbolises the male, the left hand represents the mystic feminine circle. In another plate, which is to be found in Moor's _Hindu Pantheon_, there is a similar figure, but draped fully, and in that the dress worn by the celestial spouse is covered with groups of spots arranged in triads and groups of four. With regard to the signification of spots, we may notice that they indicated, either by their shape or by their name, the emblem of womankind. A story of Indra, the Hindoo G.o.d of the sky, confirms this. He is usually represented as bearing a robe covered with eyes; but the legend runs that, like David, he became enamoured of the wife of another man, who was very beautiful and seen by chance, but her spouse was one whose austere piety made him almost equal to Brahma. The evil design of Indra was both frustrated and punished. The woman escaped, but the G.o.d became covered with marks that recalled his offence to mind, for they were pictures of the yoni. These, by the strong intercession of Brahma with the Ris.h.i.+, were changed by the latter into eyes. This story enables us to recognise clearly the hidden symbolism of the Hindoo and Egyptian eye, the oval representing the female, and the circle the male lodged therein--i.e., the androgyne creator.

PLATE V.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate V. 067]

Is a copy of a mediaeval Virgin and Child, as painted in Della Robbia ware in the South Kensington Museum, a copy of which, was given to me by my friend, Mr. Newton, to whose kindness I am indebted for many ill.u.s.trations of ancient Christian art. It represents the Virgin and Child precisely as she used to be represented in Egypt, in India, in a.s.syria, Babylonia, Phoenicia, and Etruria; the accident of dress being of no mythological consequence. In the framework around the group, we recognise the triformed leaf, emblematic of Asher; the grapes, typical of Dionysus; the wheat ears, symbolic of Ceres, _l'abricot fendu_, the mark of womankind, and the pomegranate _rimmon_, which characterises the teeming mother. The living group, moreover, are placed in an archway, _delta_, or door, which is symbolic of the female, like the _vesica piscis_, the oval or the circle. This door is, moreover, surmounted by what appear to be snails, whose supposed virtue we have spoken of under Plate i. This identification of Mary with the Sacti is strong; by-and-by we shall see that it is as complete as it is possible to be made.

PLATE VI.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate VI. 070]

Is a copy of figures given in Bryant's _Ancient Mythology_, plates xiii., xxviii., third edition, 1807. The first two ill.u.s.trate the story of Palemon and Getus, introducing the dolphin. That fish is symbolic of the female, in consequence of the a.s.sonance in Greek between its name and that of the womb, _delphis and delphus_. The tree symbolises the _arbor vitae_, the life-giving sprout; and the ark is a symbol of the womb. The third figure, where a man rests upon a rock and dolphin, and toys with a mother and child, is equally suggestive. The male is repeatedly characterised as a rock, hermes, menhir, tolmen, or upright stone, the female by the dolphin, or fish. The result of the junction of these elements appears in the child, whom both parents welcome. The fourth figure represents two emblems of the male creator, a man and trident, and two of the female, a dolphin and s.h.i.+p. The two last figures represent a coin of Apamea, representing Noah and the ark, called _Cibotus_. Bryant labours to prove that the group commemorates the story told in the Bible respecting the flood, but there is strong doubt whether the story was not of Babylonian origin. The city referred to was in Phrygia, and the coin appears to have been struck by Philip of Macedon. The inscription round the head is [--Greek inscription--]See _Ancient Faiths_, second edition, Vol. ii.., pp. 128, and 885-892.