Ancient Pagan and Modern Christian Symbolism Part 6

But, although declining to enter upon this wide field of inquiry, I would notice that whilst searching Fabretti's _Glossary_ my eye fell upon the figure of an equilateral triangle with the apex upwards, depicted plate xliii., fig. 2440 ter. The triangle is of bra.s.s, and was found in the territory of the Falisci. It bears a rude representation of the outlines of the soles of two human feet, in this respect resembling a Buddhist emblem; and there is on its edge an inscription which may be rendered thus in Roman letters, KAYI: TERTINEI. POSTIKNU, which probably signifies "Gavia, the wife of Tertius, offered it." The occurrence of two Hindoo symbols in ancient Italy is very remarkable. It must, however, be noticed that similar symbols have been found on ancient sculptured stones in Ireland and Scotland. There may be no emblematic ideas whatever conveyed by the design; but when the marks appear on Gnostic gems, they are supposed to indicate death, i. e., the impressions left by the feet of the individual as he springs from earth to heaven.

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Figures 35, 36, are Maltese crosses. In a large book of Etrurian antiquities, which came casually under my notice about twenty years ago, when I was endeavouring to master the language, theology, etc., of the Etruscans, but whose name, and other particulars of which, I cannot now remember; I found depicted two crosses, made up of four masculine triads, each _asher_ being erect, and united to its fellows by the gland, forming a central diamond, emblem of the yoni. In one instance, the limbs of the cross were of equal length; in the other, one _asher_ was three times as long as the others. A somewhat similar cross, but one united with the circle, was found some time ago near Naples. It is made of gold, and has apparently been used as an amulet and suspended to the neck. It is figured in plate 35 of _An Essay on the Wors.h.i.+p of the Generative Powers during the Middle Ages_ (London, privately printed, 1865). It may be thus described: the centre of the circle is occupied by four oblate spheres arranged like a square; from the salient curves of each of these springs a yoni (shaped as in Figure 59), with the point outwards, thus forming a cross, each ray of which is an egg and fig. At each junction of the ovoids a yoni is inserted with the apex inwards, whilst from the broad end arise four ashers, which project beyond the s.h.i.+eld, each terminating in a few golden bead-like drops. The whole is a graphic natural representation of the intimate union of the male and female, sun and moon, cross and circle, Ouranos and Ge. The same idea is embodied in Figure 27, p. 86, but in that the mystery is deeply veiled, in that the long arms of the cross represent the sun, or male, indicated by the triad; the short ones, the moon, or the female (see Plate xi.

Fig. 4).

The Maltese cross, a Phoenician emblem, was discovered cut on a rock in the island from which it takes its name. Though cruciform, it had nothing Christian about it; for, like the Etruscan ones referred to above, it consisted of four lingas united together by the heads, the "eggs" being at the outside. It was an easy thing for an unscrupulous priesthood to represent this "invention" of the cross as a miracle, and to make it presentable to the eyes of the faithful by leaving the outlines of Anu and Hea incomplete. Sometimes this cross is figured as four triangles meeting at the points, which has the same meaning, Generally, however, the Church (as may be seen by a reference to Pugin's _Glossary of Ecclesiastical Ornament_) adopts the use of crosses where the inferior members of the trinity are more or less central, as in our Plate xi., Figs. 2, 8, and as in the Figures 40, 41, 42, _infra_. When once a person knows the true origin of the doctrine of the Trinity--one which is far too improper to have been adopted by the writers of the New Testament--it is impossible not to recognise in the signs which are symbolic of it the thing which is signified.

It may readily be supposed that those who have knowledge of the heathenish origin of many of the cherished doctrines of the so-called Christian church, cannot remain enthusiastic members of her communion; and it is equally easy for the enlightened philosopher to understand why such persons are detested and abused by the ignorant, and charged with being freethinkers, sceptics, or atheists. Sciolism is ever intolerant, and theological hatred is generally to be measured by the mental incapacity of those who indulge in the luxury. But no amount of abuse can reduce the intrinsic value of facts. Nor will the most fiery persecution demonstrate that the religion of Christ, as it appears in our churches and cathedrals, especially if they are papal, is not tainted by a ma.s.s of paganism of disgusting origin.

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Figure 87 is copied from the _Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society_, vol. xviii., p 898, plate 4. It is a Buddhist emblem, and represents the same idea under different aspects. Each limb of the cross represents the _fascinum_ at right angles with the body, and presented towards a barleycorn, one of the symbols of the yoni. Each limb is marked by the same female emblem, and terminates with the triad triangle; beyond this again is seen the conjunction of the sun and moon. The whole therefore represents the mystic curba, the creative four, by some called Thor's hammer. Copies of a cross similar to this have been recently found by Dr. Schliemann in a very ancient city, buried under the remains of two others, which he identifies as the Troy of Homer's Iliad.

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Figures 38 to 42 are developments of the triad triangle, or trinity. If the horizontal limb on the free end of the arm were to be prolonged to twice its length, the most obtuse would recognise _Asher_, and the inferior or lower members of the "triune."

Figure 43 is by Egyptologists called the 'symbol of life.'

It is also called the 'handled cross,' or _crux ansata_. It represents the male triad and the female unit, under a decent form. There are few symbols more commonly met with in Egyptian art than this. In some remarkable sculptures, where the sun's rays are represented as terminating in hands, the offerings which these bring are many a _crux ansata_, emblematic of the truth that a fruitful union is a gift from the deity.

Figures 44, 45, are ancient designs, in which the male and female elements are more disguised than is usual. In Fig. 44 the woman is indicated by the dolphin.

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Figures 48, 49, represent the trefoil which was used by the ancient Hindoos as emblematic of the celestial triad, and adopted by modern Christians. It will be seen that from one stem arise three curiously-shaped segments, each of which is supposed to resemble the male _s.c.r.o.t.u.m, "purse," "bag," or "basket_.".

Figure 50 is copied from Lajard, Culte de Venus, plate i., fig. 2.

He states that it is from a gem cylinder in the British Museum. It represents a male and female figure dancing before the mystic palm-tree, into whose signification we need not enter beyond saying that it is a symbol of Asher. Opposite to a particular part of the figures is to be seen a diamond, or oval, and a _fleur de lys_, or symbolic triad. This gem is peculiarly valuable, as it ill.u.s.trates in a graphic manner the meaning of the emblems in question and how the "lillies of France" had a pagan origin.

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Figures 51 to 60 are varions representations of the union of the four, the arba, the androgyne, or the linga-yoni.

Figure 61. In modern Christian art this symbol is called _vesica piscis_, and is sometimes surrounded with rays. It commonly serves as a sort of framework in which female saints are placed, who are generally the representatives of the older Juno, Ceres, Diana, Venus, or other impersonations of the feminine element in creation. We should not feel obliged to demonstrate the truth of this a.s.sertion if decency permitted us to reproduce here designs which naughty youths so frequently chalk upon walls to the disgust of the proper part of the community. We must, therefore, have resort to a religious book, and in a subsequent figure demonstrate the meaning of the symbol unequivocally.

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Figure 62 represents one of the forms a.s.sumed by the sistrum of Isis.

Sometimes the instrument is oval, and occasionally it terminates below in a horizontal line, instead of in an acute angle. The inquirer can very readily recognise in the emblem the symbol of the female creator.

If there should be any doubt in his mind, he will be satisfied after a reference to Maffei's _Gemme Antiche Figurate_ (Rome, 1707), vol. ii., plate 61, wherein Diana of the Ephesians is depicted as having a body of the exact shape of the sistrum figured in Payne Knight's work on the remains of the wors.h.i.+p of Priapus, etc. The bars across the sistrum show that it denotes a pure virgin (see _Ancient Faiths_, second edition, Vol. n., pp. 743-746). On its handle is seen the figure of a cat--a sacred animal amongst the Egyptians, for the same reason that Isis was figured sometimes as a cow--viz., for its salacity and its love for its offspring.

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Figures 63 to 66 are all drawn from a.s.syrian sources.

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The central figure, which is probably the biblical "grove," represents the delta, or female "door." To it the attendant genii offer the pine cone and basket. The signification of these is explained subsequently. I was unable at first to quote any authority to demonstrate that the pine cone was a distinct masculine symbol, but now the reader may be referred to Maffei, _Gemme Antiche Figurate_ (Rome, 1708), where, in vol. iii., he will see a Venus Tirsigera.

The G.o.ddess in plate 8, is nude, and carries in her hand the tripliform arrow, emblem of the male triad, whilst in the other she bears a thyrsus, terminating in a pine or fir cone. Now this cone and stem are carried in the Bacchic festivities, and can be readily recognised as _virga c.u.m ovo_. Sometimes the thyrsus is replaced by ivy leaves, which, like the fig, are symbolic of the triple creator. Occasionally the thyrsus was a lance or pike, round which vine leaves and berries were cl.u.s.tered; Bacchus _c.u.m vino_ being the companion of Venus _c.u.m cerere_.

But a stronger confirmation of my views may be found in a remarkable group (see Fig. 124 infra). This is ent.i.tled _Sacrifizio di Priapo_, and represents a female offering to Priapus. The figure of the G.o.d stands upon a pillar of three stones, and it bears a thyrsus from which depend two ribbons. The devotee is accompanied by a boy, who carries a pine- or fir- cone in his hand, and a basket on his head, in which may be recognised a male effigy. In Figure 64 the position of the advanced hand of each of the priests nearest to the grove is very suggestive to the physiologist. It resembles one limb of the Buddhist cross, Fig. 37, _supra_. The finger or thumb when thus pointed are figurative of Asher, in a horizontal position, with Anu or Hea hanging from one end. Figure 65 is explained similarly. It is to be noticed that a door is adopted amongst modern Hindoos as an emblem of the sacti (see Figs. 152, 153, _infra_).

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My friend Mr. Newton, who has taken great interest in the subject of symbolism, regards these "groves" as not being simply emblems of the yoni, but of the union of that part with the lingam, or mystic palm tree. As his ideas are extremely ingenious, and his theory perfect, I have requested him to introduce them at the end of this work.

Figures 67, 68, 69, are fancy sketches intended to represent the "sacred s.h.i.+elds" spoken of in Jewish and other history. The last is drawn from memory, and represents a Templar's s.h.i.+eld. According to the method in which the s.h.i.+eld is viewed, it appears like the _os tincae_ or the navel.

Figures 70, 71, represent the shape of the sistrum of Isis, the fruit of the fig, and the yoni. When a garment of this shape is made and worn, it becomes the "pallium" donned alike by the male and female individuals consecrated to Roman wors.h.i.+p.

King, in his _Ancient Gnostics_, remarks: "The circle of the sun is the navel, which marks the natural position of the womb--the navel being considered in the microcosm as corresponding to the sun in the universe, an idea more fully exemplified in the famous hallucination of the Greek anchorites touching the mystical 'Light of Tabor,' which was revealed to the devotee after a fast of many days, all the time staring fixedly upon the region of the navel, whence at length this light streamed as from a focus." Pages 158, 154.

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Figures 72, 73, represent an ancient Christian bishop, and a modern nun wearing the emblem of the female s.e.x. In the former, said (in _Old England Pictorially Ill.u.s.trated_, by Knight) to be a drawing of St.

Augustine, the amount of symbolism is great. The "nimbus" and the tonsure are solar emblems; the pallium, the feminine sign, is studded with phallic crosses; its lower end is the ancient T the mark of the masculine triad; the right hand has the forefinger extended, like the a.s.syrian priests whilst doing homage to the grove, and within it is the fruit, _tappuach_, which is said to have tempted Eve. When a male dons the pallium in wors.h.i.+p, he becomes the representative of the trinity in the unity, the _arba_, or mystic four. See _Ancient Faiths_, second edition, Vol. n., pp. 915-918.

I take this opportunity to quote here a pregnant page of King's _Gnostics and their Remains_, (Bell & Daldy, London, 1864). To this period belongs a beautiful sard in my collection representing Serapis,... whilst before him _stands_ Isis, holding in one hand the sistrum, in the other a wheatsheaf, with the legend... 'Immaculate is our lady Isis,' the very terms applied afterwards to that personage who succeeded to her form (the 'Black Virgins,' so highly reverenced in certain French Cathedrals during the middle ages, proved, when examined critically, basalt figures of Isis), her symbols, rites, and ceremonies.... Her devotees carried into the new priesthood the former badges of their profession, the obligation to celibacy, the tonsure, and the surplice, omitting, unfortunately, the frequent ablutions prescribed by the ancient creed. The sacred image still moves in procession as when Juvenal laughed at it, vi. 530.

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Escorted by the tonsured surpliced train. Her proper t.i.tle, Domina, the exact translation of Sanscrit Isi, survives with slight change in the modern Madonna, Mater Domina.

By a singular permutation the flower borne by each, the lotus--ancient emblem of the sun and fecundity--now re-named the lily, is interpreted as significant of the opposing quality. The tinkling sistrum... is replaced by... the bell, taken from Buddhist usages.... The erect oval symbol of the Female Principle of Nature became the Vesica Piscis, and the Crux Ansata, testifying the union of the male and female in the most obvious manner, is transformed into the orb surmounted by the cross, as an ensign of royalty. Pp. 71, 72.

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Figure 74 is a well known Christian emblem, called "a foul anchor." The anchor, as a symbol, is of great antiquity. It may be seen on an old Etruscan coin in the British Museum, depicted in _Veterum Popvlorum et Regum Nummi_, etc. (London, 1814), plate ii., fig. 1. On the reverse there is a chariot wheel. The foul anchor represents the crescent moon, the yoni, ark, navis, or boat; in this is placed the mast, round which the serpent, the emblem of life in the "verge," entwines itself. The cross beam completes the mystic four, symbolic alike of the sun and of androgeneity. The whole is a covert emblem of that union which results in fecundity. It is said by Christians to be the anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast. This it certainly cannot be, for a foul anchor will not hold the ground.

Figures 75 to 79 are Asiatic and Egyptian emblems in use amongst ourselves, and receive their explanation similarly to preceding ones.

Figure 80 is copied from G.o.dfrey Higgins' _Anacalypsis_, vol. ii., fig.

27. It is drawn from Montfaucon, vol. ii., pi. cx.x.xii., fig. 6. In his text, Higgins refers to two similar groups, one which exists in the Egyptian temple of Ipsambal in Nubia, and is described by Wilson, _On Buddhists and Jeynes_, p. 127, another, found in a cave temple in the south of India, described by Col. Tod, in his _History of Raj-pootanah_.

The group is not explained by Montfaucon. It is apparently Greek, and combines the story of Hercules with the seductiveness of Circe. The tree and serpent are common emblems, and have even been found in Indian temples in central America, grouped as in the woodcut.

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Figure 81 is copied from Lajard, _Culte de Venus_, plate xix., fig.

11, The origin of this, which is a silver statuette in that author's possession, is unknown. The female represents Venus bearing in one hand an apple; her arm rests upon what seems to be a representative of the mystic triad (the two additions to the upright stem not being seen in a front view) round which a dolphin for 'womb' is entwined, from whose mouth comes the stream of life. The apple plays a strange part in Greek and Hebrew mythology. The story of "the apple of discord," awarded by Paris to Venus, seems to indicate that where beauty contends against majesty and wisdom for the love of youth, it is sure to win the day. We learn from Arn.o.bius that a certain Nana conceived a son by an apple (Op, Cit., p. 286), although in another place the prolific fruit is said to have been a pomegranate. Mythologically, that writer sees no difficulty in the story, for those who affirm that rocks and hard stones have brought forth. In the Song of Solomon, apples and the tree that bears them are often referred to; and we have in Ch. ii. 5 the curious expression, "Comfort me with apples, for I am sick of love." We are familiar with the account of Eve being tempted by the same fruit.

Critics imagine that as the apple in Palestine is not good eating, the quince is meant; if so, we know that a leaf of that tree is to be seen in every amorous picture found in Pompeii, the plant having been supposed to increase virile power. Others imagine that the citron is intended, whose shape makes it an emblem of the testis. However this may be decided, it is tolerably clear, from all the tales and pictures in which a fruit like the apple figures, that the emblem symbolised a desire for an intimate union between the s.e.xes. The reader will doubtless remember how, in Genesis x.x.x, Leah is represented as purchasing her husband's company for a night by means of mandrakes, the result being the birth of Issachar; and in the well-known story of the Creation we find that the apple gives birth to desire, as shown in the recognition for the first time of the respective nudity of the couple, which was followed immediately, or as soon as it was possible afterwards, by s.e.xual intercourse and the conception of Cain.

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Figure 82 is from Lajard (Op. Cit.), plate xivb, fig. 3.

The gem is of unknown origin, but is apparently Babylonish; it represents the male and female in conjunction: each appears to be holding the symbol of the triad in much respect, whilst the curious cross suggests a new reading to an ancient symbol.