Ancient Pagan and Modern Christian Symbolism: With an Essay on Baal Worship, on the Assyrian Sacred "Grove," and Other Allied SymbolsInman, Thomas
Religion
Ancient Pagan and Modern Christian Symbolism: With an Essay on Baal Worship, on the Assyrian Sacred "Grove," and Other Allied Symbols
Inman, Thomas
Christian art and symbolism; Symbolism
Fig. 5 represents the position of the hands assumed 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 assumed 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 god 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 god 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 Rishi, 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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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