Archaic England Part 38

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGS. 274 to 276.--British. From Evans, and from Barthelemy.]

A chain of pearls is proceeding from the mouth of the little figure which appears on some of the Channel Island coins, _vide_ the DRUCCA example herewith: students of fairy-tale are familiar with the story of a Maid out of whose mouth, whenso'er she opened it fell jewels, and that this fairy Maid was Reason is implied by the present day compliment in the East, "Allah! you are a wise man, you spit pearls." The DRUCCA coin is officially described as a "female figure standing to the left, her right hand holding a serpent (?)" and it is quite likely that the serpent or symbol of Wisdom was intended by the artist. There is no question about the serpents in the Tyrian coin here ill.u.s.trated, where on either side of the Maiden they are represented with almost precisely the same [SS] form as the [SS] proceeding from the mouths of the two steeds on the British "altar". In the latter case the centre is a vase or demijohn, in the former the centre is a Maid or Virgin. Without a doubt this BER virgin is Beroe or Berith, the _pherepolis_ of Beyrout: in Fig. 278 the two serpents are a.s.sociated with a phare, fire, or pyre; from the mouth of the British "Jupiters," ill.u.s.trated in Figs. 274 and 275, the same two serpentine flames or S's are emerging.

The word BER, as has been seen, is equivalent to Vir, and in all probability the word _virgin_ originally carried the same meaning as _burgeon_. That old Lydgate, the monk of _Bery_, knew all about Vera and how she made the buds to burgeon is obvious from his lines:--

Mightie Flora G.o.ddesse of fresh flowers Which clothed hath the soyle in l.u.s.tie greene, Made buds spring with her sweet showers By influence of the sunne-shine To doe pleasaunce of intent full cleane, Unto the States which now sit here Hath _Vere_ down sent her own daughter deare.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGS. 277 and 278.--From _Ancient Pagan and Modern Christian Symbolism_ (Inman, C. W.).]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 279.--Bas Relievo on the Portal of the Temple of Montmorillon in France. From _Antiquities of Cornwall_ (Borlase).]

It is evident that Vere is here the equivalent of Proserpine, the Maid who was condemned to spend one-half her time in Hades, and that "Verray"

was occasionally noxious is implied by the old sense attributed to this word of _nightmare_, _e.g._, Chaucer:--

Lord Jesus Christ and Seynte Benedykte Bless this house from every wikked wight Fro nyghte's _verray_, etc.

Some authorities connoted this word _verray_ with Werra, a Sclavonic deity, and the connection is probably well founded: the Cornish Furry dance was also termed the Flora dance.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 280.--The Church as a Dove with Six Wings. A Franco-German Miniature of the XI. Cent. From _Christian Iconography_ (Didron).]

The name Proserpine is seemingly akin to Pure Serpent--the same Serpent, perhaps, whose form is represented _in extenso_ at Avebury: the _Bona Dea_ of Crete was figured holding serpents and the nude figure on the left of Fig. 279 has been ingeniously, and, I think, rightly interpreted by Borlase as Truth, or Vera. It was doubtless some such similar emblem as originated the ridiculous story that St. Christine of Tyre was "tortured" by having live serpents placed at her b.r.e.a.s.t.s: "The two asps hung at her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and did her no harm, and the two adders wound them about her neck and licked up her sweat."[542] Not only is this suffering Christine a.s.signed to Tyre (in Italy), but she is said to have been enclosed in a certain _tower_ and to have been set upon a burning _tour_ or wheel. Christine is the feminine of Christ, and that Christ was identified with _Sophia_ or Wisdom is obvious from the design herewith.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 281.--Jesus Christ as Saint Sophia. Miniature of Lyons, XII. Cent. From _Christian Iconography_ (Didron).]

The Sicilian coins of Ja.n.u.s depicted Columba or the Dove, and the same symbol of the Cretan, Epheia, Britomart, Athene, or Rhea figures in the hand of the Elf on page 627, and on the reverse of other British coins ill.u.s.trated on the same page. The Dove is the acknowledged symbol of the Holy Ghost, yet the symbolists depicted even the immaculate Dove as duplex: the six wings of the parti-coloured Columba have in all probability an ultimate connection with the six beneficent world-supervisors of the Persian philosophy.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 282.--The Holy Ghost, as a Child, Floating on the Waters. From a Miniature of the XIV. Cent. From _Christian Iconography_ (Didron).]

In the Christian emblem below, the Holy Ghost is represented as a Child floating on the Waters of Chaos between the circles of Day and Night, and that the Supreme was the Parent alike of both Good and Evil is expressed in the verse: "I form the light and create darkness; I make peace and create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things." The preceding sentence runs: "There is none beside me. I am the Lord and there is none else."[543] That this idea was prevalent among the Druids of the west is strongly to be inferred from an ancient chant still current among the Bretons, which begins--

Beautiful child of the Druid, answer me right well.

What would'st thou that I should sing?

Sing to me the series of number one, that I may learn it this very day.

There is no series for one, for One is Necessity alone.

The father of death, there is nothing before and nothing after.[544]

The _Magna Mater_ of Fig. 266 might thus appropriately have been known as Fate, Destiny, Necessity, or Fortune. _Fortuna_ is radically _for_, and with the Fortunes or fates may be connoted the English fairies known as Portunes. The Portunes are said to be peculiar to England, and are known by the French as Neptunes: the English Portunes are represented as diminutive little people who, "if anything is to be carried into the house, or any laborious work to be done, lend a hand and finish it sooner than any man could".[545] A jocular and amiable little people who loved to warm themselves at the fire.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 283.--From _Christian Iconography_ (Didron).]

Among the heathen chants of the Spanish peasantry is one in which the number One stands for the wheel of Fortune, and the number six "for the loves you hold". These six loves may be connoted with the six pinions of the Dove ill.u.s.trated on page 486, and that Ja.n.u.s of the Dove was regarded as the Chaos, Ghost, or Cause is obvious from the words which are put into his mouth by Ovid: "The ancients called me Chaos (for I am the original substance). Observe, how I can unfold the deeds of past times. This lucid air, and the three other bodies which remain, fire, water, and earth, formed one heap.[546] As soon as this ma.s.s was liberated from the strife of its own discordant a.s.sociation, it sought new abodes. Fire flew upwards: air occupied the next position, and earth and water, forming the land and sea, filled the middle s.p.a.ce. Then I, who was a globe, and formless, a.s.sumed a countenance and limbs worthy of a G.o.d. Even now, as a slight indication of my primitive appearance, my front and back are the same."

In the mouth of Fig. 283 is the wheel of the four quarters, and variants of this wheel-cross form the design of a very large percentage of English coins: I here use the word English in preference to British as "there was no native coinage either in Scotland, Wales, or Ireland": in England alone have prehistoric British coins been found,[547] and in England alone apparently were they coined. Somewhat the same conclusions are indicated by the wheel-cross which is peculiar to Wales, Cornwall, and the Isle of Man: neither in Scotland or Ireland does the circular form exist.[548]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 284.--Cretan Seal.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 285.--British. From _English Coins and Tokens_ (Jewitt & Head).]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 286.--British. From Evans.]

Among the seals of Crete there has been found one figuring a ship and two half-moons: it has been supposed that this token signified that the devotee had ventured on a two months' voyage and signalised the successful exploit by the fabrication of an _ex voto_; but if the subject in question actually represents a material vessel one may question whether the mariner could successfully have negotiated even a two hours' trip. The pair of crescents which figure so frequently on the wheel-cross coins of Britain probably implied the twin lily-white maids of Druidic folk-song, and the superst.i.tions in connection with this symbol of the two _sickles_--the word is essentially the same as _cycle_, Greek _kuklos_--seem in Anglesea or Mona even to linger yet.[549] Among sepulchral offerings found in a prehistoric barrow near Bridlington or Burlington, were "two pieces of flint chipped into the form of crescents,"[550] and it is possible that Ida the Flame bearer, whose name is popularly connected with _flame bearer_ or Flamborough Head, was not the Anglian chieftain, but the divine Ida, Head, or Flame to whom all Forelands and Headlands were dedicated. With Bridlington or Burlington may be connoted the fact that this town of the children of Brid is situated in the Deira district, which was occupied by the Parisii: this name is by some authorities believed to be only a corruption of that of the Frisii, originally settlers from the opposite coast of Friesland.

The Etruscan name for Juno was Cupra, which may be connoted with Cabira, one of the t.i.tles of Venus, also with Cabura, the name of a fountain in Mesopotamia wherein Juno was said to bathe himself. The mysterious deities known as the Cabiri are described as "mystic divinities (?

Phoenician origin) worshipped in various parts of the ancient world.

The meaning of their name, their character, and nature are quite uncertain".[551] Faber, in his _Dissertation on the Mysteries of the Cabiri_, states that the Cabiri were the same as the Abiri:[552] in Hebrew _Cabirim_ means the Mighty Ones, and there is seemingly little doubt that Cabiri was originally _great abiri_. In Candia or Talchinea, the Cabiri were worshipped as the Telchines, and as _chin_ or _khan_ meant in Asia Minor Priest as well as King, and as the offices of Priest and King were anciently affiliated, the term _talchin_ (which as we have seen was applied to St. Patrick) meant seemingly _tall_ or _chief King-Priest_. The custom of Priest-Kings adopting the style and t.i.tles of their divinities renders it probable that the historical Telchins worshipped an archetypal Talchin. The original Telchins are described by Diodorus, as first inhabiting Rhodes, and the Colossus of Rhodes was probably an image of the divine _Tall King_ or _Chief King_.

It is related that Rhea entrusted the infant Neptune to the care of the Telchines who were children of the sea, and that the child sea-G.o.d was reared by them in conjunction with Caphira or Cabira, the daughter of Ocea.n.u.s. As Faber observes: "Caphira is evidently a mere variation of Cabira," and he translates Cabira as _Great G.o.ddess_: in view of the evidence already adduced one might likewise translate it Great _Power_, Great _Pyre_, or Great _Phairy_. The Cabiri are often equated with the Dioscuri or Great _Pair_, and these Twain were not infrequently expressed symbolically by Twin circles.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 287.--Mykenian. FIG. 288.--Cretan. FIG.

289.--Scotch. From _Myths of Crete and Preh.e.l.lenic Europe_ (Mackenzie, D. A.).]

The emblem of the double disc, "barnacle," or "spectacle ornament" is found most frequently in Scotland where it is attributed to the Picts: sometimes the discs are undecorated, others are elaborated by a zigzag or zed, which apparently signified the Central and sustaining _Power_, Fire, or Force. Figs. 287 and 288 from Crete represent the discs transfixed by a _broca_ or spike and the winged ange or angel with a wand--the magic rod or wand which invariably denoted Power--may be designated King Eros. In Scotland the central _brocco_, _i.e._, skewer, shoot, or stalk is found sprouting into what one might term _broccoli_, and in Fig. 291 the dotted eyes, wheels, or paps are elaborated into sevens which possibly may have symbolised the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. Notable examples of this disc ornament occur at Doo Cave in Fife, and as the Scotch refer to a Dovecote as "Doocot," it may be suggested that Doo Cave was a Dove Cave sacred to the _deux_, or _duo_, or Dieu. Other well-known specimens are found on a so-called "Brodie"

stone and on the Inchbrayock stone in Forfarshire. Forfar, I have already suggested, was a land of St. Varvary: Overkirkhope, where the symbol also occurs, was presumably the hope or hill of Over, or _uber_, Church, and Ferriby,[553] in Lincolnshire, where the emblem is again found, was in all probability a _by_ or abode of Ferri. The name Cupar may be connoted with Cupra--the Juno of Etruria--and Inchbrayock is radically Bray or Brock.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGS. 290 to 292.--Scotch. From _Archaic Sculpturings_ (Mann, L. M.).]

Sometimes the discs--which might be termed _Brick a Brack_ or, Bride's Bairns--are centred by what looks like a tree (French _arbre_) or, in comparison with Fig. 295, from the catacombs, might be an anchor: it has no doubt rightly been a.s.sumed that this and similar carvings symbolised the Tree of Life with Adam and Eve on either hand. According to a recent writer: "The symbol group of a man and woman on either side of a tree with a serpent at times introduced is of pre-Christian origin. The figures narrowly considered as Adam and Eve and broadly as the human family are accompanied by the Tree which stands for Knowledge, and the serpent which represents Wisdom. This old world-wide symbol seems to crop up in Pictland twisted and changed in a curious fashion."[554] One of these fantastic forms is, I think, the feathered elphin or _antennaed_ solar face of Fig. 293.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGS. 293 and 294.--From _Archaic Sculpturings_ (Mann, L. M.).]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 295.--From _Christian Iconography_ (Didron).]

Among the ancients the word _Eva_, not only denoted _life_, but it also meant _serpent_: the jumbled traditions of the Hebrews a.s.sociated Eve and the Serpent unfavourably, but according to an early sect of Gnostic Christians known as the Ophites, _i.e._, _Evites_, or "Serpent.i.tes," the Serpent of Genesis was a personification of the Good principle, who instructed Eve in all the learning of the world which has descended to us. There is frequent mention in the Old Testament of a people called the Hivites or Hevites, so called because, like the Christian Ophites, they were worshippers of the serpent. We meet again with Eff the serpent in F the fifth letter of the alphabet: this letter, according to Dr.

Isaac Taylor, was formed originally like a horned or sacred serpent, and the two strokes of our F are the surviving traces of the two horns.[555]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 296.--From _A Dictionary of Non-Cla.s.sical Mythology_ (Edwardes and Spence).]

The term Hivites is sometimes interpreted to mean Midlanders, which seems reasonable as they lived in the middle of Canaan. In connection with these serpent-worshipping Midlanders or Hivites it is significant that not only is the English Avebury described as being "situated in the very centre or heart of our country,"[556] but that it is geographically the very nave or bogel of the surrounding neighbourhood.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 297.--British. From Akerman.]

Eva is in all probability the source of the word _ivy_, German _epheu_, for the evergreen ivy is notoriously a long-lived plant, and even by the early Christian Church[557] Ivy was accepted as the emblem of life and immortality. As immortality was the primary dogma of the Druids, hence perhaps why they and their co-worshippers decked themselves with wreaths of this undying and seemingly immortal plant.[558] The figure of the Graeco-Egyptian "Jupiter," known as Serapis, appears (supported by the Twins) surrounded by an ivy wreath, and that the ancient Jews ivy-decked themselves like the British on festival occasions is evident from the words of Tacitus: "Their priests it is true made use of fifes and cymbals: they were crowned with wreaths of ivy, and a vine wrought in gold was seen in their temple".[559] The leaf on the British VIRI coin here ill.u.s.trated has been held to be a vine "which does not appear to have been borrowed from any Roman coin," but, continues Sir John Evans, "whether this was an original type to signify the fertility of the soil in respect of vines or adapted from some other source it is hard to say".[560] If the device be a Vine leaf it probably symbolised the True Vine; if a fig leaf it undoubtedly was the sign of Maggie Figgy, the Mother of Millions, and the Ovary of Everything: the Sunday before Easter used to be known as Fig Sunday, and on this occasion figs were eaten in large quant.i.ties.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 298.--Thrones.--Fiery Two-winged Wheels. From Didron.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 299.--The Trinity under the Form of Three Circles. From a French Miniature of the close of the XIII. Cent. From Didron.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 300.--French MS., XIII. Cent. From Didron.]

From Aubrey's plan of the Overton circle const.i.tuting the head of the serpent at Avebury, it will be seen that the neck was carefully modelled, and that a pair of barrows appeared at the mouth (see _ante_, page 335). This head of the Eve or serpent was a stone circle distant about a mile from the larger peripheries, and the whole design covered upwards of two miles of country. As already noted the serpent was the symbol of immortality and rejuvenescence, because it periodically sloughed its skin and reappeared in one more beautiful.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 301.--From _Ancient Pagan and Modern Christian Symbolism_ (Inman, C. W.).[561]]

That the two and the three circles were taken over intact by Christianity is evident from the emblems ill.u.s.trated on p. 499, and that the French possessed the tradition of Good Eva or the Good Serpent is manifest from Fig. 300.

The Iberian inscription around Fig. 301--a French example--has not been deciphered, but it is sufficiently evident that the emblem represents the Iberian Jupiter with Juno and the Tree of Life.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 302.--G.o.d the Father, without a Nimbus and Beardless, Condemning Adam to Till the Ground and Eve to Spin the Wool. From _Christian Iconography_ (Didron).]