rhe scramenr

of rhe
guarist.
and St. Paul declared
ro the
Corinthians,
"Chrisr our pass-
over is sacrificed
lor us: there_
fore let us lteep the feast2r.,,
The divine Lamb is an inex_
haustible
soLrrce of life and also
of iight. Sr.
John
of
patmos
speaks of rhis in his bool< of
Re,elatronr
afrer desctibing
the
v'alls oi rhe heavenJy
Jerusalem
moe o, precrous.rones,
and
t,.
tr 1.,,,i., t,,..,1t.t.N,r)
the twelve gates of pearl,
he
Helrell,s were spared because of rLc u(DJ ol rt,e l.r1, rhat
marled rhe_ir
do,n. And thar verv drv rh.. ct,rlJrrn ,,,
tsrael
tlenr our of Egyprrr
.91 lh.
*. of that day which is unique among days,
Jesus
wirh.his
companions
had eaten the.i"ol 1""*,i. f*S,,f,"
prophetrc
svmbol o himselt: and raling rhe place of tl," ,y._
bor. he had said while he ble,red rhe hread and uine,..%ke
re and.ear. This is mr bodv....DrinL
ye all r rhis. I.or rhis
rs n'v blood. . ../. This is whv rhe Chrrrch ,ince irs earliesr
ovs has reen a .nnecting
Iinl. berween rhe
pa.chal
larnb an<l
,1d:, A"! I saw no temple rherein: tur the Lord God AI_
mrShrv,and
rfie Lamb are rhe temple o ir. And the ciry had
no need ol rhe sun. neirher of rhe moon. ro rhine in ir: or
the glory of God did lighren it, and the f_"-S t ,f,. iigi,
thereof
And rhe nrions of them that are saved shall walk-in
the light of iir6."
This rs undoubtedlv
rfie reason,nhv
rhe lamb s5 sorne_
trmes represenred
in rhe midsr o rhe sun. or crowned wirh
a
haio of rays, or also why a star was sometimes placed before
rr.
.
Te.lamb,
rhen, was considered
s source of light; and
the light perceptibJe
to the vision is only rhe i*"g.-";;r;
w6ich iliumines the soul and gives it wis<Jom. Tlris-is how it
lt llt\tt^xr
'th
rfl nA': t2th tu1
I lrll \lrl I l'
hrs been explained by s,,n . l.an'cd com enttors tht rhe
l"nr[, is sometimes seen tea.inlq the lance insread of the cross,
,rs rlre lnce was a symbol of wisdom among the ancients' be-
ing associated with Pallas Athena27. On the other hand, one
.ln lso see in this image simply rhe evocation of the lnce
*hich wounded rhe Redeemeri; side on Calvary, fld in Chris-
rian iconography both cross nd lnce evoke above all the
l'assion of Christ (Fig. l0).
As well as representing the redeemet o humanity and its
Jivine illuminator, the lamb in Chrisrian symbolism also fills
rhe role of purifier of the world
"nd
king of virgins. St.
John
presents it at the head of the
hundred and forty-four thou-
-nd
chosen ones "which were
nor defrled with women, for they
are virgins. These ate chey
which follow the Lamb whirher-
soevet he goeth. These were re-
deemed from among men, being
the irst fruits unto God end to
the Lamb. And in cheir mouth
was found no guile: for they are
FiE. tl 7ilznbncr
llai. hai\.
rcn. c"d
EidP6:
,h-.attu\ i
tdh
M,tL
wirhour ault before the throne of God23
King of those who have remained pure, the Lamb is king
also of rhose who having been defiled "have washe their
robes. and made rhem white in the blood of the Lamb'?e."
This is perhaps what St. Peter was teferring to with rhe
words: "Foresmuch as ye know that ye wete not redeemed
wirh corruptible things, as silver and gold, from
vour
uain
converstion... but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a
lamb without blemish and without spotro." The whole ico-
nography of the purifying lamb rests on these texts and simi-
lar ones, and they explain the
Ptesence
of the lamb! image on
liturgical urnishings connected with the rites o purification,
such as some medieval holy water basins and baptismal onts.
tllr lislt^l\
The apotheosis of rhe lamb
described by St.
John
in Revela-
tion, standing on Mr. Zion in
the midst of the army of virgins,
provided frunful rhemes or the
Christian arrisrs. In the firsr
centuries, alnosr the only image
showing the Lamb Tiiumphant
ws tht of lamb standing in
the center of rhe Iaurel crown hr t2 the tant ftninp tnldu
trn ttt
of glory (Fig. I t
),
or on rhe
d
tte 4h .!hh bb
4
51. Pd ;n
mountain from which issued rhe four. or ive. sources o the
river of life. These represenrarions became much more elabo-
The triumph of the Lamb had ro be followed in Christian
picturing by the recognition of irs absolute power, and this
was celebrated by porrrayals
of the Larnb armed wirh the rod
of aurhotity. On a romb o t58 A.D., the Lamb is shown with
a rod making wter gush from rock, blessing or multiplying
the miraculous loaves, and raising Lazarus from the dea
(Fig. 12).
The celesdal power of the Lamb seems concenrrated in the
Apocalyptic description of it wirh ',seven
horns and seven
eyes, which are rhe seven Spirirs of 6drr.', As we have al-
redy seen, in the language of scriptLrre. and in general in sa-
cred iconography, rhe horn is always the sign of force and of
power; and the number seven is a mysterious number denot-
ing fullness.
The Lord himself used the symbot of lambs and sheep to
mean his followers even rhe Apostles, to whom he ;id,
"Behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolvesrr,,,and in
commirring the care of his flock to
perer:
.,Feed
mv
lambs... Feed my sheepr,,." The sheep as well as the lam
certainly often srands for rhe Christian soul, in addirion to be-
ing incontestably the image of rhe sacriliced Savior. Like the
ram and the lamb, the ewe was sacrificed on all the altars of
rl'. prc-(ihrisrian cults ol titrn,pt ;rrr,l sir. irrchrJ;ng China.
*Luc;n thc Shan rlynrsty ir wrs alrcady rn old establislred
, usto'. t. bury a ewe in honoL of rhe Sun on the mound
,.rlll
"Ttre Royal Palace;t." A similar offeting was ,,.ade to
rlrt Moon on e orher mound catled "l.ight oi e N;shtr1."
It would seem that the ewe is the aninal whose milk be-
,,,Dr the symbol tor the Eucharist. Certainly it is always a
,nc".ber of rhe sheep tmily who carries the vessel o milk' or
Lcs treside it, on many works of a.t of the 6tst six Christian
,tnturies. To represent milk allegorically in painting and
.culpt.r.e, rhe artisis of tht rime made use of rhe nnage o
t,{ t1. Cbtd tht St.r!,n|"nlr rt? rrll
t,,
t.l:
Niti,! h
t?
o,,, .".',,r,.
/;s /r 1n, ,!lt
rd,
/,,! i,,
the mstic container used ty shepherds o' milking the ewes in
,h. n,.ture. the rlrlrrra n the Larrn'. Ir
"a'
mrde o
'net"l
or
w""d, ,lependirg on rh. localrrv. and h,rd a carn'ng harrJle
To identiiy it in its symbolic sense, the artist usuallv placed
near the vessel one or several lambs o' sheep. or the ped&'i,
rhe shepherd's crook of the ancient world (Figs ll and l4)'
It is intercsting to note that on the earlv monuments rhe vcs-
sel of milk is acconpanied by
"o
orhe. anitral than a sheep:
so the milk tht in its vessel represents rhe Eucharist is spe-
r rr |tl^ft1, ()t. (Itrlsr
cifically the milL of rhe ewe, nor char of the cow, o. the she-
goat, or the doe.
-.AT:.C
"ll
rhe pre-Chrisrian
peope
rhat we know anvrhing
or. mitk ws a revered and pre.ious liquid.
,nd nea.ly all th
anchnr religions
used it as rhe perecr i,ruat
",fr,,".";
j,r,""
poured rn rbarrons
belore the altars,nore
oren rhan blood, or
oil. or liquid honev. anJ quire as oen as rine. From one end
ot the encienr wotld to the orher. ir ws relaced with rhe idea
or prospeurv
and happiness.
The bool o Exodus ,ays rhar
when God commanded
Moses to I""d hi" p""pl";;;
;;;s;;,:
he,described.
the counrrv he inrended fo, ,i.,,,
""
.n"i,;l"
wrth mjlk and honev,..
Much tater. in rhe 1,, .";;,;;i,l:
pre-Christian
era, telling the Romans of rhe i*rg*r.f'C"fi""
Age and the delightful region where dwelt ir" f;.,;;r,;;;;:
ple, the poer Ovid said, "Vhat
re now springs of water were
,tu".,::,ll
alr founrains
or mirk. and r,"".y
*, a.*" ,r,.
,':".',
.
,l: same attegorical ide preraited
in Cenrra A.ia,
where the Mongols and Tartars rossed libarions
ol m;lk ro_
ward e
'J<v
as,oferirgs
ro rhe spirirsasr nd lso in Chald;a,
Per.ia.
and Arbia. wfiere later ir rould b",.ld h". r"
"";;i offered three cups to Mohammed:
one of wine. ,r",h"r.;;
milL. and rhe rhird of honevr rhe
propher
".l"ct"d
the ,".onj
dnd- w5 prrsed
bv the angel for fiis wise choice,..
I
we mighr nore rhar. burer. made from the cream otmilL.
iso bpcme
a svmbol of abLrndance
and good orrune.
In
manv places in_the Bible. rhe prophets a.r,-g"*"
Ur,,".
"rJ honcv as ood for the furure Me.sih nd tri" sainrs; and th"
s:r:d bogks o the Hindus mention ir even oi
""".,
iO
p.r,l-
erul gods.
savs the Rig-Veda.
-drop
vour butter on orrr
.ous dnd vour honey on all rhe worldsa,'...
Fo1 tle earlr teacLers
of rhe Christian faith, milk had two
principal.symbolic
meanings:
for one. ir was rhe em6lem
of
rhe. excelenr doctrine whic6 nourishes
rhe Chrisrian,"
mind,
and.for the orher, ir stood for rhe Eucharist,
,h" ;".";;
food for his soui. At one moment
of the Cfrr*f,t *A/irf"',
some o its priests
adopted milk as a true sacramental
sub-
lllll ll,l1 ,l
'rrnce,
and celebrated drt holy nrystctics with bread and co-
,,grrlated milk. They were known by the name of Artotyrites,
(,,rror, bLead, and r7ror, dried milk, cheese)r they are known to
,,' through St. Epiphanius, St. Augustine, and Theodorus
Lrctora'. The Church forbade the consecrtion o milk and
rts derivatives as sacrement; however, the ApottoLic Tradition,
hy St. Hippolitus,
-ho
was martyred in 240 r.o., prescribed
,ur exceptional communion rire chat was accepted, at least for
r certain time in Greece. In addnion to bread and wine and
ihe mixture of milk and honey that many churches made use
of ar rhis dme, rhis rite offered a cup o water. The commu-
Dicants were given successively three cups: first, after the con-
secrated bread, the cup of water; then that of milL and honey,
and nally chat of wine.
I ttle lise: TtE ti"hph,nt Ran on rhe rom seal .f T"knont in Braba,r:
])th Q tun.
I Maspro. nls, T. II, pp. 27r-27r.
r. Ao,, "L Livre J6 MorB," in ,Re,,e l l Hrrot. Lr R.l,sio, 1887, p. 278
L Mspr, t s Hypogs royaux . Thbs," in Rese Hi'totiqu d6 Rclisio,',
1888, p. 27e, nd SFinilkr-Ohcrlia, bJ Hjosblh5, p.1).
,1.
Cl. LouG Menard, H,nit. s Gre6,T.lI' p.726.
t. Cl. Dor. Retl*rtu,ls pat, T. I, Vol. II, p. 214, Fis. lto bis
6. C Dclefte, Mantel, T. lI, ].d pt, p. l4oi, an Rew atthologiqw.
1898.
7. Cl Lefbure, "Bulh.in..iiiq ds Rlisions de L'syPt " in Rdu. hnb,iquc
l5 R./i8io"J, T. LXVII, n. l, l9ll,

l.
8. Cl H. Roux, Hd.liom .} Po,pdi, T. VIII, plt 46.
9. Ab.r. Mi.x, Iz
(;.,.e
ryn&iak
ds Phaan', p- 10.
r. Fr Assyria .d Clrald., s. Gusave le Bon, Le'
tits
.iilidtion',
P
t4t.
I L St. Ambros, !pla, LX, .. IIL
12. Don Pit, .lpi.;/,se & Sole,-s, T. III, p. 24.
ll. Gens 22:l-lr,
14. CU A. Chewillon, "L'Aid Kbn Rbf in /-'.llkrddrin. T. XCI, no.
4.701, April l9ll.
17. St.
Jhn
1,2e.
lA R!.1ri.n t:6-10.
I t, lrlstttY r)t I llltst.
le. Cl de Rosi, o,n. i!.d., T. lt, p. l, XX, no. I
20. Cl d Saint-Laurenr, criL. T. I. plae IV n.. 2.
2t. let
tl,'
?t|nlnns ds pt ha
srdd6
d. ld ltrnann,i doij\,
ytt
sde, Jerst.m; P.
94.
22. A. Min, SJ., "D6 ocrs p toile:,', i" Mtdn+s archal%qut. T. Iy,
1816, pp. 2()(1201, 6g, 62.
24. Sr. Mafthr 26:218, Douay-Rhim, vc6ion.
2t, I Crinthins ,:7-8,
26 Rerlrion 2l:22-24.
27. Cl Marikn CapI, .ldrio,, VIII: ako Misnr, );d. dntiq .ha., p. tt,2n
A. tero"A. 4r.rr..,, .r-.h,d",tp td l.,
6p
_ p B\
28. Re!cl ion l4j4 t
rr. sr.
John
2t:l, 17.
14. Th /_i ar,, \.x_
lr. c Dr. op..,r., Pa( I, T. II. vot. ty p. l6t.
l7- Ovid. ,trduo?r, Book I, .h. r.
,8. Rs.. IrJ d1s,o J,,tr.tr,., p. 12.
,o. c s:q4, b c.r tvn ? tl.t,a dl, p t\
40 c snBk.. & a,r- u./c, vt. II. !ll: I
4
dtna a httothta.
Erd Fiiltc: Th. lnb on a tsthary tt.
ml
_rN
cuNlPIEs UNDFR Greek influence' the he-goat wa"
I.onn..,.d
with rhe popular culr o the goddess Artemis'
"' "
r.t *"" off"..i to her in the ceremonies
celebrated
",..v
five vears in her honor. On the ringe o the Artemis
",,i.
**.."*",i"." of the god Pan. regarded a" the u"iuersal
*"".r,o. of the Drocreaiive
power. showed him *irh rhe Legs'
i*.. ,"a f,** of,h" h.-eo"t, and sometimes with its whole
l,odvr.
h"..,o."
who distinguished
themselves on the stages of
the Greek theater,
",
*"ll
""
th" winners of certain athletic
contests, were commonly rewarded
with che prize of a goat'
and from this came the name ttagodos,by
which actors were
generally called, an tragodia, rragedv, given to the most poPu-
lar form of theater'z.
Ir is interesting that the ancient Scandinavns
aftached the
o.,t to the ch",]or o Tho., rhe god o rhunder and light-
i;g'. so*" people have thoughr that rhe foul odor which is
"otime"
p.od,-rced t lhe moment when lightning appears
has
"omethiig
to do wirh this asociation; and, perhaps by an-
other associaiion connected
with it, it was the former practice
in some northern countries to place a goat's horn, or even a
f.asment of e animal's slin. Ln rhe top foor o d"ellings ro
.,"., tf'"'. from lighrning ln the Orienr' it was thought
li",
";".ki".
-,d.-'"*
g."t hide lent rhe wine special
health-giving
properties; and in the eastern Mediterranean
re-
*i.",
*"ri phnts, including fennel, anise, and cumin, which
T]F]tE
GOA:T
t l lrt,s
were sought so eagerly by goets tht they wrrc named for the
nimla, were equelly sought out by people who used their
seeds for religious and magical rin:als.
But rich as the goatt past history has been in its symbolic,
hieratic, and sacrificial uses, its role in chrisrian symbolism
stems almost entirely from biblical sources. In many places in
the Penrateuch. Moses orders the immolation of the goar.
The only chapter in the Book of Numbers that codifies se,-
eral importanr liturgies speciGes the sacrifice of a goat before
Yahweh5, on ten diferenr occasions, not as an act of adora-
tion or of petition, but for the remission of sins. This expia-
tory characrer, clearly dened for each ritual scri6ce of
goat, has quite naturally made the animal appear as a pro-
phetic 6gure of the Redeemer.
But it is especially in the role of the scapegoat and its com-
panion that the goar has enrered inro the symbolism of Christ.
According to Levnicus, Moses says rhat afrer sacri6cing a
bullock, Aaron, the high priesr, is to take rwo goats, one for
Yahweh, the Lord. che other for Azazel, whose nme means
"the prince of the demons who have been cast our." Then he
is ro place rhe rwo goats before rhe Lord at the door o rhe
rabernacle o the congregation. Aaron is to cest lots upon the
rwo goars, one lot for the Lord and one lot for A,azel; and
he is to bring the goat on which Azazelir lot has fallen and
presenr ir alive hefore rhe Lord ro mle an expiation upon ir
and to let it go for Azazel inro the desert.
"Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, thac is for
rhe people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with
that blood as he did wnh rhe blood of the bullock, and sprin-
kle it upon rhe mercy seat, and before the mercy seat....
And he shall go out unio the alrar that is before the Lord,
and make an aronement for iq and shall rake of the blood of
the bullock, and of rhe blood of the goat, and put it upon the
horns of rhe altar round abouc. And he shall sprinlle of the
blood upon it with his linger seven times, and cleanse it, and
hallow it from the uncleanness of the childre" of lsrael. And
tlrtr
(,o^l
.hs, he hath ,nad" a" c'J o rtconciling
the holv place' an-d
,i," , ***f"
of the congregation,
and the altar' he shall
i',i,- ,1," i'* go,,,
""d
A"'on
'hall
la" both his hands upon
'r'.
i*i J,ri" li'e goar, and coness
over h;m all the in-
,"',nt-
-.f
,f," children
o Israel' and all rheir transgressions
in
l:ii";;;,;.';..
",,,;"*
*.", upon the head o the goar' and
.i',r' ;";i ;;',;",
v ,n. n,,a or a 6t man into rhe wilder-
,,".' 'l ,1" eoat
,hall bear upon him all rheir iniquiries
,,,,.. , i"il'
".,'',i,uired:
and he
"hall
let go rhe goat in the
wilderness."
"
i;;;;-.",,,'."
and exegetes
of alt rimes have seen in
,h"';;,';;',h"';;;,';".4,
ir" embrem
ot chrisr sacriced
iil"i"ir,i' r",[".
"'
;nsom ror the world, and in the second'
ii":;i;;';ili'-;"*"
R"d""."' become
a sort oruniversal
)..*r,.
.f evil. the terrible
mass o
h,rmrn s;n. which he
.l)'i"'
l-r, ,",.',1"
deserr-rhat
is into the
'olitude
o hi'
."-U.""'.
"1.-a',t
ro another
in(erPretation'
toward
heaven
il;";;""";'";"tod
awairs
Theodor,s'
Bruno o Asri'
ii".^"
eor** and manv other writers
give this passage
i;'i;;;
mvstical interpretations
that substantiallv
agree
rvith what I have
just saidT'
Since the beernning
o Chrisrianin
the scPegoat'
uPon
which. tor rhe "a
'f
tl" people' resrs the accumuatton
ot
,[
'i",,1'*,
h. sruck th' popul"r imagination'
and *e.c:n
rrace ir' inlluence in the cu'toms
o our French coun(rv
rolk
+";;^';;
of rhe *esre,n pro'inces
(and doubrle"s.orhers)
"il.;;;;:,'
into their srables
and ba'ns because'
thev sar'
;;:,'#;:,;'";;;""
',po* "d
the germs or animar
mar-
,i'..-
-i;.f,'..rt".,
a'ound
them without doing them anv
i".;. ;;;';,';;"
rept a*av rrom the larger animals'
I have
"i.".'"i',i",
..*.,r ii'"' *h"n rhe livestock
has been Jeci-
-"*a-U"'i".,-*a-*outh
diseese
the
Presence
o a goat in
,h" strbi"
hm in no wav prevented the other animls
lrom
i';". N"*.,f,"f"t'.
wt'en rhe epidemic
is over rhe peasant
,-ri,
'"rt..l
;;
to,t
*;rh
"noih"''
claimi'g thar rhe orher
animal was in bad condition
Although rhe vorrng hc-goar
is a delig|trirl
and arrracrive
nrmar. s.rr becomes sexuallv marure rr becorncs lusrul and a
vre.odor
bgrns ro emnre rom it: soon ir becomes a dis-
gustrng nd repugnnr
crerure which
one wishes
ro avoid. In
,i.
i,rn" 1,.,,according
ro rhe mvsri.s, as long as rhe Chris-
:ren
keps hrs hearr voung
and pure.
as long as he resists the
lower. -rnstrncrs
rnsotr as narure allous, he remains moraly
beu(ilul:,bur.when
rhe human being abandons
him,elf ro rhe
vrces
or hrs tower nature, his
llrl xt\rl^kr ()r
I
rnner corruprion
shows irself
and points
the finger of blame
r him in one way or another.
Among rhe ancienr
Greeks, ir
was said of libidinous
people
rhar they
"smelied
o goat...
The Gospeis
also porrray
rhe gor s svmbol
of rhe ,._
cursed. Several
centuries
ear_
lier EzeLiel
had wrirren _
"Thus saith the Lord God_
Behold. I judge
beueen cartle
and catde, between rhe rams
and the he-goatss.,'Bur
Chrisr
was even clearer:
,,\Vhen
rhe Son of man shall come in his
gJ:,:ll*,,f:1.
horv angels with hrm. rhen .h"lt h"
";,;; the rhrone o his glorv: And beore him shall S" grtt.r"j
"lt
natrons:,and
he,shall
separare rhem.".
".,""*.,,
",-"
snepherd
dvrde(h his sheep rom rhe goar": And he s6:ll set
:?: :*f
*.n" rrghr hand. hut rhe goats
on ,he tefr... The,,
rter wel.omrng
rhe
lusr.
he rurn\ r rhose on hjs ler. and
savs,
."Deparr {:.:"
* cursed. inro.,".r",,,;s;;p..l
pared for rhe devil and hjs aneels.....'.
1* f1*",,
is.the speciar Imblem
of the Kine or Hell. All
medreval
demonotogists
show Satan almost
excsively in rhe
guise ofa.buck
goar, and i ihey re ro be believed, ir is rn
nrs rorm rhar he presides
oler hi, dev,l.s sabbaths. In rhe her_
FiE I tcbbdn
oI b\tLr.
I lll ..o^ I
,nctic
sroups
of the Mi<lJlt Agcs, which very otien remained
ir: perect harrnony with the purest concepts of Christian mvs-
ticism, the buck wes at once the symbol of Saran and of ani-
malitn It is on this eccounr thet irs head still adorns the 6ve-
pointed star rhat is directed downwardro- '\he black fallen
srar" which is the antithesis of rhe pentagram. the star of
spirirualirl whose point is toward heaven (Figs. I and 2).
But as *e have said, the goat was nor doomed from birdr
.o be scorned by human beings. Among
the ncient Greeks, on the conrrary, the
young he-goar, trgnko', was one of the
symbols of puriry, of "whiteness,"
what-
ever the color of irs coat. It
-as
only
when ir became an adult buck, tragos, that
it losr rhe esreem of others along wirh irs
It seems also that rhe same fauo.able
rega.d, and the same sacrificial rites on
rhe altars of the gods, were accorded to
the young of sheep, goats, and e"en deer;
that is, ro all rhe young of the small,
horned quadrupeds; furrher. in the sac.ed
arrs of rhe pre-Christians it was nor often
possible ro distinguish between kids, lambs, and other similar
animals.
In the ancient cults an mysteries-those of Ishtar and
Tmmuz among the Assytians, for e*ample, and later in the
mysterious theoties of the Pythagoreans and rhe Orphists and
in the rites of Dionysus-the kid was rhe image of rhe be-
liever initiated into the secret teachings There
-as
a sacred
formula in Orphism, which rstified to this, which rhe
Pyrhagoreans also adopred; the mysrerious words that can be
read on the two gold plates of Thurii'r (between the ourth
and the third centuries e.c.): "Goat, I ha"e falien in the milk"
-or
according to olgra{- "Goat, I have thrown mvself
upon the mil!," thet is, upon the noutishing breast of di-
vinirytr. Hete.'inilk"
srrrely rneans the hiJdcn doctrine, issu-
ing direcdy ftom the masters withour being
""",
ty ,h p."-
fane, as milk passes invisibly from the mother,s lr.e""r inm th.
mouth of her young. In the decoration
of the
pyth"gor.rn
br_
silica of the Porta Maggiore, in Rome, we see a bacchante
standing with a lrid in her arms which
"h"
hold" out to
"n_ other womh who is baring her breast for itB. In the same
wan in the.Dionysiac
paintings
of the villa Item, in
pompeii,
we see a priestess suckling a fawn. Ir is because
"f
i""rr;..;
of rhis kind, or o rites unknown ro us that were precticed ;
Assyria in the mysreries of Ishrar and Tammuz.
-*f,
",.ii.. than. Pyttragotism
or Orphism, th"r rh"
p.r,tat.r.h
i-poJ
on rhe Hbrews (neishbors
of the Assyrians) the several_
times repeered precept-
,,Thou
shalt not seerhe [id in hi"
mothert miltrl." The law of Moses do"" ,,or .ontrin ,rrf
similar_edict in relarion ro rhe young
o any orher animal,
In the Far Easr. rhe blood o the }<id was and srill is be_
liewd ro prorecr
children rom nighr-walking
evil spirirs. In
China. rhe kiJ was alwavs rhe fa,ored sacnficial vicrim_Tzu-
Fong, in
the
century beore rhe birth of Christ, offered the
sacri6ce oi. a uello* goar to rhe god Haneu_<uo. who had ap_
peared to him in a virion:
and,ter rhar h; orrune inc,easld
ro the size of a king'sr6.
.-frt.:h: 9.en'areuch
nothing is specified in regard ro rhe sac_
riicial killing o the kid: it ollows rhe r;res indirared or
other small livestocL. But parricular
idea of innocence is
connerred
_wirh
ir. as wirh the orher young vicrims; and ir is
thrs rdea ol a puritv rhat has remained untouched.ince
rts be_
ginning
that in earlier times caused the Lidi; sLin to be chosen
instead o other leathers or fabrics for making rh. po.,rificai
gloves lor ritual user-. The [rurgical rexts clearly esrablished
tnese g,oves s one of rhe special symbols of Chrisr! inviol_
able purirr. This same idea of puriry served ro make rhe
young goar rhe symbol of
Jesus
Christ as a virginal victim.
The religious history of the lid in Europe before our era
presents ir as symbolizing
rhe soul rhar seeks the divine doc-
.in.:: brrr I havc not sctn ,rrr) rrrsr:rlr1
"i
it' hcing regarded
.'.,, ,t;*., ;-r*" o divrnitv lhrr iirr
(
hristians' rhe lid svm-
i,,U"" ,t'" fig;e of Christ dre expiaror, substituted
for us;
.,rr,l this idealf substitution
is expressed
also in Exodus ln
,l',. t.<t law stioula(ed o the Passover' Moses allows the He-
f'."*"," trSr,i,r*
a Lid for the
Paschal
lamb:
"Ye
shall rake
,,
",*
ft". .he sheeP, or from the goatsls'" In all the rest of
,i,i'-"r-. fr,, of the Passover, the text speaks onlv of a lamb;
,i'" tU *
""-.a
at the beginning
merelv as a victim that'
hckins a lamb, could.eplace
ir' Bur in rhis
'ase'
the sam'
"'.,,*
""i**.*"i."
from
'rhe Dest'ovei'
promised ior rhe
i,r.,"J .i " paschal lamb is implicit in the blood of the kid'
,r"J rf ,ft" l"lU prefigu."" Ch'ist, so does the kid' since the
i,i;;i
"i """ ",'d
oril" other had the same value and the
ame meaning, being consecrated by the
'"me
Mosaic rites'
"
if," r-r"tr"r-
"f
the Ancienrs generouslv
gited the
hlood ,purtine from the kidi heart with a verv unexpected
"'..".,u-
i, hrd the
po*.. to sofien the hardett stones' nor
L.i",i.n ai,--a'. p until rh" middle of the medieval
pe-
;i.d: th""l"pid,'h"
'ooi
"..o,n'o
thrs properrv
ln
rleir c:r
".*,"
.f'.i.', we have incontesrable
proof of this from the-
oen o rhe monk Theophilus
who wrote ar the beginning oi
L" .f.**f, centurv-
"lf
vou wish to carve c'vstal' taLe a
,.r"*
ft*t"*. rie irs legs. a"d make a' incision berween the
.i""i ,
"a"'-',r.t',
in ih" ,egion o rhe hea'r' and ler rhe
crvstal soal in the blood un(il it is warm Crve it then ( vorr
*irf', r"a
"1.'
it begins ro get cold' and to harden' put ir
back in rhe blood. .le" As one may well believe' medieval
"pi*r"fii,
*,r"a upon this belief of the craftsmen to enrich
the svmbolism of the Savior.
1n'Greek mythologv, as
-e
ha'e seen' the white she-goat
Amaltheia
was the gloriou" nu'"" of the supreme
go' Zeus'
;;, l, .,,' .,. of h' ho'n. rhat Zeus gave to rhe nvmphs Tr
wes
'(he
horn of plentl" *hirh became
the svmbol of all
"..a
,f""*
"f, "ii.ltrr.f
as well as a material naturezo' and
the symbol also of theit divine source'
',
lrti tisl,^|lY ()tr (
rrlrtst
.
Ir was with a goatsIin
rhat Hephaestus
covcred
pallas-
A(henai
shield/ri and ir was with rhe help o rhe goars
of
Parnassus
that Apollo showed rhe devotees
.f fri. *r.-,r"ry
",
Delphi the generative
source of rhe vapors rhai caused rhe ec-
arc (rnce
srares in which
the
pythonesses
received their in_
sprrarrons
and rransmiried
rhe divine oracles,2. In ancienr
Creran art. rhr Morher Goddess appeared
in rhe orm ofa
she-goar.sucLling
a child/,: she is the Earth_Nourisher.
In
>vna.and
Chaldea. rhe celestial she_goat plavs an importanr
"11 l"':,.d
role in opposirion
to the invisibte evil forces
wh,ch she puts ro tighr;
an Assyrian bas_relief
shows her
chasing a lion-centaur
spirit. And
under che aspecc of Capricorn, in
rhese sme counrries.
rhe got
takes a leading place
in rhe svm_
bolism of the sky and of the
air2a.
Christian symbolisrs
took ad-
vantage of the beliefs of the nat-
uralrsrs of the ancient world,
which endowed the goar with
an
extraordinary
and increasing
power
of vision: and Iike the pre-
In t6e same way, rhe inner vision
of the seeker becomes
more penetrting
as his undersranding
attains higher degrees
DoRcou,-.,
i::Hf;
i:*if.,,T"i.,T;
Fis. ) Tk
sad
.linbins tk
wild creatures
of the mountains.
n""at hon
'
ltrh-,.^^
-,,.;;; ;,:,.,",,;; ,:;
--,
rhev said rhar in proportion
,o
the heighrs rhey arrained in
:,'1b'ir:1"
peaks. rhev arquired not ontv, g..,rly.*tendeJ
held o vision. but also an exrraordinarv
increase in its power
and.acuteness,
to such a degree that no other .."r,u..
on
earth could equal their ability to embrace *ith on. glr.rc.
f
mosr immense
spaces and ro distinguish
perf..tly
ail rh. de-
tails (Fig.
l).
'l
lIli
(io^I
, tho mysteries. Thus on rhc northcrn and eastern shores of
r[,.Mediterranean, the Ancients made rhe she-goat a symbol
,l irririation. Thus also St. Gregory of
Nyssa, who died about 400 A.D., de-
r, ril,ed the she-goat as a symbol of the
r.ral perfection and the universality of
rl," seatching look with which Christ, in
lris divinitn sees everything in the past,
t,rcsent,
nd future". The Physiologus,
,rn,i the medieval bestiades rhat derive
lrom it, always relying on rhe sayings
Fq I tth<.atu.,
Nintins
o Pliny and the Ancients, also took the
o-
th. Ro dha b
shc-goat as an emblem of Christ! om-
rriscience. And with the same viewpoint, the mystics of that
cra also made the goat the image of Christ observing from
rlre heights of heaven the actions o the
jusr and the wicked,
"r the salce of future rewards and punishments26.
The characteristics of the goat which atrract it to the
l,eighrs could provide other resons than the excellence of its
vision why the goat should be taken as the symbolic image of
the Lord. Origen, writing ar rhe beginning of rhe third cen-
tury, said that not only is the goat endowed with maruelous
vision, but that it carries in its breast a liquid that can give
the same dvanrge to human beings. "Thus," he said, "Jesus
Christ not only sees God, his Farher' but makes him visible
also to those whom his word enlightens'?T "
On a ftesco of the foutth century, in the caracombs of Ca-
listus, a leaping gazelle or wild goat crries the caduceus of
Hermes, the god of knowledge, that is hidden from the vul-
gar, and mysterious in itself, Who will erplain to us the
thought of the artist who sketched this astonishing motiP
(Fie.4).
The medie"al hermetists also connect the goat with the
person of Christ, applying to it the old pagan meaning, which
rhey christianized, of the zodiacal Capricorn. In ancient eso-
rerism, this was the
Jafl
a coeli, the Gate of Heaven, as op-
the Shepherd guarding his llock, as is the case in one of the
big frescos oI rhe caracomb of Domitilius; or again, ohen it is
shown on each side of rhe Good Shepherd. There is no doubt
rlrat in borh cses rhe goar is symbol of rhe faithul. In rhe
same way. on n urn o Pesaro, which is o the sevenrh cen-
rury and probably was for baptismal use. rwo gazelles drink
liom the same uessei. a syrnbol of baptism or of rhe Eucharisr
(Fig. 5). In the Roman catacornb
called "Priscilla! Cemetery." the
Good Shepherd carries on his
shoulders not the losr sheep, bur a
goat (Fig.6).
I do not ["o- of a single exam-
ple of a goat represenred in heral-
dry as a certain image of
Jesus
Christ; the annnl had on the whole
a bad reputarion in "the noble sci-
ence." In his grear work, published
in 1699. Vulson de Ia Colonrhir.
spcaks of it thus 'The goat
snws
the buds oi the best trees
wirh poisonoLrs teerh. ruining the counrryside, and for this
reson the Athenians bnished ir from rheir territorn and
even today it is lorbidden ro enter several provinces in
France." He adds rhat the she,goat denores rhe woman of evil
life']3. Ilut it could well be also that the goat and its relatives,
which love to be in high places, sometimes signiJied something
quite different, especially in rhe heraldry of mountainous re-
nlsll^1.\ l)l
post<J rc
(
arr,,'r. whi.h is./,"r!,.r ,'-
/i',i.
the Garc oi l lell. and whi.h
is represented ir: hermeric arr by
c.abs and crustacea"s of all sorts.
In the arr of che caracombs in
Rone, tbe goat often appears in a
purely decorative role; bur it is
also foLrnd with rhe sheep around
l:jN 6 1tu
(;a,15"t.-l.l,A
a th.
t!rd,. ltui,
th, R"n-,
""'rrr-
lt vcrns cerrrin rh'rr rrr rlr rrrnt
"t
St tttrnard and St'
'i,",','
'4,"
.,.r.
"i
irc pLrrt iJ':r rncrnl'ers
ol rhe goat lam-
:.";;',., i^;" u"""
"r,".',
on the
'eals
or coars or ams s
,.;,,,i;i- ;i,r'"
,'o;*,;"",
or sours in rove
"irh
rhe atmo-
."i':..;;tu;;;,i'h.igro.
*r."n." heaven can be rooked upon
;:,';,;r";; i;; ,*,u ,r, i' rhe bottom
rands o the uallevs'
t rl, l:ilt c'
'l'h
a,tu PhLn bt'k
sodt'
ntiq( btont
'tdt
etk-
I
(_t
Herodotus, Hnrory, 11,46'
.' Grcrk n,ro', enr.
''
i".i-.i.u,ir".
L" r'a a \r,'k
'
vor' IV
P'
/r'
I Aou.si frm ol', buck o' he goat'
r, l.vti.s l:11, l8_12
':
li"'l'i"i.',..'i1,..,,,:
s'i. rhom\ Aq-inh
s'/' a''o-'c{/r' QLc-
8.
tl
rion XXIll, eic.
Mrthcw 2t:l!rr'
4l
Ct Ossald
V/th, L Lr' la
Edn\ nal4 A cnY ot Mgna
rte ol the
"le'
SYb*is
Cl-. Car.oPino'
d'iliq!'. P
,4
i'ri;l]Lu,,
o'. u,, , n
Pases
70-71
Exodus 2]:19. 14126. Deutronmv
14:21
cr. Dor. li..er.J,
Vol' XI, pr ?
P
906'
:l;;i* ;; i;;;,;;i;,
;i"l
c*,. p.*in**."
tn Bttb,in on'ndtt.
Co,rDJsno,, P. '10.
G,ec'a on rh Guli
"t
Trenium'
neJr the
Pirolsie sre.qk.
Vol. X XVll' S'e so & B''
S.id.e
hdd,ttt,
P.
299'
1.2.
B.
14.
1r.
Vol. XLll, P '161
r3 Erodus l2:.
'.
,i;"r',]".. o.-.,*
, tu' '
L"a't'' o' D' Dn- ar4" Bo"l' IIL
i!'
,.' ",iJ, r,
",
t. Ar' re ibov'
"rhe
Hurr"'P''8'
tt. Ho?t.The
1ll'
7, Didorus S,.lus, B'61''the'd
bnt"
'o' ^\t'
71 See Glou.
'D'ltrin"
'8{"''
Bo^k III
P'
280'
,; i:: ;::';i
"'
"
-, ;"-,r-
x'vrr s*
"rso
''PU'e'
"
'-,o/"r
)-Fh".1ft' nadnn'T
Ul P t2
P
6'10'
lr. C St. GreEorr oi NYa' Ho''/''
v
,', .*ir",l:ul, *,r*" d* s'mhok'"'
i R," d?
1A't ' -at"'
-'
xvl'
P'
461.
27. Origcn. OP. in Misne,
28. D. la Colomhire
lz
tTrrt,"or,u pLAyFD
6y the horse in Greek myrholog was
L such a lrge one rhr I cannor hope ro set ;t for here
in full within the limits of this booL. L"t us
"i.ply
ok" no,"
thar the horse was so closely allied wirfi
poseidon-Nepone
that god and noble animal were often identiied with one an_
other.The lerned Vicror
Magnien quotes an inscription
from
Lacohi. rhoughr ro be o the fifth cenrurv ol our ere, com_
posed in honor of rhe horse-god
Hippios. whose culr was
wrdespread
rn Greecer.
.
Poseidon,
"god ofhorses,,,as Servius
calls him, created the
horse, because the movements
of its energy are as rapid and
fluid ar
-the
sea waves.
The Crerr, ships f Iorg ,g;;;ii;
carried 6gurefieads.n
rhe shape of horses. which-c;ordins
ro
Reinach represented
Poseidon-Hipoios/.
....h.c.:.[
mythology.
all rh. d;,in" ho."", were sons oj the
Windq for example,
Mars, sreeds were born of Bor.as ,r,j
one,of the Furies. And the lighr of ,h. .r,
".,i"8
;;;;;
erths armosphere!
rhrough *hose
ag.n.y rh. *ind" ,.e
rorhed, also enters inro rhese rales. Thus it is rhar the divine
sun-horse
sires offspring
as swift as himsel( which sometimes
carry mortls bwrd the slry. All these marvelous
stories be-
gen as symbols by means of which
"r,aenc
h.r-anity
"rpr""sed itr rremendous
need for grearer light, for a wtder an more
re krowledge
of God.
.In
Hellas, s il was in many orher harions, rhe horse was
otten sacnfrced to the divinirv.
hs blood lowed nor onlv in
TF{E
]HIORSJE
rllli llolislr
lronor o Poseidon but also in thc tcmples of Cybele-the
Nyl,cle o Berecynthus, the horse-headed goddess, counterpart
, Poseidon, who hides perhaps behind the appearance of the
lolr.quarrers of a horse printed on many Greek coins (Fig. l).
'fhe
horse r4es one of ihe victims offered to Phoebus
Apollo, the divine charioteer of the Sun. And it is a remark-
.rl'le fac that one of the mystery cults of the Hellenistic re-
giorr, a lictle after the seventh century before Christ, sacrificed
,r horse in a mystic ceremony in whicL each initiare coveted
hinrself
-ith
a horsehide before taling part in the ritu-
,rl consumption of the victim's llesh, in order
r,r identify himself more closely with it and
rhe dity it represented.
Many Greek coins, and some others,
.rry the horset whole image, some plced
rrnder a star with rays' (Fig. 2). Coins of
rhe Carthaginian armies in Sicilv. showing
Greek inlluence, represent the horse with the
palm tree,
-hich -as
a symbol of life and of
rcsurrecrion for the ancient world in general,
as it was in primitive Christianky (Fig. I).
Greek metaphysics and theologies consid-
ered the earth, the univers, and the human
being as formed oh the same model, with
their rhoughr, ,oi6, theit ardor, thymos, their
principle r:f life and passion, eP;thy,nia, and
their various breathings, pneunata. Their
rheology supplied the Greeks with an image of the soul sym-
bolized by a team of horses, as Plaro exptesses it in the Phae-
drrs; but Hermias says that Plato took rhis symbolic com-
parison from older poets who were inspired by the Divinit6
such as Homer, Orpheus, and Parmenides. The dti"et of this
tem represents the directing Thought, and the two horses
are spiritual Ardor and human Desirea.
Rudolph Steinet, commenting on Plato, explained the sym-
bolic team in this way: One of rhe horses is parient and wise,
Illr fitl stl^ll\ ot (
l|r\i
the other wild and rebellious; if the charirx nrcers an obsracle,
the rebellious horse makes use of it ro hinder his tearnmate
and go againsr the driver. If the disobedienr
one is rhe
stronger of the uo, dre chariot cannot follow the direcion of
rhe gods; but if the obedient horse is the srronger, rhe chriot
will be ble to enter rhe suprasensible world. So ir ts that the
soul can never reach the lcingdom of heaven wirhout a
struggle.
More simply, the informed Catholic sees in tLe svmholir
equipage rhe picrure o his soul borne along all hrs lje bv the
rwo horses. rhe good and evil tendencies in himself; one rhar
wishes to follow the way rht is right and good, rhe other that
wishes to turn aside inro the paths of perdidon. He looks co
the driver, his conscience, to direc and mainrain che chariot
alwavs acrording ro thar imparrialiry rhar is rhe sum rotal o
human dutv: rhe spirrrual health and sainrhness rhat he rishes
to acquire are formed only lrom that.
.
It is well known thar the horse played a very big role in re_
ligion and symbolism mong rhe Gauls, as it d in all the
western and horchern counrries. The dara of prehistoric
archeology shows that the ancient rribes of our parr of th.
world believed rhat a principle of the divine narure existed in
rhe horse. Drd thev thinl. as rhe people of Asia thoughr. rhar
the sacred horse liLe di\ine Messiah
"descended
"rraighr
from heaven to be sacriicedr,,? How can we explain;he
bone,s of more chan forty thousand horses heaped togerher ar
the foot of the rock at Solut?
Gaul also recogned a godess Epou whose characteristics
were similar to rhose of Cybele, the counrrDarr of the Greel
Poseidon. uho is equivalenr ro Demeter, rt. ,n;,.r"rl Ernh-
Mother. Some sratuertes discovered at Alesia (near Dqon)
show Epona seated, with her hand on e hed o; .*L oi th
figure of a horse smaller than herself6. There were certainlv
points o contacr between rhe Dru,d( nd rhe high priesrhood
of the Greeks which declared themselves i" ;*.,"g""
"f
more or less strong religious influences.
llll llr!\l
In Spain, tlre ttginning ol tht lron Age gave us ornaments
in the shape ol a horse, with or without a ridet, devouring a
lm,nan head or a small indefinable monster (Fig. 3). The sug-
sestion
tht has been made rht rhis is the image of a
horseman-god peculiar to the
IberiansT seems fanciful, since
""-. "f
th.m are riderless: and it
would perhaps be less risky to
suppose tht they might rePresent
the light of the sun desrroying
the darkness of night.
Esaias Tegner says rht among
the Scandinavian countries, the
preferred victim or auguries was
rhe horse, whose srill-quiveiing
entrails were anxiously examined
or omenss.
rVell
before Chris-
tianiry, the horse was worshipped
among the Slvs, and surviuals of
this cult lingered on in the region
o Triglaw and Volyn where the
living animal wes considered
national god and whose sttes were taken s oracles. This cult
was definitely abolished only by rhe apostolate of rhe holy
Bishop Ono of Bamberge.
In Tibet, to this day, the cult of Kwn-on, the horse-
headed go, is widespread-it can be found f.om Mongolia to
Japan;
and Hayagriva, the god with a horse's neck, is some-
times shown with a small horse-head in his hairro. In the my-
thology of China, heaven is populated by a number of horses
of higher and lowet grades o divinity.
It is worth noting that the convenrionl idea of che old-
world symbolists ws that rhe mounted horse ws one of the
ideograms lor Wisdom, represented by the horseman, and In-
telligence, in rhe image of the horse; in Egypr, Portal says,
rhe symbol was translated as: to bestow Intelligencerr. In Gal-
u 1 Prhi,tn lbou" an"nr\.
t
Iflri Bti slrr\HY ()t (
ItSI
lic mythology, horse and rider were joined
as a huge snake-
railed monster symbolizing rhe errh, crrying the sky on its
shoulders.
In Christian iconography, ir is rare .o find representations
o the horse alone that is given the arrribures of Christ. The
symbolic horse usually has a rider, and here also the two to-
gether form one imge. Our forefathers connected them all
the more readily because of the close essociation of the two in
their daily life; very often, especially in the 6rsc millennium of
our er, one grave received both horse nd masrer. I hve
seen this with my own eyes in many different places. But in
the Churcht symbolism in medieval times, ar least in the
est, the mounted horse represented
Jesus
Chrisq God and
man, rhe animl corresponding to his humanity and the rider
to his divinity. The iconographers Cloquet and Monsignor
Barbier de Montault echo rhis symbolismu which we find
again in the centaur, and which was expressed by Rabanus
Maurus, the nintL-century Archbishop of Mainz; he said that
rhe white horse of the Apocalypse represenrs rhe humanity of
Christ, whose radiance extends over every blessed being:
fuuut
est lunanitar
Chtnt;: st in Apo1\pti,
E..e eqs dtbu,
Id ett, caro Chrkti onni
Sanctilidte
rls
tt'.
Here it mighr be remarked thar among the Ancienrs almost
all the sacred or miraculous horses were white. In circum-
stances of great solemnity ir was a i{hire horse that was sacti-
ficed, as was a black bull. And Chinese poetry tells of the
miracle of rhe horsehide and the heavenly lady with a horseir
headra. The holy books of
Judaism
describe as "horses of
Iire" those who carried the prophet Elijah the Tishbite up to
heavenl'; but probably the horses dedicared to rhe Sun by the
kings of
Jerusalem
which
Josiah
took awyr6 were white, as
were those that the classic arts have always represented
hitched to the chariot of Apollo the Sun. In Samaria and
Phoenicia were rhe divine Lorses Anamelech and Adramelech.
The color of the horset coat was also given a special
nrcaning in the mysticism and hermeticism of the Middle
Ages: the white horse is ridden by the virgin heroes of spot-
lcss conscience, and also by the glorious saints. Vhen it car-
ries Chrisc it presents him as the viciorious king ruling over
rhe world, hell, and death in an atmosphere of triumphant
potheosis.
In all medieval ert, the color russet is equivelent to bright
red. the color of blood. The russer or sorrel horse seen in the
illuminated manuscripts and steined glass windows of this dme
has rwo meanings: it is the mount of Christ as redeemer and
victim, whose blood was shed for manLind, and also of Christ
the judge,
avenger of divine rights abrogated by the forces of
evil. In both cses, the Savior is dressed in red and his horse
is russet, stained *ith the blood of the victim, and also be-
ceuse the red robe has been for cenruries rhat of the sov-
ereign
judge
who has rhe power to inflict dearh. Symbolism
gives pale and black horses a negative meaninstT. Angelo de
Gubernaris says that in various rraditions of Europe and Asia
the black horse indicares the demonic. In the est, it signifies
Satan, or any influence that draws man down toward hellt3. In
medieval legends, Satan always bestrides a black charger when
he puts on the aspect of an evil knight. In the old paintings,
the horses of traitors end mgicians are also blaclc; and very
often, so is the rearing horse which represenrs lntractability;
i* rider, which it throws off, personi6es Presumptionte.
rVe
6nd again the represenction of the infernal horse ia
one of rhe poems which the Middle Ages dedicated to the
Holy Grail. In 1,1
Queste
del Saint Graal, attributed to 'lter
Map, the naivet of the hero Percival prevents him from rec-
ognizing Satan who comes to him in the guise of a huge black
charger.
'ie read in the 6rst chapter of the prophecy of Zechariah:
Illlt tl lrtAltY (ll,
. lttsr
"I saw by night, and tehold a
'nn
ridins rrporr a red horse,
and he stood among rhe myrde rrees rhar werc in rhe botrom;
and betrind him were there red horses, speckled, and white.
Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel thar
talked with me sid unto me, I will shew rhee what these be.
And the man that stood among rhe myrde rrees answered and
said, These ere they that the Lord hath sent ro walk to and
fro through rhe earth. And they answered the angel of the
Lord that srood mong the myrtle rrees, and said, le have
walked to and fro through the earth, and behold, all the earth
sitteth sdll, and is at rest2o."
Commentarors on rhe scriprures have seen the prophetic
image ofJesus Christ in the man on the red horse who stood
among the mytle trees ar the head of a company of angels,
whom rhe propher himself calls "the angel of the Lord."
In one of St.
John!
visions on che island of Patmos, a book
appeared ro him that was sealed with seven seals, which only
the divine Lamb could break. And at che breaking of the 6rsr
of the seven, "behold a white horse, and he that sat on him
had a bow, and a crown was given unto him, and he went
forth conquering, and ro conquerzr."
Ar the breaking of rhe second seal, a red horse appeared,
mounted by mn armed wirh a sword to whom was given
the power to spread warare over rhe earrh. The third seal re-
vealed a black horse whose rider carried a balancing scale;
and the fourrh seal brought a pale horse ridden by Death, and
Hell folowed himz.
Of the four mounted horses appearing in rhe terror of this
vision Christian symbolism has kept only the first, the white
horse, as rhe image of rhe victorious Christ. Astride his white
steed, he carries a bow, and this projecting weapon, along
with its accompanying arrow, in the literary symbolism of the
holy scriptures, srnds for the Word of the Lord.
In another vision, St.
John
again describes a horseman on a
white horse: 'And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white
horse; and he thet st upon him was called Faithful and Tiue,
hE. 4 Chn tb Catut@to, o, th. Apoabt ol Ezdtt': ltttJtr\ .flttty-
, r llo\l
,rrrl in lighteousness hc tlotlr
lrr,lgr
an.l rrrrke war. His eyes
*"," as a lame ol lire, and on his hcad wer ,nany crowns;
,,,,,1 h. had nme writien, drat no man kne-, but he himsel.
rr,l hc was clorhed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his
rr.rrt is called The !7ord of God. And rhe armies which were
,,' hca,e. follo-ed him upon white horses, clorhed in 6ne
lrrr,.rr. whire and clean. And our of his mouth goeth sharp
r-,,r'd. that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall
rrrlt tlrem wirh a rod of iron: and he readeth the winepress of
rh lierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he harh on
lrrs vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF-
KINGS. AND LORD OF LORDS'T.''
It is rhe grandesr of all the symbolic picturs of the power-
lrrl and triumphant Christ, and much lo'ed by all the illumina-
r,'rs of medieval copies of the Apocalypse. 1 reproduce here
(l'ig. 4) the beautiful miniature {olr, he Comnentary on the
t|1,otalypse 6y Beatus of Liebana, from the twelth or thir-
llj Bll stt^ki ()t (
|tIrr
arrists hve piled upon his head.
The whice horse also reminds us of
the Anamelech
of rhe hermerisrs.
EIiphs Levi rells us that rhere is a
connection
o allegorical meanine wirh
"che
Word of beauty." and ev" f",
-any
of the kabbalists, rhe generatinq
Word o true beauty, of radiant celes-
rial light, is the Messiah. is Christ-
Levi represents
Anameech (Fig. 5)
with loreparr raised on rhe globe
of
the world,
rhe whinnying
head Iifted
end crowned with a globular
diadem
circled wirh acanrhus leaves. His body
is mysreriouslv veiled in a rich drapery
wirh a clasp ar rhe b.easr in rhe sh:".
of rhe symbolic marguerire of the East
teent cenrury. The artist hs aJded r lancc, the fvorite
knighrly weapon o rhose days. ro rhe sworJ
of the Word,
which rs.fashioned
like those o good King
philip!
barons;
and the huge, multiform halo which crowns rhe divine horse_
man replaces to advantage the multiple crowns which other
t
\
t't.pt tt-tu\...t
and e North. which afrer playing an
nalogous role in rfie ancient religions
became one o the Christian emblems of the divine Word and
its radiating beams on earrh2a. Lvi does not stre rhe origin
of the strange drawing of Anamelech
thar he showsr', no. te
basis of the symboiic meaning he actribuces to him. One of its
less
.enigmaric
aspects is that, Iike the arrow that in the scrip_
rural bools. in Chri<rian svmbotosv and in rhe Kabbrlah:f
'I._].*. "*
one o the morr requenrlv used symbols ot
Gods Word. rhe horse atso is one of the emblems of speed,
of the outgoing force of the Word. Every thoughr, *h.thet
human or divine, needs a word, a voice, to express ir; rhis
voice carries it as a courser carries irs rider; *h"n on.
"p- pears, ir mnifests the other. The uery name Anamelech ca,
lllll llou\l
I'c translated tv rhe wo".ls: "rlrr king's olaclc."
tlisrorically, the horsc-god *as *orshipped in the Syro-
1rrrnician
region, ar Sephaaim and in Samaria, long before
,,ur era, conjoinrly with his brother Adramelech, "the kingir
Long before the Christian er, the imginarion of the
(
irctans and the people of Hellas conceived of an e"il monster
*ith the head of a horse, the body of a bird, and rhe pa*s of
.r lion. It was one of the emblems of the evil spirit. A number
"[
stone engra"ings show this creature carrying off to its in-
Itrnal den a lion that it has killed or perhaps a deer, an ante-
l,,pe, or a mountai" sheep27. Christian sy-bology also, *hen
it looked on the dark side of the
horse, made it an image of Saran,
the Lord of Evil; St. Augustine al-
ready in the fourth centuty saw in
it one of the personilications of
pride; St. Gregory looked upon it
as rhe symbol of impurity and of a
disorderly life, and St.
Jerome
agreed and made the ho.se the
representative o men "who whinny
after the wi"es of orhers." This
explains the strange compositions
o Romanesgue art which show rhe man-horse or rhe woman-
mare in the series picturing the demons of the deadly sins A
..,lpture ftom the church t Monrivilliets. in the diocese of
Rouen, ofers one of the mosr beautiful examples of these Ii-
bidinoLrs monsters (Fig. 6).
I said before that the Phoenician amulets shaped like bulls'
heads wete connected with an ancient cult of the Moon, on
ccount of the crescent shape of the bulls' hor"s. I must add
here thar the talismanic characrer given in some countries to
horseshoes comes from rhe same lunar cult. A little-known
religious idea wes also related to horseshoes in western Gaul
in the time of the Roman conquest. Parenttl and I hve
I
\.
t' tL. ernun-nat rn n dPrcl
ttu tbarh ct ltillntirlli.ri
'rlt
ti Isr^ftY ()t/
r llntsr
found horseshoes, some whole and somc brokcn. in the burnt
and probably pre-Roman rombs of rhe Galtic necropolises of
Bournigal and o Bourbelard de Pouzauges,
in Vende, and elsewhere in Poitou (Fig.
7). Ac Bernard, in Vende, the head of a
Gallo-Frank had been placed on a horse-
shoe supplied with nailsrs. Sevetal times I
have found half a horseshoe with its nails in
a funerry urn, along wi human ashes. In
irs normal use. the horseshoe gives securiry
to the horsel; srep ahd hence to irs rider; it
is possibie thar in the romb, broken in hal(
it pictures a life broken off, n exisrence
stopped in mid-course.
NOTES
Title Fiewe: Hse enstyed ar d rcnetqk chtian ernd?h 4t
-thdrct.
r. Victor Mg.ien, Nolg /r I'aqrc thol%ie
s..Ee,
p_ lr. Ako, exEad floo
2. Rein.h, "Le disque de Phaistos,,, in .,e dr.rtosiq!,, 4i series. T. XV
lol0. p. l-.
1- Cf. M.n, Hntune de' Gft6, T. I, p. 261, No. t6l.
4. Masnien, op. .n., p_ t.
,. Ar8s, in L Voile /?j, T. \-xv lri, Novemb. t9lo.
6. Se Palt Ie Coe, "Alaia." n , J, T_ y
No. 42,
July
ler2, p. 160.
7. D..lere, Chronolgi.
prhistorique
de l
pninsut
[b.iq;e,,, in ez.
.hlo{iqE, a fies. T. XII, 1908. p. 401.
8- Tes.ct, F,ittia, III.
9. C l. Lsa "oes de Mythologie staye,,, in Rdre hroriq@ j Relisiont,
1899, p. .
to. se b
yat
d],i,, "1.
Dieu u cou de cheval,,, T xlaavll, l4r. h.u.v
l9)2, pp, ,6-17.
rr. Frdric Pol, 1,, S)ubol6 spi, unp, au d6 Hb@x, p. t$ et
.2 Ctoju. linat. d't,onop,api t\tctna", D.
tt
ll. R6el ior :2: and Rb 6 Murus,,4//amc.
14. Se Dore. p ,/.. P 2, L XI, p. e26.
lr, II Kiogs 2:l l.
16. II Ki.ss 2l:l l-
&<t
r7. r cspe.ill/ lal. d'Ara., "l.c
(llrval,"
tn R.. d. Iht.hnit;",1872, p.
)41.
18. l)c Gb.rnaris, ,t
r,olo8i.,
T. I, pp. ,14 ?r Jcq.
ro. Sru A. d. Cetmo, Ab.dan. dt.halsiqk, (ArcLir..lure religieusc), p.
J02.
.r1. Revelarion l9:ll-16.
.'
,t.
liphas Lvi, L.' Mfirc' de td Kbbt, p. ,6-
.,1 Abve all, it rcsembles ceain inrerprertiors r initadons of Ori.nhl a(
md in Franc. in r[ tin of Louis XIII ed Luis Xry
tr_ c_ Rss, t2. ligian' d Monde. p.50.
t7_ c{_ R.inh i R.tu. arkalosiqrc, }rd .ries, T. I, 1881, p. ,69.
rn. clr Abb Budry, l" c;nri thtid . Bctud p. 14.
tnl Figure: Piered branle bu.Al
ia
Gtuo
@.u);
bet ed the 7th dd eth
NIoTH|NG
ts MoRE arbiirary rhan the scale ser up by hu_
I \ man beings o rhe degrees o digniry of animals, These
vary to such an exrenr in differenc countries and in different
times es sometimes to contradict each other completely. Thus,
in the Occident the ass was at a times too little'valued, while
in e ancienr Orient it was al*ays held in verv high esteem.
Tfie ancienr Creeks linked the ass ro the cult oi C.."s,
"rd
en to that of Donysus, who was cartied by donLei" to
Thebes from Boeotial; hence rhe srone sretue dedicated ro
the donkey in the to\rn of Naupliar. Ritual immolations
of the
ass in honor of the divinity, although rare, were prcriced
since very early rimes. Iniriares of the participaring cuhs, Iile
the worshippers
of rhe Iion and the horse, wore rhe skin of
the venerated
animal during the sacriicial ceremoniesr.
A
Mvcenaean painting shows : procession
of personages with
donkeys heads. and Glotz says rhar these are not monsrers
created by the artist's fantsy! buc men costumed in sacred an-
imal skins for the eflacrmenr o a holv rite. On a plaque from
Phaisros, rhese same ass-headed figures hold ;,
"".
t"ra tl.
cross with a handle {the ankh or kev of Iife o the Egvprians).
and wirh tfie orher hand make a gesrure
of adoraiion. At
Lampsacus,
rhe Greeks sacri6ced asses ro
priepusr.
.
In Rom_e, the ass played an honored part in the liturgy of
the cult of Vesta, where it appeared crowned wittr n"**;'rrd
linle loaves made of whear flour". ln Egypt. ir had an impor_
tant role in rhe religious myrh o Ser. The sacred books o
TTE
,A\SS
rlrr Hindus, the Rig-Veda, fr cxarrple, ptaise the asses of In-
,lr.r, and in India as in China this animal is often the mounr
,,1 cclestial individuals,
Prihces,
sints, and heroesT. And it
.Il,,uld be remembered that Homer compres Ajx to an ss,
,rd Paris to a horsesl
In rhe injunctions of the Mosaic law the ass is the only ani-
lrrrl whose 6rstborn, Iite that of the human being, cn be ran-
suled at birth by the sacd6ce of a lamb. 'ie
read in Exodus:
"All that openeth the ma.rix is mine, and every firstling
I'nong thy catde, whether ox or heeP, tht is male. But the
lirstling of an ss thou shalt redem with a lamb: and if thou
rrdeem him not, then shlt thou break his neck. All the first-
horn of thy sons thou shalt redeem. And nore shall pPear
bel-ore me emptye."
The Bible presenrs rhe donkey as the mount of princes:
"Speak, ye rhet ride on white asses, ye that it in
judgment,
,n *alk by the way," sang Deborah to the leaders of
lsrel'0.
Ir was as he went in search of the she-asses of the herds of
his father, Kish, that Saul learned from Samuel ihat he was to
reign over Israelrr. Zechariah presents the Messiah as the
King of Peace in these ardent terms: "Rejoice
greatly, O
daulhter of Zion: shout, O daughtet of
Jerusalem:
behold,
thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having sal"ation:
lo*ly, and tiding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an
assl?." This prophetic text was recalled by the Evangelists
themselves when they described
Jesus'triumphal
entrv into
Jerusalem.
More rhan any of the domestic animals, the ss eems to
have been close to the person of
Jesus
Christ. The Gospet of
the Infanq, the apocryphal Gospet of Pseulo-Matthew, ar, ocbet
wrirings of the first Christian centuries depict it as being pres-
"',,
*i,h ,h. ox at the birth of Christ in the stable at Beth-
lehem. It seems that this specific mencion comes from the
concerr to bring into the account of Christ's birth this verse
ftom Isaiah: "The ox knowerh his owner, and the ass his mas-
IIlli lr,,rr^tY
()t (
lllrrr
Cn;ln.lot.p
ter's crib: but Israel doth not know, rny ptoplc J,xh not con-
sider'r." From the fourth to the sixth cennrries we see rhe ass
and his companion represented on sculptures dedicated to the
Narivity.
Around the same time. other
works of art show us the donley
carrying
Jesus
and Mary on the
flight to Egypt; and finally, history
tells us how
Jesus'
criumphal entry
into
Jerusalem,
mounted on a she-
ass. fullilled the prophecy made by
Isaiah rhat was just quoted.
Simple Christians have had no dif-
iculty in making the ass symp-
thetic emblem of Christ, and have
warmly honored the donkey of rhe
Bethlehem stable, the mount of the
journey
ro Egypt, and the she-ass
and her foal of rhe triumph of the
Day of Palms. Very ancient legends
in France, Spain, and Italy, rell how
the Savior rewarded rhe laner by al-
Iowing their offspring ro become that
kind of gray donkey thar has two
lines of dark hair in rhe form of a
coss on its back and shoulders. In
l-i9 t t. ahtnhfb.t *th oa,\,
tuaA.
lnn
ttu Hrtuna
M6. in Mornp
the rradition of our western French provinces. the gray ass
marked with the long, dark dorsal cross is a symbol of the
Savior catying rhe cross of Cal,ary on his shoulders. A simi-
lar idea in the early church in Egypt relared ro the beetle, on
whose back the seprale lines of the corselet and wing shearhs
trace a Tu, Tra. Hungarian legends put a grear srrain on rhe
gospel texts by claiming thar rhe ctuciform dorsal stripes on
the gray ass were made by spurts of the divine blood at the
scene of the Crucifixion. It should be added. on the orher side
of the picture, thet in certain parrs of Irelnd folk say that
-l
ti ll
^3l
rl," ,lonkeyt s(ripes ere vestigcs o rhe whiplashes that
Jesus
h.r.l ro cive his disobedient rn"unt.
It"..-use of its historiraL role of carrving Christ' in some
ountries the ss has received the tide of Christophore'
(jhrisr-Bearer, from which comes the name Christopher'
The
sxnre nme was given in very ancient times in these same
,,1.'."s to holv men who maintained mong their fello"s the
i"".hine and the spirit of Chrisr (Fig' l)'
Alrhuqh ir hri b".n to sleted. the
rr)lestern
Middle Ages
*".. f", flo- being the inventors of the grotesque motif with
which many of theii important churches \''ere adornedr an ass
1,l"ying
a yre, harP, or a viol. The ancient gyptians had
long ago d.awn on
(heir
PaPvri
asse
:randing on Iheir hind legs and plaving
rhe harpr'. Several thousand vears before
.,,,'
"*-
.t''. Chaldeans had cawed this sa-
riricl subject on e decoretd
Plaque,
forrnd in the recent excevations
t
(Jr,
Abrahamt countrY'6
(Fig. 2).
In the Occident. the donkey-musician
primarily represented
Absurdity' ln th'
Jo,nrin of medi.ual spirirualirv, absurditu
which darkens men's souls, cn be nothing
but the action of en agent of hell, who is
aa"
;;tlJ;i";...,
of piid" o, of self-*ill
'::"":1::,i::::::
The dont<ey-musician
can be seen in the
cathedrals of Chartres and of Nantes, in the church of Saint-
Sauveur at Nevers, and severl other sometimes the donkey
is replaced by a goat or a pig, but ev'n when the animal is
diffeient the symbolic meaning remains
the same'
The Chrisri.n
Middle Age; made the ss the symbol of the
stubborn mentality that will not let itself be convinced bv che
r.uth. Thi" is why the Germans of
'estphalia
made it the
.umbol of St. Thomas, rhe doubterrT
Among the Ancients'
tre myth of Midas corresponded
in certaih way with this
symbolism of blind obstinacY.
r ti Iri1t^llv {) t, I ls.t
As well as being the symbol for stubbornncss and igno-
rance, the donkey also served in medieval imagery as mounr
or the demon o slorh. Thus we see him in numerous pro-
cessions of the petsonified deadly sinsr3.
On the other hand, the red donkey sometimes directly rep-
resented rhe Evil Spirit. In a number of countries, it is still
said of an evil and dangerous person
that "he is a red donkep" Fotmerly in
Egypt red donkeys were sacrificed ro
the evil gods Set and Typhon. The
whole Near East and Indiare also con-
nects the red ass with evil; and cerrin
occidental legends of sorcery claim that
Satan sometimes is incarnaced in the
body of a ted ass. Fortunately, red
asses are very rarel
Fie. )
't
li<.d Rmphar
In the Kabbalah. the accursed five_
at lE ]<LL-"h
'
Drnched star KemPhm.
Polnttng
downward, which liphas Lvi says is a symbol oa Lucife;
carries between its branches the natural or styled head of an
ass'zo (Fig, 3). This infernal star calls co mind the one pic-
tured in the chapter discussing the symbolism of the buck
goat, which carries the goar's head in place of that o the
These facts are Iittle Lnown, and taking everything into ac-
count, the donkey has not too much co complain of in its
tretmeht by Christian history, which has not failed to recog-
nize either its evangelical functions nor its own special quali-
ties. The only negtive connoretions are with characteristics
with which i. was already endowed by the symbolism of times
I nL t ix: Th. d n\nar of Atln"| dc Sonrotse'
I
(ll.
Nonnut, Dio,r;.a' XXXVIL
/ l' anit, Yordr.J ,i,tri4k,' XXVII
i ii] ill ci, ,r'.i,r,8i., Agut 18e4, p r22; lso R'imch' R'ru d"-
/droi,rc. T. XXV|, I80t, p. l0l
I t l-Aoe, Cnlndtun i4d'e, Book ry'
P
zTl'
/. S.. Dor, Surai,io,
Psim.
n ljoncr. ?e Ilil, II and vfl'
10.
luds6
t:Io
[E&o*,or.:
S.c lso
Juds's
l0:4 nd l2rl'-14]
I l. I Snucl 9 an 10.
ll. kd l:r.
l,{. S.. Par Vl, "S..rb," P.
ltl'
i, ,r- C,". r" r"', r.'
p- olc'd P
]' 8' 106'
l" Ei i. s.*",..;
v^n. ux ouilles d'u.' n tz Mron d" Mo""'t
II. l9rt, No. 7l'
P.94'
17. De Gub.m.ris, M/ol, P'
l8''
''*
7i i;. t'tt
"t'"i-i
rtt'
p.,to- 6s' l8l dP Jal 6s ls2'
i". S.. C*"-,
"s*r,; i" r" voik
'lli
T' X)o(vI No' la2
P
ia''
ttt Lav\- Mltt&t d. la KabbL'
P
5t
21. S.e.bove, Pa II' "Th' Go*
'P' 86 lig l
Irr F|elrc: Anitul ladd o d St Chinophd on
tL' H;*orkal Muan it
Moe.
T
I
TF]E
DOG
TiHE
Doc RECFTVFD
lirtle svmparhy fron the people o the
I ancient world. and manv retrible .c.;prurri
t.*r,
"poke againsr ir. David desctibed rfius his siruarion with his enemies:
"For
dogs.have
compassed
mer": and rhe Church has heard
this cry echoed. by.Chrisr petsecured
bv rhe
Jewish
p.i..thood.
solomon's
words.,
As a dog rerurneth ro his vomit, so a fool
retuhech
ro his follyr." have been consranrly
applied by the
Church to the worsr renegdes
*a S,.l.fta.*.
1**
ti_""ii
taughr har rhe childreni
6read musr nor be giuen
ro rh.
dogs', and St. Tomas Aquinas remembered
ihe". ,,o.a"
wheh.he
wrore rhe rcn nirtendw
canibus of his Lauda Siona.
The bool o Revelation
groups under rhe tirle
.dog",,
thos.
ro be chased from the celesrial
citv:
,,sorcerirs,
ancl
wfioremongers,
and murderers.
and idolaters,
and *ho"o.u.,
loveth and ma[erh a lie'.'' Tfie ancient Greeks made rhe dos
t"^...bl."'n,
not the wry origin, of rhe .lr..k;i;il;;;;
oI Lyntctsm.
kn,Jmo_
Another factor rhar counred against the unortunare
animal
ws rhr the annual pedods of grearest hear were su#ered un_
der rhe
-,ntluence
of the srars forming
the constellation
of
:i's Ye;or
(Julv
rwenry-second
to August twenty_rhird).
r he encrent.wo_rtd,
except for Egypt and Ethiopia,
attribured
ro the. period
of tfie dog-days the most disastrous
effece. Me_
drcrnel remedies losr theit efficacy:
Hippocrates
himself made
the sraremenr: "Sub
c"n" a dnt? .d4em di{firitet <unt purga_
tiones." At such times there ws nothing to-do but.orn.'rrd
tlte sick to the mercy of thc gods, and accordingly the Ro-
nrns nnually sacrificed a red dog at the beginning of the
Jog-days.
It is strange rhat the cheetah, which is in many ways simi-
lar, should have enjoyed a position in Christian symbolism that
ir seems should rightly have been reserved for the dog, which
is man's particular and devoted friend, defends him and often
saves his life7.
Christian art did render the dog
justice
in making it sym-
l,olize fidelity in all its aspects. In this role it lies at the feet
"
the effigies of queens and ladies of quality in their burial
,arlts, and also under the feet of vassal lotds and faitMul
squiress; and in St. Petert Church in Rome, the dog's image
accompanies the statue of Fidelity personi6ed.
Since it is also the devoted guardian and defender of the
flocks, Christian symbolism has made the dog the emblem of
priests of all orders, who ere eppointed to be caretakers of
Chtist's human flock. It is thus that the canes doninici are
shown in the fourteenth-century Spanish chapel in Florence,
ard on an old reliqr:ary of the Filles de Notre-Dame at
Naumure.
But never was the dog given the honor of representilg
Christ himself
NOTES
,. Sr. Ma.L 7:27.
4. St. Thms Aqubs, Rond Btridt i ofr.. o . Holy Sactanent.
6. Eitot\ note Diogcnes, found of thc sc}ol of thc Cyrics, calle himalf thc
7. itr1 not :
-the
Zo.odstrisns, ho-eva, hcld thc dog in great cstccm ad f-
ftction; see t}c Zcnda"csta, 7,{e vadidal, Chaptas XIII and XV
e. C L. Charbonncau-Lassay, "La Platctonbc dc
Jchan
d Gdouar, ltl2,"
n Rfle dt BdrPitu, 1924, Bok lV.
s. C- L- Clewt, lndt' d'konodphi .Lntdk,vJIJ,
v
)17.
WNLD
ANNMALS
'ftFlrE
lt)EER
/\NF or- THL svmbolic nimals
(ha(
rhe early Chrisrians
\J,aop,.a rith rhe mosr certaintv as an allegorical image
of Christ, and also o his disciple, the Christian, was the stag.
Poets and naturalists of ancient rimes, such as Pliny, The-
ophrastus, Xenophon, Martial, Lucretiusr, and many others,
portrayed the stag as rhe implacable enemy of snakes, pursu-
ing them relentlessly into their holes. Martial and Plutarch
add that wirh the breath of its nostrils-some say, of its
mouth-the stag would drive the snakes from their under-
ground hiding places and devour rhem' and rhat in this way
its youth was renewed. Reflecting this ancient belief, a Roman
marble relief (Fig. t) from the Naples Museum shows a stag
ffghting with a snake. The stag
has fallen on its knees. but it
has succeeded in seizing its en-
emy's head in its mouth and is
crushing it between its teeth.
In Afghanistan today there is
a species of rhe deer or goar
family that attacks serpents and
often eats rhem. The Persians
call these animals "pausent2." Fis. t Pft-chtni RoM iatbk
The last Mazdeans ving in rhat
region considet the duel between paren and snale as the lle-
gorical image of the triumph of good, or "Ormuzd," ovet evil,
"Ahriman." But since the pduset o suffers from gall or
lrtisrlll.|, ()t I
kidney stones, it C killed in order to obtain thern as potent
charms against the bites of snakes and rhe stings of scorpions.
Medieval manuals are full of accounts of the seg's ingen-
ious methods for forcing his enemy to come out of hiding.
The Arne an Bestiary cells us: "The stag is the enemy of the
serpent. To escape him, the snake hides in the crevice of a
rock. But the stag 6lls up his mouth with water and spits it
ouc into the crcL where rhe reptile is hidins (Fig. 2). If it
comes out it is torn ro pieces; if it stays hidden it does not
escape death, for it is drowned. In the same way, our Lord
put to death the demon, the great dragon, borh by the celes-
tial waters flowing from his di-
vine wisdom, and by his inef-
fable virtue. The invisible ser-
pent cannor resisr waters of
this nature, but perishes ar
Thus making the stag the
symbol of the triumphant
Christ, the Ancients saw the
water exDelled trom irs mrrrh
.
'-l'
r,3 2 \hr[r..r]c\1.4]4-
hdd.
against its adversary as the al-
legorical counterpart of the
Lord's vi*orious Word. In e liturgies of the ancient mysrer-
ies, deerskins were consecrated as a sort of ritual garment of
purification that brought the iniriete closer and made him
more acceptable to rhe god. In the GteeL ris of Dionysus
the participants covered themselves with deerskins, and
Nonnus porrtays the god himself clad in this fashiona. In rhe
mysteries of Ceres celebrated at Eleusis, fawns and kids were
sacritced and the participants were draped with the sLins of
the young victimst. In the rst cenrury A.D., Pliny seriously
advised a sure prorection from snakes, to be found by sleep-
ing under a deerskin or by tubbing oneself with rhe stomach
lining of an unborn fawn6. And in 1568,
Jacques
du Fouilloux
of Poitiers, in his celebrared book on hunting, also gives a se-
rllli l, lr lr t
.,"s
"f
cures
pro'ided l'v thc dccr irr ell kinds o ailments
,,,,J iniL,ries, eip.cially
ro'n snal'e venom-'
-
n;;;"1;.";
the
'tag
heal others rtr irs death but ir can
l',';; i,;;-.
lif.ti'n" 1u'" itseli According
to rhe.Ancients'
*" ,." i.a.U*a
to it for the disco'erv
of dittanv' the mirac-
',i,"''f..rU
,1,, cu.es all wounds
'The wounded
deer"' savs
i",'"rii""l;i" .'J.' ro e,pel a barbed
arror^ rrom rrs le'h'
,,::i:',;";; u" i'.-.'"
on d;,,"nu.
"
rhe celebrated
G'eeL
,'i,"',.i,'
oi..-,a"",t"'
tt''t in his time dirtanv
*a' called
i ,
^,
*anr llitde eve of the deer)'
'
il;;;; , ;;;..;, in Europe
which I thinL is even older
'r-.",i"
,,"ar"." .i ,t'"
"'g!
harred ot the serpent'
which-
;;i;;;; il-;;";
to the idea, or one might sav the cult' of
light.
'P..-M"."nr"rn
a'r quite oten show' a
'tag
harnes"ld
11
a
',,r^.'.i,ri",.
e-"'a;ng
to D"cheterre"r
seems rhar rhe idea
l, ;il;;il;,hi"p,i,il.g"
,"r'h rhe horse is also echoed
i,, *"f.'-rf,.rv,
* hi'h
'on"""t"'
(he
srag to Arremis'
illi'-.r
'ti"l
u'i,;er
Apolto on the island of Delos and
'l.erins
his natureLo.
''"',rli
t"" ,r''" the fwn was a special
sumbol attrib'.rreJ
,"
"".,ff-
-n"
.as himsel the god of lighr: and Pausanius
'"ff"''.f
*r,ri" scatues
which depict Apollo carrving-a
tinv
i"-, f" if i*a'. Similar statues can be found in the Louvre
".i',i"
ii",i'r,, Ita*"um'
One o them is rom the sixth cen-
'*";.;..
;;
"
G.e"k
"hool'
another is rhe hand of a large
i;."r,"
".,.'.
of Apollo ou"d r T;lles {Fis
')
In ancient
European svmbolism
the white stg shared
(he
'"".ti
*r.',"'."-.f
(he whire horse Deer pictured
in the
il;;;.i;;i;
and Artemis or later in the miraculous
hunrs
;;';; ,;;* and sr. Hubert.
were painted bv the earlv arr-
,"t i"ll,r*f
tones or in whice
"It is a lnown facr"' says
i,"".-vlff*..
'that rhe white
'tag
-as
a svmbol
which rhe
",.i,'Ci'i.,1,". ",,.iU,*a
t'
Jesus
Christr""
In rhe East the
*ii* l."t r" * verv highlv honored
and one of the hvmn"
.i-,r,. ni-v.a, comPares
it wirh a priest-godr"
niniatm
,or
th Diine B6tidtr,
&blioth;gt tL Ltund| Pcn.
rrlll lrrl srt^ll] ot,
(
god is nmed "Prince of rhe Mysreries of the
Fls. t AtajLtl L hnl.tirs
lc-:
Gmk bnt
rr
'IhLt
!.
Ir seems that another trce of the ancienr European tradi-
tions that Iink rhe smg ro the idea of light remained mysteri-
ously hidden mong the many medieval documents in which
one sees the stag, or simply his head, crowned with a star. For
one exmple, the liteenth-century rile pavemenr of the Beaune
hospice shows a full face view of a stag's hea surmounted by
a srar. recalling rhe Orphic H,rnn ro Dionysus. in which rhe
Nighi'; for nother, the thirreenrh-century seal o'
Heliot Bertaut bears a stylized srag's head sur-
mounted by rhe glorifying sign of rhe sun and
moon, which in rhe Middle Ages was usually re-
**-X
served for specific images of Christ'{ (Fig. a). In
Fis.4 rh? dL [
the "Golden Legend" of che only exisring occiden' H,t*t B" *t.
ral hagiography, several well-known hunring scenes show
Christ raking the form of a stag, in order to reveal himself in
rhis manner to chosen souls. The besr-known re the hunts of
Sr. Hubert and St. Eusrare.
A very old French rale gives the following accounr of the
second of the two saints: There was a man named Placidus
who was a pagan, but all the same a man of virtue, 6lled with
I
o'T'r'J';,",,"
srag ,eplied.
"l
am the chrisr:
I became
man
,"i'il.i'.',r,"'.?."1
"'d 'r'"'
three.da's
in the shado"
o
il: il;;';;
," .,.4,*'',
liG And
** I am
waitins ror
-
'^-
i
-'
Placidus;
I am Lhrist:"
And before
the
rrrr*
"t.."*"a
eyes the s(ag grew to immense ProPorrrons
il".-',n.*o
i'ito
'
d""ling
blaze of light' in which ap-
1.,,.l
.',.'?"a
man
whose heart and oLrr limb" bledr rhen'
llli- i', rr,l rhe roc! became
bar" and stark a' it had been
;:i:.::'i:::d;;;,,*""u"a'""a
everv'lhing
even.his
I"""'""rn". ,.a
gave himself
totallv
to Chri'r'
who had il-
,-*-j-r,r'
*,r bi m"ns
of rh' miraculous
srag'
'"'i'i"
*-"]"-Ja,
;eutifullv
portraved
in the pottal frieze
"
li'" i*; if,o"i
.r
'r"
chreau
d Ambroise
which w-as
::,l[.i;'ili;
;'"'n'h
'"n'u'v'
is artributed
ro Sr'
Hubett
bv several
other suthors
or.anriqLritvr'
tFig
5)
'
, '
"1i,"..'-"
n.a ourselves
in rhe domain of rhe age ol chrr-
,dT
;;;;'
,;;;;
or the poems or this time about
the
Illli Btl slt^!tY
ot, I llklsl
Holy Grail. We read that wfien the thrcc illustrious
knights
:nd
comp,an:ns
of rhe Round Tble. Gtahd,
p...i,"t,'rJ
Dors. nd rhe marden 5he_ho_Cannot-Tll_A_Lie,
were
::,:.i1., lh"'.
vav and prayed.ror
guidance.
rhev sw a srae
whrrer
rhn the whitesr
meadow
flouers.rn..ge
fro* th
uoods
ordering
the parh; rwo lions walted
b.f;.. hi_ and
rwo beh,nd. t he knrghts and the maid o owed the magical
nimal and soon were led into e sancruary
.h"r.
"
p.i""t'p."_
pared ro say mass. Hardly had he begun when b;fore tleir
wondering
eyes the srg changed
into a
man and seated himself on a richtr deco_
rared throne above the altar. while he four
Iions were also rransformed,
the first inro a
winged
man. the second inro an eagle, rhe
rhird inro a wrnged lion, and rfie fourrh into
a..-lnce!
lult
shen rhe mass was nished,
all four lifred up rhe rhrone *here
the man
who hd been a srag was seated,
and flew
wav (hrough
the srained glass window
uirhour brealing
a single pane.
Then rhe
rhree knighrs
and rheir companion realired
rhat rhe stag and the four lions who had
Ied rhem there were really rhe Chrisr and
his four Evanselistsr6.
The srag is also a Gallic symbol; in Gal_
the spreading
antlers of a sres.
.
Ir should be noted that in certain other European and
l:::,"..,,,':.'rhe
srs is also connecred wirh the idea of
rurnrmenr
and .onrenlment.
In Chinese. the character for rhe
srgs name, ia. r< pronounced
IiLe the rharacter
for the enjoy_
ment ol: prosperrrv.
and is rhe ideogram
for (hi"
desir;ble
cond;,ionra
F:*6 t:af.d
crltr
lic mythology
Cernunnos was the god of
*ri;,:::.:::::*"
+undancei
(Fig.
o), and ," ,h. p;,"o;_
ifi.carion oI re divine besrowal
of uordly
goods he.is most often shown in human f..; ;.;;J;;,;
'I ll 11 lr I I ll
Thc stag shares with tlrc tLrll and dre ram the honor of
rcDresenti; lesus
Christ in his rhree'old capcitv of f(he'
t""a"',
"'a-g,ia.
warching over rhe Christian amilv. which is
made up of his spouse the Church, and the aithful, who ate
rh.ir children. In rhe forest, his behavior in act confirms this
symbolism: as the leader of his herd of does and fawns, he is
,r line sight as he stnds among the trees, *atching and listen-
ing, ."aJy to alert his family to the slightest sign of danger'
1*""g th" stranger remedies that ancient medicine
.bor-
FE 7 Th? rbs at tt. Chivt.
tikl o hqni,, d zr
l,a-
th" CnKhi alhio".
rowed from the stag were several related
to human procreation. Even as late as
rhe eighteenth ce,run, a po-de'ed con-
codion mede from the srag's genital
organs was srill u'ed ro increase rhe gen-
erarive
posersru. Bur it is even berter to
prolong life than to create it, and
rhroughout the old world the stg was
one of the symbols of longe"ity. Thus, in
ancient Europe, Ausonius recounted:
"The raven li,es for three cencuries, but
even if she lived three rimes nine com-
olete centuries, the bronze-hooed srag
-ould
"u.pas"
he, bv rh.ee rimes rhree
of Nestori; lifetimes'?o." In Asia too the
stag was a symbol of long life; notably,
in China and
Japan
the god of long Iife
is accompanied by a stag carrying "a
branch from the peach tree of longevitv
(Fig. 7) "
The 6rst words of the 42nd Psalm gave early Christian
symbolism rhe image of the stag as a svmbol of rhe faithftrl
soul aspiring to God: "As the hrt
Panterh
after the water
brooks,
"o
pant"th my soul after thee, O God My soul
thitsteth for God, for the living God." The same text: "Sirrl
.::nas
desiderat ad
fontes..."
PPears on a mosaic in the old
baptistry of Salone, mounted abo,e two great stags drinking
together from the sacred urn2'.
F;E r 7h. nnE a),j ir. dd d th
t;u
,y;ry\
ol th. tan naltdin:
/;r a a. .n B+io!.
_
-Other
examphs
in rhe worls
of the early
Christian
arrists
porrrv
lrags leaning
owr rhe wrers
ot ,h"
J".dr": ;;;;
,,:."f
.:..-t
his haptisrn
trom
John. as is shoun
on a fresco
rn rhe Komn
caracombs
at
ponrien,
.om rhe 6.sr ,"
*,,,,r..
^r".1',]
.,
h each ol rhese worls
.hi,,, r* ;";,;;."
;; ::
ffJ;'il:".::;,:i.#";1,;,,,,7
*nrcn
:s svmbolizedr
and then
also ,lr. ,hi,r,
., ,.;i;.;;
unron
rhrough
p,naLing
o the Eucharrsric
hlood.
.
,,,.
:.,,,":,,i",
berween rhe
svmbolic
srag
and rhe s:cra_
,"elr
oi.c
r:rcfris:
rc espec;ailv
ev;dentr";
",,;;,;;;;
\^ork!
of ar daring rom
te tirst cenrurie<
^r
_t_i.,:^_:-
su.h
as rhe erpressive
mosaics
"r
ui._F,""r,,
(d.
;j.,"d,r,
1.i,,:.1
t,,"o rotnd
ar Tebessa (,hi,d,"
6;i'."";;;.;;':,"
[!].h,"
+ri.,"a
a stag plared
abo,e
the comrnunion
chat_
..,o1,
.f.,f.:"
crarnpres
convLv
the quenching
o[ the soul!
l?li-
-j,.1 is,rmtorzed
b; rhe s,ag.,r._,rf+.,,.,,,..,,
:, 1".
!Tni.l.,.
toliouins
rhe,,n1boi;srn-,.t,".J',1,i.
psatm
o Devid quored
above.
-.-Vlanl
worts,of
arr i.om the first
Chrisrian
millennium
show
jl1
''q
",4
rhe doe. one on each
sde .,h"
F",;;;;;;
L,te:orhers
,how
cm
drinIing
trom
" f.,. Il,l;; ;;;;"
,n",
I": l':T
thc h,lhop
or the triumphanr
1".6
J"G;;..;
wondertul
N,,rrh
Alrrcan
mos.ric
rl":
"ho_",h",;".";:
tt^ll\
r,l ,
Xr l
L<L
Fis. e Th? ar! 7 ttu k ,nh ti Embd,n.. **1. or c lth' ot
,h'atun s-"PhdP Ra"nrt
tented animals drinking from the four rivers of the Mount,
whose common source is surrounded by a great Eucharistic
chalice lilled with blood'?a. In Ravenna there is a sarcophagus
f.om rhe fourth or fifrh century on which rhe stag and the
doe drink directly from a huge Eucharistic urn" (Fig. 9). On
all of these works of at, and many others from rhe early cen-
turies of Christianity, we are given the most beautiful symbol
o{ conjugal and Christian life ever conceived: a husband and
wife drawing comfort &om the same source of fairh.
'OTES
-litLe
Fiiurc: Th. Srag b"aring Chrntl nonoya: d- t 4thrort, clin.
lo
Akhnin. EBt.
r. Pliny,
^rr'turdl
H;Iorl, VIII, toi Th.phrsrus. D. Cdt'n tstinn' Bool
IY roi Xenophon, Gaopoig@'. XIX, o
lEttti
totc: Possibly Oao'o-ntl;
Mri|, ,pisu,!, XiI, lei L.!rixs, Wortr. VL
2. Cl M. Karil,
"Ls Atshns," in Re\E h Monde Cdi,l,,ad, T VI (1880),
No. ]1. p. 401.
r. C. C:hirr.
"Du bariane," in Naewds tuk]/a.' drchls,9rcJ, 1874, p' 116'
4. Nonnus, l]i@rrid.d, lX-
,. Ali.a, Uatiae Hnbide,l11' 4?.
6. Pliny, Ndtubl Hirton,Vlll. t0 nd XXVIII, 42.
7- Du Fouilloux, lu Y,ar. XV
s. Te{ulli2n, D. Poflirc,rd, xII, Ti M. d Genonde. T II,
P.
ll'
. Diosco,ies, De Matc,i. Media. Bool III, ChaPter LXVII
10.
J.
D.let!e, "Le cuke du Soleil !x remPs
Prnioriques"
in Rena areh-
loldsi,rk, T. XIII (1909), p. 114.
'tt{ta
$risl.tAlY
Ol, lrrntsl
11. Plsits, Vordss Hnktitk,_
r?. bnod-v,lhn, I? L:,. d.. srLolet,T.I|.
o.7n.
tt lhl_, p.1t.
1.. S* cul]n d M(eJtx_ b, .nrctze\ hsto., L p tb.
15. In r[. c.d]l C]l3dF,. t... i" a."s,i6;",,'rj,*,..",h-,..r,+
*i"-
doa d.dicr.d to Sr. Eu$J... \hrtt i, rnri,(rd
bv Mj m LZrl,.t8d:
lt),
p. ,24.
l. $rJ qks Eouts.i, t .a,, G.d,/. Xxl.
ps,
p. 7i.
rr. C R.in&h. Grid. tx ,r'. d. 5",4_G"tu:r4-L_,e.
p.7i
18. c Dor, R...eJ,
pii
I, TIl, no. 4, D. 474.
to^. Re.Mt d. D,e ?. de M1e
'.r
Bezai,. i;hkrh_.e
uy Ms.
tU- Lt. Oota, or. et l.. t.
2r. See Lrlffiq d Mat. btiantur.. t ry. vot t, <ot. roo.
22. /il., T. IL voi. u_ .t r lor
21. 1i1., Sdion L>C}V .ol. u90.
pl.
n_ 20
la. C L. Dle., SDo/e, r,.,rq!?,. (z.thEe.
pp. _t8.
25. C. Leclr.c. ,4rd,kl T. II, p. lr0.
Lnd Fise: Stae, nah1l tt. ,an.t
hunbk:
n|,dd 01 lzult@.hod
& oar.
. t<o.h.bapl .oll.ai
THE P..\N!T]tI E, IT
And other
rJildcats,
also the Hyena and the Mole
'-rtHF
PEoPLF or ancient Egypr greatly admired and were
Lt.ongly anracred bv the,erv beautiful *ild animal called
the panther, and endowed this splendid creature with all sorts
of unusual and excellent qualities to an exaggerated degree-
Theit veneration was expressed in che use of the panther's
magnificent fur and also the ne6rir, the skin o the panther
cub, by the priests in the most sacred rites, and by their mas-
ters the pharaohs in the holiest and most solemn e'ents of
their royal and priestly lives (Fig. 1). The neris also appears
ro have been used in the regular liturgy and in the mystety
cermonies. The panther skins
placed before Osiris or Anubis were
from lawless animals, ritually sacri-
ficed. The skin of the panther cub
served too as a garment or wp for
Anubis, god of the dead, thus con-
recring him with the idea of a sec-
ond birth.
In funeral tites, the panther's sLin
wes used as a bed for the deceased
and provided "a good burial."
Egyptian sacred imagery shows
rhree stylized
panther skins artached
together: 6rst of all, the amulet merr
Fis- t Ho,$ ,ab.d in pn1h \hin:
l ri r!t,stl^Ir, ()
frmr**lt
,'
,..
again thar rhe panrher was an
ideogram relaring ro the appear_
Fis 2 rh. Etttia FiR r The Esr*
ance of life,
"nJ
tt", by
"*t.n_
r,,/ r
'n.j
hnaa(rh n".
sion ir became. in cerLain
circumsrances,
a symbol of strength and of resurrection2.
It is generally
believed rhat the unshorn pelts of cerrain
h,ild animals nre srronglv charged rirh etectrrcal or magneric
elements. ln France. the furs of oxes and several o the-small
cats,are
'rill
useJ ro
"arJ
off lumbrgo.
To cire only one ex-
ample. recenrly rhe Crands M:gasins du Lorrvre in
parrs
sold
guaranreed
genuine wrldcats s[ins tor use in bandages or
the treatment of rheumatismr.,,
On another level, rhe Egyptians regarded
rhe panther,s skin
as a powerul
source of emanations
of a higher lcind, and their
priesrs
believed in irs magical and spirirual etect. The same
opn'on ws_ held by rhe ancient priests
in Greece, Asia
Minor. and rom Central Asia to rhe Far Ea"r. In Creel arc
""d
-rth"loer
it was in turn adopted as a ..b. f", Di.ry;;;
or Bacchus.
and in cerrain b.onze 6gu.ines
one sees the graceful animal entwined with
iw or eav bra"ches of rhe grapevine
dedi-
cared ro rhi. goda (Fjs. 4). Nonnus
stater
that panthers were ofren harnessed ro the
charior of rhis same godr; and here w.
",_
counter rhe mosr sublime aspect of Di-
onysus, which made him one of the irrrages
of the divine Word among the Greelts. and
hy mea"s o which
cerrajn Iesorical
com-
pari'on'
have been made berueen him arJ
Jesu*
Chrisr. A staruetre Irom rhe Egpto_
Hellenic civilizarion
represcnr.
'rhe
C"od of
I:iE. 1 Th. Baibn pcntl:
c..k
ly,i,? n Grc.
Iltll I^Nlllli

rlrt Word" in the orr or tl'(

'hilJ
I)i-
,,rrysrr' I'c,rring
rings rnJ rrowned
wtrh
1..'ves: wirh one inser he poinrs ro his
,n,u,,i'. ,l'. in"t.u-""t of the ord, while
in his orhet hand he carries a horn of
ll"ntv 6lled wich graPes6.
The Phoenicrans or Sidonians gare the
,,.rnrher to rheir eoddess
Asrarte ro ride
rl,t.
stlnd
",
,. p'"sid'd over the hu-
,,,"' oro."".
o procreation and birth' rhis
'..,1L
rh" asi,n role of rhe panther and
.,1'o the leooard, in which thev were re-
LeJ to the idea of rhe birth of the
-orld
"nce
of life there.
if," p""rf,.' is also verr frequenrlv connerteJ
to the idea
ot lieht. and his image oren serves to suPporl nttque
'n-
J"f,U".r'
tf;t.
6tr similarlu on rhe orher side of rhe
"orld'
the
-'the.s
clo-se relarive, the
jaguar' appears in ancient
Peruvian
i"-"i,r,'
,1. *.*a ,ni'."i l"p**.'ii,'g
rhe blazing image o
''
1i"
"".i"",
symbolism of the
Pnther
offered a strilcing
.r.fr""".
"f "ll.go.y
,o Chrisrian
iconographv'
By
-dving
and
i,"q'""ir';r
hi"-skin to mankind, rhe ancients believed' the
F'& t Ttu
Pt"tfut
.aryins
And .; Phoi.i0 ndtre
and of the appear-
f 8,. r,-rL d
t'bn
'-
h
t
"-Pc"
ol"a'
rlll tistt^ly ()t
I lllitsr
pnrher ohrinpd or human heings rhc grt o tnlv inspirarron
and placed them under the s.ay of cele.rial inrluences;lusr
as,
according to rhe mysrics, rhe Savior through hi" t"".iing
"nj his death on the cross awa[ened man to his eternal dti.,
and senr divine grace down upon him.
Several of rhe old writers had already attributed ro the pn-
ther the capacity ro give out a scent oF such
"rqui.;t. "J".t-
ness that ocher animals-who,
they said, were the only
cretures who could perceive it-were irresistibly drarrn to ii.
The Chrisrian aurhors went even further: rhev added that
among all the animals. only rhe dragon and rhe snake, instead
ol being amorouslv artracred bv the panther! scenr, are on rhe
disturbed by it that they run ar away ar the 6rsr
whiff (Fig.
7).
Along with the Ancients, rhese Christian symbolists re-
garded the panther, in company with rhe unicorn and e ele-
phnt, as one of the three animals considered to be chaste;
hence, rhe medieval atisrs hernessed rhem together to the al_
legorical charioc of Virginity. This idea recurred up till the
eighteenth century, notably on a miniature of Renaissance
times which belongs ro rhe Bibliothque Nationale in
parisT.
.In.his
tq_elfrh-cenrurv Dnine Bestian, illiam of Normandy
added the tollo*ing ro his song abour rhe parther!
beaurv:
In r6is beasr, wiihou! eny doubr,
There is great nd beauriftrl significance:
And it signifres, wnhout misrake,
Jsus
Chrisr our Svir
Who by his
erear
huoilnv
Took on our tanal natures.
Fis.7 Atimk
alloyins
th pdntkt,
d tr dds ,ho
llet har nl
d ])tlad bl intu.
lra
b.\tu1
tt. Blqiothigu
'i
lAtruL
l'll ll l'ANl llrr x
'lh.
Arrcnian Brrtiarr rrn r|c Mnlcllc Ages also says that
rh lirnale panther sleeps for thret davs after she has earen'
.,'"r ,f'""
"'^lrf**.
tr rh" *-" wav' Chrisr came bacL to life
,rlrcr rhree days, having sariated
hi hunger-that
is to san
i,.,,,"",J;.'.a
ii" *.t, .;*;"'
r(/hen
rhe panrhe' wakes
:;i;;i,.";;;."
with all her rorce. and rom her mouth exhales
u,, udo.or" breath which makes the oth'r
,rrrirnals come flocking to this intoxicatrng
,*.me.
"ln
rhis same
wav. Chrisr' ha'ing
1,,.' f,"rr,,t. dead, made all men near and
la. aware o a subtle and enticing odore
"
As reeards rhe
panther and almost ev-
(nrhrng else, rhe medieval he'aldrv of che
'"Jrilit
in our own
l7estern
'ountrres
corn-
, rded
q
ith the way o thinking o the be"ri-
,ri"s
-hich
had been the sources of herald-
.v itselfr but rowards the end of
(he
fif-
.enrh cnturv. the
pr;mry meaning of her-
rrldrc svmbolism
rhanged along wirh the
elrristian undersranding
o[ it' and the svm-
hol of the panther came to share rhe same
".. r""e.u"d till then for the tiger, and to
represent
implacable ferocity, brutality,
and
Fis. s Hddtdn
pdnth.
,,*.herv rFie. 8). One must recogne the
r-o'
ronn'"n'" n""rre'
tact that in t[e medie,al amorils
nd b.'- ";",t',',::l':i]|ffi;
Liaries. the
pnther end the Ieopard
were
-
"f,"'
*'nr'"a
with the snow leopard and rhe tiger' and espe-
.irllr. r"
,a"
shall see' with rhe lvnx ln fact' in the paintings
;;';Jr'",.'
o thi"
period ir is often
verv difficult to- tell
;;; ;;1il;; .,*i,o,."
r-- another. since the arrists or the
time had only an incomplete
knowledge
of them'
N",rlv all rhe animais
*hich
'ere
sumbols o Christ in sa-
.."d il,"r",ur.
and arr had also disagreeable
characte'istics
il; i;;* circumstances
made rhem rePresentativs
of
.,,' ..
"i
f,"-"t vices. Here we have the opposite sides of
."*"
"".,
U"ru,if"t
coins. The harmful instincrs of human na-
]I
t.t^t{Y ot, (
llItst
r,re whrch led ro evil \1ere
srorrpeJ I,v Chrrsrirn asceticism
rnro rhree clas5s. which are
(he
rhree concupiscences:
con-
cupiscence of the eyes, rhat of the lesh, and rhat of _orldly
pride. The symbolists represented
these rhtee r"rden.i." b;
thrce animals: the panther,
because irs sported coat seems ro
be covered wirh eyes, the she-wolf, and re lion. since the fo"_
I".
*,:
"l:
of rhe :ncienr svmbots of immodesry.
and the
larrer of pride. Danre u"es rhjs svmboljsm ar rhe outser of his
sublime journev
to rhe rhree habrrations o rhe d.rdr th" p"n_
th.t is the_ first ro srop him, and is soon joined
by the she_
woif and.the ln. and the poer is onlv
""u"d
frorn ,h.- iy
the arrival of Virgilru.
The wmbolic antithesis of rhe panther in its chief role as
,1"s"
"] l!.
Redeemer is the hvena. and in rhis presentarion,
rhe symbotrsm of Chrjsrian rimes once again relied upon ele_
ments from the ancienr naruralists.
-flr"-.ef"."n."
h".. i" to
the common hyena of North Africa, the hy*" **., *h"a;
spotted coar is somewhat
similar to that of the paather.
pliny
specically places these two animals in oppo"ition to.r.r
other. He recounts that in his dme it *rs
"rid
thrt th" hy"r,a
ws rhe_ terror of panthers,
who would not
"uen
t.y to d.i"nd
themselves
gainst it. A panrher would r,*.. *o.L
"
rn"r,
wearing a hyena skin, and
..it
is an extaordinary
thing that
when rhe
'k
o a- hlena is held up in front ol rhat o
"-
pan_
rer. rhe latteri fur alls ourI., His shadow ,lon" ,,rik."
dogs dumb.... The trurh is that ,h" hy.n", ,lrt"ugfi".._
cious, is also cowardly.
.The
old naruralists
endored rhe hvena. like the panrher,
wirh powers
o fascinarion:
but woe ro tho." *ho ii"ren ro
him:
"One
hears o ma.,elous tales: rhe srrangesr is rhat rhe
hvena. roaming around the sheep-pens, imitates human lan_
guage. and rememberins
a man! nme. cails him outside and
devours him
)-
But the most exrraordinary
able, still accord_
ing to Plinv. ,s. rht
"hyenes
are hermaphrodires:
rhey become
alternarelv male and emale. and can reprodL:ce without the
f lll] lr^N t r I
llvrryone, nrcluding Arisrotlr (who did not believe in re
hrrmphrodne story)ri, agroes in consigning ro rhem rhe de-
l,,rscd behavior of the slut and the scavenger after carrion that
nrakes the hyena disgusting to all; and they also agree in at-
ributing to it a knowledge of magical arts and of disquieting
*crets belonging to the dead and to rhe invisible powers.
I)liny says rhar rhis animal can also affect people's minds, con-
lirsing them in order to rtrcr rhem to itselfrt. For later
(Jlrristian
symbolists, this notion of rhe hyena! abiliry ro dis-
gtrise its voice became rhe perfect representatioo of that per-
lidious tempter, the Devil.
Relared to the panther are the cheetah, rhe leopard, the
srrow leopard, and the lynx, all middle-sized felines with spot-
tcd coats. The cheerah is the least fierce and was formerly
FiE.9 Th. l,mt;ns.tntth: tt brf,tu illa,antiot.
cornpared ro Christ, rhe huncer of souls, because of the do-
cility with which it allows itsel to be trained like a hunring
dog to pull down othet lleet animals upol whom n leaps with
remarkable speed nd skill. Hunting with cheetahs srill takes
piace in Trkestan nd from the shores of the Caspian Sea to
the Gobi Desert norih of Persia and Afghanistan.
Christian iconography sometimes represents rhe cheetah in
the act of hunting. Dom Leclercq, notably, has reproduced an
example found in a concordance of the Gospels from the
tenth cehruryr6. On it we see a hunter setring his cheetah in
pursuit ofa deer and his doe (Fig.9). The cheetah can also
be tecognized in the spotted cat chasing a horned quadruped
rrrri |lt,slr^llY (rt
I Itsr
in.rhe arabesque decor of .r pre-lslamic
Copric church, in an_
orher exampte given by tfie sme Dom Leclercq. In rhe testi_
monies of rt. it is somerimes
impossible
to
jrstinguish
the
cheeth from h panther. leopard.
or orher wild car; so it
should be emphas;zed here rhat unless a witd cat is porrrayed
in rhe companv of irs masrer. rhe grearest
cauron musr be ex_
ercised in identilying it wirh rhe cheerah.
In regard ro the leopard.
Chrisrian .ymbolism initiallv oroo_
agareJ an old misconception
repeated by
pliny ?,
*h.
's
rhat the 'leo-pardus."
lion-panther.
was
.'engenered
by a lion
and pnrher.
as rhe name seems to indicarers...Thus,
the
animal was somerimes
considered t" b" th. emblemrti. .pr"-
sentarive of Lhe fruit o illegitimate
union. Another allegorical
aspect of the leopard's character rests on the illusion which
led the Ancients to believe that the animal changes its skin io
deceive.other
animals as well as people. This ledro rhe Chris_
rrans choicc o rhe leopard as one of rhe principal images of
the infernal imposter, who with hypocrisy
leads humrrr'souls
asrravr'.,81
this svmbolism rhe leopard is made rhe opposite
o,rhe cheerafi. which represenrs rhe Savior pursuing
souls in
oroer to sve them.
The hopard.has
earned a repurarion
for extreme ferociry,
and was one o rhe most reared of rhe
b."",. .hi.h ror. to
pieces. the, Christian martyrs in the amphirheaters
of Rome.
lecoris
of the matyrdom of Sr. Marciina
of Caesarea show
at^she wa. lorn prr by a leopard afre* li"" h;r;p;;;
The lynx was designared
as
"lirrle
panrher,..in
his trearise
on Ehe hunt bv rhe Creek aurhor Oppien:r, who lived in
Cilicia {soueasr
Asia Minor) during rie rhird ;;,,.;;.;.
Along wirh Oppien. the orher classical writers who related the
lynx_with
the panrher
consecrared it also ro Dionysuszr,
and
attribured most o rhe same qualiries. whether
,""t o. n._
truous._ro borh animas. Thev euen creared new ones fo. the
lynx., whrch rhus. Iike
Jason!
Argonaur
Lvnceus. acquired the
Pflvrlege
of such piercing eterighi rhar it could see everything
lllri r,^Nrllrn
wirh pcrfect clarity even rhr"rrgh rhc nx)rt opaquc substances.
(
i,')sequentiy, rhe lynx l,eca'c tl,e syn bol of Christ's omni-
r, ience, described by St. Paul: "Neither is there ny creature
rlnt is not manifesr in his sight; bur all things are naLed and
,,1,ened unm the eyes of him with whom
-e
haue ro do'?r." Fi-
rrrlly, thanks to the power of vision ccorded to him by the
Ar:cients, the lynx became lcnown as Christir "Vigilance," tike
rhe lion who sleeps with his eyes opn, rhe alcon who was the
ligyptian eye of Horus, the crane who keeps warch holding a
srne in his raised claw-the
illumined vigilance of Christ
who warches ouer his o*",
,rnd whom nothing escpes
(lrig. 10).
The Ancienrs generously
;rnributed to the lynx a keetr-
ncss of hearing equal to the
ruagined power of its eyes; it
was aid to be extremely sen-
'rr'
/0 I' /'}n'
/nu
' Hor s tn'
sitive to beautiful music, which is why Virgil describes it
standing immobile and enraptured by the marvelous songs of
Damon and Alphesiboeus'7a. The old worldt imagination also
cndowed with extreordinry properties rhose conglomerates
rmed in the lynxt body which rhey called
lrrrirnr;
the prin-
cipal virtue of this srone wes sid to be found in the treat-
nrenr of mental distutbances, epilepsr and
jaundice. Marbode,
Bishop of Rennes, who lived in the twelfth ce"turl reporte,l
rhat the lynx could brush away the traces of its footprints wich
its tail, so that it could not be foltowed by people who wished
to kill it and rake rhe stone it carried within itr'. In minetal-
ogy, a type of tourmaline is called "lynxi; stone" or "ligurite":
it is an aluminum silicare'?6.
Very ancient symbolism connasted rhe lynx, which sees bet-
ter than any orher living crearure, wirh rhe mole, who for-
merly was supposed to have no eyes and to die when exposed
to sunlight. Our good friend La Fontaine echoed antiquiryt
lllt! ,t s.rt^(t,
ot rrr r
opposirion oTrhe rnule ro rh. Iynx:
.Uc
rrr. lyn,t". to*ard our
{ellow men. and nroles toward ourselves .
'
Because of its lif hidden in rhe earrh, the Ancients some-
rimes mde the mole the symbol of the earrh, as was the
snaIe_in orher circurnstances:
li<e the snake, rhe mole was
thoughr ro Inor^ undergrorrnd
secrers. Frenc peasanrs
still
say that rhe mole al-ays knows exactly *hrt ti-" ir;", rrJ
never pushes rhe earrh frora the mouth of its hole except at
noon aad at six o'clock. The GreeLs sacri6ced it to
pos;ido;
becau.e- rher believed rhe sea god was responsible for rhe sta_
brlrty of evrvring
buik upon rhe errhr nd rhe mole lives in
rre upper lerel o the subsoil on which rhe oundarion
of all
buildings
depend.
FiF. t] Th. _oL,
at
dn t sth_aatun ,d.tt_
,
Christian symbolism made the mole rhe sign of the Demon,
the.Prince oi Darkness rvho plunges
rhe eyes ot rhe soul into
uillul obsruritv
and dwells ar the bonom of rhe ab1ss. like the
mo_h in rhe shadows o its srrbrenrnern g"ll".;."
1ig.
tt1.
,
In popular supersritions.
rhe mole plays a rariety
o roles.
In cerrain parrs of the sourhwe"t
o France, smali children
wear lirrle bags conraining moles pws. to prorecl rhem from
convulsrons:
or rhe
Jaqs
of moles. to prevenr inresrinal worms,
since the moles devoul 1L.rlorrn"
that enter their runnels-
tl|ti r,^Nlllll lt
titL ]:i$uc: Pdntho .Louing ,aat
";
/;,-,
/L Hotus Santatis.
I r:1. Morct, Mr'd' syptimJ, p. 6t, is. 21.
,'. V Davin, La CapelL Gcca..." in Rtu dc |tut rlntitr, T. xxvlu, p. 40.
r. (
.rk./4i, De.ehb.r 1910.
.r
Ci Rin.h, ,Rr.,/t
,
T. II, pp.72t-727.
1
\,nnu\. D,oa.,r,r,. SnC X.
6.
(l
Mrei, op .n., II, p. 120.
r'. Cl. Barbier de Montaulr, Td;t d'l.anastdphic, T. lI, N, p?.22t e 1t5.
8. Willirn of Norman, &izn dbin, p. 157-
!. "Biaire
.rmni..," o. ty Charles Calier, S.J., in Nouwa Mldne drch-
.i,/osiq@J (1814) pp. 128 i sq.
rr)- Dnre, 7. Divire Cone6, Inicmo, I-
lE;tori
,k: A.cordins ro mo*
canslators, thc rst animal to clallengc Datc is t[e leopard.]
tl. Pliry, Natural Hnto,/. XX\'/lIl, 27.
t). tbid.. vII, 44.
B. Irid., vI[, ]0.
14. Aris@d., D. G.,.,ztii i, lII, 16,
^
Hnhry of Aninak, YIII, 7
,
2.
15. Pliny, or. .n., VIII, 44 nd )OWIIL 27.
16- Le.le.cq nd Mrion, D,rtioa,ane, fasc. LXIV col. 1874. ry- t-t1r-
17. Plin, o,. cn., B[. VIII, 17.
18. Vulson de la Colomlrire, La S.ie toiqu,.- 1669, p.264.
r!- C Lort Cloquei 11nb I kon.?hi .hriienne, XIII, p. 2]9.
20- Brbi.r d Moniuh, op .i,., p. ]77.
rl. Oppien, Cpes.,na.
27. C. Chonp. Ditioandi,c de la Fabh. p. 21a.
.2. Vi.gil, Ako&r, Eclog VIII.
2r. Mrbde, D? aisrr;o, XXIV
?6. M. Lanin, Dkt. dc Mir&dl.Eie p. 2r7.
27.
J.
La Fo.rin.. Fdre,, Bk. l. 7.
tan Figure: Tk ch*tdh and ix p,er; a Co?ti wlp",e p,iot to t? 18th cbt -
T\
TH A\crLNr rrdirions of rhe counrries bordering rhe
IBalric and Norwegian Seas. the wol w:. t*y, con.iered
to be an animal of light, a sort o solar genie to whom rhe
constellation of rhe Grear Bear was dedicated (Fig. l). Besides
that, the folLlore and the Iore of the art of lLuniing of these
countries took over certain of the wolls parricular crcreris_
rics and habits ro enrich their locat ,vmbolismr. Hoqever. rhis
does nor preven the Laplanders in modern rimes rom re_
garding the wolf as one of the Devills henchmen and from
blessing the bullets rhey aim at it.
'r
ttl ili w o [- ,'
f
s
I
(
41rmn at Lt,r nbtlL
Studies of prehistory re"eal the woif rogerher with other
represenrarives
of the quaternary age fauna in the most an_
cient srrara thar also conrain human remains in our South_
European countries2, and wolPs teeth were used in rhe primi_
tive ornmenrs of our ancestors, who sometimes d..o.rt.d the
walls of their underground sanctuaries with its image (Fig. 2).
In classical arclraeology, we 6nd connections
oi ia"r. uni,_
ing rhe mosr beauriful Otympian god of Greel( myrhology,
llllr woll
l'll,chus Apollo, with t|c corrrrron lir,pean wolf, the Greek
ir,,(,,,. In the sarne Greck language, the light of dawn is called
/rrl', drc light rhar precedes lull daylight. All the mvthologiscs
,rf}i:c rhat th Greeks received the myth of Phoebus Apollo
l*,rn the North. Every year, at the end of autumn, it was
r,ri,l, the divine Apollo *ould leaue the temples of Gteece and
go tar away to a mystetious northern county where reigned a
p".perual spring nd an urceasing light. He
-ould
return to
(ireece
in the spring, at the moment when the sun seems to
,rpproach rhe earth. During these annual sojourns in the north
.ou'trn Phoebus, the personi6cation of rhe sun, necessarily
rncountered the two cretures dedicated ro him there, the
s*an and rhe wolf. Here is a story that explin whv the
Greeks so often essociaied the god of tight wirh the wol( to
rhe point of identifying rhem with one anothe:
Apollo, they said, was the son of Zeus and Leto. "Zeus,
his fathet, was the sky from which the light comes to us, nd
his mother, Leto, petsonifred the night3 " The sun indeed is
l,orn from the night at the hour of dawna, and in the shtines
of Apollo it was further said that while his mother was preg-
nant with him, a wolf came to her, and because of this en'
counter, the vitl essence of the solar wolf passed into him
Consequently he recei"ed rhe surname la(ogener' "born of the
wolfl'; and every*here under the Hellenic sky the animal was
associated with rhe cult of Phoebus Apollo. In Athens' the
Iand surrounding rhe temple of Apollo, like the fleece of an
animl surrounding its body, was celle Lukeio\ the "Lvceum"
or school, meaning "the wolPs skin." It was here thai Aristor-
le taught philosophy.
These and many orher similatities beueen the Sun-god
Apollo and rhe wolf latet spread into the whole Mediterra-
nean basin, and it was still remembeted in rhe lifth centurv o
the Christian era when Macrobius ivrote that the Ancients
represented the sun by the image of the wolf: "The Wolf who
is the Sun," he said, and added, "the proof that the sun was
given the name lor, woli is that LycoPolis, the Theban city.
.tt^*y
ol, i lllttsr
has similar.culrs
f Apollo and thc \olt. in horlr of which
tLc
sun is worshipped5.,'
oo:Jh:|,"
received rhe posrhumous
honor
or hcing a e_
goricallv
idenriied
with
Jesus
Christ b, . **,.,,
Ch;.;
;f
rhe erv,,.enruries.
as Dom Leciercq points
our. In the ourth
:illll.
,i:81:
gve
u.v ro personiGcation,
of morariry,
to
:J,"s:.]." 1n:
Chrisrians.
by mens or.rheir inr..p..tation,
o
tne otd svmbols. gave
them a new meaning
and bapt;ed
some
:llh,"
..",wnerabte
paga,n characre.s:
ror .*,npi.. ,r," i",-
t*":,:::,.T. Chrrst rising ro- rhe earrh wrth rhe bri iance of
--T1..
,T,r:
of rhc worr ppears
on certarn coins made by
ullc tribes
I rt was also used as a mofif in some unusual
staruettes
found exclusively
in Celtic counrries- Th"" .h^,,,.
xcrusrvelv,n
Let(i. counrries.
They show a
woif hold;ns
a human
being in his mouth,
who seems. as Salomon
Reinach
iLr"riy
srres.
ro be an atcribure .r,h.,
,rn u
prev8
1Fig.
t). He makes rhe very aDr ad-
dition rfiar the dirproporcion
,n size ber**n
rhe animal
and the hurnan srrbjecr rndicates.
:cordrng
p
rhe .usroms
o Cetrir arr. thar
ihrs.rs
a diviDe
"ol.
a t.ue sol_goJ".
-
Courd rhis enigmaric
group i,,"" b";, i"
'""
:
'"..:";,::::,.:: disranr
conracr w,rh the old Nordic
rradi-
t.a\.,
, a,a,,.ta,n.
rron wh,ch
hs ir rhar rhe taol
afrer ving
.
parricipared
in rhe binh of Iiehr. m.r\r ;
,,,c eno or llme devour rhe last davs?
Th: unr.on of e symbolic *ol
"rd
."1.".i"1 lighr extended
evrn inro rhe realm
o inanimare
,f,irg",
1..r.,"
""f
,h" _oi.i
gtrrrenng
eyes which
shine in rhe sfiadows
"r
,h. ,"d".brr;h,
lle.sr::r
teidsries gave rhe name tuophtat,no,....ri.
";;:: sparklrng
varieries
o agate, as
plin,
describesr,,.
And rhe.name
hopod*n.
"wolls_pau...
uas gjven to a kind o
moss hhrch when.reduced
ro powder produced
a very llamma-
tre.subsrnce
stitl Lrsed for llreworks
and fo,,l*,,i."l
pi,y"
of light, and even in rhe symbolic
rites of Masonic
i";,i",ii".'
'l llll w(lll
ln certain regions l,or,le,ing thc llaltii Sca' rhc wolf is still
l,"lic,ed to h"uL pn*". and kccnness of sight equal ro that
*l'irh is arrribured to rhe lvnx. In the same countries it was
,rlso belie'ed that when wolves come uPon amber they stop
,rr,J sniff it eagerly and for a long time, and in that *av enter
rrto contact th celestial fotces from which they receive an
(
rtrordinary enetgy whose invisible effects are disseminated
"r'ound
them. The electric air of storms and the appearance
.l shooring stars and comets were said to affect the wolues
"ud,u.n,"-
inro dangerous adversaries
whose strength was
ilcreased tenfold by th"se phe.,ome"", which awakened- in
rlrem forces of other worlds. The moon's influence also
..ached them an gave them strange gifts of insight' alrnost
,,f divination.
In the medieval traditions of the hunt in Europe, although
rhe wolfs symbolic relation to the light is not explicitly spoLen
.,. ir" oen.t.atinr.
vi"ion and intelligence are highlv praised' as
*"ll as its stoicis-m in suffering and death
"olues"' said du
Fouilleux later, "do not complain, as dogs do, when rhey are
killedrr." All these qualities are linked with the age-old ideas
which for northern
i"ople"
,sso.iated the wolf with rhe light;
,'d I think that it is in this relationship
that one must look
fot the wolfs connection with the fauna symbolic of Christ'
Nevertheless,
for the lirst Christian svmbolists of Rome the
wolf had an evil repuration. Its deptedations made ir feared
vervwhere;
ahhough
perhaps not more ihan rhe lion' rhe
oanther. and rh. lvr'-,, ,l'o pi.dato's *ho feed on
"har
rhev
1"r' 6nd. But the *ol lr.Ls rh. noble aspecr o rhese animals'
"nd
the L"tin symbolists, even before the Christian era' built
on this fact to make the wolf represent all sorts of vices ln
Dasn Rome, rhe female *ol
-as
the svmbol or rhe
-o'st
[in'd o p-.,i*,.'' Onlv one escaped rhe scorn of most of
.h.
"rtlv
Christian writers, and that wes lhe wolf in the Ro-
rn.t l"*a who suckled che glorious twins Romulus and
R"m,ls; th" image of this animal symbolized
the Empire' or
more exctly the power of Rome (Fig' 4) Dante was in ac-
I
cord \4i all his
-cortemporaries
in represenring
the
,,con-
cup,scence
ot rhe tesh" as a female wol0,. fhe wolf.as
aho
made the symbol of other vices: of rng.r, glu*ony,
.rp".i-i-yl
and heresy.
The S;,ior hj*"el(
;
his parable
of the Good Shepherd,
designared
the wolf as the enemv .
his spiritual
flockra. And the evil :ide
o re wolfs charaer
appears aqain
in rhe dteadful
srories of lycanrhpy.
or trensrenr
but repeated
nsForma_
tions of human
beings into wer_
Fi, 4
'fh.
Ratut n,o\t'; c
hanc nctu ia !h. Czpnol k
peh._
wolves. So rhe
image
of the wol(
like rhat of so manv_symbolic
animals. appears
by rurns in rhe
mott tumrnous
and divine asoecrs rnJ
on the contrary.
under
the darL shadow of Saran,s
scepter.
NOTES
Title Fis.: WlB
lon the Horus Sirds.
l. M. du Bethv. L.b-rr or rr Cehte SinFHub
r
pordeB.
r. Lr. U.hetere. Mz,@/, L t,
Dr$m_
r.
Man_Mun*.
r- aps-,rp d;n" dn dku, n dn .,.
{. Ih Indi. ,he mooh i5 iit-ened ro a kol wi,.t
\ed, Vtl. I: Hvmi )
dvou,\ rh n,shr. S.r R,E-
t. Macrbius,
S,.rrturd. Bi.. t, XVI.
6. Lctet.g, Mcn4l,-t- 1. o.,7e
_.
Cork I i d. RiU,. I tu .at{k de naaadie,
crkrc Ra.toth. pp. :-r. he.
& R.,n1
.J:s
e,tusrF drophgs
dhs t;n
Eflo-rom,n,.,:n ..k,./-
hik, T xi{V, pp. 200-224.
9. On r Chi. !(7olf-god,
*e Th Ed C;tnti"
z4) 24r. es. a7 &.288-
n Mhandt' s@tLan' pP-
I0. Cf. M. Lmdin,
,.Lycophtatme,',
in Dntio,ndne e Minzlasi, pp. Bt an
ll.
J.
du !oull:r. l,
y4ai. -chAse
du Loup..,
.1.
rv , t\8r.
)/ t!tl:n.
D.
fdtlD.lV L ll. &,U &ro,... B] lt, to
tr. Danr, The Dnkp Co.6, klcd. Ct |
t{. sr.
Jorn ro:t t- 12.
,]
"]lF{tr
BOAIT,
The Bear, and the Hedgehog
N ALL THE encient lheralure the wild boar aPPears s typi-
I.,L.i f"-.i,r. independence.
and fearless btutalirv ln the
g"",;.
f"Ut.., rhe wild boar o Calvdon, which was white
",J.f
a*lr. oriein,
was felted o"lv b' the artacl o Atalanta
and Meleager; the boar of Ervmanrhus became the living prev
of Hera.lJs. In the Celtic countries,
the wild boart repu-
ration was even greater, and of a higher or-
derl. The Celtic warriors, and later those of
Gaul. adoored it as the military emblem o
thei, frer.. tribat independence,
and as such
it aooears on the triumphal arch at Orange
(Fi;.'l). E'en more: the Druids o treland
,'JGaut mad. the boar an image of inrel-
lectual and spiritual strength and supremacy'
...allel with rhe material
po'er a"d tem-
po.al mighr. both ci,il and militarv'
whrch
ihev svmbolized
bv the bear.
The oresence of the wild boar on Gallic
insisnia indicates,
rherefore. thar rhe rem-
oora-I,
-ilit..y
po*er of *arriors bo"ed
he-
iore the superiority
and souereigntv of the
soiritual. oriesrlv
aurthority of the Druids'
Jr,*" t."i*" held che tide of
"G'eat
Vhire
ild Boars." One 6nds again the svmbolism
1
I
I
1
I
ll
Fis. 2 catn ,llj b i b.A?,1.lq.l.an
th.
ponkl.Etoo.
of the. wild boar and the bear, wirh the same meaning, in rhe
!sen{
of Mertin,
rhe Ceitic enchanter,
",a
irr-,,n,..
Ren, Guenon
.ar
t ribur es rhe origin
"f
,fii" .y*boli;.,;;
,;;
rr r\orrh. and he my very well be righ1. He has them rep-
resenr rhe rwo polar
and,olar sunboljsms.
respeccively,.
,
lhe image_o
the wild
boar was very widespread
in Gaul:
the srarue
ot a Gallic Diana found in cfie ,d*nn".
ri,,
astride a wild boara. In the ninereenth
century ;,,;;il;;
boars
-.probably
r9l<ens-were
discovered
at Vende
in rhe
oenk or a pond- (t-ig.
2)r Gallic coins bearing the animal.s
image a.rc numerous,
and on the Luccio coin
-discouered
ar
Po::u d'vin.e rays descend
upon ir
{see Title Figure).
_
Lhnsrranr(v was severe wirh rhe fierv animal whrch
lor the
Druids has, been rhe emblem of spirirual
",,.rg,t
"rA
p.*;..
no\aever, duflng rhe rrsr lour renturies
of our era, irs image
L somerime,
ound on Christian lamps. where
i,.*..d,;:_
cord,ng to Dom I eclercq, ro
"vmbolize
the divine wrath- On
one!ot,rhese
ir is pi:ced
in opposirion
to a dove, which like
the Iamb represenred
Christi
senrleness-.
.
Still. rhe wild boar .as somerimes
accepted
as the image
o
the just,
independent,
and courgeous
man opposing the ad-
versaries
of good and the enemies
"f
hx *,i.'r" ,i"
"""*,
ll. l?,]'.",'
Bishop.of
Nora. wriring
in rhe fifth .enru.y
ro
one
.ot
h's correspondenrs.
compared ir wirh rhe lamb:
.,What
::,,::*:1."
\l:url r
lor
have ro 6nd vou comptererv
cl:anged:
ro see rhrlhe t,on. hs now rhe meehness
ot, u"rrg l;
rhr
Jesus
Chrisr inhabirs the wild boar. who..on"".""in*
"ii
nrl 5rt^{y (ttr
t. Rtl
llll ll .l^n
lris ferocitv towards tlrc worl.l, has l'ecome a tamb in regard
to Cod;
you are no lo'ger rhe wild boar ol the oresr' vou
have become rhe wild boar o the hawest
'
''-Sr,
it" Miaal. Ages recognized onlv the wild boar. of
O*ia. *f,. ,,,rs.d ,h. Lords vinevards t *as regarded as
rhe
'euil
bea,t o rhe Apocalvpse the Antichrisr' h was
-^a"
,fr"
"r-U
of
j"rlou"y and b"''talitv;
its mate' the- wild
"o*,
-r"
oi" of the svmbols of lust, and in medhval illumi
nar;d manuscripts
it served as the mount for the personihca-
tion o angere.
h,t J*r.tlv was Drer's intention when he placed' neat
th" .,..h" ,,h"." Marv laid down her child, a wild boar and a
lion, insread o the traditional ox and donkev?
l";d*' rni-"l ,h", enrers inro Christian svmbolism
onlv
f..*
"
t"g".ir" asPect es "ravager
of the Lord! vineyard"
l' *" f':.ii**. Ivio,. in rhe imajinarion of the svmbolists of
f",* r*" if.,ri, their real qualities or habit" rhe sheep and
,i"'f,.t.f'.g
plru opposit. rol"" a' rep'"sentatiue"
of Christ
,nd o Saran. Medieval authors
relving on the urhorrtv ol
,i" *.;.r, GreeL and Roman naturalists and on the P1ri-
.i"rr"- a"o", the hedgehog as a derestable crearure spinv and
-iifi.*,".
hen iig.ti into a ruirful vinevard' it chooses
the finesr vine, climbs it and shakes it until the ripe grapes
have fallen on the gtound. Then it impales them on its spines
,'a t
"f
f""a"i *irh stolen fruir. ro feed irs
voung
Thus'
;:;";;i;";.
pierre
te Picard.
rilliam o No'mandv' and
",i",
if,ti-.*",f'-**,rv
*.iters. the hedgehog made itsetf rhe
,""!" .f rf,. Evil One as the destrovr of soul" and ravisher
"i..i.i,rrf
ruirs; and Villiam ol'Normandv
ad"ised the
Christian to
(eke care lest this demon come to shake his vine
* f',i" f.ri. rtee nd !o rob him of his fruir, that is' the fruir
of good worlslo.
--

-i.i".u."
from a thirteenth-centurv
bestiary' in the Bib-
liothoue Nationale in Paris. ;s a naive image o the deuastat-
l,r ili*h"*
alreadv loaded with stolen fruit' shaking rhe
vine or rhe berrY bush (Fig. l)'
.The
rharaerrstics
o rhe hedgehog
as rhe allegorical
rmage
:l
s:ln.
and those of the ,h."p ,. ,h.
".Sr.-
""r
,r," S,,f.
re consequenrtv
in complere
opposirion:
rhe sheep is sotr to
I:_l:,.:1.
,h.
iedselos
harsh and painut:
,h"
"h:;.;;',;; symbot
of irs milk. gives of herself
ro nou,ish her
f,lil
,,1 ,n: saranic hedgehog,
ro eed its voung. sreals rhe
werrre
or orhers: rhe sheep is docile and quiet,
and rhe
neogehog
on rhe contrary
curls up inro a brisrling
ball as
soon as anyone approaches
ir.
r,e , H.d\r,8. hn,E
i.
!
Ln,,n,
i ttu &btithqb Ndeut?.
NOTES
Titl. Fis.: Cdr o the Gattt (hieftdih
rk.io.
,
j".;"j,t,
c.lutn.
tJa ct de tz Gcut" ta rbn.c: Rrn,. r,. ./,sD,.
2,. G-w.n. At,t \piatu?tt? a
rab,on knpo,?t. p. /0.
'.
uuFnon. L. srnErier a I Our ,.
.
,n ,t",,p ,e. Etod^ T.dtioacl..,
T. XLt
4, See RenI, op./. p 2rl, 6p. ,l
r Se. L. cjrarbonn.u-1a5,"i.
t , t,;",,,t,", _ r,
rR
d,gnt du
panoL
p.rozdn, p.
".
1".1.*o:l!
v--" ,,,roe,".
ri. r xxxr!, .or. .uo.
o.
Mdt
, L A rtl9t\ (t), p. 3J0.
I0 WiJlhm Normnd). l? Be hR dn. XLl
:TT{]E
\\'ESE]I-
HE VEASEL Is the smallest European carnivore; it is also
the most
gtaceful and one of the most intelligent lt ac-
cusroms itself quite easily to man, and develops a singular ar-
tachment to ,h. p"."on who takes care of it Buffonr and
Mme. Delaistre2 confirm this, and Christian hagiographv
xs1sq5 with the"e aurhors, informing us thar rhe Dominican
.l'i,,t
Jod"n
of Bartberg had as his familiar a weasel that
-as
his regular companion; in pictures of him, one always sees the
tiny animal at his side or in his hand.
Searching or symbolic images that would convey serious
Christian lessons, the early glossarists pointed our chat al-
rhoush the *easel is the smallesr o rhe carnivores' vet rr can
,in lo-b,r" with much bigger animals rhan nself-so rhev
said, the weasel is the perfect symbol of a Chriscian who, no
matter how weak in himsel( cn sdll rriunph ovet Satan, the
most terrifying monster of hell.
rVriters'of
the last pre-Christian cenrurie imitted, pPar-
ently without understanding, an extremely ancient and enigma-
tic expression *hich seerns to have been current in the whole
of th" ,*,ci"ttt *otld: "The wesel conceives through rhe ear
and gives birth through the mouthr'" Plutarch connected this
"..".-,ior,,o
humanityt earliest rimes and the very origin of
human language. Aristodea, Ovidt, and other ancient natural-
ists reciteJ the same dictum without understanding it at all. it
-ould
seem. This is yet anorher
Proof
tht in the last cen-
t,ries before the birth of Christ the kev had been lost to a
L
trrl lrtjsrt^Rt ()l (
lllllsr
hosr of symbols and enigmas relating to he mosr ancienc
meraphysical concepts and religious mysteries.
"The weasel conceives through rhe ear and gives birth
through the mourh"; Iikewise, rhe disciple and also the initi-
E I l'na q
|nL".ntu\ b! \.
in his rurn a teacher, and through the wise and eloquent
speech o his mouth gives birth ro disciples who are his spir-
itual children.
-
The idea of choosing rhe weasel as the symbol of rhe per-
fect disciple is certainly unexpecred, and seems incongruus;
however, it is understandable if one takes into accot rhat
"damoiselle
weasel, of long and fluid body (Fig.
l),, was for-
merly, in some countries, one of rhe emblems of flexibility,
and that flexibility o the mind is rhe firsr quality necessary
for disciple to become a perfecr disciple.
-Let
whoever
wishes search and find if he cn a betrer resolution ro rhe an-
ate, listening to the word of the
master, receives rhrough the ear
rhe seed of wisdom and of inner
light which impregnares his spirit;
then having thus learned much
through attentive Iisrening, rhe
candidate for initiation becomes
cient enigma, that che weasel
"conceives rhrough the ear
and gives bitth rhrough the
mouth"; I will adhere to the
one I have proposed until
there is a betrer explanation
from someone mote qualified
than myself.
Although the Ancients clas-
sified the weasel as an inaus-
picious animal that one would be better off not to meet on
onet parh, rhey did recognize its extreme familial tenderness
and care in constently moving irs young so that enemies could
not 6nd them, or so 16r thy would be better sheltered. This
s. 2 troz rh Hortu5 s:nErir.
rll,1 Wl^sl]
I
h,rl,itual rnoveurent
fx'n o'" placc to norher exPlains
i"hv-
::.:;;;;il"
m,te rhc wesel their allegorical
image or
,i..;,a" but othets, looking further and higher' saw in it a
-;;i;i';i ."."1,1'".',
,igilan.", a"d active
Paternal
:rlicrion
(Fig.2). Given the old
svrrrbolis$'
wY of thiriking,
it did
r,ot tak.
-.rch
to
Place
the weasel
.trnons rhe euna sYmbolic oi
Jesus
Ch.is1: this occurred r rhe mo-
,nent when one of them, Bunetto
I-atini, took uPon himself ro write:
"The weasel often trnsPorts
its
,",,"' l*- olace
to plac so that
I's' '
1'"^?ttu&^"/rt:
;;:";iii i,J',r'.'1.
*a ir'r'"
'ot'di
B'r''
'ra"
,i"* a*a, manv
PeoPle
sav that she resuscitates
them'
but how she does this they do not knowT " So in its own wav'
" *""".i
"fr**
the svmbolism
of revivi6cation
with rhe lion
,"d the oelican.
-
ii. *;.",'
were not unwre
o rhe weasel! services in
d".;;";*; ,"rs, mire, lield mice shrews and othtr lnde-rar
;;;;:. Pf"J,. demonstrares
rhis for us ;n his ableJ
Plir'v
^"
,f,rt ,r'" two European species o
-easel
wage a vicious
;J;
";;i;",
a,d th"ith"i.
"pl"n
i" an effective
remedv for
the bites of venornous
animalse l have heard the peasants
ii. ir" r" the swampv countrvside
around Poitiers sav that
""^
"""..
r.-"f"
*t'"" *""'lt haue made rheir holes'
ij",}.. Jr" * in cwo other passages of his g'ear work that
,i.,",."f
"
the most implacale
ranquisher.1Fig
r) n tha,t
rerrrfvins reptile, the basilisk or coclalrice:
-'l
his monster'
l,"
";"".:""
'h,,
oft"' b'en proued [or Lings wishing to see its
.rDse. cnnor
$ithsrnd wesels wh;ch lure ir ino a cave and
iirr'i, ur ,r'. odor thev exhale
ln anorher passage he sav'
,ir, ,f'" -"r*f
,tsel will puruue the cockarrice
inro its lair'
)r,.."
","'r,fi.*
n.a,br I' b"n"d
bv rhe repriles b'ea-th'
Then, with
"othhg
b,t irs odor' the weasel kills it' and dies
,.;;; .;;"
';-.'{
elr the dncient christian
svmbolists
tou[
ri
I ll1. lll s
nore of rhis duel in which the lirrle anirnrl rr.iuurphs
over the
most dangerous
of monsrers, and kills it by
^"".r"
o io o*n
death. In the works of medieval *.it"." ,n
".,i",",
,h" ;;";i
became the image of re Savior
,
In Christian
symbolism,
rats and mice which spoil every_
thing are among the emblems of the vices whi.h .o..rpt t.
soulr'.. So rhe weasei. which hunrs and desrroys .rr, ,"d'-i..-
was,also
adopred
as rhe svmbol
"f,h"
.r.
"h-;r;i;;
,;
qortd
by hunring
doqn rhe vices rhr desrroy *t",.,",;"
good. The weasel
also sometimes
svmbolized
, ..rr,
"f ",;_ rificarion:
this is uirhour
doubr b,,.d
";
,i; il i;;;;,r;
sard rhar rhis anrmals scenr is enough to purily rts dwellinos
trom rhe. presence
ol fithv repriles.
and also rhar .irh rhls
arone rr stays rhe infernal cockarrice_
This idea rs in accord wirh rhe old pea"ant supersririon
rhar
regarded wering
a weasel
skin as an efecrive preventarive
of
T':on,nc
f,rom,hrmfut
rapors
and i.f".,;.,,
i**".-. etif
:l-:
,il, ,nf,,h._ weasel.s
spteen is a verr good remedy
ror
snke venom,
. ccording
ro Aristorie. wea.el
are rareful to
rreed on,rue beore fighting wirh snales. because rhe repriles
dlerpJr rhe odor of rhis planrr,.
Rue w:" one of rhe planrs of
the ancren( pharmacopoeia
used to rure people
in;he erv
"tases
of leprosy.
also manse and scurFar U,, ,ri ,,.i1ir"
drseases were con,tanrly
ral.en in the svmholism
o Chrisrian
spniuality
as symbols of sin. fl. ia* f p*in*ri",
"_ from all these diverse eiements.
,
A sliChrlv larger varierv
of rhe weasel ,s rhe ermine, which
chenges
cotor uirh the seasons: in sur
::_1:,:,:t
,'rn,
;;";;;;;;;,;, :;';:lJj.
Ti: :,;I'i;
clorhed rn snou-white.
excepr for rhe rip ot its rail, which is
Drck.. I hrs comptete winrer whire
belongs ony ro norrhern
weaelsr
in France
rhe animal ;s gre,ish
"rd
r.,
";;;
handsomer5.
Popular imaginarron
o the pa"t pictrrred
tfie ermine as an
mphrbrous^an,ma
which
onl; visited
rlear streams. meado.s,
or mossv. towering soodlands.
and which hared dirr to the
'n,,trt
rl).,r ir u,,rrlJ ltt ir'"ll l'' k'll'J
"'rhc'
rIrn rred on
l,",ia" -.".-a
and v)il rrs
"'r"'acular"
coat Setzrng on this
,,.,1", i
"a,..A
he.al,lru took rhe ermrne as rhe svmbolic
im-
;.;;i ;;;;
derermined
(o protert Ihe
PUritv
or his
,':J";"
," ,-"g"
't'''
;' ao'e alt' rhar o the pe'fecr
i;i;;,;i;
p.".,,
'Ju"d..go
anr misorurne
rather rhan ra'-
." f,i' **. and his e"curcheon
L' rhe slighte'r
c(
'onrarv
,., f"",it". a.fi," or knightlv honor' h is in rhis
'en'e
partic-
:;,;;; I-, .ra ,"i'"ur.
tmilies. 6rst and ro'emo"r o
-i;i;'"
;;; ,".,"",
..'.,"ig,
dure' o Britrrnv'
adopted
.''..."ir.a
rhe ermine s rhe insignia on rheir coars of arms
,1,,. +,. if," Breton dule" di"plared
it etervuhere
in rherr
.,.if..
",a
cities uirh rhe proud morro' l!i
'
oti
4a
t'oe,la,i:
"Bercet die than de{ile mvsell"
l:$. 1 t6th-r.n! ulfh[ an tl'"
kadN
'1
ti Cl'ad
'l
a1 tr Ri'dL a' Tart'
Thu, placed as the perfecr srgn of the soul'" puritl' rhe er-
*t;. ;*"' rh. sv.bl
o the crucifixton
with the stan' the
i.,..
"'i.-
i'rr,
-",a
rhe
'now
embodving
rhe innocence
oI
i'i"' r*, ,r.'. ermine was o'e o rhe ra'e -inrer
svmboL
".-i',i"
n.tr**,i.",
because,
while brown in summer'
ir then
;;";;i,;
dl.^o;",;,
onlv to reappear in all irs whiteness
with
the return of the snowy seson'