Astra igitur mea mens arcum dum tendit in ilia.
Ex imo ad summum viva sagitta volat.
Figures 8 to 14 are representations of the goddess mother, the virgin
and child, Ishtar or Astarte, Mylitta, Ceres, Rhea, Venus, Sacti, Mary,
Yoni, Juno, Mama Ocello.
Fig. 8 is a copy of the deified woman or celestial mother, from Idalium,
in Cyprus. Fig. 9 is from Egypt, and is remarkable for the cow's horns
(for whose signification see Vol. i., p. 54, Ancient Faiths, second
edition), which here replace the lunar crescent, in conjunction with the
sun, the two being symbolic of hermaphroditism, whilst above is a seat
or throne, emblematic of royalty.
The two figures are copied from Rawlinson's Herodotus, vol. ii., p. 447,
in an essay by Sir Gardiner Wilkinson, wherein other illustrations of
the celestial virgin are given. Fig. 10 is a copy of plate 59, Moor's
Hindu Pantheon, wherein it is entitled, "Crishna nursed by Devaki, from
a highly finished picture." In the account of Crishna's birth and early
history, as given by Moor (Op. Cit., pp. 197, et seq.), there is
as strong a resemblance to the story of Christ as the picture here
described has to papal paintings of Mary and Jesus. Fig. 11 is an
enlarged representation of Devaki. Fig. 12 is copied from Rawlinson's
Ancient Monarchies, vol. iii., p. 899. Fig. 13 is a figure of the mother
and child found in ancient Etruria at Volaterra; it is depicted in
Fabretti's Italian Glossary, plate xxvi., figure 349.
It is described as a marble statue, now in the Guarnacci Museum. The
letters, which are Etruscan, and read from right to left, may be thus
rendered into the ordinary Latin characters from left to right, MI:
GANA: LARTHIAS ZANL: VELKINEI: ME - SE.; the translation I take to
be, "the votive offering of Larthias (a female) of Zanal, ( = Zancle
= Messana in Sicily), (wife) of Velcinius, in the sixth month." It
is uncertain whether we are to regard the statue as an effigy of the
celestial mother and child, or as the representation of some devout lady
who has been spared during her pregnancy, her parturition, or from some
disease affecting herself and child. Analogy would lead us to infer that
the Queen of Heaven is intended. Figure 14 is copied from Hislop's Two
Babylons; it represents Indranee, the wife of Indra or Indur, and is to
be found in Indur Subba, the south front of the Caves of Ellora, Asiatic
Researches, vol. vi., p. 893.
Indra is equivalent to Jupiter Tonans, and is represented as seated on
an elephant; "the waterspout is the trunk of this elephant, and the iris
is his bow, which it is not auspicious to point out," Moor's Pantheon,
p. 260. He is represented very much as if he were a satyr, Moor's
Pantheon, p. 264; but his wife is always spoken of as personified
chastity and propriety. Indranee is seated on a lioness, which replaces
the cow of Isis, the former resembling the latter in her feminine and
maternal instincts.
Figures 15, 16, are copies of Diana of the Ephesians; the first is from
Hislop, who quotes Kitto's Illustrated Commentary, vol. v., p. 250; the
second from Higgins' Anacalypsis, who quotes Montfaucon, plate 47. I
remember to have seen a figure similar to these in the Royal Museum at
Naples.
The tower upon the head represents virginity (see Ancient Faiths, second
edition, Vol. i., p. 144); the position of the hand forms a cross with
the body: the numerous breasts indicate abundance; the black colour of
Figure 16 indicates the ordinary tint of the feminine lanugo, the almost
universal colour of the hair of the Orientals being black about the yoni
as well as on the head; or, as some mythologists imagine, "Night,"
who is said to be one of the mothers of creation. (See Ancient Faiths,
second edition, Vol. n., p. 882.) The emblems upon the body indicate the
attributes or symbols of the male and female creators.
Figure 17 is a complicated sign of the yoni, delta, or door of life. It
is copied from Bonomi's Palaces of Nineveh, p. 809.
Figure 18 signifies the same thing; the priests adoring it present the
pine cone and basket, symbolic of Ann, Hea, and their residence. Compare
the object of the Assyrian priest's adoration with that adored by a
Christian divine, in a subsequent figure. (See Ancient Faiths, second
edition, Vol. I., p. 88, et seq., and Vol. n., p. 648.)
Figure 19 is copied from Lajard (Op. Cit.), plate xxii., fig. 5. It is
the impression of an ancient gem, and represents a man clothed with a
fish, the head being the mitre; priests thus clothed, often bearing in
their hand the mystic bag, are common in Mesopotamian sculptures; two
such are figured on Figs. 63, 64, infra. In almost every instance it
will be recognised that the fish's head is represented as of the same
form as the modern bishop's mitre.
Figure 20 represents two equilateral triangles, infolded so as to make
a six-rayed star, the idea embodied being the androgyne nature of the
deity, the pyramid with its apex upwards signifying the male, that with
the apex downwards the female. The line at the central junction is
not always seen, but the shape of the three parallel bars reappears in
Hindoo frontlet signs in conjunction with a delta or door, shaped
like the "grove" in Fig. 17; thus showing that the lines serve also to
indicate the masculine triad. The two triangles are also understood
as representing fire, which mounts upwards, and water, which flows
downwards. Fire again is an emblem of the sun, and water of the passive
or yielding element in nature. Fire also typifies Eros or Cupid. Hymen
is always represented carrying a torch. It is also symbolic of love;
e.g., Southey writes.
"But love is indestructible,
Its holy flame for ever burneth;
From heaven it came,
To heaven returneth."