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Article CHAPTER IV. ← Page 4 of 8 →
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Chapter Iv.
dishing a whip , and bearing , amongst other things , the name of IAQ One of these has a remarkable Greek inscription to this effect : — " Give me grace and victory , because I have pronounced thy INEFFABLE NAME . " Another has the same figure , with Fortune standing on the cock ' s head , and inscribed underneath , IA O ; while on the reverse we find I A OA B It A C A S . On some we find the names of the Basilidean angels , MichaelGabriel , UrielRaphaelAmanael 1 'rosoraielYabsoe & c . ;
, , , , , , on others Mithras , Abrasax , Sabaoth , & c . In the ancient mythology , the cock was a symbol of the sun , because he foretels its rising ; and amongst the pseudo Christians who invented and used these amulets , Jesus Christ was identified with the sun , and therefore aptly represented by a man with a cock ' s head ; and their possessors were reputed to be under his especial protection , as Lord of the year , depicted , as we have just seen , by ABRAXAS , and also by the word
Mithras , or rather MEITBRAS , which equally , according to the Greek notation , express 3 GS , and by the annual course of the earth round the sun . 2 . In the second class we find Abraxas in the form of a lion , to symbolize the lion of the tribe of Judah ; and some of them contain the word IOYAAC on the reverse , and a man \ vith a lion ' s head , holding in his left hand the head of the traitor Judasand an inscription impling
, y , " the lion of the tribe of Judah has overcome . " Many of these are inscribed with the words MITHRAS , IAO , ABRAXAS , ANUBIS , & C . On one we find Harpocrates , the god of science , seated on a tree springing from the back of a lion , with a whip in his hand , and a finger on his mouth ; and another seems to indicate that the amulets of this class were
intended as sanitory nostrums , for it has a Greek inscription implying , " Preserve in health the stomach of Proclus . " Some of them have the head of the lion radiated , and a serpent ' s body , with the word XNOUBIC on the reverse . Sometimes , instead of the initial X there is substituted a +, which Salmasius interprets as one of the thirty-six deans which , according to the Gnostics , presided over the zodiac . Montfaucon , however , rejects this interpretation , and thinks the + represents the first letter in the alhabetwhich will make
p , ANUBIS , an Egyptian deity , whose name very frequently occurs on these gems . 3 . We come now to those that have either the inscription or figure of Serapis ; and these are fully illustrated on plate 50 of the second volume of Montfaucon ' s great work . On one of these Isis is represented upon the flower of the lotus , and before her is an ape , or the cercopithecus , with the inscription , " ONE JUPITER SERAPIS . " On the reverse is the
name ABRAXAS , and the words , " Give grace to Alexander , " which shows it to have been an amulet of good luck . On another , Serapis is represented holding a figure of Victory in his hand , with an inscription in cabalistic characters . Serapis has at her feet the three headed dog Cerberus , which appears to intimate that he was sometimes identified with Pluto . Another has the head of Serapis surmounted by a calathus , with an inscription in Greek"Preserve me ; " which proves beyond a
, doubt that these gems were intended as amulets of protection . 4 . The fourth class is not confined to the figure of Anubis , although that Egyptian divinity predominates . Here we find the sacred name IA O of frequent recurrence ; and in some of them Anubis holds in one hand a palm branch , in allusion to the Saviour ' s triumphal entry into Jerusalem ; for the early Christians used to carry palm branches in pro-VOT ,. VT . 3 D
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Chapter Iv.
dishing a whip , and bearing , amongst other things , the name of IAQ One of these has a remarkable Greek inscription to this effect : — " Give me grace and victory , because I have pronounced thy INEFFABLE NAME . " Another has the same figure , with Fortune standing on the cock ' s head , and inscribed underneath , IA O ; while on the reverse we find I A OA B It A C A S . On some we find the names of the Basilidean angels , MichaelGabriel , UrielRaphaelAmanael 1 'rosoraielYabsoe & c . ;
, , , , , , on others Mithras , Abrasax , Sabaoth , & c . In the ancient mythology , the cock was a symbol of the sun , because he foretels its rising ; and amongst the pseudo Christians who invented and used these amulets , Jesus Christ was identified with the sun , and therefore aptly represented by a man with a cock ' s head ; and their possessors were reputed to be under his especial protection , as Lord of the year , depicted , as we have just seen , by ABRAXAS , and also by the word
Mithras , or rather MEITBRAS , which equally , according to the Greek notation , express 3 GS , and by the annual course of the earth round the sun . 2 . In the second class we find Abraxas in the form of a lion , to symbolize the lion of the tribe of Judah ; and some of them contain the word IOYAAC on the reverse , and a man \ vith a lion ' s head , holding in his left hand the head of the traitor Judasand an inscription impling
, y , " the lion of the tribe of Judah has overcome . " Many of these are inscribed with the words MITHRAS , IAO , ABRAXAS , ANUBIS , & C . On one we find Harpocrates , the god of science , seated on a tree springing from the back of a lion , with a whip in his hand , and a finger on his mouth ; and another seems to indicate that the amulets of this class were
intended as sanitory nostrums , for it has a Greek inscription implying , " Preserve in health the stomach of Proclus . " Some of them have the head of the lion radiated , and a serpent ' s body , with the word XNOUBIC on the reverse . Sometimes , instead of the initial X there is substituted a +, which Salmasius interprets as one of the thirty-six deans which , according to the Gnostics , presided over the zodiac . Montfaucon , however , rejects this interpretation , and thinks the + represents the first letter in the alhabetwhich will make
p , ANUBIS , an Egyptian deity , whose name very frequently occurs on these gems . 3 . We come now to those that have either the inscription or figure of Serapis ; and these are fully illustrated on plate 50 of the second volume of Montfaucon ' s great work . On one of these Isis is represented upon the flower of the lotus , and before her is an ape , or the cercopithecus , with the inscription , " ONE JUPITER SERAPIS . " On the reverse is the
name ABRAXAS , and the words , " Give grace to Alexander , " which shows it to have been an amulet of good luck . On another , Serapis is represented holding a figure of Victory in his hand , with an inscription in cabalistic characters . Serapis has at her feet the three headed dog Cerberus , which appears to intimate that he was sometimes identified with Pluto . Another has the head of Serapis surmounted by a calathus , with an inscription in Greek"Preserve me ; " which proves beyond a
, doubt that these gems were intended as amulets of protection . 4 . The fourth class is not confined to the figure of Anubis , although that Egyptian divinity predominates . Here we find the sacred name IA O of frequent recurrence ; and in some of them Anubis holds in one hand a palm branch , in allusion to the Saviour ' s triumphal entry into Jerusalem ; for the early Christians used to carry palm branches in pro-VOT ,. VT . 3 D