-
Articles/Ads
Article CHAPTER IV. ← Page 5 of 8 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Chapter Iv.
cession five days before the anniversary of the crucifixion , which they placed on the altar . In the other hand Anubis carries a crown , as a symbol of the crown of glory promised to those who endure faithfull y to the end . Many gems of this class bear the scarabceus , or sacred beetle of Egypt ; and they are usually perforated , for the convenience of being suspended from the neck by a ligature , as amulets of protection from danger . The beetle was an emblem of the sun . Amongst other
animals , the serpent , which had a similar reference , was a favourite symbol with the Basilideans ; and we accordingly find it impressed on numerous specimens of the Abraxas . We have also on another gem the serpent and cross , which perhaps Withers had in view when he wrote the often quoted passage : —
A serpent raised above the letter tau , Aspiring to a crown , is figured here ; Fiom whence a Christian moral we may draw , Which worth our good regarding will appear . The crosse doth show that sutTering is the way j The serpent seems to teach me , that if I Will overcome , I must not then assay To force it ; but myself thereto applye ; For by embracing what we shall not shunne , We winde about the crosse , till we arise Above the same ; and then what prise is v / onne , The crowne which overtops it , signifies .
Endless serpents enclosing mystical characters are common , - and there is one with a curious inscription , importing that though the serpent roar like a lion , it is as meek as a lamb . Montfaucon has given , amongst numerous others , a specimen of a very extraordinary gem , marked IS on plate SO , which has upon one side two serpents twisted round stakes fixed in the ground , with an altar , a cup , and two stars in the centre . The other side is full of symbols of birdsserpentsmen on foot and on horsebacktwo human bustsone
, , , , radiated , and the other with a crescent ; the explanation of which that great antiquary professes himself unable to penetrate . The Gnostics venerated the serpent , which they esteemed to be Christ , and therefore the serpent and stake might be intended to represent the brazen serpent of Moses . Tertullian informs us , that they preferred the serpent to Jesus Christ , because it was endued with the knowledge of good and evil ; and therefore it was that Moses selected it as his symbol of health .
And this doctrine appears to be confirmed by another gem , which has on one side IAOSABAO , ami on the other MOSE S . 5 . The human forms displayed in this class of Abraxas , are sometimes without wings , at others they are furnished with two , like those of an angel ; with four , like the cherubic figure of Ezekiel ; and in some cases with six , in imitation , doubtless , of the seraphim of Isaiah . The human figure is understood to represent the sun , as a symbol of Christ , who , by
the Theosophists of the last century , was considered as the spiritual philosopher ' s stone ; and the reverse of some of these amulets presents the word CHEROUBI , for angels and cherubim formed a part of the Basilidean system . Montfaucon , however , thinks that " these Abraxas having always relation to the sun , the wings were designed to show the swiftness of his course . " Like the former , we frequently find on this class the words IAO , ADONAI , and SABAOTH . One contains an Egyptian mummy , with the Greek words for preserve me , and , on the reverse , SABAO . Several of them contain figures of the deities of Greece and
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Chapter Iv.
cession five days before the anniversary of the crucifixion , which they placed on the altar . In the other hand Anubis carries a crown , as a symbol of the crown of glory promised to those who endure faithfull y to the end . Many gems of this class bear the scarabceus , or sacred beetle of Egypt ; and they are usually perforated , for the convenience of being suspended from the neck by a ligature , as amulets of protection from danger . The beetle was an emblem of the sun . Amongst other
animals , the serpent , which had a similar reference , was a favourite symbol with the Basilideans ; and we accordingly find it impressed on numerous specimens of the Abraxas . We have also on another gem the serpent and cross , which perhaps Withers had in view when he wrote the often quoted passage : —
A serpent raised above the letter tau , Aspiring to a crown , is figured here ; Fiom whence a Christian moral we may draw , Which worth our good regarding will appear . The crosse doth show that sutTering is the way j The serpent seems to teach me , that if I Will overcome , I must not then assay To force it ; but myself thereto applye ; For by embracing what we shall not shunne , We winde about the crosse , till we arise Above the same ; and then what prise is v / onne , The crowne which overtops it , signifies .
Endless serpents enclosing mystical characters are common , - and there is one with a curious inscription , importing that though the serpent roar like a lion , it is as meek as a lamb . Montfaucon has given , amongst numerous others , a specimen of a very extraordinary gem , marked IS on plate SO , which has upon one side two serpents twisted round stakes fixed in the ground , with an altar , a cup , and two stars in the centre . The other side is full of symbols of birdsserpentsmen on foot and on horsebacktwo human bustsone
, , , , radiated , and the other with a crescent ; the explanation of which that great antiquary professes himself unable to penetrate . The Gnostics venerated the serpent , which they esteemed to be Christ , and therefore the serpent and stake might be intended to represent the brazen serpent of Moses . Tertullian informs us , that they preferred the serpent to Jesus Christ , because it was endued with the knowledge of good and evil ; and therefore it was that Moses selected it as his symbol of health .
And this doctrine appears to be confirmed by another gem , which has on one side IAOSABAO , ami on the other MOSE S . 5 . The human forms displayed in this class of Abraxas , are sometimes without wings , at others they are furnished with two , like those of an angel ; with four , like the cherubic figure of Ezekiel ; and in some cases with six , in imitation , doubtless , of the seraphim of Isaiah . The human figure is understood to represent the sun , as a symbol of Christ , who , by
the Theosophists of the last century , was considered as the spiritual philosopher ' s stone ; and the reverse of some of these amulets presents the word CHEROUBI , for angels and cherubim formed a part of the Basilidean system . Montfaucon , however , thinks that " these Abraxas having always relation to the sun , the wings were designed to show the swiftness of his course . " Like the former , we frequently find on this class the words IAO , ADONAI , and SABAOTH . One contains an Egyptian mummy , with the Greek words for preserve me , and , on the reverse , SABAO . Several of them contain figures of the deities of Greece and