Christian

In an effort to set forth in an appropriate figure the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, it was necessary to devise an image in which the three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost— were separate and yet one. In different parts of Europe may be seen figures similar to this, wherein three faces are united in one head. This is a legitimate method of symbolism, for to those able to realize the sacred significance of the threefold head a great mystery is revealed. MPH

Hand decorated with the Effigies of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Twelve Apostles

From an old print, courtesy of Carl Oscar Borg

Upon the twelve phalanges of the fingers appear the likenesses of the Apostles, each bearing its own appropriate symbol. In the case of those who suffered martyrdom the symbol signifies the instrument of death. Thus, the symbol of St. Andrew is a cross; of St. Thomas a javelin or a builder’s square; of St. James the Less, a club; of St. Phillip, a cross; of St. Bartholomew, a large knife or scimitar; of St. Matthew, a sword or spear (sometimes a purse); of St. Simon, a club or saw; of St. Matthias, an axe; and of St. Judas, a halberd. The Apostles whose symbols to not relate to their martyrdom are St. Peter, who carries two crossed keys, one gold and one silver; St. James the Great, who bears a pilgrim’s staff and an scallop shell; and St. John, who holds a cup from which the poison miraculously departed in the form of a serpent. The figure of Christ upon the second phalange of the thumb. MPH

The Tree of Noah

From the "Breeches" Bible of 1599

Most Bibles published during the Middle Ages contain a section devoted to genealogical tables showing the descent of humanity from Father Adam to the advent of Jesus Christ. The tree growing from the roof of the Ark represents the body of Noah and its three branches, his sons—Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The nations founded by the descendants of Noah’s three sons are appropriately shown in the circles upon the branches of the tree. While such tables are hopelessly incorrect from a historical point of view, to the symbolist their allegorical interpretations are of inestimable importance. MPH

The Nimbus & Aureole in Symbolism

From Audsley’s Handbook of Christian Symbolism

The golden halos around the heads of both pagan gods and Christian saints refers to their being bathed in the glory of the sun and also to the fact that a spiritual sun within their own natures is radiating its glow-ray and surrounding them with celestial splendor. Whenever the nimbus is composed of straight radiant lines, with solar significance; whenever curved lines are used for beams, it partakes of the lunar nature; whenever they are united, it symbolizes an harmonious blending of both principles. The circular nimbus is solar and masculine, while the lozenge-shaped nimbus, or vesica piscis, lunar and feminine. The same symbolism is preserved in the circular and lozenge-shaped windows of cathedrals. There is a complete science contained in the shape, color, and adornments of the halos of saints and martyrs. A plain golden ring usually surrounds the head of a canonized saint, while God the Father and God the Son have far more ornate aureole, usually adorned with a St. George Cross, a flowered cross, or a lilied cross, with only three of the arms visible. MPH

History of the Holy Cross

From Berjeau’s History of the Holy Cross

(1) Adam directing Seth how to reach the Garden of Eden. (2) Seth placing the three seeds from the Tree of Life under the tongue of the dead Adam. (3) The Queen of Sheba, refusing to place her feet upon the sacred tree, forded the stream. (4) Placing the sacred tree over the door of Solomon’s Temple. (5) The crucifixion of Christ upon a cross made from the wood of the holy tree. (6) Distinguishing the true cross from the other two by testing its power to raise a corpse to life. MPH

The Tau Cross

The TAU Cross was the sign which the Lord told the people of Jerusalem to mark upon their foreheads, as related by the Prophet Ezekiel. It was also placed as a symbol of liberation upon those charged with crimes but acquitted. MPH

The Crucifixion in Space

From Higgins’ Anacalypsis

Of this remarkable Oriental drawing, J. P. Lundy has written: "It looks like a Christian crucifix in many respects, and in some others it does not. The drawing, the attitude, and the nail-marks in hands and feet, indicate a Christian origin; while the Parthian coronet of seven points, the absence of the wood and of the usual inscription, and the rays of glory above, would seem to point to some other than a Christian origin. Can it be the Victim-Man, or the Priest and Victim both in one, of the Hindu mythology, who offered himself a sacrifice before the worlds were?" MPH

The Crucifixion of Quetzalcoatl

(From the Codex Borgianus)

From Kingsborough’s Antiquities of Mexico

Lord Kingsborough writes: "May we not refer to the seventy-third page of the Borgian MS., which represents Quexalcoatl both crucified, and as it were cut in pieces for the cauldron, and with equal reason demand, whether anyone can help thinking that the Jews of the New World [Lord Kingsborough sought to prove that the Mexicans were descendants of the Jews] applied to their Messiah not only all the prophecies contained in the Old Testament relating to Christ, but likewise many of the incidents recorded of him in the Gospels." MPH

The Throne of God and the Lamb

From Jacob Behmen’s Works

Before the throne of God was the crystal sea representing the Schamayim, or the living waters which are above the heavens. Before the throne also were four creatures—a bull, a lion, an eagle, and a man. These represented the four corners of creation, and the multitude of eyes with which they were covered are the stars of the firmament. The twenty-four elders have the same significance as the priests gathered around the statue of Ceres in the Greater Eleusinian Rite and also the Persian Genii, or gods of the hours of the day, who, casting away their crowns, glorify the Holy One. MPH

Dramatic Episodes from the Mysteries of the Apocalypse

From Klauber’s Historiae Biblicae Veteris et Novi Testamenti

In the central foreground St. John the Divine is shown kneeling before the apparition of the Alpha and Omega standing in the midst of the seven lights and surrounded by an aureole of flames and smoke. In the heavens above, the twenty-four elders with their harps and censers bow before the throne of the Ancient One, from whose hand the Lamb is taking the book sealed with seven seals. The seven spirits of God, in the form of cups from which issue tongues of fire, surround the head of the Ancient One, and the four beasts (the cherubim) kneel at the corners of His throne. In the upper left-hand corner are shown the seven angels bearing the trumpets and also the altar of God and the angel with the censer. In the upper right are the spirits of the winds; below them is the virgin clothed with the sun, to whom wings were given that she might fly into the wilderness. To her right is a scene representing the spirits of God hurling the evil serpent into the bottomless pit. At the lower left St. John is shown receiving from the angelic figure, whose legs are pillars of fire and whose face is a shining sun, the little book which he is told to eat if he would understand the mysteries of the spiritual life. MPH

John's Vision of the New Jerusalem

From Klauber’s Historiae Biblicae Veteris et Novi Testamenti

In the upper left-hand corner is shown the destruction of Babylon, also the angel which cast the great millstone into the sea, saying, "Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down and shall be found no more at all." Below is the horseman, called Faithful and True, casting the beast into the bottomless pit. At the lower right is the angel with the key to the bottomless pit, who with a great chain binds Satan for a thousand years. In the heavens above is represented one like unto the Son of Man, who carries a great sickle with which he reaps the harvests of the world. In the center is the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, with its twelve gates and the mountain of the Lamb rising in the midst thereof. From the throne of the Lamb pours the great river of crystal, or living water, signifying the spiritual doctrine: upon all who discover and drink of its waters is conferred immortality. Kneeling upon a high cliff, St. John gazes down upon the mystic city, the archetype of the perfect civilization yet to be. Above the New Jerusalem, in a great sunburst of glory, is the throne of the Ancient One, which is the light of those who dwell in the matchless empire of the spirit. MPH

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

From Solis’ Biblische Figuren

In the allegory of the four horsemen—according to the mysteries of philosophy—is set forth the condition of man during the stages of his existence. In his first and spiritual state he is crowned. As he descends into the realm of experience he carries the sword. Reaching physical expression—which is his least spiritual state—he carries the scales, and by the "philosophic death" is released again into the higher spheres. In the ancient Roman games the chariot of the sun was drawn by four horses of different colors, and the horsemen of the Apocalypse may be interpreted to represent the solar energy riding upon the four elements which serve as media for its expression. MPH

John and the Vision of the Apocalypse

From an engraving by Jean Duvet

Jean Duvet of Langres (who was born in 1485 and presumably died sometime after 1561, the year in which his illustrations to the Apocalypse were printed in book form) was the oldest and greatest of French Renaissance engravers. Little is known concerning Duvet beyond the fact that he was goldsmith to the King of France. His engravings for the Book of Revelation, executed after he had passed his seventieth year, were his masterpiece. The face of John is an actual portrait of Duvet. This plate, like many others cut by Duvet, is rich in philosophical symbolism. MPH