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Article ON SYMBOLS AND SYMBOLISM, ← Page 7 of 18 →
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On Symbols And Symbolism,
these notes on the ladder without adverting to the remarkable coincidence , that the magic spell should also designate the steps of the ladder . In Gray ' s fine lyric , "The Descent of Odin : " — " Facing to the northern clime , Thrice he traced the Kunic rhyme
, Thrice pronounc'd in accents dread The thrilling verse that wakes the dead . Prophetess , my spell obey , Once again arise , ancl say Who th' avenger of his guilt ? By whom shall Hoder ' s blood be spilt ?"
This use of the word , independently of the mythic character of the ladder in all countries , has partly arisen from the circumstance , that the first runes , perhaps the first alphabetic characters , were written upon triangular pieces of beech or other smooth wood , whence the Welsh triads ; ancl the only term the Germans have for an alphabetical letter is Buch-stabe , or
Beechstaff , exactly describing the Staffordshire clogs , which latterly ivere only in use as almanacks : but ctuious and beautiful specimens of differing application are given of such rune-staffs in Olaf Worm ' s " Fasti Danici . " It is from this suitable form , ancl perhaps from tlieir actual use as steps in an initiatory ladder , that the name of spell has now been transferred to the steps of
any ladder whatsoever ; and it may appear childish , but it is confirmatory , that the same name is or ivas given before the general introduction of lucifers , to the papers prepared in smoking cabarets and tabagies for fighting the pipes of their customers , only because originally they Avere strips of an
inflammatory AVOOCI . That spell , as splint or splitter , is irrespective of size we may learn from our German neighbours , wiiose language , once identical with our own , still is , for the common and domestic usages—persons and things—particularly on a comparison with the patois ancl technicals of both countries , in many respects the same . On board their ships the windlass is
called Spelle ; and its action , ancl the labour required for its use , is the most probable origin of the curious English expression of " taking a spell" at anything , particularly on shipboard—at the wheel , the pumps , & c . From the sanctity or dread of these spells arises also the common superstition , according to Grosethat it is unlucky to walk under a ladder ,
, as disrespectful to the afflatus supposed to reside in the steps ; ancl if the dream-books never gave any more irrational solutions of our sleeping thoughts than in the instance of a ladder , which it is unlucky to have gone clown , and therefore lucky to have ascended in our sleep , ive might give these prognostications VOL . i . u
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Symbols And Symbolism,
these notes on the ladder without adverting to the remarkable coincidence , that the magic spell should also designate the steps of the ladder . In Gray ' s fine lyric , "The Descent of Odin : " — " Facing to the northern clime , Thrice he traced the Kunic rhyme
, Thrice pronounc'd in accents dread The thrilling verse that wakes the dead . Prophetess , my spell obey , Once again arise , ancl say Who th' avenger of his guilt ? By whom shall Hoder ' s blood be spilt ?"
This use of the word , independently of the mythic character of the ladder in all countries , has partly arisen from the circumstance , that the first runes , perhaps the first alphabetic characters , were written upon triangular pieces of beech or other smooth wood , whence the Welsh triads ; ancl the only term the Germans have for an alphabetical letter is Buch-stabe , or
Beechstaff , exactly describing the Staffordshire clogs , which latterly ivere only in use as almanacks : but ctuious and beautiful specimens of differing application are given of such rune-staffs in Olaf Worm ' s " Fasti Danici . " It is from this suitable form , ancl perhaps from tlieir actual use as steps in an initiatory ladder , that the name of spell has now been transferred to the steps of
any ladder whatsoever ; and it may appear childish , but it is confirmatory , that the same name is or ivas given before the general introduction of lucifers , to the papers prepared in smoking cabarets and tabagies for fighting the pipes of their customers , only because originally they Avere strips of an
inflammatory AVOOCI . That spell , as splint or splitter , is irrespective of size we may learn from our German neighbours , wiiose language , once identical with our own , still is , for the common and domestic usages—persons and things—particularly on a comparison with the patois ancl technicals of both countries , in many respects the same . On board their ships the windlass is
called Spelle ; and its action , ancl the labour required for its use , is the most probable origin of the curious English expression of " taking a spell" at anything , particularly on shipboard—at the wheel , the pumps , & c . From the sanctity or dread of these spells arises also the common superstition , according to Grosethat it is unlucky to walk under a ladder ,
, as disrespectful to the afflatus supposed to reside in the steps ; ancl if the dream-books never gave any more irrational solutions of our sleeping thoughts than in the instance of a ladder , which it is unlucky to have gone clown , and therefore lucky to have ascended in our sleep , ive might give these prognostications VOL . i . u