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Article ON SYMBOLS AND SYMBOLISM, ← Page 15 of 18 →
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On Symbols And Symbolism,
3 . Saying , Hurt not the earth , neither the sea , nor the trees , till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads . 4 > . And I heard the number of them ivhich were scaled , and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel . Ancl in a scries of some of the earliest ancl scarcest etchings
, the illustrations of this biblical book by Jean Duvet , the first French engraver , this scene is curiously represented by an immense multitude kneeling , on whose foreheads the angel is employed in affixing this Tau , like a Brahminical sign . Some adduce it from the Lingam of the Hindoos , or the
Phallus of the Greeks or Romans , to whom it was sacred , as typifying the universal generative ancl productive power of nature . And prevalent , therefore , as its veneration was throughout the eastern world , we need not wonder that the Jews , in their proneness to idolatry , and their running after strange gods , should have embraced the same superstition , degenerating
equally with them into the most libidinous and obscene practices and symbols . It is no doubt this form of idolatry , which Asa ( 1 Kings , chap . xv . v . 13 ) is said to have extirpated , ancl for whicli he removed his mother from being queen , and more than probably , therefore , high priestess of rites , ivhich had much of the impurity of the worship of Thammuz , at Antioch , or of the
Bona Dea at Rome . In Palestine , this idol had the name of Mephlezeth , but its form is believed to have been the Tau , and reprehended also hy Ezechiel ( chap , xx . ) , as derived from the Egyptians . Its identity with this figure as the Roman Phallus , is evident from Catullus ( Epigram xx . ) , who uses the word crux to express it : — Hoc tibi expedit , Parata namque crux sine arte mentula .
It is found very prominent on some mythic figures , with inscriptions in a corrupt Arabic , of which engravings are given in the Gentleman ' s Magazine for 1755 , p . 144 . Being copied into the Cwiositdten , a jjeriodical of miscellaneous literature , published at Weimar , by Vulpius , the brother-in-law of Gothe , these were eagerly enlisted by Joseph von Hammer , in the work
above mentioned as most damning proofs of Templar impiety ; though it ivould have been weR to have first proved them genuine , as they are not without great suspicion of alchymistical forgeries . Dupuy had already fixed on the Tau as the Templar emblem , and Von Hammer follows him , though in opposition to the opinion of Nicolai , whicli we have already adduced , ancl to whom in most other respects he pays great deference . Von Hammer ' s words are , " figura phalli sub forma T est verus character
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Symbols And Symbolism,
3 . Saying , Hurt not the earth , neither the sea , nor the trees , till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads . 4 > . And I heard the number of them ivhich were scaled , and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel . Ancl in a scries of some of the earliest ancl scarcest etchings
, the illustrations of this biblical book by Jean Duvet , the first French engraver , this scene is curiously represented by an immense multitude kneeling , on whose foreheads the angel is employed in affixing this Tau , like a Brahminical sign . Some adduce it from the Lingam of the Hindoos , or the
Phallus of the Greeks or Romans , to whom it was sacred , as typifying the universal generative ancl productive power of nature . And prevalent , therefore , as its veneration was throughout the eastern world , we need not wonder that the Jews , in their proneness to idolatry , and their running after strange gods , should have embraced the same superstition , degenerating
equally with them into the most libidinous and obscene practices and symbols . It is no doubt this form of idolatry , which Asa ( 1 Kings , chap . xv . v . 13 ) is said to have extirpated , ancl for whicli he removed his mother from being queen , and more than probably , therefore , high priestess of rites , ivhich had much of the impurity of the worship of Thammuz , at Antioch , or of the
Bona Dea at Rome . In Palestine , this idol had the name of Mephlezeth , but its form is believed to have been the Tau , and reprehended also hy Ezechiel ( chap , xx . ) , as derived from the Egyptians . Its identity with this figure as the Roman Phallus , is evident from Catullus ( Epigram xx . ) , who uses the word crux to express it : — Hoc tibi expedit , Parata namque crux sine arte mentula .
It is found very prominent on some mythic figures , with inscriptions in a corrupt Arabic , of which engravings are given in the Gentleman ' s Magazine for 1755 , p . 144 . Being copied into the Cwiositdten , a jjeriodical of miscellaneous literature , published at Weimar , by Vulpius , the brother-in-law of Gothe , these were eagerly enlisted by Joseph von Hammer , in the work
above mentioned as most damning proofs of Templar impiety ; though it ivould have been weR to have first proved them genuine , as they are not without great suspicion of alchymistical forgeries . Dupuy had already fixed on the Tau as the Templar emblem , and Von Hammer follows him , though in opposition to the opinion of Nicolai , whicli we have already adduced , ancl to whom in most other respects he pays great deference . Von Hammer ' s words are , " figura phalli sub forma T est verus character