CHAPTER 1: Fundamental Symbolism
Part 2: Powers of the Gods
Composite beings. The Śakti or “Power” of a God represents the God in his creative aspect, and is generally conceived mythologically as the God’s Consort. In some cases the Animal of a God is partially identified with his Śakti. Sometimes even the higher and the lower man grow into one in particular psychological contexts, and then we encounter beings that are partially Animal and partially God or man. There are some that have an animal body and a human head. Such forms have grown and come into being on account of specific developments in the human psyche, and represent psychological realities. Such beings have not been concocted by the reasoning mind of priests, as has often been assumed. But there is no doubt that the symbolizing faculty in the psyche works in close co-operation with the reasoning faculty.
Well-known examples of composite symbolic creatures are the Sphinx, the lion with the head of a woman, who represents Leo, or Aquarius, in case she is winged; further the Mermaid, the woman with the tail of a fish, which as a rule represents Scorpio; and the Centaur, the horse with the torso and head of a man, representing Sagittarius. All traditions know such beings, and some are found in several traditions or have their parallels in other traditions. They all have a world of meaning to convey.
Sometimes Gods appear in shapes not consisting of animal bodies with human heads, but human bodies with animal heads. Such forms represent very profound aspects of Divinity. In them the “lower nature”, symbolized by the body, is represented as human, that is to say, as “an image of God”, and the higher nature, the head, is represented by an animal symbol symbolizing some particular moral or intellectual power or attribute.
Commonly known Deities of this type are the Jackal or Dog-headed Egyptian God Anubis, later identified with Hermes-Thoth as Hermanubis; and in living Hindu tradition the Elephant-headed God Ganapati and the Monkey-headed Hanumān. What divine aspects these Gods represent will be made clear later.
Art from these, there is, however, also a class of animal-headed forms which represent degraded human faculties. These occur in old pictures of Hell, both of Eastern and Western traditions, and in the Egyptian and Tibetan Book of the Dead. They can also be recognized to be the particular psychical realities they symbolize. Psychologists had known them from people’s dreams.
Rational thought, which has been dealing with sacred scriptures and traditions, after their symbolical meaning had been forgotten, has dealt with little more than their surface. Hence it has been so sterile in its bearing on the “deeper” and “higher” processes of life, and so helpless in its efforts to influence those for the better. It can grasp only one thing at the time in its pure form-aspect, that is, in its “Titanic” aspect. It “grasps” that thing and pins it down, hurting and crucifying it in immovable impotency, as a collector pins a butterfly in a glass prison. It is no wonder that this function has traditionally been associated more than any other function with “the Fall”, as will be shown later.
The power of symbols. In spite of the power of rational thought and common sense, symbols have very often a strange, mysterious and overpowering appeal even on the most matter of fact minds. This is the case because they work in and from the unconscious, and often manifest themselves with greater power or activity, where they are not understood by the conscious mind. They bear witness to the psychical process towards the re-establishment of equilibrium between the psychical functions and between introvert and extrovert tendencies. Symbols of the type implied, which are understood in what is, from the traditional point of view, a rather simplistic manner, are the political, national and international symbols of recent times — nearly all derived from the sacred tradition of old. The people of the present age are, in spite of their enlightened minds — enlightened by the Fire stolen from Heaven — blind instruments in the hands of inner psychical powers. They live, but are hardly aware of that fact, for what they consider their life, is only a state of symbolic death from the point of view of the old Tradition (see Genesis 2:17). People know much, and know the distinction between good and evil, but they do not know anything about themselves. Their knowledge concerns only (what tradition has called) Titanic power. But even that they do not properly know. And hence they are contributing constantly to their own ruin.
In a way everything in life is the outcome or reflection of something within. Dreams, whether for good or for evil, have changed the face of the earth more thoroughly than anything else. Many things have erupted out of the “subterranean fires” of the unconscious, with which reason and feeling cannot cope. Where the spiritual function does not inspire and give the lead, symbols, if not understood or if misunderstood, if played with or abused, may work dangerous reactions in human society. The deliberate use of symbols for secular and political, that is, for personal, egoistic, purposes, is a misuse which is bound to entail serious consequences. Religious symbols either form part of a living tradition, or spring spontaneously from the psyche — the unconscious, in the terminology of modern psychology. They should not be “instituted” for profane ends, that is to say, all ends which are not of universal ethical and spiritual nature. They are not just rational pictures, but represent living psychical forces from all levels of the psyche. Misuse of the forms of such powers is “playing with fire” and “tempting the Lord”. Stealing Fire from Heaven — which the people of this Age have been increasingly engaged in — can only result in the psychical condition traditionally called “Hellfire”.
The Svastika. An example of a symbol which has been misunderstood and grievously misused in recent times for personal purposes, is found in the Svastika. This is a symbol of the Great Wheel, representing the cycle of time of the Tradition. Therefore it is a symbol of creative activity — auspicious if moving along the way of the Tradition. The Great Wheel is the Zodiac.
The North-European thick-branched Svastika was associated with creative activity, and consisted of crossed representations of the Fire-Hammer of Thor. Its form became known as the fylfot cross. The Greek Svastika was called Gammadion, and consisted of four capital gamma. The letter gamma has the numerical value of three. Four times three make the twelve Signs of the Zodiac. Related to the Svastika is the Hermetic figure with the right hand to Heaven and the left to Earth, a posture also of many forms of Hindu deities. This symbolism holds a world of meaning, illustrated in the maxim “as Above, so Below”, and representing the union, in being and action, in the Divine Person, of Heaven and Earth. This union is accomplished only through the Tradition. The Hindu Svastika is a symbol of auspicious creative action along the lines of Veda — the Tradition. The word is Sanskrit. Śu may imply good, auspicious, sacrifice, and begetting. The Tradition is good and auspicious, requires sacrifice and begets the perfect Man. Astika may imply being and abode.
This great symbol, which, of course, never had anything to do with anti-Semitism, was placed in Germany solidly in black on a red field. Black is in Manifestation a color symbolizing Earth, darkness, death and negation. Red represents Fire. The symbol was, moreover, wrongly placed like an X. In that form it became more or less identical with what various traditions have called “the Wheel of Saṁsāra” (meaning erring in bondage), “the Rack”, “the Wheel of Ixion”, and “the Cross of the Passion”.
Wheel-symbolism. The Svastika is only one of numerous forms of the Great Wheel, popularly called “the Sun-wheel”. It is the aim of the Tradition to replace the Wheel of Bondage by the Wheel of the Tradition. The Wheel of Saṁsāra should “turn into” the Wheel of the Law, the Buddhist form of the Tradition, the Dhamma, the very symbol of which it is. The human soul is bound and crucified and turned round and round on the Wheel of Bondage. But when the soul attains true Manhood, it becomes itself the Chakravartin or “Turner of the Wheel”, and one with its immovable Centre. The first Wheel is that of the Fall, the second of the Redemption. The Wheel will be deal with in many contexts and in many traditional forms.
The Great Wheel is not only a Sun-wheel but also a wheel of the Moon and the five Planets, connected with the Five Elements. Thus the Great Wheel has seven aspects or forms. These are reflected in “the body” of man in the Chakras or wheels of the Yogic tradition.
On the Great Wheel everything moves and changes and passes on. There is no rest and no refuge, except in its centre, representing the Ever-Present-Changeless-Motionless Being of God. To the pilgrim that may seem terribly remote and hard to reach, but, as the Arabic mystic says, “even to the camel comes a dawn without a burden for its wounded back”.
The attributes of Gods. In traditional contexts the symbols or attributes connected with or held by a God or Angel are amplifications of the God himself. It is easy to understand how this led to the very common cases in which the symbols of a God represent other Gods, subsidiary to him in that particular aspect and context. The most common example is Jupiter and his Thunderbolt. Jupiter is the God of the Sphere of Light and Enlightenment, the Ether, and his Thunderbolt represents the Element Fire. More about that later. Sometimes the Six Great Gods are all recapitulated as symbols of the Seventh God. On other occasions a God has five attributes representing the functions connected with the Five Elements or their ruling Intelligences. An example of this may be given.
The five symbols of Viṣṇu. The five symbols that are commonly held by Viṣṇu represent the powers of the five Planetary Gods, called in Hindu Astrology the Five Tārā-grahas. The symbols are the Kaustubha-maṇi, the Gadā, the Chakra, the Śankha and the Padma. The Kaustubha is a gem of great luster and represents Venus, the Ruler of the emotional life. The Gadā is a heavy club or mace, and represents the power of Saturn, the Ruler of the Element Earth. It is called Kaumodakī, meaning “bliss-giver to the earth”, and is a symbol of Enlightenment and Earth-rulership. Saturn gives enduring enlightenment after first causing trouble and sorrow, in astrological tradition. In Hindu Astrology Sani, that is, Saturn, is represented and often worshipped in the form of an iron sword. This corresponds to the scythe of Saturn, with which, as Lord of Time and Death, he cuts off the cycle of Manifestation, and also the state of not-knowing God and Reality — thereby giving Enlightenment. As “Holder of the Gadā”, Viṣṇu is often called Gadādhara. He holds the Gadā in one, and the three symbols to follow in his three other hands.
The Chakra is the Fire Wheel of Manifestation, with two crossed triangles. It will be dealt with at length later on. It here represents Mars, the Lord of Manifestation, the God of the Element Fire and the lower mind. It is the Sudarśana, the Fiery Weapon of Viṣṇu, which, in the myths dealing with his Incarnations, he uses for the purpose of “protecting the good and punishing the wicked”. He protects the good by means of the Wheel of the Tradition, and punishes the wicked on the Fiery Rack of Suffering (which from the mental point of view is a fiery hell and, from the emotional, “a lake of fire and brimstone”.)
The Śankha is the Conch-shell. The word “conch” is derived from a Latin word, and related to “Śankha”. The conch-shell was also a symbol of the Greek and Roman mythology. It represents Budha, the Mercury of Hindu Astrology, the God of the functions connected with the Element Air, because it reflects sound, symbolically expressive of Air or Spirit.
The Padma is the Lotus and represents Guru, that is, Jupiter, the Ruler of the Element Ether. In Indian tradition it is customary to speak of “the lotus-feet of the Guru”. Sometimes Mount Meru, the Mountain of the Gods, is symbolically equated to the Lotus. All the symbols of Viṣṇu will be dealt with in more detail and connection with their parallel in other religions.
The five symbols represent the five Planets or Gods of the Five Elements. Viṣṇu himself represents the Sun and Lakshmī, his Consort, the Moon, and thereby the group of seven is complete. In Incarnation Viṣṇu represents Love, and in that connection he himself represents Venus, the Power of Love, while the Kaustubha-maṇi symbolizes the Sun. The Sun is the Power of the higher Love, the Charis of Grace of God.
