Post by giovanni on Feb 7, 2006 21:29:31 GMT
SYMBOLIC FLOWERS
Bro. René Guénon
The use of flowers in symbolism is widespread, being found in most traditions; it is also a very complex symbolism, and our intention here can only be to point out some of the more general meanings. Indeed, it is obvious that, at least in its secondary modalities, the meaning of a floral symbol will vary according to the particular flower taken as a symbol, and also, as is the case generally in symbolism, that each flower can itself have a plurality of meanings, which however are related to one another by certain correspondences.
One of the chief meanings of floral symbolism relates to the feminine or passive principle of manifestation, that is, to Prakriti, the universal substance, and in this respect the flower is equivalent to several other symbols, among which the cup is the most important. Indeed, like the cup, the flower by its very form evokes the notion of ‘receptacle’, which Prakriti is for the influences emanating from Purusha, and it is common. to speak of the ‘calyx’ [‘cup’ or ‘chalice’] of a flower. On the other hand, the blossoming of this flower simultaneously represents the development of manifestation itself, considered as a production of Prakriti; and this double sense is particularly clear in a case like the lotus, which, in the East is the symbolic flower par excellence, and which has the special characteristic of blooming on the surface of water. This latter, as we have explained elsewhere, always represents the domain of a certain state of manifestation, or the plane of reflection of the ‘Celestial Ray’, which expresses the influence of Purusha exercised on this domain in order to realize the possibilities potentially contained therein, enveloped in the primordial indifferentiation of Prakriti.[1]
The connection we just indicated with the cup naturally brings to mind the symbolism of the Grail in Western traditions, and while on just this subject there is reason to make a most interesting observation. We know that among the various objects that legend associates with the Grail there is notably a lance which, in the Christian adaptation, is none other than the lance of the centurion Longinus, by which a wound was opened in the side of Christ from which flowed the blood and water that Joseph of Arimathea collected in the cup used at the Last Supper; but it is no less true that this lance, or one of its equivalents, already existed as a sort of complementary symbol to that of the cup in pre-Christian traditions.[2] The lance, placed vertically, is one of the figures of the ‘World Axis’, which is identified with the ‘Celestial Ray’ just mentioned; and in this connection let us also recall that the solar ray is frequently assimilated to weapons such as the lance or the arrow, although here it would be out of place to dwell further on this point. From another perspective, in certain representations drops of blood froth the lance itself fall into the cup; now these drops of blood, in their principial significance, are here nothing other than the image of the influences emanating from Purusha, which in addition evokes the Vedic symbol of the sacrifice of Purusha at the origin of manifestation,[3] and this will lead us directly back to the question of floral symbolism, from which we have only apparently departed by these considerations.
In the myth of Adonis (whose name, moreover, signifies ‘the Lord’), the hero is mortally gored by a wild boar’s tusk, here playing the same role as the lance, and as his blood spills to the ground, it gives birth to a flower; and no doubt other similar examples could as easily be found. Now this is also to be met with in Christian symbolism; thus Charbonneau-Lassay has noted a twelfth-century pressmould for altar bread on which the blood from the wounds of the Crucified fall in droplets that are transformed into roses, as well as a thirteenth-century window of the cathedral of Angers where the divine blood, flowing in streams, also blossoms in the form of roses.[4] In the West, the rose, along with the lily, is one of the most common equivalents to the lotus in the East; and here it seems that the symbolism of the flower is exclusively connected with the production of manifestation,[5] and that Prakriti is represented rather by the soil itself, vivified by the blood; but there are additional instances where it seems to be otherwise. In the same article just cited, Charbonneau-Lassay reproduces an embroidery design on an altar canon from the abbey of Fontevrault dating front the first half of the sixteenth century and preserved today in the Naples museum. The design is of a rose placed at the foot of an upright lance, along which flow drops of blood, and the rose appears to be coupled with the lance exactly as is the cup elsewhere; and it seems rather to catch the drops of blood than to result from the transformation of one of them. Moreover, it is obvious that the two meanings in no way oppose but rather complete each other, for in falling on the rose the drops also vivify it and make it bloom; and it goes without saying that in every case the symbolic role of blood is rooted in the direct connection between it and the vital principle, here transposed into the cosmic order. The rain of blood is also equivalent to the ‘celestial dew’ that according to Kabbalistic doctrine emanates from the ‘Tree of Life', another image of the ‘Axis of the World’. Here the vivifying influence is principally attached to the ideas of regeneration and resurrection, dearly connected with the Christian idea of the Redemption. This dew also plays an important role in alchemical and Rosicrucian symbolism.[6]
When the flower is viewed as representing the development of manifestation, there is also an equivalence between it and other symbols, among which we should particularly note the wheel, which is found nearly everywhere, the number of spokes varying according to the image, but always themselves having a particular symbolic value. The most usual are the wheels with six and eight spokes; the Celtic wheel, which survived throughout almost the entire Western Middle Ages, is found under both of these two. forms; and these same figures, especially the second, are very frequently found in Eastern countries, notably in Chaldea and Assyria, India and Tibet: Now, the wheel is above all always a symbol of the World. In the symbolic language of the Hindu tradition, there is continual mention of ‘the wheel of things’ or of the ‘wheel of life', which clearly corresponds to this meaning; and the allusions to the ‘cosmic wheel’ are no less’ frequent in the Far-Eastern tradition. This suffices to establish the close kinship of these figures with symbolic flowers, of which the blossoming is also a radiance around a center, for these, too, are 'centered’ figures. We also know that in the Hindu tradition the World is sometimes represented in the form of a lotus in the center of which rises Meru, the 'polar mountain'. Reinforcing this equivalence still further are the obvious correspondences between the number of petals of some of these flowers and the number of spokes of a wheel; thus, the lily has six petals, and the lotus, in the most ‘ common type of representation, has eight, so that they correspond respectively to the wheels of six and eight spokes just mentioned.[7] As for the rose, it is represented with a variable number of petals; on this subject we will only note that in a general way the numbers five and six relate respectively to the ‘microcosm’ and the ‘macrocosm’; furthermore, as we have already pointed out in another study, in alchemical symbolism the five-petalled rose situated in the center of a cross representing the four elements, is also the symbol of ‘quintessence’, which itself plays a role analogous to that of Prakriti[8] in regard to corporal manifestation. Finally, let us again mention the kinship of the six-petalled flower and the six-spoked wheel, with certain no less widespread symbols, such as the ‘chrism’, which we intend to revisit on another occasion.[9] For the present, it will suffice to have shown the two most important similarities of floral symbols, first to the cup, insofar as these symbols relate to Prakriti, and second, to the wheel, insofar as they relate to cosmic manifestation, the correlation between these two meanings ultimately being a correlation between principle and consequence, since Prakriti is the very root of all manifestation.
Notes
[1] See The Symbolism of the Cross, chap. 24
[2] Cf. The King of the World. Curious similarities, even as to points of detail, can be seen among the different instances of the lance used as a symbol; thus, for the Greeks, Achilles’ lance was held to cure the wounds it had caused, and a medieval legend attributes the same virtue to the lance mentioned in the Passion.
[3] In certain respects one could also establish a connection here with the well known symbolism of the pelican.
[4] Regnabit, January 1925. Regarding a connected symbolism, let us also point out the representation of the five wounds of Christ by five roses, one situated at the center of the cross, and the other four among its branches, a grouping that also constitutes one of the principal Rosicrucian signs.
[5] In order that this interpretation not give rise to any objection, it must be understood that there is a very close connection between ‘Creation’ and ‘Redemption: which are fundamentally but two aspects of the working of the divine Word.
[6] Cf. The King of the World, chap. 3. The similarity between the names for dew (ros) and rose (rout) cannot but he noted by those who know how frequently a certain phonetic symbolism is used.
[7] As a very clear example of such an equivalence from the Middle Ages, we have observed an eight-spoked wheel and an eight-petalled flower facing each other on the same sculpted stone fitted into the facade of the ancient church Sainte Maxime de Chinon, which probably dates from the Carolingian period. Moreover, the wheel is often represented on Romanesque churches; and the Gothic rose window itself, the name assimilating it to floral symbols, seems to have derived therefrom in such a way that it is thus attached to the Celtic wheel of antiquity.
[8] See The Hindu Theory of the Five Elements, Studies in Hinduism, chap. 4.
[9] Charbonneau-Lassay has pointed out the relationship of the rose itself with the chrism (Regnabit, March 1926) in a figure of this kind that he reproduced from a Merovingian brick. The central rose has six petals oriented according to the brandies of the chrism furthermore, this latter is enclosed in a circle, which makes its identity with the six-spoked wheel appear as clearly as possible.
Bro. René Guénon
The use of flowers in symbolism is widespread, being found in most traditions; it is also a very complex symbolism, and our intention here can only be to point out some of the more general meanings. Indeed, it is obvious that, at least in its secondary modalities, the meaning of a floral symbol will vary according to the particular flower taken as a symbol, and also, as is the case generally in symbolism, that each flower can itself have a plurality of meanings, which however are related to one another by certain correspondences.
One of the chief meanings of floral symbolism relates to the feminine or passive principle of manifestation, that is, to Prakriti, the universal substance, and in this respect the flower is equivalent to several other symbols, among which the cup is the most important. Indeed, like the cup, the flower by its very form evokes the notion of ‘receptacle’, which Prakriti is for the influences emanating from Purusha, and it is common. to speak of the ‘calyx’ [‘cup’ or ‘chalice’] of a flower. On the other hand, the blossoming of this flower simultaneously represents the development of manifestation itself, considered as a production of Prakriti; and this double sense is particularly clear in a case like the lotus, which, in the East is the symbolic flower par excellence, and which has the special characteristic of blooming on the surface of water. This latter, as we have explained elsewhere, always represents the domain of a certain state of manifestation, or the plane of reflection of the ‘Celestial Ray’, which expresses the influence of Purusha exercised on this domain in order to realize the possibilities potentially contained therein, enveloped in the primordial indifferentiation of Prakriti.[1]
The connection we just indicated with the cup naturally brings to mind the symbolism of the Grail in Western traditions, and while on just this subject there is reason to make a most interesting observation. We know that among the various objects that legend associates with the Grail there is notably a lance which, in the Christian adaptation, is none other than the lance of the centurion Longinus, by which a wound was opened in the side of Christ from which flowed the blood and water that Joseph of Arimathea collected in the cup used at the Last Supper; but it is no less true that this lance, or one of its equivalents, already existed as a sort of complementary symbol to that of the cup in pre-Christian traditions.[2] The lance, placed vertically, is one of the figures of the ‘World Axis’, which is identified with the ‘Celestial Ray’ just mentioned; and in this connection let us also recall that the solar ray is frequently assimilated to weapons such as the lance or the arrow, although here it would be out of place to dwell further on this point. From another perspective, in certain representations drops of blood froth the lance itself fall into the cup; now these drops of blood, in their principial significance, are here nothing other than the image of the influences emanating from Purusha, which in addition evokes the Vedic symbol of the sacrifice of Purusha at the origin of manifestation,[3] and this will lead us directly back to the question of floral symbolism, from which we have only apparently departed by these considerations.
In the myth of Adonis (whose name, moreover, signifies ‘the Lord’), the hero is mortally gored by a wild boar’s tusk, here playing the same role as the lance, and as his blood spills to the ground, it gives birth to a flower; and no doubt other similar examples could as easily be found. Now this is also to be met with in Christian symbolism; thus Charbonneau-Lassay has noted a twelfth-century pressmould for altar bread on which the blood from the wounds of the Crucified fall in droplets that are transformed into roses, as well as a thirteenth-century window of the cathedral of Angers where the divine blood, flowing in streams, also blossoms in the form of roses.[4] In the West, the rose, along with the lily, is one of the most common equivalents to the lotus in the East; and here it seems that the symbolism of the flower is exclusively connected with the production of manifestation,[5] and that Prakriti is represented rather by the soil itself, vivified by the blood; but there are additional instances where it seems to be otherwise. In the same article just cited, Charbonneau-Lassay reproduces an embroidery design on an altar canon from the abbey of Fontevrault dating front the first half of the sixteenth century and preserved today in the Naples museum. The design is of a rose placed at the foot of an upright lance, along which flow drops of blood, and the rose appears to be coupled with the lance exactly as is the cup elsewhere; and it seems rather to catch the drops of blood than to result from the transformation of one of them. Moreover, it is obvious that the two meanings in no way oppose but rather complete each other, for in falling on the rose the drops also vivify it and make it bloom; and it goes without saying that in every case the symbolic role of blood is rooted in the direct connection between it and the vital principle, here transposed into the cosmic order. The rain of blood is also equivalent to the ‘celestial dew’ that according to Kabbalistic doctrine emanates from the ‘Tree of Life', another image of the ‘Axis of the World’. Here the vivifying influence is principally attached to the ideas of regeneration and resurrection, dearly connected with the Christian idea of the Redemption. This dew also plays an important role in alchemical and Rosicrucian symbolism.[6]
When the flower is viewed as representing the development of manifestation, there is also an equivalence between it and other symbols, among which we should particularly note the wheel, which is found nearly everywhere, the number of spokes varying according to the image, but always themselves having a particular symbolic value. The most usual are the wheels with six and eight spokes; the Celtic wheel, which survived throughout almost the entire Western Middle Ages, is found under both of these two. forms; and these same figures, especially the second, are very frequently found in Eastern countries, notably in Chaldea and Assyria, India and Tibet: Now, the wheel is above all always a symbol of the World. In the symbolic language of the Hindu tradition, there is continual mention of ‘the wheel of things’ or of the ‘wheel of life', which clearly corresponds to this meaning; and the allusions to the ‘cosmic wheel’ are no less’ frequent in the Far-Eastern tradition. This suffices to establish the close kinship of these figures with symbolic flowers, of which the blossoming is also a radiance around a center, for these, too, are 'centered’ figures. We also know that in the Hindu tradition the World is sometimes represented in the form of a lotus in the center of which rises Meru, the 'polar mountain'. Reinforcing this equivalence still further are the obvious correspondences between the number of petals of some of these flowers and the number of spokes of a wheel; thus, the lily has six petals, and the lotus, in the most ‘ common type of representation, has eight, so that they correspond respectively to the wheels of six and eight spokes just mentioned.[7] As for the rose, it is represented with a variable number of petals; on this subject we will only note that in a general way the numbers five and six relate respectively to the ‘microcosm’ and the ‘macrocosm’; furthermore, as we have already pointed out in another study, in alchemical symbolism the five-petalled rose situated in the center of a cross representing the four elements, is also the symbol of ‘quintessence’, which itself plays a role analogous to that of Prakriti[8] in regard to corporal manifestation. Finally, let us again mention the kinship of the six-petalled flower and the six-spoked wheel, with certain no less widespread symbols, such as the ‘chrism’, which we intend to revisit on another occasion.[9] For the present, it will suffice to have shown the two most important similarities of floral symbols, first to the cup, insofar as these symbols relate to Prakriti, and second, to the wheel, insofar as they relate to cosmic manifestation, the correlation between these two meanings ultimately being a correlation between principle and consequence, since Prakriti is the very root of all manifestation.
Notes
[1] See The Symbolism of the Cross, chap. 24
[2] Cf. The King of the World. Curious similarities, even as to points of detail, can be seen among the different instances of the lance used as a symbol; thus, for the Greeks, Achilles’ lance was held to cure the wounds it had caused, and a medieval legend attributes the same virtue to the lance mentioned in the Passion.
[3] In certain respects one could also establish a connection here with the well known symbolism of the pelican.
[4] Regnabit, January 1925. Regarding a connected symbolism, let us also point out the representation of the five wounds of Christ by five roses, one situated at the center of the cross, and the other four among its branches, a grouping that also constitutes one of the principal Rosicrucian signs.
[5] In order that this interpretation not give rise to any objection, it must be understood that there is a very close connection between ‘Creation’ and ‘Redemption: which are fundamentally but two aspects of the working of the divine Word.
[6] Cf. The King of the World, chap. 3. The similarity between the names for dew (ros) and rose (rout) cannot but he noted by those who know how frequently a certain phonetic symbolism is used.
[7] As a very clear example of such an equivalence from the Middle Ages, we have observed an eight-spoked wheel and an eight-petalled flower facing each other on the same sculpted stone fitted into the facade of the ancient church Sainte Maxime de Chinon, which probably dates from the Carolingian period. Moreover, the wheel is often represented on Romanesque churches; and the Gothic rose window itself, the name assimilating it to floral symbols, seems to have derived therefrom in such a way that it is thus attached to the Celtic wheel of antiquity.
[8] See The Hindu Theory of the Five Elements, Studies in Hinduism, chap. 4.
[9] Charbonneau-Lassay has pointed out the relationship of the rose itself with the chrism (Regnabit, March 1926) in a figure of this kind that he reproduced from a Merovingian brick. The central rose has six petals oriented according to the brandies of the chrism furthermore, this latter is enclosed in a circle, which makes its identity with the six-spoked wheel appear as clearly as possible.