A Dictionary of Symbols by J. E. Cirlot

Author:J. E. Cirlot
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dover Publications
Published: 2002-09-14T16:00:00+00:00

Ioannis da Sylveira, Comentariorum in Textum Evangelicum. Lugduni, 1670.

Lily An emblem of purity, used in Christian—and particularly mediaeval—iconography as a symbol and attribute of the Virgin Mary (46). It is often depicted standing in a vase or jar, which is, in its turn, a symbol of the female principle. Félix de Rosnay, in Le Chrisme, les lys et le symbolisme de Paray (Lyon, 1900), points to the connexion between the fleur-de-lis, in respect of the symbolism of its form, and the chrism or cross of St. Andrew intersected by the rho, and the ancient cross of the Aeduan Gauls (a cross with a vertical line traced through the centre), which is quite clearly a symbol of inversion; it was worn on the sword-guard. The lily, in Byzantium and among the Christianized Franks, was a sign of royalty.

Lingam The lingam is not just a sign for the phallus, but for the integration of both sexes, symbolizing the generating power of the universe (8). It is very commonly found in Hindu temples. A comparable symbol is that of the Tree of Life of the Persians whose seeds when mixed with water preserve the fertility of the earth (31). All symbols of ‘conjunction’ of this kind allude to the hieros gamos, without which the continuous process of creation and preservation of the universe would be inconceivable; hence they find their way into fecundity and fertility rites. In China, the lingam is called Kuei; it is an oblong piece of jade terminating in a triangle. The seven stars of the Great Bear are often engraved on the Kuei (39), probably symbolizing space and time (that is, the Seven Directions and the seven days of the week).

Lion The lion corresponds principally to gold or the ‘subterranean sun’, and to the sun itself, and hence it is found as a symbol of sun-gods such as Mithras. In Egypt, it used to be believed that the lion presided over the annual floods of the Nile, because they coincided with the entry of the sun into the zodiacal sign of Leo during the dog-days. The lion-skin is a solar attribute (8). The equation of the sun and the lion, borne out by primitive and astrobiological cultures, persisted into the Middle Ages and found its way into Christian symbolism (14), although the significance of the lion is enriched by a variety of secondary symbolisms. In alchemy, it corresponds to the ‘fixed* element—to sulphur. When counterbalanced by three other animals, it represents earth (although elsewhere it has been said that it stands for ‘philosophical fire’) (57), while gold is given the name of ‘lion of metals’; the red-coloured lion is more strictly applicable to the latter (56). But, apart from these considerations, which lb more in the province of the theory of correspondences than in symbology proper, the lion, the ‘king of beasts’, symbolizes the earthly opponent of the eagle in the sky and the ‘natural lord and master’—or the possessor of strength and of the masculine principle. As Frobenius

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