Bugs 'N' Fish 'N' God
Feb. 19th, 2005 09:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poliphiloThe scarab beetle scuttles through the desert rolling a ball of dirt. The ancient Egyptians saw this and were reminded of the sun's progress through the sky. So the scarab became a symbol of the Sun God and ,by extension, of immortality.
It must be one of the oddest freaks of religious symbolism.
But then the early Christians used to represent Christ as a fish. This has nothing to do with any analogy between the two, but rests on an acronym. The Greek word Ichthus, meaning fish, gives us
I- Iesous
Ch- Chreistos
Th- Theou
U- Uios
S- Soter
which translates as "Jesus Christ, Son of God and Saviour."
Yesterday a big old house fly- hairy black carapace, red eyes, legs with suckers at the end- flew down and plonked itself on my monitor screen. My first thought was, "get away from me, you nasty, shit-eating monster." My second thought was, "so life comes back from the long sleep of winter".
It must be one of the oddest freaks of religious symbolism.
But then the early Christians used to represent Christ as a fish. This has nothing to do with any analogy between the two, but rests on an acronym. The Greek word Ichthus, meaning fish, gives us
I- Iesous
Ch- Chreistos
Th- Theou
U- Uios
S- Soter
which translates as "Jesus Christ, Son of God and Saviour."
Yesterday a big old house fly- hairy black carapace, red eyes, legs with suckers at the end- flew down and plonked itself on my monitor screen. My first thought was, "get away from me, you nasty, shit-eating monster." My second thought was, "so life comes back from the long sleep of winter".
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no subject
Date: 2005-02-19 02:22 am (UTC)Erh... Isn't the cross rather freaky? The crucifixes always scared me when I was a kid...
no subject
Date: 2005-02-19 02:28 am (UTC)But it has a kind of in yer face grandeur.
Beetles are just so....small.
no subject
Date: 2005-02-19 02:32 am (UTC)The classic comparison would be to the guillotine or the electric chair; imagine that around the neck of fair, young maidens or hung on a bedroom wall. Both would be sort of scary...
no subject
Date: 2005-02-19 02:54 am (UTC)I would wear it to proclaim my devotion to the ideals of the French Revolution and the deathless memory of Robespierre, "the sea-green incorruptible".
I wonder where I can find one.....
no subject
Date: 2005-02-19 03:16 am (UTC)How about this one? Sure, it isn't silver, but the closest I could get... (Currently highest bid: $103.50 LOL)
no subject
Date: 2005-02-19 04:16 am (UTC)Besides I don't wear gold.
no subject
Date: 2005-02-19 06:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-19 06:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-19 06:07 am (UTC)A Thelemic website describes a powerful mantra that reminds the magus that they are always in the process of Becoming.
For me, the scarab (and the ankh) are powerful symbols of wisdom and insight.
no subject
Date: 2005-02-19 06:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-19 08:10 am (UTC)I like this.
I've never felt comfortable around the Egyptian gods. I'm a Hellene and unsure of the etiquette.
The one exception is Isis, whom I approach through The Golden Ass.
no subject
Date: 2005-02-19 01:58 pm (UTC)And yes, I do feel like I create my own place to speak to both worlds- or other worlds. And I'm not even a shaman. They just start talking to me. And teaching me.