Lunar-Cosmic Vessel (Altar Symbolism 3 part 1)
0 Comments | April 2, 2009 at 2:04 pm by mahud
Filed under Cosmic-Lunar, Flood myths, Cosmic-Lunar Cycles, Cosmogonic Myth, Norse Mythology, Hindu Mythology, The Cosmic Mysteries
The (cosmic) ocean vessel or container that transports the divinity or hero across a threshold of death and rebirth, I would say, is closely related (and likely the prototype) to the waning and waxing moon, occasionally depicted as a lunar boat, passing across the waters of destruction and creation into a new mode of supra-cosmic (through the paradisical Solar Gateway) or cyclic-cosmic existence (reborn like the new crescent moon). The latter state, as previously demonstrated, can be symbolised as the Ouroboros of space and time.
Old and New Moon Boat
The Flood Myth
The most widespread and easily recognizable myth of this type is the Flood Myth, that tells of a survivor (or survivors) who escaped a world destroying deluge in a boat or raft, etc, often functioning as a kind of floating menagerie of creatures, that, along with the Flood Hero and other human survivors, will replenish a revitalized world after the waters of destruction (and re-creation) have subsided. Mythical Flood Heroes include Ziusudra (Sumerian), Utu-napishtim (Akkadian Epic of Gilgamesh), Manu (Hinduism), Deucalion (Greek), and, of course, Noah from the Biblical book of Genesis.
The Flood myth is sometimes combined with the Earth Diver myth (as in Native American mythologies). Here, an animal dives to the bottom of the ocean and retrieves a chunk of mud that is transformed into a new Earth. It is a kind of aquatic parallel (though more mythically dynamic) to the episode found in the Mesopotamian and Biblical flood myths of a bird sent from the ark to recover evidence (fresh vegetation) that the waters are subsiding.
Thor’s Fishing Trip
I’ve previously mentioned Thor’s role in the revitalization of the World (both within the larger context of the Norse myth of Ragnarok and via parallels with other heroes who encounter a world threatening (either on a local or universal level) monster who all suffer a prophetic double-death). I also compared the tale of Thor’s fishing trip with the mythic episode concerning the Chinese Flood Hero Yu the Great, who encountered a water dragon while travelling in a boat:
Another mythic episode recounts Thor’s earlier encounter with the Midgard serpent, when he accompanied the giant Hymir on a fishing trip (Gylfaginning: 48). Using an ox’s head as bait, Thor lures the World Serpent, whose jaw becomes caught in the hook. The Serpent tries to escape, but Thor summoning his fierce strength, pushed down so hard with his feet, that they crashed through the bottom of the boat, and grazed the ocean floor. They glared at one another and the Midgard Serpent rose upwards in a cloud of venom, turning the giant Hymir yellow with fear. Thor raised his hammer to strike the serpent, but Hymir (according to Snorri’s version) cut the line, and the serpent disappeared in the ocean depths. In the Hymiskvida, Thor Strikes the serpent a fierce blow to the head, while in the Husdrapa he possibly decapitates him. According to Snorri’s version, after the giant had cut the fishing line, Thor let loose his hammer after the fleeing serpent, and it was the belief of some (states Snorri) that the serpent’s head was struck off. Angrily, Thor turned on the giant and struck him on the side of his head, knocking him overboard, “and Thor saw the soles of his feet.”
… Examining the various mythological motifs contained within the tale of Thor fishing and catching the Midgard serpent in the light of the aforementioned myths and images, it is not difficult to see a possible underlying cosmic theme, much like Thor’s battle with the Midgard serpent at Ragnarok. First, we have a Serpent and Ocean Monster attempting to devour the head of the ox, like the Ouroboros swallowing the moon on the Chinese bronze vessel, which has already been compared with the Devouring of the Hare’s fur in the Japanese myth and the swallowing of Osiris’ phallus by a fish, along with their apparent lunar associations. The Ox and Bull, like the Hare, are also lunar animals, due to their horns being reminiscent of the waxing and waning crescent moon.
… Thor’s ruse to catch the Midgard Serpent with the ox’s head, like Angra Mainyu (or the Leviathan), can also be understood as an inadvertent act on the behalf of the serpent, to become an unwilling participant in the regenerative power of a new creation. The unbridled serpent is the dissolution of the creative order and seeks to devour the cosmos, but in the very act of swallowing, the monster regenerates itself, like the Ouroboros, re-establishing the cosmic order and setting in motion another cycle of existence.
At Ragnarok, Thor sacrifices himself, which is parallel to the sacrifice of the ox head. In the Husdrapa (4), Thor’s head is described as shining like the Moon as he stared into the eyes of the world encircling serpent, associating Thor’s head with the head of the sacrificial ox. And so we have a cosmic sacrificial act binding the identities of the god, the lunar ox head and the World Serpent who all become one in death to create new life.
The giant Hymir is also a part of the regenerative picture. Just as Thor strikes the serpent’s head, he strikes the giant’s head also, and knocking him overboard is swallowed by the ocean, but not before Thor catches sight of the soles of his feet. Both the head and the feet symbolize the beginning and end of the lunar-cosmic cycle unified through the sacrifice. Also, Thor’s feet became exposed in the ocean, when they plunge through the bottom of the Boat (which is in comparison with the examples cited above, another lunar vessel of death and recreation). The symbolism of the feet is also part of the iconography of Vishnu Anantasayin (…).
The Cosmic Double-Death: The Cyclic Re-Creation through the ‘Dying God.’ (Mahud. 1st Draft)
The Serpent Ananta
Another example of a cosmic vessel in Hindu mythology is that of the multi-serpent Ananta (endless), who rides the cosmic ocean between endless cosmic cycles (kalpa) of universal dissolution and re-creation. Upon the serpent reclines the God Vishnu Anantasayin, ‘He who reclines/sleeps upon the endless serpent,’ while his wife, the goddess Lakshmi kneels at the end of the serpent couch, massaging Vishnu’s feet.
- Death and Rebirth and the Lunar Round
- Walking the Cosmic Beast
- Lunar-Cosmic Vessel Part One
Altar Symbolism