Imperial power and scepter - sacred meaning

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

We all know the most important regalia of the rulers of Europe - the Scepter and the Orb, also called the "apple". Encyclopedias clearly explained to us what they mean and what their evolution is. But is everything so obvious? Maybe they were originally completely different items?

This article is not a full-fledged investigation, it will not answer the question posed. It is rather an assumption that needs to be worked out. Usually I act differently and lead the reader through symbols and images to a specific, albeit not always correct, conclusion. In my research, their progress, semantics, references are important, and not "the end of the article." Thanks to this, I pave my own and, I hope, your path to the knowledge of paganism, to the absorption of its figurative side, philosophy (and not the stupidly external part, "posturing" that has nothing of value). Therefore, I confess, I don't care much about anyone's opinion, comment, objection and even agreement. After all, I have a powerful base and a concept that is constantly confirmed by research, and articles are just a way to organize thoughts. But in this case, I'm really interested in an outside opinion. Of course, the opinion within the framework of the presented theory, and not absolutely "left", such as: "No, it was not so, in fact, these are ancient communication devices with the Reptilian starship" (with the absence of any argumentation). Still, you need to communicate in one language, otherwise you cannot build a community.

This completes the "organizational" part, let's move on to the material. Go Wikipedia:

"Insignia (lat. Insignia" decoration ") - external signs of power, authority or dignity …

The historical regalia of the Russian state are material signs of the rulers of Russia during the period of the existence of power in this state and country …

In Russia, the imperial regalia: crown, scepter, orb, state sword, state banner, large state seal and state shield"

All sorts of ceremonial swords, clubs, whips are quite obvious in their symbolism. So was the royal seal. The throne - on the one hand, is understandable … you have to sit on something, but on the other hand, it is something interesting, if you look at it within the framework of my theory (and in general everything that I have written in the series "how to become a prince" and subsequent articles) - I'll tell you more about this. I will say something about the crown at the end, but I did not investigate it separately (there it is necessary to compare it with the halos of the saints). Here I am interested in the most prominent and incomprehensible - the orb and the scepter.

Orb and Scepter

"The imperial state (also" the Tsar's apple ") is one of the main regalia of the monarchs of the Russian Empire, a symbol of imperial power … In preparation for the coronation of Catherine II in 1762, it was discovered that the old state of Elizabeth Petrovna had disappeared - the precious stones were removed, and the gold" was put into then, by order of the future empress, the court jeweler Georg Friedrich Eckart made a new orb in two weeks. It looked like a small, impeccably polished gold ball with a diamond belt and was crowned with a half-hoop with a cross. The imperial power acquired its modern look only under Emperor Paul I., at the beginning of the 18th century …

The Imperial Scepter is one of the main regalia of the monarchs of the Russian Empire. The scepter was made in 1762 for Empress Catherine the Great by the master Leopold Pfisterer, in 1774 it was supplemented with the Orlov diamond … The scepter is a golden rod 59.6 cm long and weighing 604.12 grams. The rod is visually divided into four segments: a handle, two central parts and a pommel …"

Elizabeth I, England, 16th century

Frederick V, Czech Republic, 17th century

Catherine the Great, Russia, 18th century

Alexander III, Russia, 19th century

Elizabeth II, England, 1953

Historians say that the Scepter originated from the Staff, i.e.the king is the shepherd of the people. The Pope has the same symbolism, for example. Images confirm this:

Napoleon, France, 19th century

We see a real staff. However, there are other images of the same coronation. For instance:

Cool thing with a hand … scratching your back, apparently … Just kidding.

Napoleon would have reacted something like this to my joke:

"Execute …"

But what I mean. On the English-language Wiki, I read the following:

"The earliest 9th century English descriptions of coronations mention the scepter and the baculum. The scepter and staff (virga) appear in the description of Etlred II's coronation, as in the coronation procedure in the 12th century. In the description of the coronation of the time of Richard I has a royal golden scepter with a golden cross (sceptrum) and a golden staff with a golden dove on top (virga), mentioned in historical records for the first time Around 1450, Sporley, a Westminster monk, compiled a list of relics, which included articles on the coronation of St. Edward Confessor, left by him for his successors. It speaks of a golden scepter, a wooden gilded staff and an iron staff (rod)."

Coronation of Edward the Confessor

That is, it cannot be said that the scepter is a staff. In the records, the terms are confused: scepter, staff, wand, since they mean almost the same thing, and when translated, substitute for each other, but it is clear that these are different objects. There are long staves, there are short ones … well, let's call them "scepters", since we are talking about them, although one could also call them a "rod".

Now, realizing that the kings had both a staff and a scepter, one can discard the idea that the scepter is just a staff shortened over time, and focus on its original "shortness", leaving the staffs in the same place as the whips - in the "pastor "section (although everything is not so simple there - you will see by the end of the article). Their symbolism is clear, just remember that the word "Discipline" comes from the French whip (seemingly).

And a scepter is a scepter. No wonder it was him, and not the staff, that the jesters parodied:

But we understand that jesters are the legacy of the Christmas mummers. The jesters, as you can see, at the end of the scepter had a doll instead of Christian crosses and doves, instead of imperial eagles (also pagan). And this, most likely, was not originally for fun.

While you are evaluating the gorgeous legs of the painted jester, I will say that I sense the place from which they grow: you cannot consider the scepter separately from the so-called "power", because they always go side by side, making up a single whole. Unlike the same staff. And it is precisely the Shutov's addiction to him, i.e. roughly speaking, the Magi or the Pagans, hints to us what the "state" was originally, which, by the way, cannot be seen in jester's hands. Why - I'll tell you too.

They say about power this way: the cross on the ball denotes the power of Christ over the world. And the king, as it were, is the bearer of this order. Descending from heaven to earth, they say that the ball is the territory (orbis terrarum) over which the king rules. Let's say that it was so in recent centuries, but this does not mean that the state in general emerged from the concept of "Globe" and even more so "Territory".

Its second name - "apple" - is already more symbolic. We remember where the future princes got this apple from, don't we? From the "world tree" and its "rejuvenating apples", of course. Historians do not take this into account either, referring simply to the similarity of the shapes of the ball and the apple. But now I don't want to tell you about apple symbolism, but about another subject that is also associated with the "world tree", being a part of it and in shamanic cultures we cannot separate it from what was called a "scepter" … and Europe was initially very shamanic …

(Just do not think that shamanism is a direct true worldview. It is as far from its root as Christianity. However, this does not prevent all of them from being carriers of primordial traditions).

I first thought about this when I was studying Cybele …

Cybele

I will not cite the whole myth, there is a lot of everything mixed up and it is somehow disrespectful not to devote a separate article to it. But in short: there are all the same motives about the "barrow woman" and the Christmas-tide rite as in any Greek myth (the "ancient Greeks" knew their northern roots, but the writers who revealed "Hellas" to the world apparently did not). And Cybele appears before us in a purely shamanic guise. At the same time, she is the "Mother of the Gods" and wears the CROWN. Yeah, that is, the third royal regalia, obligatory on the images of a scepter and an apple. She also sits on the THRONE - the fourth obligatory regalia. In general, she kept all the royal attributes, and even Attis was her main lover … For some reason, culturologists do not want to compare his name (Ἄττις) with the old name of Greece - Attica (Ἀττική). Anyway.

Cybele

Charles IV

We must be told that "the cult of Cybele was of an orgiastic character." This is exactly shamanism and nothing more. Yes, not as piquant as the "orgiastic character", but more understandable.

Madness is the hallmark of Cybele. The authors could not express the ecstatic nature of the Rite, so they used the terms "rage, insanity, intoxication", as in the case of Dionysus, and only with the writing of the New Testament appeared another interesting term for this - "Passion" never admits). One can also see the imposition of the "Aryan" Tradition on the local barbarian tribal views (what did you want? Colonized lands, however). But we'll look at the main thing:

"Ancient art represented Cybele in the form of a richly dressed matron, with a tower crown on her head; in one hand she has a tympanum, in the other sometimes ears or a scepter; she sits on a throne surrounded by lions, or in a chariot drawn by lions; sometimes she is also represented on horseback. on a lion."

I am silent about the lions, perhaps there is the same as Hercules with his lion's skin, but in the hands of Cybele: TYPE AND SCEPTER! Well, isn't it lovely?

You see, this is just some kind of heresy … Scepter and Tympanum. Well, link up, finally, these concepts!

A tympanum is a small drum that is beaten by hand. For example, as in this fresco with Dionysus:

Triumph of Bacchus

"The instrument came to Greece and by the 5th century BC it spread throughout its territory along with the orgiastic cults of Dionysus and Cybele from Thrace and Phrygia; the Greek word for drumming also denotes the service of Cybele. There are numerous mentions of tympanum in ancient literature (for example, in the tragedy of Euripides "Bacchae", in the "Feast of the Wise Men" Athenaeus) and his image in antique vase painting (most often in the hands of maenads and coribants) "(Wikipedia).

I skip everything else - you need to study it before sharing with you, but the fact that her cult is associated with the Kabirs, Koribants, Kurets and other young men dancing in a combat round dance will come in handy. After all, this is the Greek version of the disguised crowd (like the Centaurs), IN WHICH THE FUTURE PRINCE WAS BORN. By the way, in the myth there is a direct reference to this, when it is said that Cybele is Rhea, and Rhea gave birth to Zeus IN THE MOUNTAIN (on the mound) (Perun, Indra, Torah - the personification of the groom-prince … no less "crazy" than the same cabirs, centaurs, bacchantes).

So, they beat the tympanum with a hand, because it is small, but they beat the tambourine with a JAMMER!

And if all sorts of "Thracians" and "Phrygians" (Fryazi, Frisians and Franks) supposedly did not know the real tambourine, then their ancestors, who painted Cybele, clearly knew. For the mallet is the most important shamanic instrument. Some shamans were kamlaing WITHOUT A TUMBLE, BUT WITH A JAM!

Tambourines and Beaters

Here I can only comment, because the professionals of their craft have everything. I give the floor to Mircea Eliade:

"… the initiation dreams of future shamans included a mystical journey to the" Middle of the World ", to the place of the Cosmic Tree and the Lord of the Universe. the tambourine is made of the wood of the Cosmic Tree itself, the shaman, striking the tambourine, is magically transferred to this Tree."

Here is the connection between the tambourine and the Apples, which also hang on the World Tree. There is a deep essence behind the external image. What can I say, when all our conspiracies, which, in essence, pagan prayers, always turn to the same "center of the world."

"On the back of the tambourine is a vertical handle, wooden or iron, for which the shaman holds the tambourine with his left hand. Horizontal rods or wooden crossbars support an innumerable amount of ringing metal, rattles, bells, iron images of spirits, various animals, etc., and often and weapons such as arrows, bows or knives."

And you will remember the incredibly rich ornaments of the "powers", as well as the favorite detail in the form of a T-shaped intersection, coming from the "equator":

Compare with the described "holder" of the tambourine:

A vestige of decoration, or a mere coincidence in my fevered fantasy?

I am already silent about the name of the tambourine "horse", since its music contributes to the ecstatic trance of the shaman. This is almost the most consistent comparison in the entire shamanic world. Well, and compare this with the "spirit" (sivka-burka), which intoxicates the future "prince" ("horse, centaur") during the ceremony.

Much has been said about tambourines, but such is the fate of the modern attitude to shamanism that unnecessary questions cannot be asked. The tambourine is sacred, mystical, and that's it. Just pretend to be smart and keep quiet. Although it is a no brainer that the tambourine itself is not important here - its fight is important, music is the Pegasus source of the Muses, inspiring, intoxicating, ecstatic … Do you just think that the British and Americans raised the music industry to transcendental heights? The resulting consequence: tambourine = blockhead, i.e. temporary container of the spirit (of the same muse).

But a tambourine is useless without a percussion instrument - a hand or a mallet, which gives both the comfort of playing and a deeper sound. I will give the first description I came across (it is still the same for all peoples):

“When shamans performed a ritual wand, which bore the Khakass name“orba.”In the scientific literature, the term“mallet”stuck to it … A shaman could ritual without the participation of a tambourine, only with an“orbo”.

During the ritual, the "Orba" served not as a mallet, but as an instrument of control, punishment and intimidation. The shaman used it to pacify both the people present at the ritual session and to punish the chosei spirits sent on a mission. Therefore, the rod bore an additional definition of "altyn khamchi" - letters, a golden whip. Orba was used as a fortune-telling tool (torik). She performed the functions of a percussion instrument, under the rumbling sounds of which the spirits-choshi were sent to Irlik-khan. It was used to treat the sick and represented a special tool in the hands of a shaman that protected a person from evil forces (khuraylachats agas) … On ordinary days, the orb was kept inside a tambourine, laid by the handle. After the death of the shaman, his rod was hung inside a tambourine on a tree near the grave; in some cases, relatives left him at home to be passed on to the next successor. The word "orba" has its analogs in the Buryat language, where the term "horbo" is used in relation to a staff, a ritual cane. It is likely that the root of the word "orba" is associated with the closely-sounding term "khorba" - birch shoots from which the ritual rod was carved. The Khakass "orba" was made in a single shape, reminiscent of a large spoon bent back. The front side or its striking part is made convex. The convex side was called "solba" or "hara solba" - black solba. She was considered unhappy when divining "tyorik" (torik). The back side is made concave and is called "art" - back, "olby" or "ah solba" - white solba. When she divined, she determined the happy outcome of the ritual. The material for making the "orb" was wood or bone. In ancient times, the ancestors of the Khakass made ritual wands of stone (tas orba) and even bronze (khola orba) … to Irlik Khan,must have appeared before him with a bone orb in his hands. The latter were made from flat horns of a three-year-old elk and were called "muus orba" - letters, horned rod. A bone rod made of elk antlers, kept in the Khakass Republican Museum of Local Lore, has a length of 225 mm.; striking part length - 140 mm, width - 68 mm.; handle length - 85 mm., width - 25 mm …

The life of the shaman depended on the rod. To take the life of the chosen one of the spirits, it was enough “to steal the tambourine mallet from the shaman and tie it to the dog's tail; the shaman fell ill and soon died. " Wooden wands "orba" represent the most ancient ritual instruments of shamans that existed even before the use of tambourines … According to the Kachin people, there were no tambourines before, and not in the distant past good shamans did not use them. M. I. Raikov several years ago had occasion to see an old man of fame who used to shaman without a tambourine; he did not indulge in a wild, stormy dance, and he did not have strong shudders; the spirits that were driven out of the sick were driven into the animals. In the old days, the Kachin and Kyzyl shamans used to chant only with an orb (“orbalig kham” - a kam that had an orb). During the ritual session, two orbs were used. One of them, which was called "ulug orba" - the great orb, served as a shock corps and played the role of a tambourine. It looked like two hemispherical bowls connected by a handle. Seven or nine rings made of iron or copper were hung on the instrument "ulug orba". Another called "kichig orba" is a small orb. served as a beater for beating rhythms. During his travels in the second half of the 18th century. P. Pallas noted that the Kachin shaman, instead of “a tambourine, was holding (…) a tree in the middle, round, and at the ends with shoulder blades, like oars, to which both were hung bells; on this tree he struck with a stick very skillfully, now on that and now on the other end. And Kyzyl shamans are obliged to shaman in the same way. After such a tree, as they declare, the spirits allow them to use a tambourine, or rather, until they become rich enough to be able, after killing a horse, to cover it with its skin, for making a tambourine invariably requires sacrificing a horse "…

Kamlali with two wooden instruments - orba. Percussion instruments represented a stick with the image of a horse, hung with nine rings. They played “the same role as the tambourine in other Tatars. Among the Meletians, a wooden building (ulug orba) was called "ham teh". Nine copper rings were attached to it. The percussion instrument (kіchіg orba) was called "hallah" (letters, blade) and was in the form of a spatula. “The beginning shaman of the Kyzyl people did not kamlaz with a tambourine, but with a staff with a mallet,” noted V. P. Dyakonov. - The staff (…) is a stick with a horse carved on it. A bracket with seven iron rings is attached to it (collection 1833-6, length 61 cm). According to the collectors, during the ritual, the shaman sat astride a stick at the threshold of the door and beat it with a mallet. A beater (length 33, 5 cm) for a spatula-shaped staff was carved out of wood, with a loop for a hand (collection 1833-7)”. Staffs, V. P. Dyakonov, were one of the ancient types of cult accessories. Similar staves were used by the shamans of the Northern Altai … Buryat "khorbo" always had an image of a horse's head on the upper end. In the Alar department, G. Potanin saw shamanic "crutches" called "horbo". It was a pair of wooden four-sided, slightly crooked sticks. One end looks like a horse's head. Buryat shamans had staffs “for everyone, while not everyone had tambourines; as a more expensive item, a tambourine starts up after."

So, the ritual rod "orba" has undergone a long evolution - from a staff made from the shoots of the "khorba" tree, which originally served as a whip of a mythical horse, to the symbol of the shaman's power, representing his battle banner, the bunchuk. By the power of the ritual instrument "orba", the shamans attached the captured "hut" soul to the tambourine, which was then returned to the sick person with blows of the wand "(Butanaev V. Ya. Hongoray Traditional Shamanism, 2006)

As you can see, here you have a whip, and a staff, and a wand … And even two wands, like some rulers have. A little more about beaters:

The beater was made of a sacred tree (it is different for different peoples) and covered with the skin or fur of wild animals (mainly kamus (skin from deer legs)). Many shamans receive a beater from their ancestors as a separate attribute. Sometimes it is considered that a good beater is better a good tambourine.”A separate helper spirit (tes, eeren) also lives in Orba …

[Among the Mongols] A stick-shaped beater was called gisun (compare the name of beaters among the Evenks and Amur peoples), which means "speech", "word". The same term was used to designate the strikes to the tambourine, which were understood as the "speech" of the shaman to the spirits "(Source).

That is why the jesters had a caricatured head - the face of a spirit - topped the wand. Well, I think that's enough.

Cybele was not the only Shamanic Matron in mythology. Remember at least the famous Odin-Wotan, the father of northwestern Europe, from whom the Germans came … Those who then actively used the Scepter and Power as regalia of power. A real prince-shaman with all the attributes, who brought "Ases" from the East. In myths, his eight-legged horse Sleipnir is mentioned, on which he traveled around the worlds - this is the shaman's tambourine.

And for the last comparison:

The famous hat that turned into a crown. Let's read again from M. Eliade:

"Among some tribes (for example, among the Yurako-Samoyeds) the cap is considered the most important part of the shaman's attire. According to the shamans themselves, a significant part of their power is hidden in these caps. Therefore, when a shaman session is demonstrated at the request of the Russians, the shaman usually performs it without a cap. The shamans I questioned answered that without a cap they were deprived of all real power, and therefore the whole ceremony was only a parody, the purpose of which was primarily the entertainment of those present. patrons, as well as many ribbons. To the east of the Ket River, the cap either resembles a crown topped with iron antlers, or is made in the form of a bear's head, with the most important pieces of skin from a real bear's head attached to it. The most common type of cap with northern horns deer, although among the eastern Tungus some shamans claim that the iron horns, ukr Those who wear their cap represent the antlers of an ordinary deer. In other areas, both in the North (for example, among the Samoyeds) and in the South (for example, among the Altaians), the shaman's cap is decorated with bird feathers: a swan, an eagle, an owl, - for example, feathers of a golden eagle or a brown owl among the Altaians, feathers owls among the Soyots (Tuvans) and Karagas (Tofalars), etc. Some Teleut shamans make their cap from the skin (stuffed) of a brown owl, leaving wings and sometimes a head for decoration."

There are more and more coincidences …

Are my guesses correct? I don’t know yet if there is any supporting information. This comparison fits perfectly into my concept. Power-Tambourine, Scepter-Mallet, Crown-Cap … Plus the throne itself is the fourth symbol of power … But the oracles-shamans also had a throne!

Pythia

But let's see how it goes further. What do you think about this?