Jewish Like all other Ori ental peoples the Jews practised their system of symbolism. Many symbolic rules and for mule occurred in the building of Solomon's Temple, if the result of the researches of the Freemasons can be relied on. The rending of Jeroboam's garment by the prophet Ahijah implied the separation of Israel from Judah; the rainbow presented a sign or symbol of the pact between God and the earth.; the law of circumcision was a symbol of the covenant of the body. Josephus writes that the high priest's vestments were in every detail of symbolic intent, the coat symbolizing the earth; the upper garment, heaven; the bells and pomegranates, thunder and lightning; the ephod, the four ele ments, and the interwoven gold, the glory of God, the 12 jewels in the breastplate, the signs of the zodiac,-etc. Other instances of symbolic significance are the blood of the Paschal lamb, the shearing of the hair of the Leyites, washing and bathing and anointing as a ritual, the lay ing on of hands, etc.
Christian Symbolism.— While the primi tive Christians in the Roman Empire used a symbolic language of signs, this was not done as a matter of choice but of necessity The persecuted sect could not safely, even in the Catacombs, express themselves in their depic tions on sarcophagi or chapel walls with open comment; they had to hide their epitaphs and other written or depicted statements in forms that would not draw down destruction on them. Any originally conceived system of symbolism specially created fbr giving expression to Chris tian doctrine would have brought suspicion among the authorities as to the intent of such strange symbols. Therefore we find these early worshippers of the cross using an eagle, Roman symbol of Jupiter; they borrowed from the signs of the zodiac, from symbols appearing in the pantheistic mysteries,. etc. And when they, later, used the sign of the cross it was half hidden in combination with an anchor, a symbol used by the pagans. A crude form of a fish (now called a vesicle or a manclorla) be came symbol of Christ referring to a similarity of sound, ichthus the Greek word for fish, or from the fact that the letters therein would serve as the Greek initials of the words: Jesus, Christ. Son of God, Savior. The vine (attri bute of Bacchus) was adopted as a symbol of Christian promise. The lamb, the palm, the Good Shepherd, would all be understood by the heathen contemporaries in a different sense than that given to these symbols by the early Chris tians. Greater safety in the use of symbols was afforded the Christians from the fact that there were other persecuted sects within the Roman Empire, who, for their forbidden cults, initiated a well-developed system of symbolism for use in public communications to their fel lows, a language undecipherable to the unini tiated. Inscriptions of these symbolic expres
sions are found cut in the vast rock temples in Egypt, in Syria, Asia Minor, Sicily, Greece, on the Rhine and in France. A method of incul cating a knowledge of this sign language, to gether with the cult, was carried on unbeknown by their persecutors. They formed themselves into literary societies, guilds, burial unions, schools, etc., all under license as legal corpora tions, but secretly active as congregations of doctrine propaganda instead of the supposed secular gatherings. Among the systems of sym bolism adopted by the early Christians were those belonging to the Pythagorean and Pla tonic doctrines and the sacred number systems among them. But from 325 A.D. such usage be came a state offense. Augustine made war on the symbolic language and declared it a char acteristic of the Gnostics. This latter sect. coming into existence when Christianity was first preached openly, endeavored to combine its principles with the Greek philosophy. Under such teachers as Saturninus, Basilides and Val entine a very extensive symbolic language was created in the Byzantine period and practised by these Gnostics, but the full intent of the expressions of this cult is lost to us at this day. Byzantine art discloses a considerable propor tion of their symbols, such as the Abraxas, etc. As a matter of fact there is a close connection between Byzantine Christianity and Mithraism, from which much was derived, even if in changed form. And Byzantine art is built up entirely of symbolism, even to its very archi tecture, and its frequent lack of beauty from an arhstic point of view is caused by its occultism in form and manners. Unlike the pagans, the Christians in their practice of symbolism al ways clearly distinguished the conventional signs from the divine and sacred essence they represented in their ceremonies or sacraments. In covering the catacombs with such depicted figures as fish, lamb, shepherd, grapes, foun tain and hart, ship sailing safely on rough seas; with their It' Chi Rho (asacred mono gram)), Alpha and Omega, etc., they set up no figures for idolatrous worship, but simple allegorical symbols. Leading authorities on ecclesiastical symbolism were Hugo of Saint Victor, Richard of Saint Victor, Vincent of Beauvais, Durandus, bishop of Mende, Lan guedoc, Honorius of Autun, Sicarclus of Cremona, etc.