A study of serpent-shaped croziers iconography development during the middle ages. Between modern liturgic uncertainties and ancient hermetic symbolism.
Christian abbots-abbesses and bishops being joined to repelling animal creatures seem to have covered a variety of cases, fitting a wide range of alchemical circumstances.
You can see a Gallery on the last page.
Medieval iconographers did not seem so frightened and outraged by serpents and dragons entering religious art. But in 1842, when abbot Barrault and archaeologist Arthur Martin wrote “Le Baton Pastoral” (1) or the pastoral crozier, it had already been very probable for clergy persons to have irremediably diverted from the ancient hermetic symbolism. I know that may irritate some religious feelings. Still, I’m simply resuming and commenting on the perplexities of a french abbot living in the first half of the nineteenth century. His inability to deal with these strange iconographic cases, together with a sincere attempt to give them a conventionally popular elucidation, is based on and characterized by the methods and principles of science. In fact, after having found an acceptable explication for a kind of crozier, abbot Barrault never tries to refuse to take notice of another type denying the precedent truth. He is a valuable person, capable of making sacrifices of himself to reason and logic.
Concerning the symbolic convergence of Christian and Alchemical symbolisms, I observed the rule by which old disciplines inspire newer ones, and the contrary is very unlikely to be. Reading the precedent Croziers & Ringlets of Serpents 1 is necessary to understand the hermetic symbolism involved in all the pictures Barrault and I will comment on. All the pictures taken from his book, indeed a considerable number, are all manually drawn by Barrault or other previous researchers since photographs haven’t been invented yet.
“In the church of Sant’Ambrogio in Milan, we can find the first display of a bishop holding both temporal ferule, or staff of power, and a curved pastoral.” Here on the left crozier curve is not serpent-shaped, but two serpents intermingled on Ambrose’s back featuring quite a caduceus (2), which failed to be noticed by Barrault. Here the chair iconography is very byzantine, being the bishop of Milan under Byzantium religious rule back in the fifth century. The serpent is a basic alchemical iconography, an allegory for our Secret Fire/Mercurius extracted from matter or arriving from the sky—snakes and Secret Fire feature flowing action.
Croziers’ tops ending with a coiled serpent are by no means a paradoxical rarity that lasted only for a short period. Indeed one can say that it is a common ornament for a crozier. Very correctly, abbot Barrault states: “It is impossible that a symbol so persevering in such a serious art is not a reflection of a deeper and more popular. So let us ask to penetrate this secret and analogies since the old liturgists consulted have failed to reveal it.”
Our authors can’t help but wonder how the evil symbol par excellence could become the savior symbol. They try to answer: ” The serpent or dragon used in countless ways in Christian art as well as in pagan represents several meanings. This was taken for a symbol of prudence ...” Here, abbot Barrault takes prudence literally and not in an allegorical and emblematic sense and tries to understand what snakes typical behaviors may be taken as examples of prudence (in the previous Croziers & Ringlets of Serpent 1 we have read Fulcanelli comment on Notre Dame Prudence emblem as a caduceus symbol). Then Abbot Barrault and Arthur Martin began to analyze ancient scriptures and remember that Moyses took a rod that turned into a serpent to destroy the magic of Egypt. Then they examine serpents and dragons as the guardians of earth treasures. And finally, recall how the Middle Ages processions were brought before by representations of two suspended dragons. They wonder whether it is all about the survival of pagan beliefs in Christianity. But why have these figures survived?
Below are some examples they use to substantiate their assertions, from left a copper crozier found in the old church of Angers, one in ivory of Toussaints in Saint Lizier, the third one is an ivory specimen with a bovine-like head belonged to the bishop of Lyon. The last was also ivory found in Saint Lizier, presenting a curious unicorn-like head. All croziers date from the eleventh to the twelfth century. A logical deduction of our authors is that all these snakes are impaled on the cross as, in their opinion, the cross is proceeding from the mouth. What if, and I say if, the crosses, instead of impaling the serpents, would, on the contrary, be devoured by them?
Strange enough, devouring and disgorging are allegories for fixing and dissolving operations in hermetic symbolism. Since fixed and volatile are surprisingly able to contend with each other as equal in quality or strength, they act reciprocally. Or they turn reciprocally into each other.
Ancient symbolic representations are used to put on display the whole plot. Quite a transmutation stair or Scala Transmutationibus (3) The Ouroboros devouring its tail has been created to paint the whole fixed-volatile situation (4) since while one is volatilized, the other is getting fixed. At this point, the best to do is to look over an Opus Magnum scheme to get where we are, and we could be in at least three different phases or operations. But mainly our snake-like moving Secret Fire/Mercurius/Spirit of Life, extracted during the labors of Hercules, can, in its turn, extract and then include a metallic Soul/Sulphur. Cross (5) is a fixed rendition; here, it represents the “granum fixum,” which can only be extracted by our Mercurius, or product of reiterated salts volatilizations, and paradoxically is to get fixed by Mercurius. Who that follows the dry way can have a more precise idea of what a granum fixum may be.
The first crozier on the left well represents a volatile substance, the serpent being winged. The third one is more likely to be Taurus-headed, which is no wonder since Taurus is a symbol for the “ tremendous and furious power extracted from matter”, our Secret Fire. In fact, on this crozier shaft, Abbot Barrault reports having found a latin inscription: “ Cum iratus fueris, misericordie recordaberis” or when you’ll be angry, remember piety. The last crozier, or the first on the right, is a serpent unicorn headed. Unicorn is a legendary rendition of our pure and rare Mercurius. However, the unicorn horn has an underlying meaning.
Above, we can observe two examples of serpents Secret Fire/Mercurius, with a fava bean in their mouth. The first ivory crozier on the left has been found in the cathedral of Bayonne, while the other bronze one is undetermined from the region of Puy. It is clear enough that a fava bean cannot impale a serpent. Thus, Abbot Barrault hypothesizes to be before the serpent eating apples in Eden. While from a hermetic point of view, there is no substantial symbolic difference between a cross and a fava bean; thus, we can apply this to the case of what is aforesaid about the serpent devouring crosses.
For the first time, we can notice the ringlet curling with an undulating motion on the surface—literal and real sea waves. On the right, a modern Italian crozier takes in the Santa Rufina procession. In this case, the concept of Secret Fire/Boat/Water, which cannot get moist hands here, is wonderfully displayed.
Concerning the various examples of croziers with serpents in the act of devouring other animals, often sheep or goats ( below from left to right a crozier owning to Soltikov collection, a crozier in Chapelle Royale de Trophime, and one belonged to Erhart of Hildesheim. All in ivory and dated 11th to 12th century) abbot Barrault’s logical explanation is of sacrificial immolation of the lamb. Our hermetic explanation would rather be of lamb as synonymous with cross and fava bean/Sulphur/Soul/Primaterialistc Subject. Mind that the white lamb is to be sacrificed (6) to get something red out (7). Thus, if to devour is a rendition to be transformed into, we have all alchemical metamorphosis from Mercurius to perfect Sulphur.
In the same way, we can explain the image in the middle shows a dog-lion very interested in poor lamb, but in turn, devoured by a serpent-dragon. In this case, the Authors assume a lamb triumphant on animal cruelty. I prefer a volatile hermetic Mercurius (winged dragon turning into fixed Mercurius (dog-lion), then turning into unripe white sulfur, lamb’s blood, or a cross or red sulfur.
According to Barrault, above on the left, the ivory crozier of Bishop Hervée of Troyes is hard to understand how the sacrificial victim of the snake can not be a lamb but a lion instead, the king of the forest. The lion symbol applied to the rule of three, by which every symbol may stand for at least three different concepts, so in this case, if we do not want to provide the explication as mentioned earlier, we know that a lion is also a symbol for metallic gold or king of metals. Our serpent/Water, which cannot moistly, is dissolving and then incrudating metallic gold.
Above on the right, the sacrificial victim, lion or lamb, disappears but remains a snake that takes the shape of a dragon since it throws flames from its throat. Barrault said this crozier of the time of Philippe-Auguste (1180-1223), located in the museum of Amiens, puts on display the hopeless lack of domestication and cultivation of serpent-nature-evil. For us, it is simply a rendition of our serpent-Secret Fire by which we can perform our Main Work.