Guardians and good luck charms
The physical
attributes of some animals have been used throughout human history
to offer protection and guardianship whether through association or
sympathetic magic. Lions, for example, are well known for their
strength and ferociousness and have featured as guardian figures in
different cultures world-wide.
Protection
In the first century AD the Roman historian Tacitus noted that
the people of northern Europe regarded the image of the boar as
effective protection on the battlefield. Two small bronze models of
boars found in the south of England, date back to between the first
century BC and first century AD. They were made to be fixed on to
something else and may have been decorations on a wooden bucket or
box, or even fixed on top of iron helmets.
The boar was also used as a symbol of tenacity and fearlessness
in battle during the Middle Ages.
Composite creatures
combine the powers of different animals. The ancient Egyptian
goddess Taweret, for example, has a hippopotamus's body, the limbs
of a lion and the tail of a crocodile. Combining the qualities of
animals known for aggressively protecting their young, Tawaret was
believed to frighten away evil demons that threatened women during
childbirth.
Births usually took place inside the home, so Taweret was
considered a household deity. No large-scale temples were dedicated
to her, but instead small figures were placed on the household
altar, that would have been part of every home. Such figures
guaranteed the protection of the goddess against forces that might
threaten the household, especially its children.
Kings, and later private individuals, sometimes dedicated
statues of deities, or of themselves holding deities, to show their
devotion to a god. The dedication of a figure of Taweret might be
in order to gain her favour in a forthcoming birth, or be in thanks
for her intervention in a recent one.
Guardians
Archaeologist Austen Henry Layard (1817-94)
worked in Assyria between 1845 and 1851. Among his many discoveries
was a colossal statue of a winged human-headed bull. He suggested
tha
t such composite
creatures combined the strength of the lion (or in this case, the
bull), the swiftness of birds indicated by the wings, and the
intelligence of the human head.
The figure has five legs, so that when viewed
from the front it stands firm, while when viewed from the side it
appears to be striding forward to combat evil. The 'Standard
Inscription' of Ashurnasirpal II is inscribed between the figure's
legs and records his titles, ancestry and achievements.
Stone sculptures of mythological figures were
often placed as guardians at gateways to palaces and temples in
ancient Mesopotamia. They were known to the Assyrians as
lamassu and were designed to protect the palace from
demonic forces. They may even have guar
ded the entrance to the private apartments of the
king.
Fantastic animals may also have supernatural qualities and
symbolize the boundary between life and death or between the
earthly world and the world of the gods.
Charms
In Japan mythical beasts have been very popular subjects for
netsuke, small toggles used by men to secure the cord on
which they would hang accessories from the sash tying their kimono.
By the eighteenth century, these traditional items had become
finely carved ornaments.
The British Museum collection includes around 3300
netsuke. Carved in the form of the kirin, which
had a human face and beard, two horns, a domed lump on its fore
head, four horns down its back, the tail of a shishi (a
mythical leonine creature) and cloven hooves, a netsuke
brought good luck to the wearer.
Netsuke in the form of more familiar
animals, such as a rat, might be given as a gift for someone born
in the year of that particular animal, or worn during that
year.
The Japanese borrowed the Chinese custom of
grouping years into cycles of twelve, each year dedicated to a
particular animal. Rats were traditionally thought of as carefree,
adventurous types, very attached to their family and gave these
characteristics to people born in their year.
More information about objects featured here (from
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