Christianized myths and imagery
Encyclopedia
The historicity
of several saints has often been treated skeptically by most academics, either because there is a paucity of historical evidence for them, or due to striking resemblances that they have to pre-Christian deities. In 1969 the Roman Catholic Church officially decanonised some Christian Saints, demoted others, and pronounced the historicity of others to be dubious. Though highly popular in the Middle Ages, many of these such saints have since been largely forgotten since, and their names may now seem quite unfamiliar. The most prominent amongst these is Saint Eustace
, who was extremely popular in earlier times, but scholars now see as a chimera
composed from details of several other Saints.
as a corruption of vera icon - meaning true icon (in latin
) - and simply a reference to the veronica veil itself not to an owner; Saint Christopher
as a misinterpretation of Christopher, literally Christ bearer, a term used by early Christians to refer to themselves; Saint Faith as misinterpretation of the Latin phrase Sancta Fides, holy faith; Saint Expeditus
as misinterpretation of a label marked Expedite (in French or Spanish depending on the account), on a delivery box containing relics of some other saint (or in one story, just a statue of a Roman soldier); and Saint Wilgefortis
as corruption of hilge vartez, holy face in Old German, who derived from Byzantine images depicting a crucified Jesus with a beard and a long tunic (female dress to Early Medieval Germans), or perhaps souvenirs of the specific and famous large wood crucifix
figure, the Holy Face of Lucca
. It has been suggested that the last of these might have been deliberately created by Early Medieval dealers in images left with unsaleable stocks of figures of a crucified "woman" with a beard.
Another group of Saints whose existence is doubted by most scholars are those that appear to be remouldings of details surrounding historic non-Christian individuals, or individuals that the beatifying group would not have considered Christian. Prominent examples of this ilk are Saint Mungo
being based on Maelgwn Hir ap Cadwallon
, a legendary King of Gwynedd
who had the same legend of the fish and the ring, and was prominently referred to as great hound - a similar title to hound lord which Kentigern, Mungo's other name, may be a corruption of; Saint Josaphat being based on Gautama Buddha
via a series of Christian corruptions that derive from a Manichaean
corruption of a Buddhist narrative, and his name being a complex series of linguistic corruptions of Bodhisattva
; and Saint Catherine
(who gave her name to Catherine Wheel
s) as deliberate Christianisation of the previously popular Hypatia of Alexandria
, adding a martyrdom suitably similar to Hypatia's in its gruesomeness. Some Protestants also claim that John of Nepomuk
is a conflation of the historical cleric of that name with the great pre-Protestant leader, Jan Hus
.
On the other hand there are Saints that most scholars consider to be based on real historical figures, but have undergone partial syncretism with pre-Christian legends and beliefs. Saint Hubert
for example is said by legend to have been confronted, while hunting, by a stag
and threatened with being sent down to hell, which many scholars see as an iconic image deriving from Celtic mythology
surrounding Arawn
, the lord of the underworld, who was said to have been crowned with antlers. Saint Dunstan
, who historically was at one point a blacksmith, is said to have shod the devil
in a legend claiming to describe the origin of horseshoe
s being placed above doors for luck, even though historically horseshoes were placed above the door for luck well before Dunstan was ever born.
More complete syncretisms are considered plausible for a number of Saints, who many scholars see as nothing more than Christianizations of mythical figures. Among those thought to derive from pre-Christian figures outside the Mediterranean sphere are Saint Brigid, whose crosses are said to protect a house from fire, is thought to derive from Brigid
, a Celtic goddess whom legends of Saint Brigid say the Saint was originally a devotee of, and whose main festival was Imbolc
, which is the same date as the feast day of Saint Brigid, and whose main sanctuary was Kildare
where the Saint supposedly founded a monastery; Saint Brendan
, whose main characteristic is the legendary voyage to the land of delight that he undertook, and is thought to derive from the main character, named Bran, in the Celtic narrative of the Voyage of Bran; Saint Sarah
, who is also known as Sarah-la-Kali, and prominently venerated by the Roma, supposedly meaning Sarah the black, but more likely derived from Kali
, a deity from India, which is thought to be the country of origin for the Roma, and who has a very similar water immersion ceremony; Saint Maximón
, an intimidating bully-like figure with expensive tastes, is considered to be derived from Mam, a Mayan deity
; and the strikingly named Saint Death, death treated as a saint, who is never claimed to have had a human existence, thought to be derived from Mictlantecuhtli
, the Mayan god of death.
Several prominent Roman and Greek mythological figures, often deified, appear, in the eyes of scholars, to have been converted into Christian saints as well, in some cases their legends having been somewhat censored to suit Christian sensibilities. These include:
was a prominent figure in Christian practice, and a substantial cult existed around him. First gaining prominence in the Eastern Church, the cult of Michael eventually became so significant that his feast day, known as Michaelmas
, was treated as a time of great celebration and feasting, with many popular traditions. This pre-eminence of the feast day survives in the fact that the entirety of the autumn
period continues to take its name from Michaelmas, in the calendars of the old universities, Inns of Court
, and parliaments, of the British Isles
.
Michael is clearly based on biblical accounts referring to Michael as the chief warrior angel of Elohim
; however, although Michael is one of the few angels named by the canonical scriptures
, in Judaism there was no particular cult, or veneration, of Michael, and Michael was afforded no particular status in religious life. Consequently scholars have suggested that Michael's prominence in medieval Christianity derives from some alternative source, generally argued to have been Mithraism.. The central image found in all surviving Mithraeum
s is that of the tauroctony
, Mithras powerfully standing over a bull, about to thrust his sword/dagger into its flesh; this image is remarkably similar to later depictions of Michael standing over the devil, about to thrust a spear into him.
Mithraism had spread beyond Rome throughout the Roman Empire due to its popularity within the Roman Army, and Mithraism became associated with militarism, its penultimate level of initiation being named soldier. Thus when the Theodosian Decree outlawed all non-Judeo-Christian religion, many Mithraeums were converted into chapels and churches dedicated to Michael (some now surviving as church crypt
s), since Michael, as a warrior, was a suitable choice for buildings that had previously been heavily connected to military use; the oldest shrine dedicated to Michael in Western Europe is the Sanctuary of Monte Sant'Angelo
, which is architecturally identical to a Mithraeum internally, and it was said in early Christianity to have been founded after an apparition of Michael that is remarkably similar to the tauroctony of Mithras. According to many secular historians, as a result of the previous popularity of Mithraism, and some of its imagery, became transferred to Michael, leading to his popularity in the mediaeval era.
, or as creatures similar in appearance to more positive deities, or to humans. However, in Christian imagery, when not being portrayed as human, demons, and particularly the devil
, are usually depicted as humanoid with goat
-like limbs and head; even though Christian tradition, and the apocryphal
Book of Enoch
, identifies the devil as a former angel
, it is only rarely that the devil is depicted as a winged angelic-like being. The goat-like depiction of the devil is sometimes considered by historians to have derived from the biblical story of Azazel
, something, unidentified apart from name, to whom the annual scapegoat
is sent, hence connecting the undescribed Azazel to goats; though Talmud
ic writers rationalised Azazel as merely being the name of a cliff
, most secular scholars, and Christian tradition, now see Azazel as having been originally meant to be a demon of some sort. Other historians, however, have argued that the goat imagery originated as a deliberate ploy by early Christianity to demonise their main rival religions, particularly the prominent Dionysian Mysteries
, whose central figure, Dionysus
, was sometimes depicted with goat horns and was one of the main deities said to have been accompanied by the goat-like Satyr
s, having originally simply been a nature god (before the mysteries surrounding him evolved).
Historicity
Historicity may mean:*the quality of being part of recorded history, as opposed to prehistory*the quality of being part of history as opposed to being a historical myth or legend, for example:** Historicity of the Iliad**Historicity...
of several saints has often been treated skeptically by most academics, either because there is a paucity of historical evidence for them, or due to striking resemblances that they have to pre-Christian deities. In 1969 the Roman Catholic Church officially decanonised some Christian Saints, demoted others, and pronounced the historicity of others to be dubious. Though highly popular in the Middle Ages, many of these such saints have since been largely forgotten since, and their names may now seem quite unfamiliar. The most prominent amongst these is Saint Eustace
Saint Eustace
Saint Eustace, also known as Eustachius or Eustathius, was a legendary Christian martyr who lived in the 2nd century AD. A martyr of that name is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church, which, however, judges that the legend recounted about him is "completely fabulous." For that reason...
, who was extremely popular in earlier times, but scholars now see as a chimera
Chimera (mythology)
The Chimera or Chimaera was, according to Greek mythology, a monstrous fire-breathing female creature of Lycia in Asia Minor, composed of the parts of multiple animals: upon the body of a lioness with a tail that ended in a snake's head, the head of a goat arose on her back at the center of her...
composed from details of several other Saints.
Background
Perhaps the simplest examples are cases most scholars regard as having originated as misinterpretation, or deliberate recycling, of images and phrases, with backstories developing later; Saint VeronicaSaint Veronica
Saint Veronica or Berenice, according to the "Acta Sanctorum" published by the Bollandists , was a pious woman of Jerusalem who, moved with pity as Jesus carried his cross to Golgotha, gave him her veil that he might wipe his forehead...
as a corruption of vera icon - meaning true icon (in latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
) - and simply a reference to the veronica veil itself not to an owner; Saint Christopher
Saint Christopher
.Saint Christopher is a saint venerated by Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians, listed as a martyr killed in the reign of the 3rd century Roman Emperor Decius or alternatively under the Roman Emperor Maximinus II Dacian...
as a misinterpretation of Christopher, literally Christ bearer, a term used by early Christians to refer to themselves; Saint Faith as misinterpretation of the Latin phrase Sancta Fides, holy faith; Saint Expeditus
Expeditus
Information concerning Saint Expeditus can be found only in martyrologies, so precise details about his existence cannot be obtained.From the Geronimian Martyrology:...
as misinterpretation of a label marked Expedite (in French or Spanish depending on the account), on a delivery box containing relics of some other saint (or in one story, just a statue of a Roman soldier); and Saint Wilgefortis
Saint Wilgefortis
Wilgefortis is a female saint of popular religious imagination whose cult arose in the 14th century. Her name is thought by some to derive from the Old German "heilige Vartez" , a translation of the Italian "Volto Santo"; others believe it to derive from the Latin "virgo fortis"...
as corruption of hilge vartez, holy face in Old German, who derived from Byzantine images depicting a crucified Jesus with a beard and a long tunic (female dress to Early Medieval Germans), or perhaps souvenirs of the specific and famous large wood crucifix
Crucifix
A crucifix is an independent image of Jesus on the cross with a representation of Jesus' body, referred to in English as the corpus , as distinct from a cross with no body....
figure, the Holy Face of Lucca
Holy Face of Lucca
The Holy Face of Lucca is a venerated wooden corpus of a crucifix, located in the free-standing octagonal Carrara marble chapel , which was built in 1484 by Matteo Civitali, the sculptor-architect of Lucca, to contain it. The tempietto stands in the right-hand nave of the cathedral of San...
. It has been suggested that the last of these might have been deliberately created by Early Medieval dealers in images left with unsaleable stocks of figures of a crucified "woman" with a beard.
Another group of Saints whose existence is doubted by most scholars are those that appear to be remouldings of details surrounding historic non-Christian individuals, or individuals that the beatifying group would not have considered Christian. Prominent examples of this ilk are Saint Mungo
Saint Mungo
Saint Mungo is the commonly used name for Saint Kentigern . He was the late 6th century apostle of the Brythonic Kingdom of Strathclyde in modern Scotland, and patron saint and founder of the city of Glasgow.-Name:In Wales and England, this saint is known by his birth and baptismal name Kentigern...
being based on Maelgwn Hir ap Cadwallon
Maelgwn Hir ap Cadwallon
Maelgwn Gwynedd was King of Gwynedd . More formally his name was Maelgwn ap Cadwallon , also known as Maelgwn Hir . He was father of Rhun "Hîr"....
, a legendary King of Gwynedd
Kingdom of Gwynedd
Gwynedd was one petty kingdom of several Welsh successor states which emerged in 5th-century post-Roman Britain in the Early Middle Ages, and later evolved into a principality during the High Middle Ages. It was based on the former Brythonic tribal lands of the Ordovices, Gangani, and the...
who had the same legend of the fish and the ring, and was prominently referred to as great hound - a similar title to hound lord which Kentigern, Mungo's other name, may be a corruption of; Saint Josaphat being based on Gautama Buddha
Gautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
via a series of Christian corruptions that derive from a Manichaean
Manichaeism
Manichaeism in Modern Persian Āyin e Māni; ) was one of the major Iranian Gnostic religions, originating in Sassanid Persia.Although most of the original writings of the founding prophet Mani have been lost, numerous translations and fragmentary texts have survived...
corruption of a Buddhist narrative, and his name being a complex series of linguistic corruptions of Bodhisattva
Bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is either an enlightened existence or an enlightenment-being or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, "heroic-minded one for enlightenment ." The Pali term has sometimes been translated as "wisdom-being," although in modern publications, and...
; and Saint Catherine
Catherine of Alexandria
Saint Catherine of Alexandria, also known as Saint Catherine of the Wheel and The Great Martyr Saint Catherine is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the pagan emperor Maxentius...
(who gave her name to Catherine Wheel
Catherine Wheel
Catherine Wheel were a four-piece alternative rock band from Great Yarmouth, England. The band was active from 1990 to 2000, experiencing fluctuating levels of commercial success, and embarking on many lengthy tours.-Biography:...
s) as deliberate Christianisation of the previously popular Hypatia of Alexandria
Hypatia of Alexandria
Hypatia was an Egyptian Neoplatonist philosopher who was the first notable woman in mathematics. As head of the Platonist school at Alexandria, she also taught philosophy and astronomy...
, adding a martyrdom suitably similar to Hypatia's in its gruesomeness. Some Protestants also claim that John of Nepomuk
John of Nepomuk
John of Nepomuk is a national saint of the Czech Republic, who was drowned in the Vltava river at the behest of Wenceslaus, King of the Romans and King of Bohemia. Later accounts state that he was the confessor of the queen of Bohemia and refused to divulge the secrets of the confessional...
is a conflation of the historical cleric of that name with the great pre-Protestant leader, Jan Hus
Jan Hus
Jan Hus , often referred to in English as John Hus or John Huss, was a Czech priest, philosopher, reformer, and master at Charles University in Prague...
.
On the other hand there are Saints that most scholars consider to be based on real historical figures, but have undergone partial syncretism with pre-Christian legends and beliefs. Saint Hubert
Hubertus
Saint Hubertus or Hubert , called the "Apostle of the Ardennes" was the first Bishop of Liège...
for example is said by legend to have been confronted, while hunting, by a stag
STAG
STAG: A Test of Love is a reality TV show hosted by Tommy Habeeb. Each episode profiles an engaged couple a week or two before their wedding. The cameras then follow the groom on his bachelor party...
and threatened with being sent down to hell, which many scholars see as an iconic image deriving from Celtic mythology
Celtic mythology
Celtic mythology is the mythology of Celtic polytheism, apparently the religion of the Iron Age Celts. Like other Iron Age Europeans, the early Celts maintained a polytheistic mythology and religious structure...
surrounding Arawn
Arawn
In Welsh mythology, Arawn was the king of the otherworld realm of Annwn, appearing prominently in the first branch, and alluded to in the fourth. In later tradition, the role of king of Annwn was largely attributed to the Welsh psychopomp, Gwyn ap Nudd...
, the lord of the underworld, who was said to have been crowned with antlers. Saint Dunstan
Dunstan
Dunstan was an Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, a Bishop of Worcester, a Bishop of London, and an Archbishop of Canterbury, later canonised as a saint. His work restored monastic life in England and reformed the English Church...
, who historically was at one point a blacksmith, is said to have shod the devil
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
in a legend claiming to describe the origin of horseshoe
Horseshoe
A horseshoe, is a fabricated product, normally made of metal, although sometimes made partially or wholly of modern synthetic materials, designed to protect a horse's hoof from wear and tear. Shoes are attached on the palmar surface of the hooves, usually nailed through the insensitive hoof wall...
s being placed above doors for luck, even though historically horseshoes were placed above the door for luck well before Dunstan was ever born.
More complete syncretisms are considered plausible for a number of Saints, who many scholars see as nothing more than Christianizations of mythical figures. Among those thought to derive from pre-Christian figures outside the Mediterranean sphere are Saint Brigid, whose crosses are said to protect a house from fire, is thought to derive from Brigid
Brigid
In Irish mythology, Brigit or Brighid was the daughter of the Dagda and one of the Tuatha Dé Danann. She was the wife of Bres of the Fomorians, with whom she had a son, Ruadán....
, a Celtic goddess whom legends of Saint Brigid say the Saint was originally a devotee of, and whose main festival was Imbolc
Imbolc
Imbolc , or St Brigid’s Day , is an Irish festival marking the beginning of spring. Most commonly it is celebrated on 1 or 2 February in the northern hemisphere and 1 August in the southern hemisphere...
, which is the same date as the feast day of Saint Brigid, and whose main sanctuary was Kildare
Kildare
-External links:*******...
where the Saint supposedly founded a monastery; Saint Brendan
Brendan
Saint Brendan of Clonfert or Bréanainn of Clonfert called "the Navigator", "the Voyager", or "the Bold" is one of the early Irish monastic saints. He is chiefly renowned for his legendary quest to the "Isle of the Blessed," also called St. Brendan's Island. The Voyage of St...
, whose main characteristic is the legendary voyage to the land of delight that he undertook, and is thought to derive from the main character, named Bran, in the Celtic narrative of the Voyage of Bran; Saint Sarah
Saint Sarah
Saint Sarah, also known as Sara-la-Kali , is the mythic patron saint of the Roma people. The center of her veneration is Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, a place of pilgrimage for Roma in the Camargue, in southern France...
, who is also known as Sarah-la-Kali, and prominently venerated by the Roma, supposedly meaning Sarah the black, but more likely derived from Kali
Kali
' , also known as ' , is the Hindu goddess associated with power, shakti. The name Kali comes from kāla, which means black, time, death, lord of death, Shiva. Kali means "the black one". Since Shiva is called Kāla - the eternal time, Kālī, his consort, also means "Time" or "Death" . Hence, Kāli is...
, a deity from India, which is thought to be the country of origin for the Roma, and who has a very similar water immersion ceremony; Saint Maximón
Maximón
Maximón is a folk saint venerated in various forms by Maya people of several towns in the highlands of Western Guatemala.The origins of his cult are not very well understood by outsiders to the different Mayan religions, but Maximón is believed to be a form of the pre-Columbian Maya god Mam,...
, an intimidating bully-like figure with expensive tastes, is considered to be derived from Mam, a Mayan deity
Maya mythology
Mayan mythology is part of Mesoamerican mythology and comprises all of the Mayan tales in which personified forces of nature, deities, and the heroes interacting with these play the main roles...
; and the strikingly named Saint Death, death treated as a saint, who is never claimed to have had a human existence, thought to be derived from Mictlantecuhtli
Mictlantecuhtli
Mictlantecuhtli , in Aztec mythology, was a god of the dead and the king of Mictlan , the lowest and northernmost section of the underworld. He was one of the principal gods of the Aztecs and was the most prominent of several gods and goddesses of death and the underworld...
, the Mayan god of death.
Several prominent Roman and Greek mythological figures, often deified, appear, in the eyes of scholars, to have been converted into Christian saints as well, in some cases their legends having been somewhat censored to suit Christian sensibilities. These include:
- ArethusaArethusa (mythology)For other uses, see ArethusaArethusa means "the waterer". In Greek mythology, she was a nymph and daughter of Nereus , and later became a fountain on the island of Ortygia in Syracuse, Sicily....
, the Nereid, a chaste deity who was chased by a minor deity, who wished to have sexual relations with her, and was forced to flee over the sea, eventually only escaping by being turned into a fountain, being Christianised into Saint Columba of Cornwall, a chaste princess being chased by a prince that wished to marry her, and was forced to flee over the sea, eventually being killed, though a fountain sprung forth where she died. - SabaziosSabaziosSabazios is the nomadic horseman and sky father god of the Phrygians and Thracians. In Indo-European languages, such as Phrygian, the -zios element in his name derives from dyeus, the common precursor of Latin deus and Greek Zeus...
, a horse-riding, demonic serpent-killing god, or PerseusPerseusPerseus ,Perseos and Perseas are not used in English. the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty of Danaans there, was the first of the mythic heroes of Greek mythology whose exploits in defeating various archaic monsters provided the founding myths of the Twelve Olympians...
, in the horse-riding, monster-killing role taken within the AndromedaAndromeda (mythology)Andromeda is a princess from Greek mythology who, as divine punishment for her mother's bragging, the Boast of Cassiopeia, was chained to a rock as a sacrifice to a sea monster. She was saved from death by Perseus, her future husband. Her name is the Latinized form of the Greek Ἀνδρομέδη...
myth, being changed into the horse-riding dragon-killing Saint George and the DragonSaint George and the DragonThe episode of Saint George and the Dragon appended to the hagiography of Saint George was Eastern in origin, brought back with the Crusaders and retold with the courtly appurtenances belonging to the genre of Romance...
(the dragon was often portrayed as a serpent-like wyvernWyvernA wyvern or wivern is a legendary winged reptilian creature with a dragon's head, two legs , and a barbed tail. The wyvern is found in heraldry. There exists a purely sea-dwelling variant, termed the Sea-Wyvern which has a fish tail in place of a barbed dragon's tail...
) - OedipusOedipusOedipus was a mythical Greek king of Thebes. He fulfilled a prophecy that said he would kill his father and marry his mother, and thus brought disaster on his city and family...
, who was prophesied to be destined to kill his father, and to sexually sleep with his mother, and who did so despite trying desperately not to, becoming Saint JulianJulian the HospitallerJulian the Hospitaller, also known as Julian the Poor, was a legendary Roman Catholic saint. His story is today believed by scholars to be fully legendary.-History:There are three main theories of his origin:...
, who was cursed by witches to kill his father and mother, and who did so despite desperately trying not to. - LugusLugusLugus was a deity of the Celtic pantheon. His name is rarely directly attested in inscriptions, but his importance can be inferred from placenames and ethnonyms, and his nature and attributes are deduced from the distinctive iconography of Gallo-Roman inscriptions to Mercury, who is widely believed...
, a tripartite celtic deityTriple deitiesA triple deity is a deity associated with the number three. Such deities are common throughout world mythology; the number three has a long history of mythical associations. C. G...
strongly associated with shoes, becoming CrispinCrispinSaints Crispin and Crispinian are the French Christian patron saints of cobblers, tanners, and leather workers. Born to a noble Roman family in the 3rd century AD, Saints Crispin and Crispinian, twin brothers, fled persecution for their faith, ending up in Soissons, where they preached Christianity...
and Crispinian, twin shoemakers who fled to GaulGaulGaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
.
Saint Michael the Archangel
Though not that prominent in modern times, in medieval times the Archangel MichaelMichael (archangel)
Michael , Micha'el or Mîkhā'ēl; , Mikhaḗl; or Míchaël; , Mīkhā'īl) is an archangel in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic teachings. Roman Catholics, Anglicans, and Lutherans refer to him as Saint Michael the Archangel and also simply as Saint Michael...
was a prominent figure in Christian practice, and a substantial cult existed around him. First gaining prominence in the Eastern Church, the cult of Michael eventually became so significant that his feast day, known as Michaelmas
Michaelmas
Michaelmas, the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel is a day in the Western Christian calendar which occurs on 29 September...
, was treated as a time of great celebration and feasting, with many popular traditions. This pre-eminence of the feast day survives in the fact that the entirety of the autumn
Autumn
Autumn is one of the four temperate seasons. Autumn marks the transition from summer into winter usually in September or March when the arrival of night becomes noticeably earlier....
period continues to take its name from Michaelmas, in the calendars of the old universities, Inns of Court
Inns of Court
The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. All such barristers must belong to one such association. They have supervisory and disciplinary functions over their members. The Inns also provide libraries, dining facilities and professional...
, and parliaments, of the British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
.
Michael is clearly based on biblical accounts referring to Michael as the chief warrior angel of Elohim
Elohim
Elohim is a grammatically singular or plural noun for "god" or "gods" in both modern and ancient Hebrew language. When used with singular verbs and adjectives elohim is usually singular, "god" or especially, the God. When used with plural verbs and adjectives elohim is usually plural, "gods" or...
; however, although Michael is one of the few angels named by the canonical scriptures
Apocrypha
The term apocrypha is used with various meanings, including "hidden", "esoteric", "spurious", "of questionable authenticity", ancient Chinese "revealed texts and objects" and "Christian texts that are not canonical"....
, in Judaism there was no particular cult, or veneration, of Michael, and Michael was afforded no particular status in religious life. Consequently scholars have suggested that Michael's prominence in medieval Christianity derives from some alternative source, generally argued to have been Mithraism.. The central image found in all surviving Mithraeum
Mithraeum
A Mithraeum is a place of worship for the followers of the mystery religion of Mithraism.The Mithraeum was either an adapted natural cave or cavern or an artificial building imitating a cavern. Mithraea were dark and windowless, even if they were not actually in a subterranean space or in a natural...
s is that of the tauroctony
Tauroctony
The tauroctony scene is the cult relief of the Mithraic Mysteries. It depicts Mithras killing a bull, hence the name 'tauroctony', given to the scene in modern times possibly after the Greek ταυροκτόνος "slaughtering bulls", which derives from ταῦρος "bull" + κτόνος "murder", from κτείνω , "I...
, Mithras powerfully standing over a bull, about to thrust his sword/dagger into its flesh; this image is remarkably similar to later depictions of Michael standing over the devil, about to thrust a spear into him.
Mithraism had spread beyond Rome throughout the Roman Empire due to its popularity within the Roman Army, and Mithraism became associated with militarism, its penultimate level of initiation being named soldier. Thus when the Theodosian Decree outlawed all non-Judeo-Christian religion, many Mithraeums were converted into chapels and churches dedicated to Michael (some now surviving as church crypt
Crypt
In architecture, a crypt is a stone chamber or vault beneath the floor of a burial vault possibly containing sarcophagi, coffins or relics....
s), since Michael, as a warrior, was a suitable choice for buildings that had previously been heavily connected to military use; the oldest shrine dedicated to Michael in Western Europe is the Sanctuary of Monte Sant'Angelo
Sanctuary of Monte Sant'Angelo
The Sanctuary of Monte Sant'Angelo sul Gargano, sometimes called simply Monte Gargano, is a Catholic sanctuary on Mount Gargano, Italy, part of the commune of Monte Sant'Angelo, in the province of Foggia, northern Apulia....
, which is architecturally identical to a Mithraeum internally, and it was said in early Christianity to have been founded after an apparition of Michael that is remarkably similar to the tauroctony of Mithras. According to many secular historians, as a result of the previous popularity of Mithraism, and some of its imagery, became transferred to Michael, leading to his popularity in the mediaeval era.
Demons
In most ancient cultures, the depiction of demons was usually as sinister chimeraChimera (mythology)
The Chimera or Chimaera was, according to Greek mythology, a monstrous fire-breathing female creature of Lycia in Asia Minor, composed of the parts of multiple animals: upon the body of a lioness with a tail that ended in a snake's head, the head of a goat arose on her back at the center of her...
, or as creatures similar in appearance to more positive deities, or to humans. However, in Christian imagery, when not being portrayed as human, demons, and particularly the devil
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
, are usually depicted as humanoid with goat
Goat
The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
-like limbs and head; even though Christian tradition, and the apocryphal
New Testament apocrypha
The New Testament apocrypha are a number of writings by early Christians that claim to be accounts of Jesus and his teachings, the nature of God, or the teachings of his apostles and of their lives. These writings often have links with books regarded as "canonical"...
Book of Enoch
Book of Enoch
The Book of Enoch is an ancient Jewish religious work, traditionally ascribed to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah. It is not part of the biblical canon as used by Jews, apart from Beta Israel...
, identifies the devil as a former angel
Angel
Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...
, it is only rarely that the devil is depicted as a winged angelic-like being. The goat-like depiction of the devil is sometimes considered by historians to have derived from the biblical story of Azazel
Azazel
Azazel or Azazael or Azâzêl is a term used three times in the Hebrew scriptures, and later in Hebrew mythology as the enigmatic name of a character....
, something, unidentified apart from name, to whom the annual scapegoat
Scapegoat
Scapegoating is the practice of singling out any party for unmerited negative treatment or blame. Scapegoating may be conducted by individuals against individuals , individuals against groups , groups against individuals , and groups against groups Scapegoating is the practice of singling out any...
is sent, hence connecting the undescribed Azazel to goats; though Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
ic writers rationalised Azazel as merely being the name of a cliff
Cliff
In geography and geology, a cliff is a significant vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure. Cliffs are formed as erosion landforms due to the processes of erosion and weathering that produce them. Cliffs are common on coasts, in mountainous areas, escarpments and along rivers. Cliffs are usually...
, most secular scholars, and Christian tradition, now see Azazel as having been originally meant to be a demon of some sort. Other historians, however, have argued that the goat imagery originated as a deliberate ploy by early Christianity to demonise their main rival religions, particularly the prominent Dionysian Mysteries
Dionysian Mysteries
The Dionysian Mysteries were a ritual of ancient Greece and Rome which used intoxicants and other trance-inducing techniques to remove inhibitions and social constraints, liberating the individual to return to a natural state. It also provided some liberation for those marginalized by Greek...
, whose central figure, Dionysus
Dionysus
Dionysus was the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy in Greek mythology. His name in Linear B tablets shows he was worshipped from c. 1500—1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks: other traces of Dionysian-type cult have been found in ancient Minoan Crete...
, was sometimes depicted with goat horns and was one of the main deities said to have been accompanied by the goat-like Satyr
Satyr
In Greek mythology, satyrs are a troop of male companions of Pan and Dionysus — "satyresses" were a late invention of poets — that roamed the woods and mountains. In myths they are often associated with pipe-playing....
s, having originally simply been a nature god (before the mysteries surrounding him evolved).
See also
- Christian mythologyChristian mythologyChristian mythology is the body of myths associated with Christianity. In the study of mythology, the term "myth" refers to a traditional story, often one which is regarded as sacred and which explains how the world and its inhabitants came to have their present form.Classicist G.S. Kirk defines a...
- DeityDeityA deity is a recognized preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by believers....
- Christianisation
- Esoteric ChristianityEsoteric ChristianityEsoteric Christianity is a term which refers to an ensemble of spiritual currents which regard Christianity as a mystery religion, and profess the existence and possession of certain esoteric doctrines or practices, hidden from the public but accessible only to a narrow circle of "enlightened",...
- The Christianised calendar
- Christianised sitesChristianised sitesOne aspect of Christianisation was the Christianisation of sites that had been pagan. In the 1st centuries of Christianity churches were either house churches in whatever houses were offered for use by their owners, or were shrines on the burial-sites of martyrs or saints, which following the usual...