<< Feature Articles >> The Religious Purpose of the Early Pictish Symbol Stones
Submitted by enorm on Monday, 04 March 2013 Page Views: 20083
Early Medieval (Dark Age)Country: Scotland Type: Class I Pictish Symbol StoneInternal Links:
This is the first reasoned and comprehensive proposition that designs on the Pictish Symbol Stones relate to the Mysteries of Mithras.
Between about 400 and 900 CE Pictish Symbol Stones appeared predominantly in the north east of what has since become Scotland. Sometimes they can be confused with the array of other standing stones, megaliths, circles and dolmens that do not display symbols. When researching the Mysteries of Mithras the author realised the more numerous symbols on the Pictish Stones, such as V-Rods and Z-Rods, could have relevance to that religion.
Following detailed investigation into Roman Mithraism, the location of the stones, the timing of their erection and the evolving symbols he has deciphered the majority of the carvings on the early stones concluding their religious purpose is what he has called Pictish Mithraism. Despite searching from stecaks (Bosnian pyramids) to tamgas (Turkic and other seals and signs on stones and livestock) to Roman altars to Sassanian artefacts (coins & silverware) to Assyrian stone panels and more, none has similar symbols nor is in the correct timeframe.
At the time of the Roman Empire a cult or religion that derived from an older Persian belief set was popular within a range of Gods and was practised across the Empire. There are the remains of temples to this God – Mithras - by Hadrian’s Wall with statues and inscribed stones in museums e.g. in Newcastle. It is suggested that when the Roman army withdrew around 400CE some of its personnel remained in Britain, settled in Pictland, decided to continue practising their religion and created the Symbol Stones.
Fundamental to Mithraism is the belief in the soul, that it travels from the celestial sphere at birth so into mortality then back at death into immortality. This belief would have been spiritually comforting – which partly explains its popularity amongst soldiers – and an enticement to join. Looking at Pictish Stones there is a symbol which arguably embodies the travel of the soul. If the “V” of the “V-Rod and Crescent” is not a V but two arrows and the Crescent represents the sky ward view, then this Symbol can be deciphered (Picture 1, above).
The author proposes that the downward arrow represents the arrival of the soul on birth, the upward arrow its return on death and the crescent the view to the Celestial Sphere. In Mithraism the soul would have travelled in seven steps (the, then, number of planets including the Moon and Sun and also the number of Mithraic progression grades) between the celestial sphere to earth - and back. Some of the Comb objects have seven “teeth” and several of the Crescents have three shapes within the crescent – maybe of further significance.
What is popularly known as the Z-Rod & Double Disc is seen right across Pictland (see Picture 2 below ).
In Roman Mithraism the God Mithras was accompanied by Cautes and Cautopates (Picture 3) as Torch bearers whose positions signified respectively morning and evening, life and death, the spring and autumn equinoxes.
The angles of the torches suggest the arms of the “Z”; the double discs and their concentric circles the earth, planets and universe beyond; the line connecting the ends of the torches is the day, the months between the equinoxes and time itself. The Z arms have finials that look like flame directions – illuminating (upwards) and extinguishing (downwards) - further reinforcing the suggestion that the symbol is Mithraic. Symbols can be “multi-purpose” and the line could also be Mithras with the circles being Sol (the sun) and Mithras (Sol Invictus – Invincible sun). It is proposed that this “Z” Pictish Symbol has been derived from what would have been statues in a Roman Mithraic temple (Mithraeum) with a specific “mystery” purpose then suitably disguised for outdoors use on a Stone so only an initiate would know its meaning.
The key physical difference between the Roman and Pictish forms of Mithraism was the gathering place, with the fundamental shift from indoors – the temple or Mithraeum - to outdoors – the Pictish Symbol Stone and the sky beyond. It is proposed that the shape and layout of the Mithraeum is alluded to on the Pictish Stones in the Notched Rectangle Symbol often with indentations which represent niches that would have housed statues – typically Cautes and Cautopates.
Other shapes that have been decoded include the Mirror (depicting relationships between the Zodiac, Planets and Earth), Mirror Case (as in Roman Mithraic sculpture, a combination of the rock birth of Mithras and his supporting the universe), Comb (“teeth” alluding to the 7 steps of the soul’s travel on birth and death) and Serpent (astronomical constellation(s), the eighth gate of the soul’s journey into the Celestial Sphere, endless time etc).
Arguably, the Stones and their Symbols may be multi-functional – astronomical, astrological (both of these pertinent to Mithraism), name codes, commemorative, perhaps with swirl patterns representing various fields etc - but the prime purpose is seen as religious.
For more details on the research, reasoning behind the proposals, analyses and deciphering of the majority of the symbols please see Norman's web site Pictish Mithraism.
The Megalithic Portal has many hundreds of Pictish Stones listed, in four categories:
Class I Pictish Symbol Stone
Class II Pictish Symbol Stone
Class I / Class II Hybrid Pictish Symbol Stone
Class III Pictish Cross Slab
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