Among the talismanic gems pictured in De Wilde’s book[462] is one which has on one side the Greek letters ΙΑΩ, signifying the Creator of the world, or Jehovah; and on the other a representation of an extremely erotic and rather misshapen lion rampant. This, worn in a ring, was said to prevent renal and other diseases. De Wilde observes, in accordance with a belief of ancient date, that in this figure one has health symbolized. Says he: “Leo erectus verum signum sanitatis protendit.”
What has just been said leads me to remark that the phallus, which was a common form of the genius loci, or Agathodæmon, was widely believed to have great power to protect against harm. In it was a sovereign preventive of malign fascination, or the influence of the evil eye. The Roman god, Fascinus,[463] had it as his chief symbol. It is well known that this charm was sometimes placed on houses[464] in Pompeii, with the inscription, hic habitat felicitas. Aubrey says: “In the digging of the ruins and foundations of London, after the great conflagration, there were found several little Priapusses of copper, about an inch long, wᶜʰ the Romans did weare about their necks.”[465]
Fig. 19.—The Divine Name. (As seen on a talismanic gem, copied from De Wilde’s book.)
In regard to the ΙΑΩ, JΑΩ, or JAO, a variation of JAH,[466] the name of the Deity, the demiurge, the Sabaoth of the Phœnicians and others, I may say that it was regarded as possessing in itself irresistible talismanic power. Fort remarks that “as a talisman of medical properties it was carried about the person in tubes, or, more generally, on parchment.”[467] Let me add that the Tetragrammaton—that is, J H V H, or, as it is commonly rendered, Jehovah—was the same thing as the ΙΑΩ. Much could be said about it, as those familiar with Masonic legends and occult literature are aware. Lenormant states, of the wide belief in the power of the hidden “name of the Lord,” that “we now see clearly that it came from Chaldea.”[468] Elsewhere, reference is made to the potent word which Hea bore in his heart.
In this connection I may say a word on the “triliteral monosyllable” of the Brahmin and Buddhist, AUM, to which still, as in the past, great potency is attached. Being a symbol of the Supreme, it is characterized as “that which passes not away.” Dr. Birdwood remarks that it is “the identical formula of every Hindu god. The letter A is the vija-mantra of the male Buddha, the generative power; U, the ditto of the female dharma (law), the type of productive power; and M, the sanga (congregation) or union of the essences of both.”[469]
Fig. 20.—Forms of the Prescription Symbol.
The symbol placed at the head of medical prescriptions, and which is usually believed to stand for recipe, may be regarded as a sort of obsolete talisman. The original form of it appears to have been a figure like a Z, with the lower horizontal part crossed with a sceptre-shaped line. This, or a modification of it, has been from time immemorial the symbol of the planet Jupiter. Hence the reason, it has been asserted, for placing it at the head of prescriptions; for the great planet, the bearer of the name of the father of life, was believed in other days to have a favorable influence over diseases. And here I may observe that in another chapter I have spoken of the interesting fact that Marduk[470] of the Babylono-Assyrians stood for Jupiter, and that in him was assimilated the benignant mediator and healer of the Accadio-Sumerians, Silik-mulu-khi.
The symbol is generally described as being simply the initial letter of Zeus, the Greek name of Jupiter. But this leaves part of it out of account, a part which might be taken to be a sceptre, an object which, accompanied by a serpent, as the symbol of life, was prominent in representations of Jupiter. But one might with some reason regard it as made up of the initial and terminal letters of Zadykiel, or Zadakiel, the angel and the spirit of the great planet, according to astrologers and others. And again, by taking it to be composed of an R and an l, one might hold it to be derived from the name of Raphael, the angel of the sun. But, as already stated, it is probable that the body of the original figure was not an R. I may add that Mr. Taylor says that this ideogram “resolves itself into an arm grasping a thunderbolt.”