2. Of the nature of the formation of symbols. The serpent a prophylactic symbol. Of the brazen serpent, typical of our Saviour. Of the emerods of the Philistines, whence the Phalli of the heathen. A serpent the symbol of Messiah in many views.
IN my description of Abury, and its parts, I endeavour’d to make every thing as plain as I could from fact and view; but now we come to our speculative part, I can only propose to entertain, perhaps, the reader’s curiosity, with what light I could gather from ancient learning concerning it.
We have seen by our description, that the plan on which Abury is built, is that sacred hierogram of the Egyptians, and other ancient nations, the circle and snake. The whole figure is the circle, snake, and wings. By this they meant to picture out, as well as they could, the nature of the divinity. The circle meant the supreme fountain of all being, the father; the serpent, that divine emanation from him which was called the son; the wings imported that other divine emanation from them which was called the spirit, the anima mundi.
This is that figure which Kircher names ophio cyclo-pterygomorphos, and discourses largely of. But that we may have a better understanding of it than hitherto has been, we shall open our mind concerning this abstruse matter by degrees.
Dracontia was a name among the first learned nations, for the very ancient sort of temples, of which they could give no account, nor well explain their meaning upon it. Strabo XIV. this was a name of this kind of patriarchal temple, of which Abury is one, deduc’d to later times, whilst the thing itself, and manner of building, was disus’d and forgot.
TAB. XXVIII.
P. 54.
Stukeley f. 1723.
The Geometry of Silbury hill.
Servius on the second Æneid, writes, “anguis is a proper name of the water-snake, serpens of the land, draco of those belonging to temples.” By which, ultimately, our representations must be meant, tho’ probably by the author not understood, as having no acquaintance with our kind of works. But it unavoidably brings to our mind the temples of the ancients kept by dragons, which we so frequently meet with in classical history. And we may well presume they mean such temples as this of Abury, Dracontia.