Rosanne
Ancient Memories.
I have often wondered why there are not cards in the hand painted series of The Devil and The Tower, yet they appear in in early woodblock sets. This Pair are cards 15 and 16 seems to have stayed in this position, but have been called House of God or The Fire (16).
I wonder if their absence shows what is called ‘Double Faith’ (or actually denial of double faith.)
The Catholic Church never solved the problem of Dvoeverie, (the coexistence of Christian symbols and saints’ names with traces of older, pre-Christian beliefs).
So who are these icons of pre-Christian belief?
One answer may be Purun and Vales- the cosmic fight between them that later translated to God and the Devil.
Purun: he is suh (dry, as opposite of wet; he is god of thunder and lightning, which causes fire), (strikes/sunders/pursues/kills; he is a god of thunder and storms, destructive and furious) with (arrow/stone/lightning; Perun's weapons, are of course, his bolts of lightning. He fires them as arrows which are so powerful they explode and blow up stones when they hit them)., and fireballs
Vales: Veles is a subterranean god associated with waters, earthly and wet, lord of the underworld, who rules the realm of the dead from down in the roots of the World Tree.
So Perun is a giver of rain to farmers, god of war and weapons, invoked by fighters. Veles is a god of cattle, protector of shepherds, associated with magic and commerce.
In European history Perun became Saint Michael or Saint George for example and woolly, cattle horned, bearded Vales became the Devil.
It makes me understand the half rendition of the ‘Tower’ in the Cary Yale sheet where there appears to be a beastie (cattle) beside the tower.
I have been reading about the pre- Christian beliefs of the area of Croatia, because of a very interesting post by Huck #34 in the ‘History of Things’ thread in this forum.
~Rosanne
Cary Yale sheet page 286 Kaplan Vol 11
I have often wondered why there are not cards in the hand painted series of The Devil and The Tower, yet they appear in in early woodblock sets. This Pair are cards 15 and 16 seems to have stayed in this position, but have been called House of God or The Fire (16).
I wonder if their absence shows what is called ‘Double Faith’ (or actually denial of double faith.)
Wikipedia.the phenomenon called dvoeverie (double faith). On the one hand, peasants and farmers eagerly accepted baptism, masses and the new Christian holidays. On the other hand, they still persisted performing ancient rites and worshiping old pagan cults, even when the ancient deities and myths on which those were based were forgotten.
The Catholic Church never solved the problem of Dvoeverie, (the coexistence of Christian symbols and saints’ names with traces of older, pre-Christian beliefs).
So who are these icons of pre-Christian belief?
One answer may be Purun and Vales- the cosmic fight between them that later translated to God and the Devil.
Purun: he is suh (dry, as opposite of wet; he is god of thunder and lightning, which causes fire), (strikes/sunders/pursues/kills; he is a god of thunder and storms, destructive and furious) with (arrow/stone/lightning; Perun's weapons, are of course, his bolts of lightning. He fires them as arrows which are so powerful they explode and blow up stones when they hit them)., and fireballs
Vales: Veles is a subterranean god associated with waters, earthly and wet, lord of the underworld, who rules the realm of the dead from down in the roots of the World Tree.
So Perun is a giver of rain to farmers, god of war and weapons, invoked by fighters. Veles is a god of cattle, protector of shepherds, associated with magic and commerce.
In European history Perun became Saint Michael or Saint George for example and woolly, cattle horned, bearded Vales became the Devil.
It makes me understand the half rendition of the ‘Tower’ in the Cary Yale sheet where there appears to be a beastie (cattle) beside the tower.
I have been reading about the pre- Christian beliefs of the area of Croatia, because of a very interesting post by Huck #34 in the ‘History of Things’ thread in this forum.
~Rosanne
Cary Yale sheet page 286 Kaplan Vol 11