Usurping the Serpent Power: Dragons, Unicorns, & Virgins.

Visiting the historic town of Linlithgow last weekend (where I happened to be on an Earth Energies course) I saw, not for the first time, the statue of St Michael slaying the dragon. What I’d not noticed before is that the shield St Michael holds illustrates a unicorn chained to a tree. Beneath the unicorn and the tree are wavy lines, probably to suggest water; in medieval and renaissance Europe, it was believed that a unicorn could purify water by dipping its horn into it.

If the element of water relates to the feminine, this may go some to explaining the belief that a unicorn can only be tamed by a virgin- bearing in mind that the archaic definition of virgin is “whole unto herself”. In the medieval period, a virgin luring a unicorn to captivity is seen in the Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries. It was said that hunters wishing to capture a unicorn had to first entice it into the forest with a naked virgin tied to a tree. In some myths the unicorn sucks on the virgin’s breasts. There are also associations of the unicorn and Christ, and the Assumption of the Virgin. It is interesting to note that in the Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries, when the unicorn is finally fenced in (held captive), there is a heavily laden pomegranate tree in the enclosure. The pomegranate is linked with the mysteries of Eleusis, and Demeter/Persephone. Enclosing the unicorn can be read as a symbol of enclosing (usurping) the goddess and her mysteries of death-rebirth-renewal. Some believe that it was not an apple tree in the Garden of Eden but a pomegranate tree.

With its single horn, the Unicorn may also be viewed as symbolic of the flow of energy between heaven and earth.

Looking into unicorn symbolism, it seems that the unicorn is associated with both masculine and feminine (masculine because of the horn, and feminine because of its association with the cup). In Mediaeval and Renaissance Europe, there was a belief that cups made from unicorn horn (or what was thought to be unicorn horn) had healing properties and could neutralise poison. Often the poisoning of the water was believed to have come from a serpent, rendering it undrinkable to the other animals. Snake poison is symbolic of chthonic energies that are dark, wild, and chaotic. Snake poison can also cure. The unicorn, as a magical creature, knows how to transmute the poison.

In Alchemy and Psychology, Jung says of the unicorn,

The horn as an emblem of vigour and strength has a masculine character, but at the same time it is a cup, which, as a receptacle, is feminine […] So we are dealing here with a “uniting symbol” that expresses the bipolarity of the archetype.

The secret of the cup is also the secret of the horn, which in its turn contains the essence of the unicorn as bestower of strength, health, and life.

Other legends tell of how there is a sacred stone hidden beneath the horn of a unicorn. Alchemists attributed the qualities of this rare stone to the Philosopher’s stone, calling it the “carbuncle.”

Wolfram von Eschenbach says~

We caught the beast called Unicorn
That knows and loves a maiden best
And falls asleep upon her breast;
We took from underneath his horn
The splendid male carbuncle stone
Sparkling against the white skull-bone.

In Hieronymus Bosch’s painting the Garden of Earthly Delights, the left panel- which is also known as the Joining of Adam and Eve-there is a unicorn dipping its horn into the water. This panel is generally thought to depict the moment when God presents Eve to Adam and blesses their union.

Heraldry:

The unicorn as a symbol of Scotland dates to the reign of King William the Lion (1165-1214). There were two unicorns on the Scottish royal seal until the Union of the Crowns in 1603. At that point the English Lion was added to the coat of arms in place of one of the unicorns. It is sometimes thought that replacing one of the unicorns with a lion and chaining the unicorn is a symbol of English rule over the Scots, but the fact is, the unicorn was in chains long before that. A commonly held view of the chained unicorn is that it takes one with purity of heart and power to tame a unicorn, and the chains are therefore a symbol of the mastery and power of the Royals of Scotland and England.

I feel the symbolism of the chained unicorn runs much deeper than this, and seeing the unicorn on the shield of St Michael prompted me to view the wavy lines beneath the unicorn not only as water but as serpentine currents of energy in the earth. That St Michael is slaying the dragon- a symbol of earth currents- reinforces this line of enquiry.

Looking at the shield, I also thought of the aegis of Athena which contains an image of the severed head of Medusa. Athena has not only caused the transformation of Medusa into a gorgon, and aided Perseus in cutting her head off, in wearing the head of Medusa for protection and power, Athena has also appropriated Medusa’s power- which is serpent power.

The moon, the feminine, the tree, the apple, the dragon, the serpent, the earth… all of these are symbolically linked in myths about evil and demons, and the light of reason overcoming the chthonic forces of darkness. But is it also stealing something that does not rightfully belong to the stealer?

The slaying of the dragon by Saint Michael can be read as Christianity not only usurping paganism, but of appropriating its power. An example of this is the building of Christian churches on pagan sites.

Marion Woodman says in the Ravaged Bridegroom~

The dragon, akin to the alchemists ‘deus absconditus’ (the god hidden in matter), must not be slain.  The dragon must, as in Jung’s “Answer to Job”, become the living redeemer.

What has yet to replace the slaying of the dragon by the solar hero, still considered by many men a sacred obligation, is the development of a feminine consciousness that the slaying of the dragon often precludes.  It is the discriminating integration of the unconscious feminine, rather than its rejection, that leads to transformation.

But, the question remains- why is there a unicorn on St Michael’s shield?

There are many myths of solar heroes and dragon slaying; in some instances, the hero is helped by the gods or some kind of divine intervention. Many crimes have been committed in God’s name.

In most versions of the Argonautica, it is Medea who assists Jason to steal the Golden Fleece by helping him to send “the dragon who never sleeps” to sleep. In Apollonius of Rhodes’ Argonautica, it is not Medea but Athena who plays a significant role in guiding and protecting Jason and the Argonauts throughout their quest.

Athena’s betrayal of Medusa, and her betrayal of feminine magical secrets in aiding Jason, parallels the betrayal of the Virgin who lures the unicorn to its death under a false pretext. This betrayal of the feminine by the feminine, as well as the harnessing or stealing of feminine power is ripe for further exploration.