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While pondering Yuri's welcome suggestion, a few other possibilities
occurred to me. One is that very well known emblem of equilibrium, the
crucifix. Another is the emblem of the double eagle and the third the
Caduceus. All express equilibrium and the reconciliation of opposing
principles. They may, of course, be related in other ways, both historical
and symbolic. Below are some snips I picked up on a quick index search of
"equilibrium" and "emblem". I think it's worth considering that the *a
priori* appeal of the supply and demand story may well be its affinity
with pre-existing and essentially mystical notions. There may be a good
deal more Alchemy, Kabbala, Tarot and Masonry to Economic "Science":
THE DOUBLE-HEADED EAGLE - THE SUPREME SYMBOL
"The ancient emblem of equilibrium consisted of an
androgynous body surmounted by two heads, one male and the other
female, wearing a single imperial crown. That being alone is perfect
in which all opposites are reconciled, and this state of perfection is
appropriately typified by the two heads of equal dignity. Hence the
double-headed eagle is reserved as the emblem of completion, for it
signifies the Philosopher's Stone, the ultimate soul condition, and
that absolute and transcendent perfection which arises only from the
fullest unfoldment of the latent potentialities within the individual."
CROSS
"The cross has been a holy symbol for a long time. Sometimes it occurs
inside a circle, sometimes on its own. Sometimes it is depicted as
rotating, and is drawn as a four-armed spiral. The cross represents
many different things -- sometimes strife (the image of two swords or
staves crossing in combat), sometimes sacrifice to the great work (the
Crucifix), sometimes limitation (drawn as an X, a pictogram
demarcating forbidden territory). Despite this the image of the
spinning cross is considered a sign of utmost divinity. The qabalists
place the spinning cross as the image of Kether, the highest and most
divine Sephira. In this guise it represents perhaps the four elements
mingling to the point they are indistinguishable -- a sort of
four-fold Yin-Yang.
CADUCEUS
"After the death of Aaron, when the new moon occurred at the vernal
equinox of the 40th year of the Wandering of Israel, the people
became discouraged, and began to pray to Amun and Astarte, Osiris and
Isis. But Adonai sent fiery serpents among them, and Moses was asked
to pray for the people. Moses was told to build a brazen serpent, and
put it on a pole, and all who looked upon it were cured of the
serpents' venom.
"This story is seen as an allegory for the transformation from winter
to spring (and Passover), when the celestial serpent and scorpion flee
"before the glittering stars of Orion." The seeming contradiction
between winter and spring, death and life, evil and good, should be
seen as two parts of the "universal equilibrium." The symbol of the
cross, "that *one* composed of *two*," represents this principle.
Life is a serpent that incessantly creates and devours itself. One
must ignore fear and plant one's foot firmly on its head. Hermes,
by doubling it, opposes it to itself, and in eternal equilibrium
makes of it the talisman of his power and the glory of his
caduceus. . .
Each dragon couples with the other, each consumes the other, each
subdues the other; thus the well-known Hermetic maxim, "Nature
delights in Nature, Nature contains Nature, and Nature overcomes
Nature." "The last clause," Burckhardt (129-30) explains, "means that
the two powers, when they have so grown that one can embrace the
other, reunite on a higher plane, so that their opposition, which
previously had bound the soul, now becomes a fruitful complementarism,
by means of which the soul achieves dominion over the entire world of
psychic forms and currents. Thus Nature as a liberating force,
overcomes Nature as tyranny and entanglement."
The two serpents, each consuming the other, constitute what Damascenus
called a perikhoresis (rotation), which the Medieval Schoolmen
translated both circumincessio (going round) and circuminsessio
(reciprocal indwelling).
Tom Walker
TimeWork Web
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