30 § The Symbolism of Horns
In his study on Celtism, [1] T. Basilide drew attention to the importance of Apollo Karneios as god of the Hyperboreans. The Celtic name Belen is, furthermore, identical to Ablun or Aplun which, with the Greeks, became Apollon. We hope someday to write more fully about the Hyperborean Apollo; [2] for the present we will limit ourselves to some reflections on the name Karneios in particular, as well as Kronos to which it is closely related, for the two names have the same root KRN which expresses essentially the ideas of 'power' and 'elevation'.
In its meaning of 'elevation', the name Kronos is perfectly appropriate for Saturn who, in fact, corresponds to the highest of the planetary spheres,
the 'seventh heaven' or the Satya-Loka of the Hindu tradition. [3] Nor must Saturn be considered as being solely or even primarily a malefic power, which sometimes seems to be the tendency; for it must not be forgotten that he is before all else the regent of the Golden Age, that is, of the SatyaYuga or of the first phase of the Mahā-Yuga which coincides precisely with the Hyperborean period, [4] thereby proving that Kronos is rightly identified with the god of the Hyperboreans. [5] It is moreover probable that the malefic aspect in this context results from the very disappearance of this Hyperborean world. It is in virtue of an analagous reversal that every 'Land of the Gods', seat of a spiritual centre, becomes a 'Land of the Dead' when this centre has disappeared. It is likewise possible that the dissociation of the two names Kronos and Karneios which originally were one was an added motive for concentrating this malefic aspect on the name Kronos, while the benefic aspect remained attached to the name Karneios; and it is also true that the symbolism of the sun has in itself the two opposite aspects, vivifying and death-dealing, productive and destructive, as we have already remarked in connection with weapons that represent the 'solar ray'. [6]
Karneios is the god of the Karn, that is, of the 'high place', symbol of the sacred Mountain of the Pole and, for the Celts, represented either by the tumulus or by the cairn or mound of stones which has retained this name. The stone, moreover, is often directly related to the cult of Apollo as can be seen for example in the Omphalos of Delphi as well as in the cubic stone which served as altar at Delos and which the oracle ordered to be doubled in size. On the other hand, the stone also had a particular relationship with Kronos; this is a further correspondence which we can only mention in passing, for it deserves separate treatment. [7]
At the same time Karneios is, as his name indicates, the 'powerful god'; [8] and if the mountain in one of its aspects is, in virtue of its stability, a symbol of power as well as of elevation, there is another symbol which is still more characteristic from this point of view, that of horns. Now at Delos, in addition to the cubic stone we have just mentioned, there was another altar called Keraton which was made entirely of the horns of bullocks and of goats solidly fitted together. It is obvious that this related directly to Karneios, whose symbolic connection with horned beasts has left traces even down to the present day. [9]
The word 'horn' itself is linked with the root KRN, and the same applies to 'crown' which is another symbolic expression of the same ideas, for these two words (in Latin cornu and corona) are very close to one another. [10] The crown is, needless to say, the emblem of power and the mark of an elevated rank; and an immediate correspondence with horns lies in the fact that both these and the crown are placed on the head, whence inescapably the idea of a 'summit'. [11] But there is still something else to be considered: in more primitive times, the crown was a circle ornamented with points in the form of rays; and horns are also held to represent luminous rays, [12] which brings us back to some of the considerations we have already put forward in connection with symbolic weapons. It is quite clear, moreover, that horns can be likened to weapons, even in the most literal sense; that is indeed why they have always and everywhere been associated with the idea of strength or of power. [13] On the other hand, luminous rays are a most fitting attribute