28 § Symbolic Weapons

IN speaking of symbolic flowers, we called attention to the lance which, as symbol, figures in the Grail legend as a complement to the cup, and which is one of the many representations of the World Axis. At the same time, we said that this lance is also a symbol of the 'celestial Ray', and in accordance^[1] with what we have mentioned elsewhere^[2] it is obvious that these two meanings basically coincide. But this also explains why the lance, as well as the sword and the arrow which are its near equivalents, are sometimes assimilated to the solar ray. It goes without saying that these two symbolisms, polar and solar, must never be confused and that, as we have often indicated, polar symbolism is more fundamental and in fact truly primordial; but it is none the less true that what can be called 'transfers' from one to the other frequently occur, for reasons which we may attempt to explain more clearly on some other occasions.^[3]

In this connection, we shall for the moment confine ourselves specifically to the attribution of the arrow to Apollo.^[4] It is known that with his arrows Apollo killed the serpent Python, just as in the Vedic tradition, Indra killed Ahi or Vritra, the counterpart of Python, with the _vajra_ which represents the thunderbolt; and this comparison leaves no doubt whatsoever as to the original symbolical equivalence of the two weapons in question. We may also recall the 'golden arrow' of _Abaris_ or of _Zalmoxis_, which figures in the history of Pythagoras; and here it can be seen still more clearly that this symbolism is expressly related to the Hyperborean Apollo, which proves the link between his solar and polar aspects.^[5]

As to the various weapons that represent the World Axis, it should be noted that they are, not always, but very often, either double-edged or with two points, one at each end. This two-pointedness, as in the case of the _vajra_ to which we shall have to return, must clearly be referred back to the duality of the poles, considered as two extremities of the axis, with all the correspondences which this implies and of which we have already spoken elsewhere.^[6] In the case of two-edged weapons, the duality lies actually along the axis, so that we must see here a more direct allusion to the two currents that are represented in another way by the two serpents entwined around the staff or the caduceus. But since these two inverse currents are themselves respectively related to the two poles and the two hemispheres, it is immediately obvious that the two symbolisms come together as being in reality one. Fundamentally, then, it is always a question of a double force, single in essence but with apparently opposite effects in its manifestation, resulting from