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the polarisation which conditions it, and which also conditions, at different levels, all the degrees and modalities of universal manifestation.^[7]

The sword itself may be considered, in general, as a two-edged weapon; but a still more striking example is the double axe, which pertains particularly, though not exclusively, to Aegean and Cretan symbolism, that is, to pre-Hellenic symbolism. Now the axe, as explained in the previous chapter, is quite specifically a symbol of the thunderbolt and as such a strict equivalent of the _vajra_. The comparison of these two weapons thus clearly shows the fundamental identity of the two forms of symbolism we have mentioned, of double-edged weapons and of weapons with two points.^[9]

The _vajra_ is to be found in many different forms; Ananda Coomaraswamy has shown^[10] that the usual form, with a triple point at each end, is thereby closely related to the _trishula_ or trident, another very important symbolic weapon, the study of which however would lead us too far from our subject.^[11] We will only say that while the median point is at the end of the axis itself, the two lateral points may be related to the above mentioned two currents of the right and of the left; and for this very reason a similar triplicity is to be found elsewhere in axial symbolism—for example, in certain representations of the World Tree. Coomaraswamy has also shown that the _vajra_ is traditionally likened to other known symbols of the World Axis such as the axle of the chariot, the two wheels of which correspond to Heaven and Earth; and this explains certain representations of the _vajra_ as 'supported' by a lotus on which it is vertically placed. As to the quadruple _vajra_, formed by joining two ordinary _vajras_ in the form of a cross, when looked at on the horizontal as its designation _Karma-vajra_ suggests, it is very close to such symbols as the _swastika_ and the _chakra_.^[12] We shall do no more here than call attention to these different points, to which we may have occasion to return in other studies, for the subject is inexhaustible.

Besides the meaning of 'thunderbolt', _vajra_ also means 'diamond', which immediately evokes the idea of individuality, indefectibility and immutable permanence, to indicate the essential characteristic of the centre around which all things revolve, and which does not itself participate in the revolution. This is yet another very remarkable parallel: Plato describes the World Axis as a luminous axis of diamond which is surrounded by several concentric sheaths of different dimensions and colours, corresponding to the different planetary spheres and moving around the axis.^[13] Again, the Buddhist symbol-ism of the diamond _throne_ at the foot of the 'Tree of Wisdom' and at the very centre of the 'wheel of the world', that is, at the one point that always remains immobile, is no less significant in this context.

The thunderbolt, as we have already said, is held to represent a twofold power of production and destruction—'power of life and death' might be thought preferable, though if this is understood only in the literal sense, it would be just another particular application of the power in question.^[14] In fact, it is the force which produces all the 'condensations' and 'dissociations' which for the Eastern tradition attributes to the two complementary principles _yin_ and _yang_, corresponding to the two phases of the universal 'exhalation' and 'inhalation',^[15] and which are known to Hermetic doctrine as 'coagulation' and 'solution'.^[16] The double action of this force, symbolised by the two opposing extremities of the _vajra_ considered as a lightning-like weapon, while the diamond clearly represents its single indivisible essence.

Let us note in passing, and as a curiosity—since it can hardly be more than that from our point of view—an application of a much lower order, but one which is nevertheless directly related to the question of symbolic weapons. The 'power of the points', well known in magic and even in secular physics, is actually related to the 'solution' or second aspect of the double power mentioned above. On the other hand, a correspondence with the first aspect or 'coagulation' is to be found in the magical use of knots or 'ligatures'. In this connection we may also remember the symbolism of the 'Gordian knot', severed, significantly, by Alexander with his sword. But here the question

Footnotes

[7]This amounts to saying that all cosmic dualities are really only different 'specifications' of the first duality of Purusha and Prakriti; or, in other terms, of the polarization of Being into essence and substance.

[8]In another of its meanings, the sword is a symbol of the Word, as we shall see in the next chapter. It should also be noted that according to certain ancient historians, the Scythians represented the Divinity by a sword fixed in the earth on the top of a mound. Thus, since the mound is a mountain in miniature, two symbols of the World Axis are here united.

[9]The mallet or hammer of Thor, another symbol of the thunderbolt, as we have already noted [ibid.] is, in its T shaped form, just like the double axe. It is to be noted also that like the mallet and the sword, though to a lesser extent, the axe is still to be found in contemporary Masonic symbolism.

[10]_The Elements of Buddhist Iconography_. [Cam. Mass., 1935.]

[11]In this case, the double triplicity of the branches and the roots are even more reminiscent of the two extremities of the _vajra_ [on this subject see below, chapter 54. 'The Tree and the Vajra']. Again, it is known that the _trishula_, as an attribute of Shiva, is often related to the 'triple time' (_trikāla_), that is, to the modalities of time as past, present and future. Further comparisons could be made here with aspects of other traditions, such as certain aspects of the symbolism of Janus.

[12]Then it is no longer a question, as before, of the vertical axis, but of two horizontal axes of the geometrical figuration explained in _The Symbolism of the Cross_.

[13]Republic, 10 (myth of Er the Armenian). Taken all together, these sheaths constitute the 'spindle of Necessity'. Fate, Clotho, turns it with the right hand, therefore from right to left, nor is this direction of rotation unimportant, as may be seen from what we have said about the symbolism of the 'double spiral' [cf., The Great Triad, ch. 6].

[14]In connection with our earlier remarks about the respective weapons of Apollo and Indra, it may be noted that like the thunderbolt, the solar ray is also considered as 'piercing', exactly as the case may be. Let us also recall that the lance of the Grail legend as well as the lance of Achilles, to which we have already compared it in this connection, had the double power of inflicting wounds and of healing them.

[15][See again, The Great Triad, ch. 6.]

[16]It is also what the ancient Greek philosophers termed 'generation' and 'corruption'.

SOME SYMBOLIC WEAPONS

Footnotes