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How Scottish gravestones were employed to convey esoteric ideas under the spotlight of post-reformation persecution, including a depiction of the liberation of the soul after death.
Some of the most enduring records of our beliefs and histories in Celtic culture have been through the symbolic carving of stone. These timeless memorials withstand the ages and speak to us of things which should never be forgotten.
On the Scottish borders, the relationship with monumental stones is evident by the number of single standing stones, cairns, circles and boundary markers which are scattered throughout the rural landscape. Notably, these stones are mainly unadorned and were therefore fortunate to escape destruction during the iconophobic rampage of the protestant reformation (16th) in which buildings, statues, art and symbols that represented alternate faiths were decimated. [1] Targets of destruction not only included places of worship, monasteries, churches, and their gravestones, but any engraved image. Only a relatively small number of intricately carved stones and monuments were spared, which were doubtless protected from public view.
Following these events, the long-held tradition of carving stones with symbolism, or in fact any ornate designs, could not be practiced without attracting dangerous attention from puritanical mobsters or government sponsored action. Stone masons came to be viewed with suspicion, as were the communities who harbored them. Consequently, the symbols of masonry and its teaching withdrew into secrecy, becoming hidden in the folds of esoteric guilds which were later to become the crossroads of so many suppressed traditions in Scotland.
During these turbulent times, the galvanization of secret esoteric organizations was extensive. While some stood with the covenanters, others stood staunchly against them, but many stood together despite their political affiliations; their focus being the preservation of culture, as well as freedom of thought and religious tolerance.
Memento Mori
Interestingly, one of the few effigies that remained permissible for stone masons to depict during the post-reformation period were those which reminded humanity of their fragile mortality and the vanity of life, called memento mori. Imagery of a skull, crossbones, a coffin, bell or an hourglass could justifiably be gravened onto stone without offence or appearing to venerate ancestors through iconography. Thus, where other monuments were destroyed, those headstones which featured the image of a skull were spared. [2]
This ancient burial imagery came to serve the esoteric movement on several fronts. In very little time, memento mori were adopted by secret organizations to recognize each other. Such symbolism was further subverted to encode esoteric mysteries which empowered the transmission of knowledge that their persecutors sought to destroy.
The skull, which was a symbol of decay to the reformed church, was already a poignant symbol in esoteric systems, being the very depiction of the mystery of life, death and what lies beyond. Providing the skull was present on the gravestone, it could be accompanied by a simple winged soul-effigy. To on-lookers this icon supported the belief in the ascension of the soul on the day of the final resurrection. To esoterics this motif could be used to indicate several occult principles, including the spiritual journey of the soul, reincarnation, ancestral guides or higher powers. Other images not usually considered as memento mori could also be employed, such as a craftsman’s tools which could equally show labor for the glory of God or could indicate secret organizations to which the deceased belonged.
Tracing Board of Mortality
Memorial imagery usually appears on the west side of gravestone, reverse to the inscription. Its layout resembles an illustrated tracing board, similar to those which are used to impart allegorical meaning in orders like Freemasonry. It is not unusual for the esoteric symbolism to have many layers of meaning and allude to multiple interpretations.
The example diagram that follows shows how imagery from the 18th century gravestone pictured in this article can be used to explain the composition of the tripartite soul and its liberation after death, according to one old faith tradition. [read more]
The Skull
The skull is the most common memento mori found on gravestones of this era. In this diagram the skull represents corporeal death of the physical body. Traditionally it is thought that the spirt can take anywhere between three days to twelve months to fully disengage from a body. The skull also holds a deeper significance of the mystery of rebirth and ancestor veneration.
Crossbones
The crossbones demonstrate the gates of death. This is the natural stage in a soul’s journey in which the deceased must leave behind all attachments to the material world and pass beyond the veil to the next phase of existence. Only those who are willing to face the gates of death can take this step. Those who do not shed their material affiliations stay between the veils. They are called revenants (Norman, those who remain) or unquiet spirits.
Hourglass
The hourglass is used in post-reformation art to depict the fleeting mortality of humanity and is often accompanied with the phrase horus fugit (the hours flee) or tempus fugit (time flies). It can also represent the temporary persona of the incarnate soul, or mens (latin, mind). The mens helps the incarnate soul interact with the temporal realities of existence through the functions of reason and imagination. After physical death, the persona (mens) ceases to exist independently. The lessons it gained in life are distilled and integrated into the immortal soul as memory and experience.
Winged Soul Effigy
The winged effigy represents the divine soul of the deceased individual, which passes from life to life through many incarnations. It is called the ens in latin or the turigen in gaelic. The wings of the soul allude to the aethereal quality of the disembodied soul which, unattached to the burdens of mortality, can pass between the veils of death to communicate with loved ones.
(For a more thorough investigation of this subject and its application to the practice of Laying Ghosts and paranormal investigation refer to chapter three of our book Unquiet Voices.)
Revival
By the late 19th century, the depiction of momento mori on gravestones had fallen out of favor in Scotland. However the imagery continues to play an important role in esoteric guilds and the magical orders that descended from them.
[1] Collinson, Patrick (1986). From Iconoclasm to Iconophobia: the Cultural Impact of the Second English Reformation. Stenton Lectures. Vol. 19. University of Reading. ISSN 0309-0469
John Phillips, Reformation of Images: Destruction of Art in England, 1535–1660, (Berkeley: University of California Press) 1973.
[2] Referring to the second commandmant which justified the destruction of all iconography "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image"