Re: Rosettes

[Niven Sinclair <niven@niven.co.uk>]

At 22:35 09/04/00 -0400, you wrote:

> -The "King of Terrors" guildstone
> that Niven rescued from a Sinclair
> graveyard contains some interesting symbolism.  On the left front of
> the
> stone is "Death" wearing a crown and holding a scythe.  In
> the middle is
> what appears to be a boy standing with his left foot on a ball (with a
> cross
> inscribed on it) and his right foot on the character "O." 
> The boy's arm is
> outstretched as though to hand something to what appears to be an
> infant
> sitting in a chair above an open book.
>
> I have two questions. Are my perceptions correct as to the figures that
> are
> carved into the guild stone?  Does any one have any idea as to the
> symbolism
> displayed?  At first, thought that it might portray the stages of
> life, but
> the typical signposts are not there e.g. baby symbolizing birth,
> adult
> symbolizing mid-life and an old person, then death.
>
> Ward Ginn
>  The symbolism is simply the march of time (tempus fugit) and
> to invite
    us to remember
death    (momento mori).  The figure is
stepping from
     the earthly plane (which is solid) to the
spiritual one (which is the "O"
     to which you refer).

    Bob Brydon, the Templar archivist in Edinburgh (who is
not, alas on e-mail)
    or Dr Tim Wallace-Murphy are better equipped to give a
more detailed
    description

 Niven Sinclair
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