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The Milk Hill
Formation 26th June 2004
– Karen Douglas
Is it a Bee?
I don’t think there
can be any doubt that the formation beneath Milk Hill is some kind of
insect – but is there anything else to it?
Looking at the
picture, this strange formation also seems to be a variation on the
famous Hermetic symbol – the Caduceus.
In modern times this
symbol is synonymous with pharmacies, where it is used as an
international symbol for medicine/healing.
As a
Hermetic symbol, it represents the god Hermes or Mercury. Mercury was
‘the messenger of the gods’, whilst Hermes was the god of ancient wisdom
and secret knowledge.
Traditionally, the symbol shows two intertwining serpents, coiled around
a central staff. The staff represents the diving rod, or measuring staff
– instruments of the ancient builders. The staff was also a magical
symbol for transformation, it represented the idea of exerting force
‘striking with the rod’ the world and changing it ‘transformation’.
In
legend, Mercury intervened in a fight between two serpents who then wound
themselves around the staff – representing the constant struggle between
polarities, light and dark, male and female. It is the tension between
these two which has the power to transform the world.
The wings also
represent the god Mercury – who traditionally has wings on both his head
and feet, symbolising his ability to travel between heaven and earth as a
divine messenger.
If
the Milk Hill insect is a variation on this theme, could it not be seen
to represent a message from the gods; one which teaches that it is the
struggle between the ‘polarities’ that has the power to transform and
heal the world? |
