Observations placeholder
Cirlot on pillars
Identifier
004811
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
A Dictionary of Symbols – J E Cirlot
The solitary pillar is related to the world axis, as are the post, the mast and the tree. The Egyptian hieroglyphic sign zed is interpreted both as a pillar and as the spinal column. Frobenius says that Africans interpret pillars as caryatids shorn of their human likeness, that is, as indirect images of man. When there are two pillars, the symbolism corresponds to the cabbalistic columns of Jachin and Boaz