Crown
CROWN. The significance of the crown lies chiefly in its place on top of the head, where it marks the bearer's relationship to what is above, to what is transcendent. At the same time the crown represents the joining of what is above to what is below, the divine and the human, the celestial and the terrestrial. The crown symbolizes access to rank and to superior force, and therefore to dignity, royalty, and power.
From a very early time crowns were associated with the sun, especially with its rays. On a third-century bas relief from the Roman city of Virunum the sun is shown receiving his radiant crown from Mithra, who has beat him in a wrestling match. In alchemy the spirits of the planets receive their light in the form of crowns from their king, the sun. In the ancient religions of Mexico and Egypt, the king in his divine aspect is the sun.
The crown's meaning can also be discovered in its circular shape, which signifies perfection and eternity. The material of the crown may represent the divinity with which its wearer is associated or even assimilated. Thus, the laurel wreath often related its wearer to Apollo, while oak leaves were emblems of Zeus. At the end of the harvest in Europe celebrants have traditionally worn wreaths of ears of grain.
During a Tibetan ceremony that seeks to eliminate the spirits of the dead, the priest wears a crown that guarantees the cosmic worth of the sacrifice by bringing together symbolically the five Buddhas and the material universe, as well as the four cardinal points with their center. In the West the Crown of Charlemagne, made for Otto I, founder of the Holy Roman Empire, is octagonal in shape, recalling the walls of Rome and the ramparts of heaven.
Crowns, often in the form of wreaths, have been awarded to victors in war or contests where the honored hero is identified with a divine patron of the contest or with a warrior god. Another religious dimension is added when—as in Mithraism and Christianity—the souls of the elect are crowned like athletes or soldiers as victors over death.
In some religious sacrifices the sacrificer wears a crown; in others the victims, even animal victims, do the same. The dead may also be crowned: in Egypt both the mummy and the statue that represented the deceased were crowned for the triumphant entry into the next life. In Christianity the crowning of martyrs is often pictured: the wearer of the crown is always related through it to a greater transcendent power.
Objects, as well as persons, can be crowned. Holy scriptures, icons, pictures, and statues are frequently honored and dedicated with crowns. Crowns sometimes assume significance independent of the crowned. Among the Yoruba of West Africa sheep were occasionally sacrificed to the crown, which had magical powers. In ancient Egypt a crown or diadem representing the highest sovereignty could execute the king's secret purpose or inflict vengeance. In one version of the legend of Ariadne and Theseus, a crown of light guides Theseus through the labyrinth after he has killed the Minotaur.
Bibliography
The image of the crown appears extensively in most religious literature, but no single source begins to explore the whole range of material with both examples and interpretation. G. F. Hill's long essay, "Crowns," in the Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, edited by James Hastings, vol. 4 (Edinburgh, 1911), describes mostly Western history and tradition and says relatively little about the religious symbolism of the crown. Nonetheless, the article is good background material. J. E. Cirlot, in A Dictionary of Symbols, 2d ed. (New York, 1971), and Jean Chevalier and Alain Gheerbrant, in their Dictionnaire des symboles (Paris, 1982), have written interesting discussions without pretending to cover the subject.
New Sources
Joseph Lowin. "Crown: A Hebrew Lesson." Jewish Heritage Online Magazine 6 (November 2003). Available from http://www.jhom/hebrew/crown_h.html.
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