Chapter 3 - AXES (Myths from different CULTURAL AREAS with TOOLS OF CONTROL)

Axes

It had been suggested by Mayer in 1892 that the word labrys has an etymological relationship to labyrinthos from which labyrinth is derived (Waites, 1923: 26). The labyrinth is the staple setting within which the Minotaur, the monstrous son of the Cretan bull and King Minos’ wife, is trapped on the island of Crete. The Greeks combined the ideas of the older Aegean Bronze Age (c. 2700-1100 BCE) civilization of the Minoans further by depicting the labyrinth along with the Minotaur’s bullhorns on vases and reliefs depicting the double-edged axe throughout the Greek islands (Hutchison, 1948: 62-63). With the inherent danger that is recounted in the myth, the symbols of the labyrinth and the horns imbue power to the double-sided axe. It was believed that only someone with power could wield the labrys because of its extra ability to control lighting, similar to Mjölnir. Scattered across Asia Minor cults later appeared and attributed this feat to Zeus, the father of the gods and the god of lighting, making the axe and the labrys a masculine tool of destruction (Waites, 1923: 43-44). But, the presence of female idols in the shrine of Cnossus, as well as depictions on seals and “the golden signet from Mycenae above the seated goddess and her worshippers” on the island of Crete suggests that the labrys had instead originally belonged to the Goddess-Mother (Weites, 1923: 28). Waites also states that the lightning axes are typically depicted as single sided, so the two-sided variation is tool of creation and combining the male and female elements, which is seen on the Greek coins. One side of a coin found in Tenedos shows a dual headed person, male on the left, female on the right, with the labrys on the opposite side of the coin [figure 29] (Waites, 1923: 33, Kouremenos, 2016: 46). This presents an androgynous duality, which can tie together with the inherent creation and destruction caused by the tool, and humanity in general. In particular, when Hephaestus released Athena, the goddess of wisdom, from Zeus by splitting his head with his axe it is symbolic of the nature of man to use a tool for both breaking and creating. In a sense, this act revealed more intelligence and the ability for human culture to continue in the form of a strong woman.

Figure 29 - Silver tetradrachm of Tenedos (4th century)– showing the duel face on one side and the duel headed axe (the labrys) on the other. Originally from Classical Numismatic Group, private collection (Kouremenos, 2016: 46).

Figure 30 - Popol Vuh mythological scene from Classic Maya tale. The Maize God coming out of the Earth as a tortoise carapace with forms of the God Chaak with snakes and smoking flint on either side. A “roll-out painting on a Late Classic polychrome vessel, by Diane Griffiths Peck” Reproduced with the permission of Michael D. Coe (Taube, 1986; 57 & Thompson, 1996: illus. 62).

The Maya rain deity Chaak/Chac strikes the clouds and produces thunder and rain with his celt (axe), the most frequently associated tool of this deity. Chaak (Tlaloc in Central Mexico) is the principal deity of water, both underground in caves, relating to the watery underworld, and the rain in the sky (Ishihara, 2008: 177-178). His single edged axe is referenced in the K’atun II, the second set of dates in the Books of Chilam Balam, mythology by always drawing the axe in Chaak’s hand as in the example in figure 30 above (Vail & Hernández, 2013: 202). While it was often held up in the air it has been suggested that he also has power over the seeds and their germination due to the purpose of the rains (Vail & Hernández, 2013: 73). This also links directly back to agriculture and the act of taking something natural and pulling it into the cultural realm, in this case both the food and the stone. An earlier example of this ethnographic connection between lightning and maize is from Teotihuacan in the Classic period. Here Chaak is represented on a vessel chopping a tortoise shell in half with his lightning axe, and from the crack grows the Tonsured Maize God (from the Popol Vuh) [in figure 6 above] from which the current version of humans is made (Taube, 1986: 57-58). Chaak has also been depicted holding the lightning serpent, which is often conflated in art works with the special axe if they are not shown separately (Taube, 1992: 20-22).

Figure 31 - Glyph for K'awil (Kettunen & Helmke, 2014: 84).

Also, from Maya mythology is the god of kingship, K’awil [figure 31], whose name means ‘abundance of food’ and who is often associated with Chaak because he, another god of lightning and sustenance, is shaped like an axe (Vail & Hernández, 2013: 79). This god is also conflated with the Tonsured Maize God in art works as they both will symbolize power, leadership, and are shown with the cranial torch of either corn stalks, smoke, or snakes (Vail & Hernández, 2013: 47-50). The general reasoning that archaeologists have worked through as to why they are connected is because a great king will always provide enough food for his people, since he is also supposed to be the reincarnation of the god of maize [figure 8].

Figure 32 - Various images of the Tonsured Maize God. (A) Late Classic vessel (Smith, 1952: 252). (B) Late classic Vase Photo from Coe. (C) Incised bone from Copan (drawing by L. Schele and M.E. MIller, 1986: pl 20). (Taube, 1986).

Another tool of Scandinavian origin and found in Slavic mythology, the Axe of Perun, also called a hatchet amulet, is shaped like a battle-axe. Just like Mjölnir, the axe is often worn as a necklace pendant with two different designs [figure 33 below] (Kucypera & Wadyl, 2011).

Figure 33 - Two types of axe from Slavic Scandinavia (Kucypera & Wadyl, 2011) Kucypera makes the note that the process of miniaturization was not specific in this cultural area, rather it happened with various tools all across Europe (Koktvedgaard, 1997, Staecker, 1999, & Capelle, 2003 in Kucypera & Wadyl, 2011: 122).

The god Perun was the god of lightning and thunder, equivalent to Thor from Norse mythology, but in the Slavic Perun was the highest god in the pantheon while Thor is under his father Odin. But, as many of the small amber or large flint versions of the axes have been found in many of the countries near the Baltic Sea, it is thought that they had the same significance as Thor’s Hammer. Less of a weapon or tool that was used and more a symbol of the god Perun, who brought the rains and favorable weather to the agricultural community that was built into and beside the nearby forests (Bojtár, 1999: 289).

Lastly, in Chinese mythology the god Pan Gu [figure 34] began creating the world when he separated Yin from Yang with a swing of his giant axe through the chaos of the 18,000 year old cosmic egg, creating the Earth (murky Yin) and the Sky (clear Yang). To keep them separated, Pan Gu stood between them and pushed up the Sky for another 18,000 years until he died and his body became various pieces of nature (translated from Xu in Brown & Brown, 2006: 87). With this mythology being influenced by the teachings of Confucianism, and by the tenets of Daoism, which arose from Buddhism, the creation of the universe and mankind had to fall in line with the Buddhist tenets of morality, that good people were rewarded, and the evil were punished (Brown & Brown, 2006: 86). Because Pan Gu does perish at the end this would not have been seen as a punishment, as he created our world and, in some stories, humanity as well, therefore he would have been another example of creating the proper way of life out of the chaos from before. While in this case the axe does not have its own name, it is the tool for making the universe something in which humanity could exist.

Figure 34 - Portrait of Pangu from Sancai Tuhui.

Axes in mythology could be summarized in a similar way to hammers; they can be used for both destruction and creation depending on how the tool is used. The dual sided labyrus was a representation of duality itself, of mankind and even the gods themselves. The axe was the tool of separation by which the world as we know it came to exist, both literally and figuratively, chopping apart the Earth from the sky and/or separating order from chaos. This led to the axe becoming a symbol in ornamentation, often being associated with power, good luck, and leadership.