Mysteries, Magic and Powers of Art
Photo:
In symbols like these, Ethiopian scholars see the origin of all writing. Some
of them resemble letters in the Ethiopian syllabary (which derives from the
Phoenician, as the Latin script does also.) Talismanic characters by Gera,
1992, ink on paper, 70 x 50 cm. Private collection. Photo courtesy of Guy
Vivien.
To the clients and apprentices who are the recipients of these secrets, their own incomprehension of the sounds and letters of the Names indicates the presence of a powerful knowledge. Mastery of that knowledge, they believe, is reserved for "gods on earth"--the clerics familiar with spirits. Access to the powers of script used to be doubly locked--by a talismanic code and, more immediately, by a constraint around writing itself. Teachers of liturgical song used to forbid their pupils to learn to write, a skill they said would lead to the preparation of amulets and spells. (Griaule 1929). The secret talismanic writings were also associated with demons in those days. Whether demonic or divine (holy scripture, the Names of God), writing was rare in this country.
Photo: Talismanic crosses, some of them accompanied by the secret names of the members of the Trinity. To the right, the lamb of God, invoked against the "illness of Barya and Legewon," or convulsions, on behalf of a man called Walda Maryam. The prayer written below, in the center, has the same function. Some motifs come from "Solomon's Net." Leaves of parchment like this one were folded into a bag and carried by the inhabitants of Gojjam province, who also used scrolls for the same purpose, though cruder ones than in Tigray. Twentieth century, parchment, 28.5 x 51 cm. Private collection. Photo courtesy of Guy Vivien.
The Rampart of the Cross
Photo:
Processional cross. The cross is honored by its placement under a triumphal
arch, following the antique fashion, and thus suggesting a prototype of
great age. Cross, twelfth to thirteenth century, 34.92 x 15.87 cm.
Collection: The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, Maryland, 54.2889.
Two images, both very rich in the Ethiopian context, come together to define the status of the cross: first, the cross is the "seal" of Christ (and the Trinity) and therefore has always existed and always will; second, its wood having been sanctified by Christ's blood, it is a sacrificial being endowed with an infinite power of sanctification. This sacrificial status gives its eternity a triumphal quality. Medium of Christ's rebirth, it tends to act as His worldly double, still more than any place with which he is associated. In Ethiopia, as opposed to Western Christian churches, the cross is far more an image of triumph than one of death. And the Church, in signing every baptized person with the cross, makes them share in God's victory over death and over Satan. Each church has one or several large processional crosses, which are used during sacramental activities, services, and processions.
Photo:
Processional cross. The doubling of the lateral ends of this cross's arms is
a development seen in a type of cross from the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries, characterized by rounded extremities. Cross, thirtheenth to
fourteenth century (?), bronze, 33 x 17 cm. Collection: Richard J. Faletti
Family, Clarendon:.
Westerners who have stayed in Ethiopia know the procession of the Epiphany: moving toward the brook where the ceremony will take place, the deacons walk first, wearing ceremonial clothes, crowned, and holding a cross; they are followed by priests wearing on their heads an altar tablet wrapped in cloth. No less celebrated is the procession around the bonfire on the feast of the finding of the True Cross. In the past, processions used to take place on Saturdays and Sundays, according to the testimony of the chaplain Alvarez, who was part of the first Portuguese diplomatic expedition to Ethiopia, in the early sixteenth century.
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