Animal-headed Divinities in Christianity
This is a fresco of Jesus Christ with his retinue of saints and angels in an Orthodox Christian Church. Notice the 6-winged angels above Jesus and the saints. Click on image to enlarge
Christianity has long associated animal-headed divinities with pagan religions. Consequently, these divinities are denounced and declared as anti-Christ or as manifestations of the devil. Certain Christians quote passages of the Bible that refer to God’s displeasure at the worship of a bull-headed pagan god to validate their viewpoint. However, if one were to delve deeper into the Bible and Christian theological doctrine, one would actually discover saints and angels with animal faces as well.
An example of a divine being with an animal face in Christianity is St. Christopher. A “saint”, also known as a “hallow” which is an older term, refers to a Christian with an exceptional degree of holiness that is often described to be closest in likeness to God. This term also retains its original meaning, which is that the saint is a believer ‘in Christ’ and is a receptacle in which Christ abides, whether here on earth or up in heaven.
Interestingly, according to Anglican, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, and Oriental Orthodox doctrine, all of the deceased who were faithful to their beliefs and are in Heaven are considered to be saints as well. However, there are some saints that are considered worthy of greater honour and emulation by others. The official recognition and veneration of a saint is bestowed upon certain popular Christians through the process of ‘canonization’ in the Catholic Church or ‘glorification’ in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
St Christopher
Stained glass depiction of St. Christopher in the Western Europe style as a man carrying the infant Jesus.
According to the Catholic Church, Saint Christopher was a martyr who was killed during the reign of either the Roman Emperor Decius (reigned 249–251 CE) or the Roman Emperor Maximinus II Dacian (reigned 308–313 CE). Theologians are unsure because of the similarity between “Decius” and “Dacian”. Nevertheless, the veneration of this saint began to surface late in Christian history and only became widespread in the Late Middle Ages. However, there were already churches and monasteries named after him by the 7th century.
Amongst theologians, the existence of St. Christopher is disputed and they are unsure if the name refers to a specific person or a title meaning “Christ-bearer” which was given to several different real or mythological individuals. In fact, St. Christopher may have been St. Menas as well. The most famous legend of this saint, mainly known in the West, may have drawn from ancient Greek mythology. The myth tells the tale of St. Menas carrying an unknown child across a river before the child reveals himself to be the baby Christ. Therefore, he became known as the patron saint of travellers and small images of him are worn around the neck, on little bracelets, carried in pockets, or placed in vehicles for protection.
On the other hand, historians suggest that a historical figure by the name of Reprobus is St. Christopher. Reprobus was a Canaanite, he was a massive 7.5 feet (2.3 m) in height and had a fearsome face. According to legend, while serving the king of Canaan, he took it unto himself to serve “the greatest king there was”. At first, he went to the king who was reputed to be the greatest but one day he saw the king did a sign of the cross at the mention of the devil. The sign of the cross is a Christian benediction by touching the hand sequentially to the forehead, lower chest or stomach, and both shoulders. He discovered that the king feared the devil and so he departed to look for the devil to offer him his service. While searching he came across a band of bandits, one of whom declared himself to be the devil, so Reprobus decided to offer his service to the bandit.
Various Christian Byzantine-styled St. Christopher depictions with a dog’s head. Click on image to enlarge.
Later, he saw his new master avoid a wayside cross and discovered that the devil was afraid of Christ, and so he left him and enquired where he could find Christ. Eventually, he chanced upon a hermit who gave him instructions in the Christian faith. Reprobus asked him how he could serve Christ. When the hermit suggested fasting and prayer, Reprobus replied that he was unable to perform that service. Hence, the hermit suggested that because of his size and strength Reprobus could serve Christ by assisting people to cross a dangerous river, where they were perishing in the attempt. The hermit promised that this service would be pleasing to Christ.
Various depictions of the popular dog-headed St. Christopher. Click on image to enlarge
Reprobus lived during the Roman Emperor Decius’s persecution of Christians. Subsequently, he was captured and martyred by the governor of Antioch. Historian David Woods also proposed that Reprobus’ remains were taken to Alexandria by Peter of Attalia where he may have become identified with the Egyptian martyr Saint Menas.
Legends of St. Christopher contain two important historical facts that identify him with the historical St. Menas. The first is that the Greek and Latin legends of St. Christopher identify him as a member of the Third Valerian Cohort of the Marmantae (Latin: Cohors tertia Valeria Marmantarum). This was a Roman military unit stationed in Marmarica, North Africa. Today, this area lies between modern-day Libya and Egypt. It was none other than Emperor Diocletian who recruited this whole unit. The second fact which is similar with St. Menas is that St. Christopher was martyred in Antioch.
Various depictions of the popular dog-headed St. Christopher. Orthodox Christians pray to him fervently for protection in travels.
The story of St. Menas’ martyrdom corresponds to the legend of St. Christopher. The theory suggested by historians concludes that the two saints are the same person. This would mean that the name “Christopher” or “Christ-bearer” was an epithet given to the valiant St. Menas who died in Antioch. Since he was not a native of that land and his name was not known, he was simply revered by his epithet, “Christophoros” or “Christ-Bearer.” Coincidentally, St. Menas happens to be the patron saint of travellers in the Coptic tradition as well, which further supports an association with St. Christopher who is the patron saint of travellers in the Greek and Latin Christian traditions.
Furthermore, a part of St. Christopher’s story has parallels with the Greek legend of Jason of the Argonauts, who carried an old woman across a raging river and she was described as being far heavier than she should have been. Later, it was revealed that she was the goddess Hera in disguise.
The sheer variety of St. Christopher depicted with a dog head shows that it is an accepted tradition and prevalent among the Orthodox Christians. Click on image to enlarge.
Dog-headed depiction of St Christopher in the Eastern Orthodox tradition
In Eastern Orthodox Christian icons, Saint Christopher is represented with the head of a dog. The background to the dog-headed St. Christopher is connected with the man named Reprobus who was captured in combat against tribes dwelling to the west of Egypt in Cyrenaica. As mentioned previously, he was said to be of enormous size and was also described as having the head of a dog instead of a man, which was a characteristic of the Marmaritae. This Byzantine depiction of St. Christopher as having the head of a dog resulted from a misinterpretation of the Latin term ‘Canaanite’ to read ‘canine’.
According to the medieval Irish Passion of St. Christopher, “This St. Christopher belonged to one of the Dog-heads, a race that had the heads of dogs and ate human flesh.” It was commonly accepted at the time that there were several types of races, the Cynocephalus (or dog-headed people) being one of many believed to populate the world.
Various depictions of the popular dog-headed St. Christopher as worshipped by Orthodox Christians
Various depictions of the popular dog-headed St. Christopher. Click on image to enlarge.
Various depictions of the popular dog-headed St. Christopher. Click on image to enlarge.
Finally, the German bishop and poet Walter of Speyer portrayed St. Christopher as a giant with a dog head that belonged to the Cynocephalic species in the land of the Chananeans who ate human flesh and barked. Eventually, Christopher encountered the Christ child and repented his former behaviour and received baptism. He was rewarded with a human appearance, whereupon he devoted his life to Christian service and became a soldier-saint, an athlete for God.
Seraphim & Cherubs
A seraph or seraphim as in the King James version of the Bible means “the burning one” and this refers to a type of celestial or angelic being in Christianity and Judaism. According to tradition, the seraphim are placed in the highest rank of the angelic hierarchy, and in the fifth of the ten ranks in the Jewish angelic hierarchy.
Within the seminal passage in the Book of Isaiah (Isaiah 6:1-8), the name “Seraphim” is used to describe celestial beings with six wings that fly around the Throne of God while harking “holy, holy, holy”. This spectacle in the Bible with its triple invocation of holiness came to be known as the Trisagion, and profoundly influenced subsequent Christian theology, literature and art. Its influence is frequently seen in works depicting angels, heaven and the apotheosis. Aside from Isaiah, Seraphim are mentioned as celestial beings in an influential Hellenistic work, the Book of Enoch, and the Book of Revelation.
man, lion, ox, and eagle. Click on image to enlarge.
So Seraphim are heavenly beings that have six wings but apparently they only use two of them for flying. It is said that two are used to cover their faces and the remaining two are used to cover their feet. They cover their face because, being so close to God, they are said to witness his full glory which would be too powerful to behold and require the wings to shield their eyes. Feet are considered ‘unclean’ and improper to be shown to God. Therefore, there are some scholars who also think that this reference to feet actually refers to ‘genitals’ as well.
According to the Book of Revelation (Rev 4:6-8), four Seraphim surround the Throne of God. According to the account, one seraph has the form of a lion, the second an ox, the third has a man’s face and the fourth is that of a flying eagle. Each of the four seraphim have six wings and are covered with eyes all around, even under their wings. It seems that the Seraphim are not just human-like angels but those in the form of animals. These are not normal-ranking angels or cherubs but the highest ranking of the angelic beings. Hence, they are the closest ones standing just next to God’s throne.
In another account (Ezekiel 1:1–3:27), God approaches Ezekiel as the divine warrior riding in his battle chariot. The chariot is drawn by four living creatures, each having four faces (those of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle) and four wings. Beside each “living creature” is a “wheel within a wheel”, with “tall and awesome” rims full of eyes all around. God commissions Ezekiel as a prophet and as a “watchman” in Israel, “Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites.” This passage describe the angels in a different manner in which each Seraphim possess 4 faces. These angels are known as Cherubs and in the modern representation they are often depicted in the guise of human infants with wings.
Another depiction of the famous vision of Ezekiel in the Book of Revelation in which he beheld God’s throne surrounded by Seraphim angels.
Another medieval woodcut depiction of the Four Cherub angels pulling God’s chariot. The old man on the celestial chariot is the common depiction of the Christian God. This is mentioned in the bible.
Another medieval woodcut depiction of the Cherub angels around God’s chariot
A detailed medieval woodcut depiction of the Four Cherub angels pulling God’s divine chariot
A modern and realistic interpretation of the Cherub angel with four faces including a man, lion, bull and eagle and here depicted with four wings and body of a human. Sometimes they are depicted with six wings.
A modern figurine of a Cherub as it was described in the bible by prophet Ezekiel according to his vision of God. The Christian sacred Cherub with many animal heads upon a human body is similar to the Hindu gods of India that have various animal heads like Hanuman which is a god with a monkey form and head, Ganapati the elephant headed god, Hayagriva the horse headed god and Narasimha with a lion’s head. Christianity cannot call gods of other religions pagan just because they emanate with animal heads.
Depiction of the Seraphim angels worshipped by Christians
19th century depiction of holy Cherub angels with four faces and with animal faces compared to man which they tower over
Holy Seraphim depicted on a stained glass window of a Christian church
Seraphim
Conclusion
With the tradition of venerating the dog-headed St. Christopher and the manifestation of animal forms of Cherub and Seraphim angels it is clear that animal-headed divinities do exist within Christianity. It is not only something that exists in ‘pagan’ religions because divinity can manifest in a variety of ways, and divinity can certainly manifest in animal form. Mind you, pagan is something labelled by the Christians to denounce the gods of other religions calling them satanic or evil in order to denounce. Sometimes Christians would denounce in this way to show their superiority over other religions when all religions are actually equal. Nothing can limit the manner in which divinity or God can manifest in order to protect or benefit all beings. Hence, there is nothing wrong or demonic when divinity manifests in animal forms in any religion. It is, in fact, an expression of the divine reaching out to protect and benefit all beings.
For more interesting information:
- Bishop John Spong on Religion and God – Very interesting!
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- Animal Rights Campaign Over Killing Chickens During Jewish Ritual
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In the Indian belief system/mythology and Buddhist description of the different realms that exist in the cosmos, there too is a famous animal-headed being called the Garuda who has a human body and the head and wings of bird.
Like the Naga being, the Garuda combines the characteristics of animals and divine beings, and may be considered to be among the lowest devas (one of the six realms in samsara).
According to one version of Pehar’s origins, Pehar was originally called Bihar Gyelpo ( bi har rgyal po ), and he was born from one of the thirteen eggs which had been produced by a white klu mo inhabiting lake Manasarovar (ma dros mtsho).
He had human body, but had the head of a Garuda bird (‘khyung). Later he came to stay in Bhata Hor, and after his arrival to Samye he was called the Kordag Gyelchen Bihara (dkor bdang rgyal chen bi ha ra); where he was the guardian of this holy place and treasures (gnas dang nor srung)
Today, Garudas remain very much entrenched in many Asian cultures such as Indonesia, India, Thailand, Mongolia, and many more.
This article reminds me so much, not to take things literally and also not to judge based on ordinary appearances. In Buddhism we have the ferocious imagery of Yamantaka who reminds us of how we are when we are in anger. Yet Yamantaka although looking very much like a bull headed demon with implements and weapons is a deity that can cut our anger and purify heaps of karma accumulated across aeons.
On the other spectrum we have beautiful people who come with honey glazed words and expressions but they could be out to harm or get something out of you for their very own benefit. So now who is the real demon then?
Could the cherubs with 4 heads, be an indication that the Ancient Aliens in Discovery channels had animal heads. Egyptian gods many of them had animal heads too, and ancient Egypt according to Ancient Aliens theoreticians said there was much alien influences in ancient Egypt.
Interesting article …i have seen Animal-headed in pictures only . Its wonderful to known from these article and did own research as well to know further. So now i know and it so called related to Christianity. Animal-headed divinities do exist within Christianity and other religion as well .Its more of an expression of the divine reaching out to protect and benefit all beings.
The legend of St. Christopher , Egyptian gods were often depicted in therianthrophic – part human, part animal form. There are some of the well known gods with animal heads.
There many interesting historical stories ,legends related to these animal heads in all ancient periods until the end of the Middle Ages….interesting.
Thank you Pastor David Lai for sharing .
I find it very interesting that there are many depictions of the same saint, St Christopher. Seems, as the religion moves around the various known world of the time, the local customs incorporated their interpretation to the visual image according to their local believes. It was not to demean the saint, nor to put down the religion but instead it was to revere in their own way but yet staying true to the essence of the religion.
At the core of it, as Rinpoche taught, it is our perception and expectations that create the negative or positive interpretation of holy images.
Thank you Pastor David for sharing.
Dogs were also very highly regarded in Egyptian religion, and one of the most well known Gods, Anubis was a dog-like creature. Some Egyptologists believe him to be a Jackal, whereas others point to the translation of inscriptions which describe that Anubis had a “face like a dog”.
Thank you Pastor David for this very nice interesting topic on animal headed divinities in christianity. I love all the beautiful and colorful pictures on this article…lol ???
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