The Eighth Hungarian Tribe, 1985 (12. évfolyam, 1-11. szám)
1985-10-01 / 10. szám
Anthropomorphic representations of God were less frequent. Hungarian archaeologists have nevertheless unearthed a beautiful terracotta divine statuette, representing a man, sitting on a throne and holding the Isten-symbol in his hand (Fig. 23). On the other hand, the human eye was often used to represent God on numerous occasions, probably Elaborate Sungate of Harasztosi, Hungary, flanked by two idols. Wooden columns on burial sites in present- Sun-door of Csik- day Hungary. Szent-Kir&ly, with a geometric decoration. because the Sun was considered as an all-seeing One-Eyed Giant. In this connection he was called Szem-Ur and Szemes ‘Eye God’ and ‘He who has an Eye’. The eye-motive is one of the most frequent decorative elements in Hungarian folklore and is called Isten szeme ‘God’s Eye’ (P 014 p. 78). Several villages and rivers were placed under the protection of the Eye-God, e.g. Szemes-on-Lake Balaton, Szomoróc and the river Szamos (= Szemes). In spite of the many traces of this Suncult in Ancient Hungary, it is almost unbelievable that no major research has been devoted to this problem of paramount historical importance. Shorter investigations have only been made during the last few years and shed some light upon certain aspects of the role of the Sungod in Hungary (P 004; P 003; P 121; P 020 and P 122). 3. Under whatever name the solar divinity might have been venerated in Hungary, it always had a multitude of servants at its disposal called Papok in the plural, and Pap in the singular, meaning ‘Priests’. They had a lot of things to do. Their duties included star-gazing, and the observation of the yearly path of the Sun, especially for the purpose of calendar-making. Certain other priests were assigned to special tasks, as was the case of the ‘Eye priests’ or ‘Sem priests’, whose distinctive garment was the spotted leopard skin thrown across over the shoulders when officiating. A further group of special priests consisted of ‘Male priests’ (Kan papok), whose exact duties have, however, not yet been elqcidated with sufficient clarity. At any rate, this saying was associated with them: Kár a kanpapnak a rák, which reads identically from both ends and means that “it is futile serving crab to a male priest.” This is because he dares not eat it, crabs being sacred to the solar divinity. Every priest used holy water extensively when officiating, exercised many charms and often wore a mask. When he was ncft wearing one, a feather was his usual head ornament. (To be continued) Eighth Hungarian Tribe Page 14
