G. R. H. Wright - The Asvatta Tree On The Vatican Hill PDF

The Asvatta Tree on the Vatican Hill
by G.R.H. Wright
At the centre of the world, about which it turns is the pole, the unmoving
regulator of all moving things. At this point horizontal direction ceases to have
significance, all such directions have the same sense (or lack of it), they are all
equally, away from the centre - cartographically they are all equally 'South'. Having
reached the centre the only meaningful direction to take is not horizontal but
vertical, and this signifies a change not of place but of state. Here very truly cujus est
solurn, eius est usque ab inferos ad coelam. It is no wonder that every race has made
use of these inescapable notions of centricity to order and understand life.
Accordingly at this point is envisaged the 'world hill' or 'the navel of the world', the
essential 'protoplasm' of creation. On this is the tree and a standing stone signifying
life in its two senses: life which is ever in generation and regeneration and therefore
in the ultimate sense is life eternal and unchanging. And by or beneath is a grave the
terminal and origin, the end and the beginning of total life, inde vita resurgeret (*).
All this is now generally known (2). It is not however so generally known that in
a considerable number of instances people imagine the tree not as growing up from
the earth with its roots in the ground, but as growing downwards towards the earth
with its roots in heaven. In short as an inverted or 'upside down' tree. The notion of
this inverted tree was common among the shamans of the north (Fig. 1) (3) and it
can also be found in more familiar Semitic traditions, e.g. those of the Zohar (4) and
(!) There is a vast literature in this connection, cf. AJ. Wensinck, The Ideas of the Western Semites
Concerning the Navel of the Earth, Amsterdam 1916; W. Roscher, Omphalos, Leipzig 1913; Id., Neue
Omphalos Studien, Leipzig 1915; Id., Der Omphalos Gedenk bei verschiedenen V?lkern, Leipzig 1918.
For a recent treatment there is a brief sketch in Vetus Testamentum, XX, 1970, pp. 75-82. Some of the
basic significances are well brought out in U. Holmberg, Der Baum des Lebens, Helsinki 1922 (Annales
Academiae Scientiarum Fennicae, XVI).
(2) For a general popular survey of the concept, v. E.A.S. Butterworth, The Tree at the Navel of the
Earth, Berlin 1970.
(3) This is extensively treated, v., e.g., E. Kagarow, 'Der umgekehrte Sch?menbaum', Archiv f?r
Religionswissenschaft, 1929, pp. 183-85; M. Eliade, Le chamanisme, Paris 1957, pp. 244 ff.; Id., Tinno
Ugric and Siberian Mythology', in The Mythology of All Races, Boston 1927, pp. 349 ff.
(4) Vide]. Campbell, The Mythic Image, Princeton 1974, p. 192; E. Goodenough, Jewish Symbols
in the Graeco-Roman Period, New York 1953-54, Vol. IV, pp. 92-93.
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Fig. 1 - a. The shamanic inverted tree. Wood carving in the Leningrad museum. (After Archiv f?r
Religionswissenschaft, 1929, pp. 27-28). b. Wood carving of compound mythological iconography
incorporating shamanic inverted tree. This group appears to show marked Christian influence (cf. the
Trinity and the Cross).
Islam (5). However it is presented most circumstantially in India - and it is from

Indian literature that the best understanding of its significance can be derived (6).
From the Rig Veda onwards Indian thought saw the ultimate constituent principle
of all existence (Brahman) in the image of the Asvatta tree (of life) and equally asserted
its inverted position Tn the non-ground (air) King Varuna, pure power upholds the
tree's crest; its ground is up above; (its branches) are below; may their banners (signal,
rays?) be planted deep in us5 (RV, I 24.1). And later in the Upanishads 'Root above,
branches below this primal fig tree. Pure indeed is its root, it is Brahman known as the
immortal. In it rest all the worlds. No one goes beyond it. All this verily is that tree'
(Katha Upanisad, 6.1). Ultimately the dual conception of the tree's stance springs from
the close connection of the tree of life with the fire of life (the sun). This is familiar to
(5) For the Sidra or The Tuba Tree v. AJ. Wensinck, Tree and Bird as Cosmological Symbols in
Western Asia, Amsterdam 1921, p. 33; G. Lechler, The Tree of Life in Indo European and Islamic
Cultures', Ars Islamica, IV, 1951, pp. 369-416.
(6) Vide, for a specific and metaphysical treatment, A. Coomaraswamy, 'The Inverted Tree', The
Quarterly Journal of the Mythic Society Bangalore, XXIX 2, Oct. 1938, pp. 111-49.
34 [2]
us in the winged solar disc which rests or hangs above the tree of life in western
Asiatic cylinder seals (7) and the like. And it is also in the biblical figure of the burning
bush (Ex, 3.1-5). However, it is equally open to see the fiery solar energy of life as
emanating in the topmost foliage of the tree or on the other hand as indeed being the
root of the tree and sending down its rays to the living world of men in and through
the branches of the tree. In either event the avenue of interpenetration between the
worlds is through the sun door (the Brahmand?ra) in the zenith (8).
This tree of life which connects men to the sun (the divine source of all life beyond
the world) and is the very stuff and staff of life is not only a figure of cosmic and mystic
significance (9). It is also of very powerful concern in the active life of man as an ethical
or religious being. The creation and maintenance alike of life (true life) comes from
sacrifice. Sacrifice consists in the offering of what is most valued and ultimately the
only true sacrifice is of the self. This living self is found only at the centre. As a victim it
is fixed inescapably to the centre - it is tied or nailed to the stake/mast. And thus the
stake or pole marks the place of sacrifice, the skamba becomes the yupa (10) and the
stauros the cross of crucifixion or the stake for burning (n). Or to make the cross
connection it is only at the stake where dtman discovers itself most truly brahman.
(7) Cf. e.g. H. Frankfort, Cylinder Seals, London 1939, N.B. seals of the Syrian groups illustrated
on pis. XL-XLV; G. Lechler, The Tree of Life', Ars Islamica, IV, 1937, pp. 369-414, figs. 68-79 passim;
H. Danthine, Le palmier dattier et les arbres sacres dans l'Sonographie de VAsie Occidentale Ancienne,
Paris 1937, passim; N. Parrot, Les representations de l'arbre sacre sur les monuments de Mesopotamie et
d'Elam, Paris 1937, p. 114 et passim.
(8) The concept of the sun door is not immediately self apparent since astronomy knows the sun as
a body (a heavenly body). However, when the heavens were thought of as an awning or tent
('Weltmantel') our heavenly bodies appeared as 'holes' in the mantle and thus afforded a passage to a
higher world. Pre-eminent in this connection was of course the sun - and the pole star (cf. R. Eisler,
Weltmantel und Himmelzelt, M?nich 1910).
(9) The low country mystic John of Ruysbroeck (1293-1381) in particular was taken with the image
of the upside-down tree for communicating the path of remotion (v., for convenience, Campbell, op.
cit., p. 192) while Dante employs it several times as a figure in the Divine Comedy (v. Purgatorio,
Cantos XXII-XXV, for commentary Coomaraswamy, op. cit., p. 132).
(10) For the sacrificial post (yupa) aspect of the indian central tree v. Coomaraswamy, op. cit.,
pp. 122-24 (however his knowledge crammed elliptical presentation is by no means transparent!). The
name of the tree Asvatta means the station of the horse - i.e. where the horse is tethered to the post (cf.
Yagdrasil and Odin's horse). And the horse is at one Agni and the Sun and the grandest of all sacrificial
victims in the famous horse sacrifice. Once more is demonstrated the identity of victim and victor,
devotee and divinity. Only Siva can adore Siva; the only offering is self offering, cf. Odin in the
Havamal Saga and the sacrifice of the totem animal.
(n) For the fundamental unity between the cosmic and sacrificial aspects of this image
v. Butterworth, op. cit., pp. 208 ff. (the Lothar Kreuz). For the specifically upside-down tree as the
sacrificial stake, cf. Holmberg, op. cit., p. 55, 'Dem Kirvaradien, einem Gott der Vegetation [...] wird in
jedem Herbst ein mannliches Renntier geopfert [...] und eine junger [...] ausgegrabener Baum wird ihm
zu ehren bei dem Opferaltar so aufgestelt, dass der Wipfel nach der Erde und die Wurzelen nach dem
Himmel gerichtet sind; dieser Baum wird mit dem Blut des Ochsen, den man ihm opfert bestrichen'.
[3] 35
When these things are considered it is indeed strange to observe that the figure
of the upside down tree is unfamiliar in the western tradition.
II
The oecumenical patron of western Christendom is St. Peter. And according to

an accepted tradition he met his end in a dramatic manner in Rome c. 64-69 A.D. on
the Vatican Hill where now stands his shrine, St. Peter's - the metropolitan church
of the west (12). There are a few brief references to this episode in early patristic
literature (e.g. Tertullian, Eusebius etc.) (13) and it is made the climax of an
apocryphal book, The Acts ofPeter written probably c. 200 A.D. (14).
The essentials of this account are as follows.
Peter's ministry in Rome became ever more sensational with signs and wonders.
Eventually the compulsive effect of his teaching on Roman matrons and lighter
ladies (it caused them to neglect or even renounce their civil duties) brought about
his denunciation to the infatuated city prefect Agrippa. Counselled by the brethren,
Peter reluctantly accepted to leave Rome. However on so doing he met Christ or a
vision of Christ was accorded to him, the famous Domine quo vadis episode (15).
And as he went forth from the city he saw the Lord entering into Rome. And when
he saw him he said: Lord whither goest thou thus? And the Lord said unto him:
I go into Rome to be crucified. And Peter said unto him: Lord art thou being
(12) Convenient accounts of St. Peter's life incorporating the tradition of his ministry and death at
Rome can be found in any biblical dictionary, e.g. F. Cabrol & H. Leclerque, Dictionnaire d'archeologie
chretienne et de liturgie, Paris 1923-53, Vol. XIV 1, cols. 822 ff. More recent notices are F.L. Cross &
E.A. Livingstone, The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, New York 1997, pp. 1067-1068; The
New Church Dictionary, London 1962, s.v. 'Peter'. The controversial proceedings with respect to the
alleged discovery of the tomb of the Apostle beneath the altar of St. Peter's have occasioned reports
which deal with the tradition of Peter's presence in Rome v., e.g., M. Guarducci, The Tomb of St. Peter,
London 1960.
(13) At least there are references indicating it was believed at this time that SS. Peter and Paul were
associated together in their later lives and in their deaths, which thus for Peter expressly or by
inference, can be placed at Rome - cf., e.g., Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch's Epistle to the Romans
reported by Eusebius {Ecclesiastical History, 11.25.8 = Migne, Patrologia Graeca, XX, 209a); Tertullian
Concerning Prescriptions Against Heretics, 36 = Patrologia Latina, II, Cols. 5813-59a; Against the
Gnostics, 15 = Patrologia Latina, II, Cols. 174B-75B; Against Marcion, IV 5 = Patrologia Latina, Col.
395c. However, it is not difficult to upset the factuality of these beliefs by way of inconsistencies, cf.
J. Rowe, St. Peter, Oxford 1956, p. 27; K. Heussi, Die r?mische Petrustradition in kritischer Sicht,
T?bingen 1955; D.W. O'Conner, Peter in Rome, New York 1969. Unfortunately this question tends to
be clouded by involvement in Christian sectarian polemics.
(14) Vide R. Vouaux, Les actes de Pierre, Paris 1922; M. James, The Apocryphal New Testament,
Oxford 1953, pp. 300-36. The former considers the tradition of Peter at Rome at pp. 89 ff.
(15) Vide Acts of Peter, XXXV; James, op. cit., p. 333.
36 [4]
crucified again? He said unto him: Yea, Peter, I am being crucified again. And
Peter came to himself; and having beheld the Lord ascending up into heaven, he
returned to Rome, rejoicing and glorifying the Lord for that he had said I am being
crucified: the which was about to befall Peter.
Embracing this destiny with serenity Peter delivered himself up to the officers of
justice and when the appointed time came reconciled the people to his end and the
instruments thereof (16).
And having approached and standing by the cross he began to say [...] 'O name of
the cross thou hidden mystery. O grace ineffable that is pronounced in the name of
the cross [...]' etc., etc.
'But now it is time for thee, Peter, to deliver up thy body to them that take it.
Receive it then, ye unto whom it belongeth. I beseech you the executioners, crucify
me thus, with the head downwards and not otherwise: and the reason whereof I will
tell unto them that hear'. (Which he does at length and in several manners while
hanging in this position!). (Fig. 2).
St. Peter thus consciously identified himself through his stasis with the sacrificial
aspect of the sacred upside down tree - that widespread figure of man's
understanding. And that there is nothing episodic nor accidental about this
association is readily apparent in considering the location of the sacrifice with its
conformation and properties.
Ill
The apocryphal Acts which are concerned to elaborate the manner of St. Peter's
martyrdom do not identify the site where this took place. This information first
appears a century or so later in accounts based on the Acts. A Roman version
falsely attributed to Linus (disciple and successor of the apostle) states that Peter
was crucified '[...] near Nero's obelisk by the hill' (17) (Fig. 3). St. Jerome writing at
the end of the fourth century specifically names the locality (recognisable to anyone
familiar with the topography of Rome) as '[...] on the Vatican near the Via
Triumphalis' (18). While another fourth century narrative based on the Acts of
Peter, that of the Pseudo Marcellus (the senator who was Peter's patron and
follower) states that Marcellus and helpers took Peter's body from the cross and
placed it '[...] under the terebrinth near the Naumachia in a place called the
Vatican' (19).
(16) Vide Acts of Peter, XXXVII; James, op. tit., p. 334.

(17) Cf. Guarducci, op. tit., p. 37.
(18) Vide Jerome, On Illustrious Men = Patrologia Latina, XXII, col. 6639a.
(19) Vide Pseudo Marcellus, Passion of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, apud Guarducci, op. tit., p. 42.
[5] 37
Fig. 2 - The iconography of St. Peter is of interest. So far as is immediately apparent there are no
antique (Early Christian) representations of St. Peter. However in Early Mediaeval (Romanesque) times
a Petrine Cycle was strongly developed. This iconography was expressed equally in architectural
decoration and illuminated manuscripts. Interestingly it was the apocryphal version of St. Peter's life
which was probably the more popular cycle. It was the convention to represent the crucifixion of
St. Peter in tandem with the decapitation of St. Paul. There was, of course, some 'historical' foundation
for this, but the juxtaposition of the two themes was developed with great ingenuity both graphically
and symbolically. The complete image of the cross (stauros) as tree (of life) involves its centricity so as
to provide the axis mundi of transformation. The contour of the kneeling victim (Paul) below the cross
reproduces exactly the primordial hill of creation, and the severed head of the Saint stands for the skull
(Golgol) indicating the redemption of mankind at the scene of the original crucifixion (Golgotha,
Calvery) outside Jerusalem, a. Crucifixion of St. Peter. Illuminated manuscript in Irrea, c. 1000 A.D.
(After C.K. Carr, Aspects of the Iconography of St. Peter in Mediaeval Art of Western Europe, Microfilm
Thesis 1978, fig. 314). b. Crucifixion of St. Peter. Illuminated manuscript in Munich Staats bib. CLM
16002, c. 1150 A.D. {Ibid., fig. 294). At this period the ladder becomes a common item. The ladder is
functional, but at the same time it is an added symbol of ascension which cannot be mistaken.
With these accounts the locality of Peter's sacrificial death and burial is specified
as the Vatican and invested with all the properties of the cosmic centre, the imago
mundi, viz primal hill; standing stone (obelisk); tree (terebinth) and holy grave. And
be it noted that the obelisk and terebinth double in significance the crucifixion
38 [6]
Fig. 3 - The traditional site of the crucifixion of St. Peter 'on the Vatican near Nero's obelisk by the hill [...],
near the Via Triumphalis'. This was also the location of the Phrygianum (the Sanctuary of Attis and Cybele).
where Peter (the Rock) is hung on the cross (the tree). Or is it better to say that the
figure of St. Peter's crucifixion exemplifies the sacred tree and stone standing on the
Vatican?
In view of this striking picture it is of interest briefly to enquire concerning the
association of the Vatican site independent of and anterior to Peter's crucifixion (20).
The etymology of the name is not clear and is presumably Etruscan since the
area originally was Veii territory. Pliny the elder states that there was a venerable oak
in the region which an Etruscan inscription in bronze letters declared to be sacred
(v. Natural History, XV 23). Pliny's oak may be considered either as the terebinth
(the two species are reckoned interchangeable in the Old Testament as sacred
trees) (21) or as an ancestor in the same tradition.
Furthermore to this old established tree cult on the Vatican St. Peter was in
his day not the only heir. At exactly the time of the first notices of St. Peter's
passion (later 2nd century) there was a sanctuary, the Phrygianum, in the area for
the worship of the tree-god Attis and the Great Mother (22). Many reliefs of this
(20) Vide Guarducci, op. cit., pp. 50-51; Sir J. Frazer, The Golden Bough, Vol. IV 1, 'Attis, Adonis,
Osiris'.
(21) Vide H.W. & A.L. Moldenke, P&?/j of the Bible, New York 1952, s.v. 'Quercus', pp. 193-99,
Pistacia terebinthus var. Palestina, pp. 178-79.
(22) Vide MJ. Vermaseren, Cybele and Attis, London 1957, pp. 45-51; Guarducci, op. cit., p. 51.
[7] 39
latter cult have been discovered in the vicinity depicting precisely the sacred
tree (23).
The fertility cult of the dying god Attis and the Great Mother Cybele was
introduced to Rome from its seat at Pessinus in Asia Minor in 204 B.C. as a measure
of salvation during a critical phase in the struggle against Hannibal. And 250 years
later during the reign of the Emperor Claudius it was incorporated in the established
state religion (24). Attis the son of a virgin mother (Nana) sacrificed himself by a tree
and the great festival of the cult centred around the raising up of a sacred (pine) tree
swathed like a corpse in a winding sheet to which was fastened an effigy of the
young dying god (25). At the period under discussion the ancient fertility cult of
physical renewal and increase was celebrated primarily as a mystery religion of
spiritual renewal and increase. In Spring time, precisely at the vernal equinox, there
was enacted a three day cycle of death (on the tree), burial and resurrection. The
denouement was intensely dramatic. At the dead of night a light shone in darkness
and the tomb stood open - the god had risen from the dead. And the following day,
March 25th, the resurrection was made fit subject for general rejoicing, the famous
Hilaria, a 'Roman Carnival'. The style and juncture both are, of course, identical
with Easter (26).
IV
It is, of course, impossible to speak with circumstantiality concerning matters

then of little public consequence two thousand years past and first reported in
propaganda fashion a century or more after their alleged occurrence. However as
things stand there is not much reason to consider as historical the outlined account
of St. Peter's activities and death in Rome. Other than the apocryphal Acts and later
versions deriving from it, early note of St. Peter's presence in Rome is meagre,
cursory and indeed inferential (27). So far as the Acts are concerned, these are cast in
a form which is quite ahistorical. In the first place the author parodies unmercifully,
indeed programatically, the account of the passion of Christ. His transparent
purpose is to recapitulate for Rome what the passion narrative established for
(23) Vide MJ. Vermaseren, Corpus Cultus Cybelae Attidisque (CCCA) III Italia-Latium, Leiden
1977, N.B. pp. 47 ff., fig. 5.
(24) Vide Vermaseren, Cybele and Attis, cit., pp. 38-41; HJ. Rose, A Handbook of Greek Mythology,
London 1965, p. 125, ancient authorities cited, p. 170, n. 95; Frazer, op. cit., 'Attis, Adonis, Osiris'.
(25) Vide Vermaseren, Cybele and Attis, cit., pp. 82, 92.
(26) Vide ibid., pp. 113-24; A. Loisy, Les mysteres p?iens et le mystere chretien, Paris 1930; Frazer,
op. cit., 'Attis, Adonis, Osiris'.
(27) Cf. D.F. Robinson, 'When and Where Did Peter Die?', Journal of Biblical Literature, 64, 1945,
pp. 257-62. For the interconnection of the Acts and the other patristic references v. Vouaux, op. cit.,
pp. 116 ff.
40 [8]
Jerusalem. The following equations are manifest: Peter = Christ; Marcellus = Joseph
of Arimathea/Nicodemus; Agrippa + wife = Pilate + wife, and cf. Herod Agrippa
who vexes Peter in Acts 12; Simon = Judas Thomas; Nero = Tiberius. It should be
noted that the echoes are not only of the canonical Gospels but also of traditions
incorporated in other apocryphal literature - N.B. developments concerning Pilate,
Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, cf. The Gospel of Nicodemus, or The Acts of
Pilate (28).
Moreover it has been pointed out that in earlier canonical scripture is found
what well could be a suitably expressed tradition of Peter's miraculous 'release' in
Palestine twenty years previous to his supposed Roman death (29). Acts (12) recounts
that when Herod the King (Herod Agrippa) vexed the church, executing James the
son of Zebedee, he also imprisoned Peter under guard. But an angel of the Lord
came, smote Peter on the side then roused him up and led him out of prison. Peter
made his way to a house where his fellow Christians were assembled, appeared
before them and then 'departed and went into another place' {Acts, 12.17). The
Greek original e7rop?u6r| eiq exepov x?nov and the English translation both alike
can be readily understood as a euphemism for death (cf. English 'to go', 'his going
hence' etc.) and would doubtless be so understood but for the tradition of Peter's
ministry and martyrdom in Rome (30).
If in view of the foregoing, the account of Peter in Rome appears decidedly more
legendary than historical, then some account is demanded of the circumstances
which would provide for such a legend - i.e. it is required to replace the myth of
history by the history of the myth. For this there would seem to be intrinsic
evidence.
The apocryphal Acts of Peter can be reduced to two themes: Peter's conflict with
a rival and his death in the manner outlined. According to the Acts from the moment
of his arrival in Rome Peter was engaged in combating an inferior adversary who
'prevented' him - Simon Magus (31). This figure was cast in the type of the armer
Teufel or 'lame devil'. The latter in good earnest, since when he exhibits his
competence as an aeronaut Peter brings him down with spiritual fire causing him to
crash and break his leg (in three places to vindicate the Trinity). In a word Simon
Magus is the image of the dark side, 'the shadow' of Simon Peter and the conflict
between the two figures images the psychic conflict within the apostolic self.
Again when Peter is hanging upside down on the cross and explaining the
significance of this, he communicates his meaning by images. He adverts to birth on
the model of the fall of man. 'Learn ye the mystery of all nature and the beginning of
(28) Vide James, op. tit., pp. 94-165.

(29) Vide Robinson, 'When and Where Did Peter Die?', tit., pp. 255-67.
(30) Vide W.M. Smaltz, 'Did Peter Die in Jerusalem?', Journal of Biblical Literature', 71, 1952,
pp. 211-16.
(31) Vide Acts of Peter, VI-XXXII; James, op. tit., pp. 311-32.
[9] 41
all things what it was. For the first man whose race I bear in mine appearance fell
(i.e. was born) head downwards' (32). With this graphic image St. Peter alludes to a
whole congery of related concepts - the anterior high estate of the human soul and
the inverted values which result from its descent into the material world etc. (33).
Now both these themes of the Acts of Peter are inspired to represent gnostic
ideas (34) as all the authorities have perforce recognised (35).
The first theme dramatises the psychic conflicts by personae (36) (cf. Faust
Mephistopheles) (37) in a manner similar to the gnostic literature regarding Judas
Thomas 'the contender'. And thereby once again a parallel is drawn with the story of
Jesus by the representation of the dark adversary who is the twin, the destructive self
doubter, the false betrayer within. In the Acts of Veter Simon Magus plays the role of
Judas Thomas, and Simon Magus is a founding figure of Gnosticism (38). (The roots
of all this are of course contained in the canonical Acts, 8.9-24 where overtly Peter
emerges as the first church father and Simon as the first heretic. However in this
conflict between Simon Rock and Simon Magician (39), the latter figure is already
seen to be the negative, materialist counterpart of the former).
(32) Vide Acts of Peter, XXXVIII; James, op. tit., p. 334.

(33) Cf. Vouaux, op. tit., p. 67, for a doctrinal commentary on these issues.
(34) For an overall apercu of Gnosticism by far the best general work is still H. Jonas, The Gnostic
Religion, Boston 1963. This work sounds on the existential plane and at the same time devotes some
specific consideration to almost every leading concept within the ambit.
(35) Cf. e.g. Cabrol & Leclerque, op. tit., Vol. XIV 1, col. 845, 'Dans cette situation il addresse ? la
foule un discours ou il n'est pas difficile de reconnaitre le theme favori des docteurs dualistes,
gnostique [... etc.]'; The New Bible Dictionary, London 1972, s.v. 'Peter': 'Peter's influence seems to
have been particularly strong among gnostic and other heterodox groups'. N.B. also the Coptic Act of
Peter relating to his daughter and the temptations of the flesh which probabiy comes from the same
original compilation and Though not explicitly Gnostic in character, the Coptic Act of Peter would
have been attractive to ascetic gnostics [...]'. J.M. Robinson, The Nag Hammadi Library, Leiden 1977,
pp. 475 ff.
(36) This patent dramatisation of the psyche is in itself an immediate proclamation of a gnostic
environment. For what are all the Aeons, Archons and other figures of Gnostic mythology, or rather
the meaningful of them when the system is reduced from inflation, but the layers, levels and workings
of the human spirit?
(37) It is impossible not to advert to the Faust story in connection with the conflict between Simon
Peter and Simon Magus in the apocryphal Acts. Well might this be so since Simon Magus is without
doubt the original figure about which the Faust story crystalised - N.B. his 'anima' Helen whom he
took from a Tyre brothel (cf. E.M. Butler, The Myth of the Magus, Cambridge 1948; Id., The Fortunes
of Faust, Cambridge 1952). Only be it noted if Simon Magus is the protagonist then Peter is the
Mephistopheles, cf. Peter's devilish frustration of Simon's ascension to the higher sphere. The two
famous European versions of the story are neatly contrasted on this score. Goethe gives an apostolic
(Peter) face to the Faust figure and Marlowe an heretical (Simon Magus) face to his Faust figure.
(38) For a mise en point of the gnostic Simon Magus v. Jonas, op. tit., pp. 103-11, and for some recent
consideration S. Arai, in M. Krause, ed., Gnosis and Gnosticism, Nag Hamadi Studies, XVII, Leiden
1981, pp. 3-15; also J. Doresse, The Secret Books of the Egyptian Gnostics, London 1960, pp. 329-32.
(39) For Cephas (Peter) as an epithet rather than a proper name v. J. Lowe, St. Peter, Oxford 1956.
42 [10]
Moreover this same device of psychological dramatisation provides the nexus
between the two themes. This is the Domine quo vadis episode where Peter, while
seeking to avoid his destiny, was confronted with his true or higher self in the aspect
of Christ. That is to say having defeated the machinations of the 'shadow', Peter
experiences the moment of truth where the fiv?tman first sees its image in the
paramattnan.
As for the manner of Peter's martyrdom this clearly adverts to the original high
estate or divinity of the human soul, from which pleroma (40) of divinity (godhead)
the life of man in the world of appearances (nature) is conditioned or derived by
emanation from the high (aeon) to the lower. In this latter, more or less wretched
condition, the knowledge or gnosis which is a saving grace, is the knowledge of the
original higher 'supernatural' state of existence. Of this, in some mysterious way, our
lower world of nature is an image. Perhaps indeed it is most like an inverted image, a
mirror image. In any event the practical aspect of gnostic Christianity was to image a
world in which the bible was turned upside down.
The Gnostic programme of inverting biblical values can assume a subtle
psychological form - and the overall figure cut by Peter in the apocryphal Acts may
be very well a case in point. The authors of Christian gnostic literature had the
advantage of working over pre-existing characterisations in the canonical scriptures.
In some cases, this advantage was used with sensitivity. The story of Peter's
martyrdom at Rome is intended to provide an archetypal figure of inversion/conversion
and it does this by employing an outward and visible sign. However, it is not too far
fetched to see a parallel design worked out on the psychological plane. Certainly the
figure presented gains in intensity by being set against the background of Peter's
nature and career as given in the canonical gospels and acts. There a distinct
tendency exists to portray Peter with a markedly hylic temperament (e.g. he is set as
the antithesis of John). He is simple and direct in understanding, a man of action not
reflection - cf. his material perception of the role of the Messiah as a political one
(Mark, 8.27-33) and the physical aggression against the High Priest's servant during
the betrayal scene (John, 18.10) (41). In the gnosticised martyrdom Peter preaches
the necessity for an inversion of values (anything but a material understanding)
which he demonstrates in the physical manner of his death. But an even more
poignant demonstration of in version/con version is the psychological one whereby
(40) For the pleroma in gnosticism with its psychological connotations v. a good recent study of
V. MacDermot, The Concept of Pleroma in Gnosticism', in Krause, ed., Gnosis and Gnosticism, cit.,
pp. 77-81.
(41) This hylic cast has been represented as evidence of Peter's inner duality v. O. Cullman,
'L'Apotre Petre instrument de diable et instrument de Dieu', in New Testament Essays and Studies in
Memory ofT.W. Manson, Manchester 1959, pp. 94-105, cf. 'But Jesus turned around and looking at his
disciples, rebuked Peter "Away with you Satan" he said "you think as men think not as God thinks'"
(Mark, 8.33).
[11] 43
Peter's hylic temperament of the canonical scriptures undergoes a complete
inversion so as to become an extremely pneumatic man who is the self sacrificer (and
incidentally belies the prediction of Christ in John, 21.18).
There is clear indication then on the face of it that the apocryphal Acts of Peter
were written in an environment where Gnostic ideas were familiar (42). This is the
historical background to the legend of St. Peter's death in Rome and the meaning
and purport of the legend may be now considered a little within this general Gnostic
framework.
The legendary account of the Saint's martyrdom in Rome embodie

of Peter is a highly charged communication of religious imagery.
The martyrdom is prefigured by the only part of the Acts to hav
something like household knowledge and this part also contain
indication of the Gnostic influence on the work. Peter sees his image in
Christ and is brought to demand of himself the question of question
you going?'.
Ere Babylon was dust
The magus Zoroaster.
Met his own image walking in the garden.
That apparition, sole of men, he saw.
'And Peter said unto the Lord art thou being crucified again. He
Yea Peter I am being crucified again ... And he (Peter) returned to R
and glorifying the Lord, for that he said: I am being crucified: the whic
to befall Peter' (43). That is for Peter (as his apostolic colleague would ha
was 'Not I but Christ in me' who was to be made the sacrificial
moment of truth Peter was to become an avatar of the one and only
who is both redeemer and redeemed.
All this is obvious on a general view. But the fact is this episode
technical concept of Gnosticism and goes back to Avestan doctrine. T
found are daine and grev. The lexical meanings of both include inn
spiritual self. The application of the concept is seen in both M
Manichaean religion and it signifies the hyperessential inner man,
(42) The Gnostic colouring of the Acts has, of course, been obvious from the b
earlier authorities sought to minimise this doctrinally, cf. Vouaux, op. cit., p. 88: 'Son
celui d'une ?me pieuse et simple; sincere et naif, il ne se met pas en garde contre le
tendencieuses [...] Quant au reproche de gnosticisme et de manicheisme, il faut le laiss
disparaite peu ? peu dans l'antique arsenal de Tecole de Tubingue'!
(43) Vide Acts of Peter, XXXV; James, op. cit., p. 333.
44 [12]
which becomes manifest at the approach of death and is furthermore mystically
identical with the highest godhead - cf. 'I go to meet my image [...] the figure of
light that comes to meet the dying [...] the living self, the luminous self (44).
When the stage is set for martyrdom Peter's stasis is a prophetic figure in itself
(cf. the actions and stations with which the Old Testament prophets like Hosea,
Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekial signified their messages) but Peter's is a total figure. By
hanging head downwards on the stake Peter makes apparent a vertical analysis of
existence directed anterior/superior. And the Saint's words on the cross are very
explicit, being a simple commentary on the figure (45).
[...] The figure wherein you see me hanging is the representative of that man that
first came to birth. Ye therefore my beloved [...] ought to cease from your former
error and return back again. For it is right to mount upon the cross of Christ [...]
i.e. sacrifice is the true destiny of man (or the destiny of the true man) and the
sacrificial stake has a twin nature.
For what else is Christ but the word, the power of God? So that word is the
upright beam whereon I am crucified.
i.e. the sacrifice is made by attachment to the true doctrine, word, logos, reason -
but at the same time this word is the living word, it is equally life, true life as St. Peter
explains.
O word of life called now by me the tree (wood) or perhaps O word called now
by me the tree of life. (46)
All of which is to say that it is the true man's destiny to sacrifice his nature by the
agony of Fixation to the higher law of life, the true reason or knowledge of things.
And in doing this the whole stance of what appears to be existence is inverted,
turned upside down (47).
In this fashion both by his stance and his speech St. Peter invokes a congery of
four powerful concepts which are themselves very closely related and mutually
reinforcing: the tree, the cross, sacrifice, inversion. The tree denotes cosmic life, the
eternal regenerative process, so that to die on the tree is to live forever. This central
tree corresponds to the cross of redemption which is indeed often represented as a
tree. The cross has a specifically religious connotation of providing the soul with an
ascent to God. This it does by way of the agony of experience at the crossing where
the soul is defined (individuated) by the positive vertical axis cutting at one point the
(44) An excellent analysis of this concept is given in Jonas, op. tit., pp. 122-27. It is also discussed
very fully by H. Corbin, The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism, London 1978, cf. pp. 30-34.
(46) Vide Acts of Peter, XXXIX; James, op. tit., p. 335.
(47) It is, of course, impossible to specify what in the ultimate sense is erect and what is inverted.
All that can be done is to be aware of the mechanical fact of inversion. The lens of the human eye is an
inverting lens which produces an inverted image on the retina. Thus what is considered erect and what
inverted is eventually a question of mental attitude.
[13] 45
multiplicity of natural phenomena expressed in the negative horizontal axis. Here is
made the sacrifice of all cherished illusions. And sacrifice in itself is an inverting
principle since it assures a continuity of life by fusing together opposites and then
inverting them so that life comes out of death, creation out of destruction. All this
may be summarised to the effect Tree/Cross + Sacrifice/Inversion > Creation.
Thus in brief is some estimation of what is imaged by the legendary figure of
St. Peter's martyrdom. Now these concepts or images are not specifically Gnostic ones.
They are in their nature quite universal. However, in his lucid commentary St. Peter
refines his meaning concerning these concepts by ideas and turns of phrase which
certainly are Gnostic in character.
When Peter adumbrates the significance of inversion he employs a figure of
speech, a technical term - 'the left hand, the right hand'. He says \by his fall man)
changed about all the marks of nature so that he thought the things which were not
fair to be fair and those that in truth were to be evil to be good' - a sufficient
description of the topsy-turvy condition of life in the amoral world of nature. But
Peter goes on to point up this description 'Concerning which the Lord saith in a
mystery "Unless you make the things of the right hand as those of the left and and
those of the left as those of the right [...] ye shall not have knowledge of the
kingdom'". Now these two expressions are common Gnostic technical terms, the
left hand signifying the world of nature (of appearances, sams?ra - 'this phantom
ghost life's piercing pain') and the right hand the real world of knowledge
(gnosis) (48); which is to say the higher and the lower world. Accordingly Peter adds
another parallel technical characterisation of inversion '[...] and those that are
above as those below'. This of course explicitly refers to the celebrated 'tabula
smaragdina' with its 'as above, so below' revelation (49). And the 'tabula smaragdina'
was a prized gnostic possession. To these remarks of Peter the sayings of Jesus in the
Gospel of Thomas give an exact parallel. Consider 'Jesus said "When you make the
two one (the coincidentia oppositorum) and when you make the inside like the
outside and when you make the outside like the inside {as without, so within) and
the above like the below [...] then you shall enter into the kingdom etc.'" (50).
There are moreover other parts of the Saint's discourse where his terminology is
very similar to that employed in Gnostic writings. In his peroration the Saint is
careful to disassociate his communication from all taint of the natural world of the
flesh - and therefore he is left only with the great mystery of silence (31).
(48) For the dualist doctrine of Right and Left in Gnosticism v. F. Sagnard, La gnose valentinienne
et le temoignage de saint Irenee, Paris, 1947, pp. 544-45; Doresse, op. cit., p. 14; E. Drower, The Secret
Adam, Oxford 1960, pp. 6, 13, 19. For an impression of the equivalent Indian usage in this connection,
the man in the right eye and the man in the left eye, v. Coomaraswamy, op. cit., pp. 139-40, n. 47.
(49) Vide J. Ruska, Tabula Smaragdina, Heidelberg 1926.
(50) Vide The Gospel of Thomas translated in Robinson, ed., op. cit., nos. 22-121.
(51) Vide Acts of Peter, XXXIX; James, op. cit., p. 335.
46 [14]
I give thee thanks, not with the lips that are nailed on the cross, nor with this tongue
by which truth and falsehood issue forth, nor with this word which comes forth by
means of art whose nature is material but with that voice do I give thee thanks O
King which is perceived in silence, which is not heard openly, which proceedeth
not forth from organs of the body, which goeth not into the ears of the flesh [...]
Again all this is very similar in terms to the Gospel of Thomas, a strong work
close enough in colour to the orthodox Gospels to command respect yet essentially
Gnostic (52). Consider: Jesus said "I shall give you what no eye hath seen and what
no ear has heard and what no hand has touched, and what never has occurred to the
human mind"' i53) (cf. Peter's initial injunction 'separate your soul from everything
which is of the senses') (54).
The doctrine of the ultimate silence in the face of the ultimate mystery is of course
very reminiscent of the Vedanta i55) - cf. the 'Those who say do not know, those who
know do not say' syndrome. However, like many other ideas and locutions in Gnostic
writings the resemblance is rather one of general symptomatic impression than
anything precise which is specifically demonstrable. All mysteries end in silence - cf.
the final act of the Eleusinian mysteries where an ear of corn was held up in silence
before the mystae. And there can be little doubt that the Acts of Peter were reckoned
esoteric teaching - they were not to be discussed in the market place.
However, as opposed to this it would seem almost impossible to deny that some
knowledge of Indian terms and ideas lay behind St. Peter's exposition of the
constitution of the cross. He explains 'So the word (i.e. Christ, the logos) is the
upright beam whereon I am crucified. And the sound is that which crosses it, the
nature of man'. The characteristion of the vertical element as the divine (numinous)
axis and the horizontal as the natural (phenomenal) axis/barrier is a ready enough
understanding but when we hear of the reason and the sound together constituting
divine power, then Indian concepts like sabda, v?ch-vir?j (56) come immediately to
(52) A general appraisal of the Gospel of Thomas could well fit the Acts of Peter. 'According to the
Gospel of Thomas the basic religious experience is not only the recognition of one's divine entity
(r?japutra theme) but more specifically the recognition of one's origin (the light) and destiny (the repose).
In order to return to one's origin the disciple is to become separate from the world by stripping off the
fleshiy garment and passing by the present corruptible existence, then the disciple can experience the new
world, the beginning of light, peace and life'; v. Robinson, The Nag Hammadi Library, tit., p. 117.
(53) Vide ibid, no. 17, p. 120.
(55) For silence (= s?nya) as the highest form of sound, the means of communication of the
ultimate understanding of man, v. H.B. Walker, Hindu World, London 1968, pp. 452-53.
(56) For sabda (sound) as the eternal absolute principle self sufficient in itself v. Walker, op. tit.,
p. 436, where a striking community with the Gnostic concept of Logos is noted (cf. E. Wood, Vedantic
Dictionary, New York 1974, pp. 177-78). For the exemplification of sabda in the v?ch-vir?j binary v.
J. Dowson, Hindu Classical Dictionary, London 1978, pp. 329-30, 359. Here the dynamic generative
aspect of speech abuts directly on the idea of gnosis itself. The creative union of power and intelligence
also calls to mind the figure of Sophia in the gnostic system.
[15] 47
mind. And such associations are strongly reinforced when the cross is explained as
the vehicle of Christ'[...] who is the word stretched out, the one and only, whom the
spirit saith [...]' (51). Here the spatial extension of the word, the filling up space by
the only true existent is an echo of the n?ma-r?pa manifestation of Brahman by way
of a theophany (58).
Perhaps the most striking piece of religious imagery is that used by the Saint
when he goes on here to explain the articulation of the two elements of the cross.
He says: 'And the nail which holdeth the cross tree into the upright in the midst
thereof is the conversion and repentence of man' (59). Here indeed is the point of
his discourse and the whole significance of his exposition of his upside down
figure is centred on it. For be it observed there is a momentous ambiguity in the
critical words of Peter's sermon. And this provides for very different levels of
understanding. To make the things of the right hand as the left hand etc. in the
immediate sense is understood as expressing inversion/conversion - to put the
one thing in the place of the other, to understand one thing in the sense of the
other. This adverts to the essential hour glass dynamics of the cosmos, the
enantiadromia where every theory eventually runs to and into its opposite and
back again. This is the import of Peter's words for the market place and
sufficiently important they are.
However, the same words express a very different concept, to make the things
of the right hand as those of the left hand ... and those that are above as those
below etc. means equally directly to abolish all distinction between the two
opposites, to reduce them to a unity. And this concept is the basic one of all
esoteric doctrine - the coincidentia oppositorutn, the supra-logical perception
which permits life in the face of all killing conflicts. This is the eternal day which
subsists through all apparent inversions of day and night. And this is clearly
represented in Peter's cross by the central nail which is the conversion of man. At
this point we are 'beyond the clashing Semplegades' in Greek expression or in and
through the sun door (brahman dar a) 'where the sun no more rises nor sets' of
Indian thought (60).

(5S) Vide Coomaraswamy, op. tit., p. 111.
D XXXVIII; James, op. tit., p. 335.
(60) A. Coomaraswamy takes in this mise en valeur of the nail and gives the Indian background, v.,
op. tit., p. 143, n. 55, cf. n. 64.
This nail as a quintessential pars pro toto has broken loose from being a sub-symbol to enjoying a
widespread significance as a primary symbol in its own right. It is especially in the Shaman lands of the
North where this development occurs. And not only is the nail considered to articulate the cosmos and
provide for the rotation of the heavens but from this last function it is given a markedly astronomic or
astral significance, so that the pole star is called the 'Nail Star' (originally perhaps the Nailed Star). This
characterisation of the Pole Star is equally referred to as the 'Earth Nail' or the 'North Nail' and
inevitably the 'World Nail' (v. Holmberg, op. tit., pp. 10-11).
48 [16]
When the various aspects mentioned above are set together, the picture of the
martyrdom of Peter contained in the apocryphal Acts appears a work of genius. And
so it is - the genius of the age. Time in its season turns all things to account. Never
has the upside-down tree been imaged to more purpose than here. This controlling
image most probably came to hand from India. As Peter's cross and pulpit it was at
once a tree of life and death and a tree of knowledge of good and evil. Its inverted
stance responded not only to its original function of esoteric transvaluation and
trans-substantiation but in addition it spoke directly of and to an age where the
visible order of things was being turned upside down. This image was planted on a
central hill where there had been a sacred tree before the arrival of Roman power. In
latter days an oecumenical Eastern cult had appropriated the site and its properties.
This cult had become a mystery religion of personal salvation through the
identification of the saviour and the saved and was itself a fit vehicle for gnostic
interpretation (61): little imagination being required to see Cybele as a pleroma
symbol and a logos symbol in Attis (62). However, the more powerful vehicle for
such ideas was Christianity and its triumph over the Phrygian mode was sure and
soon. 'He of the conical bonnet is also a Christian' said the despairing priest of Attis,
but it was too late for any accommodation (63).
As this juncture the Acts of Peter took form. As they stand, by accident or
design, these contain different things for different men - persiflage for the
proletariat and the martyrdom with its allocution for those with 'knowledge'. The
latter is an expression of depth psychology reminiscent of parts of the apocryphal
Thomasine literature (64) (cf. The Secret Sayings and The Song of the Pearl) (65). Its
significance has never been fully and critically estimated.
The powerful figure of the expositor-victim fixed to and suspended from his
doctrine, in the image of his doctrine is one which has operated both in and out of
(61) Vide Jonas, op. cit., p. 38 '[...] some of the mystery religions of late antiquity also belonged to
the gnostic circle insofar as they allegorised the ritual and their original cult myths in a spirit similar to
the gnostic one: (thus) the mysteries of Isis, Mithras and Attis'. N.B. also the assimilation of Attis by the
Gnostic sect of Naassenes, the serpent worshippers-Nahashim (v. Vermaseren, Cybele and Attis, cit.,
p. 182).
(62) Cf. The Emperor Julian's reflections composed at Pessinus where the mother of gods is
characterised as the originating source principle in terms equating with the virgin theotokos of the
immaculate conception and Attis is taken as the creative reason which divides up existence into names
and forms, v. G. Rochefort, ed., Julien. (Euvres completes, Les belles lettres, Paris 1924-64, 3.106 and
6.112. Cf., for convenience, Vermaseren, Cybele and Attis, cit., pp. 86-87.
(63) Vide Vermaseren, Cybele and Attis, cit., p. 180 - 'et ipse pileatus Christeanus est' (Augustine in
Johann, evang. tract., VII 1.6).
(M) For connections on textual grounds with the Acts of John and the Acts of Paul v. Vouaux,
op. cit., pp. 42.
(65) Vide James, op. cit., pp. 411-15.
[17] 49
history in the west. As the major arcana of The Hanged Man' (66) it is once again
familiar to many who seek to transcend or avoid. It is proper however to conclude
by re-entering the plane of history. The lonely inner sacrifice of the individual soul
(the fiv?tman) which is the inescapable flight of the alone to the alone, is ever the
socially creative act. On this figure was established the central power of the Roman
Church (67) - perhaps the most authoritarian of historical institutions. The Church
accepted the graphic expression of the figure into its official iconography (68) and
although it never canonised the heterodox literary expression, equally it took care
never to provide any alternative (69). And this was wise. That intuitional genius
which give to aery nothings ('Separate your souls from all things of the senses') a
local habitation (the Vatican hill) and a name (the Rock) is the making of history
- whatever this word history may mean.
(66) The mysteries of the tarot cards (in themselves a comprehensive body of esoteric scripture)
clearly go back through the Kabbala to gnostic sources. Enigma No. 12 depicts a man of contrasts
suspended head downwards on the gallows tree, calm and communicative in this position of ultimate
torment. Various details of graphic symbolism let it be inferred that the man hangs from his own higher
understanding (logos) to which he is decisively attached, he is thus a sacrifice to his own doctrine so
that he hangs between heaven and earth and while held in this intolerable suspense is empowered to
communicate the spiritual treasures which his attitude draws down from above.
(67) There is an incipient Mahdist tenor to the story of Peter's martyrdom in Rome which indeed is
latent in the 'Christian name' - the Rock. This can not fail to suggest a second Christ since the first
Christ is so strikingly characterised by this epithet in many connections (v. J. Betz, 'Christus Petra
Petrus', in Id., ed., Kirche und ?berlieferung, Freiberg 1960, pp. 1-21; C.F.D. Moule, 'Some Reflections
on the "Stone" Testimonies in Relation to the Name Peter', New Testament Studies, 2, 1955, pp. 56-58).
Certainly the upside down stance of Peter's crucifixion suggests the second coming, the previous
figure ascended into heaven leaving the eschatalogical work of ultimate redemption to be accomplished
by the successor, the final seal of the prophets. It is the figuration of the involute and the evolute. The
Roman church has never developed this line of analysis but it always remained explicit.
(68) Vide Lexikon der Christliche Ikonographie, Rome 1976, Vol. 8, pp. 158-74.
(69) Cf. the continued utilisation of the apocryphal Acts material in later versions of Peter's career
at Rome, e.g. those of the pseudo Linus and the pseudo Marcellus. For the attitude of the church to the
Acts of Peter v. Vouaux, op. cit., pp. 110 ff. (Pseudo Linus v. pp. 134 ff.; Pseudo Marcellus v. pp. 160-78;
a summary pp. 198-99).
50 [18]
OUTLINE BIBLIOGRAPHY
The sacrificial upside down tree
E.A.S. Butterworth, The Tree at the Navel of the Earth, Berlin 1970.
A. Coomaraswamy, The Inverted Tree', The Quarterly Journal of the Mythic Society Bangalore, XXIV
1938, pp. 111-49.
U. Holmberg, Der Baum des Lebens, Helsinki 1922.
G. Lechler, 'The Tree of Life in Indo-European and Islamic Culture', Ars Islamica, IV, 1951, pp. 369-414.
E. Kagerow, 'Die Umgekehrte Schamenbaum', Archiv f?r Religionswissenchaft, 1929, pp. 183-85.
AJ. Wensinck, Tree and Bird as Cosmological Symbols in Western Asia, Amsterdam 1921.
The Vatican site
M.J. Vermaseren, Cybele andAtthis, London 1957.

M. Guarducci, The Tomb of St. Peter, London 1960.
St. Peter
J. Lowe, St. Peter, Oxford 1956.

D.N. O'Conner, Peter in Rome, New York 1969.
M.James, The Apocryphal New Testament, Oxford 1953.
R. Vouaux, Les Actes de Pierre, Paris 1922.
C.K. Carr, Aspects of the Iconography of St. Peter in Mediaeval Art of Western Europe, Microfilm Thesis
1978.
Lexikon der Christliche Sonographie, Vol. 8, pp. 158-74, Rome.
Gnosticism
H. Jonas, The Gnostic Religion, Boston 1967.

J. Doresse, The Secret Books of the Egyptian Gnostics, London 1960.
J.M. Robinson, The Nag HammadiLibrary, London 1977.
[19] 51

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Islam (5). However it is presented most circumstantially in India - and it is from

The oecumenical patron of western Christendom is St. Peter. And according to

(16) Vide Acts of Peter, XXXVII; James, op. tit., p. 334.

It is, of course, impossible to speak with circumstantiality concerning matters

(28) Vide James, op. tit., pp. 94-165.

(32) Vide Acts of Peter, XXXVIII; James, op. tit., p. 334.

The legendary account of the Saint's martyrdom in Rome embodie

(57) Vide Acts of Peter, XXXVIII; James, op. tit., p. 335.

The sacrificial upside down tree

The Vatican site

M.J. Vermaseren, Cybele andAtthis, London 1957.

J. Lowe, St. Peter, Oxford 1956.

H. Jonas, The Gnostic Religion, Boston 1967.

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