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Axe
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AXE

The axe is one of the oldest tools developed by humans; since the Neolithic age, it has been a symbol of battle and work. All ancient traditions associated the axe with lightning, water, and fertility, and attributed to it the power of making or stopping rain. It is a symbol of spiritual penetration and fertilization, as it opens the ground. The twin-bladed axe is often associated with the Hindu thunderbolt, so it is a symbol of celestial illumination. Related to the ox because of its shape, and can be a general talisman of strength.
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The axe is one of the oldest tools developed by humans; since the Neolithic age, it has been a symbol of battle and work. All ancient traditions associated the axe with lightning, water, and fertility, and attributed to it the power of making or stopping rain. It is a symbol of spiritual penetration and fertilization, as it opens the ground. The twin-bladed axe is often associated with the Hindu thunderbolt, so it is a symbol of celestial illumination. Related to the ox because of its shape, and can be a general talisman of strength.
Plutarch relates that the word labrys was a Lydian word for "axe": Λυδοὶ γὰρ ‘λάβρυν’ τὸν πέλεκυν ὀνομάζουσι.[a][2] Many scholars including Evans assert that the word labyrinth is derived from labrys and thus, would imply "house of the double axe".[3] A priestly corporation in Delphi was named "Labyades". The original name was probably "Labryades", servants of the double axe. In Roman times at Patrai and Messene, a goddess Laphria was worshipped, commonly identified with Artemis. Her name was said to be derived from the region around Delphi.[4][5]
The axe is one of the most prominent symbols of the 22nd Degree of the Scottish Rite (Knight Royal Axe, Prins of Libanus). Such axes were said to have been used to cut down cedars used in the building of King Solomon's Temple, The Ark of the Convenant, and even Noah's Ark. The initials on the axe are those of Solomon and Noah, whereas the initials on the handle are those of Libanus and Tsidun, Libanus referring to the area where the cedars were found, and Tsidun, the city whose people helped cut down the trees. The initials on the one side of the blade are said to be those of Shem, Ham, Japheth (The three sons of Noah), Moses, Aholiab, and Bezaleel (who together led a large group of workers who worked in fine metals, rare wood, and precious stones). Initials on the other side of the blade are those of Adoniram (civil servant responsible for acquiring laborers), Cyrus (original issuer of decree allowing the rebuilding of the Temple), Darius (who re-issued Cyrus's decree and provided for all costs from royal revenue), Zerubbabel (credited with the Temple's reconstruction), Nehemiah (who rebuilt Jerusalem's walls) and Ezra (to collect contributions from the Babylonian Jews). These initials appear to represent the prominent people who, in their own ways, helped rebuild the Temple. The axe is one of the oldest tools of modern man. As with so many symbols, it has an dualistic association, in this case representing both destruction and creation. In pre-historic times, axes were made from stone, which sometimes created sparks. Many ancient cultures associated sparks with thunder, which in turn was known to have great powers. American Indians, the Chinese and even the Celts called axes "thunder stones". As such, axes became closely associated with power, both the power of destruction, and the power of creation
This is a symbol of power and authority. Dreams in which a axe appears reflect a latent aggressiveness that comes out in primitive acts. Scenes in which the axe is the protagonist manifest sickness and a lack of control of the senses. They can announce an encounter with someone conflictive and even fights that threaten the stability of your familial relationships. An axe that is used to cut firewood can express that you need to divide a problem into small parts to resolve it better. To cut down a tree, however, means that you are getting rid of old things so new ones can emerge.
When the Green Knight arrives at King Arthur’s court, he is brandishing a holly branch in one hand and an axe in the other. The axe…goes on to govern the action of the poem as a whole. The story begins when the Green Knight offers his axe as a gift to whoever is willing to use it to behead him (and to face a return blow in a year’s time.) … In 1938, A. H. Krappe commented on the appropriateness of the axe to the Green Knight as ‘the only deathless executionar known, Death itself,’ (208). In 1978, Victoria Weiss compared the Green Knight’s use of the axe to wound Gawain in the neck with that part of the medieval ‘knighting’ ceremony in which the initiate received a blow on the neck with a sword (183-84).
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