Xenia opened the book she still held in her hands and laid it flat on the desk. The page she had selected showed a cow’s skull placed above an altar. “The name for this object is ‘bucranium.’ The head and horns of cattle of either sex would be called a bucranium. The horns of consecration are an abstract symbol for this object.”
Cassie studied the image for a moment. It looked like a bleached cattle skull from Death Valley.
“Now look at this image,” Xenia instructed as she flipped the page.
Cassie peered at it uncomprehendingly until she read the caption. “Diagram of female human reproductive system.”
The pythia blinked in surprise. The diagram exactly matched the outline of the bucranium. The uterus was shaped like a cow’s skull while the ovaries and fallopian tubes mimicked the curve of the cow’s horns.
Transferring her attention to Xenia, she asked, “But how would they have known this? They didn’t dissect cadavers back in the day.”
“Because of excarnation,” the scrivener answered. “When a person died, her body would have been exposed to birds of prey to strip off the flesh before the bones would be cleaned for burial. A human body in various stages of decomposition could be observed with the internal organs exposed. It would have been a macabre epiphany, to be sure, but the connection would have been easy to make.”
Xenia continued the thought. “We know the old Europeans recognized the similarity eight thousand years ago because they created statues and drawings of the goddess with a bucranium drawn directly over the pelvic region of her body. The bucranium symbolizes the power of the goddess to create life. Minoans shrines usually display ritual objects between the horns as part of their cult practice. To amplify the power of regeneration.”
“Then what’s the connection to bulls?” Cassie was puzzled. “I know the animal in that bull-leaping fresco wasn’t a cow.”
“The bull was the sacrificial animal of choice to the Minoans,” Griffin said. “His skull is also a bucranium which symbolizes regeneration, but he is far more expendable. Cows were too valuable to sacrifice. They provided calves and milk. Every cow on Crete was known by her individual name. The bulls, alas, were not.”
Xenia wordlessly handed the horns of consecration to Griffin. Cassie stood up to get a better view of what he was looking at.
“You see the markings just here and here,” the trove keeper pointed to two small bees inscribed at the base of either horn.
Griffin studied them in silence for several seconds. “They are quite similar to one of the hieroglyphics on the granite key, but the match isn’t exact.” He sighed. “I was hoping this treasure hunt would be simple.”
“Perhaps this will help,” Xenia said. She picked up another small artifact which had been sitting on her desk.
Cassie recognized it instantly. “It’s a double axe like the ones we saw at the palace.”
“It’s called a labrys from the Lydian word meaning ‘axe.’ The word labyrinth is derived from this object—the place of the labrys,” Griffin said.
The pythia frowned. “That’s something else that’s been bothering me. Why would a goddess culture choose a weapon for a sacred symbol?”
Griffin’s face took on a cryptic expression. “You’ve already seen that nothing is quite what it seems. Where an overlord archaeologist sees a bull, we see a cow. Where they see an axe, we see something entirely different.”
“When is an axe not an axe?” Cassie asked, mystified.
“When it is a butterfly,” Griffin said softly. “This symbol was painted on pottery, incised into sculpture, and always found in conjunction with images of the goddess. For six thousand years in old Europe, the double-triangle was always used in a context suggesting metamorphosis and rebirth. The caterpillar which becomes a butterfly is another universal symbol in old Europe for the power of the goddess to regenerate life. Double axes were never forged of material that would have made them useful as weaponry.”
Xenia joined in. “The Kurgans used axes as weapons. When they first invaded Greece and later Crete, they would have seen the labrys as a weapon and a symbol of a war-mongering sky god. But that was not the way in which the original inhabitants viewed it.” She took the small bronze labrys in her hand and fitted it in the center of the horns of consecration which Griffin was still holding.
Cassie noticed for the first time that a hole had been drilled into the base of the horns and the handle of the small double axe fit neatly into it. It now stood upright between the horns.
Xenia looked intently at Cassie. “There are always many ways of seeing the same object. A Minoan looking at the horns with the labrys at the center sees a double symbol of the power of the goddess to regenerate life.”
Griffin picked up the thread. “An overlord warrior looking at the same objects would see the bull’s horns as a symbol of virility and the double axe as symbolic of conquest in battle.”
Xenia took the objects back from Griffin. “It is a simple choice of whether to see life or to see death in these things. All of us in the Arkana believe the world has been looking at death too long.”
The mood in the room grew solemn until the trove keeper smiled. “But I did not bring the labrys out to give you a lecture on the state of the world. Look at this.” She pointed to tiny birds inscribed on either wing of the bronze butterfly.
“Remarkable,” the scrivener exclaimed as he leaned over for a closer look. “They look exactly like the symbols on the key. Unfortunately, there is no sequence, no message.” He sounded disappointed.
“It was not the sequence that I wished to show you,” Xenia said. “Clearly there is no message here, but the same hand may have created both. Look at the image again and tell me if you think so.”
“Good heavens, I believe you’re right!” Griffin exclaimed. He drew the
