Phrygian Cap
Hargrave Jennings, in his Rosicrucians.
Their Rites and Mysteries, says that the Phrygian Cap, the classic Mithraic Cap, sacrificial Cap, and mitre all derive from one common ancestor. The Mithraic or Phrygian Cap is the origin of the priestly mitre in all faiths. It was worn by the priest in sacrifice. When worn by a male, it had its crest, comb, or point, set jutting forward; when worn by a female, it bore the same prominent part of the cap in reverse, or on the nape of the neck, as in the instance of the Amazon's helmet, displayed in all old scupltures, or Phrygian Cap that of Pallas-Athene, as exhibited in the figures of Minerva. The peak, pic, or point, of caps or hats (the term "cocked hat" is a case in point) all refer to the same idea. This point had a sanctifying meaning afterwards attributed to it, when it was called the christa, crista, or crest, which signifies a triumphal top, or tuft. The "Grenadier Cap," and the loose black Hussar Cap, derive remotely from the same sacred, Mithraic, or emblematical bonnet, or high pyramidal cap. It, in this instance, changes to black, because it is devoted to the illustration of the "fireworkers (grenadiers) who, among modern military, succeed the Vulcanists, Cyclopes, classic "smiths," or servants of Vulcan, or Mulciber, the artful worker among the metals in the fire, or amidst the forces of nature. This idea will be found by a reference to the high cap among the Persians, or Fire-worshippers; and to the black cap among the Bohemians, and in the East. All travellers in Eastern lands will remember that the tops of the minarets reminded them of the high-pointed black caps of the Persians. " The Phrygian Cap is a most recondite antiquarian form; the symbol comes from the highest antiquity. It is displayed on the head of the figure sacrificing in the celebrated sculpture, called the "Mithraic Sacrifice" (or the Mythical Sacrifice) in the British Museum. This loose cap, with the point protruding, gives the original form from which all helmets or defensive headpieces, whether Symbolising Cap, it is always sanguine in its colour. It Greek or Barbarian, deduce. As a Phrygian Cap, or then stands as the "Cap of Liberty" a revolutionary form; also, in another way, it is even a civic or incorporated badge. It is always masculine in its meaning. It marks the "needle" of the obelisk, the crown or tip of the phallus, whether human or representative. It has its origin in the rite of circumcision-unaccountable as are both the symbol and the rite. or 66 دو The real meaning of the bonnet rouge, or cap of liberty, has been involved from time immemorial in deep obscurity, notwithstanding that it has always been regarded as the most important hieroglyph or figure. It signifies the supernatural simultaneous "sacrifice" and "triumph." It has descended from the time of Abraham, and it is supposed to emblem the strange mythic rite of the "circumcisio preputii," The loose Phrygian bonnet conique, cap of liberty," may be accepted as figuring, or standing for, that detached integument or husk, separated from a certain point or knob, which has various names in different languages, and which supplies the central idea of this sacrificial rite-the spoil or refuse of which (absurd and unpleasant as it may seem) is borne aloft at once as a trophy" and as the " cap of liberty." It is now a magic sign, and becomes a talisman of supposedly inexpressible power-from what particular dark reason it may be difficult to say. The whole is a sign of " initiation," and of baptism of a peculiar kind. The Phrygian Cap, ever after this first inauguration, has stood as the sign of the Enlightened." The heroic figures in most Gnostic Gems, have caps of this kind. The sacrificer in the sculptured group of the "Mithraic Sacrifice," among the marbles in the British Museum, has a Phrygian Cap on his head, whilst in the act of striking the bull with the poniardmeaning the office of the immolating priest. The bonnet conique is the mitre of the Doge of Venice. 66 66 Cinteotl, a Mexican god of sacrifice, wears such a cap made from the thigh-skin of an immolated virgin. This head-dress is shaped like a cock's comb.
Besides the bonnet rouge, the Pope's mitre-nay, all mitres or conical head-coverings-have their name from the terms "Mithradic," or Mithraic," The origin of the whole class of names is Mittra, or Mithra. The cap of the grenadier, the shape of which is alike all over Europe, is related to the Tartar lambskin caps, which are dyed black; and it is black also from its associations with Vulcan and the "Fire-worshippers" (Smiths). The Scotch Glengarry cap will prove on examination to be only a Phrygian. All the black conical caps, and the meaning of this strange symbol, came from the East. The loose black fur cap derives from the Tartars. 66 and a band of other spirits, led by the "cocked" The "Cap of Liberty" (Bonnet Rouge), the Crista or Crest (Male), and the Female (Amazon) helmet, all mean the same idea; in the instance of the female crest the knob is, however, depressed.