In Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark is speaking to his friend Horatio about his father’s ghost which Hamlet has seen with his very eyes. Horatio is skeptical, of course, while Hamlet appears to be as crazy as a loon throughout most of the play. We know it’s a ruse intended to discover the facts behind his father’s mysterious death. But Hamlet sobers up for a moment to say to his companion “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” I’ve always wondered about that remark from Act I, Scene 5 in the play. And for several years of my lost life, it burned within my mind as I looked for these “things.”
In Mark 16:15, Jesus says to his disciples “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” The words for “all creation” are πάσῃ τῇ κτίσει. The phrase is also commonly translated to mean “preach to every creature.” But what did Jesus mean? Are we to tell our dogs and cats, and our goldfish about the Bible? Some commentators insist that this is not the case. Others such as Bengel, fudge a bit, saying we are to share God’s love and forgiveness “to men primarily, to the rest of creatures secondarily.” Is this why St Francis preached to the birds in Piandarca, near Cannara and to the swallows in particular in Alviano (Italy?)
The Bible speaks of mythical beasts. For example, there is mention of a cockatrice. A cockatrice is a mythical, dragon-like creature with the head of a rooster and the body of a serpent or snake. Unicorns are mentioned nine times. Dragons are mentioned thirty-five times1 in the Bible!
THE FAUN
So, it came as no surprise (at least, to me) when I came across something that St Jerome had written about St Anthony (251 A.D. -356 A.D.) Here is the reference I have in mind from The Life of Paulus, the First Hermit:
“Before long, in a small, rocky valley shut in on all sides, he sees a mannikin with hooked snout, horned forehead, and extremities like goat’s feet. When he saw this, Anthony, like a good soldier, seized the shield of faith and the helmet of hope: The creature, nonetheless, began to offer him the fruit of the palm tree to support him on his journey and as it were, pledges of peace. Anthony, perceiving this, stopped and asked who he was. The answer he received from him was this:
‘I am a mortal being and one of the inhabitants of the Desert whom the Gentiles deluded by various forms of error worship under the names of Fauns, Satyrs, and Incubi. I am sent to represent my tribe. We pray you in [Sic] our behalf to entreat the favour of your Lord, and ours, who, we have learnt, came once to save the world and whose sound has gone forth into all the earth.'”
This, then, was what appeared to be a creature, part human but with horns and cloven hoofs. Back then, horns did not represent the devil as we imagine today so much as a sign of wisdom. For example, Michelangelo’s famous statue of Moses shows Moses with horns. But this creature spoke to St Anthony in the vernacular like the donkey spoke to Balaam and like the serpent in the Garden of Eden spoke to Eve. Notice what the Faun said. He said he is mortal. He was born and he will die. This tells us that he is also sinful, unlike the angels and beasts in Heaven described by Ezekiel. And he tells Anthony that he is not the only faun, at least in the third-fourth century, though they have not been seen since. Yet, creatures thought to be extinct since the Cretaceous period sometimes show up today (such as the coelacanth.)
Jerome supposes that there might be some who doubt this account, so he adds the following:
“Let no one scruple to believe this incident; its truth is supported by what took place when Constantine was on the throne, a matter of which the whole world was witness. For a man of that kind was brought alive to Alexandria and shown as a wonderful sight to the people. Afterwards his lifeless body, to prevent its decay through the summer heat, was preserved in salt and brought to Antioch that the Emperor might see it.”
The fundamental question is, can the faun who is not truly human be redeemed? But first, a little information about Anthony.
ABOUT ANTHONY
Anthony was the son of a wealthy couple who lived near Heraclea in Egypt. His parents were Christian, and kept Anthony at home during his upbringing, much as young Sir Percival was kept in seclusion in King Arthur’s day. Anthony was still a teenager when his parents died and he had a younger sister to care for. He gave away almost all of his inheritance, left his sister in the care of a group of Christian women which the Catholic church presumes might have been the first nunnery in recorded history, while he went out to find his mission in life. The devil had a field day tempting and tormenting this poor kid. But with God’s grace and strength, Anthony prevailed and held his own. This link courtesy of ETWN is well worth reading for edification even among us Protestants.
In Christianity as we understand it and practice it today, something (everything) is either good or evil. It is one or the other with no middle ground. For example, the Nephilim were the Hebrew equivalent of the Greek titans. A titan (like Perses or Prometheus) had a divine parent and a moral one. In Genesis 6:1ff, the Sons of God (who became the fallen angels) had children with the Daughters of Men. These offspring were the Nephilim, or the Jewish titans to put it in awkward terms. Like the fauns, they died out, perhaps in the Flood or when the Israelites conquered Canaan. Today the land of Israel, the West Bank of the Jordan and Gaza form what was once Canaan, along with some scraps of territory in Jordan.
ENOCH
Now, the Bible mentions a man named Enoch, one of two people who apparently never died but “walked with God” or rode to Heaven in a fiery chariot like Elijah. There are several books that are contemporary scholars say are falsely attributed to Enoch. These books are two thousand or more years old. Enoch is sometimes called one of the “missing books” of the Bible, but there are no missing books. The Church, and particularly the very early Church, never considered Enoch to be inspired as Job or Jeremiah were. Jude, the brother of Jesus writes in his New Testament epistle a short prophecy that appears in the first book of Enoch and Jude does attribute the prophecy to Enoch. However, that does not necessarily endorse the notion that Enoch wrote the books that carry his name.
In Chapter 8 of the first book (of Enoch) we learn that certain skills and innovations came to us from the fallen angels. For example, weapons of war, and cosmetics (specifically eye shadow.) Or the knowledge of constellations by which navigators sailed the seas. Yet, knives were among the weapons of war that the fallen angels taught us to make and from knives we get scalpels to perform life-saving operations. Weapons of war allow Israel and God’s people to defend themselves from their enemies. So, we would say today that discoveries such as cell phones and cars can be used for evil (harassing people and driving into crowds to maim and kill as in New Orleans last evening), but they can also be used for good; like calling 911 or taking someone to the hospital.) In that sense, photography and streaming video and Playstations are neither good nor bad, but how they fit into society and how they are used is what matters. Perhaps it like this with fauns, fairies, centaurs, unicorns, etc. And the sin of eating the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil which was bad, taught us good and evil. But without knowing what evil is, how can we know good? What is grace without the sin that necessitates it?
THE PRICE OF DOMINION
Animals know that there is something special about humans. That’s why they often come to us for help. We’ve probably all seen YouTube videos of a bear with a paw in a trap or a wolf with a glass jar snug over its snout. Perhaps a lion with a thorn in its paw? These creatures would make mincemeat out of us if they were to catch us alone on a trail somewhere, but when they are hurting, they come to us and they remember us and our kindness and they respect us for the rest of their lives for saving them or sparing them pain and misery. They recorgnise us as able to help them. This faun recognized Anthony as the servant of God and came to him, pleading with him to intercede on behalf of his race that they might find the True God. Anthony responded by treating the faun with acceptance and respect instead of writing him off as some freak.
So, it is likely doubtful that we will meet trolls or fairies anytime soon, as long as we take our psychotropic medications exactly as prescribed. But they may exist somewhere in the world, out of sight of modern men and women like some lost tribe of people in the Amazon. Certainly, most of the literature on these subjects is folklore and superstition. But perhaps we might push the margins of our reality a bit. Like Hamlet. Not by flirting with the supernatural or consulting the forbidden arts (necromancy, astrology, numerology, divination, etc.) but by being more like St. Anthony and St. Francis in our hearts and cherishing God’s creatures, and being better stewards over creation. I confess that I share God’s love with Molly, our Golden Retriever. I tell her about God and His love. I don’t know how much she understands, but it’s soothing to her and it rewarding to me.
Food for thought as we begin 2025.
I owe a debt to the essay St. Anthony and the Christian Satyr by Carlos Perona Calvete from the European Conservative. Perhaps I will revise this post once I have time to continue my research.
FOOTNOTE
1In some sense, I am overstating the case a bit since some references are allegorical and not literal. And, the translators who provided the Authorized Version used references in their King James translation that are no longer in use today, or that might be better understood with different examples or word choices. Still . . .
