As we see in the illustrations of the Hand of Dionysos this symbol was important to the holders of those secrets. In some places the image is replaced by, or transfigured into , an egg. The egg was an important symbol for the Orphics, representing for them the three-in-one that later became the Father, Son and Holy Spirit of the Christian tradition. We might follow the analogy that the Protecting Hand of the Father is the shell, the radiant yolk is the Son and the white albumen the presence of the Holy Spirit.
If in no other place this image is shown by Dali in his painting Metamorphosis of Narcissus. Here the artist is being brutally honest about himself that his work is all about celebrating his own spiritual unfoldment. He shows us the figure of Narcissus reflecting on his image int eh water and beside it, the same form transfigured into a stone hand, holding the egg aloft. The thumb and fingers are in the same position of those in the hand of Dionysos. It is not that he is copying those ancient artefacts but rather that what they symbolise he has himself achieved. As such the image is shown to him and he presents it to us in this important painting.
Dali, The Metamorphosis of Narcissus
As related elsewhere for Bernhard Wosien the image of the Pine cone was that of the Tree of Life. He was angered by the sniggers he got when he mentioned the thyrsus topped by the pine cone. Some members of the group making the obvious association with the phallus could not see beyond it. Bernhard was trying to show us something deeper than this, something beyond the mental pre-occupation with sexual gratification.
We might call the hand holding the pine cone aloft ‘the Hand of God, for it is an important stage of awakening when this figure is encountered. It is for this reason I offer these few pages and images to the wider world to help others in their process of transcendence find their way along the path. By the time this image is encountered there is no doubt in the self as to its significance and the immortality of the self. Even if that self is not the physical body.
When the pine cone unfolds in the way that Bernhard suggested it did to become a little tree it does so from the top. First the topmost leaves open and then those below follow in succession. This puts me in mind of the Egyptian statue found in the Louvre.
