The ancient tombs of Theban kings are shrouded in the silence of darkness. Desecrated in their millennial solitude by intruders and vermin, they still exude an unearthly aura of command over the elements and forces of Nature. The storied vaults and secret passages are musty with the fading memories of forgotten knowledge and an awesome power haunts their chambered gloom. In one of these which is only partially disturbed, the walls seem to absorb and stifle the dim light entering through the opened passage. Yet from its recesses a rich metal gleams and entices the fascinated visitor towards its carved design. Hooded shapes rising up between gilded struts reveal themselves as royal cobras lending their strength in repose to the frame of a magisterial chair. The arms stretch forward in great wings attached to crowned uraei whose reptilian eyes gaze unblinkingly into the shadows. Lions' heads surmount graceful feline legs whose sinewy curves lengthen into golden paws; interlacing plants of Upper and Lower Egypt form a grille between the stretchers and the seat. Slowly, the intruder moves towards the front of the throne. The rich glow of the panel that forms its back accosts him with all its inlaid splendour. He detects a charming scene, showing the ruler seated in his palace with his consort standing before him bearing a small jar of ointment. With one hand she gently touches the king's shoulder, while from above a solar disc shines upon them. The flesh of the regal couple appears to be of carnelian-hued glass and the mysterious wigs display a vivid blue faience. The silver robes, crowns and collars shine with resplendent inlaid colours, whilst the elaborate hieroglyphs and emblematic lotuses engraved around them lend an overwhelming richness to the design. The dazed eyes of the unbidden stranger feast upon this lavish detail; he is held as if under a spell. The august throne has spoken and aroused in him the awareness of a living presence, a sovereign splendour which yet lingers in the mighty seat of its erstwhile expression.
The sovereign power is worldly and yet of another world. Was not Solomon a kingly reflection of divinity? His throne was described by ancients as made of ivory, set upon a dais approached by six steps flanked by lions. Later, Byzantine thrones imitated this, featuring mechanical lions that could move and emit sounds. The magnificent Peacock Throne of the rulers of Delhi was encrusted with jewels and elevated on a silver dais with silver steps trod only by the privileged few. In these hoary traditions, both the seat and the dais on which the seat stood were considered to form part of the throne. Even the umbrella or canopy above was integrated and therefore rendered sacrosanct in function and essence. The Minoan kings at Knossos built their throne into the wall itself, and priests who sat in flanks beside it shared the god-given power transmitted along its facade. The stark purity of this throne vividly contrasts with the symbolically laden thrones of Egypt, India or other parts of the world. Many examples of Greek thrones depicted on amphorae are embellished with sphinxes, animals of all sorts, plants and human faces. Some have legs that look like temple columns but many of the earlier ones have legs fashioned after those of the lion or some other creature of power.
The throne is originally an arcane symbol standing on its dais at the world centre between heaven and earth. Sometimes it is related to a mountain, like that in Sophene which the Armenians call the Throne of Anahit. In its lofty stairs the line of ascent and descent of the gods can be traced. In the Egyptian iconography Osiris is pictured as black-skinned, sitting upon a metal throne atop a dais of precipitous stairs. From this seat he was believed to supervise the occupations of the dead from a location in the depths of the earth or the sky.
Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever.
Psalms 45:6
When the Jews were in Egypt, Pharaoh instructed Joseph, saying, "Thou shalt be over my house, and according to thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou." Clearly, Pharaoh perceived a distinction between his temporal power and that associated with the throne. He could allocate authority at will and acknowledge another's verbal dissent in certain circumstances but not when he himself sat upon the throne. There he was obliged to assume the mantle of authority and all that word implies. There he was in a seat of judgement and would have to act as does Osiris in the centre of the world. Thus, the throne is the seat of divine and temporal law, bridging the gap between God and man in the relationship of sovereign and subject. Whoever sits upon the throne is an instrument of that judgement which unifies all means and ends through disinterested rule.
Standing as it does at the centre, the throne symbolizes unity and synthesis. Among the Ashanti in Ghana there are ward chiefs, councillors and heads of semi-autonomous states-, but the unity of the people is symbolized in the Golden Stool (Sika 'Dwa) which is said to have descended from the sky and to which all chiefs acknowledge allegiance, as have numerous groups already absorbed into the kingdom. Traditional offices are even referred to as stools, all of which are variously related (in terms of importance) to the Golden Stool of the Ashantehene at Kumasi. In 1900 the British, who had been steadily encroaching upon Ashanti territory, made several moves to gain complete domination over the area. Perceiving the symbolic importance of the Golden Stool, they insisted that it be surrendered. They evidently hoped to seal their authority over the natives by sitting upon it in a public demonstration of their power. This demand precipitated a war during which harsh measures and political intrigue brought the Ashanti under British control, but not the Golden Stool. It was secreted away and safely hidden until decades later, when the British pulled out of Ghana and a new Ashantehene (direct descendant of the former) ritually took his rightful place upon it.
In many religions reference is made to the throne of God. In Aeschylus' drama, Prometheus speaks of "the throne of Zeus' sovereignty" and the Egyptians depicted Isis as well as Osiris seated upon a throne. In addition to Far-Seeing Zeus upon his golden throne, it was said that "the thronging nations bow at the throne where Apollo sings Fate's doom". Apollo is usually depicted in his chariot or heroically standing forth as he did at Delphi, but Zeus was enthroned in a colossal statue rendered by Phidias at Olympia. Pausanias described it as "adorned with gold and precious stones, also by ebony and ivory; and there are figures painted and images wrought on it". Rooted upon the earth, and fashioned of the material of the world, the throne of Zeus does not seem to exist at the centre of the universe but it did so symbolically as surely as Olympian heights were held to link heaven and earth. Indeed, the figures and images upon it were representative of heavenly powers arrayed beneath the august authority of the Godhead.
In the Buddhist tradition the Vajrasana, or Diamond Throne, is believed to sit at the foot of the tree of knowledge, which is the axis mundi as well as the place of enlightenment. This is the throne of Law which symbolizes the teachings of the Buddha and the consummation of Buddhahood. Resting where it does, it connects the three worlds and bespeaks an authority which transcends any temporal boundaries and lies beyond the reach of mere worldly concerns. To sit upon such a throne is to don the mantle of enlightenment as the supreme Hierophant of the Mysteries. This lofty idea has been transmitted even in Western traditions, often in its shadowy secular applications. The Greek θρουος(thronos) becomes the Latin cathedra (emphasizing the act of sitting upon the throne) which describes the chair of office. Plato spoke of θρουωσιςor 'the enthronement of the newly initiated at the Mysteries'. In the Protagoras he describes Socrates finding Hippias (a famous Sophist) "sitting on a throne while his pupils are seated around him on benches". This fusion of the sacred and the secular in the pursuit of enlightenment is intrinsic to classical cultures, wherein all questions worthy of serious contemplation were seen as ancillary to the arcane mysteries of sanctification of social rites and household ceremonies.
The lion throne found in many cultures symbolizes a domination over the powerful forces of the animal nature and the physical realm. Quite often the forelegs and hind legs were sculpted with a striking attention to realistic detail which gives a sense of actuality to the idea of sitting upon the animal. The lion itself is a complex symbol, signifying sovereignty over the titanic forces in nature as well as the serene aloofness which is an awesome hint of inimitable strength and regal reserve. The lion throne of power is thus associated with effortless dominion and expansive ease born of complete confidence in the righteousness of rule. So important is this royal symbol in the secret annals of African kingship that even before the throne itself was introduced throughout the continent, some kings merely sat upon the lion skin without any more regalia, When these kingdoms adopted thrones, they were placed upon a mat of lion skin such as that described by Stanley during his visit to the Ganda in the nineteenth century. Similar accounts focus upon the institution of divine kingship among such people and consecrate the lion throne with the afflatus of spiritual sovereignty. In such African kingdoms, the king was never seen as moribund in terms of kingly office, and frequently regicide was practised in order to disguise the fact that a particular king was too enfeebled to honour his throne. This idea of "real and persistent Royalty, to be clearly distinguished from the king's own temporal personality" is summed up in the phrase Le roi est mort, vive le roi and is symbolized by the waiting throne.
The emphasis on coronation in European cultures tends to eclipse the ritual of enthronement which in the English ceremony involves a 'lifting up' of the newly consecrated king in the sight of his tenants-in-chief and his people. This symbolizes ascendancy over his subjects and seems to have originated among the Germanic tribes, where a new chief was elevated on a shield while his warriors acclaimed him. In the modern ceremony, the robed and invested king is led between two bishops and officers of state from the coronation chair to the throne set on a dais in the 'theatre'. There he receives homage from the Archbishop of Canterbury to abbots and temporal peers in order of degree. The peers kneel and say, "I become your liege man of life and limb, and of all earthly worship and faith, all truly bear unto you, to live and die with you against all manner of folk. God so help me and All-hallows." Only after sitting upon the throne is this homage given and it represents a delicate balance between a recognition of divine and temporal authority. This balance was wrought through repeated contests in England between church and state. The conviction that the king ruled by divine fiat is poignantly conveyed in the poetically rich speeches of Richard II in Shakespeare's play and it persisted well into the eighteenth century. This delicate balance was also reflected in ancient India, where spiritual authority and temporal power were blended in a ritual involving the purohita (Brahmin priest) and the king. In the enthronement ceremony the purohita consecrated the throne given to him by the king and at the same time blessed the realm. In this ritual the Purohita is the 'man' and the king the 'woman' to whom is said tvam vi raja ('bear thou rule'). The priest and the king thus unite in a marriage of the sky and earth and thereby gain the power of immortality and righteousness for the kingdom on earth.
There is something behind the throne greater than the King himself.
William Pitt
The real throne of Great Britain is the oak chair in the House of Lords used by the sovereign during opening and prorogation of Parliament. In the personal absence of the ruler, the throne is treated as his (or her) symbolic presence and is shown a concordant respect. Among the Ganda in Africa the throne itself may become an object of worship. Viewed as the seat of an ancestral head of clan or kingdom, such a throne may be carried by servants as a sort of movable shrine when not resting in a temple built for it. When a new king was enthroned, he himself was borne upon a throne in order to visit these throne temples in turn and to exchange homage for allegiance with these ancestral powers. The authority of the actual physical throne was sometimes invoked for protection in times of dire need, as though the seat would repel any transgressions against one attached to it. In the Orestian trilogy Aegisthos was murdered by his nephew Orestes while on his throne. The paintings on ancient Greek amphorae depict Agammemnon's son sinking his blade into his uncle's breast while Electra gestures in frantic conspiracy. Aegisthos clutches feebly to the throne as though it will give him power to withstand, to gain some desperate immunity from the onslaught of an ignoble death.
The notion that there is power inherent in the throne itself is a mirroring of such ideas as found in Buddhist tradition, where the empty throne is viewed as a symbol of the Buddha himself extending his sovereign compassion from heaven to earth. In the Sephir Jezirah of the Hebrew faith, it says that "God engraved in the Holy Four the throne of his glory, the Ophanim (Wheels or the World-Spheres), the Seraphim, the Sacred Animals, and the ministering angels, and from these three (the Air, Water, and Fire or Ether) he formed his habitation." This throne of glory thus designed and hewed is the universe made manifest by the creative deity, extending as he does from heaven to earth. Elsewhere it is asserted that "the glory of Satan is the shadow of the Lord" and that "the throne of Satan is the footstool of Adonai, that footstool being the whole KOSMOS". Taking this idea of the throne as a symbol of the universe, it is interesting to consider the Revelation of St. John, in which he saw the throne of God in heaven;
And immediately I was in the spirit: and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and sardine stone: and there was a rainbow around the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And around about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.
He sat there looking like quartz, which in its rainbow glory hid the ineffable lustre of a hexagonal crystal surrounded by sacred fires and heavenly Cosmocratores. The throne was in heaven, at the centre of creation, and one sat upon it, the one being more in keeping with the idea of the invisible Deity than the he which is akin to the Hindu Brahma seated upon his throne at the celestial (North) pole.
The Chaldean Book of Numbers teaches that in the beginning there was En-Soph, the Concealed of Concealed, Then emerged the point or Sephira and the Sephiroth. This was followed by the Atzilatic World, a World of Emanations that gives birth to three other worlds called the Throne (the abode of pure Spirits), the World of Formation (habitat of Angels who are sent forth) and the World of Action (the physical world in which we live). It is said that souls or monads are pre-existent in the World of Emanations, and being the 'real man', "they descend from the pure air to be chained to bodies". This arcane teaching links up with the idea of 'the first born' or "those who are first set in motion at the beginning of a Manvantara, and thus the first to fall into the lower spheres of materiality. They who are called in Theology 'the Thrones', and are the 'Seat of God' must be the first incarnated men on Earth." From the abode of pure Spirit (the Throne), the souls descend and some of them are 'the first born' who are the Thrones of God. They are attended by the Flames, the fiery Seraphim who wait upon "the Throne of the Almighty and whose hierarchy spans, in its function, the realms extending from the One to those of the many".
Ultimately, these Thrones are the sacrificial givers of light. They are the Ischin, the beautiful B'ne-aleim who mix and mingle with mortal men because it is their divine dharma and they were sent to do it. According to the Zohar, these B'ne-aleim belong to the tenth subdivision of the Thrones and are called "men spirits" who become "chained to the Earth" like Prometheus for the duration of their sacrificial involvement in the World of Action. Even as they appear in the world, enveloped in the vestures of the lower quaternary, they are pure emanations of the throne of the invisible Deity and they carry with them the full authority of divine Law. So infrequently does the world consciously encounter such beings that humans have little against which to measure the validity of their regal fiat. The only way in which the difference between their source of moral and ethical measure and that of others in positions of temporal authority can be discerned is through the inner intuitive faculties. The lower mind cannot produce an index of sufficient breadth and depth to enable it to assume a perspective with a high enough apex to permit a comprehensive grasp of the downward dialectical expression of divine authority, justice and law.
When the intuitive faculties are aroused and discursive reason begins to reflect loftier intimations, the sovereign Self of the immortal individuality takes its true seat upon the throne of rulership over the incarnated self, so that the sacred seat of Law may be set in motion in the sphere of daily existence. In this exalted state, the immortal soul is magnetically linked to cosmic forces that are powerful expressions of Divine Will.
In the traditions of ritual enthronement of ancient India, where the purohita (man) and king (woman) are merged as heaven and earth in kingship, every man must merge the self into Self and take possession of what must be his throne, his dominion and autonomy. This divine marriage is described as "the beatific union of Indra and Indrani, 'the Persons in the right and left eyes'. These two are respectively the King and Queen (enthroned) on the right and on the left . . . the Inner Sage and Outer King . . . the brahma and kshatra." Their sacred marriage completed, the king attains the sacred authority of his hierophantic seat. It is the beginning of a new order; "it is a new man that ascends the throne: an outer man in operation, but now the legitimate agent of a higher than his own will".
The sacred process of self-enthronement takes place step by step up the dais to the invisible seat of enlightenment. The steps are part of the throne itself, just as the entire universe presents progressively revealing facets of the one central Law of manifest life. We ascend the steps along the same path upon which the Thrones have made their descent, and as we ascend we feel the living presence of divine majesty. The closer we come to our inward centre of spiritual selfhood, the greater is the empathetic awareness of the radiant power emanating from the realm of pure Spirit, the Throne of the One Changeless Source of all that bears the marks of true Rajadharma in the world. Like a Kshatriya queen who fears not the battlefield but fights on in honour of her Hierophant, true disciples show the heroic perseverance that is needed to prepare for initiation into self-conscious immortality.
What is this power,
This living Presence
That sits invisible upon the throne?
Centuries of waiting among the dead
Have not tarnished your radiance,
Nor reduced by one jot
Your awesome authority.
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