Pan, Piper at the Gates of Dawn

Size: 6-1/2"

A beautifully made ceramic statue of Pan, the forest God. 

About Pan:

The Greek God Pan is perhaps the most familiar form of the Horned God/Wild Man archetype. Our classical imagery of this country-dwelling deity is derived from the Homeric Hymn to Pan. He is an ancient god indeed, harkening back to the old hunter/gatherer societies with their horned or antlered shamanic gods. But with animal domestication Pan became the herdsman's god associated with goats. His original worship was in Arcadian Greece.

The ancient scholars of Alexandria believed that Pan personified the Natural Cosmos, and the word Pantheism is derived from this idea, that all Nature is God and that God is All Nature. He is described as the son of Hermes by the Arcadian Nymph Dryope: "goatfooted, two-horned, noisy, and laughing..." He was also said to possibly be the son of Zeus by Amalthea the Cretan goat-goddess, nursemaid to Dionysus. The attributes of hooves and horns along with a prominent phallus merged together and this association, particularly, gave them their popular identification as the male symbols of sexuality. Many ancient people had no shame around sex and considered it a vital sign of health and divine blessing. Pan had many lovers, both female and male, quite apart from His constant pursuit of the anonymous nymphs of His woodlands.

Pan had a positive side that was portrayed as the laughing, lusty lover and musician; this side of Pan was called "pangenitor" the all-begetter. But like all the Gods of Nature He had a shadow side as well. In this form He is called "panphage" the all-devourer and as such He was perceived as a dangerous protector of the Wilderness. The word "panic" itself derives from Pan; for in this form He could cause sudden irrational wild fear. This dark side of Pan and his rampant sexuality were looked on with such horror and disgust by the Medieval Christian Church that some of their images of the devil were given the horns, hooves and ithyphallic appearance of the Greek God. Nevertheless, images of Pan in His European guise of Robin Goodfellow continued to be the focus of joyous rural celebrations well into the 16th century CE.

Our reconstruction of the goat foot God was inspired by the classic children's tale, The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, Chapter 7, "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn:" Like the gentle Piper, He is poised with His magic pipes in hand and a baby otter at His feet.