Treasure
On the issue of treasure, Biederman and Cooper have insightful analyses:
"The ones that play a major role in old tales of magic, spells, and adventure
can be understood as "hoardes" or "troves" from earlier eras, buried or
hidden at a time of danger but then never retrieved by those who had left
them behind. It was believed that they offered a relatively easy way to
get rich-- if one knew a few magic words and were willing to brave the
curses attached to the treasures... Viewed rationally, the search for buried
GOLD had little prospect of success; the basis
for legendary quests may lie in symbolic traditions of late antiquity,
like Gnostic doctrine, in which treasures stood for specific attainments
sought on the path to knowledge. Guardians block access to these inner
treasures and can be commanded only by those who possess secret passwords
and geometrical symbols..." (Biederman, 350).
"The search for treasure has a twofold symbolism: either the search is
for earthly treasure, such as gold or jewels, usually hidden in a CAVE
or underground, the finding of which brings trials and tribulations and,
where greed is the motive, leads to final disaster, or the search is for
spiritual treasure, symbolizing esoteric knowledge or enlightenment, the
search for the Center, for lost Paradise, the Grail etc... and the goal
is guarded by monsters or DRAGONS; this
represents man's quest for, and discovery of, his own true nature" (Cooper,
176).
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