ChristStory Bestiary

PIGS, SWINE & BOARS

GLUTTONY

The pig and the wild boar share many symbolic meanings. In Christian and many other traditions, both animals are considered unclean symbols of lust, greed, and gluttony. However, because of his strength and independence, the wild boar is sometimes admired as a noble creature, whereas the pig is not.

The pig, which wallows in the mud, has come to symbolize the complete enjoyment of almost all the sins of the flesh including sloth, selfishness, ignorance, and the above mentioned lust, greed, and gluttony. Far from being remorseful over these sins, the symbolic pig indulges an insatiable appetite for them. He enjoys the mud he is covered with and, instead of wasting away, grows sleek with sin. It is a symbol of sensuality, the prosperity of the wicked, and the Devil. The Lord Himself warned His disciples, "Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces" (Mt 7:6). For the swinish person enjoys wallowing in his sins and will destroy anything in the way of that enjoyment - even the truth.

Nevertheless, a few saints, such as St. Anthony, have the pig as one of their attributes. St. Anthony's pig represents his victory over the demon of gluttony. It also reminds us of "St. Anthony's fire" (measles) which people once believed could be cured with bacon.

Jewish and Islamic law forbid the eating of pork. Unfortunately, this prohibition was often used to mock the followers of these religions. The antiSemitic personification of Judaism, "Synagogue," was pictured riding upon a pig. Mosaic law states, "The swine is unclean for you, because it has cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud; you shall not eat their flesh or touch their dead carcasses" (Deu 14:8; see also Lev 11:7). Although popular reasoning now claims that these prohibitions were to prevent the diseases associated with pork, early philosophers believed they were a rejection of pagan practices which often used the pig as a sacrificial animal or holiday food. St. Clement of Alexandria warned that the eating of pork could make one fat and swinish, implying that the consumer would soon take on the lewd and greedy characteristics that were commonly attributed to the pig; not only was the life in the blood, but the sinful propensities of the animal were contained in and transmitted through the flesh.

In spite of all its wicked attributes, the pig symbolizes good luck, prosperity, thrift, and savings. Even today, piggy banks are given to children. Sows represent female fertility. In Germany, it was once the custom to award a pig to the loser in races.

In Ancient Egypt, the sky-goddess, Nut, was depicted as a sow suckling or swallowing her piglets which are the sun and the stars. According to their beliefs, Nut would swallow the stars every morning and vomit them into the sky every evening. She would also swallow her piglet, the sun, every evening and spit him out in the morning. In this way, the sun and the stars were reborn each day before beginning their journeys across the sky. In honor of Nut, Ancient Egyptians wore pig amulets. Another pig was thought to follow the evil god of darkness, Set, brother and murderer of Osiris. Black pigs were sacred to Set and thought to be malevolent. Early Egyptians kept, sacrificed, and occasionally ate pigs even though they considered them unclean enough to cause leprosy.

Around the world, pigs were associated with and sacrificed to fertility, mother, underworld, and agriculture gods and goddesses such as Isis, Demeter, Tiamat, Mars, and Phaea. In parts of the New World, pigs were believed capable of bringing rain, and consequently, fertility to the land. The European corn spirit had the appearance of a pig as did the Celtic Cerridwen or "Old White Sow." Pork was eaten in otherworldly places by visitors and by the gods. The infant, Zeus, was nursed by a pig. In Tibet, the "Diamond" or "Adamantine Sow" was revered as Vajtavarahi, the Queen of Heaven.

The boar, too, was representative of and sacred to many of the gods and goddesses of the ancient world including Demeter, Mars, Rudra, and Vishnu. Druids saw the wild boar as a symbol of spiritual and intellectual strength and authority since it lived in the forest and ate acorns from the sacred oaks. Druid leaders were called "Great White Wild Boars." Boar hunts were considered allegories of the spiritual being hunted and perhaps even destroyed by the temporal.

Wild boars were symbolic of physical strength, independence, courage, ferocity, and war. The warriors of many countries such as Gaul and Rome carried the image of the wild boar on their shields, helmets, and banners. Japanese war deities rode on this wild and fearless mount. Gaelic coins often carried the image of these creatures. Its meat was considered a good food for the dead to take with them on their journey to the next world because it was believed to impart the strength of a boar to them.

In Christianity, the wild boar was a symbol of the wrath of God, ignorance, brutality, lust, anger, gluttony, jealousy, savagery, tyranny, irrational and suicidal urges, the passions, the Antichrist, the beast of Revelation, and the Devil. It is sometimes found being trampled by Chastity personified or as the mount of Anger. Its rampages through vineyards and orchards were emblematic of the destruction of Israel by her enemies, both temporal and spiritual (Psa 80:8-15). The Chinese would rather bear with the presence of a tiger than that of the wild boars it drove from their fields and orchards. It has been a wonder to many that Durer placed a lion and a wild boar in his manger scene instead of the usual ox and ass.

Surprisingly enough, the boar is also a symbol of Christ because of His strength, jealousy, and fearless passion for the children of God. It is the symbol of the courageous Christian engaged in spiritual warfare. St. Paulinus compared the convert to a tamed boar. The boar is an attribute of St. Columban and St. Aemilian.

In the Gospels, a curious story is told in which Christ allows the many demons he casts out of two men to enter a herd of Gadarene swine. The demons promptly caused the whole herd to run "violently down the steep place into the sea" in which they drowned (Mt 8:28-34; Mk 5:1-20; Lk 8:26-39).

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotes are from the NKJV Bible.