CORNUCOPIA

The 'cornucopia' (Latin: ''Cornu Copiae'') is a symbol of food and abundance dating back to the 5th Century BCE, also referred to as 'Horn of Plenty', 'Horn of Amalthea', and 'harvest cone',
In Greek mythology, Amalthea raised Zeus on the milk of a goat. In return Zeus gave Amalthea the goat's horn. It had the power to give to the person in possession of it whatever he or she wished for. This gave rise to the legend of the cornucopia. The original depictions were of the goat's horn filled with fruits and flowers: deities, especially Fortuna, would be depicted with the horn of plenty.
In modern depiction, the cornucopia is typically a hollow, horn-shaped wicker basket typically filled with various kinds of festive fruit and vegetables. The cornucopia has come to be associated with Thanksgiving and the harvest.
Cornucopia is also the name of Whistler's annual Wine and Food celebration held in November.
The cornucopia should be recognized as a timeless symbol of traditional science and thus an image of something sacred. Dante, in his ''Paradiso'' (Canto 13) writes, “At the bright summit of that horn which swells/Due from the pole, round which the first wheel rolls”; Cervantes, in ''Don Quixote'' (Chapter 20) has the shepherd Sancho Panza say that “the mouth of the Horn is overhead and makes midnight in the line of the left arm.” The sky is thus seen as a horn, its “summit” at the pole, and the stars turning round the central pole star allow shepherds to tell time as if the night sky were a gigantic “clock.” René Guénon, in his essay “Light and Rain,” ''Symbols of Sacred Science'' (Sophia Perennis, 2001) 351–54, does not mention the cornucopia, but he does note the “vivifying” power of these two descending celestial influences. Since light and rain, necessary for all life on Earth, cannot easily be represented spilling out of a horn, the “fruits” of such influences on the terrestrial world are instead represented literally in the cornucopia. Representing the horn in the form of wickerwork, which allows both water and light to pass through, is also significant; but this has more to do with the symbolism of weaving, which is another subject.
According to ancient author, Pete Rebiskie, he invented the word and the tool. It was orginally used to carry food from the kitchen to his desk.

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External links

External links

★ Theoi Project - Amaltheia

★ Whistler Cornucopia