blacksmith

is symbolically equivalent to the accursed poet and the despised prophet.

Blacksmith On some cultural levels, the position of blacksmith is considered to be held under the king’s prerogative, and to be sacred (21). There is a close connexion between metallurgy and alchemy: According to Alleau, the blacksmith is equivalent to the accursed poet and the despised prophet. In the Rigveda, the creator of the world is a blacksmith (31); this may be accounted for by the associated symbolism of fire, but also by the fact that iron is associated with the astral world—the first iron known to man was meteoric—and with the planet Mars.

Sir James G. FrazerThinkers

Sir James G. Frazer