One of the most important elements of the Sacred Architecture, and in fact, recipient of a great mystic-symbolic force, which does not seem to be taken into account today, but which in the past had an obvious importance, was that rite that made reference at the crossing of the threshold and the guardians who guard it (1).

The threshold, as is natural, is located there where the entrance to the temple is located, being, therefore, one of the most relevant and interesting elements of study, the porticos of access to them. Surely for this reason, these are usually, or rather, often contain a wealth, both ornamental and symbolic, rich and varied, not exempt, in many cases, from a disconcerting idiosyncrasy, which becomes, of course, an open hand to immeasurable universe of speculation.

The guardians, on the other hand, are usually ferocious-looking animals or terrible monsters, probably based on that demon Asmodeus who guarded the unsurpassable Temple of Solomon, which also had human guardians: the Levites. And the floor of the threshold, was crossed by a small jump and never put your foot on top.

If we take this into account, and remember the scenes that are located in certain temples located in different places of our geography, it may not take us long to notice - or to speculate, of course, which in the end is a authentic challenge to unravel that other genuine and monumental sudoku, which is History- that in some way, the stonemason who undertook the adventure of designing the temple in question, either on his own initiative or following a previously established model on request, designed, at the same time, an imaginative gear that in some way connected, with a greater or lesser degree of evidence and sublimity, with the Ancient Mysteries.

It could be, for example, a way of understanding such strange and at the same time so rich in details of subtle heterodoxy, such as those that are located in places like Uncastillo, in the province of Zaragoza, Echano, in the province of Navarra, Bortedo, in the province of Burgos, and in regard to the present entry, in Atienza, province of Guadalajara.

While the four have in common their uniqueness and even their meritorious rarity, the latter vary in terms of the theme of their iconography, putting the figures of birds and contortionists, with their broad symbolic connotations, to the theme, no less symbolic, obviously , of the agape or sacred feast, whose rite was also determinant in important pre-Christian cults, which were celebrated long before the birth of Christ and the institutionalization of the Last Supper, an action that announced the moment prior to the redeeming sacrifice of the god-man, his step through hell and his resurrection on the third day.

In such a way, that in the banquets or banquets of the main portals of Santa María de Uncastillo and San Pedro de Echano, we will always find some element that will call us powerfully the attention: impure animals like the pig, sharing table with other diners of diverse consideration, showing some of them, in a shameless way, his virile member under the table -in the case of the cover of Santa María de Uncastillo-, or the figure of a diner with some physical defect -signal of being touched by the Divinity-, as would be the case with the lame diner on the cover of San Pedro de Echano.

Located on the outskirts of Atienza (2), that is, beyond the walls that kept this old town safe, whose conquest and reconquest cost true rivers of blood - especially when Christians and Saracens realized its true importance strategic- of the old Romanesque factory of the church of the Virgen del Val, whose history goes back, at least to the XII-XIII centuries, barely survives the main portal, which is located in the southern area, being the apse, which we have of placing in the east, at least curious, although very later, standing out for its height and its hexagonal shape.

This detail of the location, as I said, outside the walls, and in fact, also from the environment of the same population, should give us some clue, or at least induce us to consider the idea that possibly in that same place other cults would have been located, if not to certain common deities in historical-classical epoch -like Ceres, Diana and even Cibeles- yes at least to the common figure of the Great Mother Goddess, primordial archetype on which later the cult to be established Mary, the Mother of God.

In fact on the cover, and dominating above a half circumference, which could represent, at least a known hemisphere, on which their eternal acrobatics develop the graceful figures of the contortionists, a virginal image has to call us powerfully attention because , as with the cover, it is not common either.

Far from maintaining here the enthronement and hieratism of the vast majority of Marian representations, the matriarchal figure with the Child in his arms remains on the back of what, judging from its characteristics, does not look like a mule - let us also remember the rich associated symbolism with this animal and even let us reveal the finding of certain representations in which the crucified has the head of an ass (3) - but rather, a lion. Lions, for example, serve as pedestal to the throne of a well-known Lady, both for its beauty and its size, which is located in the cloister of the monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos: Nª Sª de Marzo.

The lion, representative element of the solar cult, carrying on shoulders, as it says, the Goddess, representative of the lunar cult, in an alchemical operation from which the concept of sacred marriage could be derived, the union of opposites.

But let's go back to the cover and its singularities. There are ten contortionists; ten figures, and all different. Even one of them, winks at us, keeping the fingers of his left hand crossed. Letting ourselves be carried by the magic of numbers, the sum of the digits that make up that number ten, refers us to the Unit, offering us the idea of the eternal cycle; that same cycle that we find in the symbology of the chrismon, and that would be represented by the Greek letters alpha and omega.

But also, significantly, that number ten, coincides with a very particular letter of the enigmatic Tarot deck: the Wheel of Life, Wheel of Fortune or Wheel of Reincarnation, all concepts that could fit in the mystical sense related to the cover -from there, possibly the curious details that all the figures are different- that refers us to those successive stages through which the human soul has to pass until reaching Grace or perfection. Also, symbolically speaking, to cross this threshold - like any other - could suppose, within the scope of thought of the time, a suggestion, somewhat related, in the sense of renewal. Plausible idea, if we take into account the passage of pilgrims through this stretch that is part of the so-called Camino de la Lana, which would connect, likewise, with other no less emblematic places of the province, such as Albendiego and Campisábalos, in the foothills of the Sierra de Pela.

Be that as it may, I believe that here we have a fascinating enigma, whose resolution is, perhaps, more complex than that institutionalized idea that saw a reference to the people of show business and, according to the canons of ecclesiastical thought of the time, errant and evil live.

Notes, References and Bibliography:

(1) Biblical references are found, at least, in Jeremiah, Kings and Zephaniah.
(2) Atienza, was the ancient Tutia or Tythia Celtiberian. After the agarena invasion, it was renamed Atyzia or Atincia and finally, after the city was reconquered by the Christian troops, Atienza.
(3) For example, the size found in a Roman column, dating from 193 and 235 before our era.

NOTICE: Originally published in my blog TRAS LAS HUELLAS DE LOS CANTEROS MEDIEVALES, with the title of The Enigmatic Contortionists of the Church of the Virgin of Val. Both the text and the photographs that accompany it are my exclusive intellectual property. The original entry, where you can check the authorship of juancar347, can be found at the following address: https://canterosmedievales.blogspot.com/2013/01/los-enigmaticos-contorsionistas-de-la.html