Originally posted by sugarcookie1
Most of the people attending church in the Middle Ages were illiterate and accustomed to the use of visual symbols in their worship, especially if they were newly converted pagans. Because of this, some feel that gargoyles were used as visual reminders of the dangers of evil and warnings that parishioners needed to mend their ways.

According to the Encyclopedia Americana a gargoyle is "a waterspout, projecting from a roof gutter or upper part of a building to throw water clear of walls or foundations." (307) So they protect the mortar and the stones of the building from erosion. Gargoyles are widespread on medieval buildings. That is because dividing the flow of water minimalized the potential damage coming from each gargoyle's mouth, and because of the great number of gutters carried on the top of flying buttresses and walls. (Benton 14) In the Gothic era, especially in the Decorated and Perpendicular Gothic styles of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, gargoyles were the preferred method of drainage, but, especially in areas of the building which were not exposed to view, waterspouts were not necessarily carved as gargoyles. (Benton 12) Their architectural function may have been served originally by wooden or ceramic waterspouts. The introduction of stone for this purpose made the possibility of carving them into ornamental forms more inviting. (Benton 10)

Another function of the gargoyles could have been to ward off evil spirits and protect the valuables within the church, continuing the Greek tradition. The idea was that demons were either frightened away or assumed that other evil creatures were already there and would avoid attacking the building. That could explain why gargoyles are rarely pretty, but horrible, grotesque in their appearance. They would have been a "sort of sacred scarecrow to frighten the devil away" (Benton 24). In connection with their function as an educational device they could have been symbols of the evil forces (such as temptations and sins) "lurking outside the sanctuary of the church; upon passing the gargoyles, the visitor's safety was assured within the church". (Benton 24) Grotesque creatures appearing in the church would then be evil monstrosities having redeemed themselves by labouring in the service of the church as waterspouts, who were rewarded by being permitted entry to the church. Francis Bligh Bond, an English architectural historian, supposed the meaning of the gargoyles as being the symbolic overcome and conversion to good even of the most monstrous forms of evil by the Church. In any case, gargoyles were used as symbols, and could be interpreted in many ways. They could have represented the souls condemned for their sins, whom was therefore the entrance to church forbidden. The price for sinning, although they were spared from eternal damnation, would be to be turned to stone. That would also correspond with the theory of gargoyles being for education, as they then would have been reminders of what could happen to sinners. (Benton 25) Another theory, whose specific origin can no longer be identified, has it that gargoyles are fashioned after local demons and guardian spirits, continuing pagan themes. (Online Source 1) They are also said to be an expression of man's subconscious fears. (Online 8) The explanation for the meaning of gargoyles can perhaps only be a combination of many of those theories.

Originally posted by eight bits
Joe, you seem to make the assumption that the convention is peculiar to Christian sacred spaces. Check out temple guardians and a somewhat related notion, threshold guardians, searchable.

Originally posted by eight bits
What needs to be avoided is somebody visiting the cathedral with their conscious interior monolog uninterrupted. "Wow, nice window." A gargoyle in your face just might shut up the voice in your head for a moment. With luck, "Wow," pipes up another voice finally able to speak, "I am about to enter the sanctuary of the living God."

The better prepared you are for that experience, the better, period.

Originally posted by queenannie38
Well...knights always have to try to slay the dragons...but usually it is an 'anything-might-happen' kind of event...but let's just say that St. Michael is able to morph/shape-shift and his true form, on the outside is that of a HUGE DRAGON...imagine DRACO in the night sky...and that his true heart is true to his name..WHO IS LIKE GOD...so we have this HUGE dragon with a heart so soft it melts even when it's snowing....

Originally posted by queenannie38
Do you think that St. Michael the Dragon Slaying Dragon could kick that crooked lying devil-dragon's butt?

Originally posted by queenannie38
OH YEAH you can bet he did...with one hand, even...maybe just two fingers and the thumb available for backup.

Originally posted by queenannie38
GOD created 'evil' in order to eliminate the wickedness of the ego...the selfish intentions and fear driven acts of self-preservation which comprise all that is called 'man's humanity to man' are the evil that the gargoyles keep at bay...

GOD sends *The Sifter* to all crops when their harvest comes...it is a friendly visit...the pitchfork (or mace?) only come out for the especially STUBBORN ones...the scary ones who need a good bully beat-down for a change...you know what I mean...and Gargoyles are gatekeepers....thugs hired to keep the other thugs at bay...

Originally posted by queenannie38
I think the ones who first desired these gargoyles...also were the ones who set them in place...and they placed them up so high on the turrets and such ON PURPOSE....if they gargoyles had been sitting any closer down to the doors of the church, there might have been a little disruption....at first.

Originally posted by queenannie38
It doesn't look like they are giving up any time soon, either...they've been keeping watch for the last 500 years at the same post!