Symbolic Language of Human Holiness

 וִהְיִיתֶם קְדֹשִׁים, כִּי קָדוֹשׁ אָנִי 
"...you have been, will be and are holy, for I am Holy."

Leviticus 11:45

Toward a Higher Fidelity: Being Holy 

19.5 "x  19"

The copperwork series entitled "Toward a Higher Fidelity" explores the triune nature of human holiness.  The initial call came while chanting from the daily Hebrew liturgy: The One who triplicates in 3's HOLINESS for the One Who is Holy. The internal impulse made it clear that there were three aspects of human holiness that I was to discover and find symbolic language to express.

In short, after many failed attempts, I sat down one Sunday afternoon, admittedly in a state of boredom. to listen to New Dimensions on the radio.  An interview was just beginning with British poet, adventurer and author David Whyte concerning the conception of his book The Three Marriages - Reimagining Work, Self and Relationship.  Stunned out of my own stupor, I grabbed a pen and began taking notes.

The Aramaic work for "betrothal/marriage" is kiddushin. It is a feminine plural form of the root KDSh - "being holy."  You can see why my mind went BINGO! upon hearing the book's title.

Three illuminations make up the Higher Fidelity series.  This blog will consider the symbolic language of the first one: 

Being Holy.

Beginning at the root, engraved in Hebrew are the words: 

Ha'mishaloshim b'shalosh - "the One who triplicates in 3's."

Moving up to a 3-petalled heart center are 3 Hebrew letters that represent the 3 aspects of human holiness: cHET (lower left), YUD (lower right), and ALEF (top).  They stand for cHupa ("marriage canopy". i.e. relationship), YecHida ("Singularity" - the 5th, most cultivated level of human soul development, closest to merging into divinity) and Umanut ("skill/ artistry" from the same root as Emet - "truth").

Above the 3-petaled heart is a Kiddush cup engraved with the word kiddushin - "marriage".  The gematria of wine = secret (70).  Here resides the mystery.

The overarching, unifying symbol of the illumination is the Tree of Life/Burning Bush.  I was amazed and delighted when this image arose since I have heard the burning bush described as a bush and fire dancing together without one consuming the other.  I can't think of a more appropriate definition for "marriage."

Crowning this burning bush is the 3-branched letter SHIN.  If you look closely you can also make out a 3-pronged crown on the branch farthest to the left. SHIN is a fire letter whose gematria is 300. Though I heard instructions for the SHIN to be placed as it is, I cannot say for certain what its function is.  My imagination wanders to David Whyte's book and his proposal that, should a person find a way to balance Relationship, Work and Self without compromising any of the three, one might indeed attain to a new level of human experience, the Marriage of Marriages. 

Perhaps we are looking here at an evolutionary potential of humanity that each of us is capable of cultivating within a single lifetime.

Breath of the Compassionate

Oh beloved, I savour and swoon to the taste of that which is

the Breath within the Breath.

 attributed to the Sufi poet Alcragujar 

Breath of the Compassionate Series: Breath

The traditional Islamic cosmological worldview speaks of  the 18,000 universes were created through the Nafs Ar-Rahman - "the Breath of the Compassionate."  An elegant geometric intertwining expresses this concept throughout Islamic art and architecture as the octagon star and cross.

Beginning with a square as the symbol of "matter," it expands from the center into the out breath of an octagon star.  The square then contracts into its center in an in breath.    

In Hebrew as in Arabic, "breath" and "soul" are intertwined.

Compare nafs (Arabic) to nefesh (Hebrew); ruh (Arabic) to ruah (Hebrew); nasama (Arabic) to neshama (Hebrew). All are expressions both of "breath" (with the inference of wind, breeze...) and "soul."

Breath of the Compassionate Series: Reunion

This intertwining has become a significant source of inspiration for many of the copperwork illuminations.

Mihrab Ar-Rahman - "The Mother Nature of Divinity"

Nafs Ar-Rahman is generally translated as "The Breath of the Compassionate." The meaning of the Arabic rahman, however, yields a meaning far more informative than "compassionate" or even "merciful." The deeper meaning, comparable to Rahman and Rahamim in Hebrew, is reflected in its 3-lettered root R H M. That three lettered root renders us the word "womb."  Far more concrete and personal than the abstract concept of "compassion,"  this God name, foremost among the 99 names, is the "mother nature of divinity."  Ar-Rahman, then, describes an intimate, creative, nurturing and ferociously protective Source of Being.

I welcome you to add archetypal "womb-ly" attributes to enliven our mutual understanding of this most fundamental of divine names for the Source of Life and our own being.

Copper, Alchemy and the Venus Factor

Orange Blossom - acid etched copper platter detail

   Chemistry dissolves the goddess in the alembic,

   Venus, the copper queen, the universal matrix,

   Down to the molecular hexagons and carbon-chains. 

adapted from The Collected Poems of Kathleen Raine 

Alchemically and astrologically speaking, the metal copper and the planet and goddess Venus share the symbol of the circle and the cross, the sign of the feminine. 

Planets and metals are active and passive manifestations of generative powers on a coloured spectrum of consciousness...                                                                                       Dr. Paul Kiritsis

The archetype of beauty and love, Venus is known by the name Aphrodite in Greece. Aphrodite derives from the Greek word aphros, meaning "foam". Venus springs from the sea fully formed. The zephyrs waft her along the waves to the Isle of Cyprus (the source of the word copper), where she is received and attired by the seasons and led to the assembly of the gods.  

Here is how Boticelli depicts her in The Birth of Venus. Notice her copper hair?

All the gods are charmed with her beauty and each one demands her for his wife.  Jupiter gives her to Vulcan in gratitude for the service Vulcan has rendered to him as his forger of thunderbolts. 

As I work in my studio/laboratory, I saturate in Venus consciousness.  I don't interfere with the evolution of the patinas that form during the processes to which I submit a sheet of copper.  My work is to remain present to the unfolding mystery as the higher intent and inner nature of each illumination develops its own spectrum of colors within the acid and solvent baths -- beyond any desire or choice on my part. My own aesthetic choices are made after the patinas have formed and I better understand the Great desire. 

Myth informs us that Venus is birthed by the sea. As such, she (copper) often takes on the verdigris water colors of blues and greens.  Partnered with Vulcan, divine fire master, she may also deepen to the fire colors of red and orange. Cupric* Venus - harmonizer of water and fire.

Copper: soft, warm. responsive, reflective, protective, conductive, magical and, best of all, B E A U T I F U L .   

Emergence detail

* Cupric:  of, relating to or containing copper with a valence of two