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

Gazing through the Lattice

 “When Alice stepped through the looking glass, she entered the realm of imagination.

…This “going through” is an essential aspect of Eros, the great principle that connects us to things beyond our egos. 

excerpt from Words as Eggs by Russell A. Lockhart

The archetypal language of lattices in the form of fluid geometries opens to us a secret view into worlds beyond the apparent.

Bee Light detail

Geometric forms communicate in symbolic language to the foundation of our being. We, and all of life, are made of geometric interlacings. Those of us who take the time and space to attune to this universal geometric language find ourselves resonating through its fluid movement.

I love the way that dance feels.

Cosmic Dervish detail

Journey through the Space between Time

Following The Great Transition blog entry came directives for a new illumination. I was to look for a maze in the form of a Vesica Pisces – the () intersection of two circles. In my search an additional maze turned up that was also to be used. That second form is called a Baltic Wheel. Here are what each looks like:

Vesica Pisces

Baltic Wheel

As you can see, the Baltic Wheel functions here as cross-section through the center of the entry spirals of the Vesica maze –  an entry and exit point.

The arrangement indicated was the Vesica maze in the center and a Baltic Wheel on either side. The left side wheel was to have the entry point facing up, the right side wheel's entry point was to face down.

Two figures needed to be added to this arrangement, both in fetal position. The expiring figure is over-ripe: 

the counter figure, not yet individuated, but moving towards birth: 

I was also given the arched framework that was to hold this coded arrangement, creating large areas of empty space.

Early stage of Matrix after etching

As you can see from this image of the final version, there are two additional elements that have been added.  The story of the light lines ascending and descending from the Baltic Wheels comes in the continuation below.

Matrix - Journey through the Space between Time

On Thanksgiving I had two artist friends come over for a potluck. One noticed Matrix when she walked in and walked over to it. As if compelled, she proceeded to give an all inclusive de-constructive critique of one element after another of piece as it was, though she had a hard time articulating what exactly didn't work. The other artist then walked over to it and began a giddy proclamation: “Where's the pregnant woman? Where's the teenager? Where's the old (I can't remember if it was man or woman)…?” Perhaps one would call this re-constructive criticism? It was all so curious coming from these two who heretofore have expressed nothing but love & support my work. I was all the more amazed since I had not solicited any input. Despite my astonished amusement, I understood from the spontaneous, well-intentioned abuse, that there was likely something missing in the work's symbolic code that kept it from being intelligible, that is to say, resonant with what is known within the human cellular experience. So that night I brought Matrix into my bedroom in hopes of receiving some additional instructions.

I had a dream.

My dream Nov 26^th, Thanksgiving night

I was wandering the streets seeing if I could find somebody who could tell me what I would find if I were to go through the maze and come out the other end. I saw a library and went in. The librarian was a leanish man with glasses who sat me down at a table and wanted to engage with relish in a debate about the validity or invalidity of belief in reincarnation. I felt annoyed with this guy who was on some intellectual trip and left to go back outside in search of someone who could show me what it was like to come through and out of the maze. I then came upon an old woman whom I seemed to know. She was pretty no-nonsense. She told me to follow her and she would show me what I was looking for. We came to a field and I remember us rolling on what felt like a soft grass. I kept my eyes closed. We kept rolling and rolling until I felt the feeling of “arrival”. I opened my eyes and found myself facing a wall in a kind of anteroom with two openings – one behind me from which I had just come and one to the left which was apparently an entrance to another place (an exit from the maze). My first impression was that the space seemed dark – not dark dark, but a room which had no windows and no particular light source, though I could see just fine. There was light coming from the entrance behind me – bright sunlight, as it were. The exit seemed to be to an internal place that didn't have it's own source of light, but did have some form of reflected light that was less intense. The shape of the room was like this:

The form of this anteroom is the shape of the Hebrew letter Hei lying on it's side and in mirrored form.

Hei is the number 5, the number of potential Souls within the human experience.

Hei is the Breath, the root of the Verb of Being. 

I turned back to find the old woman who was ready to move on. I pulled out a calendar to see when we could meet again. The calendar page was blank but was full of small empty squares, except for one square that contained the number “5” about two or three columns from the left in and several rows down. The moment I looked at that 5 I knew it was the day she was going to die.

The only other part of the dream that sticks with me is that I looked down at her left knee, which was a kind of a colorless transparent white. Though I saw no bruising, I knew it had suffered some injury, probably from all that rolling. I remember wondering what I should do about it, if I should be concerned about her injury. I was also thinking that I should thank her for showing me the way. Neither seemed appropriate at the time.

I have pondered the meaning of “knee”. I woke up feeling the word to be significant. Upon waking I couldn't think of anything that might signify. After some consideration I transliterated “knee” into Hebrew - Nun Yud – equivalent to the number 60 in gematria. Sixty is the number where things begin to transmute or take a quantum leap from plane to plane. Sleep is 1/60 of death; a dream is 1/60 of prophecy... 60 is also associated with the Priestly Blessing and the transcendent light of Havaya.

I awoke shortly after the dream and looked at Matrix sitting on the floor by the bookshelf in my bedroom, wondering what alterations I needed to make in order to incorporate the dream teachings. I saw where a single line on each side could create the number 5 symbolic language of the anteroom.   

Ultimately, the entire figure takes on this double 5 formation if viewed from a depth dimension where the space between the junction of the 5's is the saturation space of the Vesica Pisces:

Matrix - Journey through the Space between Time
Illuminated