Repentance
Four Zoas, Night Nine, PAGE 121 (E391):
"Urizen wept in the dark deep anxious his Scaly form
To reassume the human & he wept in the dark deep
Saying O that I had never drank the wine nor eat the bread
Of dark mortality nor cast my view into futurity nor turnd
My back darkning the present clouding with a cloud
And building arches high & cities turrets & towers & domes
whose smoke destroyd the pleasant gardens & whose running
Kennels
Chokd the bright rivers burdning with my Ships the angry deep
Thro Chaos seeking for delight & in spaces remote
Seeking the Eternal which is always present to the wise
Seeking for pleasure which unsought falls round the infants path
And on the fleeces of mild flocks who neither care nor labour
But I the labourer of ages whose unwearied hands
Are thus deformd with hardness with the sword & with the spear
And with the Chisel & the mallet I whose labours vast
Order the nations separating family by family
Alone enjoy not I alone in misery supreme
Ungratified give all my joy unto this Luvah & Vala
Then Go O dark futurity I will cast thee forth from these
Heavens of my brain nor will I look upon futurity more
I cast futurity away & turn my back upon that void
Which I have made for lo futurity is in this moment
Let Orc consume let Tharmas rage let dark Urthona give
All strength to Los & Enitharmon & let Los self-cursd
Rend down this fabric as a wall ruind & family extinct
Rage Orc Rage Tharmas Urizen no longer curbs your rage"
Urizen resolves to reassume the human form - the spiritual.
He is sorry:
1. He ever experienced physicality,
2. sought to see or control the future which by right belongs to
Urthona,
3. distorted the view of present,
4. created a religion of materiality,
5. made the destructive, oppressive economic system,
6. sought distant satisfactions instead of those at hand,
7. failed to recognize the God Within,
8. neglected simple pleasures,
9. divided one from another,
10. used force to engender conformity.
He recognizes that these failings are internal ('in my brain'). He
sees that 'futurity is in this moment.' He relinquishes claim to any
achievements as my own. He recognize the role of each Zoa.
As a result of his repentance: (E391)
"Into the fires Then glorious bright Exulting in his joy
He sounding rose into the heavens in naked majesty
In radiant Youth."
______________________________________________
Saturday, October 31, 2009
URIZEN REPENTS
URIZEN REPENTS
Repentance
Four Zoas, Night Nine, PAGE 121 (E391):
"Urizen wept in the dark deep anxious his Scaly form
To reassume the human & he wept in the dark deep
Saying O that I had never drank the wine nor eat the bread
Of dark mortality nor cast my view into futurity nor turnd
My back darkning the present clouding with a cloud
And building arches high & cities turrets & towers & domes
whose smoke destroyd the pleasant gardens & whose running
Kennels
Chokd the bright rivers burdning with my Ships the angry deep
Thro Chaos seeking for delight & in spaces remote
Seeking the Eternal which is always present to the wise
Seeking for pleasure which unsought falls round the infants path
And on the fleeces of mild flocks who neither care nor labour
But I the labourer of ages whose unwearied hands
Are thus deformd with hardness with the sword & with the spear
And with the Chisel & the mallet I whose labours vast
Order the nations separating family by family
Alone enjoy not I alone in misery supreme
Ungratified give all my joy unto this Luvah & Vala
Then Go O dark futurity I will cast thee forth from these
Heavens of my brain nor will I look upon futurity more
I cast futurity away & turn my back upon that void
Which I have made for lo futurity is in this moment
Let Orc consume let Tharmas rage let dark Urthona give
All strength to Los & Enitharmon & let Los self-cursd
Rend down this fabric as a wall ruind & family extinct
Rage Orc Rage Tharmas Urizen no longer curbs your rage"
Urizen resolves to reassume the human form - the spiritual.
He is sorry:
1. He ever experienced physicality,
2. sought to see or control the future which by right belongs to
Urthona,
3. distorted the view of present,
4. created a religion of materiality,
5. made the destructive, oppressive economic system,
6. sought distant satisfactions instead of those at hand,
7. failed to recognize the God Within,
8. neglected simple pleasures,
9. divided one from another,
10. used force to engender conformity.
He recognizes that these failings are internal ('in my brain'). He
sees that 'futurity is in this moment.' He relinquishes claim to any
achievements as my own. He recognize the role of each Zoa.
As a result of his repentance: (E391)
"Into the fires Then glorious bright Exulting in his joy
He sounding rose into the heavens in naked majesty
In radiant Youth."
______________________________________________
Friday, October 30, 2009
No Other Gospel
From Plate 77 of Jerusalem:
"I know of no other Christianity and of no
other Gospel than the liberty both of body
and mind to exercise the Divine Arts of
Imagination."
"Imagination the real and eternal World of
which this Vegetable Universe is but a
faint shadow and in which we shall live in
our Eternal or Imaginative Bodies, when
these Vegetable Mortal Bodies are no
more."
"The Apostles knew of no other Gospel.
What were all their spiritual gifts?
What is the Divine Spirit? is the Holy Ghost
any other than an Intellectual Fountain?"
A really daring redefinition of the Holy Ghost!
"What is the Harvest of the Gospel & its Labours?
What is that Talent which it is a curse to hide?
What are the Treasures of Heaven which we are
to lay up for ourselves, are they any other than
Mental Studies & Performances? What are all the
Gifts. of the Gospel, are they not all Mental Gifts?
Is God a Spirit who must be worshipped in Spirit
& in Truth and are not the Gifts of the Spirit
Everything to Man? ( Erdman- 231)
"you who shall pretend to despise Art & Science!
I call upon you in the Name of
Jesus! What is the Life of Man but Art &
Science? is it Meat & Drink? is not the
Body more than Raiment? What is Mortality
but the things relating to the Body, which
Dies? What is Immortality but the things
relating to the Spirit, which Lives
Eternally! What is the joy of Heaven but
Improvement in the things of the Spirit?
What are the Pains of Hell but Ignorance,
Bodily Lust, Idleness & devastation of the
things of the Spirit[?]
Answer this to yourselves, & expel from
among you those who pretend to despise the
labours of Art & Science, which alone are
the labours of the Gospel: Is not this
plain & manifest to the thought? Can you
think at all & not pronounce heartily!
That to Labour in Knowledge. is to Build
up Jerusalem: and to Despise Knowledge, is
to Despise Jerusalem & her Builders."
" And remember: He who despises mocks a
Mental Gift in another; calling it pride &
selfishness & sin; mocks Jesus the giver
of every Mental Gift, which always appear
to the ignorance-loving Hypocrite, as
Sins. but that which is a Sin in the sight
of cruel Man, is not so in the sight of
our kind God.
"Let every Christian as much as in him
lies engage himself openly & publicly
before all the World in some Mental
pursuit for the Building up of Jerusalem "
Urizen, Los and Enitharmon build Jerusalem
________________________________________________________
To the Christians.
"We are told to abstain from fleshly
desires that we may lose no time from the
Work of the Lord. Every moment lost, is a
moment that cannot be redeemed every
pleasure that intermingles with the duty
of our station is a folly unredeemable and
is planted like the seed of a wild flower
among our wheat." (cf Matthew 13:25)
This is quite a departure from the young 'pleasure lover'
who wrote MHH. It seems like Blake had stopped reading
Swedenberg and taken up Wesley. He had very likely been
who wrote MHH. It seems like Blake had stopped reading
Swedenberg and taken up Wesley. He had very likely been
reading the first chapter of Galatians when he wrote the
following:
following:
"I know of no other Christianity and of no
other Gospel than the liberty both of body
and mind to exercise the Divine Arts of
Imagination."
Blake, a voracious reader and student of
religion, had seen many other
Christianities and Gospels, but now in his
forties, he had his own Visions of these
Divine Realities.
"Imagination the real and eternal World of
which this Vegetable Universe is but a
faint shadow and in which we shall live in
our Eternal or Imaginative Bodies, when
these Vegetable Mortal Bodies are no
more."
Blake carefully differentiated between ''our
Eternal or Imaginative Bodies" and our
"Vegetable Mortal Bodies"."The Apostles knew of no other Gospel.
What were all their spiritual gifts?
What is the Divine Spirit? is the Holy Ghost
any other than an Intellectual Fountain?"
A really daring redefinition of the Holy Ghost!
"What is the Harvest of the Gospel & its Labours?
What is that Talent which it is a curse to hide?
What are the Treasures of Heaven which we are
to lay up for ourselves, are they any other than
Mental Studies & Performances? What are all the
Gifts. of the Gospel, are they not all Mental Gifts?
Is God a Spirit who must be worshipped in Spirit
& in Truth and are not the Gifts of the Spirit
Everything to Man? ( Erdman- 231)
"you who shall pretend to despise Art & Science!
I call upon you in the Name of
Jesus! What is the Life of Man but Art &
Science? is it Meat & Drink? is not the
Body more than Raiment? What is Mortality
but the things relating to the Body, which
Dies? What is Immortality but the things
relating to the Spirit, which Lives
Eternally! What is the joy of Heaven but
Improvement in the things of the Spirit?
What are the Pains of Hell but Ignorance,
Bodily Lust, Idleness & devastation of the
things of the Spirit[?]
Answer this to yourselves, & expel from
among you those who pretend to despise the
labours of Art & Science, which alone are
the labours of the Gospel: Is not this
plain & manifest to the thought? Can you
think at all & not pronounce heartily!
That to Labour in Knowledge. is to Build
up Jerusalem: and to Despise Knowledge, is
to Despise Jerusalem & her Builders."
Here Blake slams the 'know nothings', the
proudly ignorant of whom we have a fair
number in the 21st century.
" And remember: He who despises mocks a
Mental Gift in another; calling it pride &
selfishness & sin; mocks Jesus the giver
of every Mental Gift, which always appear
to the ignorance-loving Hypocrite, as
Sins. but that which is a Sin in the sight
of cruel Man, is not so in the sight of
our kind God.
"Let every Christian as much as in him
lies engage himself openly & publicly
before all the World in some Mental
pursuit for the Building up of Jerusalem "
Urizen, Los and Enitharmon build Jerusalem
________________________________________________________
No Other Gospel
From Plate 77 of Jerusalem:
"I know of no other Christianity and of no
other Gospel than the liberty both of body
and mind to exercise the Divine Arts of
Imagination."
"Imagination the real and eternal World of
which this Vegetable Universe is but a
faint shadow and in which we shall live in
our Eternal or Imaginative Bodies, when
these Vegetable Mortal Bodies are no
more."
"The Apostles knew of no other Gospel.
What were all their spiritual gifts?
What is the Divine Spirit? is the Holy Ghost
any other than an Intellectual Fountain?"
A really daring redefinition of the Holy Ghost!
"What is the Harvest of the Gospel & its Labours?
What is that Talent which it is a curse to hide?
What are the Treasures of Heaven which we are
to lay up for ourselves, are they any other than
Mental Studies & Performances? What are all the
Gifts. of the Gospel, are they not all Mental Gifts?
Is God a Spirit who must be worshipped in Spirit
& in Truth and are not the Gifts of the Spirit
Everything to Man? ( Erdman- 231)
"you who shall pretend to despise Art & Science!
I call upon you in the Name of
Jesus! What is the Life of Man but Art &
Science? is it Meat & Drink? is not the
Body more than Raiment? What is Mortality
but the things relating to the Body, which
Dies? What is Immortality but the things
relating to the Spirit, which Lives
Eternally! What is the joy of Heaven but
Improvement in the things of the Spirit?
What are the Pains of Hell but Ignorance,
Bodily Lust, Idleness & devastation of the
things of the Spirit[?]
Answer this to yourselves, & expel from
among you those who pretend to despise the
labours of Art & Science, which alone are
the labours of the Gospel: Is not this
plain & manifest to the thought? Can you
think at all & not pronounce heartily!
That to Labour in Knowledge. is to Build
up Jerusalem: and to Despise Knowledge, is
to Despise Jerusalem & her Builders."
" And remember: He who despises mocks a
Mental Gift in another; calling it pride &
selfishness & sin; mocks Jesus the giver
of every Mental Gift, which always appear
to the ignorance-loving Hypocrite, as
Sins. but that which is a Sin in the sight
of cruel Man, is not so in the sight of
our kind God.
"Let every Christian as much as in him
lies engage himself openly & publicly
before all the World in some Mental
pursuit for the Building up of Jerusalem "
Urizen, Los and Enitharmon build Jerusalem
________________________________________________________
To the Christians.
"We are told to abstain from fleshly
desires that we may lose no time from the
Work of the Lord. Every moment lost, is a
moment that cannot be redeemed every
pleasure that intermingles with the duty
of our station is a folly unredeemable and
is planted like the seed of a wild flower
among our wheat." (cf Matthew 13:25)
This is quite a departure from the young 'pleasure lover'
who wrote MHH. It seems like Blake had stopped reading
Swedenberg and taken up Wesley. He had very likely been
who wrote MHH. It seems like Blake had stopped reading
Swedenberg and taken up Wesley. He had very likely been
reading the first chapter of Galatians when he wrote the
following:
following:
"I know of no other Christianity and of no
other Gospel than the liberty both of body
and mind to exercise the Divine Arts of
Imagination."
Blake, a voracious reader and student of
religion, had seen many other
Christianities and Gospels, but now in his
forties, he had his own Visions of these
Divine Realities.
"Imagination the real and eternal World of
which this Vegetable Universe is but a
faint shadow and in which we shall live in
our Eternal or Imaginative Bodies, when
these Vegetable Mortal Bodies are no
more."
Blake carefully differentiated between ''our
Eternal or Imaginative Bodies" and our
"Vegetable Mortal Bodies"."The Apostles knew of no other Gospel.
What were all their spiritual gifts?
What is the Divine Spirit? is the Holy Ghost
any other than an Intellectual Fountain?"
A really daring redefinition of the Holy Ghost!
"What is the Harvest of the Gospel & its Labours?
What is that Talent which it is a curse to hide?
What are the Treasures of Heaven which we are
to lay up for ourselves, are they any other than
Mental Studies & Performances? What are all the
Gifts. of the Gospel, are they not all Mental Gifts?
Is God a Spirit who must be worshipped in Spirit
& in Truth and are not the Gifts of the Spirit
Everything to Man? ( Erdman- 231)
"you who shall pretend to despise Art & Science!
I call upon you in the Name of
Jesus! What is the Life of Man but Art &
Science? is it Meat & Drink? is not the
Body more than Raiment? What is Mortality
but the things relating to the Body, which
Dies? What is Immortality but the things
relating to the Spirit, which Lives
Eternally! What is the joy of Heaven but
Improvement in the things of the Spirit?
What are the Pains of Hell but Ignorance,
Bodily Lust, Idleness & devastation of the
things of the Spirit[?]
Answer this to yourselves, & expel from
among you those who pretend to despise the
labours of Art & Science, which alone are
the labours of the Gospel: Is not this
plain & manifest to the thought? Can you
think at all & not pronounce heartily!
That to Labour in Knowledge. is to Build
up Jerusalem: and to Despise Knowledge, is
to Despise Jerusalem & her Builders."
Here Blake slams the 'know nothings', the
proudly ignorant of whom we have a fair
number in the 21st century.
" And remember: He who despises mocks a
Mental Gift in another; calling it pride &
selfishness & sin; mocks Jesus the giver
of every Mental Gift, which always appear
to the ignorance-loving Hypocrite, as
Sins. but that which is a Sin in the sight
of cruel Man, is not so in the sight of
our kind God.
"Let every Christian as much as in him
lies engage himself openly & publicly
before all the World in some Mental
pursuit for the Building up of Jerusalem "
Urizen, Los and Enitharmon build Jerusalem
________________________________________________________
THARMAS & THE ID
The psychic energy of humans is said to come from the Id, the instinctual first principal which allows the infant to survive. In Freud's system the Superego and Ego are built on that fundamental structure of the psyche. Later developments of the psyche limit the expression of the Id, but it would be disastrous if the Id were completely suppressed for that would leave no energy with which to fuel the operation of other aspects of the psyche.
So it is with Blake's Tharmas. As the body, he is the Zoa who is the source of energy. In MHH 4 Blake says "Energy is the only life, and is from the body."
In the Sixth Night of the Four Zoas, we find Urizen wandering through the unsatisfactory world he has created. Urizen is weakened; Urthona occupies a throne in a world of solid darkness; the east, Luvah's realm, is a void. Tharmas, however is full of energy rolling his billows in ceaseless eddies as he seeks his Emanation Enion. Desiring death Tharmas bargains with Urizen : The Four Zoas, Night Six, 69.10; E346
Tharmas threatens to starve Urizen in this passage: The Four Zoas, Night Six, 69.21; E 346
"Thou shalt pursue me but in vain till starvd upon the void
Thou hangst a dried skin shrunk up weak wailing in the wind
So Tharmas spoke but Urizen replied not."
Urizen makes this threat concerning Tharmas: The Four Zoas, Night Six, 68.22; E345
Blake as the 'vehicular form of Los' very likely tapped into the Id as instinctive energy to fuel his prolific output. His libido enjoyed a satisfying sexual relationship in his marriage to Catherine. The physical nature of his artistic activities involved his body in functioning as it should. The 'Tharmas' in him was not neglected but engaged as an essential partner, ready to provide energy for Blake's pursuits.
Enion, Enitharmon, Los and Tharmas
So it is with Blake's Tharmas. As the body, he is the Zoa who is the source of energy. In MHH 4 Blake says "Energy is the only life, and is from the body."
In the Sixth Night of the Four Zoas, we find Urizen wandering through the unsatisfactory world he has created. Urizen is weakened; Urthona occupies a throne in a world of solid darkness; the east, Luvah's realm, is a void. Tharmas, however is full of energy rolling his billows in ceaseless eddies as he seeks his Emanation Enion. Desiring death Tharmas bargains with Urizen : The Four Zoas, Night Six, 69.10; E346
"That I in vain in various paths have sought but still I live
The Body of Man is given to me I seek in vain to destroy
For still it surges forth in fish & monsters of the deeps
And in these monstrous forms I Live in an Eternal woe
And thou O Urizen art falln never to be deliverd
Withhold thy light from me for ever & I will withhold
From thee thy food so shall we cease to be & all our sorrows
End & the Eternal Man no more renew beneath our power" The function of Urizen is to produce light which he can provide to the other Zoas; it is up to Tharmas to provide the food or energy which the other Zoas are now lacking. Urizen has other ideas, so the bargain is not made nor could it be, because the Eternal Man will be renewed.Tharmas threatens to starve Urizen in this passage: The Four Zoas, Night Six, 69.21; E 346
"Thou shalt pursue me but in vain till starvd upon the void
Thou hangst a dried skin shrunk up weak wailing in the wind
So Tharmas spoke but Urizen replied not."
Urizen makes this threat concerning Tharmas: The Four Zoas, Night Six, 68.22; E345
"I will give Chains of dark ignorance & cords of twisted self
conceit
And whips of stern repentance & food of stubborn obstinacy
That they may curse Tharmas their God & Los his adopted son"So this is an explanation for the energy of Los; the alliance between Tharmas and Los gives Los the tremendous creative energy which he expends producing children, building cities and seeking to provide the conditions which will result in regeneration.Blake as the 'vehicular form of Los' very likely tapped into the Id as instinctive energy to fuel his prolific output. His libido enjoyed a satisfying sexual relationship in his marriage to Catherine. The physical nature of his artistic activities involved his body in functioning as it should. The 'Tharmas' in him was not neglected but engaged as an essential partner, ready to provide energy for Blake's pursuits.
Enion, Enitharmon, Los and Tharmas
THARMAS & THE ID
The psychic energy of humans is said to come from the Id, the instinctual first principal which allows the infant to survive. In Freud's system the Superego and Ego are built on that fundamental structure of the psyche. Later developments of the psyche limit the expression of the Id, but it would be disastrous if the Id were completely suppressed for that would leave no energy with which to fuel the operation of other aspects of the psyche.
So it is with Blake's Tharmas. As the body, he is the Zoa who is the source of energy. In MHH 4 Blake says "Energy is the only life, and is from the body."
In the Sixth Night of the Four Zoas, we find Urizen wandering through the unsatisfactory world he has created. Urizen is weakened; Urthona occupies a throne in a world of solid darkness; the east, Luvah's realm, is a void. Tharmas, however is full of energy rolling his billows in ceaseless eddies as he seeks his Emanation Enion. Desiring death Tharmas bargains with Urizen : The Four Zoas, Night Six, 69.10; E346
Tharmas threatens to starve Urizen in this passage: The Four Zoas, Night Six, 69.21; E346
"Thou shalt pursue me but in vain till starvd upon the void
Thou hangst a dried skin shrunk up weak wailing in the wind
So Tharmas spoke but Urizen replied not."
Urizen makes this threat concerning Tharmas: The Four Zoas, Night Six, 68.22; E345
Blake as the 'vehicular form of Los' very likely tapped into the Id as instinctive energy to fuel his prolific output. His libido enjoyed a satisfying sexual relationship in his marriage to Catherine. The physical nature of his artistic activities involved his body in functioning as it should. The 'Tharmas' in him was not neglected but engaged as an essential partner, ready to provide energy for Blake's pursuits.
Enion, Enitharmon, Los and Tharmas
____________________________________________________________________
So it is with Blake's Tharmas. As the body, he is the Zoa who is the source of energy. In MHH 4 Blake says "Energy is the only life, and is from the body."
In the Sixth Night of the Four Zoas, we find Urizen wandering through the unsatisfactory world he has created. Urizen is weakened; Urthona occupies a throne in a world of solid darkness; the east, Luvah's realm, is a void. Tharmas, however is full of energy rolling his billows in ceaseless eddies as he seeks his Emanation Enion. Desiring death Tharmas bargains with Urizen : The Four Zoas, Night Six, 69.10; E346
"That I in vain in various paths have sought but still I live
The Body of Man is given to me I seek in vain to destroy
For still it surges forth in fish & monsters of the deeps
And in these monstrous forms I Live in an Eternal woe
And thou O Urizen art falln never to be deliverd
Withhold thy light from me for ever & I will withhold
From thee thy food so shall we cease to be & all our sorrows
End & the Eternal Man no more renew beneath our power" The function of Urizen is to produce light which he can provide to the other Zoas; it is up to Tharmas to provide the food or energy which the other Zoas are now lacking. Urizen has other ideas, so the bargain is not made nor could it be, because the Eternal Man will be renewed.Tharmas threatens to starve Urizen in this passage: The Four Zoas, Night Six, 69.21; E346
"Thou shalt pursue me but in vain till starvd upon the void
Thou hangst a dried skin shrunk up weak wailing in the wind
So Tharmas spoke but Urizen replied not."
Urizen makes this threat concerning Tharmas: The Four Zoas, Night Six, 68.22; E345
"I will give
Chains of dark ignorance & cords of twisted self conceit
And whips of stern repentance & food of stubborn obstinacy
That they may curse Tharmas their God & Los his adopted son"So this is an explanation for the energy of Los; the alliance between Tharmas and Los gives Los the tremendous creative energy which he expends producing children, building cities and seeking to provide the conditions which will result in regeneration.Blake as the 'vehicular form of Los' very likely tapped into the Id as instinctive energy to fuel his prolific output. His libido enjoyed a satisfying sexual relationship in his marriage to Catherine. The physical nature of his artistic activities involved his body in functioning as it should. The 'Tharmas' in him was not neglected but engaged as an essential partner, ready to provide energy for Blake's pursuits.
Enion, Enitharmon, Los and Tharmas
____________________________________________________________________
Thursday, October 29, 2009
After the Bard's Song
The Bard's Song led to a loud murmuring in the
Heavens of Albion, and "the loud voic'd Bard
terrify'd took refuge in Miltons bosom;" then
Milton "took off the robe of the promise, & ungirded himself from the oath of God
And Milton said, I go to Eternal Death! The Nations still
Follow after the detestable Gods of Priam; in pomp
Of warlike selfhood, contradicting and blaspheming.
When will the Resurrection come; to deliver the sleeping body
From corruptibility: O when Lord Jesus wilt thou come?
Tarry no longer; for my soul lies at the gates of death.
I will arise and look forth for the morning of the grave.
I will go down to the sepulcher to see if morning breaks!
I will go down to self annihilation and eternal death,
Lest the Last Judgment come & find me unannihilate."
And I be siez'd & giv'n into the hands of my own Selfhood
The Lamb of God is seen thro' mists & shadows, hov'ring
Over the sepulchers in clouds of Jehovah & winds of Elohim
A disk of blood, distant; & heav'ns & earth's roll dark between
What do I here before the Judgment? without my Emanation?
With the daughters of memory, & not with the daughters of
inspiration[?]
I in my Selfhood am that Satan: I am that Evil One!
He is my Spectre! in my obedience to loose him from my Hells
To claim the Hells, my Furnaces, I go to Eternal Death."
(Milton, plate 14)
The way Blake saw him.
This of course is a climactic moment in the poem.
An unheard of thing! One leaves Heaven to return
to 'this vale of tears'. Well, not quite
unprecedented; Milton simply followed the path of
Jesus. In that way Blake gave Milton (the man)
the highest approval possible.
Blake's myth was to a large degree patterned after
Paradise Lost. His difference with Milton
resembled one of those "severe contentions of
Friendship." Milton had spoken; Blake replied
in MHH; now he replies again! That's
the shape of the poem as far as Blake himself was concerned.
Thereafter Milton allied himself with Los, giving, with Blake a triumvirate against which none could stand.
Milton is an essay describing the triumph of Jesus
over all the forces of the world.
It is difficult to immediately grasp, but yields
immense returns to anyone determined enough to
come to an understanding of it.
Heavens of Albion, and "the loud voic'd Bard
terrify'd took refuge in Miltons bosom;" then
Milton "took off the robe of the promise, & ungirded himself from the oath of God
And Milton said, I go to Eternal Death! The Nations still
Follow after the detestable Gods of Priam; in pomp
Of warlike selfhood, contradicting and blaspheming.
When will the Resurrection come; to deliver the sleeping body
From corruptibility: O when Lord Jesus wilt thou come?
Tarry no longer; for my soul lies at the gates of death.
I will arise and look forth for the morning of the grave.
I will go down to the sepulcher to see if morning breaks!
I will go down to self annihilation and eternal death,
Lest the Last Judgment come & find me unannihilate."
And I be siez'd & giv'n into the hands of my own Selfhood
The Lamb of God is seen thro' mists & shadows, hov'ring
Over the sepulchers in clouds of Jehovah & winds of Elohim
A disk of blood, distant; & heav'ns & earth's roll dark between
What do I here before the Judgment? without my Emanation?
With the daughters of memory, & not with the daughters of
inspiration[?]
I in my Selfhood am that Satan: I am that Evil One!
He is my Spectre! in my obedience to loose him from my Hells
To claim the Hells, my Furnaces, I go to Eternal Death."
(Milton, plate 14)
The way Blake saw him.
This of course is a climactic moment in the poem.
An unheard of thing! One leaves Heaven to return
to 'this vale of tears'. Well, not quite
unprecedented; Milton simply followed the path of
Jesus. In that way Blake gave Milton (the man)
the highest approval possible.
Blake's myth was to a large degree patterned after
Paradise Lost. His difference with Milton
resembled one of those "severe contentions of
Friendship." Milton had spoken; Blake replied
in MHH; now he replies again! That's
the shape of the poem as far as Blake himself was concerned.
Thereafter Milton allied himself with Los, giving, with Blake a triumvirate against which none could stand.
Milton is an essay describing the triumph of Jesus
over all the forces of the world.
It is difficult to immediately grasp, but yields
immense returns to anyone determined enough to
come to an understanding of it.
After the Bard's Song
The Bard's Song led to a loud murmuring in the
Heavens of Albion, and "the loud voic'd Bard
terrify'd took refuge in Miltons bosom;" then
Milton "took off the robe of the promise, & ungirded himself from the oath of God
And Milton said, I go to Eternal Death! The Nations still
Follow after the detestable Gods of Priam; in pomp
Of warlike selfhood, contradicting and blaspheming.
When will the Resurrection come; to deliver the sleeping body
From corruptibility: O when Lord Jesus wilt thou come?
Tarry no longer; for my soul lies at the gates of death.
I will arise and look forth for the morning of the grave.
I will go down to the sepulcher to see if morning breaks!
I will go down to self annihilation and eternal death,
Lest the Last Judgment come & find me unannihilate."
And I be siez'd & giv'n into the hands of my own Selfhood
The Lamb of God is seen thro' mists & shadows, hov'ring
Over the sepulchers in clouds of Jehovah & winds of Elohim
A disk of blood, distant; & heav'ns & earth's roll dark between
What do I here before the Judgment? without my Emanation?
With the daughters of memory, & not with the daughters of
inspiration[?]
I in my Selfhood am that Satan: I am that Evil One!
He is my Spectre! in my obedience to loose him from my Hells
To claim the Hells, my Furnaces, I go to Eternal Death."
(Milton, plate 14)
The way Blake saw him.
This of course is a climactic moment in the poem.
An unheard of thing! One leaves Heaven to return
to 'this vale of tears'. Well, not quite
unprecedented; Milton simply followed the path of
Jesus. In that way Blake gave Milton (the man)
the highest approval possible.
Blake's myth was to a large degree patterned after
Paradise Lost. His difference with Milton
resembled one of those "severe contentions of
Friendship." Milton had spoken; Blake replied
in MHH; now he replies again! That's
the shape of the poem as far as Blake himself was concerned.
Thereafter Milton allied himself with Los, giving, with Blake a triumvirate against which none could stand.
Milton is an essay describing the triumph of Jesus
over all the forces of the world.
It is difficult to immediately grasp, but yields
immense returns to anyone determined enough to
come to an understanding of it.
Heavens of Albion, and "the loud voic'd Bard
terrify'd took refuge in Miltons bosom;" then
Milton "took off the robe of the promise, & ungirded himself from the oath of God
And Milton said, I go to Eternal Death! The Nations still
Follow after the detestable Gods of Priam; in pomp
Of warlike selfhood, contradicting and blaspheming.
When will the Resurrection come; to deliver the sleeping body
From corruptibility: O when Lord Jesus wilt thou come?
Tarry no longer; for my soul lies at the gates of death.
I will arise and look forth for the morning of the grave.
I will go down to the sepulcher to see if morning breaks!
I will go down to self annihilation and eternal death,
Lest the Last Judgment come & find me unannihilate."
And I be siez'd & giv'n into the hands of my own Selfhood
The Lamb of God is seen thro' mists & shadows, hov'ring
Over the sepulchers in clouds of Jehovah & winds of Elohim
A disk of blood, distant; & heav'ns & earth's roll dark between
What do I here before the Judgment? without my Emanation?
With the daughters of memory, & not with the daughters of
inspiration[?]
I in my Selfhood am that Satan: I am that Evil One!
He is my Spectre! in my obedience to loose him from my Hells
To claim the Hells, my Furnaces, I go to Eternal Death."
(Milton, plate 14)
The way Blake saw him.
This of course is a climactic moment in the poem.
An unheard of thing! One leaves Heaven to return
to 'this vale of tears'. Well, not quite
unprecedented; Milton simply followed the path of
Jesus. In that way Blake gave Milton (the man)
the highest approval possible.
Blake's myth was to a large degree patterned after
Paradise Lost. His difference with Milton
resembled one of those "severe contentions of
Friendship." Milton had spoken; Blake replied
in MHH; now he replies again! That's
the shape of the poem as far as Blake himself was concerned.
Thereafter Milton allied himself with Los, giving, with Blake a triumvirate against which none could stand.
Milton is an essay describing the triumph of Jesus
over all the forces of the world.
It is difficult to immediately grasp, but yields
immense returns to anyone determined enough to
come to an understanding of it.
FEMALE & MALE
Nobody can really explain Blake, and that's the way he wanted it. We can listen to him, try to experience with him, and draw from our own lives scraps and pictures to associate with his words and images. So do what you can with what he says here.
Four Zoas, Night 5, Verse 2 (E302)
"In Eden Females sleep the winter in soft silken veils
But Males immortal live renewd by female deaths. in soft
Delight they die & they revive in spring with music & songs
Enion said Farewell I die I hide from thy searching eyes"
Milton Percival says in Circle of Destiny on page 56:
"The form dies in order that the imaginative impulse may be released for new expression. The masculine creative world of Eden is continually sustained by feminine self-sacrifice in Beulah."Males immortal live, renewed by female deaths." The obedience of outward form to inner vision extends even to the landscape....(spaces of Beulah)...are merciful illusions, provided for the repose of the mind which has wearied of the visionary reality of Eden. They characterize the hypothetical age in which the visionary life that Blake enjoyed in ecstasy was a habitual experience. In contrast to the spaces of Beulah, which are so readily transcended, are the "Satanic spaces" of Ulro, which limit and enslave the mind that beholds them."
Damon called the Emanation the '''counterpart" of the fundamentally bisexual male.'
In Jerusalem, plate 88 (E246), we learn why the female Emanations are so essential to man.
"When in Eternity Man converses with Man they enter
Into each others Bosom (which are Universes of delight)
In mutual interchange. and first their Emanations meet
Surrounded by their Children. if they embrace & comingle
The Human Four-fold Forms mingle also in thunders of Intellect
But if the Emanations mingle not; with storms & agitations
Of earthquakes & consuming fires they roll apart in fear
For Man cannot unite with Man but by their Emanations
Which stand both Male & Female at the Gates of each Humanity"
Blake didn't depreciate the role of the female, nor did he mean what we usually mean when we use the term. The female to Blake is an image which carries many meanings but without her, man would never reach Eternity.
Albion Asleep, Jerusalem as Butterfly
Four Zoas, Night 5, Verse 2 (E302)
"In Eden Females sleep the winter in soft silken veils
But Males immortal live renewd by female deaths. in soft
Delight they die & they revive in spring with music & songs
Enion said Farewell I die I hide from thy searching eyes"
Milton Percival says in Circle of Destiny on page 56:
"The form dies in order that the imaginative impulse may be released for new expression. The masculine creative world of Eden is continually sustained by feminine self-sacrifice in Beulah."Males immortal live, renewed by female deaths." The obedience of outward form to inner vision extends even to the landscape....(spaces of Beulah)...are merciful illusions, provided for the repose of the mind which has wearied of the visionary reality of Eden. They characterize the hypothetical age in which the visionary life that Blake enjoyed in ecstasy was a habitual experience. In contrast to the spaces of Beulah, which are so readily transcended, are the "Satanic spaces" of Ulro, which limit and enslave the mind that beholds them."
Damon called the Emanation the '''counterpart" of the fundamentally bisexual male.'
In Jerusalem, plate 88 (E246), we learn why the female Emanations are so essential to man.
"When in Eternity Man converses with Man they enter
Into each others Bosom (which are Universes of delight)
In mutual interchange. and first their Emanations meet
Surrounded by their Children. if they embrace & comingle
The Human Four-fold Forms mingle also in thunders of Intellect
But if the Emanations mingle not; with storms & agitations
Of earthquakes & consuming fires they roll apart in fear
For Man cannot unite with Man but by their Emanations
Which stand both Male & Female at the Gates of each Humanity"
Blake didn't depreciate the role of the female, nor did he mean what we usually mean when we use the term. The female to Blake is an image which carries many meanings but without her, man would never reach Eternity.
Albion Asleep, Jerusalem as Butterfly
FEMALE & MALE
Nobody can really explain Blake, and that's the way he wanted it. We can listen to him, try to experience with him, and draw from our own lives scraps and pictures to associate with his words and images. So do what you can with what he says here.
Four Zoas, Night 5, Verse 2 (E302)
"In Eden Females sleep the winter in soft silken veils
But Males immortal live renewd by female deaths. in soft
Delight they die & they revive in spring with music & songs
Enion said Farewell I die I hide from thy searching eyes"
Milton Percival says in Circle of Destiny on page 56:
"The form dies in order that the imaginative impulse may be released for new expression. The masculine creative world of Eden is continually sustained by feminine self-sacrifice in Beulah."Males immortal live, renewed by female deaths." The obedience of outward form to inner vision extends even to the landscape....(spaces of Beulah)...are merciful illusions, provided for the repose of the mind which has wearied of the visionary reality of Eden. They characterize the hypothetical age in which the visionary life that Blake enjoyed in ecstasy was a habitual experience. In contrast to the spaces of Beulah, which are so readily transcended, are the "Satanic spaces" of Ulro, which limit and enslave the mind that beholds them."
Damon called the Emanation the '''counterpart" of the fundamentally bisexual male.'
In Jerusalem, plate 88 (E246), we learn why the female Emanations are so essential to man.
"When in Eternity Man converses with Man they enter
Into each others Bosom (which are Universes of delight)
In mutual interchange. and first their Emanations meet
Surrounded by their Children. if they embrace & comingle
The Human Four-fold Forms mingle also in thunders of Intellect
But if the Emanations mingle not; with storms & agitations
Of earthquakes & consuming fires they roll apart in fear
For Man cannot unite with Man but by their Emanations
Which stand both Male & Female at the Gates of each Humanity"
Blake didn't depreciate the role of the female, nor did he mean what we usually mean when we use the term. The female to Blake is an image which carries many meanings but without her, man would never reach Eternity.
Albion Asleep, Jerusalem as Butterfly
Four Zoas, Night 5, Verse 2 (E302)
"In Eden Females sleep the winter in soft silken veils
But Males immortal live renewd by female deaths. in soft
Delight they die & they revive in spring with music & songs
Enion said Farewell I die I hide from thy searching eyes"
Milton Percival says in Circle of Destiny on page 56:
"The form dies in order that the imaginative impulse may be released for new expression. The masculine creative world of Eden is continually sustained by feminine self-sacrifice in Beulah."Males immortal live, renewed by female deaths." The obedience of outward form to inner vision extends even to the landscape....(spaces of Beulah)...are merciful illusions, provided for the repose of the mind which has wearied of the visionary reality of Eden. They characterize the hypothetical age in which the visionary life that Blake enjoyed in ecstasy was a habitual experience. In contrast to the spaces of Beulah, which are so readily transcended, are the "Satanic spaces" of Ulro, which limit and enslave the mind that beholds them."
Damon called the Emanation the '''counterpart" of the fundamentally bisexual male.'
In Jerusalem, plate 88 (E246), we learn why the female Emanations are so essential to man.
"When in Eternity Man converses with Man they enter
Into each others Bosom (which are Universes of delight)
In mutual interchange. and first their Emanations meet
Surrounded by their Children. if they embrace & comingle
The Human Four-fold Forms mingle also in thunders of Intellect
But if the Emanations mingle not; with storms & agitations
Of earthquakes & consuming fires they roll apart in fear
For Man cannot unite with Man but by their Emanations
Which stand both Male & Female at the Gates of each Humanity"
Blake didn't depreciate the role of the female, nor did he mean what we usually mean when we use the term. The female to Blake is an image which carries many meanings but without her, man would never reach Eternity.
Albion Asleep, Jerusalem as Butterfly
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Three Classes of Men
and the Bard's Song (First Attempt)
In MHH we met two classes: angels and devils.
Blake ironically names free spirits as devils and
good dutifull church goers (and other
establishment types) as angels.
Los and his 'emanation', Enitharmon "bore an enormous race" (not only mankind, but
every other created thing as well). But
in particular Enitharmon's progeny consists of three classes:
Milton Plate 7 :
The first the Elect from the foundation of the World, symbolized here by Satan.
The second, the Redeem'd, symbolized by Palamabron.
The third, The Reprobate, symbolized by Rintrah.
The Bard's Song begins Blake's description of how
these three classes of men relate.
To Rintrah (the just man) was assigned the plow.
To Palamabron, a kind and gentle boy (not a strong
minded one), was assigned the harrow.
Satan (Selfhood) was assigned to the
mills.
Rintrah and Palamabron are contraries; Satan is a
negation.
In the Bard's Song those were the three
assignments of Enitharmon's three sons.
A post could be written about the plow (See Damon
329); the plow of Rintrah might be the heated
words of the prophet that denounces and breaks up
the corrupt establishment. (It might be several
other things as well.)
The harrow follows the plow; for Blake it was a
metaphor for redemptive poetry.
The Mill symbolizes Reason-- conservative,
reducing the creative to the commonplace.
Los of course was the father of these three boys,
a farmer-- the World being his field. He had
expressly forbidden Satan from using the harrow.
But Satan wheedled his amicable brother,
Palamabron into letting him use the harrow.
This led to disaster (the kind of disaster we have
all lived under most of our lives).
A simpler (and probably better) explanation of the Bard's Song can be found at The Farrm at
Felpham, but you may have to join the Yahoo
William Blake group to gain access to it.
All this was part of the tale told by the Bard at
an Eternal gathering. The Bard's Song induced
Milton to forsake heaven and return to the Earth
to correct the errors of his mortal life. Milton's
adventures in the World with Los and Blake is the
subject of Blake's Milton.
There is much more to the Bard's Song, but this
will give you a beginning. Learn the Bard's Song,
and you will find it much easier to enjoy Milton,
the first of Blake's two major works.
In MHH we met two classes: angels and devils.
Blake ironically names free spirits as devils and
good dutifull church goers (and other
establishment types) as angels.
Los and his 'emanation', Enitharmon "bore an enormous race" (not only mankind, but
every other created thing as well). But
in particular Enitharmon's progeny consists of three classes:
Milton Plate 7 :
The first the Elect from the foundation of the World, symbolized here by Satan.
The second, the Redeem'd, symbolized by Palamabron.
The third, The Reprobate, symbolized by Rintrah.
The Bard's Song begins Blake's description of how
these three classes of men relate.
To Rintrah (the just man) was assigned the plow.
To Palamabron, a kind and gentle boy (not a strong
minded one), was assigned the harrow.
Satan (Selfhood) was assigned to the
mills.
Rintrah and Palamabron are contraries; Satan is a
negation.
In the Bard's Song those were the three
assignments of Enitharmon's three sons.
A post could be written about the plow (See Damon
329); the plow of Rintrah might be the heated
words of the prophet that denounces and breaks up
the corrupt establishment. (It might be several
other things as well.)
The harrow follows the plow; for Blake it was a
metaphor for redemptive poetry.
The Mill symbolizes Reason-- conservative,
reducing the creative to the commonplace.
Los of course was the father of these three boys,
a farmer-- the World being his field. He had
expressly forbidden Satan from using the harrow.
But Satan wheedled his amicable brother,
Palamabron into letting him use the harrow.
This led to disaster (the kind of disaster we have
all lived under most of our lives).
A simpler (and probably better) explanation of the Bard's Song can be found at The Farrm at
Felpham, but you may have to join the Yahoo
William Blake group to gain access to it.
All this was part of the tale told by the Bard at
an Eternal gathering. The Bard's Song induced
Milton to forsake heaven and return to the Earth
to correct the errors of his mortal life. Milton's
adventures in the World with Los and Blake is the
subject of Blake's Milton.
There is much more to the Bard's Song, but this
will give you a beginning. Learn the Bard's Song,
and you will find it much easier to enjoy Milton,
the first of Blake's two major works.
Three Classes of Men
and the Bard's Song (First Attempt)
In MHH we met two classes: angels and devils.
Blake ironically names free spirits as devils and
good dutifull church goers (and other
establishment types) as angels.
Los and his 'emanation', Enitharmon "bore an enormous race" (not only mankind, but
every other created thing as well). But
in particular Enitharmon's progeny consists of three classes:
Milton Plate 7 :
The first the Elect from the foundation of the World, symbolized here by Satan.
The second, the Redeem'd, symbolized by Palamabron.
The third, The Reprobate, symbolized by Rintrah.
The Bard's Song begins Blake's description of how
these three classes of men relate.
To Rintrah (the just man) was assigned the plow.
To Palamabron, a kind and gentle boy (not a strong
minded one), was assigned the harrow.
Satan (Selfhood) was assigned to the
mills.
Rintrah and Palamabron are contraries; Satan is a
negation.
In the Bard's Song those were the three
assignments of Enitharmon's three sons.
A post could be written about the plow (See Damon
329); the plow of Rintrah might be the heated
words of the prophet that denounces and breaks up
the corrupt establishment. (It might be several
other things as well.)
The harrow follows the plow; for Blake it was a
metaphor for redemptive poetry.
The Mill symbolizes Reason-- conservative,
reducing the creative to the commonplace.
Los of course was the father of these three boys,
a farmer-- the World being his field. He had
expressly forbidden Satan from using the harrow.
But Satan wheedled his amicable brother,
Palamabron into letting him use the harrow.
This led to disaster (the kind of disaster we have
all lived under most of our lives).
A simpler (and probably better) explanation of the Bard's Song can be found at The Farrm at
Felpham, but you may have to join the Yahoo
William Blake group to gain access to it.
All this was part of the tale told by the Bard at
an Eternal gathering. The Bard's Song induced
Milton to forsake heaven and return to the Earth
to correct the errors of his mortal life. Milton's
adventures in the World with Los and Blake is the
subject of Blake's Milton.
There is much more to the Bard's Song, but this
will give you a beginning. Learn the Bard's Song,
and you will find it much easier to enjoy Milton,
the first of Blake's two major works.
In MHH we met two classes: angels and devils.
Blake ironically names free spirits as devils and
good dutifull church goers (and other
establishment types) as angels.
Los and his 'emanation', Enitharmon "bore an enormous race" (not only mankind, but
every other created thing as well). But
in particular Enitharmon's progeny consists of three classes:
Milton Plate 7 :
The first the Elect from the foundation of the World, symbolized here by Satan.
The second, the Redeem'd, symbolized by Palamabron.
The third, The Reprobate, symbolized by Rintrah.
The Bard's Song begins Blake's description of how
these three classes of men relate.
To Rintrah (the just man) was assigned the plow.
To Palamabron, a kind and gentle boy (not a strong
minded one), was assigned the harrow.
Satan (Selfhood) was assigned to the
mills.
Rintrah and Palamabron are contraries; Satan is a
negation.
In the Bard's Song those were the three
assignments of Enitharmon's three sons.
A post could be written about the plow (See Damon
329); the plow of Rintrah might be the heated
words of the prophet that denounces and breaks up
the corrupt establishment. (It might be several
other things as well.)
The harrow follows the plow; for Blake it was a
metaphor for redemptive poetry.
The Mill symbolizes Reason-- conservative,
reducing the creative to the commonplace.
Los of course was the father of these three boys,
a farmer-- the World being his field. He had
expressly forbidden Satan from using the harrow.
But Satan wheedled his amicable brother,
Palamabron into letting him use the harrow.
This led to disaster (the kind of disaster we have
all lived under most of our lives).
A simpler (and probably better) explanation of the Bard's Song can be found at The Farrm at
Felpham, but you may have to join the Yahoo
William Blake group to gain access to it.
All this was part of the tale told by the Bard at
an Eternal gathering. The Bard's Song induced
Milton to forsake heaven and return to the Earth
to correct the errors of his mortal life. Milton's
adventures in the World with Los and Blake is the
subject of Blake's Milton.
There is much more to the Bard's Song, but this
will give you a beginning. Learn the Bard's Song,
and you will find it much easier to enjoy Milton,
the first of Blake's two major works.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
BLAKE & PROJECTION
Psychological processes are evident as we read Blake's myths.
I found this part of the tale an example of projection being described.
A decisive incident concerning a disagreement between Satan and Palamabron over the horses of the harrow, can be seen as Satan projecting his own desires and failures onto Palamabron. ( M7.1; E100) When Satan states his case he is very convincing because he believes what he says is true.
Projection is invisible to the person doing it. Although Satan presents a mild demeanor, Palamabron knows that what Satan says speaks more about his own behavior than about Palamabron's.
To show that Satan is involved in self-deceit, Blake says of Satan: "Seeming a brother, being a tyrant, even thinking himself a brother While he is murdering the just",
The salient line ( M7.34; E101) which demonstrates projection is stated thus:
"Satan wept,
And mildly cursing Palamabron, him accus'd of crimes
Himself had wrought."
Los, who is given the role of hearing the case in a council, is not able to get Satan to withdraw his projections, so the status quo is maintained and the consequences are catastrophic.
M7.41; E101|
"So Los said, Henceforth Palamabron, let each his own station
Keep: nor in pity false, nor in officious brotherhood, where
None needs, be active. Mean time Palamabrons horses.
Rag'd with thick flames redundant, & the Harrow maddend with fury.
Trembling Palamabron stood, the strongest of Demons trembled:
Curbing his living creatures; many of the strongest Gnomes,
they bit in their wild fury, who also maddend like wildest beasts"
Palmabron, who represents a gentler side of Los, doesn't act our himself but his horses and Gnomes are infuriated, perhaps because the are the ones who suffered under Satan's control.
The Gnomes Directing Another Harrow
M8.1; E101|
"Mean while wept Satan before Los, accusing Palamabron;
Himself exculpating with mildest speech. for himself believ'd
That he had not opress'd nor injur'd the refractory servants."
The conflict continued with the activating of Rintrah, or wrath,
until Satan kills Thulloh who appears to be a bystander.
Satan's rage and declaration of himself as God follows. This
opens up the abyss and rearranges the structure of the
world. Satan sinks down into Death which leads to a new
chapter in in the drama of the fall.
The self-deception which leads to projection can be said to have led to the eventual fall from the wholeness of Eternity.
Read the text for the full incident in Milton at the Blake Archive; hit NEXT to continue to next plate.
I found this part of the tale an example of projection being described.
A decisive incident concerning a disagreement between Satan and Palamabron over the horses of the harrow, can be seen as Satan projecting his own desires and failures onto Palamabron. ( M7.1; E100) When Satan states his case he is very convincing because he believes what he says is true.
Projection is invisible to the person doing it. Although Satan presents a mild demeanor, Palamabron knows that what Satan says speaks more about his own behavior than about Palamabron's.
To show that Satan is involved in self-deceit, Blake says of Satan: "Seeming a brother, being a tyrant, even thinking himself a brother While he is murdering the just",
The salient line ( M7.34; E101) which demonstrates projection is stated thus:
"Satan wept,
And mildly cursing Palamabron, him accus'd of crimes
Himself had wrought."
Los, who is given the role of hearing the case in a council, is not able to get Satan to withdraw his projections, so the status quo is maintained and the consequences are catastrophic.
M7.41; E101|
"So Los said, Henceforth Palamabron, let each his own station
Keep: nor in pity false, nor in officious brotherhood, where
None needs, be active. Mean time Palamabrons horses.
Rag'd with thick flames redundant, & the Harrow maddend with fury.
Trembling Palamabron stood, the strongest of Demons trembled:
Curbing his living creatures; many of the strongest Gnomes,
they bit in their wild fury, who also maddend like wildest beasts"
Palmabron, who represents a gentler side of Los, doesn't act our himself but his horses and Gnomes are infuriated, perhaps because the are the ones who suffered under Satan's control.
The Gnomes Directing Another Harrow
M8.1; E101|
"Mean while wept Satan before Los, accusing Palamabron;
Himself exculpating with mildest speech. for himself believ'd
That he had not opress'd nor injur'd the refractory servants."
The conflict continued with the activating of Rintrah, or wrath,
until Satan kills Thulloh who appears to be a bystander.
Satan's rage and declaration of himself as God follows. This
opens up the abyss and rearranges the structure of the
world. Satan sinks down into Death which leads to a new
chapter in in the drama of the fall.
The self-deception which leads to projection can be said to have led to the eventual fall from the wholeness of Eternity.
Read the text for the full incident in Milton at the Blake Archive; hit NEXT to continue to next plate.
BLAKE & PROJECTION
Psychological processes are evident as we read Blake's myths.
I found this part of the tale an example of projection being described.
A decisive incident concerning a disagreement between Satan and Palamabron over the horses of the harrow, can be seen as Satan projecting his own desires and failures onto Palamabron. ( M7.1; E100) When Satan states his case he is very convincing because he believes what he says is true.
Projection is invisible to the person doing it. Although Satan presents a mild demeanor, Palamabron knows that what Satan says speaks more about his own behavior than about Palamabron's.
To show that Satan is involved in self-deceit, Blake says of Satan: "Seeming a brother, being a tyrant, even thinking himself a brother While he is murdering the just",
The salient line ( M7.34; E101) which demonstrates projection is stated thus:
"Satan wept,
And mildly cursing Palamabron, him accus'd of crimes
Himself had wrought."
Los, who is given the role of hearing the case in a council, is not able to get Satan to withdraw his projections, so the status quo is maintained and the consequences are catastrophic.
M7.41; E101|
"So Los said, Henceforth Palamabron, let each his own station
Keep: nor in pity false, nor in officious brotherhood, where
None needs, be active. Mean time Palamabrons horses.
Rag'd with thick flames redundant, & the Harrow maddend with fury.
Trembling Palamabron stood, the strongest of Demons trembled:
Curbing his living creatures; many of the strongest Gnomes,
they bit in their wild fury, who also maddend like wildest beasts"
Palmabron, who represents a gentler side of Los, doesn't act our himself but his horses and Gnomes are infuriated, perhaps because the are the ones who suffered under Satan's control.
The Gnomes Directing Another Harrow
M8.1; E101|
"Mean while wept Satan before Los, accusing Palamabron;
Himself exculpating with mildest speech. for himself believ'd
That he had not opress'd nor injur'd the refractory servants."
The conflict continued with the activating of Rintrah, or wrath,
until Satan kills Thulloh who appears to be a bystander.
Satan's rage and declaration of himself as God follows. This
opens up the abyss and rearranges the structure of the
world. Satan sinks down into Death which leads to a new
chapter in in the drama of the fall.
The self-deception which leads to projection can be said to have led to the eventual fall from the wholeness of Eternity.
Read the text for the full incident in Milton at the Blake Archive; hit NEXT to continue to next plate.
I found this part of the tale an example of projection being described.
A decisive incident concerning a disagreement between Satan and Palamabron over the horses of the harrow, can be seen as Satan projecting his own desires and failures onto Palamabron. ( M7.1; E100) When Satan states his case he is very convincing because he believes what he says is true.
Projection is invisible to the person doing it. Although Satan presents a mild demeanor, Palamabron knows that what Satan says speaks more about his own behavior than about Palamabron's.
To show that Satan is involved in self-deceit, Blake says of Satan: "Seeming a brother, being a tyrant, even thinking himself a brother While he is murdering the just",
The salient line ( M7.34; E101) which demonstrates projection is stated thus:
"Satan wept,
And mildly cursing Palamabron, him accus'd of crimes
Himself had wrought."
Los, who is given the role of hearing the case in a council, is not able to get Satan to withdraw his projections, so the status quo is maintained and the consequences are catastrophic.
M7.41; E101|
"So Los said, Henceforth Palamabron, let each his own station
Keep: nor in pity false, nor in officious brotherhood, where
None needs, be active. Mean time Palamabrons horses.
Rag'd with thick flames redundant, & the Harrow maddend with fury.
Trembling Palamabron stood, the strongest of Demons trembled:
Curbing his living creatures; many of the strongest Gnomes,
they bit in their wild fury, who also maddend like wildest beasts"
Palmabron, who represents a gentler side of Los, doesn't act our himself but his horses and Gnomes are infuriated, perhaps because the are the ones who suffered under Satan's control.
The Gnomes Directing Another Harrow
M8.1; E101|
"Mean while wept Satan before Los, accusing Palamabron;
Himself exculpating with mildest speech. for himself believ'd
That he had not opress'd nor injur'd the refractory servants."
The conflict continued with the activating of Rintrah, or wrath,
until Satan kills Thulloh who appears to be a bystander.
Satan's rage and declaration of himself as God follows. This
opens up the abyss and rearranges the structure of the
world. Satan sinks down into Death which leads to a new
chapter in in the drama of the fall.
The self-deception which leads to projection can be said to have led to the eventual fall from the wholeness of Eternity.
Read the text for the full incident in Milton at the Blake Archive; hit NEXT to continue to next plate.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
URIZEN & AHANIA
Contained in The Book of Ahania, is the account of the anger of Urizen at Fuzon for assuming leadership of the of the children of Urizen, as he did at the end of the Book of Urizen. The struggle between the father and son leaves them both maimed. Following that account Urizen's Emanation, Ahania, laments the disintegration of Urizen and reminisces on the happy days they shared in Eternity.
Book of Ahania, Chap V
4: "Weeping I walk over rocks
Over dens & thro' valleys of death
Why didst thou despise Ahania
To cast me from thy bright presence
Into the World of Loneness
5: I cannot touch his hand:
Nor weep on his knees, nor hear
His voice & bow, nor see his eyes
And joy, nor hear his footsteps, and
My heart leap at the lovely sound!"
The downward spiral has not yet reached its nadir.
Book of Ahania, Chap V
4: "Weeping I walk over rocks
Over dens & thro' valleys of death
Why didst thou despise Ahania
To cast me from thy bright presence
Into the World of Loneness
5: I cannot touch his hand:
Nor weep on his knees, nor hear
His voice & bow, nor see his eyes
And joy, nor hear his footsteps, and
My heart leap at the lovely sound!"
Ahania's LamentUnfortunately for Urizen, he is worse off without Ahania than he was with her. Percival, on page 28 of Circle of Destiny, explains it thus: "Separated from Ahania, Urizen becomes the 'selfish father of men.' A spirit of wrath replaces the tolerance toward which his feminine desire inclined him....So long as an intuitive understanding of the objects of sense is maintained, the senses are the feeders of the mind; when that understanding is lost they are the mind's destroyers. With Ahania cast out and his intuitive comprehension gone, Urizen is overwhelmed by the world of sense, incapable of seeing that it, too, is holy. Thus overcome he loses the power to create and becomes an impotent figure."
Seeing the conditions that Urizen's system have created,
Ahania attempts to show Urizen the consequences of the
path that that he is following. The results of her
entreaties are not what she desires.
Image of Urizen and Ahania
In Four Zoas, Plate 38:12,(E 326) we read:
"Ahania bow'd her head & wept seven days before the King
And on the eighth day when his clouds unfolded from his throne
She rais'd her bright head sweet perfumd & thus with heavenly
voice
O Prince the Eternal One hath set thee leader of his hosts
Leave all futurity to him Resume thy fields of Light
Why didst thou listen to the voice of Luvah that dread morn
To give the immortal steeds of light to his deceitful hands
No longer now obedient to thy will thou art compell'd
To forge the curbs of iron & brass to build the iron mangers
To feed them with intoxication from the wine presses of Luvah
Till the Divine Vision & Fruition is quite obliterated"
Plate 43:1 (E 328)
"Then thunders rolld around & lightnings darted to & fro
His visage changd to darkness & his strong right hand came forth
To cast Ahania to the Earth be siezd her by the hair
And threw her from the steps of ice that froze around his throne"
The downward spiral has not yet reached its nadir.
URIZEN & AHANIA
Contained in The Book of Ahania, is the account of the anger of Urizen at Fuzon for assuming leadership of the of the children of Urizen, as he did at the end of the Book of Urizen. The struggle between the father and son leaves them both maimed. Following that account Urizen's Emanation, Ahania, laments the disintegration of Urizen and reminisces on the happy days they shared in Eternity.
Book of Ahania, Chap V
4: "Weeping I walk over rocks
Over dens & thro' valleys of death
Why didst thou despise Ahania
To cast me from thy bright presence
Into the World of Loneness
5: I cannot touch his hand:
Nor weep on his knees, nor hear
His voice & bow, nor see his eyes
And joy, nor hear his footsteps, and
My heart leap at the lovely sound!"
The downward spiral has not yet reached its nadir.
Book of Ahania, Chap V
4: "Weeping I walk over rocks
Over dens & thro' valleys of death
Why didst thou despise Ahania
To cast me from thy bright presence
Into the World of Loneness
5: I cannot touch his hand:
Nor weep on his knees, nor hear
His voice & bow, nor see his eyes
And joy, nor hear his footsteps, and
My heart leap at the lovely sound!"
Ahania's LamentUnfortunately for Urizen, he is worse off without Ahania than he was with her. Percival, on page 28 of Circle of Destiny, explains it thus: "Separated from Ahania, Urizen becomes the 'selfish father of men.' A spirit of wrath replaces the tolerance toward which his feminine desire inclined him....So long as an intuitive understanding of the objects of sense is maintained, the senses are the feeders of the mind; when that understanding is lost they are the mind's destroyers. With Ahania cast out and his intuitive comprehension gone, Urizen is overwhelmed by the world of sense, incapable of seeing that it, too, is holy. Thus overcome he loses the power to create and becomes an impotent figure."
Seeing the conditions that Urizen's system have created,
Ahania attempts to show Urizen the consequences of the
path that that he is following. The results of her
entreaties are not what she desires.
Image of Urizen and Ahania
In Four Zoas, Plate 38:12,(E 326) we read:
"Ahania bow'd her head & wept seven days before the King
And on the eighth day when his clouds unfolded from his throne
She rais'd her bright head sweet perfumd & thus with heavenly
voice
O Prince the Eternal One hath set thee leader of his hosts
Leave all futurity to him Resume thy fields of Light
Why didst thou listen to the voice of Luvah that dread morn
To give the immortal steeds of light to his deceitful hands
No longer now obedient to thy will thou art compell'd
To forge the curbs of iron & brass to build the iron mangers
To feed them with intoxication from the wine presses of Luvah
Till the Divine Vision & Fruition is quite obliterated"
Plate 43:1 (E 328)
"Then thunders rolld around & lightnings darted to & fro
His visage changd to darkness & his strong right hand came forth
To cast Ahania to the Earth be siezd her by the hair
And threw her from the steps of ice that froze around his throne"
The downward spiral has not yet reached its nadir.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
The Book of Urizen
This might be considered Blake's first attempt to create his own system (in order not to be "enslaved by another's"). He at least begins the myth; but through the years it will take many turns.
Plate 3
He began with 'a horrible event', the separation
of Urizen from Eternity, from a condition where
Earth was not; Death was not. For most of the book things are going from bad to worse.
Urizen proceeded to write the Book of Brass with the "seven deadly sins of the soul", with laws of peace, laws of love, of unity.... one command, one joy, one King, one Law.
Plate 5
After aeons of anguish and howlings and pains and fierce madness "the vast world of Urizen appeared".
Los (introduced here) "kept watch for the Eternals
to confine the obscure separation alone".
Plate 6
Pl 7: "Los wept.....Urizen was rent from his side...
and rent from Eternity." And "the Eternals said
'what is this? Death. Urizen is a clod of clay.'"
Los
In plate 9 "Los howl'd in a dismal stupor....till the wrenching apart was healed.
But the wrenching of Urizen heal'd not."
In plate 12 Los, "The Eternal Prophet" (a blacksmith) proceeds to work on Urizen who was cursed by
"Forgetfulness, dumbness,necessity!
In chains of the mind locked up."
Thus began the Seven Ages in which Los gave the five senses to Urizen; each one involved "a state of dismal woe". (Pl 12-13, and 15)
Los appreciated the misery and horror of Urizen's state, but nevertheless "The Eternal Prophet and Urizen clos'd"; (a pregnant sentence! Urizen had been rent from Los' side (in plate 7), but now in plate 15 they clos'd.
female pity born
Which led to Pity, which led to a globe of blood which became the first female (not very high among Blake's values, but perhaps a precursor to a better value! Look at The Four Zoas at the end of Night 7, where we learn that having finally subdued his enemy, Urizen, Los find that "his whole soul loved him he beheld him an infant")
This is a sort of turning point in the Book of Urizen.
pl18 courtship?
The Eternals thought poorly of Los' division into male and female (cf Matthew 2:20-25), but Los pitied and embrac'd her. In due course Enitharmon experienced pregancy; out of that came a child whom they called Orc. And a shriek ran thro' Eternity ...at the birth of the Human shadow.
the mortal triangle
As Los grew there developed the "Chain of Jealousy", and Orc wound up chained to the top of a mountain.
(Orc represented revolution, which Blake had found to be of little or no value!). But Enitharmon "bore and enormous race'.
Urizen and his globe of fire
With the "globe of fire" lighting his journey Urizen sicken'd...to see his sons and daughters weeping, wailing. He cursed them "for he saw that no flesh nor spirit could keep his iron laws one moment.
"For he saw that life lived upon death."
Urizen wandered in sorrow and wherever he walked a strong Web formed (like a Female in embryo) "like to the human brain. And all call'd it the Net of Religion.
The Net of Religion
"Then the inhabitants of those (Urizen's) cities for "Six days they shrunk up from existence,
And on the seventh day they rested,
And they blessed the seventh day, in sick hope
And forgot their eternal life."
Urizen's World
At the end we might say that Fuzon (Urizen's "first begotten, last born") initiated a sort of rebellion or exodus.
Feel free to ask questions.
Plate 3
He began with 'a horrible event', the separation
of Urizen from Eternity, from a condition where
Earth was not; Death was not. For most of the book things are going from bad to worse.
Urizen proceeded to write the Book of Brass with the "seven deadly sins of the soul", with laws of peace, laws of love, of unity.... one command, one joy, one King, one Law.
Plate 5
After aeons of anguish and howlings and pains and fierce madness "the vast world of Urizen appeared".
Los (introduced here) "kept watch for the Eternals
to confine the obscure separation alone".
Plate 6
Pl 7: "Los wept.....Urizen was rent from his side...
and rent from Eternity." And "the Eternals said
'what is this? Death. Urizen is a clod of clay.'"
Los
In plate 9 "Los howl'd in a dismal stupor....till the wrenching apart was healed.
But the wrenching of Urizen heal'd not."
In plate 12 Los, "The Eternal Prophet" (a blacksmith) proceeds to work on Urizen who was cursed by
"Forgetfulness, dumbness,necessity!
In chains of the mind locked up."
Thus began the Seven Ages in which Los gave the five senses to Urizen; each one involved "a state of dismal woe". (Pl 12-13, and 15)
Los appreciated the misery and horror of Urizen's state, but nevertheless "The Eternal Prophet and Urizen clos'd"; (a pregnant sentence! Urizen had been rent from Los' side (in plate 7), but now in plate 15 they clos'd.
female pity born
Which led to Pity, which led to a globe of blood which became the first female (not very high among Blake's values, but perhaps a precursor to a better value! Look at The Four Zoas at the end of Night 7, where we learn that having finally subdued his enemy, Urizen, Los find that "his whole soul loved him he beheld him an infant")
This is a sort of turning point in the Book of Urizen.
pl18 courtship?
The Eternals thought poorly of Los' division into male and female (cf Matthew 2:20-25), but Los pitied and embrac'd her. In due course Enitharmon experienced pregancy; out of that came a child whom they called Orc. And a shriek ran thro' Eternity ...at the birth of the Human shadow.
the mortal triangle
As Los grew there developed the "Chain of Jealousy", and Orc wound up chained to the top of a mountain.
(Orc represented revolution, which Blake had found to be of little or no value!). But Enitharmon "bore and enormous race'.
Urizen and his globe of fire
With the "globe of fire" lighting his journey Urizen sicken'd...to see his sons and daughters weeping, wailing. He cursed them "for he saw that no flesh nor spirit could keep his iron laws one moment.
"For he saw that life lived upon death."
Urizen wandered in sorrow and wherever he walked a strong Web formed (like a Female in embryo) "like to the human brain. And all call'd it the Net of Religion.
The Net of Religion
"Then the inhabitants of those (Urizen's) cities for "Six days they shrunk up from existence,
And on the seventh day they rested,
And they blessed the seventh day, in sick hope
And forgot their eternal life."
Urizen's World
At the end we might say that Fuzon (Urizen's "first begotten, last born") initiated a sort of rebellion or exodus.
Feel free to ask questions.
The Book of Urizen
This might be considered Blake's first attempt to create his own system (in order not to be "enslaved by another's"). He at least begins the myth; but through the years it will take many turns.
Plate 3
He began with 'a horrible event', the separation
of Urizen from Eternity, from a condition where
Earth was not; Death was not. For most of the book things are going from bad to worse.
Urizen proceeded to write the Book of Brass with the "seven deadly sins of the soul", with laws of peace, laws of love, of unity.... one command, one joy, one King, one Law.
Plate 5
After aeons of anguish and howlings and pains and fierce madness "the vast world of Urizen appeared".
Los (introduced here) "kept watch for the Eternals
to confine the obscure separation alone".
Plate 6
Pl 7: "Los wept.....Urizen was rent from his side...
and rent from Eternity." And "the Eternals said
'what is this? Death. Urizen is a clod of clay.'"
Los
In plate 9 "Los howl'd in a dismal stupor....till the wrenching apart was healed.
But the wrenching of Urizen heal'd not."
In plate 12 Los, "The Eternal Prophet" (a blacksmith) proceeds to work on Urizen who was cursed by
"Forgetfulness, dumbness,necessity!
In chains of the mind locked up."
Thus began the Seven Ages in which Los gave the five senses to Urizen; each one involved "a state of dismal woe". (Pl 12-13, and 15)
Los appreciated the misery and horror of Urizen's state, but nevertheless "The Eternal Prophet and Urizen clos'd"; (a pregnant sentence! Urizen had been rent from Los' side (in plate 7), but now in plate 15 they clos'd.
female pity born
Which led to Pity, which led to a globe of blood which became the first female (not very high among Blake's values, but perhaps a precursor to a better value! Look at The Four Zoas at the end of Night 7, where we learn that having finally subdued his enemy, Urizen, Los find that "his whole soul loved him he beheld him an infant")
This is a sort of turning point in the Book of Urizen.
pl18 courtship?
The Eternals thought poorly of Los' division into male and female (cf Matthew 2:20-25), but Los pitied and embrac'd her. In due course Enitharmon experienced pregancy; out of that came a child whom they called Orc. And a shriek ran thro' Eternity ...at the birth of the Human shadow.
the mortal triangle
As Los grew there developed the "Chain of Jealousy", and Orc wound up chained to the top of a mountain.
(Orc represented revolution, which Blake had found to be of little or no value!). But Enitharmon "bore and enormous race'.
Urizen and his globe of fire
With the "globe of fire" lighting his journey Urizen sicken'd...to see his sons and daughters weeping, wailing. He cursed them "for he saw that no flesh nor spirit could keep his iron laws one moment.
"For he saw that life lived upon death."
Urizen wandered in sorrow and wherever he walked a strong Web formed (like a Female in embryo) "like to the human brain. And all call'd it the Net of Religion.
The Net of Religion
"Then the inhabitants of those (Urizen's) cities for "Six days they shrunk up from existence,
And on the seventh day they rested,
And they blessed the seventh day, in sick hope
And forgot their eternal life."
Urizen's World
At the end we might say that Fuzon (Urizen's "first begotten, last born") initiated a sort of rebellion or exodus.
Feel free to ask questions.
Plate 3
He began with 'a horrible event', the separation
of Urizen from Eternity, from a condition where
Earth was not; Death was not. For most of the book things are going from bad to worse.
Urizen proceeded to write the Book of Brass with the "seven deadly sins of the soul", with laws of peace, laws of love, of unity.... one command, one joy, one King, one Law.
Plate 5
After aeons of anguish and howlings and pains and fierce madness "the vast world of Urizen appeared".
Los (introduced here) "kept watch for the Eternals
to confine the obscure separation alone".
Plate 6
Pl 7: "Los wept.....Urizen was rent from his side...
and rent from Eternity." And "the Eternals said
'what is this? Death. Urizen is a clod of clay.'"
Los
In plate 9 "Los howl'd in a dismal stupor....till the wrenching apart was healed.
But the wrenching of Urizen heal'd not."
In plate 12 Los, "The Eternal Prophet" (a blacksmith) proceeds to work on Urizen who was cursed by
"Forgetfulness, dumbness,necessity!
In chains of the mind locked up."
Thus began the Seven Ages in which Los gave the five senses to Urizen; each one involved "a state of dismal woe". (Pl 12-13, and 15)
Los appreciated the misery and horror of Urizen's state, but nevertheless "The Eternal Prophet and Urizen clos'd"; (a pregnant sentence! Urizen had been rent from Los' side (in plate 7), but now in plate 15 they clos'd.
female pity born
Which led to Pity, which led to a globe of blood which became the first female (not very high among Blake's values, but perhaps a precursor to a better value! Look at The Four Zoas at the end of Night 7, where we learn that having finally subdued his enemy, Urizen, Los find that "his whole soul loved him he beheld him an infant")
This is a sort of turning point in the Book of Urizen.
pl18 courtship?
The Eternals thought poorly of Los' division into male and female (cf Matthew 2:20-25), but Los pitied and embrac'd her. In due course Enitharmon experienced pregancy; out of that came a child whom they called Orc. And a shriek ran thro' Eternity ...at the birth of the Human shadow.
the mortal triangle
As Los grew there developed the "Chain of Jealousy", and Orc wound up chained to the top of a mountain.
(Orc represented revolution, which Blake had found to be of little or no value!). But Enitharmon "bore and enormous race'.
Urizen and his globe of fire
With the "globe of fire" lighting his journey Urizen sicken'd...to see his sons and daughters weeping, wailing. He cursed them "for he saw that no flesh nor spirit could keep his iron laws one moment.
"For he saw that life lived upon death."
Urizen wandered in sorrow and wherever he walked a strong Web formed (like a Female in embryo) "like to the human brain. And all call'd it the Net of Religion.
The Net of Religion
"Then the inhabitants of those (Urizen's) cities for "Six days they shrunk up from existence,
And on the seventh day they rested,
And they blessed the seventh day, in sick hope
And forgot their eternal life."
Urizen's World
At the end we might say that Fuzon (Urizen's "first begotten, last born") initiated a sort of rebellion or exodus.
Feel free to ask questions.
Friday, October 23, 2009
BLAKE & PAUL
Returning to an important concept in Blake, that of Fourfold Vision, I find a familiar passage from Paul can be seen as recognizing Fourfold Vision. In a letter to Thomas Butts, Blake says:
"Now I a fourfold vision see
And a fourfold vision is given to me
Tis fourfold in my supreme delight
And three fold in soft Beulahs night
And twofold Always. May God us keep
From Single vision & Newtons sleep" To Butts, 22 Nov 1802
Illustration for Milton's Paradise Lost
Now looking at I Corinthians 13 we read:
9
"For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
10
But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in
part shall be done away.
11
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child,
I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away
childish things.
12
For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face:
now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am
known."
The 'child' can represent single vision, Newton's sleep or sensation. Seeing 'through a glass darkly,' as a limited form of vision can be twofold vision: 'Always' (or ordinary), using only the intellect. The term 'face to face' suggests relationship or threefold vision referred to as 'in soft Beulah's night,' where emotion of feeling is introduced as an additional factor. Fourfold vision is 'knowing as we are known,' Blake's supreme delight, which Blake called Imagination and Jung called Intuition.
In A Blake Dictionary Damon explains on page 436 that, "Single vision is not properly "vision" at all: it is seeing with the physical eye only the facts before it. It 'it leads you to Believe a Lie / When you see with, not thro' the Eye'" (Everlasting Gospel, E 520)
"Now I a fourfold vision see
And a fourfold vision is given to me
Tis fourfold in my supreme delight
And three fold in soft Beulahs night
And twofold Always. May God us keep
From Single vision & Newtons sleep" To Butts, 22 Nov 1802
Illustration for Milton's Paradise Lost
Now looking at I Corinthians 13 we read:
9
"For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
10
But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in
part shall be done away.
11
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child,
I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away
childish things.
12
For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face:
now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am
known."
The 'child' can represent single vision, Newton's sleep or sensation. Seeing 'through a glass darkly,' as a limited form of vision can be twofold vision: 'Always' (or ordinary), using only the intellect. The term 'face to face' suggests relationship or threefold vision referred to as 'in soft Beulah's night,' where emotion of feeling is introduced as an additional factor. Fourfold vision is 'knowing as we are known,' Blake's supreme delight, which Blake called Imagination and Jung called Intuition.
In A Blake Dictionary Damon explains on page 436 that, "Single vision is not properly "vision" at all: it is seeing with the physical eye only the facts before it. It 'it leads you to Believe a Lie / When you see with, not thro' the Eye'" (Everlasting Gospel, E 520)
BLAKE & PAUL
Returning to an important concept in Blake, that of Fourfold Vision, I find a familiar passage from Paul can be seen as recognizing Fourfold Vision. In a letter to Thomas Butts, Blake says:
"Now I a fourfold vision see
And a fourfold vision is given to me
Tis fourfold in my supreme delight
And three fold in soft Beulahs night
And twofold Always. May God us keep
From Single vision & Newtons sleep" To Butts, 22 Nov 1802
Illustration for Milton's Paradise Lost
Now looking at I Corinthians 13 we read:
9
"For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
10
But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in
part shall be done away.
11
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child,
I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away
childish things.
12
For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face:
now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am
known."
The 'child' can represent single vision, Newton's sleep or sensation. Seeing 'through a glass darkly,' as a limited form of vision can be twofold vision: 'Always' (or ordinary), using only the intellect. The term 'face to face' suggests relationship or threefold vision referred to as 'in soft Beulah's night,' where emotion of feeling is introduced as an additional factor. Fourfold vision is 'knowing as we are known,' Blake's supreme delight, which Blake called Imagination and Jung called Intuition.
In A Blake Dictionary Damon explains on page 436 that, "Single vision is not properly "vision" at all: it is seeing with the physical eye only the facts before it. It 'it leads you to Believe a Lie / When you see with, not thro' the Eye'" (Everlasting Gospel, E 520)
"Now I a fourfold vision see
And a fourfold vision is given to me
Tis fourfold in my supreme delight
And three fold in soft Beulahs night
And twofold Always. May God us keep
From Single vision & Newtons sleep" To Butts, 22 Nov 1802
Illustration for Milton's Paradise Lost
Now looking at I Corinthians 13 we read:
9
"For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
10
But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in
part shall be done away.
11
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child,
I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away
childish things.
12
For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face:
now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am
known."
The 'child' can represent single vision, Newton's sleep or sensation. Seeing 'through a glass darkly,' as a limited form of vision can be twofold vision: 'Always' (or ordinary), using only the intellect. The term 'face to face' suggests relationship or threefold vision referred to as 'in soft Beulah's night,' where emotion of feeling is introduced as an additional factor. Fourfold vision is 'knowing as we are known,' Blake's supreme delight, which Blake called Imagination and Jung called Intuition.
In A Blake Dictionary Damon explains on page 436 that, "Single vision is not properly "vision" at all: it is seeing with the physical eye only the facts before it. It 'it leads you to Believe a Lie / When you see with, not thro' the Eye'" (Everlasting Gospel, E 520)
Thursday, October 22, 2009
URIZEN & PSYCHE
Blake often tells the same story from the viewpoint of various characters. In the Book of Urizen, we see the Fall from Urizen's perspective. The breaking apart of the unity of Eternity results in Urizen finding himself in a void, formless yet dividing. There is, as yet, no outer reality, but the inner activity of Urizen begins to construct a mental world of uniformity, stability, laws, secrets and sins.
Is this a tale of the formation of the psyche from the point of view of the Superego? Comparing itself to the Id, the Superego would see itself as reason, self-control, necessary restraint, the means of functioning in the world. But the consequences of emerging from the undifferentiated whole, would not be apparent to the emerging Superego.
Urizen, the setter of limits, is without limits himself. So Los the vehicular form of the Zoa Urthona, is assigned by the Eternals 'to confine the obscure separation alone.' (BU5:40;E73) Los, 'Cursing his lot,' undertakes the task of creating a world and a form in which Urizen can function.
In Blake's scheme error is a state which can be destroyed once it is recognized and limited. Urizen's system is allowed to develop until it can be recognized as error.
Book of Urizen, Plate 16 (BU15.5; E78 )
"The Abyss of Los stretch'd immense:
And now seen, now obscur'd, to the eyes
Of Eternals, the visions remote
Of the dark seperation appear'd.
As glasses discover Worlds
In the endless Abyss of space,
So the expanding eyes of Immortals
Beheld the dark visions of Los,
And the globe of life blood trembling"
The process of differentiation continued with the division of Enitharmon (space), Orc (energy or change), Thiriel (air), Utha (water), Grodna (earth) and Fuzon (fire).
Urizen is not pleased with the emerging world: 'Urizen sicken'd to see His eternal creations appear.' Apparently it doesn't measure up to the world he left in Eternity.
He realizes: 'That no flesh nor spirit could keep His Iron laws one moment.'
Urizen wanders about the world spinning the web of religion, carving the laws of God and unable any longer to see into the closed tents of the Eternals. Urizen, the Superego, has created a dilemma; he can say 'Thou shalt not,' but he can't say 'Thou shalt.' (“Without a vision the people perish.” Proverbs 29:18.) Urizen is at an impasse from which he cannot extricate himself. The divided self, without the Spirit or Imagination lacks the ability to live the life of joy, peace, forgiveness and brotherhood.
The rest of Blake's myth deals with healing the division and restoring the psyche to Eternity (and of course, telling of the tale from other points of view.)
Urizen Ensnared
.
Is this a tale of the formation of the psyche from the point of view of the Superego? Comparing itself to the Id, the Superego would see itself as reason, self-control, necessary restraint, the means of functioning in the world. But the consequences of emerging from the undifferentiated whole, would not be apparent to the emerging Superego.
Urizen, the setter of limits, is without limits himself. So Los the vehicular form of the Zoa Urthona, is assigned by the Eternals 'to confine the obscure separation alone.' (BU5:40;E73) Los, 'Cursing his lot,' undertakes the task of creating a world and a form in which Urizen can function.
In Blake's scheme error is a state which can be destroyed once it is recognized and limited. Urizen's system is allowed to develop until it can be recognized as error.
Book of Urizen, Plate 16 (BU15.5; E78 )
"The Abyss of Los stretch'd immense:
And now seen, now obscur'd, to the eyes
Of Eternals, the visions remote
Of the dark seperation appear'd.
As glasses discover Worlds
In the endless Abyss of space,
So the expanding eyes of Immortals
Beheld the dark visions of Los,
And the globe of life blood trembling"
The process of differentiation continued with the division of Enitharmon (space), Orc (energy or change), Thiriel (air), Utha (water), Grodna (earth) and Fuzon (fire).
Urizen is not pleased with the emerging world: 'Urizen sicken'd to see His eternal creations appear.' Apparently it doesn't measure up to the world he left in Eternity.
He realizes: 'That no flesh nor spirit could keep His Iron laws one moment.'
Urizen wanders about the world spinning the web of religion, carving the laws of God and unable any longer to see into the closed tents of the Eternals. Urizen, the Superego, has created a dilemma; he can say 'Thou shalt not,' but he can't say 'Thou shalt.' (“Without a vision the people perish.” Proverbs 29:18.) Urizen is at an impasse from which he cannot extricate himself. The divided self, without the Spirit or Imagination lacks the ability to live the life of joy, peace, forgiveness and brotherhood.
The rest of Blake's myth deals with healing the division and restoring the psyche to Eternity (and of course, telling of the tale from other points of view.)
Urizen Ensnared
.
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