Job: Picture 1

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Picture 1 seems right out of the Bible: we see Job with his family (all musicians) gathered around while he and his wife read from the good book and he prays to them. In the top left the sun sets over the cathedral, a symbol of organized religion (of organzied society, government, commerce, and the whole bit). The sun is not to rise again until the end of this dark night.

Such was Job: "blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil."

Click on the picture, and then enlarge your font, and you can read the legend(s), of which there are many:

Above the picture you may find the beginning of the Lord's Prayer suggesting an "innocent trusting attitude toward God", an innocence about to be sacrificed.

Beneath the picture proper you may imagine an altar with four animals (perhaps an ox, two lambs, and a ram), where Job offered the sacrifice for possible sins of his children. (This O.T. idea has a parallel in the gospels, where God sacrificed his Son for our sins.)

Edinger p. 17: "Inscribed on the altar are the words, The Letter Killeth. The Spirit giveth Life, indicating that it is the word and Job's reliance on it which are to be sacrificed."

As a fairly young man Blake wrote The Four Zoas, a voluminous work in Nine Nights. Now at 65 he illustrated the Book of Job with a one composite Night. Both works tell the same story.

The text from Job 1:

" In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. ² He had seven sons and three daughters, ³ and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five ¹ hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East."

⁴ His sons used to take turns holding feasts in their homes, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. ⁵ When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would send and have them purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, "Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts." This was Job's regular custom."

7 EYES OF GOD

Seven Eyes of God from Illustration of the Book of Job
click on picture for enlargement; the date indicates that this is one of Blake's last works.

When Divine Spirits fall into the world of mortality, they are not left unprotected. The Eternals elected seven of their own to guide and protect them until the day of their return. These seven are the Seven Eyes of God. Blake sees them as forming structures which allow the Soul to exist in the conditions and stage of development in which the Soul finds itself. Each of the Seven eyes is associated with a historic period of religious development. So they may be seen as the evolution of Spiritual consciousness in the collective society. Thus Blake calls the seven by names of characters prominent in Biblical accounts:
Lucifer, Molech, Elohim, Shaddai, Pahad, Jehovah, Jesus.

Like the world of Generation, they are created as mercies that man may not fall into the abyss of non-existence. They are not perfect solutions to the condition of man. Percival identifies the chief characteristic of each stage. Lucifer is pride, Molech is impatience, Elohim is vengeance, Shaddai is anger, Pachad is fear, Jehovah is mystery, and Jesus is deliverance. 'The Seven are one within the other'. (Four Zoas, Page 21)

The psychic stages through which man passes, frequently follow the same path that is represented by the progression through the Seven Eyes. Blake's Illustrations of the Book of Job presents the development of Job's relationship to God as progressing through the Seven Eyes and returning. During the process Job's psyche is altered as well as is his perception of God.

Here are the six passages in which Blake mentions the Eyes of God:
1) Four Zoas, Page 21, (E 312)
"So spoke the Messengers of Beulah. Silently removing
The Family Divine drew up the Universal tent
Above High Snowdon & closd the Messengers in clouds around
Till the time of the End. Then they Elected Seven. called the
SevenEyes of God & the Seven lamps of the Almighty
The Seven are one within the other the Seventh is named Jesus"
2) Milton, Plate 23, (E 118)
"We were plac'd here by the Universal Brotherhood & Mercy
With powers fitted to circumscribe this dark Satanic death
And that the Seven Eyes of God may have space for Redemption.
But how this is as yet we know not"
3) Milton, PLATE 24 [26] (E 118)
"& the Seven Eyes of God continually
Guard round them, but I the Fourth Zoa am also set
The Watchman of Eternity, the Three are not! & I am preserved
Still my four mighty ones are left to me in Golgonooza
Still Rintrah fierce, and Palamabron mild & piteous
Theotormon filld with care, Bromion loving Science"
4) Milton, Plate 29, (E 127)
"But Enitharmon and her Daughters take the pleasant charge.
To give them to their lovely heavens till the Great Judgment Day
Such is their lovely charge. But Rahab & Tirzah pervert
Their mild influences, therefore the Seven Eyes of God walk round
The Three Heavens of Ulro, where Tirzah & her Sisters
Weave the black Woof of Death upon Entuthon Benython"
5) Milton, Plate 35, (E 135)
"But the Larks Nest is at the Gate of Los, at the eastern
Gate of wide Golgonooza & the Lark is Los's Messenger
PLATE 36 [40]
When on the highest lift of his light pinions he arrives
At that bright Gate, another Lark meets him & back to back
They touch their pinions tip tip: and each descend
To their respective Earths & there all night consult with Angels
Of Providence & with the Eyes of God all night in slumbers
Inspired: & at the dawn of day send out another Lark
Into another Heaven to carry news upon his wings
Thus are the Messengers dispatchd till they reach the Earth again"
6) Jerusalem Plate 55, (E 203)
"The Stars in their courses fought. the Sun! Moon! Heaven! Earth.
Contending for Albion & for Jerusalem his Emanation
And for Shiloh, the Emanation of France & for lovely Vala.
Then far the greatest number were about to make a Separation
And they Elected Seven, calld the Seven Eyes of God;
Lucifer, Molech, Elohim, Shaddai, Pahad, Jehovah, Jesus.
They namd the Eighth. he came not, he hid in Albions Forests"

Father and Son

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1).

God was the Father. Christ was the Son.

The relationship between God, the Father, and Christ, the Son was central to Blake's theology (and mine).

This was the first pair, father and son. Every man since 'the beginning' has also been part of a pair.

Read Jerusalem plate 42 again; here Albion is the father, Los is the son. What's happening?

Blake celebrates the usual conflict between father and son-- like a 20th century father and a 21st century son, like the sixties flower boys and their fathers, like America and King George in 1776, and on and on we could go adding types of this archetypal relationship.

My Son, My Son!

The Generation Gap is always with us; Blake used it here to humanize God, much as C.G.Jung was to do with Answer to Job. They also help us (poor suffering sinners) to rise above the conventional image of God imprinted upon the public by our so called religious leaders.

Before the end of Jerusalem Albion and Los had achieved an amiable (loving?) relationship, as most of us rebels do with our fathers when we mature (fortunate if they are still alive).

Father and Son

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1).

God was the Father. Christ was the Son.

The relationship between God, the Father, and Christ, the Son was central to Blake's theology (and mine).

This was the first pair, father and son. Every man since 'the beginning' has also been part of a pair.

Read Jerusalem plate 42 again; here Albion is the father, Los is the son. What's happening?

Blake celebrates the usual conflict between father and son-- like a 20th century father and a 21st century son, like the sixties flower boys and their fathers, like America and King George in 1776, and on and on we could go adding types of this archetypal relationship.

My Son, My Son!

The Generation Gap is always with us; Blake used it here to humanize God, much as C.G.Jung was to do with Answer to Job. They also help us (poor suffering sinners) to rise above the conventional image of God imprinted upon the public by our so called religious leaders.

Before the end of Jerusalem Albion and Los had achieved an amiable (loving?) relationship, as most of us rebels do with our fathers when we mature (fortunate if they are still alive).

JOB, BLAKE & JUNG

William Blake, Carl Jung and the author of the Book of Job, seem to agree that the experience of Job represented a change in the relationship of man and God.

Job struggles against the perceived injustice of God and the suffering it brings upon him. Job receives a direct intervention from God in the shape of God speaking to him from the whirlwind.

Because Job was truthful with God and confronted God with the human point of view, he received an answer demonstrating God's power, wisdom and mystery. After his trials Job's fortunes are restored and he receives God's favor.

The role that Satan (the personification of evil) plays in the story is pivotal. Satan is allowed by God to test Job because of Job's reputation for righteousness. This perhaps is the hinge of the story because Satan, not God is in charge of testing Job. In the end Job's demands convince God to relate to him directly.

Satan before the Throne of God, Illustrations to the Book of Job (Linnell Set)

Here is a quote from Jung in a letter to Morton Kelsey (from CARL JUNG: WOUNDED HEALER OF THE SOUL by Claire Dunne):

"This is what happens in Job: The creator sees himself through the eyes of man's consciousness and this is the reason why God has to become man, and why man is progressively gifted with the dangerous prerogative of the divine "mind." You have it in Christ's saying: "Ye are gods" and man has not even begun to know himself."

Edward Edinger, in ENCOUNTER WITH THE SELF: A JUNGIAN COMMENTARY ON WILLIAM BLAKE'S ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE BOOK OF JOB describes the encounter of Job with God as "a divine encounter by which the ego is rewarded with some insight into the transpersonal psyche." And he further says "The ego, by holding fast to its integrity, is granted a realization of the Self."

Blake's book, ILLUSTRATIONS TO THE BOOK OF JOB, consists of 21 plates which tell Job's story in a few words and in highly symbolic pictures. Plate 13 represents the encounter of Job with God in the whirlwind which is the intimate experience of a man directly with the numinous. The next plate, number 14, depicts a rebirth of consciousness. The central picture is surrounded with images and words from the creation story in Genesis. The text includes "When the morning Stars sang together & all the sons of God shouted for joy." (Job 38:7) The central image depicts at the top four angels among the stars rejoicing. In the center is kneeling God with outstretched arms and a bright sun-like halo. Beside him are Apollo with the sun, and Artemis with the moon. At the lowest level are Job his wife and the three confronters, who are allowed to witness the celebration of the this new stage of creation. The next seven plates illustrate the changed relationship between Job and God.

Damon in A BLAKE DICTIONARY explains the process Job underwent in terms to going through stages represented by the Seven Eyes of God. In the end "His manhood purged of all error, is now complete."

Each one of us is searching for images to represent indescribable experience.

For links to Blake's illustrations consult the post:
Blake's Pictures for Job

JOB, BLAKE & JUNG

William Blake, Carl Jung and the author of the Book of Job, seem to agree that the experience of Job represented a change in the relationship of man and God.

Job struggles against the perceived injustice of God and the suffering it brings upon him. Job receives a direct intervention from God in the shape of God speaking to him from the whirlwind.

Because Job was truthful with God and confronted God with the human point of view, he received an answer demonstrating God's power, wisdom and mystery. After his trials Job's fortunes are restored and he receives God's favor.

The role that Satan (the personification of evil) plays in the story is pivotal. Satan is allowed by God to test Job because of Job's reputation for righteousness. This perhaps is the hinge of the story because Satan, not God is in charge of testing Job. In the end Job's demands convince God to relate to him directly.

Satan before the Throne of God, Illustrations to the Book of Job (Linnell Set)

Here is a quote from Jung in a letter to Morton Kelsey (from CARL JUNG: WOUNDED HEALER OF THE SOUL by Claire Dunne):

"This is what happens in Job: The creator sees himself through the eyes of man's consciousness and this is the reason why God has to become man, and why man is progressively gifted with the dangerous prerogative of the divine "mind." You have it in Christ's saying: "Ye are gods" and man has not even begun to know himself."

Edward Edinger, in ENCOUNTER WITH THE SELF: A JUNGIAN COMMENTARY ON WILLIAM BLAKE'S ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE BOOK OF JOB describes the encounter of Job with God as "a divine encounter by which the ego is rewarded with some insight into the transpersonal psyche." And he further says "The ego, by holding fast to its integrity, is granted a realization of the Self."

Blake's book, ILLUSTRATIONS TO THE BOOK OF JOB, consists of 21 plates which tell Job's story in a few words and in highly symbolic pictures. Plate 13 represents the encounter of Job with God in the whirlwind which is the intimate experience of a man directly with the numinous. The next plate, number 14, depicts a rebirth of consciousness. The central picture is surrounded with images and words from the creation story in Genesis. The text includes "When the morning Stars sang together & all the sons of God shouted for joy." (Job 38:7) The central image depicts at the top four angels among the stars rejoicing. In the center is kneeling God with outstretched arms and a bright sun-like halo. Beside him are Apollo with the sun, and Artemis with the moon. At the lowest level are Job his wife and the three confronters, who are allowed to witness the celebration of the this new stage of creation. The next seven plates illustrate the changed relationship between Job and God.

Damon in A BLAKE DICTIONARY explains the process Job underwent in terms to going through stages represented by the Seven Eyes of God. In the end "His manhood purged of all error, is now complete."

Each one of us is searching for images to represent indescribable experience.

For links to Blake's illustrations consult the post:
Blake's Pictures for Job

JOB: BLAKE'S PICTURES

If you enjoy looking at pictures as I do, you can introduce yourself to Blake's understanding of Job by looking at the pictures he made. There are two series in the Blake Archive. First the plates for his book ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE BOOK OF JOB, which are black and white engravings. The central picture is surrounded by snippets of text from the biblical Job or elsewhere, and decorative images with symbolic meaning.
From one viewing you can get a flavor or the work, but study is required to learn more of what Blake wanted to convey of his vision.

Click on this link and page down to the illustrations and the text in this Boston College website.

Illustrations

In the Archive you will also find Blake's watercolors of the same scenes from Job which he produce for Thomas Butts. Absent are the symbolic borders, but present are the lovely colors. For aesthetic purposes these pictures are the most satisfying, but they convey less of Blake's understanding of Job.

Click on this link to get the Archive for Illustrations to the Book of Job, The Butts Set.

Butts Watercolors
Enjoy!

JOB: BLAKE'S PICTURES

If you enjoy looking at pictures as I do, you can introduce yourself to Blake's understanding of Job by looking at the pictures he made. There are two series in the Blake Archive. First the plates for his book ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE BOOK OF JOB, which are black and white engravings. The central picture is surrounded by snippets of text from the biblical Job or elsewhere, and decorative images with symbolic meaning.
From one viewing you can get a flavor or the work, but study is required to learn more of what Blake wanted to convey of his vision.

Click on this link and page down to the illustrations and the text in this Boston College website.

Illustrations

In the Archive you will also find Blake's watercolors of the same scenes from Job which he produce for Thomas Butts. Absent are the symbolic borders, but present are the lovely colors. For aesthetic purposes these pictures are the most satisfying, but they convey less of Blake's understanding of Job.

Click on this link to get the Archive for Illustrations to the Book of Job, The Butts Set.

Butts Watercolors
Enjoy!

BOOK OF JOB

.
Satan before the Throne of God Click on image to see detail.

The Book of Job represents a strong link among the Bible, Blake and Jung. In each their writing about Job involves development of thinking about the relationship of God and man. The Book of Job is a unique book in the Old Testament as it explores changing ideas about God; Jung's ANSWER TO JOB is the product of the wisdom he developed through experience of unconscious realities; Blake's ILLUSTRATIONS TO THE BOOK OF JOB develops the theme of Job as a part of Blake's vision.

Each author worked in his own milieu. JOB in the OT is a man of the OT culture undergoing the kind of encounters with God had by Abraham, Moses and the patriarchs. In ANSWER TO JOB, Jung works with psychological dynamics as expressed by the character Job in experiencing God's revelations. Blake creates an illustrated expression of Job's experience in the context of images from a broad understanding of psychological/spiritual symbols. The three documents complement one another and together enhance our understanding of the evolution of the consciousness of God.

There will be more about Job later; its a big subject.
.

BOOK OF JOB

.
Satan before the Throne of God Click on image to see detail.

The Book of Job represents a strong link among the Bible, Blake and Jung. In each their writing about Job involves development of thinking about the relationship of God and man. The Book of Job is a unique book in the Old Testament as it explores changing ideas about God; Jung's ANSWER TO JOB is the product of the wisdom he developed through experience of unconscious realities; Blake's ILLUSTRATIONS TO THE BOOK OF JOB develops the theme of Job as a part of Blake's vision.

Each author worked in his own milieu. JOB in the OT is a man of the OT culture undergoing the kind of encounters with God had by Abraham, Moses and the patriarchs. In ANSWER TO JOB, Jung works with psychological dynamics as expressed by the character Job in experiencing God's revelations. Blake creates an illustrated expression of Job's experience in the context of images from a broad understanding of psychological/spiritual symbols. The three documents complement one another and together enhance our understanding of the evolution of the consciousness of God.

There will be more about Job later; its a big subject.
.