Word... Up :)
Jul 11, 2014 18:59:36 GMT
Post by Goldenfleeced on Jul 11, 2014 18:59:36 GMT
Now, this is going to be a 'fun' post, for several reasons... just wait. 
Firstly, I purchased some lighters the other day... you know, as in 'Let there be light(ers)... lolol... but, here's the thing... I collect kind of 'meaningful' lighters, symbolically, and this time, there were two that stood out; the first one featured just one word... "Yep"... and the second one showed (in the upright position) an index finger, pointing 'up.' I just had to smile... in fact, I still am.
Now, the significance of the 'Yep' seems obvious enough (to me, at least), but about that 'finger' gesture... lol... this also has significance, to the subjects at hand, as you will see... and by the way, 'thank you' for the 'light;' you see how 'He' works in mysterious ways, indeed... you just have to know where to look, I guess.
Now, let me show you a painting by Da Vinci; they say it was his last, and it is titled 'John the Baptist.' You should probably notice several things about this painting, one of which is the gesture, known as the 'John gesture,' of the index finger pointing up. Surely, this is meaningful... and it is repeated in other places. But here...
Now... the finger points likely to the one that comes to 'Baptize with the Spirit(Fire);' look closely at the painting. Now, I have some comments to add from another source that you should find 'enlightening,' as well...
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“Hermetic finger magic” is clearly defined – thus meeting our “universal frame of reference” criterion set out above; each finger is assigned a specific element: the index finger with fire; the thumb with water; the middle finger with the Ether (the fifth and original element); the ring finger with earth and the little finger with air. Furthermore, the right hand is associated with the positive side (order), and the left hand with the negative side (chaos). As such, in Hermetic magic, the right index finger is associated with “positive fire”.
I would thus argue that the specific finger movement repeatedly drawn by Leonardo, in the knowledge that the finger movement is not present in Christian iconography, should thus preferentially be interpreted as a Hermetic magical “sign-ature”, with the meaning of “positive fire”.
At first sight, it may seem far removed from John the Baptist, whom we would expect to see with a raised right thumb – the thumb being the sign for water. But on closer inspection, we find that John the Baptist is indeed linked with fire.
Within a Christian context, John is linked with fire on two occasions – and in opposite senses. “Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire” says Mt. 3: 10. Here, fire consumes – negative. “I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me …will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” says the next verse, Mt. 3:11. Here, it purifies and energizes. Thus, these are the two kinds of spiritual fire: the fires of Hell and the fire of Purgatory. One is the deadly self-consuming fire of hate; the other the life-giving fire of love.
The association with “fire” is also apparent from his feast of the nativity, which occurs on June 24, or the summer solstice. Pagan societies held various fire festivals on the eve of summer solstice and most Christian regions veneered this pagan ritual into St John’s fire festivals.
Leonardo could thus merely have depicted the well-established Christian symbolism of John with fire and express this by using Hermetic symbolism, with which Florence – and by extension Leonardo himself – was well-aware. That may be all there is to it; the “secret” of the “John gesture” may be nothing more than this, and for a sceptic, it will no doubt be the end of it. But once the magical cabinet is opened, it reveals other neat “tricks”…
Within a Hermetic context, we note that the causal element is the Ether. The first element to descend from that is Fire, which then created Water – used by John for his baptisms. Fire and water then created Air, and the three elements then created Earth.
In Hermetic magic, these elements are then associated with various body parts. Intriguingly, Fire is associated with the head, and John the Baptist is most famous for his decapitation, in which his head has become a powerful talisman in some magical traditions.
Let us also return to the sequence in which the elements were created. Hermetic magic states that if Fire and Water are combined (as they have been in Leonardo’s “John gesture”, when John performs the gesture himself), Air is created; these three elements then create the fourth element, Earth. The John gesture could thus be seen as a Hermetic expression of the creation of all four elements.
Leonardo is also known for his androgynous characters. His depiction of John the Evangelist in the Last Supper is so feminine that many, including Dan Brown, have argued that “he” is actually Mary Magdalene. The painting of John the Baptist is also very feminine, and some studies suggest that the Mona Lisa actually contains the image of the (male) Leonardo. This androgyny is also known as hermaphrodite, or Hermes-Aphrodite, and expresses the Hermetic principle of the mixture of both sexes, ascending above the male-female paradigm. In Hermetic magic, this creation hinges on the transformative “positive fire”.
Finally, we need to note that the most important symbolism of “positive fire” is in its association with “purifying fire”. For the Hermetic mage, this is the fire that will burn inside the initiate, which will set him on the path of ascension to God. In classical mythology, this is best known through the Phoenix, the bird who burns on his own ashes and is then transformed. This “purifying fire” is therefore the fire of transformation, which sheds the “mortal coil” and transforms “man” into “super man”, the shaman with supernatural powers. This is the key message of the Hermetica, and it is what made the Hermetica so inviting to the 15th Florentine Christians, who transformed themselves into Hermetic mages.
In essence, the Christian imagery of fire with John the Baptist is itself veneer on a pagan fire symbolism. This, of course, makes it extremely hard to identify whether Leonardo “knew” and “used” this pagan context, or whether he “merely” used the Christian imagery.
To somewhat dabble in a scientific approach, it needs to be said that Leonardo’s painting, apart from the androgynous characters, lacks any overt Hermetical context. Furthermore, Leonardo was not a member of the Platonic Academy. Though logically it is clear that he must have been aware of basic Hermetic principles, there is no “good evidence” that he was a practicing Hermetic mage.
Hence, we can only conclude with a “theoretical framework”, in which we take the John gesture, not for its association with Leonardo, but in its pure Hermetic context. As such, it is the sign that identifies the “purifying fire”. Iamblichus wrote “he who approached to fire would receive a light from divinity”, underlining the link between fire and its derivative, light. Proclus in Timaeo wrote that “through divine fire all the stains produced by generation would be purged away”. But in the knowledge that John the Baptist is often associated with sheep, let us conclude with a quote from Ovid: “Fire purifies both the shepherd and the sheep.”
-This article appeared in Les Carnets Secrets 5 (2006).
www.philipcoppens.com/johngesture.html
Please try to read the full article... it's really quite good.
Notice the reed, and the wooly fleece, both of which may have been added later. Now... some muse-ic... lolol...
I'd better post... baaahahaha....
Firstly, I purchased some lighters the other day... you know, as in 'Let there be light(ers)... lolol... but, here's the thing... I collect kind of 'meaningful' lighters, symbolically, and this time, there were two that stood out; the first one featured just one word... "Yep"... and the second one showed (in the upright position) an index finger, pointing 'up.' I just had to smile... in fact, I still am. Now, the significance of the 'Yep' seems obvious enough (to me, at least), but about that 'finger' gesture... lol... this also has significance, to the subjects at hand, as you will see... and by the way, 'thank you' for the 'light;' you see how 'He' works in mysterious ways, indeed... you just have to know where to look, I guess.
Now, let me show you a painting by Da Vinci; they say it was his last, and it is titled 'John the Baptist.' You should probably notice several things about this painting, one of which is the gesture, known as the 'John gesture,' of the index finger pointing up. Surely, this is meaningful... and it is repeated in other places. But here...
Now... the finger points likely to the one that comes to 'Baptize with the Spirit(Fire);' look closely at the painting. Now, I have some comments to add from another source that you should find 'enlightening,' as well...
[/URL]" alt=" "]“Hermetic finger magic” is clearly defined – thus meeting our “universal frame of reference” criterion set out above; each finger is assigned a specific element: the index finger with fire; the thumb with water; the middle finger with the Ether (the fifth and original element); the ring finger with earth and the little finger with air. Furthermore, the right hand is associated with the positive side (order), and the left hand with the negative side (chaos). As such, in Hermetic magic, the right index finger is associated with “positive fire”.
I would thus argue that the specific finger movement repeatedly drawn by Leonardo, in the knowledge that the finger movement is not present in Christian iconography, should thus preferentially be interpreted as a Hermetic magical “sign-ature”, with the meaning of “positive fire”.
At first sight, it may seem far removed from John the Baptist, whom we would expect to see with a raised right thumb – the thumb being the sign for water. But on closer inspection, we find that John the Baptist is indeed linked with fire.
Within a Christian context, John is linked with fire on two occasions – and in opposite senses. “Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire” says Mt. 3: 10. Here, fire consumes – negative. “I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me …will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” says the next verse, Mt. 3:11. Here, it purifies and energizes. Thus, these are the two kinds of spiritual fire: the fires of Hell and the fire of Purgatory. One is the deadly self-consuming fire of hate; the other the life-giving fire of love.
The association with “fire” is also apparent from his feast of the nativity, which occurs on June 24, or the summer solstice. Pagan societies held various fire festivals on the eve of summer solstice and most Christian regions veneered this pagan ritual into St John’s fire festivals.
Leonardo could thus merely have depicted the well-established Christian symbolism of John with fire and express this by using Hermetic symbolism, with which Florence – and by extension Leonardo himself – was well-aware. That may be all there is to it; the “secret” of the “John gesture” may be nothing more than this, and for a sceptic, it will no doubt be the end of it. But once the magical cabinet is opened, it reveals other neat “tricks”…
Within a Hermetic context, we note that the causal element is the Ether. The first element to descend from that is Fire, which then created Water – used by John for his baptisms. Fire and water then created Air, and the three elements then created Earth.
In Hermetic magic, these elements are then associated with various body parts. Intriguingly, Fire is associated with the head, and John the Baptist is most famous for his decapitation, in which his head has become a powerful talisman in some magical traditions.
Let us also return to the sequence in which the elements were created. Hermetic magic states that if Fire and Water are combined (as they have been in Leonardo’s “John gesture”, when John performs the gesture himself), Air is created; these three elements then create the fourth element, Earth. The John gesture could thus be seen as a Hermetic expression of the creation of all four elements.
Leonardo is also known for his androgynous characters. His depiction of John the Evangelist in the Last Supper is so feminine that many, including Dan Brown, have argued that “he” is actually Mary Magdalene. The painting of John the Baptist is also very feminine, and some studies suggest that the Mona Lisa actually contains the image of the (male) Leonardo. This androgyny is also known as hermaphrodite, or Hermes-Aphrodite, and expresses the Hermetic principle of the mixture of both sexes, ascending above the male-female paradigm. In Hermetic magic, this creation hinges on the transformative “positive fire”.
Finally, we need to note that the most important symbolism of “positive fire” is in its association with “purifying fire”. For the Hermetic mage, this is the fire that will burn inside the initiate, which will set him on the path of ascension to God. In classical mythology, this is best known through the Phoenix, the bird who burns on his own ashes and is then transformed. This “purifying fire” is therefore the fire of transformation, which sheds the “mortal coil” and transforms “man” into “super man”, the shaman with supernatural powers. This is the key message of the Hermetica, and it is what made the Hermetica so inviting to the 15th Florentine Christians, who transformed themselves into Hermetic mages.
In essence, the Christian imagery of fire with John the Baptist is itself veneer on a pagan fire symbolism. This, of course, makes it extremely hard to identify whether Leonardo “knew” and “used” this pagan context, or whether he “merely” used the Christian imagery.
To somewhat dabble in a scientific approach, it needs to be said that Leonardo’s painting, apart from the androgynous characters, lacks any overt Hermetical context. Furthermore, Leonardo was not a member of the Platonic Academy. Though logically it is clear that he must have been aware of basic Hermetic principles, there is no “good evidence” that he was a practicing Hermetic mage.
Hence, we can only conclude with a “theoretical framework”, in which we take the John gesture, not for its association with Leonardo, but in its pure Hermetic context. As such, it is the sign that identifies the “purifying fire”. Iamblichus wrote “he who approached to fire would receive a light from divinity”, underlining the link between fire and its derivative, light. Proclus in Timaeo wrote that “through divine fire all the stains produced by generation would be purged away”. But in the knowledge that John the Baptist is often associated with sheep, let us conclude with a quote from Ovid: “Fire purifies both the shepherd and the sheep.”
-This article appeared in Les Carnets Secrets 5 (2006).
www.philipcoppens.com/johngesture.html
Please try to read the full article... it's really quite good.
Notice the reed, and the wooly fleece, both of which may have been added later. Now... some muse-ic... lolol...
I'd better post... baaahahaha....
