7 EYES OF GOD

Wikipedia Commons

Illustrations of the Book of Job

Title Page 

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"
 

Blake's Job

First posted on: 

Friday, June 21, 2013

 
Job has been thought by many of us to be the most difficult book in the Bible; a descendant of many generations of Lutheran ministers, Carl Jung was one of them. In one of his last works he dealt with Job exhaustively .

Jung had to live through many years with many disillusions and with the freedom of old age before he addressed Job with the famous Answer to Job. The substance of the book might be described as the presence of an evil side of God.

Jung was a student of William Blake; the four zoas had a marked influence on Jung's development of the four functions. Here's a rough comparison of the relationship between the four functions and the four zoas:

Thinking ----- Urizen
Feeling ------Luvah
Sensation -----Tharmas
Intuition ------Urthona

Jung wrote Answer to Job quite late in his career; Blake's crowning achievement was his Illustrations to the Book of Job.

In the Marriage of Heaven and Hell, on Plate 5 Blake wrote:

"PLATE 5 
Those who restrain desire, do so because theirs is weak enough to be restrained; and the restrainer or reason usurps its place & governs the unwilling. And being restraind it by degrees becomes passive till it is only the shadow of desire. The history of this is written in Paradise Lost. & the Governor or Reason is call'd Messiah. And the original Archangel or possessor of the command of the heavenly host, is calld the Devil or Satan and his children are call'd Sin & Death But in the Book of Job Miltons Messiah is call'd Satan. For this history has been adopted by both parties It indeed appear'd to Reason as if Desire was cast out."

Very late in his life Blake completed his engraved Illustrations to the Book of Job.  On Jan 31, 1826 he wrote to his friend and benefactor John Linnel:

 
"Dear Sir I am forced to write because I cannot come to you & this on two accounts First I omitted to desire you would come & take a Mutton chop with us the day you go to Cheltenham & I will go with you to the to the Coach also I will go to Hampstead to see Mrs. Linnell on Sunday but will return before dinner (I mean if you set off before that) & Second I wish to have a Copy of Job to 
shew to Mr Chantry."

I've written extensively on Blake's Job here.

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JOB SUMMATION

After reading in A Blake Dictionary, Damon's description of Blake's Illustrations to the Book of Job, I came up with one word titles for each plate:

Wikimedia Commons
Job confessing His Presumption to God

1. Innocence
2. Doubt
3. Wrath
4. Disasters
5. Temptation
6. Shame
7. Experience
8. Anger
9. Disillusionment
10. Rejection
11. Insight
12. New Birth
13. Vision
14. Synthesis
15. Encounter with Unconscious
16. Reversal
17. God of Love
18. Forgiveness
19. Humility
20. Self-giving
21. Wholeness

Blake's Illustrations to the Book of Job from the University of Adelaide and from Gutenberg Press.

Damon also associated the stages which Job traverses with the Eyes of God. Since the Seven Eyes are the stages of psychic, social and religious development of man, Job in his ordeal of individuation recapitulates each of the phases.
 
1-2. Lucifer - the selfhood
2-4. Molech - the executioner
5-6. Elohim - the judge
7-8. Shaddai - the accuser
9-10. Pahad - terror
11-12. Jehovah - commandments
13-14. Jesus - God in humanity

Here is an earlier post on the Eyes of God.

Each of the Eyes is represented in two plates in the descent/ascent of Job into his self-knowledge. On Job's return from the nadir each Eye is revisited with a single plate, but in it the Eye takes on its positive or redeemed nature.

15. Jehovah reveals the unconscious depths.
16. Jesus causes the Last Judgment.
17. Pahad reveals love.
18. Shaddai becomes forgiveness.
19. Elohim practices charity.
20. Molech brings forth the feminine.
21. Lucifer is freed of the selfhood.
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JOB - PAGE 1

Wikipedia Commons
Job and His Family
Butts Set of Illustrations for the Book of Job
Original in Morgan Library

Blake's first excursion into illustrating works by other authors was in 1791 when he illustrated Mary Wollstonecraft's novel Original Stories from Real Life. As opportunities arose he continued to produce illustrations for existing works as requested by his patrons or for publication. In about 1805 Thomas Butts, for whom Blake had painted numerous illustrations of Biblical subjects, requested a series of illustrations of the Book of Job. Blake would move from the occasional illustrations of Job which he had done in the past, to telling Job's full story as it enacted a myth of developing consciousness which led to a truer image of God.
 
From the beginning of his series of illustrations to Job, Blake indicated that he would interpret the Biblical account in the light of his own personal vision of the divine benevolence. The setting sun symbolized the end of a day - a period of development which has been completed.  Way would be made for new dispensation not based on a understanding of God as a lawgiver who assigned punishments for disobedience. The character Job would be Blake's vehicle for confronting the internal constructs which were projected onto the Book of Job's image of God.
 
In the beginning of the Book of Job the man whose name was Job saw himself as righteous because of the rewards which he had received in the natural world. He felt he had followed the rules to the letter and had earned the blessings which had been bestowed on him. He said the proper prayers and made the prescribed sacrifices. An indication that all was not well is shown by pictures of musical instruments hanging in a tree instead of being played by Job's sons and daughters. There was something lacking in Job's image of God which prevented him from knowing God as a dynamic presence within which would nourish his soul rather than providing material prosperity. Words from the Lord's Prayer were inscribed on the setting sun which would sink out of sight until it returned on the final page of Blake's illustrations.

Job 1
[1] There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.
[2] And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.
[3] His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.
[4] And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.
[5] And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually. 

Four Zoas, Night II, Page 36, (E 325) 
"It is an easy thing to rejoice in the tents of prosperity 
Thus could I sing & thus rejoice, but it is not so with me!" 

Book of Urizen, Plate 23, (E 81)
3. Most Urizen sicken'd to see
His eternal creations appear
Sons & daughters of sorrow on mountains                  
Weeping! wailing! first Thiriel appear'd
Astonish'd at his own existence
Like a man from a cloud born, & Utha
From the waters emerging, laments!
Grodna rent the deep earth howling                   
Amaz'd! his heavens immense cracks
Like the ground parch'd with heat; then Fuzon
Flam'd out! first begotten, last born.
All his eternal sons in like manner
His daughters from green herbs & cattle                   
From monsters, & worms of the pit.

4. He in darkness clos'd, view'd all his race,
And his soul sicken'd! he curs'd
Both sons & daughters; for he saw
That no flesh nor spirit could keep                        
His iron laws one moment.

5. For he saw that life liv'd upon death
The Ox in the slaughter house moans
The Dog at the wintry door
And he wept, & he called it Pity
And his tears flowed down on the winds"

Jerusalem, Plate 28, (E 174)
"The Tree spread over him its cold shadows, (Albion groand)
They bent down, they felt the earth and again enrooting
Shot into many a Tree! an endless labyrinth of woe!

From willing sacrifice of Self, to sacrifice of (miscall'd) Enemies  
For Atonement: Albion began to erect twelve Altars,
Of rough unhewn rocks, before the Potters Furnace
He nam'd them Justice, and Truth. And Albions Sons
Must have become the first Victims, being the first transgressors
But they fled to the mountains to seek ransom: building A Strong 
Fortification against the Divine Humanity and Mercy,
In Shame & Jealousy to annihilate Jerusalem!  

Micah 6
[6] Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?
[7] Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
[8] He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

Matthew 5
[43] Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
[44] But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

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JOB - PAGE 2

Wikipedia Commons
Satan Before the Throne of God
Butts Set of Illustrations for the Book of Job
Morgan Library

Blake chose to make his commentary on the Book of Job in the form of pictures. But they were pictures which were to be read in the light of spiritual/psychological truth. Picture 2 showed an image of three levels of reality. The upper image showed God as Job understood him based on the revelation of truth which was available to him in his society. This was the distant lawgiver who functioned as ruler dispensing justice according to a rigid moral code contained in the book resting on his lap.

The central level pictured multiple entities which existed within the mind of man below the level of consciousness. The mind was not unified but it contained diverse energies which were available for expression. The running, flaming man in this picture is that bundle of energy which is dissatisfied with the status quo and seeks to introduce change. The Book of Job called him Satan; in Blake's mythology he was sometimes called Orc.

The lower level was the world which had benefited from the mental organization of a static God who protected the chosen few who pleased him. The prosperity of their world was based on maintaining the psychic balance ordained by God. Job's world outwardly included his feminine self, his books of law, his angelic protection, the progeny which he had produced, his material wealth and his sleeping instinctual life.

A figure similar to that of Satan in the illustration of Job, is found at the beginning of the Book of Urizen. In that case it announced the arrival of Urizen who unsuccessfully attempted to create a world defined by reason.

Job 1
[6] Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.
[7] And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
[8] And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
[9] Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?
[10] Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
[11] But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.

Marriage of Heaven & Hell, Plate 4, (E 34)
 "But the following Contraries to these are True
  1 Man has no Body distinct from his Soul for that calld Body is
a portion of Soul discernd by the five Senses. the chief inlets
of Soul in this age
  2. Energy is the only life and is from the Body and Reason is
the bound or outward circumference of Energy.
  3 Energy is Eternal Delight
  PLATE 5
  Those who restrain desire, do so because theirs is weak enough
to be restrained; and the restrainer or reason usurps its place &
governs the unwilling.
  And being restraind it by degrees becomes passive till it is
only the shadow of desire.
  The history of this is written in Paradise Lost. & the Governor
or Reason is call'd Messiah.
  And the original Archangel or possessor of the command of the
heavenly host, is calld the Devil or Satan and his children are
call'd Sin & Death
  But in the Book of Job Miltons Messiah is call'd Satan.
  For this history has been adopted by both parties
  It indeed appear'd to Reason as if Desire was cast out. but the
Devils account is, that the Messiah fell. & formed a heaven
of what he stole from the Abyss
  This is shewn in the Gospel, where he prays to the Father to
send  the comforter or Desire that Reason may have Ideas to build
on, the Jehovah of the Bible being no other than he, who dwells
in flaming fire.    
   Know that after Christs death, he became Jehovah."

Hebrews 12
[28] Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
[29] For our God is a consuming fire.

John 14 
[16] And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 
[17] Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 
[18] I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. 
[19] Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. 
[20] At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. 
[21] He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
[22] Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? 
[23] Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. 
[24] He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me. 
[25] These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. 
[26] But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

 Book of Urizen, Plate 3, (E 70)
     "Chap: I
1. Lo, a shadow of horror is risen
In Eternity! Unknown, unprolific!
Self-closd, all-repelling: what Demon
Hath form'd this abominable void
This soul-shudd'ring vacuum?--Some said                          
"It is Urizen", But unknown, abstracted
Brooding secret, the dark power hid.

2. Times on times he divided, & measur'd
Space by space in his ninefold darkness
Unseen, unknown! changes appeard                                 
In his desolate mountains rifted furious 
By the black winds of perturbation

3. For he strove in battles dire
In unseen conflictions with shapes
Bred from his forsaken wilderness,                               
Of beast, bird, fish, serpent & element
Combustion, blast, vapour and cloud.

4. Dark revolving in silent activity:
Unseen in tormenting passions;
An activity unknown and horrible;
A self-contemplating shadow,  
In enormous labours occupied
         
5. But Eternals beheld his vast forests
Age on ages he lay, clos'd, unknown
Brooding shut in the deep; all avoid                
The petrific abominable chaos

6. His cold horrors silent, dark Urizen
Prepar'd: his ten thousands of thunders
Rang'd in gloom'd array stretch out across
The dread world, & the rolling of wheels                         
As of swelling seas, sound in his clouds
In his hills of stor'd snows, in his mountains
Of hail & ice; voices of terror,
Are heard, like thunders of autumn,
When the cloud blazes over the harvests" 

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JOB - PAGE 3

Wikipedia Commons
Job's Sons and Daughters overwhelmed by Satan
Butts Set of Illustrations for the Book of Job
Morgan Library

On page 3 of his Illustrations of the Book of Job, Blake showed the beginning of a process through which a transformation might take place. It began with a tearing down preliminary to a rebuilding. Job like Simon Peter would be 'sifted as wheat' before he was prepared to 'strengthen his brethren'. 

Luke 22
[31] And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
[32] But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

Blake saw the change to Job's psyche beginning with outer events. A great wind came and destroyed a house. Blake pictured the loss of the house but not the loss of all of Job's sons. The son in the picture instead actively took responsibility for saving all that could be saved. The house was made of stone which represented the unyielding law of Old Testament religion. Job's allegiance to practicing a religion based on following law was under attack. The wind of the spirit had the potential to sweep away the stone of the law.

The figures who lay dead in Blake's picture were not those who were attempting to use the stones of law to reach safety but those at the bottom of the picture who clung to instruments of music. Job had only begun the process of discerning the still small voice in the midst of the chaos of earthquake, wind and fire.  

Job 1
[18] While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house:
[19] And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
[20] Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,
[21] And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
[22] In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

First Kings 19
[9] And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?
[10] And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
[11] And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake:
[12] And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
[13] And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?

Jerusalem, Plate 55, (E 204)
Loud! loud! the Mountains lifted up their voices, loud the Forests
Rivers thunderd against their banks, loud Winds furious fought
Cities & Nations contended in fires & clouds & tempests.         
The Seas raisd up their voices & lifted their hands on high
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
But first they said: (& their Words stood in Chariots in array
Curbing their Tygers with golden bits & bridles of silver & ivory)      

Let the Human Organs be kept in their perfect Integrity
At will Contracting into Worms, or Expanding into Gods
And then behold! what are these Ulro Visions of Chastity!
Then as the moss upon the tree: or dust upon the plow:
Or as the sweat upon the labouring shoulder: or as the chaff   
Of the wheat-floor or as the dregs of the sweet wine-press
Such are these Ulro Visions, for tho we sit down within
The plowed furrow, listning to the weeping clods till we
Contract or Expand Space at will: or if we raise ourselves
Upon the chariots of the morning. Contracting or Expanding Time! 
Every one knows, we are One Family! One Man blessed for ever

Silence remaind & every one resumd his Human Majesty
And many conversed on these things as they labourd at the furrow
Saying: It is better to prevent misery, than to release from misery
It is better to prevent error, than to  forgive the criminal:    
Labour well the Minute Particulars, attend to the Little-ones:
And those who are in misery cannot remain so long
If we do but our duty: labour well the teeming Earth."

On the final plate of Europe when Los was called upon to raise the consciousness of his brothers to their plight, Blake showed Los in a pose similar to that of the son of Job. He accepted the call to enter the battle to recover the Soul of Albion.

Europe, Plate 15, (E 66)
"Then Los arose his head he reard in snaky thunders clad:
And with a cry that shook all nature to the utmost pole,         
Call'd all his sons to the strife of blood."

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JOB - PAGE 4

Wikipedia Commons The messengers tell Job of his misfortunes
Butts Set of Illustrations for the Book of Job
Morgan Library 

Job 1
[12] And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
[13] And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house:
[14] And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them:
[15] And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
[16] While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
[17] While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

Wave after wave of messengers came to Job to inform him of his losses. Worldly losses often come in this way. Our lives are held together by fragile ties, when one part fails another soon follows. It takes time and effort to re-assimilate the broken pieces. 

Each messenger thought himself to be the only one that escaped but it was not so. Others were aware of what was going on and were potential allies to Job as he tried to understand and mend the damage which which was taking place. Job and his wife were aware of the gravity of their situation and looked up to God for an explanation.

Jerusalem, Plate 43 [29], (E 191)
"I come that I may find a way for my banished ones to return      
Fear not O little Flock I come! Albion shall rise again.

So saying, the mild Sun inclosd the Human Family.

Forthwith from Albions darkning rocks came two Immortal forms 
Saying We alone are escaped. O merciful Lord and Saviour,
We flee from the interiors of Albions hills and mountains!       
From his Valleys Eastward: from Amalek Canaan & Moab:
Beneath his vast ranges of hills surrounding Jerusalem.

Albion walkd on the steps of fire before his Halls
And Vala walkd with him in dreams of soft deluding slumber.
He looked up & saw the Prince of Light with splendor faded       
Then Albion ascended mourning into the porches of his Palace
Above him rose a Shadow from his wearied intellect:"

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JOB - PAGE 5

Wikipedia Commons
Satan going forth from the presence of the lord
Butts Set of Illustrations for the Book of Job
Page 5

This is the Legend on the engraving which Blake later made of this image:

"Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the poor? (Job 30:25)

 

Behold he is in thine hand; but save his life (Job 2:6)

 

So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord (Job 1:12)

 

and it grieved him at his heart (Genesis 6:6)

 

Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire (Psalm 104:4)"

Job 2
[4] And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
[5] But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.
[6] And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.
[7] So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.

The outer disintegration moved inward as Satan received permission to touch Job's 'flesh and bone.' Job would endure experiencing Satan as an inner force which separated itself from God and had the power to alter Job's consciousness of God. It is worth noting that Blake pictures Satan pouring poison on Job's head. The mind and spirit would be the point of attack although Job would experience painful symptoms in his body.

We notice once again three levels in this image. Working from the bottom we see Job distributing alms to the poor. Job's relationship with God is secured by following the law and making sacrifices from his abundance to those whom God has not so blessed. This is Job's self perception: that he is protected by angels because he has won favor with God.

In the central image Satan is moving downward, out of God's presence. His fellow Eternals are surprised and dismayed by his action.

Above Satan, God is shown mournfully sitting on his on his stone throne, holding onto his book of the law and the scroll of the Elect.

Minna Doskow in William Blake's Jerusalem, commented on Blake's portrayal of the effect that Satan, as Albion's Spectre - the Reactor, had on the functioning of his mind. Like Job, Albion was to experience the dissonance of his disordered mind in a world built on false principles until he could recognize his error.

"The Divine Voice also supplies the imaginative view of Albion's separation from his Spectre Satan. First, he differentiates Satan's negativity from Albion's sleep, exemplifying the difference between a state and an individual within that state, and second, he shows how Albion's malfunctioning mind produces Satan, who absorbs and dominates him, exemplifying the difference between the creation and the creator. As pure negativity, Satan is the 'Reactor', who can only oppose and deny like the Spectre of Albion's sons in chapter 1. He also tries to destroy what is positive and grounds 'his reaction into a Law/Of Action, for Obedience to destroy the Contraries in Man.' As negativity, Satan lacks independent concrete existence, so he establishes Albion's historical institutionalized religion in order to achieve that existence. The worldwide effects of his established religion appear...throughout space and time as Albion's inner errors are reflected in the world...Satan, however, unknowingly serves eternal purposes in his actions (as Los's Spectre does too), for negativity must first become concrete in order to be exposed and abolished. Satan must be 'revealed in his system', which is Albion's religion with its codes and laws before exiled humanity can return to its divinity. The Divine Voice tells us about religious error exactly what Los told us about scientific error in chapter 1, that Falsehood must be embodied before it can be recognized as error and corrected. This is the constant imaginative truth which unifies all of existence, true of religious as well as rational error." (Page 96)

Jerusalem, Plate 43 [29], (E 191)
"Then the Divine Vision like a silent Sun appeard above
Albions dark rocks: setting behind the Gardens of Kensington
On Tyburns River, in clouds of blood: where was mild Zion Hills
Most ancient promontory, and in the Sun, a Human Form appeard
And thus the Voice Divine went forth upon the rocks of Albion    

I elected Albion for my glory; I gave to him the Nations,
Of the whole Earth. he was the Angel of my Presence: and all
The Sons of God were Albions Sons: and Jerusalem was my joy.
The Reactor hath hid himself thro envy. I behold him.
But you cannot behold him till he be reveald in his System       
Albions Reactor must have a Place prepard: Albion must Sleep
The Sleep of Death, till the Man of Sin & Repentance be reveald.
Hidden in Albions Forests he lurks: he admits of no Reply
From Albion: but hath founded his Reaction into a Law
Of Action, for Obedience to destroy the Contraries of Man[.]     
He hath compelld Albion to become a Punisher & hath possessd
Himself of Albions Forests & Wilds! and Jerusalem is taken!
The City of the Woods in the Forest of Ephratah is taken!
London is a stone of her ruins; Oxford is the dust of her walls!
Sussex & Kent are her scatterd garments: Ireland her holy place! 
And the murderd bodies of her little ones are Scotland and Wales
The Cities of the Nations are the smoke of her consummation
The Nations are her dust! ground by the chariot wheels
Of her lordly conquerors, her palaces levelld with the dust
I come that I may find a way for my banished ones to return      
Fear not O little Flock I come! Albion shall rise again.

So saying, the mild Sun inclosd the Human Family."

Read more:

Art & money

Job & Satan

Job Summation

Larry's Comments 

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JOB - PAGE 6

Wikipedia Commons Satan Smiting Job with Boils
Butts Set of Illustrations for the Book of Job
Page 6

  This is the Legend on the engraving which Blake later made of this image:
 

"Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, Blessed be the Name of the Lord (Job 1:21) 

 

. . . and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown (Job 2:7)"

 

Job 1

[20] Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,
[21] And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
[22] In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

 

Job 2

[6] And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.
[7] So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.
[8] And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.
[9] Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.
[10] But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips. 

 

The previous image on Page 5 pictured three levels: that of God, that of Satan and that of Job. It was titled Satan Going Forth from the Presence of the Lord. On Page 6 we see only Job's level on which Satan has joined Job. The implication was that the struggle between Job and Satan would take place outside of the presence of God. The image which Job held of a punishing and rewarding God would be tested as Job experienced the physical pain of excruciating boils covering his body from head to foot. The title associated with Page 5 is Satan Smiting Job with Boils.

If Job had associated God with Satan the Tempter and Accuser, he would have followed his wife's advice and cursed God and died either spiritually or physically. Instead he chose to recognize the debt of life which he owed to God in spite of the affliction he suffered.

 

At this stage of Job's evolution, Satan was no longer located outside of Job. This was the first of Blake's images in which Job himself was enduring the suffering within himself. Job directly confronted Satan, not as a distant force which destroys his property, his wealth and his family, but as one which was breaking down the integrity of the physical body which the natural man associates with life itself. Job achieved the radical affirmation that it was God who gave life, not the physical body: that the essential "I" endures before the birth and after the death of the body.

 

Blake presented in this image the beginning of the unleashing of all the troubles and sorrows of the world upon Job. Satan has gone from an agent through which God might test Job's image of the divine to the means through which mankind may experience the consequences of living without consciousness of the Divine Presence.

 

Four Zoas, Night III, Page 41, (E 328)
"Like a dark lamp. Eternal death haunts all my expectation
Rent from Eternal Brotherhood we die & are no more I heard the Voice of Albion starting from his sleep

"Whence is this voice crying Enion that soundeth in my ears 
O cruel pity! O dark deceit! can Love seek for dominion         

And Luvah strove to gain dominion over the mighty Albion     
They strove together above the Body where Vala was inclos'd
And the dark Body of Albion left prostrate upon the crystal pavement
Coverd with boils from head to foot. the terrible smitings of Luvah

Then frownd the Fallen Man & put forth Luvah from his presence 
(I heard him: frown not Urizen: but listen to my Vision)

Page 42     
Saying, Go & die the Death of Man for Vala the sweet wanderer
I will turn the volutions of your Ears outward; & bend your Nostrils
Downward; & your fluxile Eyes englob'd, roll round in fear
Your withring Lips & Tongue shrink up into a narrow circle
Till into narrow forms you creep. Go take your fiery way         
And learn what 'tis to absorb the Man you Spirits of Pity & Love

O Urizen why art thou pale at the visions of Ahania          
Listen to her who loves thee lest we also are driven away."

Phillips Translation
2ND Corinthians 4
15-18
We wish you could see how all this is working out for your benefit, and how the more grace God gives, the more thanksgiving will redound to his glory. This is the reason why we never collapse. The outward man does indeed suffer wear and tear, but every day the inward man receives fresh strength. These little troubles (which are really so transitory) are winning for us a permanent, glorious and solid reward out of all proportion to our pain. For we are looking all the time not at the visible things but at the invisible. The visible things are transitory: it is the invisible things that are really permanent.

JOB - PAGE 7

Wikipedia Commons Job's Comforters
Butts Set of Illustrations for the Book of Job
Page 7

This is the Legend on the engraving which Blake later made of this image:  

"What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? (Job 2:10)

And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads towards heaven (Job 2:12)

Ye have heard of the Patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord." (James 5:11)
 

Job 2
[10] But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
[11] Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him.
[12] And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven.
[13] So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.
 

James 5
[7] Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
[8] Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
[9] Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.
[10] Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
[11] Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

Andrew Wright in Blake's Job: A Commentary, provides this insight into the plight of Job:
"...at the beginning of the story the hero was too self-sufficient to be capable of learning from experience. Before the jolts of disaster overthrew him he was like his three friends, secure, as he thought, in the knowledge of what life signified, and of his place in the universe, such as he might offer outward propitiation for the presumed sins of his sons. Now he had been dislocated into a realization of the pride, the precariousness, the opacity of his position. Though much suffering lies ahead for him he is embarked on the journey that will bring him to to a chastened and literally transfigured sense of self." (Page 23) 

 

The consequence of living in time, as we do who have entered the gate of life on Earth, is experiencing events arriving in a sequence. Job had been satisfied with his circumstances and he had assumed that they would continue, but he could not be aware of what the future would hold for him. He may have thought that he could secure the future that he desired, but it is not so. Until the future becomes the present, it is unknown. Patience is the attitude that waits expectantly until the unknown if revealed. 

Job was among the fortunate because he was willing to move forward instead of trying to turn back. His patience was his ability to be receptive to change even though it involved suffering. He was among those who could be counted happy because he endured. He embarked on the journey not knowing where it would lead but trusting that he would be led to the knowledge which he lacked in his present condition.

Auguries of Innocence, (E 491)

"It is right it should be so 
Man was made for Joy & Woe
And when this we rightly know
Thro the World we safely go
Joy & Woe are woven fine
A Clothing for the soul divine 
Under every grief & pine
Runs a joy with silken twine
The Babe is more than swadling Bands
Throughout all these Human Lands
Tools were made & Born were hands 
Every Farmer Understands
Every Tear from Every Eye
Becomes a Babe in Eternity
This is caught by Females bright
And returnd to its own delight" 

JOB - PAGE 8

Wikipedia Commons
Job's Despair
Butts Set of Illustrations for the Book of Job
Page 8

This is the Legend on the engraving which Blake later made of this image:

 

Lo, let that night be solitary, let no joyful voice come therein (Job 3:7)

 

Let the day perish wherein I was born (Job 3:3)

 

So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great (Job 2:13)

 

Job 3
[2] And Job spake, and said,
[3] Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.
[4] Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it.
[5] Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.
[6] As for that night, let darkness seize upon it; let it not be joined unto the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months.
[7] Lo, let that night be solitary, let no joyful voice come therein.
...
[25] For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.
[26] I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.

Job 2
[11] Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him.
[12] And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven.
[13] So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.
_________________

As a reaction to the ills that had beset him, Job found himself sinking into the pit of despair. His wife and three friends offered no hope, help or encouragement. Job himself was able to reach up and to keep his eyes open to see whatever assistance might be offered.

Job turned inward during this period; it was a time of reflection in the silence. Although he found no joy in his life he sought a way through the darkness in which he was immersed. Blake had traveled through such periods of isolation and hopelessness so he knew there was a way out. The path involved discerning truth, committing to the core values which were the essentials, and being willing to change circumstances and assumptions which were contrary to leadings from the Spirit. 

 

Letters, To Thomas Butts, Jan 10, 1803, (E 724)

...
     "But you have so generously & openly desired that I will
divide my griefs with you that I cannot hide what it is now
become my duty to explain--My unhappiness has arisen from a
source which if explord too narrowly might hurt my pecuniary
circumstances.  As my dependence is on Engraving at present &
particularly on the Engravings I have in hand for Mr H. & I find
on all hands great objections to my doing any thing but the meer
drudgery of business & intimations that if I do not confine
myself to this I shall not live. this has always pursud me.  You
will understand by this the source of all my uneasiness This from
Johnson & Fuseli brought me down here & this from Mr H will
bring me back again for that I cannot live without doing my duty
to lay up treasures in heaven is Certain & Determined & to this I
have long made up my mind & why this should be made an objection
to Me while Drunkenness Lewdness Gluttony & even Idleness itself
does not hurt other men let Satan himself Explain--The Thing I
have most at Heart! more than life or all that seems to make life
comfortable without.  Is the Interest of True Religion & Science
& whenever any thing appears to affect that Interest. (Especially
if I myself omit any duty to my [self]  as a
Soldier of Christ) It gives me the greatest of torments, I am not
ashamed afraid or averse to tell You what Ought to be Told.  That
I am under the direction of Messengers from Heaven Daily &
Nightly but the nature of such things is not as some suppose.
without trouble or care.  Temptations are on the right hand &
left behind the sea of time & space roars & follows swiftly he
who keeps not right onward is lost & if our footsteps slide in
clay how can we do otherwise than fear & tremble. but I should
not have troubled You with this account of my spiritual state
unless it had been necessary in explaining the actual cause of my
uneasiness into which you are so kind as to Enquire for I never
obtrude such things on others unless questiond & then I never
disguise the truth--But if we fear to do the dictates of our
Angels & tremble at the Tasks set before us. if we refuse to do
Spiritual Acts. because of Natural Fears or Natural Desires!  Who
can describe the dismal torments of such a state!--I too well
remember the Threats I heard!--If you who are organized by Divine
Providence for Spiritual communion.  Refuse & bury your Talent in
the Earth even tho you should want Natural Bread. Sorrow & Desperation 
pursues you thro life! & after death shame & confusion of face to
eternity--Every one in Eternity will leave you aghast at the Man
who was crownd with glory & honour by his brethren & betrayd
their cause to their enemies.  You will be calld the base Judas
who betrayd his Friend!--Such words would make any Stout man
tremble & how then could I be at ease? But I am now no longer in
That State & now go on again with my Task Fearless. and tho my
path is difficult.  I have no fear of stumbling while I keep it
...
Naked we came here naked of Natural things & naked we shall
return. but while clothd with the Divine Mercy we are richly
clothd in Spiritual & suffer all the rest gladly Pray give my
Love to Mrs Butts & your family I am Yours Sincerely
WILLIAM BLAKE"

Letters, To Thomas Butts, July 6,1803, (E 731)
...
" But it is a Fact too true That if I
had only depended on Mortal Things both myself & my Wife must
have been Lost--I shall leave every one in This Country astonishd
at my Patience & Forbearance of Injuries upon Injuries & I do
assure you that if I could have returnd to London a Month after
my arrival here I should have done so, but I was commanded by my
Spiritual friends to bear all to be silent & to go thro all
without murmuring & in firm hope till my three years should be
almost accomplishd at which time I was set at liberty to
remonstrate against former conduct & to demand Justice & Truth
which I have done in so effectual a manner that my antagonist is
silencd completely. & I have compelld. what should have been of
freedom   My Just Right as an Artist & as a Man. & if any attempt
should be made to refuse me this I am inflexible & will
relinquish Any engagement of Designing at all unless altogether
left to my own Judgment.  As you My dear Friend have always left
me for which I shall never cease to honour & respect you
     When we meet I will perfectly describe to you my Conduct &
the Conduct of others toward me & you will see that I have
labourd hard indeed & have been borne on angels wings.  Till we
meet I beg of God our Saviour to be with you & me & yours & mine  
Pray give My & My wifes love to Mrs Butts & Family & believe me
to remain 
Yours in truth & sincerity
WILL BLAKE" 

Jerusalem, Plate 53, (E 203)
"Here on the banks of the Thames, Los builded Golgonooza,   
Outside of the Gates of the Human Heart, beneath Beulah
In the midst of the rocks of the Altars of Albion. In fears
He builded it, in rage & in fury. It is the Spiritual Fourfold
London: continually building & continually decaying desolate!
In eternal labours: loud the Furnaces & loud the Anvils          
Of Death thunder incessant around the flaming Couches of
The Twentyfour Friends of Albion and round the awful Four
For the protection of the Twelve Emanations of Albions Sons
The Mystic Union of the Emanation in the Lord; Because  
Man divided from his Emanation is a dark Spectre                 
His Emanation is an ever-weeping melancholy Shadow
But she is made receptive of Generation thro' mercy
In the Potters  Furnace, among the Funeral Urns of Beulah
From Surrey hills, thro' Italy and Greece, to Hinnoms vale."

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