JOB PLATE 18

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Illustrations of the Book of Job

Plate18

This is the location of verses of scripture on Plate 18.

. . . and the Lord also accepted Job (Job 42:9)

. . . and my servant Job shall pray for you (Job 42:8)
 

And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends (Job 42: 10)

 

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them at curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you (Matthew 5:44)

 

That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust (Matthew 5: 45)

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Blake discerned that the inner changes that Job experienced through his encounter with the living God brought about corresponding changes in Job's outer attitudes. Since Plate 17 represents the spiritual rebirth of Job, Plate 18 presents outward signs of the inner changes. We read in the Book of Job that when Job was accepted by God be became able to pray for his those who had been the enemies of his spiritual development. Job was no longer captive to his former attitudes when he prayed for his would-be friends.

On the pages of the 'book' are quotations from the New Testament. Jesus' message to his followers is of loving, blessing and doing good to those who are against you. If one is to be like the Heavenly Father one must treat the just and unjust equally.

On the borders of the plate Blake created image of the fulfillment of the changes which had taken place in Job. There are six angels facing outward, perhaps Angels of Providence. There are stalks of ripened wheat showing that the fruits of change are ready for harvest. The images of the tools of art indicate that the imagination has been released for creative expression.

Milton,Plate 36 [40], (E 136)

"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"

Matthew 5 

 [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;
[45] That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
[46] For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
[47] And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
[48] Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Additional post on Job Plate 18. 

 

JOB PLATE 17

 

This is the location of verses of scripture on Plate 17.

 

1Samuel 2

[6] he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.

 

1John 3

[2] we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

Psalms 8
[3] When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
[4] What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

Job 42
[5] I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.

John 14
[9] he that hath seen me hath seen the Father

John 10
[30] I and my Father are one.

John 14
[20] At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

John 14
[28] If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father

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From the pages of the 'books' at the bottom of the plate:

John 14
[7] If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him 

*******

John 14
[11] Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: 

John 14
[21] he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father
[17] for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

*******

John 14
[21] he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
[23] my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

********

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

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The rebirth of Job follows his trial by Satan, his encounter with the wisdom and power of Jehovah, and his recognition of the impotence of Behemoth and Leviathan. He is freed from exposure to Satan's dark dominion as he sees Satan fall from Heaven and lose his ability to mentally harass him. Having been released from the forces which kept him in bondage, he is opened to an encounter with a new vision of God. This can be seen as the revelation which comes through Jesus, the Seventh Eye of God. 

Job and his female counterpart are seen in Plate 17 receiving the blessing of a God who relates to him as Man to Man. The scripture on the plate delineates the experiential relationship which is introduced by the coming of Jesus. God becomes known because Man shall see 'him as he is' through seeing his son whom he loves. The theme of the quotes on the plate is love: the Fathers love for Jesus, the son's love for the Father, Man's love for Jesus and for his Father, and the love through which Man dwells within God himself. Through the Oneness of God and Jesus, Man loves and is loved. 

This plate is about transformations. Man has been transformed from a supplicant of a unknown God whom he fears and manipulates, to becoming a member of God's family who pleases God by loving him and Jesus. He is promised a comforter to be with him always as the Spirit of Truth.

By using New Testament scripture Blake presents this as God being transformed to a new revelation or Eye of God. He will not be a god who is distant or hidden. Through the revelation of Jesus, Man may know that God lives within his Soul. If Man believes that Jesus is in God, and that God is in Jesus, Man will know that he is beloved of God who abides with him.     

Job 42

[1] Then Job answered the LORD, and said,
[2] I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee.
[3] Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.
[4] Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
[5] I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.
[6] Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.
[7] And it was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.
[8] Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job

From a sermon at St Andrews Church Cobourg CA:

"Job’s faith has been transformed. He cannot go back to being the individual he once was. His journey will not allow it, his new understanding of God will not allow it. So Job does the only thing he can do and that is to ask forgiveness for the simplicity of his former thoughts."

 

EYES OF GOD

Tate Gallery

The Body of Abel Found by Adam and Eve

c. 1826

Biblical references to the Eyes of God:

Zachariah 4

[10] For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.

2Chronicles 16

[9] For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.l

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Biblical references to going 'to and fro':

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?

Jeremiah 1

[1] Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.

Amos 8

[11] Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:
[12] And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.

Zachariah 1

[10] And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom the LORD hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth.
[11] And they answered the angel of the LORD that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest.

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According to Blake : Lucifer is pride, Molech is impatience, Elohim is vengeance, Shaddai is anger, Pachad is fear, Jehovah is mystery, and Jesus is deliverance.

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Lucifer - pride

Isaiah 14

[10] All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?
[11] Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.
[12] How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
[13] For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
[14] I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
[15] Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

Molech - impatience

Jeremiah 32

[33] And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction.
[34] But they set their abominations in the house, which is called by my name, to defile it.
[35] And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

Elohim - vengaence

Deuteronomy 32

[39] See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
[40] For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever.
[41] If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.

Shaddai - anger - destroyer

Genesis 6

1. [7] And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
2. [13] And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
3. [17] And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.

Pachad - fear

Genesis 22

[10] And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
[11] And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
[12] And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
[13] And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
[14] And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen. 

Jehovah - mystery

Exodus 6

[2] And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD:
[3] And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.

Second Corinthians 2

[4] And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
[5] That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
[6] Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
[7] But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
[8] Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
[9] But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
[10] But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

Jesus - deliverance

Luke 4

[16] And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
[17] And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
[18] The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
[19] To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
[20] And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
[21] And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

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Milton, Plate 13 (14(E 107)

"Loud raging
Thundered the Assembly dark & clouded, and they ratify'd         
The kind decision of Enitharmon & gave a Time to the Space,
Even Six Thousand years; and sent Lucifer for its Guard.
But Lucifer refus'd to die & in pride he forsook his charge
And they elected Molech, and when Molech was impatient
The Divine hand found the Two Limits: first of Opacity, then of Contraction
Opacity was named Satan, Contraction was named Adam.
Triple Elohim came: Elohim wearied fainted: they elected Shaddai.
Shaddai angry, Pahad descended: Pahad terrified, they sent Jehovah
And Jehovah was leprous; loud he call'd, stretching his hand to Eternity
For then the Body of Death was perfected in hypocritic holiness, 

Around the Lamb, a Female Tabernacle woven in Cathedrons Looms
He died as a Reprobate. he was Punish'd as a Transgressor!
Glory! Glory! Glory! to the Holy Lamb of God
I touch the heavens as an instrument to glorify the Lord!"

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"

Milton, Plate 29 (31), (E 128)

"He takes it in his arms: be passes it in strength thro his current
The veil of human miseries is woven over the Ocean
From the Atlantic to the Great South Sea, the Erythrean.

Such is the World of Los the labour of six thousand years.
Thus Nature is a Vision of the Science of the Elohim.            

                End of the First Book."

Jerusalem, Plate 27, (E 171)

 "Albion was the Parent of the Druids; & in his Chaotic State of
Sleep Satan & Adam & the whole World was Created by the Elohim."

The Ghost of Abel, Plate 2, (E 272) 

"The Elohim of the Heathen Swore Vengeance for Sin! Then Thou stoodst 
Forth O Elohim Jehovah! in the midst of the darkness of the Oath! All Clothed
In Thy Covenant of the Forgiveness of Sins: Death O Holy! Is this Brotherhood
The Elohim saw their Oath Eternal Fire; they rolled apart trembling over The
Mercy Seat: each in his station fixt in the Firmament by Peace Brotherhood and Love."

Four Zoas, Night ,Page 107, (E 381)

"Jerusalem pitying them wove them mantles of life & death
Times after times And those in Eden sent Lucifer for their Guard
Lucifer refusd to die for Satan & in pride he forsook his charge
Then they sent Molech Molech was impatient They sent
Molech impatient They Sent Elohim who created Adam
To die for Satan Adam refusd but was compelld to die
By Satans arts. Then the Eternals Sent Shaddai
Shaddai was angry Pachad descended Pachad was terrified
And then they Sent Jehovah who leprous stretchd his hand to Eternity
Then Jesus Came & Died willing beneath Tirzah & Rahab 
Thou art that Rahab Lo the Tomb what can we purpose more"   

Milton, Plate 4, (E 98)

"Every Mans Wisdom is peculiar to his own Individuality
O Satan my youngest born, art thou not Prince of the Starry Hosts
And of the Wheels of Heaven, to turn the Mills day & night?  
Art thou not Newtons Pantocrator weaving the Woof of Locke
To Mortals thy Mills seem every thing & the Harrow of Shaddai
A scheme of Human conduct invisible & incomprehensible
Get to thy Labours at the Mills & leave me to my wrath,

Satan was going to reply, but Los roll'd his loud thunders." 

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Milton Percival wrote in William Blake's Cycle of Destiny of the progression through the Seven Eyes of God which 'collectively make up the cycle of mortal life.' (Page 246) The characteristics of the Seven Eyes delineate their reasons for failure. Lucifer (pride) and Molech (impatience) came before the flood when the inhabitants of the world were primitive man. The postdiluvian world was created by the Elohim based on vengeance for sin. Shaddai made a covenant with Abraham but became angry over rebelliousness. Pachad introduced fear for control and was followed by Jehovah whose strength failed as he grew 'leprous' through Mystery. Christ came to deliver man from the 'bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of children on God.'

More in the Seven Eyes of God and in SUMMATION OF JOB.  

 

BLAKE'S UTOPIA

British Museum
A Pastoral Scene
c.1780-1785

From William Blake's Circle of Destiny, Milton O Percival, Page 290

"Urizen tried to build a paradise - the Mundane Shell - in which the selfish interests would be controlled by the moral law, but it fell to pieces. It must always be so. The reorganization of society on the basis of spiritual planning is better than the moral jungle of unmitigated selfhood, but it cannot provide the paradise of which Blake dreamed. The quality of mercy is not strained; if it does not fall like the gentle dew from heaven it has little reviving power. This truth separates Blake's Utopia from those of his and our time, and makes its realization theoretically possible but practically improbable. Though his faith looks forward to social regeneration, Blake is under no illusion concerning the magnitude of the task. Changes in the external situation are stopgaps at best. The Kingdom of Heaven is the sum of Christ-like individuals. It grows in exact proportion as they multiply...

Los cries: 'I care not whether a man is good or evil; all I care is whether he is a wise man or a fool.' If the eye is opened, the heart is more easily subdued. Under some great prophetic movement this indeterminate class of people might have their blind eyes opened, and their obdurate hearts broken. The crying need is for more prophets crying in the wilderness.

Finally, this God is inescapable. He is within the breast, however much obscured. Into whatever abyss of ignorance and selfishness and despair man may fall, this God falls with him, becoming as we are that we may be as his is. He is ever struggling to become manifest. Wherever Los lifts his hammer, there God is. He is the living God whom we may serve without hope of heaven as a reward or fear of hell as a punishment, but because to serve him is to participate in God."

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I take the following passage to be saying that God has made both the heavenly realm and the earthly realm. These two worlds are interconnected although their characteristics differ. Those in either world are aware of those in the other world and their experiences are parallel. From the point of view of God the two worlds are working together. But something went wrong. When punishment for sins became the connecting link between God and man - between heaven and earth - the system broke down. Unless the Covenant with Jehovah incorporates Mutual Forgiveness, the Kingdoms of the World take charge. However when all the Living Creatures of the earth cry out from their true identities they will awake to Life in Immortality. 

Jerusalem, Plate 98, (E 257)

"The Four Living Creatures Chariots of Humanity Divine Incomprehensible 
In beautiful Paradises expand These are the Four Rivers of Paradise   
And the Four Faces of Humanity fronting the Four Cardinal Points
Of Heaven going forward forward irresistible from Eternity to Eternity

And they conversed together in Visionary forms dramatic which bright
Redounded from their Tongues in thunderous majesty, in Visions
In new Expanses, creating exemplars of Memory and of Intellect  
Creating Space, Creating Time according to the wonders Divine
Of Human Imagination, throughout all the Three Regions immense
Of Childhood, Manhood & Old Age[;] & the all tremendous unfathomable Non Ens
Of Death was seen in regenerations terrific or complacent varying                                                    t
According to the subject of discourse & every Word & Every Character
Was Human according to the Expansion or Contraction, the Translucence or
Opakeness of Nervous fibres such was the variation of Time & Space
Which vary according as the Organs of Perception vary & they walked
To & fro in Eternity as One Man reflecting each in each & clearly seen
And seeing: according to fitness & order. And I heard Jehovah speak 
Terrific from his Holy Place & saw the Words of the Mutual Covenant Divine
On Chariots of gold & jewels with Living Creatures starry & flaming
With every Colour, Lion, Tyger, Horse, Elephant, Eagle Dove, Fly, Worm,
And the all wondrous Serpent clothed in gems & rich array Humanize
In the Forgiveness of Sins according to the Covenant of Jehovah. 
Where is the Covenant of Priam, the Moral Virtues of the Heathen
Where is the Tree of Good & Evil that rooted beneath the cruel heel
Of Albions Spectre the Patriarch Druid! where are all his Human Sacrifices
For Sin in War & in the Druid Temples of the Accuser of Sin: beneath
The Oak Groves of Albion that coverd the whole Earth beneath his Spectre
Where are the Kingdoms of the World & all their glory that grew on Desolation
The Fruit of Albions Poverty Tree when the Triple Headed Gog-Magog Giant
Of Albion Taxed the Nations into Desolation & then gave the Spectrous Oath

Such is the Cry from all the Earth from the Living Creatures of the Earth
And from the great City of Golgonooza in the Shadowy Generation 
And from the Thirty-two Nations of the Earth among the Living Creatures
Plate 99
All Human Forms identified even Tree Metal Earth & Stone. all
Human Forms identified, living going forth & returning wearied
Into the Planetary lives of Years Months Days & Hours reposing
And then Awaking into his Bosom in the Life of Immortality."

 Milton, Plate 11, [12],(E 105)

"And it was enquir'd: Why in a Great Solemn Assembly           
The Innocent should be condemn'd for the Guilty? Then an Eternal rose

Saying. If the Guilty should be condemn'd, he must be an Eternal Death
And one must die for another throughout all Eternity.
Satan is fall'n from his station & never can be redeem'd
But must be new created continually moment by moment          
And therefore the Class of Satan shall be calld the Elect, & those
Of Rintrah. the Reprobate, & those of Palamabron the Redeem'd
For he is redeem'd from Satans Law, the wrath falling on Rintrah,
And therefore Palamabron dared not to call a solemn Assembly
Till Satan had assum'd Rintrahs wrath in the day of mourning   
In a feminine delusion of false pride self-deciev'd.
So spake the Eternal and confirm'd it with a thunderous oath"

Milton, Plate 14 [15], (E 108)

"Then Milton rose up from the heavens of Albion ardorous!         
The whole Assembly wept prophetic, seeing in Miltons face
And in his lineaments divine the shades of Death & Ulro
He 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 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." 

Jerusalem, Plate 36 [40], (E 181)
"Los shudder'd at beholding Albion, for his disease
Arose upon him pale and ghastly: and he call'd around
The Friends of Albion: trembling at the sight of Eternal Death
The four appear'd with their Emanations in fiery
Chariots: black their fires roll beholding Albions house of Eternity               
Damp couch the flames beneath and silent, sick, stand shuddering
Before the Porch of sixteen pillars: weeping every one
Descended and fell down upon their knees round Albions knees,
Swearing the Oath of God! with awful voice of thunders round
Upon the hills & valleys, and the cloudy Oath roll'd far and wide

Albion is sick! said every Valley, every mournful Hill
And every River: our brother Albion is sick to death.
He hath leagued himself with robbers! he hath studied the arts
Of unbelief! Envy hovers over him! his Friends are his abhorrence!
Those who give their lives for him are despised!                 
Those who devour his soul, are taken into his bosom!
To destroy his Emanation is their intention:
Arise! awake O Friends of the Giant Albion
They have perswaded him of horrible falshoods!
They have sown errors over all his fruitful fields!              

The Twenty-four heard! they came trembling on watry chariots.
Borne by the Living Creatures of the third procession
Of Human Majesty, the Living Creatures wept aloud as they
Went along Albions roads, till they arriv'd at Albions House.

O! how the torments of Eternal Death, waited on Man:     
And the loud-rending bars of the Creation ready to burst:
That the wide world might fly from its hinges, & the immortal mansion
Of Man, for ever be possess'd by monsters of the deeps:
And Man himself become a Fiend, wrap'd in an endless curse,
Consuming and consum'd for-ever in flames of Moral Justice." 

Ghost of Abel, Plate 2, (E 271) 

"The Elohim of the Heathen Swore Vengeance for Sin! Then Thou stoodst
Forth O Elohim Jehovah! in the midst of the darkness of the Oath! All Clothed
In Thy Covenant of the Forgiveness of Sins: Death O Holy! Is this Brotherhood
The Elohim saw their Oath Eternal Fire; they rolled apart trembling over The
Mercy Seat: each in his station fixt in the Firmament by Peace Brotherhood and Love." 

Four Zoas, Night II, PAGE 35, (E 324)
"I am made to sow the thistle for wheat; the nettle for a nourishing dainty
I have planted a false oath in the earth, it has brought forth a poison tree
I have chosen the serpent for a councellor & the dog
For a schoolmaster to my children"

Everlasting Gospel, (E 521)

"Thou Angel of the Presence Divine
That didst create this Body of Mine   
Wherefore has[t] thou writ these Laws
And Created Hells dark jaws
My Presence I will take from thee
A Cold Leper thou shalt be
Tho thou wast so pure & bright    
That Heaven was Impure in thy Sight 
Tho thy Oath turnd Heaven Pale
Tho thy Covenant built Hells Jail
Tho thou didst all to Chaos roll
With the Serpent for its soul     
Still the breath Divine does move
And the breath Divine is Love" 

Blake's Utopia depends on Mutual Forgiveness, Brotherhood, Inclusiveness, and Respect for the Presence of God in All.

 

 

Enlightenments

Previously posted on Dec 17, 2017

We all reach God in some way, but among those closest to God were several Soldiers of the Cross. These examples all show a long continued inner turmoil and struggle rewarded in due course by that special gift that Eternity offers to the most faithful.

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 His heart leapt for joy  “Now after I had received that opening from the Lord that to be trained at Oxford or Cambridge was not enough to equip a man to be a minister of Christ, I respected the priests less, and looked more after the dissenting Christians. And among them I saw there was some tenderness, and many of them came afterwards to be convinced, for they had some openings from God. But as I had forsaken all the priests, so I left the separatist Preachers, also, together with those called the most experienced people. For I saw there was no one among them all who could speak to my condition. And when all my hope in them and in all men were gone, so that I had nothing outwardly to help me, nor could I even tell what to do, then, Oh then, I heard a voice which said, “There is one — even Christ Jesus — who can speak to thy condition!” And when I heard it, my heart leapt for joy. Then the Lord showed me why there was no one on the earth who could speak to my condition. The reason was that I was to give him all the glory. For all are concluded under sin, and shut up in unbelief as I had been, so that Jesus Christ might have the pre-eminence, as the one who enlightens, and gives grace, faith and power. So, when God works, who shall prevent it? And I knew this experimentally through my experiences.”"
(From the Journal of George Fox)
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The Loss of the Burden in Pilgrims Progress

Blake's Illustrations to Bunyan's Pilgrims Progress

 

Christian is at the Cross; his burden is cast off (at the lower left of the picture):
"To take my cross up day by day,
And serve the Lord with fear.
Now I saw in my dream, that they went on,
and Great-Heart before them. So they went,
and came to the place where Christian's
burden fell off his back and tumbled into a
sepulchre. Here then they made a pause; and
here also they blessed God."
(from Pilgrim's Progress)

 

"finally he was relieved by the text, 'The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.'" John Bunyan's Conversion

 

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His Heart was strangely warmed

.John Wesley was a super-Christian at Oxford. He demanded rigorous adherence to certain practices, carried out by his disciples; they were called methodists. Once ordained he went to the colony of Georgia to save the heathen, but he came to realize that he needed salvation himself.

Returning to England there was a terrible storm at sea and everyone quailed with fear for their lives; everyone that is except a group of Moravians who continued in prayer and showed great equanimity.

Back in London Wesley continued to worry about his salvation until, in 1738:
"In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."

He was generally considered to be one of the greatest men in 18th century England and was thought by many to have saved England from Revolution.
 

-------------------------------------------------------

The Truchsessian Museum

The Enlightenment of William Blake was on this wise:
"O lovely Felpham, parent of Immortal Friendship, to thee I am eternally
indebted for my three years rest from perturbation and the strength I now enjoy. Suddenly, on the day after visiting the Truchsessian Gallery of
pictures, I was again enlightened with the light I enjoyed in my youth, and which has for exactly twenty years been closed from me as by a door and by window-shutters. Consequently I can, with confidence, promise you ocular demonstration of my altered state on the plates I am now engraving after Romney, whose spiritual aid has not a little conduced to my restoration to the light of Art." (Erdman 756)

He wrote this in Letter 51 (To William Hayley) 23 October 1804.

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Renunciation

".....Albert Schweitzer's biography of J. S. Bach, written in 1905, had also proved an immediate success. At 30 years of age Schweitzer was tall, broad-shouldered, darkly handsome, and a witty charismatic writer, preacher, and lecturer: clearly, a bright future lay before him. However, one spring morning in 1905, he experienced a stunning religious revelation: it came to him that at some point in the years just ahead he must renounce facile success and devote himself unsparingly to the betterment of mankind's condition.
Accordingly, several years later, Schweitzer threw over his several careers as author, lecturer, and organ recitalist and plunged into the study of medicine - his aim being to go to Africa as a medical missionary. He won his medical degree in 1912. The year before, he had married Helene Bresslau, a professor's daughter who had studied nursing in order to work at his side in Africa; in 1919 the couple had a daughter, Rhena.

In 1913 the Schweitzers journeyed to what was then French Equatorial Africa. There, after various setbacks, they founded the Albert Schweitzer Hospital at Lambaréné, on the Ogooué River, "at the edge of the primeval forest." This area now lies within the independent West African republic of Gabon. Funds were scarce and equipment primitive, but native Africans thronged to the site, and in the decades that followed, many thousands were treated." (From Answers.Com)

 

LIKE A BEAST

British Museum

Illustrations to Young's Night Thoughts

The King and the Corpse: Tales of the Soul's Conquest of Evil, by Heinrich Zimmer, Edited by Joseph Campbell attempts to provide means through which the reader can 'converse with the fascinating figures of folklore and myth.' Zimmer seeks to give opportunities to delight in encountering the 'well known symbols of life.'

Included in the book is the fifteenth century legend of Saint John Chrysostom who was the fourth century bishop of Constantinople. John was brought up by a pope to be the vehicle for relieving the suffering of a man in hell who had appealed to the pope. The innocent John was ordained a priest at the age of sixteen in order to offer masses for the condemned man. Realizing that his youth disqualified him communing with God as an intermediary for others, John withdrew to the wilderness to live as a hermit. 

However when a girl appeared at his cell he allowed her in and he fell into sin. His remorse drove him to push the girl over a cliff, committing a worse sin. He sought forgiveness from the pope who had raised him like a son but he received only condemnation. Returning to the wilderness he resolved to live on all-fours like a beast until God would accept his atonement.

Years later through another miraculous intervention John was released to resume his priestly role and become a bishop 'serving God with the utmost devotion.'

On page 62 Zimmer wrote:

"He comprehended that the highest human office - that of communicating with God and dispensing God's grace in the form of the Eucharist - was meant to be held not by an 'innocent' but by one who had had 'experience.' 'I am yet too young! This must be very much against the Heavenly will.'...And the required experience John subsequently learned, was of those dark and evil forces which it is the virtue of the Holy Sacrament to overcome. The young priest's feeling of unworthiness sent him to the wilderness - but it was the wilderness of life. 

...John's intuitive realization of his actual spiritual state and the sincere humility of his character prevent his seduction. His genius knows how important it is to integrate the wisdom of the dark powers from which he has been defended both by his clerical upbringing and by the innocence of his unassuming nature. Yet he cannot anticipate the humiliations, suffering and iniquities that the rugged path of integration through experience is going to entail. Nobody can ever anticipate such things...Such ignorance is basic - not only basic, actually salutary; for without it there can be no fructifying impact of experience, no 'new thing,' to take root, grow up, and mature through life into wisdom. Only he who is honestly ignorant can grow really wise."   

---

Four Zoas, Night VI, Page 72, (E 349)

  "O thou poor ruind world   
Thou horrible ruin once like me thou wast all glorious
And now like me partaking desolate thy masters lot
Art thou O ruin the once glorious heaven are these thy rocks
Where joy sang in the trees & pleasure sported on the rivers
Page 73 
And laughter sat beneath the Oaks & innocence sported round
Upon the green plains & sweet friendship met in palaces
And books & instruments of song & pictures of delight
Where are they whelmd beneath these ruins in horrible destruction                                                t
And if Eternal falling I repose on the dark bosom              
Of winds & waters or thence fall into a Void where air
Is not down falling thro immensity ever & ever
I lose my powers weakend every revolution till a death
Shuts up my powers then a seed in the vast womb of darkness
I dwell in dim oblivion. brooding over me the Enormous worlds    
Reorganize me shooting forth in bones & flesh & blood
I am regenerated to fall or rise at will or to remain
A labourer of ages a dire discontent a living woe
Wandring in vain. Here will I fix my foot & here rebuild
Here Mountains of Brass promise much riches in their dreadful bosoms

So he began to dig forming of gold silver & iron  
And brass vast instruments to measure out the immense & fix
The whole into another world better suited to obey
His will where none should dare oppose his will himself being King
Of All & all futurity be bound in his vast chain" 

 ALL RELIGIONS are ONE, (E 1)  

 "The Voice of one crying in the Wilderness

  The Argument    As the true method of knowledge is experiment
the true faculty of knowing must be the faculty which
experiences.  This faculty I treat of." 

Four Zoas, Night II, Page 35, (E 325)

"What is the price of Experience do men buy it for a song
Or wisdom for a dance in the street? No it is bought with the price
Of all that a man hath his house his wife his children
Wisdom is sold in the desolate market where none come to buy
And in the witherd field where the farmer plows for bread in vain

It is an easy thing to triumph in the summers sun
And in the vintage & to sing on the waggon loaded with corn
It is an easy thing to talk of patience to the afflicted
To speak the laws of prudence to the houseless wanderer
Page 36 
To listen to the hungry ravens cry in wintry season
When the red blood is filld with wine & with the marrow of lambs

It is an easy thing to laugh at wrathful elements
To hear the dog howl at the wintry door, the ox in the slaughter house moan
To see a god on every wind & a blessing on every blast           
To hear sounds of love in the thunder storm that destroys our enemies house
To rejoice in the blight that covers his field, & the sickness that cuts off his children
While our olive & vine sing & laugh round our door & our children bring fruits & flowers

Then the groan & the dolor are quite forgotten & the slave grinding at the mill
And the captive in chains & the poor in the prison, & the soldier in the field
When the shatterd bone hath laid him groaning among the happier dead

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!" 

Songs and Ballads, Notebook, (E 467)

"I saw a chapel all of gold
That none did dare to enter in
And many weeping stood without
Weeping mourning worshipping

I saw a serpent rise between               
The white pillars of the door
And he forcd & forcd & forcd
Down the golden hinges tore    

And along the pavement sweet
Set with pearls & rubies bright                    
All his slimy length he drew
Till upon the altar white

Vomiting his poison out
On the bread & on the wine
So I turnd into a sty                                  
And laid me down among the swine"

Annotations to Swedenborg's Divine Love and Divine Wisdom, (E602) 

  "Understanding or Thought is not natural to Man it is
acquired by means of Suffering & Distress i.e Experience.  Will,
Desire, Love, Rage, Envy, & all other Affections are Natural. but
Understanding is Acquired   But Observe. without these is to be
less than Man.  Man could never have received light from
heaven without aid of the affections" 

---

More posts about episodes of Living Like A Beast:

Nebuchadnezzar

Seeking Oblivion 

Blake' Crisis 

SAMUEL

National Gallery of Art

The Witch of Endor

1800

1Samuel 28

[3] Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land.
[4] And the Philistines gathered themselves together, and came and pitched in Shunem: and Saul gathered all Israel together, and they pitched in Gilboa.
[5] And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled.
[6] And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams nor by Urim, nor by prophets.
[7] Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and inquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor.
[8] And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee.
[9] And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die?
[10] And Saul sware to her by the LORD, saying, As the LORD liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing.
[11] Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.
[12] And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul.
[13] And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth.
[14] And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself.
[15] And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do.
[16] Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the LORD is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy?
[17] And the LORD hath done to him, as he spake by me: for the LORD hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbour, even to David:
[18] Because thou obeyedst not the voice of the LORD, nor executedst his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the LORD done this thing unto thee this day.
[19] Moreover the LORD will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and to morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: the LORD also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.
[20] Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth, and was sore afraid, because of the words of Samuel: and there was no strength in him; for he had eaten no bread all the day, nor all the night.
[21] And the woman came unto Saul, and saw that he was sore troubled, and said unto him, Behold, thine handmaid hath obeyed thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have hearkened unto thy words which thou spakest unto me.
[22] Now therefore, I pray thee, hearken thou also unto the voice of thine handmaid, and let me set a morsel of bread before thee; and eat, that thou mayest have strength, when thou goest on thy way.
[23] But he refused, and said, I will not eat. But his servants, together with the woman, compelled him; and he hearkened unto their voice. So he arose from the earth, and sat upon the bed.
[24] And the woman had a fat calf in the house; and she hasted, and killed it, and took flour, and kneaded it, and did bake unleavened bread thereof:
[25] And she brought it before Saul, and before his servants; and they did eat. Then they rose up, and went away that night.

1Samuel 31

[6] So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all his men, that same day together.
[7] And when the men of Israel that were on the other side of the valley, and they that were on the other side Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.

---

NYPL

The Witch of Endor raising the Spirit of Samuel

1783

After William Blake completed his apprenticeship in engraving he was anxious to get established as an artist in addition to being qualified as a reproductive engraver. An early attempt at producing art was by painting historical pictures, which was a popular pursuit among artists. When he was twenty six years old he made a watercolor image of a dramatic scene from the book of Samuel in the Old Testament. The image shows King Saul and two friends with the Witch of Endor and the Ghost of Samuel.

Blake's conventional treatment of the subject matter shows that he began his career painting in a far different way than the style with which we may be more familiar. His later picture of The Witch of Endor is more typical of the visionary artist which he became. When he produced the second version he was interested in showing more than can be shown in a purely descriptive image of the scene. In the second portrayal the Ghost of Samuel reveals with eyes focused on Saul that a dreadful experience is about to befall him. His downward pointing fingers warn Saul of the defeat and fall which will result from the coming battle. Saul seeks to ward off the message from Samuel's ghost with outstretched fingers of his raised hands. Most dramatic is the witch herself: her spiky hair, her glaring eyes, and her anguished mouth, convey the message of the impending loss of the Kingdom of Israel and its leaders. Blake had learned to use symbolic expressions and gestures to suggest more than what could be revealed plainly.

The account in the Bible of the past (Samuel) speaking to the present (the Witch) about the future (Saul) appealed to Blake's sense that the natural world is infused by the world of spirit. It was Blake's conviction that the events we experience in our daily lives have spiritual causes. Blake was convinced that Saul's encounter with the Ghost of Samuel was no more than a particularly pronounced example of the type of interactions between the spiritual and natural worlds which happen routinely.   

Jerusalem, Plate 47, (E 196)

"Hark! the mingling cries of Luvah with the Sons of Albion
Hark! & Record the terrible wonder! that the Punisher
Mingles with his Victims Spectre, enslaved and tormented         
To him whom he has murderd, bound in vengeance & enmity
Shudder not, but Write, & the hand of God will assist you!
Therefore I write Albions last words. Hope is banish'd from me.
Plate 48
These were his last words, and the merciful Saviour in his arms
Reciev'd him, in the arms of tender mercy and repos'd
The pale limbs of his Eternal Individuality
Upon the Rock of Ages. Then, surrounded with a Cloud:
In silence the Divine Lord builded with immortal labour,         
Of gold & jewels a sublime Ornament, a Couch of repose,
With Sixteen pillars: canopied with emblems & written verse.
Spiritual Verse, order'd & measur'd, from whence, time shall reveal.
The Five books of the Decologue, the books of Joshua & Judges,
Samuel, a double book & Kings, a double book, the Psalms & Prophets 
The Four-fold Gospel, and the Revelations everlasting
Eternity groan'd. & was troubled, at the image of Eternal Death!"

Jerusalem, Plate 73, (E 228)

"in holiness of Natural Religion
Which Los with his mighty Hammer demolishes time on time
In miracles & wonders in the Four-fold Desart of Albion
Permanently Creating to be in Time Reveald & Demolishd
Satan Cain Tubal Nimrod Pharoh Priam Bladud Belin                
Arthur Alfred the Norman Conqueror Richard John
[Edward Henry Elizabeth James Charles William George]
And all the Kings & Nobles of the Earth & all their Glories
These are Created by Rahab & Tirzah in Ulro: but around
These, to preserve them from Eternal Death Los Creates           
Adam Noah Abraham Moses Samuel David Ezekiel
[Pythagoras Socrates Euripedes Virgil Dante Milton] 
Dissipating the rocky forms of Death, by his thunderous Hammer
As the Pilgrim passes while the Country permanent remains
So Men pass on: but States remain permanent for ever" 

Milton, Plate 26 [28] 123

"So they are born on Earth, & every Class is determinate
But not by Natural but by Spiritual power alone, Because         
The Natural power continually seeks & tends to Destruction
Ending in Death: which would of itself be Eternal Death
And all are Class'd by Spiritual, & not by Natural power.

And every Natural Effect has a Spiritual Cause, and Not
A Natural: for a Natural Cause only seems, it is a Delusion      
Of Ulro: & a ratio of the perishing Vegetable Memory."