HEAVEN BORN

As you read through posts to our blog, you may noticed themes or threads which run through them. Various ideas resurface in different forms in multiple posts. We are led to do this by following Blake's dominant ideas which are expressed in many guises throughout his works and his lifetime.

As an example I will follow the post on Michelangelo with another mention of him in another context many years after the portrait of Michelangelo was engraved in 1801. In 1826 Blake produced his 'autograph' in the Album of William Upcott. Mr. Upcott made a hobby of collecting autographs of famous men as well as friends and associates. He eventually had a collection of 2069 in 31 volumes. Blake provided more than a simple autograph.

When Blake says at the beginning of his autograph that he is delighted with the company, he may be referring to all the influential people who also signed their autographs. Blake's reference to having died several times intimates that he has been reborn several times as well. Blake indicates that the word 'autograph' should not be used both for something written unconsciously and something done with 'thought & mind'. His own autograph and two others he considers to be 'Works of Art & not of Nature or Chance.'

Finally I get to the connection with Michelangelo. Blake concludes with a sonnet by Michelangelo translated by Wordsworth. But of course it is not just any sonnet but one which conveys Blake's understanding of the connection of the soul of man with the source from which it originates. Blake's autograph is not only words but a visual image as well. The soaring soul seeking the 'Universal Mold' is seen in the youth with arms outstretched (reminiscent of Glad Day): Blake himself released from the garment of the body.

Miscellaneous Prose, (E698)
"WILLIAM BLAKE one who is very much delighted with being in
good Company
Born 28 Novr 1757 in London
& has died several times since
January 16
1826
The above was written & the drawing annexed by the desire of
Mr Leigh how far it is an Autograph is a Question I do not
think an Artist can write an Autograph especially one who has
Studied in the Florentine & Roman Schools as such an one will
Consider what he is doing but an Autograph as I understand it, is
Writ helter skelter like a hog upon a rope or a Man who walks
without Considering whether he shall run against a Post or a
House or a Horse or a Man & I am apt to believe that what is done
without meaning is very different from that which a Man Does with
his Thought & Mind & ought not to be Calld by the Same Name.
I consider the Autograph of Mr Cruikshank which very justly
stands first in the Book & that Beautiful Specimen of Writing by
Mr Comfield & my own; as standing [in] the same Predicament they
are in some measure Works of Art & not of Nature or Chance

Heaven born the Soul a Heavenward Course must hold
For what delights the Sense is False & Weak
Beyond the Visible World she soars to Seek
Ideal Form, The Universal Mold

Michael Angelo. Sonnet as Translated by Mr Wordsworth"
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GOD IN US

Jeremiah 23
[23] Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?
[24]Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.

From the beginning to the end of his work Blake attempted to communicate his image of God. Primarily Blake's experience was of what theologians call the immanent God, a God who is accessible and ever-present. When we gather together a number of Blake's references to God it is obvious that Blake's God was the incarnate God present within the whole of creation and particularly within humanity.

THERE IS NO NATURAL RELIGION (E 2)
"VII The desire of Man being Infinite the possession is Infinite
& himself Infinite
Conclusion, If it were not for the Poetic or Prophetic
character. the Philosophic & Experimental would soon be at the
ratio of all things & stand still, unable to do other than repeat
the same dull round over again
Application. He who sees the Infinite in all things sees
God. He who sees the Ratio only sees himself only.

Therefore God becomes as we are, that we may be as he is"

Songs of Innocence and Experience, (E 9)
Little Black Boy
"Look on the rising sun: there God does live
And gives his light, and gives his heat away.
And flowers and trees and beasts and men recieve
Comfort in morning joy in the noon day.

And we are put on earth a little space,
That we may learn to bear the beams of love,
And these black bodies and this sun-burnt face
Is but a cloud, and like a shady grove."

_______________________________Milton Plate 45, Forgiveness
Songs of Innocence, (E 12)
The Divine Image.

"To Mercy Pity Peace and Love,
All pray in their distress:
And to these virtues of delight
Return their thankfulness.

For Mercy Pity Peace and Love,
Is God our father dear:
And Mercy Pity Peace and Love,
Is Man his child and care.

For Mercy has a human heart
Pity, a human face:
And Love, the human form divine,
And Peace, the human dress.

Then every man of every clime,
That prays in his distress,
Prays to the human form divine
Love Mercy Pity Peace.

And all must love the human form,
In heathen, turk or jew.
Where Mercy, Love & Pity dwell,
There God is dwelling too"

Milton, PLATE 32 [35],(E 131)
"But the Divine Humanity & Mercy gave us a Human [Hebrew text -multitudes]
Form as multitudes
Because we were combind in Freedom & holy Vox Populi [voice of the people]
Brotherhood"

Milton, Plate 32 [35], (E 131)
"For God himself enters Death's Door always with those that enter
And lays down in the Grave with them, in Visions of Eternity
Till they awake & see Jesus & the Linen Clothes lying
That the Females had Woven for them, & the Gates of their Fathers
House"

Jerusalem, Plate 4, (E 146)
"I am not a God afar off, I am a brother and friend;
Within your bosoms I reside, and you reside in me:
Lo! we are One; forgiving all Evil; Not seeking recompense!"

Jerusalem, Plate 5, (E 147)
"Trembling I sit day and night, my friends are astonish'd at me.
Yet they forgive my wanderings, I rest not from my great task!
To open the Eternal Worlds, to open the immortal Eyes
Of Man inwards into the Worlds of Thought: into Eternity
Ever expanding in the Bosom of God. the Human Imagination
O Saviour pour upon me thy Spirit of meekness & love:
Annihilate the Selfhood in me, be thou all my life!
Guide thou my hand which trembles exceedingly upon the rock of
ages,

While I write of the building of Golgonooza
Ye are my members O ye sleepers of Beulah, land of shades!"

Jerusalem, Plate 38 [43], (E 184)
"O God of Albion descend! deliver Jerusalem from the Oaken Groves!

Then Los grew furious raging: Why stand we here trembling around
Calling on God for help; and not ourselves in whom God dwells
Stretching a hand to save the falling Man: are we not Four
Beholding Albion upon the Precipice ready to fall into
Non-Entity:"

Jerusalem, Plate 45 [31],(E 195)
"So spoke Los, travelling thro darkness & horrid solitude:
And he beheld Jerusalem in Westminster & Marybone,
Among the ruins of the Temple: and Vala who is her Shadow,
Jerusalems Shadow bent northward over the Island white.
At length he sat on London Stone, & heard Jerusalems voice.

Albion I cannot be thy Wife. thine own Minute Particulars,
Belong to God alone. and all thy little ones are holy
They are of Faith & not of Demonstration: wherefore is Vala
Clothd in black mourning upon my rivers currents, Vala awake!
I hear thy shuttles sing in the sky, and round my limbs
I feel the iron threads of love & jealousy & despair."

Satiric Verses, (E 516)
"To God

If you have formd a Circle to go into
Go into it yourself & see how you would do"

Annotations to Lavater (E 599)
"God is in the lowest effects as well as in the highest
causes for he is become a worm that he may nourish the weak
For let it be rememberd that creation is. God descending
according to the weakness of man for our Lord is the word of God
& every thing on earth is the word of God & in its essence is God"

As well as expressing the sentiments of the prophet Jeremiah, Blake was reflecting the message of the New Testament as stated by Paul in Colossians 1:
[26] Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
[27] To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
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BLAKE & MICHELANGELO

In A Blake Dictionary, S. Foster Damon states, "Michelangelo was to Blake's painting what Milton was to Blake's poetry." Although Blake never had the opportunity to see Michelangelo's great frescoes in Italy he became acquainted through prints and copies with the power and mastery of Michelangelo. From the time Blake was a child he acquired prints of the old masters as opportunities arose. He reluctantly sold his collection in 1821 when his finances had reached at a low ebb.
Michelangelo before the Roman Colosseum,
Fuseli's Lectures on Painting from 1801,
Engraved by Blake for Fuseli

Blake had no patience with those who did not recognize that Michelangelo and Raphael stood at a zenith of artistic accomplishment.

Annotations to Reynolds , (E 639)
"I was once looking over the Prints from Rafael & Michael Angelo. in the Library of the Royal Academy Moser came to me & said You should not Study these old Hard Stiff & Dry Unfinishd Works of Art, Stay a little & I will shew you what you should Study. He then went & took down Le Bruns & Rubens's Galleries How I did secretly Rage. I also spoke my Mind [line cut away]I said to Moser, These things that you call Finishd are not Even Begun how can they then, be Finishd? The Man who does not know The Beginning, never can know the End of Art"

What Blake admired in art was the expression of the inner connection with Eternal realities. Art that involved itself with the superficial whether in technical skill, subject matter or popular style, was not worth his attention. He saw in Michelangelo and Raphael the finest ability to present the depths of man in relationship to God. He associated their skills with presenting the lineament of man, (God's image in man) as expressed in line and color.

Descriptive Catalogue , Page 46, (E 544)
"Painting and Sculpture as it exists in the remains of Antiquity and in the works of more modern genius, is Inspiration, and cannot be surpassed; it is perfect and eternal. Milton, Shakspeare, Michael Angelo, Rafael, the finest specimens of Ancient Sculpture and Painting, and Architecture, Gothic, Grecian, Hindoo and Egyptian, are the extent of the human mind. The human mind cannot go beyond the gift of God, the Holy Ghost. To suppose that Art can go beyond the finest specimens of Art that are now in the world, is not knowing what Art is; it is being blind to the gifts of the spirit."

Art, to Blake, was the projection in the world of the Imagination in Man. The Imagination being the connection between God and man was in other words the Holy Spirit. Since Art represented the activity of the Divine Body it was not to be taken lightly or distorted by men who had no perception of the infinite.

Descriptive Catalogue, Page 27, (E 538)
"As there is a class of men, whose whole delight is in the destruction of men, so there is a class of artists, whose whole art and science is fabricated for the purpose of destroying art. Who these are is soon known: "by their works ye shall know them." All who endeavour to raise up a style against Rafael, Mich. ngelo, and the Antique; those who separate Painting from Drawing; who look if a picture is well Drawn; and, if it is, immediately cry out, that it cannot be well Coloured-- those are the men."

The production of graphic art occupied more of Blake's time and energy than did his writing of poetry and prose. Until the day he died he kept his pen, pencils and paints at the ready to allow the images from his spirit to flow onto the paper.
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DIVINE MERCY

Jerusalem, Plate 32, (E 179)
"Then those in Great Eternity who contemplate on Death
Said thus. What seems to Be: Is: To those to whom
It seems to Be, & is productive of the most dreadful
Consequences to those to whom it seems to Be: even of
Torments, Despair, Eternal Death; but the Divine Mercy
Steps beyond and Redeems Man in the Body of Jesus Amen
And Length Bredth Highth again Obey the Divine Vision Hallelujah"

Vala Veiled and Jerusalem with Three Daughters

Yale Center for British Art

Jerusalem

Plate 23

Here Blake indicates that we give 'reality' to what seems to be. This 'reality' is evidenced by its consequences. Through the Divine Mercy this situation can be reversed, and we may become those to whom, what seems to be is the Divine Vision.

With this perspective evil is an illusion caused by failure to participate in the Body of Jesus. Through the Divine Mercy we are released from this illusion. We "shall see reality whole and face to face." (1 Corinthians 13:12b)

Paul's Second Letter to Timothy (Phillips Translation)
Chapter 1
6 I now remind you to stir up that inner fire which God gave you at your ordination. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power and love and a sound mind.

8-12 So never be ashamed of bearing witness to our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner. Accept, as I do, all the hardship that faithfulness to the Gospel entails in the strength that God gives you. For he has rescued us from all that is really evil and called us to a life of holiness - not because of any of our achievements but for his own purpose. Before time began he planned to give us in Christ the grace to achieve this purpose, but it is only since our saviour Jesus Christ has been revealed that the method has become apparent. For Christ has completely abolished death, and has now, through the Gospel, opened to us men the shining possibilities of the life that is eternal.

Don't Blake and Paul both tell us that evil has no grip upon us; that what Jesus has to give to us - that which is Eternal - abolished death and allows us to see the true picture that Christ reveals?
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MENTAL FIGHT

Michael Binding the Dragon
Rev.12
[7] And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
[8] And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
[9]
And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Blake was not timid about describing in violent terms the 'mental fight' necessary to rid man of his bondage to the destructive forces which kept him from recognizing Jesus.

Everlasting Gospel , Page 100, (E 523)
"And Jesus voice in thunders sound
Thus I sieze the Spiritual Prey
Ye smiters with disease make way
I come Your King & God to sieze
Is God a Smiter with disease
The God of this World raged in vain
He bound Old Satan in his Chain
And bursting forth his furious ire
Became a Chariot of fire
Throughout the land he took his course
And traced Diseases to their Source
He cursd the Scribe & Pharisee
Trampling down Hipocrisy
Where eer his Chariot took its way
There Gates of Death let in the Day
Broke down from every Chain & Bar
And Satan in his Spiritual War
Dragd at his Chariot wheels loud howld
The God of this World louder rolld
The Chariot Wheels & louder still
His voice was heard from Zions hill
And in his hand the Scourge shone bright
He scourgd the Merchant Canaanite
From out the Temple of his Mind
And in his Body tight does bind
Satan & all his Hellish Crew
And thus with wrath he did subdue"

Milton, Plate 1, (E 95)
"Bring me my Bow of burning gold:
Bring me my Arrows of desire:
Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold!
Bring me my Chariot of fire!
I will not cease from Mental Fight,
Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand:

Till we have built Jerusalem,"

The fiery chariot, the chains and scourge, the bow and spear and the arrows or thought: these are weapons with which hypocrisy, disease and greed shall be defeated and bound and lose their power to harm. Milton Klonsky in William Blake: The Seer and His Visions (Page 65) points out, however, that Michael is entwined with the Dragon and bound by the same chain which binds his contrary. In Milton Blake intimates that the contention between Michael and Satan is the substance of the world of generation.

Milton, Plate 8, (E 102)
"Till Michael sat down in the furrow weary dissolv'd in tears
Satan who drave the team beside him, stood angry & red
He smote Thulloh & slew him, & he stood terrible over Michael
Urging him to arise: he wept! Enitharmon saw his tears
But Los hid Thulloh from her sight, lest she should die of grief
She wept: she trembled! she kissed Satan; she wept over Michael
She form'd a Space for Satan & Michael & for the poor infected[.]
Trembling she wept over the Space, & clos'd it with a tender Moon"

JOB, BLAKE & JUNG

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Blake's book, ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE BOOK OF JOB, consists of 21 plates which tell Job's story in a few words and in highly symbolic pictures. Plate 13 represents the encounter of Job with God in the whirlwind which is the 

Yale Center for British Art

Illustrations of the Book of Job

Plate 14

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

 

 

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

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

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

Blake wa described as having had a fiery personality. He was outspoken and easily provoked by injustice. His more self-controlled or conventional friends or acquaintances may have seen his as overly emotional or expressive. He wrote this poem out of the understanding he developed of his own anger and the anger he saw in others. He didn't advocate 'acting out' anger nor did he advocate suppressing the anger which needed an outlet of expression.  

Songs of Innocence and of Experience, Song 49, (E 28)

 

A POISON TREE.

"I was angry with my friend; 

I told my wrath, my wrath did end. 

I was angry with my foe: I told it not, my wrath did grow. 

And I waterd it in fears, Night & morning with my tears: 

And I sunned it with smiles, And with soft deceitful wiles. 

And it grew both day and night. Till it bore an apple bright. 

And my foe beheld it shine, And he knew that it was mine. 

And into my garden stole, When the night had veild the pole; 

In the morning glad I see; My foe outstretchd beneath the tree."  

Here are two instances of anger, but one is toward a friend, someone who is not the object of projection, someone who is not seen as a threat to one's self-image . Self-knowledge and openness allow the situation to be aired rather than projected. The anger ends because it is not projected, it is not perceived in terms of the friend wanting to do harm or destroy his friend. It is left at the level a of a 'state' that can be annihilated through forgiveness. 

The opposite is true with one who is seen as the enemy. With him we neither see ourselves or the other honestly. We feel justified in seeking to do him harm, because our fears tell us us to strike the first blow. The enemy is someone who is carrying our Shadow, the aspects of our psyche which our Ego and Super-ego find most unacceptable and threatening. We strike out against the enemy attempting to to rid ourselves of the inner darkness. 

To begin to withdraw projections we must look within first, to identify both good and not good inside ourselves. Then we look in others to find both qualities in them. 

A good start to withdrawing projection is to focus more on the not good in ourselves and the good in others.