PETER BRUEGEL AND ESOTERIC TRADITION Foreword Part I

PETER BRUEGEL AND ESOTERIC TRADITION
Contents
i
Summary
vii
Declaration and Statements
ix
Foreword
1
Introduction 1. Bruegel in the view of art historians
7
Introduction 2. The Numbering at Bethlehem
29
Part I: The Perennial Philosophy
Chapter 1. Theory of the Perennial Philosophy and Esotericism
Modern Writers on the Perennial Philosophy
72
Esotericism
82
Chapter 2. Lineaments of the Perennial Philosophy in the Hellenistic World
Hellenic and Hellenistic Origins
87
Plotinus
90
Plotinian Psychology
92
Plotinian Cosmology
97
Man the Microsom
105
Iamblichus
109
i
Chapter 3. Lineaments of the Perennial Philosophy in the Christian World
The Primitive Church
111
Origen
113
Symbol of the Seed in John’s Gospel
116
Spiritual Freedom and the Church as Institution
119
Early Appearance of ‘Heresy’
122
Pagan Traditions in Christianity
122
Esoteric Symbolism in the New Testament
126
The Church Institutionalised
129
Gnostics
130
Chapter 4. Lineaments of the Perennial Philosophy: Gnosticism and Christian
Platonism
Montanism
132
Gnosticism: The Way of Self Knowledge
138
Spiritual Exercises
141
The Tradition in the West: Dionysius the Areopagite
145
Origins of the Cathars: Paulicians, Montanists and Bogomils
148
ii
Chapter 5. Lineaments of the Perennial Philosophy: Mysticism in the Late Middle
Ages
13th century Followers of Erigena
153
The Brethren of the Free Spirit
155
Devotio Moderna
157 [08]
Meister Eckhart and the Rhineland Mystics
158
The Friends of God
163
Meditation
164
John Tauler, 1300-1360
166
Henry Suso, 1296-1366
157
Theologica and Imitatio Christi
167
The Brotherhood of the Common Life
181
Chapter 6. Lineaments of the Perennial Philosophy: Renaissance Mysticism
Italy and Renaissance Mysticism
184
Solario’s portrait of Longoni
185
Renaissance Esotericism
189
Perennial Philosophy and Renaissance Mysticism
193
Hermeticism
196
Recapitulation: The Esoteric Way of Self-Knowledge
200
Application of Sacred Tradition in Practice
201
iii
Chapter 7. The Family of Love
Lineage of the Family of Love
205
The Hiël Group
206
Bruegel’s Philosophical Circle
207
Abraham Ortelius
209
Sebastian Franck
212
Dirck Volckertz Coornhert
216
Justus Lipsius
220
Christophe Plantin
225
Esoteric Nature of the House of Love and Terra Pacis
227
Esoteric Symbolism in the Gospel
229
Terra Pacis: Text and Commentary: The Spiritual Land of Peace
232
Chapter 8. Esotericism in Art
Hieronymus Bosch
243
Bosch’s Connections to Esoteric Ideas
245
Meditation
247
Bosch’s Connection to the Teaching of Divine Love
251
Bosch and Bruegel’s relationship to the Church
253
Connection between meditation and art in Asia
257
Teachings of the Brethren of the Free Spirit a Survival of
Catharism
259
Ortelius’ Eulogy and the Analysis of H. Stein-Schneider
261
iv
Part II: The Paintings
Chapter 9. The Human Condition: Spiritual Darkness
The Adoration of the Kings
268
The Massacre of the Innocents
282
Chapter 10. Man’s Possibility: Spiritual Work
The Road to Calvary
302
The Harvesters
317
The Fall of Icarus
332
Chapter 11. Man’s Redemption: Spiritual Transformation
The Peasant Wedding Feast or The Marriage at Cana?
344
Appendix
385
Conclusion
433
Bibliography
437
v
vi
Mr
Temple
Richard Chartier Carnac
The Prince’s School of Traditional Arts
PhD
PETER BRUEGEL THE ELDER AND ESOTERIC TRADITION
Summary
The late paintings of Peter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525 – 1569) are full of symbolism and allegory
whose meaning has been widely and differently interpreted. Some see Bruegel as a gifted,
humorous peasant, others as a satirist and political commentator and yet others as a Renaissance
humanist and mystic. There is no consensus on the significance of the paintings and hardly any
documents to help the historian.
This thesis considers Neoplatonic humanist ideas at the heart of the Renaissance in Italy and in
Flanders in the 16th century, relating them to the historical continuum known as the Perennial
Philosophy. This concept is little understood today and this work traces its history and
demonstrates that it was widely, if not universally, accepted in the Hellenistic era and in the
Renaissance.
It also considers the tradition of religious mysticism in Germany, the Netherlands and Flanders
throughout the late Middle Ages that led up to the Reformation and points out that this movement
is also an expression of the Perennial Philosophy, citing the works of Meister Eckhart, the
Rhineland mystics and the schools that came out of the Devotio Moderna.
The work considers the esoteric, ‘heretical’ school called the Family of Love that claimed among
its adherents a number of highly illustrious artists, thinkers and politicians. Such men as
Christoffe Plantin, Abraham Ortelius and Justus Lipsius spurned the religious turmoil of the
period and rejected Catholics, Lutherans and Calvinists alike in favour of an inner mystical state
they called the ‘invisible church’. They were close to Bruegel, bought his paintings and, it cannot
be doubted, shared his thought.
While there are no surviving documents to prove Bruegel’s personal connection with the
Familists, the weight of circumstantial evidence, especially when seen in the context of the
Perennial Philosophy, is compelling. However, it is the paintings themselves that open
comprehensively and convincingly to an esoteric interpretation – once one has the key that
unlocks their meaning. This thesis provides that key and leads the reader through an analysis of
seven of Bruegel’s last paintings.
vii
viii
Declaration and Statements
This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not being
concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree.
R. C. C. Temple
5th June, 2006
This thesis is the result of my own investigations, except where otherwise stated. Sources are
acknowledged by footnotes giving explicit references. A bibliography is appended.
R. C. C. Temple
5th June, 2006
I hereby consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter-library
loans after expiry of a bar on access approved by the University of Wales on the special
recommendation of the Member Institution concerned.
R. C. C. Temple
5th June, 2006
ix
PETER BRUEGEL AND ESOTERIC TRADITION1
Foreword
Structure of the thesis
The Introduction consists of two sections; the first summarises the discoveries and
opinions of scholars and art historians during the last seventy years and their differing
and often incompatible views as to Bruegel‟s religious and social status and the
significance of his art. The second section analyses in some detail his painting The
Numbering at Bethlehem along the line of esoteric ideas and symbolism that will be
developed throughout the whole work
The form of the ideas of this thesis could be illustrated by a picture of three concentric
circles of which the outer would be the Perennial Philosophy – what Renaissance thinkers
regarded as the body of truth drawn by the ancients from their knowledge of the cosmos
and which, like the universe, has no external boundary. In writing about the Perennial
Philosophy I have cited Plato and Hellenistic and Renaissance Neoplatonists as well as
writers of the 20th-century, among whom are Ananda Coomaraswamy and René Guénon
1
In this work Bruegel‟s Christian name is given as Peter rather than the Flemish Pieter, except in citations
that have the original form. Bruegel himself spelt his name Brueghel until 1560 when he changed it to
Bruegel for reasons that are not clear. In this work the latter form is used except in citations.
1
and writers associated with their ideas; I have also quoted the theosophist W. Thackara.
Within this is the second circle containing aspects of the Perennial Philosophy that found
expression in the late Middle Ages and Renaissance periods and which culminated in
Antwerp in the 16th-century. What may at first appear to be diverse influences are drawn
from Renaissance „paganism‟, the mysticism of Meister Eckhart and his followers as well
as „gnostic‟ or „heretical‟ schools such as the Adamites with whom Hieronymus Bosch
was associated. At the centre of all this – in the innermost circle – is Bruegel or, rather,
his paintings, for the man himself is more or less silent and invisible. Yet the testimony of
the later paintings is like a kernel containing the wisdom of the Perennial Philosophy.
The paintings are there for all to see and yet their colours, forms and narratives are a veil
– albeit a veil of great beauty – that covers a high order of knowledge. They are,
therefore, esoteric.
In fact the form of the ideas set out here is necessarily linear but we can remind ourselves
that the right to speak of the ultimate truths of Man and the universe was regarded in the
16th-century as traditionally belonging to the realm of prophets, poets, mystics and artists.
Such men spoke in multi-layered symbols and their vision is not limited to mens and
ratio only. Part I is mainly concerned with the now partly forgotten language and ideas in
which such philosophical questions were considered.
Chapter 1, then, sets out the case for the Perennial Philosophy as it has been understood
in the 20th century with quotations from, among others, Aldous Huxley, Rufus Jones, W.
Thackara and William Quinn who set out what they regard as its basic tenets. Among
2
ancient writers cited are Dionysius the Areopagite and Duns Scotus Erigena generally
regarded as the agents through whom the Perennial Philosophy passed to the West.
Introduced here are the concepts of mysticism and esotericism – themes which naturally
run throughout the whole work – which are presented to the reader in the light of
traditional understanding.
Chapter 2 goes to the Greek sources of the European branch of the Perennial Philosophy:
namely Plotinus and his followers the so-called Neoplatonists – among them Porphyry
and Iamblichus. Outlines of Plotinian cosmology and psychology are given in some detail
since they are the basis of so much of medieval and Renaissance spirituality.
Chapter 3 considers aspects of early Christian thought in the light of perennial ideas.
Here we find the early appearance of tension between the forces of institution and the
forces of spiritual freedom. Origen, the father of the allegorical method of interpreting
sacred scripture, is cited in connection with esoteric levels of symbolism in the Gospel.
The idea of gnosis is considered and the eventual isolation of various gnostic sects that
came to be regarded as „heretics‟.
Chapter 4 discusses these problems further and emphasises the importance the mystical
and esoteric aspects of spirituality both within and outside the doctrines imposed by the
Church. It traces the origins of 2nd-century gnostic sects whose beliefs and teachings
survived into the 16th-century.
3
Chapter 5, drawing on the writing of Rufus Jones, traces the historical continuity of
perennial philosophical thought and practice from antiquity up to the eve of the
Reformation. It considers the mystical tradition, inherited from Dionysius and passing
through Eckhart and the Rhineland mystics, that produced the Imitatio Christi and the
Theologica Germanica. This chapter stresses the importance of contemplative prayer or
meditation and shows how this practice was the basis of spiritual movements, under the
name of the Devotio Moderna, such as the Friends of God and the Brotherhood of the
Common Life.
Chapter 6 looks at the Perennial Philosophy acting on Neoplatonist humanists and
mystics of the Italian Renaissance. Reference is made to Edgar Wind‟s work on
Renaissance esotericism and Andrea Solario‟s portrait of Christoforo Longoni is analysed
in the light of the idea of self-knowledge as a spiritual exercise and as a central concept
of this thesis.
Chapter 7 brings us to immediate and direct influences on Bruegel. These were freethinking humanists and mystics who occupied the no-man‟s-land between Catholics,
Lutherans and Calvinists; men like Sebastian Franck, Dirck Volckertz Coornhert and
Abraham Ortelius were adherents of the „invisible church‟ where God was understood as
„an event in the soul‟ which could be independent of external forms, rites and doctrines.
Many of them, such as Ortelius, Christophe Plantin and perhaps Justus Lipsius belonged
to the sect known as the Family of Love whose leader, Hendrik Niclaes, was the author of
the mystical allegory Terra Pacis that recounts the journey from the „Land of Ignorance‟
4
to the „Land of Spiritual Peace‟. Bruegel was closely associated with, if not a full
member, of this group.
Chapter 8, drawing on the writings of Herbert Fränger, considers the art of Hieronymus
Bosch and his association with the movement known as the Brethren of the Free Spirit
among whom was an extreme group called the Adamites for whom Bosch painted The
Garden of Earthly Delights. Common aspects of both Bosch and Bruegel are discussed.
This chapter discusses the direct relationship in sacred tradition between art and
meditation and cites an example of Tibetan culture. It ends with a discussion of Abraham
Ortelius‟ remarks concerning Bruegel; in particular his observation that he „painted what
cannot be painted‟.
In Part II, six of Bruegel‟s late paintings are looked at in detail with the aim of assigning
their message to one of the three stages of man‟s possible spiritual evolution.
Chapter 9 deals with The Adoration of the Kings and The Massacre of the Innocents
whose psychological commentary calls us to see the truth of the human condition – that
human beings, enmeshed in the demands of temporal life, do not see that they live in
spiritual darkness and ignorance.
Chapter 10, analysing The Road to Calvary, shows that it not only illustrates the
consequences of man‟s stupidity but at the same time it indicates that hope of redemption
lies in the evolution of consciousness. This possibility is further developed in the
5
symbolism embedded in The Harvesters and The Fall of Icarus where the work
associated with plowing the land and harvesting the corn is an allegory of spiritual work.
Finally, in Chapter 11, it is argued that the painting known as The Peasant Wedding
Feast is in fact Bruegel‟s mystical commentary on The Marriage at Cana – the
miraculous transformation, symbolised by the changing of water into wine, which takes
place when God and man are united. According to Matthew Estrada, whose ideas
influence parts of the chapter, this event is sometimes known as the alchemical wedding.
But the circumstances of this process are mysterious in that they do not take place in the
material world. The main burden of the thesis is to investigate that „other world‟ to which
Bruegel had access and where, according to spiritual authorities, spiritual transformation
takes place.
6
Introduction 1
The life of Peter Bruegel the Elder is a mystery.2 During the entire 44 years of his
existence his name is mentioned no more than four times in routine official documents;
twice en passant in letters and once, briefly, by a historian.3 Yet he was highly regarded
by the intellectual and political elites of his day and by the end of his life, and
immediately after, his pictures were sought by the richest in the land: kings, queens,
bankers and the emperor Rudolph II.
The earliest contemporary written reference is when he was admitted into the painters‟
fraternity, the guild of St Luke, in Antwerp in 1551. Historians, working backwards from
this date and assuming that he was about 25 – the usual age for a painter at that time to be
so incorporated – give his date of birth variously as „circa 1525‟, „circa 1526‟ or „between
1525 and 1530‟. The fact that his birth appears not to have been recorded is thought to
indicate that he was born of poor peasant stock, as his earliest biographer Karel van
2
For a recent account of his life by a scholar see Orenstein, N. „the Elusive Life of Pieter Breugel the
Elder‟ in Orenstein, N. ed. Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Drawings and Prints, Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York, catalogue, 2001, pp. 3-11.
3
For a summary of all the documents relating to Bruegel‟s life see Marijnissem, R.H., Ruyflelaere, P.,
Calster, van P. and Meij, A.W.F.M. Bruegel; Tout l’ouvre peint et dessiné. Antwerp and Paris, 1988
7
Mander (1548–1606) states. Van Mander was a Dutch mannerist painter perhaps better
known today as the author in 1604, 35 years after Bruegel‟s death, of the Schilder-Boek,4
an anthology of lives of Northern painters, written in response to Giorgio Vasari‟s
famous Lives of the Painters, published in Florence in 1550.5 Although written long after
the events and not corroborated from other sources, historians have relied heavily on the
two or three pages that van Mander wrote about Bruegel because there is no other
material relating to Bruegel‟s early life. He begins:
In a wonderful manner Nature found and seized the man who in his turn was
destined to seize her magnificently, when in an obscure village in Brabant she
chose from among the peasants, as the delineator of peasants, the witty and gifted
Pieter Brueghel, and made of him a painter to the lasting glory of our Netherlands.
He was born not far from Breda in a village named Brueghel, a name he took for
himself and handed on to his descendants. He learned his craft from Pieter Koeck
(Peter Coecke) van Aelst, whose daughter he later married … On leaving Koeck
he went to work with Jenoon Kock (Hieronymus Cock), and then he traveled to
France and to Italy. He did much work in the manner of Jenoon van den Bosch
(Hieronymus Bosch) and produced many spookish scenes and drolleries and for
this reason many called him Pieter the Droll. There are few works by his hand
which the observer can contemplate solemnly and with a straight face. However
stiff, morose or surly he may be, he cannot help chuckling or at any rate smiling
4
Karel van Mander, Schilder-Boeck, Haarlem: Paschier and Wesbuch, 1604
Vasari, Giorgio, 1511-1574. Lives of the most eminent painters, sculptors & architects, by Giorgio
Vasari: newly tr. by Gaston du C. de Vere. With five hundred illustrations, London, Macmillan and co., ld.
& The Medici society, ld., 1912-15. The later edition of 1568 mentions Bruegel.
5
8
… Brueghel delighted in observing the droll behaviour of the peasants, how they
ate, drank, danced, capered or made love … He represented [them] as they really
were, betraying their boorishness in the way they walked, talked, danced, stood
still or moved.6
Van Mander speaks of a voyage in France and Italy and mentions Bruegel‟s friend the
merchant Hans Frankert and how they liked to travel into the country together, disguised
as peasants in order to visit fairs and gate-crash weddings. He gives a racy account of
how, in Antwerp, Bruegel lived with a servant girl of bad character and that later, having
broken with her, he went to live in Brussels having married Peter Coeck‟s daughter
whom he had known when she was a child. The piece ends with brief descriptions of a
dozen or so of the paintings and a quotation from the Liege humanist Domenicus
Lampsonius comparing Bruegel to Hieronymus Bosch, where he says that he „brings his
master‟s ingenious flights of fancy to life once more so skillfully with brush and style
that he even surpasses him‟.7
Van Mander‟s references to Bruegel‟s early life were written some 80 years after the
events. Much of what he writes about Bruegel‟s private life sounds more like reportage of
popular hearsay rather than the result of research as we understand it today; there is no
independent corroboration though some details of what he says of Bruegel‟s adult life
6
Van Mander, op. cit. from the translation by Grossman, F. Bruegel, the Paintings. London: Phaidon Press,
1955, pp. 7,8.
7
Lampsonius was an associate of van Mander and corresponded with Vasari. See Melion, W.S., Shaping
the Netherlandish Canon: Karel Van Mander’s Schilder-Boeck. Chicago: university of Chicago Press, 1991
9
have been verified (for example his travels in Italy) by modern research. 8 Some historians
have doubted what he says about Bruegel‟s „peasant‟ origins in the light of his
intellectual and artistic achievements.9 What Mander writes fits into what Melion calls a
„standard format‟ that served the aims and purpose of the Schilder-Boek in establishing
the reputation of Northern painters worthy of humanist ideals and ideas on art, history
and landscape current at the time.10 It is not a critique of his painting and it tells us
nothing of the intellectual and philosophical outlook of the painter.
Another piece of routine documentary material while Bruegel was alive is the record of
Bruegel‟s marriage to Marijke (Mayken) Coecke in 1663 while a third document, dated
1565 (four years before the painter‟s death), is the banker Nicolas Jongelink‟s financial
guarantee to the city of Antwerp in which he pledges his art collection. Among the
paintings listed are „sixteen items by Bruegel‟.11 Then there are two letters from the
Bolognese geographer and humanist, Fabius Scipius to his friend Abraham Ortelius in
which he asks news of, and sends „friendly greetings‟ to, Peter Bruegel.12 A sixth
contemporary document is the mention in the Florentine historian Ludovico
Guicciardini‟s description in 1567 of the Low Countries. There he writes of „Peter
Bruegel of Breda, imitator of Jerome Bosch‟s science and fantasy: for which he has
8
A detailed account of the itinerary through France, Italy, Sicily, Austria and Switzerland is given by
Claessens and Rousseau, in Our Bruegel. Antwerp: Mercatofonds, 1969. pp. 141-153
9
E.g. Gustave Glück, Peter Brueghel the Elder, Paris: 1936. Quoted in Claessens and Rousseau: „Gustave
Glück refuses to admit Bruegel‟s peasant backround, p. 158
10
Melion, W.S., Shaping the Netherlandich Canon: Karel Van Mander’s Schilder-Boeck. Chicago:
university of Chicago Press, 1991.
11
Claessens and Rousseau, p. 31.
12
Op. cit. p. 35.
10
earned the nick-name of Jerome Bosch the Second.‟13 Finally, there is a seventh
document, dated January 18th 1569, in which „Master Peter Bruegel‟ is dispensed from
billeting Spanish soldiers. Bruegel died on September 5th of that year and may have been
too ill to fulfill that obligation.14
During, and immediately after, his life-time, Bruegel‟s admirers and clients were from
the higher and highest strata of society. Dominique Allart has assembled all the reliable
information regarding ownership of the paintings. From this we know that in 1565, as we
have seen, the financier Nicolaes Jonghelinck owned sixteen of the pictures. In 1572 Jean
Noirot, Master of the Antwerp Mint, owned five. Giorgio Giulio Clovio, the celebrated
Croatian miniaturist and friend of Titian, with whom Bruegel as a young man had stayed
in Rome, owned five or six paintings listed in an inventory of 1557 all which are now
lost. In 1594 Balasius Hütter was secretary to the Archduke Ernest, Governor-General of
the Netherlands and his accounts show that the archduke had owned the famous series of
six paintings representing the Twelve Months (the great landscape paintings today in
Vienna, Prague and New York; one of these is now lost) together with three further
paintings all of which are mentioned in the inventory drawn up after his death in the
following year. Van Mander‟s Schilder-Boeck states that several of Bruegel‟s best
paintings were by then in the collection of the Emperor Rudolph II. Among other
seventeenth century documents we find the names of the statesman Cardinal Granvella
13
Ludovico Guicciardini, The Description of the Low Countries and the Provinces Thereof. London:
Thomas Chard, 1593
14
There has been discussion as to whether the „Meesteren van Pieter Bruegel‟ is in fact Peter Bruegel the
Elder and not Magister Brugelius, a doctor living at the time. See Claessens and Rousseau, p. 35.
11
(who, during Bruegel lifetime, had been prime minister of the Netherlands under
Marguerite of Parma), Ferdinand II of Prague and Queen Christina of Sweden.15
During the Enlightenment and throughout the Romantic Period, Bruegel‟s reputation
reverted to that of „peasant painter‟ and his name disappears from the priority lists of
collectors. His emergence from two hundred years of obscurity dates from the beginning
of the last century and especially from the studies of the Michelangelo scholar and
Conservator of the Casa Buonarotti in Florence, Charles de Tolnay (1899-1958).16
Tolnay put forward the idea that Bruegel was anything but a peasant, that he belonged to
a circle of Northern Renaissance humanists and men of the highest level of education,
international renown and profound philosophical insight. More recent scholarship has
tended to reject such views on the grounds that they cannot be proved. While it is true
that almost no evidence exists establishing a direct source for Bruegel‟s spiritual and
intellectual powers, there is overwhelming circumstantial evidence to be found in the
wider context of the intellectual life of spiritual people associated with him. The purpose
of this thesis is to assemble some of this material and present it in such a way that
Bruegel‟s place in it becomes apparent.
***
15
Allart, D. „Did Pieter Bruegel the Younger See his Father‟s Paintings?‟ in Brink, van den, P. ed. Bruegel
Enterpises, Bonnefatennmuseum, Maastricht, 2002.
16
Tolnay, de C, Pierre Bruegel l'ancien. 2 vols. Brussels: Nouvelle société d'éditions, 1935.
12
The recent publication of Perez Zagorin‟s survey of the Bruegel art historical literature
from 1935 until the present time is a useful summary of what the academic historian
regards as the „problems‟ of interpreting the master‟s work.17 Since the beginning of the
20th century Bruegel has „ceased to be seen simply as the naive artist Pieter the Droll and
Peasant Bruegel, chosen, as van Mander said, „from among the peasants‟ to be „the
delineator of peasants‟, he has now „been generally ranked among the foremost artists of
the Netherlands and northern Renaissance as well as one of the greatest of European
painters.‟18 Commenting on Bruegel‟s „masterly sureness and economy of figural
draftsmanship in the depiction of human beings in every kind of posture and action‟
Zagorin wonders that many of the paintings „seem to be animated by some idea‟ and that
„one cannot help wondering what attitudes, values, and particular philosophy underlie his
works. On this question, however, he tells us „there has never been agreement‟.
As an example he refers to Bruegel‟s peasant scenes, and cites the Peasant Wedding
Feast, as having elicited „very divergent readings‟.19 He says that such paintings „have
been variously perceived as comic and sympathetic representations of peasant life by a
humane observer, as detached and accurate descriptions by an objective recorder, as
graphic allegories of human folly, as visions of an organic community which is passing
17
Zagorin, Perez "Looking for Pieter Bruegel", Journal of the History of Ideas - Volume 64, Number 1,
January 2003, pp. 73-96; The Johns Hopkins University Press. http://muse.jhu.edu/cgibin/access.cgi?uri=/journals/journal_of_the_history_of_ideas/v064/64.1zagorin.html
18
„Peasant Bruegel‟ and „Pieter the Droll‟ were commonly used appellations in the 17th, 18th, and 19th
centuries to distinguish the painter from his sons; Peter Brueghel the Younger, popularly called „Hell
Brueghel‟, and Jan Brueghel the Elder or „Velvet Brueghel‟. Altogether, four generations of painters
belonged to the family.
19
Here Zagorin cites Raupp, Bauernsatiren, 271-73; Walter S. Gibson, “Bruegel and The Peasants: A
Problem of Interpretation,” Pieter Bruegel The Elder: Two Studies (Lawrence, Kan., 1991); Ethan Matt
Kavaler, Pieter Bruegel: Parables of Order and Enterprise (Cambridge, 1999), 24-28.
13
away, as products of a literary and pictorial genre of satirical commentaries on peasant
crudity, gluttony, and lechery, and as an expression of the social condescension and
moral superiority which humanist intellectuals and the dominant landed and urban classes
of the painter‟s time are said to have felt toward peasants and popular culture. These
differences and contradictions respecting his peasant paintings are merely an example of
the more general problem of interpreting Bruegel which is repeatedly encountered in
discussions of many of his compositions.‟ Zagorin points out that „there is no other
sixteenth-century artist whose works have been understood in such different and opposite
ways.‟20
The same writer says that „… in trying to answer such questions and to elucidate the
meaning of various of his works, art historians, beside examining his artistic inheritance,
milieu, and imagery in relation to the productions of contemporary artists and
predecessors, have also looked for clues to Bruegel‟s thought in the influences that might
have shaped his outlook as a result of his personal, social, and intellectual affiliations.‟
This thesis looks at the same clues but is not timid in following the direction they point in
even if they lead the researcher out of familiar territory – away from the methodology of
art history and into the fields of philosophy and mysticism. Zagorin laments that „the
established facts of Bruegel‟s biography are few and much smaller than for that of any
major artist of the sixteenth century. The section on his life in the catalogue of the
20
Here Zagorin points out that „Bruegel scholars have often commented on the differences and
contradictions in the interpretations of the painter‟s work; see, for example Grossmann, Bruegel The
Paintings, 37; the remarks by Marijnissen, passim; John E. C. White, Pieter Bruegel and The Fall of The
Art Historian (Newcastle, 1980); Raupp, Bauernsatiren, ch. IV. The collection of essays in the volume on
Bruegel in Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek, 47, ed. Jan de Jong et al. (1996), 24771, contains a
comprehensive bibliography on the artist.‟
14
outstanding exhibition of his drawings and prints in 2001 at the Metropolitan Museum of
Art (New York) rightly described his personal history as “still largely a mystery.”‟21
Zagorin states:
The sparseness of documented knowledge about him has nevertheless not deterred
a succession of Bruegel scholars from propounding unsupported speculations and
hypotheses concerning his life, career, and associations. An early instance was
Charles de Tolnay‟s important book of 1935, which attempted to “penetrate the
artist‟s secret thought” and “strip away his masks” in order to identify his
philosophy.22 Tolnay visualized him as a cultured Renaissance humanist who
associated in Antwerp with a group of distinguished scholars, artists, and authors
such as the celebrated geographer Abraham Ortelius (1527-98), the great printer
and publisher Christophe Plantin (c. 1520-89), and the Dutch writer and engraver
Dirck Coornhert (1522-90), all described as religious libertines whose unorthodox
opinions Bruegel shared. Among these men, some belonged to the religious sect
known as the Family or House of Love, of which Tolnay suggested that Bruegel
was also a member. He believed the source of the painter‟s ideas lay in fifteenthcentury Platonic philosophers and humanists like Nicholas of Cusa and Marsilio
Ficino and in the writings of Erasmus and Sebastian Franck. As the dominant
theme in his depiction of human life, Tolnay attributed to him the conception of
an upside-down or topsy-turvy world, the realm of absurdity, fools, and folly.
Bruegel was the “platonicien” of this “monde renversé,” contemplating it with the
21
22
Orenstein et al. Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Drawings and Prints, New York: Metropolitan Museum, 2001.
Charles de Tolnay, Pierre Bruegel l’Ancien (2 vols.; Brussels, 1935), I, intro. and p.20
15
same detachment as he would another planet. In contrast to this attitude was the
artist‟s conception of the greatness and impersonality of nature, to whose eternal
laws human beings were subject. Other than Bruegel‟s friendship with Ortelius,
however, which can be documented, Tolnay had no proof of the artist‟s
relationships in Antwerp and the conclusions he drew from them or any evidence
that Bruegel could have been acquainted with the works of the particular thinkers
whom he identified as sources. Later Bruegel scholarship has been much less
inclined to such over-intellectualized explanations of the artist‟s work. Thus, a
leading contemporary historian of Bruegel and Netherlandish art has cautioned
against exaggerating the philosophical aspects of his art, noting that “there is little
evidence ... that Bruegel‟s pictures are as recondite or cryptic as is so often
believed.”23 In the scholarly literature‟s attempt to uncover the meaning of
Bruegel‟s work through an examination of his biography and personal
relationships, it is easy to find repeated examples of questionable suppositions and
doubtful inferences presented as facts. Tolnay was the first to affirm that the artist
was a religious libertine, a member of the Family of Love, and connected in
Antwerp with intellectuals of heterodox beliefs in religion. Although the only one
of these claims that can be substantiated, as I have said above, is his relationship
with the geographer Ortelius, they have nevertheless been repeated by Benesch,
Stechow, and other noted Bruegel scholars.24 Pierre Francastel‟s book on Bruegel
of 1995, while rejecting the importance of Platonist influences in the painter‟s art,
speaks nevertheless of his possible contacts with heretical groups and considers it
23
24
Walter S. Gibson, Bruegel (London, 1977), 10, 11.
Otto Benesch, The Art of The Renaissance in Northern Europe (Cambridge, Mass., 1945,
16
certain that together with Ortelius he frequented a select libertine milieu of
cultivated friends such as Plantin and Coornhert. In some recent essays by David
Freedberg, we encounter…similar instances of questionable statements about the
artist‟.25
The present work will offer an instrument for the interpretation of meaning in Bruegel‟s
paintings based on a spiritual and philosophic outlook that is near to and even part of
Renaissance humanism just as it is near to and part of the insight of the Rhineland
mystics. It is a way of looking at the world long known to exist though today accepted by
few professional historians and philosophers. It has, and has had, different names and
sometimes no name. It is an esoteric tradition and will be referred to here as the Perennial
Philosophy. A large part of this thesis (pp. 72 – 268) is devoted to an exposition of some
outer aspects of its ideas – the exoteric and perhaps mesoteric aspects – its place in
western thought of the last two thousand years, and to some of those who have been its
adherents.
Zagorin‟s survey shows that, on the whole, the art historian‟s view ignores the role in
Bruegel‟s work of universal spiritual truths about man and his relation to earthly life and
eternal life. He dismisses the idea of an esoteric philosophy and he refers to the adherents
of the school known as the Family of Love as libertines, a word with misleading
connotations. Zagorin repeatedly points out that „positive evidence is lacking to prove his
involvement in a circle of Antwerp humanists or his religious heterodoxy‟. He lists the
names associated with Bruegel: „Pieter Coecke van Aelst, a distinguished artist with
25
Zagorin, “Looking for Pieter Bruegel”, p. 76 ff.
17
whom he is reported to have studied and whose daughter he married; Hieronymus Cock,
the well known publisher of his prints whose business was located in Antwerp; the
Antwerp merchant and government official Nicholas Jonghelinck, and the great prelate
Cardinal Granvelle, Philip II‟s principal minister in the Netherlands, both of whom were
admirers and collectors of his work‟, and says that „neither these nor any of his other
known associations can license the conclusion of another prominent Bruegel scholar Carl
Gustaf Stridbeck that the artist‟s friends numbered some of the most outstanding
intellectuals of the time and that in Antwerp he was one of “a circle of political and
religious radical humanists” that included Coornhert and Plantin.‟26
Views have been put forward by historians who see Bruegel‟s paintings as political
statements against the oppression of the Spanish military forces in the Netherlands, The
Massacre of the Innocents, especially, has been seen as such a commentary, some seeing
in the central figure a portrait of the terrible Duke of Alba though the probable date of the
picture (1566) would preclude that possibility (Alba entered Brussels in August 1567).
Zagorin finds little support for these views. „If Bruegel meant to make a political
statement … it is well hidden. The Massacre of the Innocents is similar to another of
Bruegel‟s paintings on a New Testament subject, The Numbering at Bethlehem in
Brussels, dated by the artist 1566, which also depicts a Flemish village in winter. This
suggests that the two works are related and may both be simply unproblematic
illustrations of the gospel story.‟ This essay will put forward the view that these paintings
are neither political statements nor conventional religious pictures but commentaries on
26
Stridbeck, C. G. Bruegelstudien. Stockholm, 1956
18
profound psychological and spiritual realities, traditionally studied in esoteric schools,
whose meaning transcends historical time and is as valid today as at any other period.
Regarding the Family of Love and how it has been treated by historians, Zagorin takes a
dismissive tone: „The Family of Love belonged to the spiritualist wing of the Protestant
Reformation, a type of religion that brushed aside the literal and historical sense of
Scripture as a dead letter and held that true Christianity had nothing to do with any visible
church or creed. In their place, it exalted the spirit dwelling within the individual believer
through which God communicates His presence and truth … Familism disdained rites
and ceremonies, which it looked upon as childish toys suitable only for the uninitiated;
the Familists considered themselves as having transcended the inferior external religion
of the Protestant and Catholic churches.‟ This view reveals an attitude that fails to credit
the Family of Love as an example of a teaching that can lead men and women to spiritual
levels that transcend the human condition. This thesis will suggest the opposite: that the
higher level is to be found by searchers for the Kingdom of God (Familists called it the
Land of Spiritual Peace) within themselves in accordance with Christ‟s declaration „For
behold, the Kingdom of God is within you.‟27 What follows will show that Bruegel,
transmitting perennial philosophical ideas, can lift people from the state of blindness and
ignorance of the human condition that condemns humanity to the violence and disorder
which characterize daily life.
Current academic thinking about Bruegel, as summarized by Zagorin, does not deny the
relationship with the Family of Love of Ortelius, Lipsius, Arias Montano, and other
27
Luke 17:20-21
19
associates of Christophe Plantin. He cites René Boumans‟s comment that „Ortelius‟s
religion applies to all of them: their Catholicism “was only intended for the outward
world.”28 Connection with the sect, as Leon Voet noted, required from its adherents “the
utmost secrecy and ... the necessity to blend, in the perception of the outer world, with the
denomination that fitted them best, be it Catholic, Lutheran, or Calvinist.”29 The
Familists‟ belief in their spiritual superiority to ordinary Christians was well suited to
these humanists and scholars who regarded themselves as an intellectual elite‟. He says
that „whether Bruegel himself shared this point of view is an unanswerable question‟. The
present thesis shows that, with the help of the ideas of the Perennial Philosophy, this
question can indeed be answered; that great psychological and philosophical truths
common to the spiritual disciplines of the Familists and related groups can be discerned
at the heart of Bruegel‟s painting. Zagorin states that „despite [Bruegel‟s] friendship with
Ortelius, no evidence has been produced that he had any tie to Familism or subscribed to
its tenets. We have no reason to suppose either that he was ever anything but a Catholic.
Some of his religious paintings are clearly Catholic in character.‟ The present thesis
offers analysis of the paintings to support the idea that Bruegel did subscribe to the tenets
of the Familists, in particular to ideas found in Niclaes‟ book Terra Pacis and to ideas
that belong to the Perennial Philosophy. As to his religious affiliations it will be shown
that he was neither Catholic nor anti-Catholic but „trans-Catholic‟.30 It also shows that
Bruegel, a „thinker in images‟ reveals his attitude to religion in the way he depicts the
church in his paintings. Among the pictures Zagorin cites to support his suggestion that
28
René Boumans, “The Religious Views of Abraham Ortelius,” Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld
Institutes, 17 (1954) 377.
29
Voet, “Abraham Ortelius and His World,” in Broeke M, Krogt and P. Meurer, P. eds. Abraham Ortelius
and the First Atlas, Westenren: 1998.
30
The phrase is Herbert Grundmann‟s; see below, p.255
20
Bruegel adhered to Catholicism rather than any Platonic or esoteric influences are The
Adoration of the Kings and Christ on the Road to Calvary. This thesis shows that these
paintings can be read as illustrating the truth, deep in the human soul, that divine
consciousness, represented by Christ and his family, is present at the human level though
human beings are practically unable to acknowledge the fact. Further, these paintings,
through the artists‟ visual realism – ever a cypher for his psychological realism – reveal
the mental and emotional condition prevailing in the human psyche, the state traditionally
called ignorance or sleep. Bruegel‟s sure grasp of this spiritual truth, taught throughout
the ages by philosophers and sages, allows him – and us – to contemplate ultimate
realities.
In this essay the interpretation of Bruegel‟s paintings is based on ideas that belong to the
body of universal truth about human beings and their possible relationship to the Divine
World and Eternity. These truths are found in Christianity though not necessarily
emphasised in the official theology of the Churches; rather, they are more often
accessible through the „invisible church‟, and the „hermaic chain‟31 whose links constitute
the strand of esoteric Christianity that belongs to what, for want of a better word, is called
the Perennial Philosophy. Esoteric Christianity tends to be gnostic and has been regarded
as heretical and therefore dangerous to the status quo maintained and controlled by the
established churches. However, esotericism and the Perennial Philosophy, as will be
shown, are not social or political movements; their teachings are directed to the search for
self-knowledge and the inner life accessed through the practice of contemplative prayer,
meditation and spiritual exercises.
31
The phrase is from Rufus Jones (see below and bibliography); today he would have said hermetic.
21
Almost no intellectual or verbal concepts can adequately convey the world of states of
higher levels of consciousness, of gnosis, of the action of divine energy working through
the human organism. Terms such as „Esoteric school‟, „Perennial Philosophy‟, „spiritual
tradition‟, „mystical path‟ and similar expressions function as sign-posts for those who
search for truth beyond the outward conventions of religion and morality. With the help
of these signs-posts the seeker can find the way leading from his or her subjective state to
a vision of objective reality. This Reality, according to ideas of the Perennial Philosophy
that will be discussed in this thesis, exists beyond the realm of the senses, beyond the
scope of the rational mind and outside our ordinary comprehension of space and time. It
certainly lies beyond the realm of scientific method and the academic historian is bound
to find attempts to see the influence of mystical tradition and primordial truth as
„questionable suppositions and doubtful inferences‟. Rigorously applied methodology is
limited to a world bound by the senses and by the rational mind. This thesis purports to
show that Bruegel‟s imagery necessarily includes the physical world while always
showing us the wider context in which it exists. He also shows why those bound to the
limitations of earthly existence cannot see or know of the higher world of divine energies
constantly offered to humanity as spiritual food.
The concept of spiritual food is found in the Old Testament: „Then said the Lord unto
Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and
gather a certain rate every day … and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.32
32
Exodus 16, 4-5
22
And in the New Testament Christ identifies himself thus: „I am the living Bread which
came down from Heaven‟.33 This idea can be considered central to the spiritual tradition
of the Perennial Philosophy. It is the „supersubstantial bread‟ of the Lord‟s Prayer.34
Elsewhere, as we see in The Harvesters and in The Fall of Icarus, Bruegel has a profound
commentary on the symbolism where bread as physical food sustaining physical life is
analogous to the spiritual „food‟ or energies that sustain eternal life. If eternal life, or the
Kingdom of Heaven, is within us as the Gospel insists, then we can discover within
ourselves the higher truths that the imagery symbolically suggests. Bruegel then – like an
icon painter or like any artist who works according to the authentic traditions of sacred
imagery – is the agent through whom meaning, perhaps other than that apparently
depicted, can pass. Here the function of art is to serve the teaching that helps man
towards what the Perennial Philosophy would regard as his highest aspirations: his need
to know himself, his need to transform himself and his need to know God. Since man in
his material nature is bound to the world through the senses and the rational mind, his
approach to a higher world must take physical reality into account while not falling into
the error, characteristic of our times, of believing that to be the only reality. Gnostic
tradition regards present reality as the point of departure for the spiritual journey that can
lead man to realities that lie beyond the limitations of materiality.
This thesis will suggest that those higher realities are to be sought through aspects of the
Perennial Philosophy that Bruegel may have known. With its one message and in its
many manifestations, it calls man to his highest possibility: the transformation of his
33
34
John 6:51
For a discussion of this concept see below, The Harvesters, p. 326
23
being. Man must, in the words of Christ, be „born again‟. But before he can begin the
process of being reborn he must know himself in the fullest gnostic sense; that is to say
that he has to know both his earthbound self and his higher self. He must align his lower
nature so as to conform to the higher: „As above, so below‟ was perhaps the most famous
of the Hermetic sayings central to Renaissance mysticism. What Bruegel so tellingly
shows in his three paintings referring to the birth of Christ is the important gnosis-born
realisation that our earth-bound consciousness ignores or denies and even destroys God in
us. For the Perennial Philosophy the highest level of meaning in the Christian gospel is
neither a code of ethics nor a guide to morality but a teaching, veiled in symbolism, on
the entry of a human being into the kingdom of God. Christ tells Nicodemus „Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again (the Greek translates this more
accurately as “born from above”); he cannot see the kingdom of God.‟35 According to
traditional ideas the concept of the (spiritual) kingdom of God, and our possibilities
regarding it, is the most consistent theme of the gospel and nearly all the parables are
images referring to it.36
Throughout the Christian tradition there are commentaries on the innermost or esoteric
aspects of sacred literature that tell us that such an event as access to the kingdom of God
does not take place in what we think of as space and time. We see, for example, in the
writings of the Desert Fathers, references to a realm beyond the perceptions of the
rational mind and the physical senses.37 We further know that this inner journey has to be
35
see The New Greek-English Interlinear New Testament, Tyndale House, Illinois, 1990, John 3.3),
See P. D. Ouspensky, A New Model of the Universe, London, 1931, Ch. I, „Esotericism and Modern
Thought' and Ch. IV, „Christianity and the New Testament‟)
37
See especially the Philokalia (see bibliography: Kadloubovsky, E. and Palmer, G.E.H.).
36
24
conducted according to long established traditions of discipline and practice. In the West,
approximately during the last three hundred years, knowledge has tended to become
detached from practice and today that balance is better maintained in Asia, as many
recent and contemporary accounts by westerners testify.38 However, there are now signs
of a revival within our own culture and the writings of Guénon, Coomaraswamy and their
followers now constitute a body of material that, according to traditionalists, no serious
searcher can ignore.
A recurring theme of Ananda Coomaraswamy, a leading 20th century exponent of the
Perennial Philosophy, is that in the ancient sacred traditions all the arts, including that of
painting, served the priesthood and the aim of transformation.39 For the artist working in
a traditional milieu the function of imagery was to convey psychological, theological and
mystical truth. The master painter was also a spiritual master; for him there was nothing
theoretical about ideas; they were the expression of knowledge, acquired through lived
experience, of the great laws concerning the creation of the universe and man‟s place in
it. The traditional view would be that such laws and such knowledge can neither be given
to, nor received by, a mind linked only to the senses and to rationality. Traditional
wisdom would regard our scientific rationalism as no more than a preparation for
understanding the great truths of man‟s place in the divine plan. Thus Arnold Toynbee
tells us: „the Subconscious, not the intellect, is the organ through which Man lives his
38
E.g. the writings of Goldstein J. and Kornfield, J.
See, for example, Coomaraswamy, A. K. On the Traditional Doctrine of Art Ipswich: Golgonooza Press,
1977.
39
25
spiritual life, it is the fount of poetry, music, and the visual arts, and the channel through
which the Soul is in communion with God'.40
•••
Today, many see monasticism as little more than „escape from the real world‟ and its
practitioners are often considered „useless to the community‟. In the medieval period
monastic practise and those who followed it were acknowledged as the spiritual lifeblood
of the community. The upheavals of the Reformation in 16th century Europe put an end to
much that had become corrupt in the monasteries while the authentic spiritual life
flourished in other, non-enclosed, communities such as the Brethren of the Common
Life.41
A central element of spiritual life is the practice of contemplative prayer or meditation.
While this is a principal feature for monastics, it is not exclusively so and today many
young people find their way to it through the Zen or Vipassana teachers of the Buddhist
tradition. One example is the instruction given by the well-known meditation master, the
Venerable Ajahn Tong Sirimangalo.42 The practice taught in his retreats provides first40
Quoted by Rev. Rama Coomaraswamy in The Problems that Result from Locating Spirituality in the
Psyche, originally published in Sofia Perennis, it can be accessed at http://www.wandea.org.pl/spiritualitypsyche.htm
41
See below, p.161. Note: all the ideas touched on in this Introduction will be discussed – with sources and
references – in the body of the dissertation.
42
Venerable Ajahn Tong Sirimangalo, The Only Way: Vipassana Meditation Teachings, translated by
Kathryn Chindaporn. Chomtong Thailand: Wat Phradhatu Sri Chomtong, 1999
26
hand experience through direct, practical participation, of much that would otherwise be
theoretical about psychological and spiritual states of mind and body.43 In this experience
several things about the nature of the mind‟s habitual state of dispersal and the arduous
labour needed to focus it become clear. Likewise one sees how the body is unconsciously
the slave of lower states of energy and how the same labour opens its susceptibilities to
finer and undreamed of higher energies.
In many traditions – Zen brush drawing, Chinese calligraphy, icon-painting – there is an
acknowledged correlation between simultaneous interior prayer together with the
physical gesture of the artist‟s pen or brush. Insight is intensified in states of concentrated
meditation and the meditator sees clearly how one aspect or other of the drama between
spiritual labour and mystical insight is referred to in sacred art. Thus what is truly sacred
in art will not be the subject depicted but the state of the man or woman who executes it:
not what but how it is depicted. Methods, style and technique are no more than tools at
the artist‟s disposal to be made use of or not, as the case may be, according to what he
deems best. Spiritual work cannot proceed in conditions of inner disorder and ugliness
and sacred art will always be perfect, orderly and beautiful. But if these qualities are
subverted, as tended to happen in Europe in the modern era, and they serve merely an
aesthetic or a bourgeois aim, truth will have given way to illusion and self-indulgence.
43
The retreat is rigorous, made up of long hours with short breaks and two meals taken at dawn and midday. The last three days are spent in continuous alternate „walking meditation‟ and „sitting meditation‟.
27
Here the remarks of Said Hossein Nasr on the „distinction between traditional, sacred and
religious art … in the context of modern civilization, that is, a civilization no longer
governed by immutable spiritual principles‟ are apt.44
In modern European civilization one observes first of all the appearance of an art
which is no longer based on supra-individual inspiration but which expresses
more the individual rather than the universal order, an art which is
anthropomorphic rather than theocentric. Once such a humanistic art, tending
towards psychologization of the human subject became prevalent, especially in
painting, the language of Western art rapidly lost its traditional character …45
Following these remarks and in the light of the visionary insights gained through spiritual
endeavour, certain sacred works, often those not intended for public display – for
example certain books before the invention of printing such as the Philokalia, or some
gnostic documents, or certain icons intended as aids for private devotion – provide
experience of mystical truth that can be can be more or less direct. But in works
conceived on a grand scale such as sacred architecture or a cycle of paintings such as the
Bruegel series depicting the Months, the truth will be hidden, or partly hidden, by a veil.
But the veil will be of such beauty as to provoke the onlooker into a deeper search.
44
Nasr, S.H. “Religious Art, Traditional Art, Sacred Art: Some Reflections and Definitions” in Sofia A
Journal of traditional Studies, Vol. 2 No. 2, Winter 1966. p. 23.
45
Idem.
28
The experience of prolonged and intensive contemplative prayer or meditation shows that
when the inner life lacks a guiding principle there is no attention. The writings in the
Philokalia constantly remind us that our mind is ceaselessly occupied with imaginary
thoughts, conversations, emotional and dramatic scenarios that are playing in the
background of our psyche. „Thanks to the habit of turning among thoughts the mind is
easily led astray … is deceived and takes smoke for light.‟46 We occasionally glimpse
this and sense our attachment to it, but without applied attention we no longer notice it
and we do not notice its debilitating effect on our spirit. Not until we try to engage with
the disciplines of contemplative work, does it occur to us what a great task lies before us.
But when we internally become contemplative mystics we have become the companions
of the mythic heroes of tradition – from Theseus, the slayer of the Minotaur, to Frodo
Baggins, the Guardian of the Ring. Here, where the journey of the soul begins, we will
understand the language of Bruegel‟s imagery.
***
I express my heartfelt gratitude to Khalid Azzam and to Keith Critchlow for the unfailing
patience, help and encouragement they have extended to me.
R. C. C. T.
46
Saint Nilus of Sinai (d. 450) “Texts on Prayer” in Kadloubovsky and Palmer, Early Father from the
Philokalia. London; Faber, 1964, p. 135
29
Introduction 2.
The Numbering at Bethlehem
‘And there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed …
And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from
Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called
Bethlehem … to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.’1
Fig.1
Peter Bruegel the Elder, (1525-30 — 1569) The Numbering at Bethlehem, 1566. Oil on
wood 115.5 x 163.5 cm. Brussels, Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique.
1
Luke 2; 1-5
30
The Numbering at Bethlehem is a large panel in which Bruegel renders his vision of the
event described in the gospel of Saint Luke. The theme (apart from copies made in
Bruegel’s workshop) is rarely found in western art and Bruegel’s treatment of it is
enigmatic in that the event it purports to illustrate is partly hidden, or at least understated,
in the midst of a scenario, that although rich and intriguing as pictorial anecdote, seems
otherwise mundane.
The scene depicted is a typical event from contemporary Flemish village life. A tax
official has set up his desk at a prominent inn where a green wreath is displayed. Next to
it is a plaque decorated with the double-headed eagle, the Hapsburg insignia that gives
the tax-collector his authority.
31
Fig. 2
A disorderly crowd of citizens and peasants has already formed around him while
32
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
others, singly or in groups of two or three, arrive from further afield.
33
Fig. 5
Those who are able pay with money, while others must pay with goods.
Fig. 6
The season is winter and, in the snow and on the frozen river, villagers and children are
snowballing, skating, tobogganing and playing games on the ice. One notices how
Bruegel catches the moment where teenage exuberance turns to violence. (fig. 6).
34
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Other details depict events of everyday life. Outside another inn a fire has been lit,
possibly as a counter attraction to the tax office at the rival establishment. A group of
peasants crowd around it drinking and warming themselves.
35
Fig. 9
At the principal inn a delivery of wine is being made and two great barrels on carts are
parked in front of it.
Fig.10
While his two children look on, one impassively while his brother makes a football by
blowing up a pig’s bladder
36
Fig. 11
the innkeeper expertly slaughters a pig for roasting while his wife, holding out a pan to
catch its blood, instinctively flinches from the act of butchery
Fig. 12
There are other random details: a woodsman unloads a tree trunk from his cart,
organizing his strength under its weight.
37
Fig. 13
The smallest figure in the picture: a tiny child – quickly painted in a few deft strokes of
the brush – asserts her influence over a goose by waving her arms.
Fig. 14
A woman sweeps a path through the snow.
Fig. 15
Magpies perch on the top of a leafless tree.
38
Fig. 16
Oblivious of all the bustle and activity chickens peck away in the snow.
Fig. 17
It is evening and through the branches of the tree we see that the sun has already begun to
set.
39
In the foreground approaching the crowd around the inn is a family group: the man on
foot while after him come an ox and a young woman wrapped in a shawl and riding on a
donkey. Bruegel, showing us the saw he carries on his shoulder, tells us he is a carpenter.
Fig. 18
They are integrated into the composition so as to pass almost unnoticed. They do not
appear, at first, to have any special significance (fig. 18).
fig. 19
In the background, on one side, is a ruined castle now partly converted into a farmstead
(fig. 19)
41
Fig 20
and, in the corresponding place on the other side of the picture, there is a church but it is
far away. (fig.20).
The attitudes and gestures of the peasants grouped around the tax office are depicted with
a shrewd observation of human nature. Not only the physical attitude but the
psychological state of each figure is individually and accurately drawn and these are so
recognizable as to permit the viewer to speculate on the feelings and thoughts of each
figure.
42
Fig. 21
Directly before the government agent‟s table is a fussy, careful, well-dressed man in a
voluminous green coat (fig. 21). He is of some social rank for he wears a sword. His face
is not shown but the inclination of his upper body and the angle of his head convey the
considered attention he gives to the harsh business of paying the tax as, from the hand of
his proffered right arm, while his left securely clutches his purse to his body,
fig. 22
43
the silver coins precisely and painfully clink into the hand of the agent (fig. 22). We can
imagine the dismay of his companion, standing to his right, who suddenly realizes he has
overpaid; however, he will get neither recompense nor sympathy for his error.
Fig. 23
Behind him, dressed in a striped blanket, a Levantine tries to be cheerful (fig. 23). With
hands folded in front of his stomach he sways backwards with a sigh as though trying to
persuade himself that „things could be worse‟. (These were the years of violent political
and religious upheaval when atrocities were committed against heretics and also against
the Moors).
44
Fig. 24
Next in line, standing patiently, silent and resigned, is a worthy in a brown coat (fig. 24).
He is isolated and helpless in his misery at the thought of parting with his last good
money. Here, too, the state of mind is expressed through the attitude of the body.
45
Fig. 25
By his right shoulder are a couple of riffraff types (fig. 25). They are dressed as
landsknechter or mercenaries and their attitudes suggest swagger and vanity. In a few
days one of them will be helping the local military to massacre innocent children.51
51
See below where a similar figure appears in The Massacre of the Innocents p. 285 (fig. 6)
46
Fig. 26
Next to them, directly in front of the base of the tree, is a separate situation also to do
with money (fig. 26). By their clothes we know that they are not peasants, and Bruegel‟s
understanding of how psychological states and energies translate directly into postures
and attitudes enables him to depict what is going on, who the personnel are and what
their relationship is with each other. It is a pay-out. The chief beneficiary is apparently
the younger man in lilac-grey coat whose commanding stance gives him a presence that
dominates the other three. Whatever the deal is, they are disappointed but helpless.
47
Fig. 27
Fig. 28
Elsewhere in the crowd we see gawping stupidity and illiteracy (figs. 27, 28).
Fig. 29
48
Best dressed of all is the tax-collector in his magnificent fur-lined coat (fig. 29).
Unctuous, self-righteous and merciless, he takes the money while his ignorant and
underpaid clerk enters it up in the ledger — though probably not all of it.
Such is Bruegel‟s mastery: his observation of life, whether grim or comic, whether lighthearted or heavy, compels the viewer‟s interest and attention. All aspects of the human
psyche are depicted here with the precision of a specialist which may account for the
viewer‟s sense of recognition as he gazes at each person and enters into his life. The
viewer senses that Bruegel understands the reality of man‟s psyche, his interior world of
thoughts and feelings; but he also understands the body, the organic mechanisms of
movement and motor reflexes that constitute a complex of energies ranging from external
movement and gesture to the subtlest nuances of psychic energy. The pictorial force of
his realism may be explained by his practical understanding of the actions and the
energies of the laws of nature with their play on the lives of human beings.
There is a tradition that sees in a town or village a microcosm of humanity: the 150-odd
figures represented in it, in the sum total of their behaviour, represent the human
condition. Man struggles against the manifest forces of nature, represented here by the
harsh conditions of winter. He lives to gratify his immediate physical needs for warmth,
food, shelter, money, and the calls of nature (fig. 30).
49
Fig. 30
„Life‟ here, at first, appears to be restricted to the material level and terrestrial values. But
there is another life: a life that, according to the age-old religious idea of the ladder, by
which the divine can descend to Man and by which Man can ascend to God.52 But
because of Man‟s earthbound state of being, symbolized by Adam‟s fall, he is ignorant of
the higher realms which is why no one, not a single person in the painting, is aware of the
presence of the Holy Family in their midst.
52
See below, pp. 80-84 for an elaboration of Plotinus‟ cosmology. See also R. Temple, Icons and the
Mystical Origins of Christianity, (Element, 1990), pp. 35-50 for a summary of the idea of the cosmoses
with bibliography and references. Here the author is influenced by platonic cosmology as set out in the
Enneads of Plotinus. For a modern version see P.D. Ouspensky, In Search of the Miraculous, Fragments of
an Unknown Teaching; London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1950, especially Ch. V, pp. 82-98.
50
Fig. 31
The key figure of Mary is in contrast to everything else in the picture (fig. 31). Her
presence reflects the stillness of the evening and the idea of what she represents, what she
holds within her (symbolized by the basket she holds), adds an altogether new, but
invisible, dimension to the whole scene.
51
Fig. 32
We see her wrapped against the harsh weather; but from her lowered eyes and the slight
inclination of her head we have the impression that she is entirely self-contained (fig. 32).
Unlike everyone else she has no external concerns.
52
Fig. 33
It does not seem that Bruegel is painting a religious picture or even a history picture; his
interest in anecdote and eye for details of behaviour, the precision of his look on the
world, take us beyond the conventions of pious art. And yet the theme of the picture is
taken from the Gospel. It has been suggested that Bruegel satirizes the holy text but
though he does indeed appear to satirize the life of humanity, his treatment of Mary is
different. She is a woman concentrated within herself (fig. 33). She does not participate
in all the folly of the world, her interiorized state corresponds to one of contemplation
and prayer: „I practice silence…I enter a state where my senses and my thoughts are
53
concentrated … with prolonging of this silence the turmoil of memories is stilled in my
heart‟.53
She appears in the world as the bringer of the truth whose origin issues from a higher
level in the cosmos than that of the surrounding humanity. Nobody sees her; indeed
everybody has their back to her or looks away from her. Even we, the onlookers, do not
notice them at first and could easily spend ten or twenty minutes „enjoying‟ the painting
without ever doing so. Such is Bruegel‟s method that, as we shall see, when he wants to
emphasise an idea he hides it or, rather, he partly hides it. All are engaged in their own
activity, oblivious of anything else. Only in the movements of the little donkey on which
she sits and the gentle ox that accompanies them is there an absence of agitation that
corresponds to her modesty and stillness. Here, Bruegel follows the prophecy of Isaiah
„The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master‟s crib; but Israel doth not know, my
people do not consider... they are gone away backward‟.54
On a later occasion Christ will enter the city (of Jerusalem) in triumph; here Christ, or the
idea of the 'Christ within' arrives not in triumph but unnoticed. „The people‟ (Israel) do
not see what is in their midst.
On this scenario of the human condition the sun sets. According to biblical context it is
the end of the day, the last day of the ancient order. In a few hours a great drama in
history will begin. When the sun rises tomorrow, it will be the dawn of a new era, a new
53
St Isaac of Syria (6th cent.) from “Direction on Spiritual Training” in Kadloubovsky and Palmer, Early
Fathers from the Philokalia. London: Faber. 1964, p. 207)
54
Is. I; 3-4
54
equinoctial age. All nature is hushed as if holding its breath to see if anyone will notice,
if anyone will turn his head, will glance up even for a second. The sun, the earth and all
the planets, including — although we do not see it here — a new star to be seen for the
first time tonight, align themselves in readiness for the great event, a drama of the
universe of which only humanity is oblivious.
The ruined castle in the background of the picture can be read as a symbol of emptiness.
It has been interpreted as a reference to the destructive and oppressive forces of the
Spanish military occupation of the Netherlands. While this may be so, it may also have a
more psychological meaning. In mediaeval country life, the local castle played a
significant part in the life of the peasants. It signified security in contrast to the precarious
conditions of the life of ordinary people. The castle offered protection in times of war and
food in times of want; its lord owned the land on which the villagers worked and could
influence the individual direction of anyone's life. Thus, both actually and symbolically,
the castle stood as a bastion of strength, security and authority. But this castle is in ruins,
destroyed by man's folly and greed, and the people are leaderless, with no one to direct
their lives, with no immediate discipline and authority. Once again Bruegel, depicting a
psychological condition, is following Isaiah‟s vision: „Your country is desolate, your
cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is
desolate...‟55 Could the way Bruegel depicts the church, and its correspondence in the
composition to the ruined castle, be his way of saying that the church is ineffectual? It
55
Isaiah I, 7
55
will be demonstrated later that, as a follower of Hendrick Niclaes, that would indeed
have been his view.56
Fig. 34
Bruegel has given prominence to the innkeeper (fig. 34). We do not see his face but, in
his attitude, Bruegel has caught his character. He is a man with a grasp on life. He and his
wife and their two sturdy children are comparatively well dressed; he is probably
something of a disciplinarian and commands respect in the community. He runs a
56
See below, p. 254
56
thriving business and we see him at a peak moment of trade with a great number of
customers to keep satisfied. Probably he has some deal arranged with the tax officials for
the increase in business they bring; perhaps a percentage of the day’s takings and free bed
and board while they are there. (We know from the testimony of the gospels that all the
rooms are let on this particular night). He is a man who appears knows his business; not
dishonest but knowing every trick in the book and so very capable of looking after
himself. In fact, he is good at his job. We can imagine what sort of place he has: well run,
clean and with good service. And yet this man, so much a man of the world, a good
citizen, a good father, an honest tradesman – whose profession symbolises hospitality misses the greatest opportunity of his life; the greatest opportunity ever offered to an
innkeeper in all history.
The moment passes, and no one, neither the innkeeper nor anyone else, is aware of it.
Man is oblivious because he is intent on the immediate moment with which he is
completely identified, to which he gives himself up entirely. He is the blind slave of
circumstances that dictate his life but which he cannot question. Bruegel shows us this in
the character of all those depicted in the picture. They are not there for our amusement,
neither are they, primarily, a demonstration of Bruegel’s exceptional artistry. These gifts
are used to serve what Bruegel serves: namely, the Truth. At the same time, through the
way he alludes to the cosmic dimension by including both the sun, the centre of the solar
system, and Mary, through whom God Absolute appears on Earth, he suggests the
invisible and higher reality through which humanity can relate to the divine.
57
Fig. 35
He brings to the viewer’s attention the man in a red cap closing the shutter of his window
(fig. 35). We see this vignette on the first floor of the inn in the foreground just above the
crowd around the tax-collector. This is unlikely to be an incidental detail without
meaning; the moment is too powerful. The half-seen figure and the mystery of the
darkened room behind him attract our curiosity. There is an intent and purpose in his
gesture that suggests the willfulness with which he shuts himself into darkness in the face
of the approaching sacrament. He is incapable of recognising his need for salvation and
so cannot grasp its proximity.
Bruegel not only gives it a prominence in pictorial terms, he even emphasizes it by
repeating it elsewhere in the picture
58
Fig. 34
at the window just above the fire outside the second inn (fig. 34). Here the image is tiny;
hard to see even in the original work and more or less impossible to find in reproductions.
Only its symbolic meaning could explain its visual significance.
The carts with hogsheads of wine occupy a central place in the composition and it can be
suggested that what they symbolize relates to the painting's deeper levels of meaning. In
Germany and Flanders there still exists the ancient custom of decorating the wine-houses
with green branches for the festival of new wine which occurs in December. This is the
probable explanation of the green wreath outside the inn. Traditionally, wine symbolizes
‘eternal life, like that divine intoxication of the soul hymned by Greek and Persian poets
which enables man to partake, for a fleeting moment, of the mode of being attributed to
the gods’.57 In the Old Testament, wine represents God’s eternal gift to Man: ‘he sendeth
wine to make glad the heart of Man’.58 The arrival of the new wine suggests here the
arrival of Christ’s New Testament, the new or higher truth that will supersede the old.59
In this connection it is interesting to remember the first of Christ's miracles, recounted in
the Fourth Gospel where, immediately after the prologue, it begins the account of
57
Cirlot. Dictionary of Symbols, London 1962.
Psalm 104:15.
59
See Maurice Nicoll, The New Man, London 1950, pp. 33-35 passim.
58
59
Christ’s life with the changing of water into wine at the marriage feast at Cana, thus
establishing his ministry in the world, as the higher truth. Bruegel’s treatment of this
theme will be discussed in a later section.60
Already in this commentary are the main themes that will be explored in this thesis.

The necessity for hiding the important idea. This principle leads to the esoteric
tradition which this essay will suggest flows through the history of ideas and
through Bruegel’s paintings via the Perennial Philosophy. We shall trace this
from Plato and the later Platonic schools (sometimes called Neoplatonists),
through the schools of Hellenistic thought that immediately preceded
Christianity and which succeeded Christianity in Gnostic schools and in socalled ‘heretical’ ideas that existed in Europe until the 16th century and later,
despite intense persecution, under different names but always following in the
direction of the same primordial truth.

One of these was a movement known as the Family of Love or House of Love
(Domus Caritatis, Huis der Lief) that had grown out of the New Devotion and
from the mystics, such as Meister Eckhart, of the 14th century. It was founded
by Hendrik Niclaes and several of Bruegel’s close associates were part of a
small, close-knit fellowship of Familists known as the Hiël Group.
60
See below, The Marriage at Cana, p. 332 ff
60

Bruegel’s visual references to biblical texts, from both Old and New
Testaments, suggest a profound psychological and spiritual understanding of
Christianity far from the politicized positions of the institutionalized churches
on either side of the Reformation divide. Here is the idea of the ‘invisible
church’ whose ideas belong to what has been called esoteric Christianity.

Bruegel is a student of the human condition which he observes with biting
sarcasm and grim humour. His eye for truth and the basic realities that
motivate human behaviour is relentless and uncompromising yet he is never
without compassion. He shows us what all great religious and philosophical
teachers have shown: that Man is inwardly asleep, enslaved by the
circumstances of his life and blinded by them. But he sees this (and calls us to
see it too) from the point of view of man’s possible liberation. He understands
not only that Man must awaken, he shows us the ideas and the method by
which this can be done.

Much of humanity’s difficulty comes from his loss of knowledge of a life
higher than his own. He has forgotten the existence of the higher world though
Bruegel never omits this dimension even though humans are oblivious to it.
The viewpoint in the paintings is nearly always from tree-top height.
Everything in the paintings takes place under invisible and higher influences
acting through the laws of nature and of the cosmos. Corresponding to the
61
cosmic dimension is the painter’s knowledge of Man’s inner world (the
microcsomos) and its possibilities that lead to knowledge of higher and lower
psychical levels or states of being.

The depiction of Mary as a person in a concentrated, interiorized state shows
something of the practical method for realizing an active relationship between
God and a human being. It is as though she followed the injunction of
Albertus Magnus:
When thou prayest, shut thy door – that is the door of thy senses.
Keep them barred and bolted against all phantasms and images ...
Do not think about the world, or thy friends, nor about the past,
present or future; but consider thyself to be outside the world and
alone with God, as if thy soul were already separated from the
body and had no longer any interest in peace or war or the state of
the world. Leave the body and fix thy gaze on the uncreated light.
Let nothing come between thee and God.61

For Bruegel the crowd populating a town, such as Bethlehem, is a symbol for a
person. In sacred tradition a city or a town is an allegory for a person, its
inhabitants denoting different sides of his or her character. The author of The
Teaching of Silvanus is referring to psychological states and events when he
employs the symbol of the city as an analogy for the inner life:
61
For the full quotation see below p. 148.
62
Throw every robber out of your gates. Guard all your gates with
torches … he who will not guard these … will become like a city
which is desolate since it has been captured, and all kinds of wild
beasts have trampled on it. For thoughts which are not good are
evil wild beasts. And your city will be filled with robbers and you
will not be able to acquire peace but only all kinds of savage wild
beasts … the whole city, which is your soul, will perish …
Remove all these … bring in your guide and your teacher. The
mind is the guide, but reason is the teacher.62
The ruined castle in the background of the painting could be an expression of this
idea. Bruegel, as we shall show, was almost certainly a follower of Hendrik
Niclaes for whom ‘The City is a spiritual City of Life’.63
The first part of this thesis will consider a body of philosophical and religious ideas that
developed parallel to, but sometimes independently from, the theology of the established
church. Its origins are diverse and some are older than historical Christianity. An example
of such alternative thought are the ideas of the Gnostic schools of the 2nd and 3rd centuries
which, despite severe repression, were periodically revived, for example, by the Cathars
62
63
‘Teaching of Silvanus’, Nag Hammadi Library in English, p.347
See below, p. 398
63
in the 12th century. Gnostic interpretations of the account of the Fall provide a view of
why the general life of humanity is condemned to exist far from the higher cosmic plane
that is the soul’s true abode.64 It is also clear that it is from this terrestrial plane, so far
from God, that the ‘return’, through the search for redemption, begins. Here, Bruegel
appears to follow such an alternative mystical tradition by taking the concepts of the Fall
and Redemption as psychical levels or states of being and that it is from the point of view
of such ideas that he observes the human condition. Spiritually, Man is enslaved, and the
condition of his slavery is both psychological and cosmological. Psychological, because
of the neglected possibilities lying dormant in the psyche (the microcosm); cosmological,
because of the low place in the universe in which he lives.
A characteristic of esoteric tradition in interpreting the gospel is the emphasis on the idea
that the events described are not only historical but also taking place in the present
moment; that they are not only geographical but also located in the inner life of the
individual. In this context Meister Eckhart speaks thus about Christmas: ‘Here in time,
we are celebrating the eternal birth which God the Father bore and bears unceasingly in
eternity’ (Sermon One). Also St Augustine: ‘What does it avail me that this birth is
always happening, if it does not happen in me?’65 From this point of view, Tradition
takes the higher meaning of the Numbering at Bethlehem to be an event in the journey of
self-realisation. Thus this experience exists as a possibility in the life of all men at all
times; that is why the literal understanding of time is suspended here. What happened
64
See Geddes MacGregor, Gnosis: a Renaissance in Christian Thought, Illinois, Madras, London: Quest
Books, 1979, pp. 21, 45; Jonas, H. The Gnostic Religion: The Message of an Alien God and the Beginnings
of Christianity. Boston: Beacon Press, 1958, p. 214 ff; also G. R. S. Mead, Fragments of a Faith Forgotten,
(London 1900).
65
M. O’C. Walshe, Meister Eckhart, Sermons ad Treatises, Vol. 1. p. 1., London, 1979.
64
'then' is also happening 'now' and 'now' always exists. These truths are perennial and the
questions to which they relate are outside time, that is to say they are permanently
present, now. Bruegel succeeds in bringing us this perennial vision because, in the
picture, time has stopped: suddenly and at an unexpected moment with everyone frozen
into the attitude which he held. It gives Bruegel – and us – an opportunity to see people
exactly as they are at that moment. It has the effect of reminding us that the situation is a
constant one and that the problem it reveals is as relevant today as it was on the first
Christmas Eve. In other words, by updating the environment of the first Christmas Eve,
Bruegel makes it contemporary and relevant as a real and personal question and not just a
historical event.
Contemplation of the painting’s inner meaning can confront the viewer with the question:
Am I the innkeeper? Bethlehem and its inhabitants symbolically represent contemporary
humanity and, since each man spiritually typifies humanity, it can be thought of as a
representation of the inner self: all the different figures in the picture represent
characteristics of the self. No one is free from the doubt, vanity, stupidity, ignorance,
self-importance – the full spectrum of the human condition that is portrayed here.
According to the wisdom of the Perennial Philosophy, all these characteristics are to be
found in the multiplicity of an individual’s nature and no seeker of reality can long avoid
this truth.
65
The second part of the thesis, analyzing the paintings, will show that Bruegel’s images
represent a teaching – we have called it the Perennial Philosophy – that sees three stages
in the spiritual journey of humanity.
1. Man asleep: the majority, unconsciously going about their worldly affairs – war
and politics or the pursuit of domestic, material and local needs.
The Numbering, The Adoration and The Massacre of the Innocents, deal
mainly with the ignorance and tragedy of man asleep and his inability to
comprehend even the idea man can awaken. The world of man asleep is
barbaric and chaotic. The Road to Calvary continues with this theme of
man enslaved by the forces of nature of which he has no knowledge. In
this picture Bruegel introduces clues about the necessary conditions for
awakening.
2. Man awake: represented pictorially as Christ sometimes with his Mother and
the apostles.
The members of Christ’s personal entourage in The Road to Calvary are
shown to be on a higher level than the mass of humanity bound to the
wheel of life. In the painting this is represented socially and
topographically but it has to be understood allegorically.66
66
See below, p. 302
66
3. Man in the process of awakening.
The next two pictures, The Harvesters and The Fall of Icarus, show us
man overcoming his passivity; he works: utilizing his intelligence and
innate faculties so that nature and the elements serve him; he becomes
their master and not their slave. What Bruegel actually depicts –
harvesting, ploughing etc. – are to be understood as symbols of spiritual
work: prayer, meditation, raising the level of consciousness.
Finally, in the (we suggest wrongly titled) Peasant Wedding Feast,
Bruegel reveals the miracle of inner transformation, of which water
changing into wine is a symbol, by which inner awakening for a person
can happen.
The reference to Bruegel’s Road to Calvary mentioned the wheel of life. This universal
symbolic idea, well known to Buddhists as Samsara, passes into European thought and
the Perennial Philosophy through the Neo-Platonists. ‘To Pythagoreans, the soul is
immortal. When a body dies, the soul ascends to the One. After a judgment period, the
67
soul is allowed to descend and enter into another body and reside. This movement is
circular, and Neo-Platonists therefore conceptualized all souls as on a wheel of life’.67
The Wheel of Life was widely depicted by artists and writers throughout the Middle
Ages. The theme appears to have been introduced in around 520 by Boethius in his
Consolation of Philosophy.68 Dante, for example, offers a description of the way that
Fortune influences human lives.
No mortal power may stay her spinning wheel.
The nations rise and fall by her decree.
None may foresee where she will set her heel:
She passes, and things pass. Man's mortal reason
cannot encompass her. She rules her sphere
as the other gods rule theirs.
Season by season her changes change her changes endlessly,
and those whose turn has come press on her so, she must be swift by hard necessity.69
Shakespeare frequently depicts Fortune as a wheel: ‘Fortune good night: smile once
more: turn thy wheel!70 ‘And turn the giddy round of Fortune's wheel’; 71 ‘Fortune's
furious fickle wheel.’72
67
See The Relationship between Neoplatonic Aesthetics and Early Medieval Music Theory: The Ascent to
the One (Part 1) by Glen Wegge (http://www.musictheoryresources.com/members/MTA_1_2.htm)
68
Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy, tr. V.E. Watts (Penguin, 1969).
Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy (translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow).
http://www.everypoet.com/Archive/poetry/dante/dante. Inferno VII 82-90
70
Kent in Lear, act 2 scene 2
71
Rape of Lucrecia (stanza 136).
69
68
A 14th century miniature shows Fortune turning the wheel (fig. 35).on which humans rise
and fall in a figure whose principle elements occur on the 10th card of Major Arcana the
Tarot.73
Fig. 35
72
Henry V act 3, scene 6.
73
Wheel of Fortune, 1342, Pisan School, from Ammaestramenti degli Antichi by Bartholomeo da Santa
Concordio in Pettrocchi, George ed., Scrittori religiosi del Trecento, Sansoni, Florence 1974.
69
Of interest in this connection is the 14th century
Greco-Romanesque Cross located in front of the
Church of St. Nicholas at Gambatesa in South
Italy. This Cross, extracted from a single block of
solid stone, is inscribed in a wheel by undulating
curved lines. On one face of the Cross is the
crucified Christ with the Madonna, St. John and a
skull; on the other face is the triumphant Christ
who gives a blessing, surrounded by the symbols
of the Four Evangelists. The Cross, by its
structure and carving, recalls the typical Celtic stone crosses with their wheels around the
crucifix (fig. 36).74
Writers on symbolism necessarily draw on the wide range of allusions and references: the
‘Wheel of Life’, the ‘Wheel of Fortune’ and the ‘Wheel of the Year’ with their zodiacal
and cosmological implications. ‘[The wheel] is, therefore, a symbolic synthesis of the
activity of cosmic forces and the passage of time’.75
We note that Bruegel places a wheel in the relatively empty space at the centre of his
painting (fig. 37) at the point where the two main diagonal movements of the
composition intersect (fig. 38). Furthermore, the image of the wheel is repeated more
than twenty times in the picture.
74
75
http://www.roangelo.net/gambatesa/
J.E. Cirlot, A Dictionary of Symbols, London, 1962, p. 351
70
Fig. 37
Fig. 38
71
Part I. The Perennial Philosophy
Chapter 1. Theory of the Perennial Philosophy and Esotericism
Modern writers on the Perennial Philosophy
Throughout the 20th century a number of influential writers revived the idea, well known
in antiquity and in Renaissance times, of the Philosophia Perennis.1 According to this
idea there exists a universal source of wisdom and knowledge common to philosophical
and religious traditions throughout all ages. It is regarded as the fountain of primordial
truth higher than man and said to reflect divine consciousness and eternal realities. The
idea was first popularized by Aldous Huxley more than 60 years ago. His book The
Perennial Philosophy is a collation of sayings and commentaries demonstrating a
concordance of thought among the great religious teachers and philosophers of all ages
and different traditions.2 Whitall Perry, responding to A. K. Coomaraswamy‟s remark
that „the time is coming when a Summa of the Philosophia Perennis will have to be
written‟, published in 1971 his Treasury of Spiritual Wisdom, an 1100-page anthology of
quotations and sayings from Hindu, Buddhist, Greek, Hermetic, Jewish, Christian and
Gnostic wisdom where the reader, according to the Introduction, „will encounter the
heritage he shares with all humanity‟.3 Huxley‟s own definition of the perennial
1
A useful overview of modern writers on the perennial philosophy is William W. Quinn, Jr., The Only
Tradition, SUNY, 1997. The book is an introduction to the work of René Guénon, A.K. Coomaraswamy,
Frithjof Schuon , Charles B. Schmitt and others. See also J. Needleman ed., The Sword of Gnosis,
Baltimore, 1974
2
Aldous Huxley, The Perennial Philosophy, Harper and Brothers 1945. Another good introduction is
Huston Smith, Forgotten Truth: The Primordial Tradition. New York: Harper & Row, 1977.
3
Whitall Perry, Treasury of Spiritual Wisdom, George Allen and Unwin, 1971. A.K. Coomaraswamy
(1877-1947), “a cardinal figure in Twentieth-century art history and in the cultural confrontation between
East and West,” (Princeton University Press Bollingen Series LXXXIX Vol. I Coomaraswamy: Traditional
72
philosophy is: „the metaphysic that recognizes a divine Reality substantial to the world of
things and lives and minds; the psychology that finds in the soul something similar to, or
even identical with, divine Reality; the ethic that places man's final end in the knowledge
of the immanent and transcendent Ground of all being – the thing is immemorial and
universal. Rudiments of the Perennial Philosophy may be found among the traditional
lore of primitive peoples in every region of the world, and in its fully developed forms it
has a place in every one of the higher religions.‟4
W. T. S. Thackara, the theosophical writer, states that:
The idea of a perennial philosophy, of a common denominator rather, a highest
common factor – forming the basis of truth in the world's manifold religious,
philosophic, and scientific systems of thought, goes back thousands of years at
least. Cicero, for example, speaking about the existence of the soul after death,
mentions that not only does he have the authority of all antiquity on his side, as
well as the teachings of the Greek Mysteries and of nature, but that "these things
are of old date, and have, besides, the sanction of universal religion".5
Thackara, laying out the basic foundations of the Perennial Philosophy, lists the
following tenets:
Art and Symbolism, Vol. II Coomaraswamy: Metaphysics, Vol. III Coomaraswamy: His Life and Work).
He was described by Heinrich Zimmer as “that noble scholar upon whose shoulders we are still standing.”
4
Aldous Huxley, The Perennial Philosophy, Harper & Brothers, 1945; p. vii.
5
Tusculan Disputations, C. D. Yonge, trans., George Bell & Sons, 1904; Book I, xii-xiv. The author is W.
W.T.S. Thackara writing in Sunrise Magazine, April/May 1984. Copyright © 1984 by Theosophical
University Press.
73
1. This phenomenal world of matter and individual consciousness is only a partial
reality and is the manifestation of a Divine Ground in which all partial realities
have their being.
2. It is of the nature of man that not only can he have knowledge of this Divine
Ground by inference, but also he can realize it by direct intuition, superior to
discursive reason, in which the knower is in some way united with the known.
3. The nature of man is not a single but a dual one. He has not one but two selves,
the phenomenal ego, of which he is chiefly conscious and which he tends to
regard as his true self, and a non-phenomenal, eternal self, an inner man, the
spirit, the spark of divinity within him, which is his true self. It is possible for a
man, if he so desires and is prepared to make the necessary effort, to identify
himself with his true self and so with the Divine Ground, which is of the same or
like nature.
4. It is the chief end of man's earthly existence to discover and identify himself
with his true self. By doing so, he will come to an intuitive knowledge of the
Divine Ground and so apprehend Truth as it really is, and not as to our limited
human perceptions it appears to be. Not only that, he will enter into a state of
being which has been given different names: eternal life, salvation,
enlightenment, etc.
Further, the Perennial Philosophy rests on two fundamental convictions:
74
1. Though it may be to a great extent atrophied and exist only potentially in most
men, men possess an organ or faculty which is capable of discerning spiritual
truth, and, in its own spheres, this faculty is as much to be relied on as are other
organs of sensation in theirs.
2. In order to be able to discern spiritual truth men must in their essential nature
be spiritual; in order to know That which they call God, they must be, in some
way, partakers of the divine nature; potentially at least there must be some kinship
between God and the human soul. Man is not a creature set over against God. He
participates in the divine life; he is, in a real sense, 'united' with God in his
essential nature, for, as the Flemish contemplative, the Blessed John Ruysbroeck,
put it: “This union is within us of our naked nature and were this nature to be
separated from God it would fall into nothingness.”
Thackara‟s reference to the greatest of the Flemish mystics in the 14th century is apt for
the ideas that will be developed in this study. In looking at the intellectual and spiritual
background to the ideas that may have influenced Bruegel and even played a formative
part in his inner world, we shall come across Gerard Groote (1340-1384) who venerated
Ruysbroek and who is considered the founder of the Brethren of the Common Life and of
the Devotio Moderna, the religious movement that contributed so significantly to the
Protestant Reformation.6 Through Groote, Ruysbroeck's influence helped to mould the
spirit of the Windesheim School, which in the next generation found its most famous
6
See below, p. 153
75
exponent in Thomas à Kempis whose writings, the Imitatio Christi, together with the
Theologica Germanica, will be considered at length.7 Thackara continues:
This is the faith of the mystic. It springs out of his particular experience and his
reflection on that experience. It implies a particular view of the nature of the
universe and of man, and it seems to conflict with other conceptions of the nature
of the universe and of man which are also the result of experience and reflection
in it.
There is a poem by the late Latin poet and philosopher, Boethius, which,
translated, opens as follows: „This discord in the pact of things,/ This endless war
'twixt truth and truth,/ That singly held, yet give the lie/To him who seeks to hold
them both ...‟ In the world, constituted as it is, men are faced not with one single
truth but with several 'truths,' not with one but with several pictures of reality.
They are thus conscious of a 'discord in the pact of things,' whereby to hold to one
'truth' seems to be to deny another. One part of their experience draws to one,
another to another. It has been the eternal quest of mankind to find the one
ultimate Truth, that final synthesis in which all partial truths are resolved. It may
be that the mystic has glimpsed this synthesis.8
William W. Quinn, a contemporary writer on the Perennial Philosophy, says „Recorded
history evidences the existence of an esoteric, primordial tradition based upon a set of a
7
See below p. 167 ff. For notes on Groote‟s relationship with Ruysbroeck see
http://www.bookrags.com/biography-gerard-groote/
8
http://www.theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/world/general/ge-wtst.htm
76
priori and immutable first principles, true now as always, which in all places and at all
times have had expositors.‟9 His book is an exposition of the ideas of René Guénon, of
Ananda Coomaraswamy and, to an extent, of Frithjof Schuon.10 It partly attempts to place
these men and their thought in relation to that of more conventional academic and
professional 20th-century philosophers and, more importantly, demonstrates the
significance of the great historical beacons of light that Guénon, Coomaraswamy and
their associates set out to rekindle. Following philosophical tradition, e.g. Origen‟s De
Principiis,11 well known to students of early Christianity, Quinn lists the following „first
principles‟ of the Perennial Philosophy:
1. The Absolute and the One: „Being is one, or rather it is metaphysical Unity
itself...‟ (Guénon);
9
William W. Quinn, Jr., The Only Tradition, SUNY, 1997, p. xiv
10
Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy (1877 - 1947 Needham, Massachusetts) was the son of the famous Sri
Lankan legislator and philosopher Sir Mutu Coomaraswamy and his English wife Elizabeth Beeby. He
became a pioneering historian and philosopher of Indian art, and a great interpreter of Indian culture to the
West. He was also a tireless campaigner for the regeneration of Hinduism. In 1917, he became the first
Keeper of Indian art at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. He stressed the spiritual element in Indian art
… Along with René Guénon and Frithjof Schuon, Coomaraswamy is regarded as one of the three founders
of the Traditionalist School. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ananda_Coomaraswamy). René Guénon (18861951) was a French-born author, philosopher, and social critic of the early 20th century. He was the
founder of the Traditionalist School. (http://www.answers.com/topic/ren-gu-non). Frithjof Schuon (19071998), is best known as the foremost spokesman of the religio perennis and as a philosopher in the
metaphysical current of Shankara and Plato. Over the past 50 years, he has written more than 20 books on
metaphysical, spiritual and ethnic themes as well as having been a regular contributor to journals on
comparative religion in both Europe and America. Schuon's writings have been consistently featured and
reviewed in a wide range of scholarly and philosophical publications around the world, respected by both
scholars and spiritual authorities. (http://www.worldwisdom.com)
11
Origen “De Principiis” in Nicene and Ante-Nicene Fathers, Ser. II, Vol I: The Church History.
http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/
77
2. Aeviternity: eternal existence, everlasting, immanent duration; the eternal
present as discussed in the Timaeus;
3. Periodicity: ebb and flow; flux and reflux; day and night; life and death; „An
absolutely fundamental law of the Universe‟;
4. Duality (or polarity): quoting Coomaraswamy: „every [traditional] ontological
formulation affirms the Duality of Unity and the Unity of Duality‟;
5. Cause and Effect (Karma): action, or action and reaction;
6. Gnosis: intellectual intuition. „In the hierarchy of subtle bodies ... the highest is
the seat of intellectual intuition‟.12
It will appear from what follows that the body of material, accumulated over more than
two thousand years, which may be described as the western mystical tradition, overlaps
or coincides with the ideas of the Perennial Philosophy. Thackara states that „Not only
have mystics been found in all ages, in all parts of the world and in all religious systems,
but also mysticism has manifested itself in similar or identical forms wherever the
mystical consciousness has been present. Because of this it has sometimes been called the
Perennial Philosophy‟.13
The historian of religious mysticism Professor Rufus Jones says „I use the word
mysticism to express the type of religion which puts the emphasis on immediate
12
13
William W. Quinn, Jr., The Only Tradition, SUNY, 1997
Thackara, op. cit.
78
awareness of God, on direct and immediate consciousness of the Divine Presence.14 It is
religion in its most acute, intense and living stage … Religion of this mystical type is not
confined to Christianity, but belongs, in some degree, to all forms of religion.‟15 From
which the author‟s sympathy for the idea of the Perennial Philosophy can be inferred
though the term was not in current use at the time (1909) that he was writing. Jones also
emphasizes the idea of tradition‟s continuous chain: „There has been a continuous
prophetical procession, a mystical brotherhood through the centuries, of those who have
lived by the soul‟s immediate vision … The Church … has always had beneath its system
of organization and dogma a current, more or less hidden and subterranean, of vital,
inward, spiritual religion, dependant for its power of conviction, not on books, councils,
hierarchies or creeds…but upon the soul‟s experience of eternal Realities.‟16 Elsewhere,
like many authors sympathetic to the idea of the Perennial Philosophy, he speaks of an
unbroken succession of teachers, or, as they themselves called it „a Hermaic chain‟17
from Plotinus to the closing of the Athenian Academy of Philosophy by order of Justinian
in the year 529. In the latter period it had fallen under such corrupting influences as
superstition and magic – „But the successive masters in the long line of Neoplatonic
thought kept burning the torch which Plato had lighted, and passed it for the Christian
scholars to take up when they were ready for it.‟18
14
Rufus Matthew Jones (1863-1948), American philosopher, mystical scholar, Quaker historian and social
reformer, M.A, Harvard in 1901. He was the author of over 50 monographs; a world traveller, Jones met
with Mahatma Gandhi at his ashram in India, and spoke with religious leaders in China and Japan.
15
Rufus M Jones, Studies in Mystical Religion, Macmillan, 1909, p. xv
Jones, p. xiv
17
Today he would have said „hermetic‟.
18
Jones p. 77
16
79
This definition of mysticism is close to that of Eckhart‟s translator, M. O‟C. Walsh, who
affirms that it is „very ancient‟ and „found in the religious traditions of the whole world.‟
The specifically Christian mystical tradition with some certainty can be traced back to
Alexandria. Its direct source was the Neoplatonism of Plotinus (ca. 204-270), who in
his Enneads taught that all things emanate from the One, the return to which can be
achieved by the contemplative path of detachment from all compounded things and a
turning to „pure simplicity‟. Neoplatonism was incorporated into Christian thought by
the anonymous writer who called himself Dionysius the Areopagite (ca. 500), who
pretended to be St Paul‟s Athenian disciple (Acts 17:34), and by his Latin translator
John Scotus Erigena (ca. 810-880).19
Thackara claims that „the most comprehensive modern presentation of "theosophia
perennis," with proofs of its diffusion throughout the world in every age, may be found in
the writings of H. P. Blavatsky, in particular in her magnum opus, The Secret Doctrine,
subtitled "The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and Philosophy." Taught herself by more
advanced students of the theosophic tradition, she wrote that
The teachings, however fragmentary and incomplete, contained in these volumes,
belong neither to the Hindu, the Zoroastrian, the Chaldean, nor the Egyptian
religion, neither to Buddhism, Islam, Judaism nor Christianity exclusively. The
Secret Doctrine is the essence of all these. Sprung from it in their origins, the
various religious schemes are now made to merge back into their original
19
M. O‟C. Walsh, Meister Eckhart, Sermons and Treatises, Vol. I, London 1979, p.xiii
80
element, out of which every mystery and dogma has grown, developed, and
become materialized‟.20
*****
What follows is an outline connecting the history of some of these ideas from Plato until
the 16th century. This outline is intended to show that there runs throughout European
religious thought, often hidden like an underground stream, though always known to exist
if at times only by a few, a current of mystical philosophy whose source is regarded as
higher than human reason and which is the original and pure wisdom common to the
great philosophical and religious traditions. In particular – and this will be a main
argument of this thesis – it provides a key to a body of Christian ideas that has often been
regarded by the theological authorities of the Church either as heresy or on the margins of
orthodoxy. It will be suggested that ideas that resonate with the Perennial Philosophy
provide a way of understanding the hidden (or partly hidden) deeper meaning of the
paintings of Peter Bruegel the Elder.
It will be shown later that Bruegel was a student of the idea that man has „not one but two
selves, the phenomenal ego, of which he is chiefly conscious and which he tends to
regard as his true self, and a non-phenomenal, eternal self, an inner man, the spirit, the
spark of divinity within him, which is his true self‟ and that he devoted his art to
exploring the possibility given to human beings of making the transition from the one to
20
H. P. Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine I, Originally published 1888. Theosophical University Press
electronic version ISBN 1-55700-124-3, p. viii
81
the other. The Perennial Philosophy has many images for this process: „awakening from
sleep‟, „death‟ (i.e. dying to self) and „re-birth‟, „Fall and Redemption‟, „unconsciousness
and consciousness‟ and many others. The idea will be put forward, for example, in an
analysis of Bruegel‟s famously enigmatic The Fall of Icarus that the two principle figures
in the composition, the ploughman and the shepherd, represent the essential duality in
human nature.21
Esotericism
This essay will suggest that certain ideas today discredited by current scientific thinking
or considered heretical by the Church only became decadent in the later stages of their
development. What has been overlooked or forgotten is that they were pure in their
original form. It is possible to trace the origin of certain ideas to what students of the
Perennial Philosophy regard as sources of universal wisdom. Schools, under such names
as Gnosticism, Alchemy, Masonry, Theosophy, Occultism and so on, once originated
from teachings that studied aspects of revealed teaching allegorically and
psychologically, applying them to the inner or psychical part of a person rather than the
material part. If we trace such ideas, both orthodox and non-orthodox, back to their
source we may see that many of them originated as teachings of truth and wisdom that
were later adapted by people who unknowingly distorted them through misunderstanding
or who used them to advance their own ambitions. Later still, they are appropriated by
outright charlatans. According to the Perennial Philosophy the great sages and prophets
21
See below, p. 322
82
who had access to wisdom also took steps to protect their knowledge from such
depredation. They hid, or at least tried to hide, knowledge where only those worthy and
pure in spirit could find it. Such hiding is the basis of the esoteric method whereby
allegories and symbols of higher truth are embedded in works of art and literature –
including folk art and folk literature – where the ideas they stand for will seem harmless.
Here, the term Perennial Philosophy, together with the terms mysticism and Primordial
Tradition (sometimes shortened to Tradition) will be used to refer to the original,
unadulterated and uncorrupted truths of the universe revealed to humanity through the
great sages of wisdom and enlightenment. Esotericism and its language of allegorical
symbolism will be understood as what the Renaissance scholar and art historian Edgar
Wind calls „a protective veil beneath which these great truths can remain undefiled‟.22
The mysticism of the Perennial Philosophy is not easily accessible. As has been said,
writers on the subject from Plato onwards tell us that it is intentionally veiled in symbolic
language and imagery according to esoteric principles embedded in the heart of the
Philosophia Perennis and so its course through the world is for the most part hidden and
known by only a few. The reason for this was the need to protect the great truths revealed
to humanity from distortion. According to the theory of esotericism „higher truth‟ is
susceptible to deformation by the adaptations and interpretations imposed on it by minds
of inadequate understanding. Access to „higher knowledge‟ is a matter of gradual
initiation through long years of preparation partly consisting of the study of sacred
literature and sacred art, partly through communal participation in liturgical or theurgical
22
Edgar Wind, Pagan Mysteries of the Renaissance, London 1958, 1968, p. 13.
83
ritual and partly though the practice of spiritual exercises. Another condition is that of a
community, what Plato calls „life lived together‟. While much has been written on sacred
literature and arts, the relative paucity of writing either on liturgical practice or on
spiritual exercises presents the historian with an incomplete and consequently one-sided
picture obliging him to draw almost exclusively on the literary tradition only.
Citations will be entered in this thesis from Plato (5th century BC), Plotinus and Origen
(3rd century), Dante (14th century), mystical writers of the 15th and 16th centuries and a
number of 20th-century thinkers that indicate the perennial continuity of the idea that a
hidden or esoteric universal and unchanging truth is to be found in sacred traditions and
expressed in philosophy, art, literature, architecture and other forms by those who seek it.
The idea of esotericism presents difficulties for the historian, even when he has
negotiated the negative connotations the word has acquired in recent times, through its
appropriation by the „new age‟ movement, since much of esoteric thought appears to
transcend the boundaries of „rationalism‟. The idea has been put forward that esotericism
is based on the non-rational principle that certain „primordial truths‟ originate from a very
high or divine „place‟ in the universe, i.e. from God or from what Plotinus calls „a
presence overpassing all knowledge‟23 and that they have been vouchsafed to humanity
„from above‟ not through the mind but through „revelation‟; not through the modern idea
of knowledge but through „gnosis‟. Such thinking emphasizes the deep contrast between
the traditional knowledge and modern science; Guénon calls the former „sacred science‟
23
Plotinus, The Enneads, tr. Stephen MacKenna, London 1956, p. 617
84
and the latter „profane science‟.24 It is evident that he uses the word in the original Latin
sense where scientia means knowledge. According to him, sacred science, or traditional
science, is based on „intellectual intuition‟ on the one hand, and the acceptance of the
hierarchy of being, on the other.25 We shall see that certain teachers of the tradition warn
against book-learning unsupported by actual experience. Esotericism is a defense
employed by the guardians of the higher truth so as to preserve it from being mixed with
impure or less fine matter in the form of rationalizing explanations or interpretations
which distort them. Thus D. H. Lawrence speaks of people „knowing the formulae,
without undergoing the experience that corresponds … grow insolent and impious,
thinking they have the all, when they have only an empty monkey-chatter‟.26 When
divine truths emanating from God and descending in cosmic stages, as the 6th- century
Christian Platonist, Dionysius the Areopagite describes in his Celestial Hierarchies,27
pass through intermediate stages and finally meet the terrestrial plane of existence they
necessarily mix with the worldliness and materialism of human ideas. Here the work of
the true philosopher is needed to protect them from degeneration, from becoming mere
„treasures on earth where moth and rust do corrupt‟.28 He must make a corresponding
interior ascent: „we must ascend to the Principle within ourselves; from many, we must
become one; only so do we attain to knowledge of that which is Principle and Unity …
thus what That sees the soul will waken to see‟.29 The true philosopher knows how to
view human activities and events within a cosmic perspective; without his spiritual
24
René Guénon, The Crisis of the Modern World, p. 37, 47.
Quoted in Islam and Science the Journal of Islamic Perspectives and Science, see www.cis-ca.org
26
Quoted by Manas in The Resources of William Blake, from Manas, September 6, 1978 in Sunrise
Magazine, January 1979. Copyright © 1979 by Theosophical University Press.)
27
Dionysius. Celestial Hierarchies, Shrine of Wisdom, Godolming, 1923
28
Mat. 19, 6
29
Plotinus, Enneads, p. 616
25
85
guidance human beings too easily ascribe to themselves powers and status that are not
rightly theirs, thus distorting the true picture of the reality of what a human being is in the
universe and the significance of his place in it.
86
Chapter 2. Lineaments of the Perennial Philosophy in the Hellenistic World
Hellenic and Hellenistic Origins: Plato and Plotinus
Plato, in a passage in the Seventh Letter, where he untangles different strands of
philosophical and spiritual practice, gives a reason for the absence of written material.
First he suggests how philosophy should be approached and the importance of
acknowledging certain conditions:
One should show … what philosophy is in all its extent; what [its] range of
studies is by which it is approached, and how much labour it involves. For the
man who has heard this, if he has the true philosophic spirit and that godlike
temperament which makes him a kin to philosophy and worthy of it, thinks that
he has been told of a marvelous road lying before him, that he must forthwith
press on with all his strength, and that life is not worth living if he does anything
else. After this he uses to the full his own powers and those of his guide in the
path, and relaxes not his efforts, till he has either reached the end of the whole
course of study or gained such power that he is not incapable of directing his steps
without the aid of a guide … Those who have not the true philosophic temper, but
a mere surface colouring of opinions penetrating, like sunburn, only skin deep,
when they see how great the range of studies is, how much labour is involved in
it, and how necessary to the pursuit it is to have an orderly regulation of the daily
life, come to the conclusion that the thing is difficult and impossible for them, and
87
are actually incapable of carrying out the course of study; while some of them
persuade themselves that they have sufficiently studied the whole matter and have
no need of any further effort.
On the practice of inner work in the spiritual life he explains in the same passage why he
has never written about the spontaneity of „light in the soul‟, („because it is only for a few
and they can find it by themselves‟), why it cannot be written about and how it would
only be treated contemptuously by those who did not understand it:
Thus much at least, I can say about all writers, past or future, who say they know
the things to which I devote myself, whether by hearing the teaching of me or of
others, or by their own discoveries – that according to my view it is not possible
for them to have any real skill in the matter. There neither is nor ever will be a
treatise of mine on the subject. For it does not admit of exposition like other
branches of knowledge; but after much converse about the matter itself and a life
lived together, suddenly a light, as it were, is kindled in one soul by a flame that
leaps to it from another, and thereafter sustains itself … What task in life could I
have performed nobler than this, to write what is of great service to mankind and
to bring the nature of things into the light for all to see? But I do not think it a
good thing for men that there should be a disquisition, as it is called, on this topic
– except for some few, who are able with a little teaching to find it out for
themselves. As for the rest, it would fill some of them quite illogically with a
88
mistaken feeling of contempt, and others with lofty and vain-glorious
expectations, as though they had learnt something high and mighty.30
If the exploration of the inner life is a branch of knowledge that „does not admit of
exposition like other branches of knowledge‟ what is the „little teaching‟ with the help of
which men will „find out for themselves‟? Why will only „a few‟ find it? And why will
others either despise it or become „vain-glorious‟? The Tradition tells us that those who
practice spiritual exercises may discover, perhaps more easily than the bibliophile, that
the preparation for inner enlightenment is long and rigorous and that it demands a special
commitment in the face of perhaps never-to-be-resolved uncertainties.31 With experience
the practitioner may see why sacred tradition regards much of what is ordinarily called
reality as no more than illusion; human existence is seen as a kind of hypnotic sleep from
which men should try to awaken.32 Only then will reality be understood as an attribute of
the cosmic laws that act everywhere in the universe, both on humanity and on the eternal
realm of which the terrestrial world, according to Neoplatonic cosmology, is but a
particle. Adherents of what we are calling the Perennial Philosophy believed that its
wisdom could lead to knowledge that transcends the limitations of human perception; in
particular the perceptions of the rational mind and of the physical senses.
30
Plato, Seventh Letter, trl. J. Hardward http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jod/texts/seventh.letter.html
I am referring here to accounts of the contemplative such as Rev. Mother Rosemary‟s unpublished
Amravati Journal, 1990, an unpublished paper in the Library of the Temple Gallery, The Value of
Uncertainty, date unknown, or my own journal of Vipassana meditation When You Hear a Dog Bark, 1995,
unpublished. See above , p. 20.
32
cf Plato‟s image of the cave. Republic, bk. VII
31
89
Plotinus
The great Plotinus (A.D. 204-270), perhaps together with his follower Iamblichus, may
be regarded as one end of the bridge between philosophy and Christianity. „In him we
find the supreme exponent of an abiding element in what we might call “mystical
philosophy” ‟.33 (The other end of the bridge is Dionysius the Areopagite whose writings
will be discussed below.34) The distinguished classicist E. R. Dodds says that in Plotinus
„converge almost all the main currents of thought that come down from eight hundred
years of Greek speculation; out of it there issues a new current destined to fertilize minds
as different as those of Augustine, Boethius, Dante, Eckhart, Coleridge, Bergson and T.
S. Eliot‟.35 Plotinus himself, referring to the Tradition, says:
These teachings are … no novelties, no inventions of today, but long since stated,
if not stressed; our doctrine here is the explanation of an earlier one and can show
the antiquity of these opinions on the testimony of Plato himself.36
Plotinus, the founder in 3rd-century Rome of the Neoplatonist school, is, as we have seen,
„the supreme exponent of ... mystical philosophy‟. Through his follower Iamblichus and
33
Andrew Louth, The Origins of the Christian Mystical Tradition, Oxford, 1981, p. 37.
See below, p. 145
35
E. R. Dodds, „Tradition and Personal Achievement in the Philosophy of Plotinus‟, in The Ancient
Concept of Progress, Oxford, 1973, p. 126
36
Plotinus, Enneads, V, I, 8
34
90
later through Dionysius the Areopagite, Platonic mysticism is almost universally
regarded by philosophers as the bedrock on which is founded both eastern and western
Christian spirituality.
The school of Platonic mysticism that was established around Plotinus would reverberate
down the ages. Plotinus evidently considered himself to be a Platonist though subsequent
generations have referred to his ideas as Neoplatonism. For the purposes of finding the
relationship to Bruegel‟s work, two aspects of Plotinus‟ thought will be touched on here
that were revived by Italian Renaissance scholars and philosophers. Yet the essentials of
these ideas had not been lost, having survived through a different route in the mystical
tradition that passed through such men as Ruysbroek and Eckhart. This thesis will
suggest that both the late medieval German mystical schools and the Italian Renaissance
converged in Bruegel‟s outlook in 16th-century Flanders. Plotinus‟ mysticism, generally
regarded as synonymous with the Perennial Philosophy, is founded in his cosmological
view of humanity. It is based on the Socratic way of self-knowledge maintained by
disciplines and spiritual exercises while his sense of the cosmos emphasises the
relationship between macrocosm and microcosm – the relationship between the universe
and man.
91
Plotinian Psychology
During his active life Plotinus taught orally the group of followers who came to his
school outside Rome. Only at the end of his life, at the insistence of his pupils, did he
commit his teaching to writing. After his death his pupil and biographer Porphyry
organised Plotinus‟ essays into a systematic form which we know as the Enneads.37 It is
through this book that Plotinus is recognised as the incomparable genius whose
philosophy deeply influenced the greatest minds of the Middle Ages, of Byzantium, of
Renaissance Italy and of the Arab world. Plotinus was not a writer in the conventional
literary sense; he seems to have cared little for style, and he was unwilling to simplify for
the sake of his readers. There are definite indications that he lived and practised the life
of a spiritual master and that the cosmic and psychological ideas that he spoke about
derived from the insights and real experiences of his inner life. A revealing statement to
this effect is made by Porphyry who tells us that he was able to live at once within
himself and for others: „he never relaxed his interior attention‟, and, further, that he
„maintained an unbroken concentration on his own highest nature‟.38 Plotinus himself
tells us in a passage on imagination that „philosophy‟s task is that of a man who wishes to
throw off the shapes presented in dreams, and to this end recalls to waking the mind that
is breeding them.‟39 In this case the word philosophy can be taken as the „true
philosophy‟, a term frequently employed by the early Christian contemplatives who
lived, first, in the Egyptian desert and, later, in the monasteries of Mount Athos whose
37
Stephen MacKenna tr., Plotinus The Enneads, London 1969. See esp. Porphiry‟s „Life‟ pp. 1-20
Porphiry, „On the Life of Plotinus‟, in Enneads, p. 7
39
Enneads, p. 206. My emphasis
38
92
writings are found in the anthology known as the Philokalia.40 For them, as for Plotinus
and his followers, philosophy meant spiritual work, rather than academic philosophy.41
Plotinus says that „our task is to work for liberation from the sphere of all this evil‟42 by
which he means man‟s identification with the body and the senses and his ignorance
regarding the soul. The psychological side of Plotinus‟ teaching is close to that of his
contemporaries and near contemporaries, the Christian authors of the homilies in The
Philokalia. These men were known as hesychasts from the Greek hesychia meaning
stillness or silence. For him the fall of the soul accounts for its state where it is
unstable, swept along from every ill to every other, quickly stirred by appetites,
headlong to anger, hasty to compromises, yielding at once to obscure imaginations, as
weak in fact as the weakest thing made by man or nature, blown about by every breeze,
burned away by every heat.43
40
The writings date from the 4th to the 14th centuries and were preserved as manuscripts and privately
circulated in the monasteries of Mount Athos until 1782 when they were published for the first time in
Venice. Translations into Church Slavonic were made soon after and then into the Russian Dobretolubiye
(„Love of the Good‟) in the five volume edition edited by Theophan the Recluse (1815-1894). The first
English edition appeared in two volumes of translation by Kadloubovsky and Palmer: Writings from the
Philokalia on Prayer of the Heart, London 1961, and Early Fathers from the Philokalia, London, 1964. A
complete edition in four volumes published in London between 1979 and 1995 translated by Palmer,
Sherrard and Ware, is The Philokalia, The Complete Text.
41
For a discussion on the relationship between Christianity and Neoplatonism in the 3 rd century see
Enneads, p. lxix. In MacKenna‟s „Introduction‟ we find „In the passage of Augustine‟s Confessions which
is most directly inspired by the Enneads … the words of Plotinus are “Now call up all your confidence; you
need a guide no longer; strain and see.” And Augustine quoting from the Psalms, writes: I entered even into
my inward self, Thou being my guide, and able I was, for Thou wert become my helper” (tr. Pusey). In this
inversion of thought lies all the distance between Neoplatonic and Christian mysticism‟.
42
Enneads, p. 76
43
Idem.
93
The Christian hesychast contemplatives, contemporaries of Plotinus and his followers,
living in the Egyptian desert and later on Mount Athos followed similar psycho-spiritual
disciplines of „watching and guarding the mind‟.44 Their concerns were that „thoughts
change instantly one to the other; what gives them power over us is mostly our own
carelessness‟,45 or that „our mind is volatile … it never stops wandering‟.46 Buddhist
meditation masters make similar observations.
Plotinus eloquently calls us to see that the possibility for spiritual evolution is found in
the inner life and gives indications for special spiritual exercises.
He that has the strength let him arise and draw into himself, forgoing all that is
known by the eyes, turning away for ever from the material beauty that once made
his joy. When he perceives those shapes of grace that show in body, let him not
pursue: he must know them for copies, vestiges, shadows and hasten away towards
That they tell of.
„Let us flee then to the beloved Fatherland‟47 this is the soundest council. But what is
the flight? How are we to gain the open sea? For Odysseus is surely a parable to us
when he commands Circe or Calypso, not content to linger for all the pleasure
offered and all the delight of sense filling his days.
The Fatherland to us is There whence we have come, and There is the Father.
44
Hesychius of Jerusalem in Kadloubovsky and Palmer, eds., Writings from the Philokalia on Prayer of the
Heart, London 1961, p. 299
45
St Gregory of Sinai in op. cit. (note 22), p. 49
46
St Isaac of Syria, in op. cit., p. 257
47
Plotinus is quoting Homer; see MacKenna, Enneads, „Explanatory Matter‟
94
What then is our course, what is the manner of our flight? This is not a journey of the
feet; the feet bring us only from land to land; nor need you think of a coach or ship to
carry you away: all this order of things you must set aside and refuse to see: you must
close the eyes and call instead upon another vision which is to be waked within you, a
vision the birthright of all, which few turn to use.48
This passage continues with the invitation to „withdraw into yourself and look‟ and
proposes a work of interior self-perfecting which he compares to the task of a sculptor
who
cuts away here, smoothes there, he makes a line lighter, this other purer, until a
lovely face has grown upon his work. So do you also: cut away all that is excessive,
straighten all that is crooked, bring to light all that is overcast.49
He speaks with authority about working on one‟s inner self and the aim of achieving a
state
when you are self-gathered in the purity of your being, nothing now remaining that
can shatter that inner unity.50
Plotinus, concurring always with authentic spiritual tradition, takes the view that the
senses and the bodily organs are useful functions in so far as they can aid man in his
48
Enneads, p. 63. The emphasis is mine
Ibid
50
Ibid
49
95
search for right perception. To indulge the senses for the sake of pleasure or curiosity he
considers a waste of energy and to be the sign of suffering or deficiency. He refers to the
inner world as „an area [where] we cannot be indolent‟.51
Plotinus teaches that the soul of man is a particle of the All-Soul which is one of the three
Persons (or Hypostases) of the Divine Realm. This particle has fallen from a higher
cosmic place into one of the lowest places in the universe, namely matter.
This is the fall of the Soul, this is entry into matter: thence its weakness; not all the
faculties of its being retain free play, for Matter hinders their manifestation; it
encroaches upon the soul‟s territory and, as it were, crushes the soul back; and it
turns to evil all that it has stolen, until the Soul finds strength to advance again.52
He compares the experience of the soul fallen into matter with that higher level which
must be our spiritual goal. He makes a sharp distinction between our sense-bound life and
the higher life of the soul.
Thus far the beauties of the realm of sense, images and shadow pictures, fugitives
that have entered into matter … But there are earlier and loftier beauties than these.
In the sense-bound life we are no longer granted to know them, but the Soul … sees
51
52
Enneads, p. 47
Enneads, p. 77
96
and proclaims them. To the vision of these we must mount, leaving sense in its own
low place.53
However, the Enneads of Plotinus are not primarily commentaries on the practice of
spiritual life as is, for example, the Philokalia. The Enneads are a dense and sometimes
bewildering exposition of the Platonic doctrines of man and the universe whose common
link is the Soul and the relationship of the All to God or the One. Plotinus assumes in his
hearers at least a familiarity with the practice of spiritual work. He makes occasional
references to „mastery of our emotions and mental processes‟,54 „conscious attention‟,55
and so on, while his main preoccupation is to understand man‟s extension, or possible
extension, in eternity. From this lofty viewpoint, the life of earthly man is of little interest
except that it defines the lower reaches of the universe and is the starting point of the
Soul‟s return journey to its origin.
Plotinian Cosmology
The present writer, regarding Plotinus as the sine qua non of the Perennial Philosophy in
European thought, sets out here, in abridged form, the Neoplatonist vision of the cosmos
known as the Doctrine of Degrees: the gradations of densities of matter in the universe
from higher to lower; the soul, fallen from a high place, making its return journey; the
principle that everything is related.
53
Enneads, p. 59
Enneads, p.133
55
Enneads, p. 263
54
97
A theme that frequently recurs is that of the image. This is especially relevant to the idea
later developed by Dionysius the Areopagite that the lower imitates, or is an image of, the
higher. Hence the role of the symbol which describes, by reference to the knowable and
visible, that which cannot be known and seen: „All teems with symbol‟.56 The idea that
things and events in the universe are similar but existing at different levels implies a
unifying principle by which everything is related; everything, including man, is part of
the whole. Thus the idea of man as the microcosm, the cosmos in miniature, is an
example of the universal principle acting everywhere in Creation. For Renaissance
scholars such as Pico della Mirandola57 it was „eminently worthy‟ to undertake the
„comparative study of sacred images … and the extraction from them of philosophical
wisdom‟.58
The Totality, or One, or The All, is the Divinity from which flow „all the forms and
phases of Existence‟;59 at the same time they „strive to return Thither and remain
There‟.60 The Divinity, or Divine Realm, in Neoplatonism is approached through an
ideal, a philosophical concept, or possibly a mathematical symbol, but it is not
personified.
56
Enneads, p. 97
Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494), Humanist and Neoplatonist, he published in 1486 his
Oration on the Dignity of Man, generally regarded as the „manifesto‟ of the Italian Renaissance.
57
58
Wind. Op. cit., p. 9
Enneads, ‘Explanatory Matter‟, p. xxv
60
Ibid.
59
98
In the Enneads the universe is understood as an absolute totality, a perfect and ideal
being. It consists of a hierarchical scale of cosmic beings some of which are perceptible
to the senses, such as planets and stars; but the higher more divine beings are beyond the
range of ordinary human perception. Man himself is placed low down in the cosmic
system, though in his soul he bears a particle of the great cosmic being known as the AllSoul, with which he has the possibility of ultimately reuniting himself.
The All-Soul is one of the three beings or hypostases who together constitute the Divine
Realm. It is generated by, or is the emanation of, the hypostasis that stands next highest
in the cosmic hierarchy and who is the second hypostasis of the Divine Realm. This
second hypostasis is named the „Divine Mind‟ or the „Intellectual Principle‟ (in Greek;
nous).
The first hypostasis of the Supreme Divine Triad is variously referred to as the One, the
Absolute, the Infinite, the Unconditioned; also sometimes the Father. At the same time
we have to try to grasp that the Absolute, or the One is also the Many, since it is itself the
Totality of All That Exists and contains all within itself. Likewise the Divine Mind
contains all intelligences. According to MacKenna, Plotinus‟ translator,
the Intellectual or Intelligible Universe contains, or even in some senses is, all
particular minds or intelligences; and there, in their kinds, are images,
representations, phantasms, shadows of this universal or Divine Mind. All phases of
existence down even to matter, the Ultimate, the lowest image of Real-Being are all
99
Ideally present from Eternity in this realm of the divine Thoughts, this Totality of the
Supreme Wisdom or mentation.61
In a similar way, the All-Soul is the origin and container of all souls, who by the fact of
their identity with the Universal Soul of the All are themselves potentially divine. The
All-Soul is known as the Eternal Cause of All that Exists, the Vital Principle of all that is
lower than the Divine Triad.
Below the three hypostases of the Divine Realm comes the Material or Sense-Grasped
Universe. The highest stage of this level is the Gods; also known as Ideas, Divine
Thoughts, Archetypes, Intellectual-Forms of all that exists in the lower spheres, the
Spiritual Universe, Real Beings or Powers.
Descending further from the Divine Realm we come to the stage of beings known by the
following names: Supernals, Celestials, Divine Spirits, or Daimones.
Yet further down comes Man, who is constituted in three phases, or images, of the Divine
Soul:
1
the Intellective-Soul, or Intuitive, Intellectual or Intelligent
Soul; or the Intellectual Principle of the Soul;
61
2
the Reasoning Soul;
3
the Unreasoning Soul.
Enneads, „Explanatory Matter‟, p. xxv
100
In Christian terminology these three phases of man correspond to:
1
Spirit (or Mind, or Intellect)
2
Soul
3
Body
Below Man comes Matter, the lowest and least emanation of the creative power. And
beyond Matter there is the level of Absolute Non-Being.
A simplification and an approximation of this scheme can be expressed in this final
reduction which remains a true image of the universe:
The Absolute
The Divine Mind
The All-Soul
The Intelligible Universe
Celestials
Man
Matter
Absolute Non Being
The higher levels of the universe have progressively more being and less matter and,
conversely, the lower parts of the universe have less being and more matter. Matter is
101
described as indefinite: matter is essentially indefiniteness,62 The higher spheres come
progressively closer to the Reason-Principle which defines and delimits matter, bringing
it under order. Throughout the whole universe the presence of matter (or Indefiniteness)
is one of degree or phase according to the level of being in relation to the ReasonPrinciple. Plotinus defines the difference between phases of Indefiniteness as the
difference between Archetype and Image. Thus each cosmic phase is at once an image of
the phase superior to it and the archetype for the phase inferior to it.
This correspondence of the lower to the higher is probably the most ancient and
universally held philosophical idea, expressed, in the Hermetic formula (from the
Emerald Tablets) As above so below and in the words of the Lord‟s Prayer, „Thy will be
done on earth as it is in heaven.’
The idea of archetype and image seems not far from the teaching of the Christian
theologians who, in defence of icons, spoke of prototype and image. In the latter case the
icon is understood to be the image, made in the lower world, of a heavenly principle or
prototype whose actual existence is in the divine world. It is he contention of this thesis
that Bruegel applied this principle to his paintings, having first realised it in himself.
It is worth making the point here that an artist, capable of envisioning the higher world
through spiritual endeavour and a corresponding higher state of consciousness, can
become the instrument through which the higher life enters the world. For the Byzantine
icon-painter and his counterpart in the medieval west there were established forms and
62
Enneads, p. 116
102
rituals that guided the inner life of the painter for such undertaking. Although in the
Renaissance evidence for such an approach remains hidden, it cannot be discounted that
for some exceptional individuals, among them Peter Bruegel, similar practices were
used.63
In a passage on the Universe which has a ruling principle and a first cause operative
downwards through every member, Plotinus calls us to understand the structure of the
universe, the relationship of the parts to the whole, and our relationship with everything
that exists.
We may think of the stars as letters perpetually being inscribed on the heavens or
inscribed once and for all and yet moving as they pursue the other tasks allotted to
them: upon these main tasks will follow the quality of signifying, just as one
principle underlying any living unit enables us to reason from member to
member.
All teems with symbol; the wise man is the man who in any one thing can read
another, a process familiar to us all in not a few examples of everyday experience.
But what is the comprehensive principle of co-ordination? Establish this and we
have a reasonable basis for the divination.
63
Similar claims have been made for Hieronymus Bosch, Piero della Francesca, Leonardo da Vinci, Titian,
Rembrandt and other painters.
103
All things must be enchained; and the sympathy and correspondence obtaining in
any one closely knit organism must exist, first, and most intensely, in the All.
There must be one principle constituting this unit of many forms of life and
enclosing the several members within the unity, while at the same time, precisely
as in each thing of detail, the parts too each have a definite function, so in the All
each several member must have its own task but more markedly so since in this
case the parts are not merely members but themselves alls of great power.
Thus each entity takes its origin from one principle and, therefore, while
executing its own function, works in with every other member of that All … each
receives something from the others, every one at its own moment bringing its
touch of sweet or bitter. And there is nothing undesigned, nothing of chance, in
all the process: all is one scheme of differentiation, starting from the Firsts and
working itself out in a continuing progress of kinds.64
The idea of the soul‟s descent into matter and its striving to return to its high origin show
that man is a dynamic element in the universe and that his position is neither fixed nor
static. His possibilities for cosmic mobility are emphasised in the imagery of early
Christian art, either literary or iconic, where we see man, either as Christ or Adam, or
sometimes as saint or prophet, as fallen or risen. We see him in caves (Nativity and
Harrowing of Hell), beside mountains and on mountain-tops (Transfiguration). We see
64
Enneads, p. 96
104
him borne up into the sky by angels (Ascension). These higher and lower places are
symbols describing the soul‟s relationship with Eternity.
Man the Microcosm
It is through Plotinus that the idea of the microcosm – man as the microcosm or the
universe in miniature – becomes a basic tenet of Jewish, Christian and Arab thought from
Hellenistic times until the rise of modern science. We find in the Talmud „All that the
Holy One created in the world He created in man‟;65 one of many formulations of this
idea. It was to be developed and elaborated exhaustively in the Renaissance.
The literary source of the idea of the microcosm is one of Plato's dialogues.66
In that dialogue Socrates says that just as there are four elements in the universe,
so there are in us … So we would say that the hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, and so
65
66
Talmud, Abot de Rabbi Nathan, 31
Philebus (29).
105
on that compose our bodies are identical with the same elements in the nonhuman
world.67
But there is more to a human being than a body … This can only be explained, as
Greek scientists would say, by some agent. And that agent is the soul. But if this
is true of the human body, then it must also be true of the universal body, the
cosmos. The cosmos, says Socrates, must have a soul just as we have, a soul
which in the Middle Ages was called, after Plotinus … the “Soul of the World”
(anima mundi). Our soul is primarily rational; we are rational animals. The Soul
of the World must have a corresponding rationality and the idea of a rational
universe was thus launched … Plato argued in this same dialogue that the Soul of
the World, like our own, must have wisdom (sophia) and intelligence (nous). This
idea is repeated in … the Timaeus, where the cosmos is said to be an image of the
Demiurge, endowed with soul and intelligence and thus duplicates the individual
human being.
The microcosm was also used when discussing the state. In Plato's Republic we
find that there are three kinds of people, the appetitive, the irascible or spirited,
and the rational. All men have appetites, some have both appetites and irascibility,
and a few have these two faculties plus reason. It is their reason which keeps the
other faculties under control. In the state, seen as a large human being, there are
three classes of men who correspond to three psychological types. They are the
67
George Boas in Dictionary of the History of Ideas http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/cgilocal/DHI/dhiana.cgi?id=dv3-16. The Platonic dialogue is 30A
106
artisans (the appetitive type), the military (the irascible), and the philosophers (the
rational).68
A Renaissance-educated man such as Bruegel would have been familiar with these ideas,
or versions of them that abounded in the 16th century. In the later part of this thesis,
where his paintings are interpreted in the light of the ideas being put forward here, it will
be suggested that certain recurring figures: holy persons, aristocrats, farmers, soldiers,
clerks and others, represent psychological types and psychological states. Boas continues:
Each serves a legitimate function but trouble arises when one or the other of the
two lower classes gets control of the state and usurps the power of reason. The
state then becomes like a man who is a lustful glutton or a belligerent captain.
Therefore things must be so arranged that the three classes will be kept in their
proper places and philosophers will be rulers.
To understand the symbolism here it is necessary to remember that „the state‟ refers to
the psychological and spiritual situation within man – the myriad different „personalities‟
that constitute his being. Thus for Boas:
Such ideas only hint at a full-fledged theory of the identity between microcosm
and macrocosm, but at least they use the human being as a basic metaphor of
something larger and not obviously human … we find the idea of the microcosm
in both the Jewish philosopher, Philo of Alexandria, and in the Hermetica. Philo,
68
ibid
107
like so many other theologians, was worried over the biblical verse, “Let us make
man in our image, after our likeness” (Genesis 1:26), he points out that the
likeness could not be corporeal and must therefore be psychical.69 The psychical
image of God in man is the intelligence (nous), which rules us exactly as God
rules the world. He thus takes over from the Platonic tradition that the world is a
world of order and reason. This bolsters his use of the allegorical method of
interpreting the Bible, for were he to take it literally, he would have to grant the
existence of things which would be almost nonrational by definition.70
We further learn from Boas that:
The 10th-century Jewish Neoplatonist, Isaac Israeli, borrowing from Al-Kindi
(ninth century), said that philosophy is self-knowledge, and that self-knowledge
expands to knowledge of all things; he says: “For this reason the philosophers
called man a microcosm” (Israeli, p. 28). The source of the idea that selfknowledge is cosmic knowledge is probably a treatise by Porphyry, On Know
Thyself. This exists only in fragments and the following can be found in Stobaeus:
[Those] “who say that man is properly called a microcosm say that the term
implies knowledge of man. And since man is a microcosm, he is ordered to do
nothing other than to philosophize. If then we seriously wish to philosophize
without taking a false step, we shall be eager to know ourselves, and we shall
acquire a true philosophy from our insight, ascending to the contemplation of the
69
70
De opificio mundi (23, 69)
ibid
108
Whole”.71 That self-knowledge is cosmic knowledge is based upon an identity
between the self and the cosmos, an identity of a “spiritual” rather than a
corporeal nature…Godefroy de Saint Victor (d. 1194) said in so many words in
his Microcosmus (Ch. 18) that man is called a world not because of his body but
because of his spirit.72
Iamblichus
Porphyry‟s student Iamblichus is one of the key figures in the transmission of perennial
philosophical ideas, indeed we shall find his name mentioned in a direct reference to
Bruegel by his friend Abraham Ortelius. Iamblichus (c. A.D. 250-325) is among the most
important of the Neoplatonic philosophers, second only to Plotinus. His influential
treatise Theurgia or On the Mysteries of Egypt deals with a 'higher magic' which operates
through the agency of the gods. The Renaissance philosopher Agrippa of Nettesheim
refers frequently to Iamblichus in his Occulta Philosophia.73 Iamblichus also had a strong
influence on other Renaissance occultists like Marsilio Ficino, Pico della Mirandola, and
Giordano Bruno. Gregory Shaw, defending Iamblichus‟ theurgy from the negative
connotations of „occultism‟ and „magic‟, presents him as breaking „away from Porphyry
71
Joannes Stobaeus, compiler of a valuable series of extracts from Greek authors. Of his life nothing is
known, but he probably belongs to the latter half of the 5th century AD. Vol. 3, Ch. 21, no. 27, p. 580
72
Ibid.
73
"In his influential work De occulta philosophia libri tres (1531), Agrippa combined magic, astrology,
Qabbalah, theurgy, medicine, and the occult properties of plants, rocks, and metals. This work was an
important factor in the spread of the idea of occult sciences." ; "The magical interpretation of Qabbalah
reached its peak in Henri Cornelius Agrippa of Nettesheim's De occulta philosophia.". Encyclopedia of
Religion, Mircea Eliade ed. in chief, MacMillan Publishing Company, New York 1987, article on
Occultism by Antoine Faivre.
109
and Plotinus in order to reestablish – in theurgical Platonism – what he believed to be the
true teachings of Plato and Pythagoras‟.74 He concludes that „this theurgical vision
shaped the thinking of later Platonists such as Syrianus, Proclus and Damascius, and its
influence extended beyond Platonic circles and may well be reflected in the sacramental
theology of Christian thinkers. Indeed, the Church, with its ecclesiastical embodiment of
the divine hierarchy, its initiations, and its belief in salvation through sacrificial acts, may
have fulfilled the theurgical program of Iamblichus in a manner that was never concretely
realized by Platonists … the Church many well have become the reliquary of the hieratic
vision and practices of the later Platonists.75
74
Gregory Shaw, Theurgy and the Soul. The Neoplatonism of Iamblichus, Pennsylvania State University
Press, Pennsylvania, 1995, p. 238.
75
idem, p. 242
110
Chapter 3. Lineaments of the Perennial Philosophy in the Christian World
The Primitive Church
The first Christian society, the so-called primitive Church, as described in Acts was,
according to the American professor Rufus Jones, writing at the beginning of the 20th
century on the history of mysticism, „clearly a mystical fellowship, i.e. a fellowship
bound together, not by external organization, but by the power and experience of the
Divine presence‟.1 The external organization was to come later and eventually hammered
out on the anvils of the Ecumenical Councils beginning with that of Nicea in 325.
Jones cites the great German scholar Otto Pfleiderer2 on the Apostle Paul, reminding us
of Paul‟s wide-ranging grasp of perennial traditions available to him at that time: „[he
uses] the forensic conceptions of Jewish theology, or the imagery of the apocalyptic
writers, or the animistic speech of popular usage, or the symbolism of the Greek
Mysteries, or the religious philosophy of the Hellenistic schools, or the Pantheistic ideas
of the Stoics, for all these elements of culture are combined in him, and are in evidence in
his epistles.‟ He goes on to say that Paul „cares not at all for the shell of religion … his
aim is always the creation of a „new man‟, the formation of the „inward man‟, and this
„inward man is formed, not by the practice of rite or ritual, not by the laying on of hands,
but by the actual incorporation of Christ – the Divine Life – into the life of man … The
proof of this inwardly formed man is not ecstasy, tongue or miracle. It is victory over the
lower passions – the flesh – and a steady manifestation of love … nobody has ever
1
2
Jones, R., Spiritual Reformers of the 16th and 17th Centuries, Illinois, 1914,
Otto Pfleiderer, Primitive Christianity, tr. 1906-11, vol. I, p. 96
111
expressed in equal perfection and beauty the fervor and enthusiasm of the initiated
mystic, inspired by union with God, as Paul has expressed them in his two hymns of love
– the hymn on the love of God (Rom. viii. 31 ff), and the hymn on the love of men (1
Cor. xiii) 15. Love is the Kingdom of God.‟ 3
We see here the restitution of the true idea of love: its meaning in the universe and its
proper function in the life of humanity. The modern associations of the word give many
misleading meanings that tend to obstruct our comprehension when we read of it in
sacred literature. This should be born in mind especially in the case of Hendrick Niclaes‟
„House of Love‟, the „heretical‟ esoteric sect with which, as will be shown, Bruegel was
closely connected. What is also useful is to be reminded that the inner life is the
perspective by which reality is to be perceived. This idea was central to the traditions of
religion and philosophy until the rise in recent times of what Guénon and his school call
scientism4.
3
Jones p. 15
In understanding Guénon‟s notion of science…one can hardly overemphasize the significance of the
relation between the Principle and its adaptations. For Guénon, metaphysics studies the Principle and
provides principial knowledge whereas the sciences of nature investigate its earthly, relative, and multilayered manifestation in the cosmos. Scientific theories, even when enunciated as empirically established
and universal truths, cannot function as substitutes for higher principles but only as further corroborations
of the principles of which they are but applications. In this regard, metaphysics, as Aristotle has said, is the
science of all sciences, namely it is a knowledge that provides a total framework for all other forms of
knowledge, whether based on theoria or praxis. Consequently, metaphysics connects all branches and
forms of knowledge, supplying a frame of reference within which the physical sciences function. To carry
this point a step further, Guénon reverses the relation between theory and experiment and gives priority to
“preconceived ideas” – a point of view remarkably close to Kuhn‟s concept of paradigm. For Guénon, it is
a “peculiar delusion, typical of modern „experimentalism‟, to suppose that a theory can be proved by facts
whereas really the same facts can always be equally well explained by a variety of different theories”.
(René Guénon, The Crisis of the Modern World, London, 1962, p. 42).
4
112
Origen
In Christianity the esoteric tradition can be traced through Origen, the master of the
School of Alexandria in the 3rd century and regarded as one of the greatest theologians of
the early Christian era. His approach incorporated a long established tradition of
allegorical interpretation of sacred literature. For him allegory was the envelope of
esotericism within which the truth was to be found. Writing against literalism he asserts
that „very many mistakes have been made, because the right method of examining the
holy texts has not been discovered by the greater number of readers ... because it is their
habit to follow the bare letter.‟5 Further, he ascribes „false opinions‟ and „ignorant views‟
about God because „the Scripture on the spiritual side is not understood but is taken in the
bare literal sense‟.6
Origen quotes Solomon‟s advice to „thrice record the Scriptures‟.7 He comments: „a man
ought then in three ways record in his own soul the purposes of the holy Scriptures; that
the simple may be edified by, as it were, the flesh of the Scripture (for thus we designate
the primary sense), the more advanced by its soul, and the perfect by the spiritual law.‟8
5
George Lewis, ed., The Philokalia of Origen, Edinburgh 1911, 8: 3-9.
Ibid. 9: 3-7
7
Proverbs 22: 20f
8
Lewis, op. cit. 9: 3-7
6
113
It is the same idea, with its esoteric implications, that Dante is developing a thousand
years later when he says:
The Scriptures can be understood, and ought to be explained, principally in four
senses. one is called literal ... The second is called allegorical ... the third sense is
called moral ... the fourth sense is called anagogical, that is, beyond sense
[sovrasenso] and that is when Scripture is spiritually expounded, which, while true in
the literal sense, refers beyond it to the higher things of the eternal glory, as we may
see in the Psalm of the Prophet, where he says that when Israel went out of Egypt
Judaea became holy and free. Which, although manifestly true according to the letter,
is none the less true in its spiritual meaning — viz., that the soul, in forsaking its sins,
is made holy and free in its powers.9
Origen, insisting on sacred scripture‟s mystical meaning exhorts his readers to
see what distinction there is between a sensible Gospel and an intellectual and
spiritual one. What we have now to do is to transform the sensible Gospel into a
spiritual one. For what would the narrative of the sensible Gospel amount to if it
were not developed to a spiritual one? It would be of little account or none; any
one can read it and assure himself of the facts it tells – no more. But our whole
energy is now to be directed to the effort to penetrate to the deep things of the
9
quoted in „Keys to the Bible‟, Frithjof Schuon in J. Needleman ed., The Sword of Gnosis, Baltimore,
1974, p. 355
114
meaning of the Gospel and to search out the truth that is in it when divested of
types.10
He develops the idea that there are different levels of meaning in sacred scripture: from
the outer or literal level that speaks to the senses (the word he uses is „sensible‟) to the
„intellectual‟ and „spiritual‟. Chapter 4 of his Commentary on John begins: „Scripture
contains many contradictions and many statements that are not literally true but must be
read spiritually and mystically‟. He continues:
And in some places they tack on to their writing, with language apparently
implying things of sense, things made manifest to them in a purely intellectual
way. I do not condemn them if they even sometimes dealt freely with things
which to the eye of history happened differently, and changed them so as to
subserve the mystical aims they had in view; so as to speak of a thing which
happened in a certain place, as if it had happened in another, or of what took place
at a certain time, as if it had taken place at another time, and to introduce into
what was spoken in a certain way some changes of their own. They proposed to
speak the truth where it was possible both materially and spiritually, and where
this was not possible it was their intention to prefer the spiritual to the material.
The spiritual truth was often preserved, as one might say, in the material
falsehood.11
10
11
Origen, Commentary on John Book 1, http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/origen-john1.html
Ibid.
115
These remarks are especially helpful in the light of Bruegel‟s treatment of gospel themes.
What is regarded as his unconventional or idiosyncratic approach signifies his licence to
„deal freely‟ with historical events and his freedom to make them „subserve the mystical
aim‟.
Symbol of the seed in John’s Gospel
The idea is put forward that the role of John the Evangelist and Paul the Apostle in the
earliest, and, as will be shown, more or less purely mystical phase of Christianity, is
entirely spiritual. Evidence for this can be seen in the Fourth Gospel and in Acts. The
accounts of the sayings and the events around Christ can be understood at a profound
level if the symbolism is grasped. „John‟s language is simpler than Paul‟s‟, writes
Professor Jones; „he puts the profoundest truth into a parable which may be taken at any
height, according to the spiritual nature of the reader, and his most important terms are
themselves parables – “Light”, “bread”, “water”, “seed” – and so, like the winged seeds
of nature, his truths have floated across the world and germinated in multitudes of hearts,
while Paul’s deepest message has been missed and the world has got out of him only
what the theologians formulated.‟12
12
(my italics) Jones p. 17
116
The symbolism of the seed and associated ideas, bread and water, having originated in
Egypt, was widely employed in the Hellenistic world, in Greek and Roman religion and it
can also be found in the magic cults of South and Central America. The seed, or the ear
of corn, was a symbol surrounded by elaborate ritual in the Eleusinian Mysteries.13 This
thesis will suggest that they are also central (though hidden) ideas in the art of Bruegel;
most notably in The Fall of Icarus where the central figure, and indeed the central theme
of the composition, is the ploughman‟s elaborate and careful preparation of the ground
for the reception of the seed;14 and in the Harvesters where the produce of the cornfield –
bread (which is itself a symbol of the action of the law of three forces represented by
flour, water and fire), nourishes the workers. And this symbolism is itself an allegory for
the spiritual life.15
These ideas are emphasized here not only for the study of Bruegel‟s art but for the study
of sacred art in general. For, as Jones reminds us,
In John‟s word „Life‟ means something divinely begotten. It is a type of life,
above the „natural‟, human life as that is above the animal or as the animal is
above the vegetable … I call this idea mystical because it is a direct and
immediate experience by which the soul partakes of God.
13
See Wind, op. cit; also Carpenter, The Origins of Pagan and Christian Beliefs, London 1920; also Frazer,
The Golden Bough, London, 1922.
14
See below, p. 320 ff.
15
See below, p. 305 ff.
117
No word which John uses conveys this truth better than „seed‟: „Whoever is
born of God does not commit sin, for His seed is in him and he cannot sin because
he is born of God‟ (John iii, 9). It is a word that mystics have used again and
again to express the implanting of the Divine Life within the human soul … the
same idea is expressed by „water‟ and „bread‟: „The water that I shall give him
shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life‟ (John iv, 14). „I
am the Bread of Life‟ (John vi, 35-63). „If any man eat of this bread he shall live
for ever‟ (ditto). Through both figures – „you must drink me‟; „you must eat me‟,
the profound truth is told that man enters into Life, or has Life in him, only as he
partakes of God; Christ is God in a form which man can grasp and assimilate …
This Lord‟s supper calls for no visible elements, no consecrated priest … It is
actual transubstantiation, but it is not bread and wine that changes to literal body
and blood of Christ. „As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the
father, so he that eateth me, he also shall live because of me‟… takes us beyond
all ordinary biology, beyond all traditional theology, and brings us to a new level
of life altogether – human life fed from within with, and that is „Eternal Life‟, the
life of God.16
16
John vi. The citation is from Jones p. 17-18
118
Spiritual freedom and the Church as institution
The period of Christianity when men and women could directly receive mystical energies
was not long; attempts to institutionalize what had been given as revelation were being
made already by the end of the first century. Jones considers that the actual presence of
divine energies in the world belongs to Christ‟s lifetime and that of his immediate
successors; it led to a revival of a form of Old Testament ecstatic prophesy which, after
much controversy, was incorporated into the New Testament as the Book of Revelations.
Another outcome was the formation of an organized institution i.e. the Church. „What
had been a free, spontaneous, divinely or mystically charged Christianity changed into an
ecclesiastical system, a doctrine; the prophet speaking by revelation [yielded] to the
bishop ruling with authority‟.17 Direct knowledge of God or gnosis was no longer the
perceived route for personal spiritual evolution. This tendency can be traced back to
Ignatius of Antioch (d. circa 110) who was „possessed of a passion to leave behind him
an authoritatively organized church. He had no faith that a body gathered together on the
loose basis of brotherhood and fellowship and obedience to an invisible Head could
survive in the midst of chaotic beliefs and growing heresies‟.18 He puts the bishop [head
of the local church] in the place of Christ.
17
18
Jones p. 27
Ibid
119
Ignatius instituted the administration of the sacraments of the Eucharist and baptism by
the bishop: „Let there be a proper Eucharist by the bishop … It is not lawful without the
bishop either to baptize or celebrate a love feast‟.19
When the church emerged from its battle with Gnosticism the bishop was
supreme, and the idea of his succession in the apostolic line was well established,
and with it the view that the faith is the deposit of truth received through the
apostles and preserved by the hierarchy of the Church.
As soon as the sense of the Divine Presence vanished from men‟s hearts, the
religion which Christ had initiated underwent a complete transformation. Magic
and mystery took the place of the free personal communication. The real presence
of Christ was sought in the bread and wine and in the bath of regeneration rather
than within the soul itself.20
19
Ignatius, Letter to the Philadelpheans, tr. Roberts-Donaldson, 1885, Ch. Iv. The love feast, or agape
feast, was an early Christian tradition comprising a communal meal which, celebrated in conjunction with
the eucharist, was known as the Lord‟s Supper.
20
Jones pp. 35, 36
120
Early appearance of ‘Heresy’
From this point onwards, i.e. already in the 2nd century, the division between spirit and
institution begins to appear. In view of the growing number of adherents to Christianity
and the consequent need for organization, this was perhaps unavoidable. What is clear,
however, is that followers of the purely spiritual way could not be stifled or repressed
despite the antagonism, sometimes well-meaning, sometimes malicious, of a church
already making compromises with the material world and its politics. The mystical
tendency, when it ignited the popular imagination, would appear again and again in the
form of popular movements, sometimes mass movements, often persecuted by a
combination of church authority, state power and heresy hunting.
In the late 2nd century one such movement was Montanism. It seems to be the first
spiritual-mystical popular movement, sweeping North Africa, that revived prophesy.
Tertullian was its chief sympathetic exponent. The Montanist leaders were „possessed‟
with the idea that the promises of John xiv-xviii were now being fulfilled in them.21 It
will be seen below that a version of Montanism, i.e. Catharism in 13th-century France,
survived in Flanders and influenced Hieronymus Bosch who can be regarded in certain
ways as Bruegel‟s predecessor as we shall see below.22
21
These are the chapters containing „I am the way, and the truth and the life‟, „because I live, you will live
also…you in me and I in you‟, „my peace I give to you…let not your hearts be troubled‟, „Abide in me‟,
etc. Jones p. 47
22
p. 231
121
‘Pagan’ traditions in Christianity
There was another route for the mystical tradition that passed, on the whole safely,
through the mainstream of the church. This was the mysticism of Greek philosophy that
comes from Socrates, Plato and Aristotle – but mainly from Plato through his interpreter,
Plotinus. The Stoics (whose philosophy was revived in Renaissance times by Bruegel‟s
friend Justus Lipsius), also influenced Christian mysticism. Many authors sympathetic to
the idea of the Perennial Philosophy affirm that there was an unbroken succession of
teachers. We have seen Jones referring to the „Hermaic chain‟ from Plotinus to the
closing of the Athenian School of Philosophy.23 It is a remarkable fact that the Platonic
Academy survived in Athens for more than 500 years after Christ. It was closed by the
order of the Emperor Justinian in the year 529. Professor Jones tells the story.
The edict of a Christian emperor closed the doors of the Academy and drove the
little band of philosophers out into exile. There were seven of them and they took
their beloved books and started out from the famous seat of philosophy, to seek a
quiet retreat in Persia – the wise men of the West going towards the East with no
star for guide. It was a pathetic end. The mighty stream of truth seemed at last,
after eight hundred years, to be losing itself in the desert sand. The church would
brook no rival in the field of truth and it proposed to ban all unbaptized teachers,
23
Jones p. 77
122
and to taboo all streams of truth that did not flow from the canon. The Christian
emperor reckoned ill if he thought he could suppress the contribution of Greek
wisdom by lock and key. He could banish the feeble relic of the school, and then
settle down in the fond belief that the world was now rid of the philosophic brood.
Not so. Before Justinian was in his grave, this Neoplatonic philosophy was …
translated into Christian terms, and was made into the spiritual bee-bread on
which many Christian generations fed.24
He goes on to say that „the [Christian] Greek fathers were all influenced by the
philosophy of Greece, and from the time of Origen (A.D. 185-254) there is a strong
Neoplatonic flavour in all their work. „The immanence of God is the very warp and woof
of their thinking … Clement, Origen and Athanasius … were interpreting Christianity to
the Greek mind through the historical forms of Greek thought and [they] … hit upon
elemental facts of universal religious experience.‟25 We are reminded of Greek
philosophy‟s central philosophical practice by Clement‟s „harmonized man‟, the goal of
human perfection … „it is then, the greatest of all lessons to know oneself. For one who
knows himself will know God, and knowing God, he will be made like God‟.26
The mysterious Ammonius Saccas, who left no writings and whose ideas are inferred
from the works of his pupils, was an important link in the chain of schools of the
Perennial Philosophy. After long study and meditation, Ammonius opened a school of
24
Jones p. 79. „Bee-bread‟ is an American expression for pollen
Jones p. 84
26
Clement, The Instructor, Book III, chap. i. 83
25
123
philosophy in Alexandria in 193. His principal pupils included both pagans and
Christians: Herennius, the two Origens, Cassius Longinus and Plotinus. Hierocles,
writing in the 5th century AD, states that his fundamental doctrine was eclecticism,
derived from a critical study of Plato and Aristotle. His admirers credited him with
having reconciled the quarrels of the two great schools. He is regarded by some as a
theosophist and may also perhaps be considered the first Neoplatonist. Among other
things, he warned about the dangers of drawing too rigid a division between pagans and
Christians. Although people spoke of him as theodidaktos, or “god-taught,” he was a
modest man who considered himself merely a philalethian, or lover of truth. The aim of
his school was universal brotherhood, a view of the essential unity of all religions, and
making the study of philosophy a living power in people’s lives.27
We shall also see how this stream of the Tradition passed into the Latin world in the early
middle ages and from there into the arena of thinking men, mystics and spiritual seekers
in northern European cities such as Antwerp and Brussels in the 16th century. However, it
is a pathway leading to spiritual awakening whose route is often outside the conventions
of institutional religion, whether Catholic or Protestant. The attempts by historians to
identify Bruegel‟s religion have been contradictory and inconclusive. Yet Bruegel‟s
religion, or his attitude to religious ideas, must be an important key to the meaning of his
paintings. If it is the case that he actively studied and applied mystical ideas that
correspond to what has been called the Perennial Philosophy, the researcher is necessarily
27
Drawn from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonius_Saccas and
http://www.alcott.net/alcott/home/champions/Ammonius.htm
124
led to the Hellenistic milieu of early Christianity where the origins of Christian mysticism
are to be found. From here the seeker must pick out the thread that connects Bruegel with
that source. He will find that this thread links together groups or schools of religious
mystics nearly always regarded by the established church as „heretical‟.
In the early, and still Hellenistic, Christian tradition, the communities or schools of men
and women who devoted themselves to the mystical path were the monastic brotherhoods
and sisterhoods that first came into being in the Roman Empire.
The early Christian monks formed an international society that flourished in all
the Greek territories of the late Roman Empire, as well as Syria and Persia, in
Egypt gathered around the Nile, and as far into Africa as Nubia (modern Sudan)
and the highlands of Ethiopia. They inhabited the rocky and desert terrain of
Sinai, Palestine, Arabia and Turkey (ancient Cappadocia); and in the great capital
of the late Roman Empire, Constantinople, they became almost a civil service, so
great were their numbers, and many dedicated scholars and aristocrats among
them. After the fifth century, monasticism became popular in the West too, where
Gaul (modern France) and Italy became centres of activity. Soon over the whole
early Christian world, which was drawn like a circle around the Mediterranean
basin, Christian monks could be found living in small communes of hermits
125
gathered together in remote valleys, or in small houses, usually a few dozen living
the communal life together.28
The same author goes on to describe the elaboration of „spiritual theology‟ based on such
men as Origen of Alexandria, „one one of the most elegant Platonist philosophers of his
age [who had] created an extensive and elegant system for scriptural exegesis and the
methods needed for purifying the soul and assisting its illumination and ascent‟.29
Professor McGuckin points out that the literature emanating from this milieu was not
concerned with the disputes over doctrinal issues which were being debated elsewhere
under the imperial eye and where the resulting decisions were given the force of Roman
law. „The monastic texts, by contrast, were largely uninterested in controversial
argument. It was a literature dedicated to the secrets of the inner life.‟30 We see in these
remarks the beginning of that tension, sometimes leading to violence and cruelty, that has
nearly always existed between those following the mystical path and the religious
institutions of the state.
Esoteric symbolism in the New Testament
It is in this tradition that P. D. Ouspensky, writing in 1911, says esotericism is the
„kingdom of heaven‟ about which, in public, Jesus only spoke indirectly; though, even in
28
McGuckin, The Book of Mystical Chapters, Shambala. p. 4.
Idem. p. 5.
30
Ibid.
29
126
the parables, the sternness and severity of the teaching cannot be hidden‟.31 After giving
the parable of the wheat and the tares32 Christ „sent the multitude away and went into the
house‟. He ends his explanation of the symbolism, which he gives privately to a small
group of people, namely the disciples, saying „the harvest is the end of the world; and the
reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall
it be in the end of the world‟.33 And later, of the net cast into the sea, into which was
„gathered of every kind‟ and of which „they cast the bad away‟ he declares „So shall it be
at the end of the world: and the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from the
just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of
teeth.‟34 The central idea of esotericism in the gospels is summed up in well-known, but
not well understood, phrases: „many are called but few are chosen‟35 and „great is the
harvest but the workers are few‟.36 The concept of the many and the few, clearly stressed
by Christ, had long before been stated by Plato who declared that „philosophy was a
mystical initiation‟ limited to „the chosen few‟.37
Another important exponent of the perennial tradition in the 20th century, Frithjof
Schuon tells us that in the Bible „word-for-word meaning practically never suffices by
itself and [that] apparent naiveties, inconsistencies and contradictions resolve themselves
31
P. D. Ouspensky, A New Model of the Universe, London, 1931, Ch. I, „Esotericism and Modern Thought'
and Ch. IV, „Christianity and the New Testament‟.
32
Mat. 13: 24-30
33
Idem, 39-40
34
Idem, 47, 49-50
35
Mat. 22
36
Luke 10.2, Mat. 9. 37-38. Also Thom. 73
37
Edgar Wind, referring to Phaedrus 244E in Pagan Mysteries of the Renaissance, London 1958, p. 14).
Likewise, discussing exoteric and esoteric meanings in the mysteries (Phaedo 67-69), „Many are the
thyrsus bearers but few are the bacchoi‟. (idem, p. 15).
127
in a dimension of profundity of which one must possess the key. The literal meaning is
frequently a cryptic language that more often veils than reveals and that is only meant to
furnish clues to truths of a cosmological, metaphysical and mystical order‟38
An example of the cryptic language, traditionally employed in esoteric literature, might
be the apparently straightforward description, quoted above, which tells us how Jesus
„sent the multitude away and went into the house‟. A mystical interpretation would see in
the idea of the multitude, the idea of multiplicity, the „many‟, as opposed to the „one‟.
The former referring to man („my name is legion‟39) or, more specifically, unredeemed
man‟s level of consciousness which is multiple, divided and lacking order, as opposed to
God who is „one‟, undifferentiated, the highest or divine level of consciousness. The
„house‟ that Christ „enters‟ might be seen as what writers in the Philokalia,40 call the
„house of spiritual architecture‟ or, in St Catherine of Sienna‟s phrase, „the cell of selfknowledge,‟ whose location is at the inner centre of a man‟s being and accessible through
mystical contemplation.
38
see J. Needleman ed., The Sword of Gnosis, Penguin books, 1974, p. 354
Mk 5;9
40
Translated into English by Kadloubovsky and Palmer in 2 vols: Prayer of the Heart, London 1961 and
Early Fathers from the Philokalia, London 1964. The quotation is from the latter vol., 14th century monks,
Ignatios and Callistos.
39
128
The Church Institutionalized
The questions of the sources for the synoptic gospels are still a matter of debate.41 It can
be supposed that those who had been with Christ memorized and wrote down what they
had personally seen and heard. Such notes were shared, passed on to others and copied
with varying degrees of accuracy and, later still, groups of people around a particular
teacher, gathered these notes into collections of sayings, editing and collating them with
accounts of significant and miraculous events. By the middle of the second century a
wide variety of material abounded purporting to reflect Christ‟s words and actions. Small
and not so small groups of Christians were to be found all over the so-called civilized
world, i.e. the Roman Empire: in southern France and Italy, in Egypt and North Africa, in
the eastern Mediterranean countries and throughout the Balkans and Asia Minor who
treasured these materials. (There are also traditions of the spread of Christianity into
China and India.) Some were slaves, some were well-born, some were philosophers and
some were Gnostics. For some, Christianity was a message of hope in a world of social
oppression, injustice and cruelty; for others it brought meaning to this present life as well
as to the soul‟s longing for union with the divine in eternity. Such a variety of class, race,
language and education tended to produce a corresponding variety of versions of what
Christ had said and done. Men, such as Irenaeus, the bishop of Lyons, who regarded
themselves part of the „apostolic succession‟ and who had influence and ability felt a
need to unify and universalize these varied accounts of the sayings and actions of Christ.
41
G. R. S. Meade‟s The Gospels and the Gospel, London, 1902 remains a good introduction. See also M.
H. Smith A Synoptic Gospels Primer http://virtualreligion.net/primer/ with summaries of the positions
taken by Weisse, Griesbach amd Farrer.
129
Part of Irenaeus‟ authority came from his having been a disciple of Polycarp, the last of
the sub-apostolic age, who had died in 155 A.D.42
Gnostics
In the second century, that is, still before the Church Fathers imposed dogmatic and
doctrinal strictures on how to interpret certain mysterious and mystical ideas, there were a
number of different groups, loosely associated under the term „Gnostics‟, who sought the
way to actualize in themselves certain proposals implicit in what Paul and John had
understood and taught. The „Gnostics‟ (the term is loose and it may help at this stage to
think of them as mystical seekers or perhaps mystical philosophers) through working to
know themselves, discovered that the human being consists of two different opposing
halves. Each half was itself seen as consisting of two parts. First there was the visible
body which was made of a subtle element, such as had constituted Adam‟s body before
the Fall, which they called the hylic body. Later, after Adam and Eve had eaten of the
fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the hylic body was enclosed within a
covering of gross matter which was called the choical body. According to Rufus Jones
the idea of the body‟s „outer sheath‟ was based on the scriptural text „Unto Adam also
and his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them‟.43 The second half
of a human being was invisible and also consisted of two parts: the psychical being which
42
See passage in St. Irenaeus (Adv. Haer., III, 3) which brings out in fullest relief St. Polycarp's position as
a link with the past.
43
Gen. iii. 21. A.V. cited by Jones, R. in Spiritual Reformers of the 16th and 17th Centuries, Illinois, 1914,
p. xiii.
130
belonged to the Demiurge who was the creator of the world (though he is not the highest
deity) and the pneumatical being who was above the psychical. This pneumatic or
spiritual part was a seed planted in man by the highest being of all – that which the
Gnostics called the Pleroma and which Christian mystics (for example the 14th century
German writer and preacher Meister Eckhart) called the Godhead.
In the third book of his famous treatise Against Heresies, Irenaeus makes his celebrated
appeal to the „successions‟ of the bishops in all the Churches which he uses to justify his
opposition to „heretics‟ who professed to have a kind of esoteric tradition derived from
the Apostles.44 „To whom, demands St. Irenaeus, would the Apostles be more likely to
commit hidden mysteries than to the bishops to whom they entrusted their churches? In
order then to know what the Apostles taught, we must have recourse to the „successions‟
of bishops throughout the world‟.45 Irenaeus was especially concerned about a
widespread movement, later called Montanism, which he regarded as spurious and
outside the succession.
44
45
See The Gnostic Society Library Irenaeus: Against Heretics, http://www.gnosis.org/library/advh1.htm.
Catholic Encyclopedia, www.newadvent.org/cathen/12219b.htm,
131
Chapter 4. Lineaments of the Perennial Philosophy: Gnosticism and Christian
Platonism
Montanism
It may be interesting to follow this movement which, incidentally, is one of many, since it
is possible to link it with a subsequent chain of related schools that are connected along a
period of more than a thousand years and which crossed over into the west and whose
ideas were still available to those who sought them in 16th -century Flanders. It arose in
Phrygia (today western Turkey) and was referred to by contemporaries as the New
Prophecy. Its leaders were Montanus, Priscilla and Maximilla who emphasized the role of
the Holy Spirit: “Behold, man (i.e. the human being) is like a lyre and I come upon him
as a plectrum. Man is asleep and I am awake”. “Behold, the Lord is raising [to ecstasy]
the hearts of men and he is giving them [new] hearts”.46
According to Jones, the Montanists „launched a movement for a „spiritual‟ Church
composed only of „spiritual‟ persons. They called themselves „the Spirituals‟ and they
insisted that the age of the dispensation of the spirit had now come. The Church, rigidly
organized with its ordained officials, its external machinery, and its accumulated
traditions, was to them part of an old and outworn system to be left behind. In place of it
was to come a new order of „spiritual‟ people [who were] … born from above, recipients
46
Epiphanius, Panarion 48,4,1. from Studia Patristica 26 (1993) pp. 147-150; see
www.womenpriests.org).
132
of a divine energizing power, partakers in the life of the spirit and capable of being
guided on a progressive revelation into all the truth.'47 In other words they claimed to be
directly inspired by the Holy Spirit as had those of the apostolic age, about whom we
read in the New Testament, of prophetic visions, ecstasies and the power to work
miracles. This movement, and others that relied on visions and prophecy such as the
group around the theologians Valentinus and Ptolemy, attracted enormous numbers of
followers both in Rome and throughout the Christian communities. However there was
an equally forceful opposition to them from Irenaeus and other high-ranking Christians
who denounced them as spurious and as false prophets. The position of the Church‟s „big
hitters‟ – Ignatius, Polycarp, Justin, Tertullian, Hippolytus – was eventually victorious; so
much so that the writings of those who made the „wrong choice‟, i.e. „heretics‟ were more
or less totally destroyed and their authors vilified and smeared for two thousand years.
According to one authority Montanism „was simply a reaction of the old, the primitive
Church against the obvious tendency of the Church of the day – to strike a bargain with
the world, and arrange herself comfortably in it‟.48 Such reaction against institutionalism,
against the external forms of worship rather than the internal spiritual experience, is a
feature of reform movements throughout the history of Christianity and intensifying in
the period between the end of the Middle Ages and the explosion of the Reformation in
the 16th century. Together with relatively recently discovered writings such as the Gospel
of Thomas and the Gospel of Philip and other texts found at Nag Hammadi in the mid-
47
Jones, op. cit.
48
W. Möller, "Montanism," Philip Schaff, ed., A Religious Encyclopaedia or Dictionary of Biblical,
Historical, Doctrinal, and Practical Theology, 3rd edn, Vol. 3. Toronto, New York & London: Funk &
Wagnalls Company, 1894. pp.1561-1562.
133
20th century, we can today see more or less clearly what had hitherto only been hinted at:
the essence of that „spiritual church‟ or „invisible church‟ that the Church Fathers were so
anxious to suppress and which can be called esoteric Christianity.
From the bishop‟s point of view, of course, the gnostic position was outrageous.
These heretics challenged the right to define what he considered to be his own
church; they had the audacity to debate whether or not catholic Christians
participated; and they claimed that their own group formed the essential nucleus,
the “spiritual church”. Rejecting such spiritual elitism, orthodox leaders
attempted instead to construct a universal church. Desiring to open the church to
everyone, they welcomed members from every social class, every racial or
cultural origin, whether educated or illiterate – everyone, that is who would
submit to their system of organization. The bishops drew the line against anyone
who challenged the three elements of this system: doctrine, ritual and clerical
hierarchy – and the gnostics challenged them all. Only by suppressing gnosticism
did orthodox leaders establish that system or organization which united all
believers in a single institutional structure. They allowed no distinction between
first- and second-class members than that between the clergy and the laity, nor did
they tolerate any who claimed exemption from doctrinal conformity, from ritual
participation and from obedience to the discipline that the priests and bishops
administered. Gnostic churches, which rejected that system for more subjective
134
forms of religious affiliation survived, as churches, for only a few hundred
years.49
Was the destruction meted out to the Gnostic churches wholly successful? There is a
case for saying that the teachings lived on, reappearing in one form or another throughout
the history of Christianity sometimes disguised within orthodoxy; sometimes, like the
Cathars, openly and so attracting severe retribution; sometimes hidden unsuspected in the
art, architecture and music of the church.
No one has yet succeeded in defining „gnosticism‟ adequately, or indeed in
demonstrating whether this movement preceded Christianity or grew from it.
Certainly Gnostic sects were spreading at the same time as Christian ones; both
were part of the general religious osmosis. Gnostics had two central
presuppositions: belief in the existence of a secret code of truth, transmitted by
word of mouth or by arcane writings. Gnosticism is a „knowledge religion‟ – that
is what the word means – which claims to have an inner explanation of life.
Christianity [acting as a host] fitted into this role very well. It has a mysterious
founder, Jesus, who had conveniently disappeared, leaving behind a collection of
sayings and followers to transmit them; and of course in addition to the public
sayings there were „secret‟ ones, handed on from generation to generation by
members of the sect.50
49
Elain Pagels The Gnostic Gospels, New York, 1979, p. 118
50
Paul Johnson, A History of Christianity (London: Penguin, 1988), p.45
135
This introduces the idea of another dimension to gnosticism, namely the role in it of
ancient or „pagan‟ philosophy. Tertullian named Marcion with other Gnostics, whom he
regarded among the pagan philosophers, when he wrote the famous line, „What indeed
has Athens to do with Jerusalem? What concord is there between the Academy and the
Church? What between heretics and Christians?‟51
The pre-20th-century understanding of Gnosticism was that it was primarily a
product of synthesis between Greek philosophy and Christianity. This was the
view of Tertullian and his anti-heresy peers in the second century and a view
largely shared by scholars through the modern era. Even Harnack (1896) defined
Gnosticism in this way.52 More recently Hans Jonas53 saw Gnosticism's origins in
the synthesis of Greek and Eastern religion. But, the discovery of the library at
Nag Hammadi in Egypt has forced a different view of the origins of Gnosticism.
Because the Nag Hammadi corpus of Gnostic materials included pseudoChristian, Jewish-Gnostic, and Hermetic-Gnostic (Persian) documents, the
51
Tertullian,‟ On Prescriptions Against Heretics‟, 7, in Ante-Nicene Fathers (ANF), vol. 3, edited by
Cleveland A. Coxe. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1963, p. 246.
52
Harnack, Adolf (1851-1930) leading German scholar and theologian of his time. Son of the Lutheran
scholar Theodosius Harnack (1817-89). He taught at Leipzig (1874) before becoming professor at Giessen
(1879), Marburg (1886), and Berlin (1889-1921). The last appointment was challenged by the church
because of Harnack's doubts about the authorship of the fourth gospel and other NT books. His unorthodox
interpretations of biblical miracles including the Resurrection and his denial of Christ's institution of
baptism. (see his History of Dogma, 7 vols. 1894-99) (New International Dictionary of the Christian
Church, J.D. Douglas, 1974, p 452)
53
See Hans Jonas, The Gnostic Religion: the Message of the Alien God and the Beginnings of Christianity,
Boston 1958. An astonishing work considering it was published before the discoveries at Nag Hammadi
were known. It remains one of the best introductions to Gnosticism. Another invaluable work is Elaine
Pagels, The Gnostic Gospels, Random House, 1978.
136
origination of Gnosticism should be considered to be a broader world-view
transcending both Christianity and Greek philosophy.54
With the discovery of the Nag Hammadi Library, the doors on the first centuries of
Christianity are wide open.55 The light now streaming in has proved too much for some;
the Churches themselves even after 50 years seem quite unable to respond. One is
grateful therefore to Dr Pagels who, as well as publishing scholarly work in leading
academic journals, shares her views with a wider readership in her books; views that
endorse those 19th- and 20th-century writers such as Mead, Jonas and others who have
sought to rehabilitate gnosticism.56
Many of the books from Nag Hammadi were written between the later part of the first
century and the end of the third century AD. They belonged to a community of Egyptian
monks who studied a Christianity rather different from what would soon become the
canonical New Testament and the dogmas of orthodox doctrine. The establishment of the
Church as a secular institution after the passing of the apostolic age (i.e. those who had
actually known Jesus Christ and had been taught by him or by his immediate followers)
created, already in the second century, the beginnings of a division between those who
sought to live a purely spiritual life in direct contact with divine energies or the Holy
Spirit and those who wanted to establish the religion of Christ as a social movement in
the world. The latter, under the powerful and influential Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons,
established Christian practices and beliefs laid down within specific boundaries and
54
Marcion and Marcionite Gnosticism By Cky J. Carrigan, Ph. D. (11/96) http://ontruth.com/marcion.html
James M. Robinson, ed., The Nag Hammadi Library in English, Harper and Row, 1977
56
Among Dr Pagels‟ works this writer would recommend The Origin of Satan, 1995; Adam, Eve and the
Serpent, 1989; The Gnostic Gospels, 1979; The Gnostic Paul: Exegesis of the Pauline Letters, 1975 The
Johannine Gospel in Gnostic Exegesis, 1973.
55
137
which excluded many of the writings and ideas of the former group. Later, in the fourth
century, Athanasius the bishop of Alexandria ordered the destruction of all „heretical‟
texts. The order seems to have been successful and, until the Nag Hammadi discovery,
access to their ideas – in written form at least – was almost exclusively through the
polemical essays of its opponents.
The direction taken by those Gnostic groups in the second century reveals a recurring
tendency within Christianity; a tendency that goes against the often rigid conventions of
the institutionalized, established churches; adherence to which was nearly always
disapproved of and often persecuted. Once the church had entered into an alliance with
the state at the beginning of the fourth century, its ideals were too easily compromised in
favour of political aims such as state security and state unity. For the individual the
compromise was at the level of conscience. For the next 1200 years some aspects of the
church had a tendency to become an organization comparable in some ways with the
business world or the civil services of modern times; it provided the best opportunities for
men of ability to advance their personal status to high levels within society. Dissent, then
as now, was a sure way to oblivion and ignominy.
Gnosticism: The Way of Self-knowledge
The scholar Elaine Pagels has convincingly suggested that Gnosticism is, in essence, the
way of self-knowledge, that the abiding idea of the spiritual life, the measure of all
138
spiritual knowledge, is self-knowledge.57 Furthermore it is an esoteric way much of
which „remained, on principle, unwritten‟.58 „A wise man does not blurt out every
word‟59 and „Be not as the merchants of the word of God. Put all words to the test before
you utter them‟.60
Gnostic teachers usually reserved their secret instructions, sharing it only
verbally, to ensure each candidate‟s suitability to receive it. Such instruction
required each teacher to take responsibility for highly select, individualized
attention to each candidate. And it required the candidate, in turn, to devote
energy and time – often years – to the process. Tertullian sarcastically compares
Valentinian instruction to that of the Eleusinian mysteries which „first beset all
access to their group with tormenting conditions; and they require a long initiation
before they enroll their members, even instruction for five years for their adept
students, so they may educate their opinions by this suspension of full knowledge,
and, apparently, raise the value of their mysteries in proportion to the longing for
them which they have created. Then follows the duty of silence …‟61
Pagels points out that „for gnostics, exploring the psyche became explicitly what is for
many people today implicitly – a religious quest. Some who seek their own interior
direction, like the radical gnostics, reject religious institutions as a hindrance to their
57
Pagels, The Gnostic Gospels, See Chap. VI „Gnosis: Self-Knowledge as Knowledge of God‟, pp. 119141
58
Ibid. p. 140
59
„The Teaching of Silvanus‟, in Nag Hammadi Library in English, p. 352
60
Ibid., p. 361
61
Pagels, p. 140. The quotation from Tertullian is from his Adversus Valentinianos I
139
progress. Others, like the Valentinians, willingly participated in them, although they
regard the church more as an instrument of their own self-discovery than as the necessary
“ark of salvation” ‟.62 And further, „Both gnosticism and psychotherapy value above all,
knowledge – the self-knowledge which is insight‟.63
The spiritual exercises of the Gnostics, then, are not specifically described in their
writings, though they are hinted at and obliquely referred to. The author of The Teaching
of Silvanus is referring to psychological states and events when he employs the symbol of
the city as an analogy for the inner life and the imagery in some of Bruegel‟s paintings,
such as the Numbering at Bethlehem or the Massacre of the Innocents, can be viewed in
the light of such meaning.
Throw every robber out of your gates. Guard all your gates with torches … he
who will not guard these … will become like a city which is desolate since it has
been captured, and all kinds of wild beasts have trampled on it. For thoughts
which are not good are evil wild beasts. And your city will be filled with robbers
and you will not be able to acquire peace but only all kinds of savage wild
beasts…the whole city, which is your soul, will perish…Remove all these…bring
in your guide and your teacher. The mind is the guide, but reason is the teacher.64
62
Pagels, The Gnostic Gospels, p. 123
Ibid. 124
64
„Teaching of Silvanus‟, Nag Hammadi Library in English, San Francisco, 1977, p. 347
63
140
The great G. R. S. Mead wrote that „Gnosis was to be attained by definite endeavour and
conscious striving along the path of cosmological and psychological science‟.65
„Conscious striving‟ and „psychological science‟ refer to the kinds of inner exercises
familiar today to students of Vipassana or Zen meditation and which are being studied
and even revived in Christian monasteries and churches that put emphasis on
contemplative prayer. There are signs, for example on Mount Athos, that the hesychast
tradition is being once more revived.66
Spiritual Exercises
It is implicit in the writings coming from the Philosophia Perennis tradition that
philosophy only begins to have meaning when it is fully lived and practised. Today
philosophy is an academic subject and students studying it for their degrees are not
expected to practice it. But in former times contemplation or theoria was an essential
foundation of the tradition of true philosophy. We see this in the life of the groups that
formed around great teachers in antiquity such as Pythagoras at whose school on the
island of Croton disciplines were imposed in matters of diet, silence and daily conduct.
We also learn from the French scholar and theologian Pierre Hadot that „Plato had given
65
G. R. S. Mead, Fragments of a Faith Forgotten, London 1900, p. 175.
See Mitchell B. Leister in Quest Magazine, March-April 2000,
http://www.theosophical.org/theosophy/questmagazine/
66
141
his Academy an extremely solid material and juridical organization. The leaders of the
school succeeded one another in a continuous chain until Justinian‟s closure of the school
in 529, and, throughout this entire period, scholarly activity was carried out according to
fixed, traditional methods.‟67 The same author goes on to remind us that „the tradition
was continued, both in the Arab world and in the Latin West, up until the Renaissance
(Marsilio Ficino)‟.68 Similar spiritual exigencies, as we shall see, were applied among the
„heretical‟ groups of Germany, Holland and Flanders in the 15th and 16th centuries.
Hadot shows that, in the Perennial Philosophy, Reality is not perceptible to the rational
mind or the physical senses; it has to be sought by the cultivation of inner, spiritual
energies. Such energies are acquired through the practices of contemplation, prayer and
meditation; though these alone are insufficient. „Techniques by themselves used by a
person working alone will not advance him in the path; a spiritual step can be taken only
with the co-operation of the Holy Spirit‟.69 This may be a non-rational or, according to
some, supra-rational idea but it is the traditional view and is found frequently, for
example, in the Philokalia. There we find, for instance, St Isaac of Syria, writing in the
6th century, saying, „Spiritual mysteries are above knowledge and cannot be apprehended
by the physical senses or the reasoning power of the mind‟.70
67
Pierre Hadot, Philosophy as a Way of Life, Blackwell, 1995, p. 71
Ibid. p. 72.
69
Author‟s interview with a monastic spiritual adviser, Vatopaidi Monastery, Mount Athos, May, 2005
70
Kadloubovsky and Palmer, Early Fathers from the Philokalia, London 1964, p. 227.
68
142
For human beings to perceive the world of Reality via the descent of the Holy Spirit it is
necessary, according to Dionysius the Areopagite, to sense what he called a „hierarchical
succession‟ of intermediate and higher worlds that are perceptible to our spiritual
faculties but not to our physical senses.
Each order in the hierarchical succession is guided to the divine co-operation, and
brings into manifestation, through the Grace and Power of God, that which is
naturally and supernaturally in the Godhead, and which is consummated by him
superessentially, but is hierarchically manifested for man‟s imitation, as far as is
attainable, of the God-loving Celestial Intelligences.71
Man, or rather man‟s soul, can aspire to „imitate‟ Reality by what Iamblichus calls
„cosmogonic mimesis‟ which can be understood as aligning the inner cosmos, the
microcosm, with the structure of the macrocosm.72 This is not a matter of „taking
thought‟ by which a man „cannot add one cubit to his stature‟,73 it can only be done by
interior prayer and attention – what the Philokalia calls „tending the vineyard of the
heart‟.74
71
Dionysius the Areopagite, The Mystical Theology and The Celestial Hierarchies, Shrine of Wisdom ed.,
Godalming, 1963.
72
Gregory Shaw, Iamblichus Theurgy and the Soul, 1995
73
Matthew 6:24
74
Kadloubovsky, E. and Palmer, G.E.H. Writings from the Philokalia on Prayer of the Heart. London:
Faber and Faber, 1961.
143
Hadot suggests that religion and philosophy, for Pagans, Jews and Christians in late
antiquity and the Early Middles Ages, held much in common and even, it may be said,
were essentially the same. „Both Judaism and Christianity sought to present themselves to
the Greek world as philosophies; thus they developed, in the persons of Philo and Origen
respectively, a biblical exegesis analogous to the traditional pagan exegesis of Plato‟.75
More important for this study is Hadot‟s demonstration that the conduct of philosophy
was based on the practice of spiritual exercises, and, further, that such exercises were
similar from antiquity to the Renaissance.
Ignatius‟ exercitia spiritualia are nothing but a Christian version of a GrecoRoman tradition … In the first place, both the idea and the terminology of
exercitium spirituale are attested, in early Latin Christianity well before Ignatius
of Loyola, and they correspond to the Greek Christian term askesis. In turn,
askesis − which must be understood not as asceticism, but as the practise of
spiritual exercises − already existed within the philosophical tradition of antiquity.
In the final analysis, it is to antiquity that we must turn in order to explain the
origin and significance of spiritual exercises.76
75
76
Hadot, op. cit., p. 72
Ibid. p. 82
144
The Tradition in the West: Dionysius the Areopagite
An important exponent in Christianity of Plotinus‟ ideas is the 5th-century Christian
Platonist, Dionysius the Areopagite. Just as there is a suggestion of an „unbroken chain‟
connecting Pythagoras and the pre-Platonists through to the last of the Neoplatonists, so
there is the idea of continuity in Christian mysticism. According to Andrew Louth: „With
Denys (Dionysius the Areopagite) we come to the end of the development of Patristic
mystical theology. For with Denys are completed all the main lines of the mystical
theology of the Fathers … In Denys the tradition of apophatic theology, which has its
roots in Philo and Gregory of Nyssa, is summed up by the tiny, but immensely
influential, Mystical Theology … For Denys is the most well-known exponent of the
Negative or Apophatic Way, where the soul flees from everything created and is united
with the Unknowable God in Darkness.77
The trans-cosmic principle, as set out by Plotinus, whereby each phase of the universe is
the image of the phase above it and, at the same time, the archetype for the phase below,
becomes, in the works of Dionysius, the „imitation of Divine Power‟.
77
Louth, op. cit. p. 159.
145
According to the same law of the material order, the Fount of all order, visible and
invisible, supernaturally shows forth the glory of its own radiance in all-blessed
outpourings of first manifestation to the highest beings, and, through them, those
below them participate in the Divine Ray. For since these have the highest
knowledge of God, and desire pre-eminently the Divine Goodness, they are thought
worthy to become first workers, as far as can be attained, of the imitation of Divine
Power and Energy, and beneficently uplift those below them, as far as is in their
power, to the same imitation by shedding abundantly upon them the splendour which
has come upon themselves; while these, in turn, impart their light to lower choirs.
And thus, throughout the whole hierarchy, the higher impart that which they receive
to the lower, and through the Divine Providence all are granted participation in the
Divine Light in the measure of their receptivity. The holy orders both lead and are
led, but not the same ones, nor by the same ones, but that each is led by those above
itself, and in turn leads those below it.78
In 827 a set of Dionysius' writings was sent to Louis I, son of Charlemagne, who turned
them over to the Abbey of St Denis. It can be seen today with its decorated cover in the
Louvre. During the reign of Charles the Bald (843-876) John Scotus Erigena received a
royal command to translate the works of Dionysius into Latin. He also wrote an original
work which was permeated with Dionysian views and which was destined to have a great
influence on later generations. The importance of Dionysius and his translator and
78
Dionysius the Areopagite Mystical Theology and Celestial Hierarchies, Godalming, 1965, p. 44.
146
commentator Erigena cannot be exaggerated. Nearly every medieval scholar made use of
these writings; the 19th-century French scholar Dulac says „If the works of Dionysius had
been lost, they could be almost reconstructed from the works of Aquinas.‟79
It was [Dionysius‟] formulation of the celestial order which fed the imagination of
the Middle Ages and … furnished Dante with the „nature of the ministry
angelical‟. It was here too that Spenser got those „trinical triplicities‟ which
„About him wait and on his will depend‟. And we get an echo … in Tennyson‟s
lines:
The Great Intelligences fair
That range above our mortal state.
The ninefold order of the heavenly hierarchy came to be as much a necessary part
of human thought as the pictorial facts of the gospel were … so that not only
poets and theologians made general use of [it] but … it was taken up everywhere
by the popular mind.80 The „celestial ladder‟ leading back to God became, too, the
common property of all later mystics, and there is hardly a single mystical writer
who does not have somewhere in his book a description of the „upward steps‟ by
79
L‟ Abbé J.Dulac, Oeuvres de St Denys l’Areopagite, 1932
The „Nine Choirs of Angels‟, connecting Man to God are, in ascending order: Angels, Archangels,
Powers, Dominions, Thrones, Virtues, Principalities, Cherubim and Seraphim.
80
147
which the soul flees from the world and the flesh to an inexpressible union with
the One Reality who is above knowledge.81
One example the influence of Dionysius is Walter Hylton’s Scala perfectionis or The
ladder of perfection, published in 1494.82
John Scotus Erigena announced at the beginning of one of his tracts that true philosophy
and true religion are identical.83 Elsewhere he says „There is nothing in the visible and
material world which does not signify something immaterial and reasonable‟84. Jones
tells us that he „seized the pantheistical elements of the system and brought to full
emphasis the doctrine of the „progression of God‟ into all things and the return of all
things into God‟.85 Erigena‟s own book On the Division of Nature „marks a philosophical
epoch which, together with the Dionysian writings, turned the stream of Greek Mysticism
into Christian Scholasticism‟.86
Origins of the Cathars: Paulicians, Montanists, Manichaeans and Bogomils
Many of the ideas that Erigena was concerned with resonate with the movement we know
as Catharism which came to France via Eastern Europe and which historians have shown
had its roots in oriental Christian „heresies‟ dating back to the earliest Christian times.
81
Jones p. 107.
[Westminster:] Wynkyn de Worde, 1494, Bv. 2. 7
83
Erigena, De Divina Praedestinationae, c. 851
84
De Divisione Naturae, v. 3
85
Jones p.108
86
Jones p. 124
82
148
Catharism was a revived form of Manichaeism and Montanism. Its appearance is
recorded in Bulgaria about the middle of the ninth century. It seems to have come from
Armenia, where sects of Paulicians held similar views. According to Jones, the Paulicians
were probably named from Paul of Samasota, not far from the ancient „Ur of the
Chaldees‟, today in north western Iraq, where they originated as a separate sect around
the middle of the seventh century. The patriarch of the sect was a certain Constantine,
who had come under Gnostic and Manichaean influences. He had a copy of St Paul‟s
Epistles which he considered to be the foundation of his own gnostic ideas. By allegorical
interpretation he harmonized St Paul‟s Christianity with Oriental theosophy and the
product was the „Paulicianism‟… Later [it] became „Catharism‟ in the West.87
According to Lynda Harris in her book on Hieronymus Bosch, it was Manichaean/Cathar
dualism, surviving in 15th-century Flanders that was the foundation of Bosch‟s mystical
ideas and symbolism.88 She cites a significant group of authors who consider that
Catharism, which came to France via Eastern Europe, had its roots in oriental Christian
„heresies‟ dating back to the earliest Christian times.89
Steven Runciman finds a gnostic origin for the Paulicians especially in the dualism that
was characteristic of the gnostics and their answer to the problem of the origin of evil. He
also suggests a Zoroastrian influence through the Christian or Zoroastrian heretic
87
Columbia Encyclopedia, http://www.bartleby.com/65/pa/Paulicia.html See also Medieval Church,
http://www.medievalchurch.org.uk/h_paul.html, Jones p. 143, Herzog, “Paulicians,” Philip Schaff, ed., A
Religious Encyclopaedia or Dictionary of Biblical, Historical, Doctrinal, and Practical Theology, 3rd edn,
Vol. 2. Toronto, New York & London: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1894. pp.1776-1777.
88
Lynda Harris, The Secret Heresy of Hieronymus Bosch, Floris Books, Edinburgh, 1985, p. 24. See below,
p. 143.
89
These are usefully summarized in Lynda Harris, The Secret Heresy of Hieronymus Bosch, Floris Books,
Edinburgh, 1995, 2002
149
Bardaisan who, in the second century, taught that „Buddha and Zoroaster … Hermes and
Plato, as well as Jesus, taught God‟s message to man‟.90 The Paulicians survived and
even thrived in Byzantine times until the Seventh Ecumenical Council (787) that saw the
end of iconoclasm. After this date Paulicians were oppressed by the authorities. The
emperor Constantine V transplanted colonies of them to Thrace, a policy adopted by
subsequent emperors. There they lingered on until their teachings were revived in 10thcentury Bulgaria by a group known as the Bogomils.91 They were named after a priest
named Bogomil („loved of God‟). Runciman states that „by the end of the eleventh
century the main body of the Bogomils was definitely Gnostic in its ideas‟.92
The Bogomil heresy was born amidst peasants whose physical misery made them
conscious of the wickedness of things. The Christianity imposed on them by their
masters seemed alien and without comfort. The creed of the Paulicians, settled
nearby, was fitter; it taught simple Dualism and explained the misery of the
world. An unknown priest adapted it for the Slavs … As time went on the new
faith developed; the heretics came in touch with the Messalians, who gave them
access to all the wealth of Orientalized Gnostic tradition. And thus a new
Christianity was formed, based on early Christian legend and Eastern Dualism …
to become one of the great religions of Europe.93
90
Steven Runciman, The Medieval Manichee, Cambridge, 1947, p.12; „the main Zoroastrian element in
Mani‟s teaching, the opposition of Light and Darkness, he probably derived from Bardaisan‟.
91
Runciman, op. cit. p. 67
92
Idem, p. 89
93
Idem, p. 93
150
In the 12th and 13th centuries the Bogomil teaching, that is, Catharism, spread to the West
finding followers in Lombardy and in France. It had become the state religion of Bosnia
where it survived until Turkish rule in the 16th century. Historians such as Runciman
account for these movements mainly on political grounds and it is true that the rivalries
and alliances of powerful dynastic clans and ecclesiastic authorities played the Bogomil
heresy as a card when it suited their drive for influence and ascendancy. At the same time
there was in the West a strong anti-clerical movement and a desire for the original purity
of religion that important elements of the „heresy‟ seemed to offer. These elements reflect
the Perennial Philosophy. Harris notes, interestingly, „a number of scholars have begun to
… see [that] Catharism and Bogomilism were unexplained revivals of primitive
Christianity, which had somehow been influenced by Gnosticism. Any similarity between
them and Manicheism are explained by the universal Gnostic ideas that were shared by
all of them‟.94
Making the connection with Manichaeism, Harris discusses the Tammuz myth cited as an
early example of the symbolism of spiritual death and resurrection with its parallel in
Manichean and Cathar literature and the forgetfulness that overtakes the soul (or Adam)
once it is ensnared in the body.95 „Widengren … says … the chief doctrines of
Manichaeism are the same as those of all other Gnostic systems.96 Manichaeism
developed in Mesopotamia in the third century AD. „It was an amalgamation of many
earlier systems, including Gnostic Christianity, Zoroastrianism, and even Buddhism.
94
Harris, p. 32
Harris, p. 27
96
Widengren, G., 1946, Mesopotamian Elements in Manichaeism (King and Saviour II), Uppsala and
Leipzig.
95
151
Mani, who died in 277, claimed Buddha, Zoroaster, Hermes, and Plato as his
predecessors. He always called himself “Mani, Apostle of Jesus Christ”.97 According to
Runciman, Obolensky, Loos and other scholars … Manichaeism remained strong in the
Middle East … it influenced a seventh century sect called the Paulicians [who] arrived in
[Byzantium and] the Balkans in the eighth century.‟98 Harris points out that in the tenth
century Manichaeism and Messalianism combined to become Bogomilism. Bogomilism
was Catharism. „Virtually all of today‟s experts … accept that West European Catharism
had direct links with East European Bogomilism.‟99
97
www.factmonster.com
Harris, p. 29
99
Harris, p. 34
98
152
Chapter 5. Lineaments of the Perennial Philosophy: Mysticism in the Late Middle
Ages
13th-century followers of Erigena
It is clear that the „heresies‟ listed in the papal condemnation of 1271 contain views
distinctly and definitely taught by Erigena. Jones tells us that „Cardinal Henry of Ostia …
says: “the doctrine of the wicked Amaury 1 is comprised in the book of Master John the
Scot, which is called Peryphision (i.e. De Divisione Naturae), which the said Amaury
followed”… The papal bull (of 1225) says: “We have heard that this book is to be found
in various monasteries and other places, and several monastic and scholastic persons …
give themselves eagerly to the study of the said book.” Further, „Numerous copies of [this
book] were found among the Albigensians in the South of France.‟2
The council of 1209 denounced another follower of Erigena, David of Dinant, of equal
fame with Amaury. They wrote:
David of Dinant held that God, intelligence, and matter are identical in essence,
and unite in a single substance, that consequently everything in nature is one –
[and that] individual qualities which distinguish beings are only appearances due
1
Amaury (or Amalrich) de Bene, „a master in the university [of Paris] and a person of wide and
commanding influence‟ Jones, p. 179
2
Quoted by Jones, op. cit.
153
to the illusion of sense. These pantheistic ideas are further confirmed by Saint
Thomas Aquinas, a disciple of Albert the Great, who gives this further account of
David‟s doctrine. „David of Dinant divided the beings of the universe into three
classes – bodies, souls, and eternal substances. He said that matter is the first and
indivisible element which constitutes bodies, that intelligence (nous) is the first
and indivisible element which constitutes souls, and that God is the first and
indivisible element which constitutes eternal essences; and finally that these three
– God, intelligence and matter – are a single thing, one and the same. From which
it follows that everything in the universe is essentially one.3
We are reminded that „there is a very strong tinge of Neoplatonic mysticism in the Arab
interpretation of Aristotle (in the version that came to the West), and it is well-nigh
certain that „one particular book on physics‟ gave a basis for David‟s doctrine. It is
possible that one of the sources of the teaching both of David and Amaury, and through
them of the mysticism which followed, was the writings of Alexander of Aphrodisias, the
great commentator of Aristotle in the second century. Alexander taught that the active
reason in man is divine, and all the ideas which are the prototypes of the universe have
their origin in this „active „reason‟, and thus have their origin in God, so that everything
real is divine‟.4
3
4
Cited by Jones, p. 184
Jones p. 185
154
The Brethren of the Free Spirit
There was already by 1209 a widespread „society‟ in and about Paris, evidently loosely
held together and yet showing some indications of internal organization. We learn of a
specific ministry through „prophets‟ and we find an important stress placed on ecstatic
states and inspirational speaking derived from what was considered to be direct contact
with God. The members of the sect rejected, as suitable only to the condition of the
ignorant and unspiritual, the traditional formulae, rites and ceremonies of the Church.
They denounced as superstition the worship of saints and the veneration of relics.
Goodwill and spiritual insight, they held, are more efficacious than the sacraments.
According to the contemporary chronicler Caesar of Heisterbach:
They denied the resurrection of the body. They taught that there is neither heaven
nor hell, as places, but that he who knows God possesses Heaven, and he who
commits a mortal sin carries hell within himself … they treat as idolatry the
custom of setting up of statues and burning incense to images. They laughed at
those who kissed the bones of martyrs … [They taught that] The direct inward
work of the Holy Spirit brings salvation, without any exterior act or ceremony …
[An Amaury follower] asserts that “God spoke through Ovid as much as through
Augustine” … They believe in the incarnation, the birth, the passion, and the
resurrection of Christ, but they mean by it the spiritual conception, spiritual birth,
spiritual resurrection of the perfect man. For them the true passion of Jesus is the
155
martyrdom of a holy man, and the true sacrament is the conversion of a man, for
in such a conversion the body of Christ is formed‟.5
Only a few years after the death of Amaury a powerful sect came to light, with mystical
and pantheistic ideas which seem like a propagation and expansion of the views of this
group. It was called in its earlier stage the „Sect of the New Spirit‟, though this name was
soon superseded by the name Brethren of the Free Spirit. The sect appears to have sprung
up in Strasbourg, and to have owed its origin to a man named Ortlieb, who was almost
certainly an Amaurian.6
Finally, „The document by the „Anonymous of Passau‟ (formerly supposed to have been
Rudolph Sacchoni, who wrote Summa Catharis et Leonistis, and who died in 1259)
contains 97 propositions setting forth the doctrines of the Sect of the New Spirit. (These
97 propositions have been traced back to Albert the Great, and were evidently in their
earliest form drawn up by him)‟.7 It is generally considered that Hieronymus Bosch – in
some senses Bruegel‟s predecessor – belonged to the Brethren of the Free Spirit.8
5
According to the chronicler Caesar of Heisterbach, Book v. chap. xxii. p. 386) cited by Jones, pp. 187191.
6
According to Nauclerus, Swiss chronicler, 1215; Jones p. 192
7
Jones, p. 192
8
Lynda Harris, op. cit
156
Devotio Moderna
We are now in the territory of the Brethren of the Free Spirit where the world of „new
thought‟ or New Devotion was being explored by a variety of diverse groups: Beghards,
Beguines, Eckhart and the Rhineland mystics, Humanists, Spirituals, Friends of God, the
Brotherhood of the Common Life and the House of Love.
„New thought‟ was the popular product studied of the speculations [up till now] of
the somewhat abstract doctrines of Dionysius, Erigena and Amaury … [They]
were being changed … to practical truths …The Teaching of the Allness of God
and the possibility of every person being an expression of his nature … spread
through the world and became a popular doctrine … and soon became the spirit
of the epoch.
The societies of Beguines and Beghards offered splendid opportunity for the
spread of the leaven of „Free Spirit‟, as the popular doctrines evolved from the
teachings of Amaury and Ortlieb were called … [These] societies were … transformed into the „Brethren of the Free Spirit‟.
The metaphysics of this movement are quite plain and simple, for every time we
get a glimpse of the doctrine the central idea is they same. God is all. He goes out
of his unity into plurality and differentiation. In this universe of multiplicity every
thing real is divine. The need of all things is a return to the divine unity. Man has
157
within himself the possibility of return – he can become like Christ, like God. He
can even become God. In man‟s state of perfection God does all in him that he
does. The Church therefore is unnecessary. Man himself is a revelation of God.
Heaven and Hell are allegories.9
Meister Eckhart and the Rhineland Mystics
The name most readily associated with the Devotio Moderna is that of the German mystic
and theologian Johannes Eckhart (1260?-1328?). He was a Dominican friar who wrote a
large number of works dealing with man's inner spirituality and the ability of the
individual to develop this spirituality. It was thought that these ideas diminished the
importance of the clergy and the sacraments of the Church. In 1327 Eckhart faced
charges of heresy and recanted many of his propositions. Although his teachings were
declared heretical, Eckhart‟s ideas had far-reaching influence and many consider them to
be the precursors of Protestantism. He studied at Erfurt and then at Cologne where
Albertus Magnus (1193-1280) and his pupil Thomas Aquinas 1225-1274) were the great
names. We learn from Jones‟ commentary that „Meister Eckhart … was able to absorb
the mystical teaching of … Augustine, Dionysius, Erigena, Albertus Magnus and Thomas
Aquinas [also Pagan authors], and by his real endowment of genius and his fertility of
9
Jones pp. 202-206. see also http://www.etss.edu/hts/MAPM/info3.htm
158
mind he was able to become the interpreter of this mystical message to the people. He
was at the storm centre of heretical mysticism – the mysticism of the „Free Spirit‟.10
Magnus begins his treatise De Adhaerendo Dei with the following unusually explicit
description of the practice of meditation or contemplative prayer including a telling gloss
on Christ‟s instructions on prayer:
When St John says that God is a spirit, and that he must be worshipped in spirit,
he means that the mind must be cleared of all images. When thou prayest, shut thy
door – that is the door of thy senses. Keep them barred and bolted against all
phantasms and images. Nothing pleases God more than a mind free from all
occupations and distractions. Such a mind is in a manner transformed into God,
for it can think of nothing and love nothing, except God; other creatures and itself
it only sees in God. He whom I love and desire is above all that is sensible, and all
that is intelligible; sense and imagination cannot bring us to him, but only the
desire of a pure heart. This brings us unto the darkness of the mind, whereby we
can ascend to the contemplation even of the mystery of the Trinity. Do not think
about the world, or thy friends, nor about the past, present or future; but consider
thyself to be outside the world and alone with God, as if thy soul were already
separated from the body and had no longer any interest in peace or war or the
10
Jones, p. 217
159
state of the world. Leave the body and fix thy gaze on the uncreated light. Let
nothing come between thee and God.11
In 1311 Eckhart returned to his studies in Paris. When he left for his great career as a
preacher in Strasbourg, he certainly carried away with him as part of himself the mystical
world-view of Dionysius and Erigena which he was to translate in scores of sermons to
the people of Strasbourg. There is a passage in one of his Strasbourg sermons which is in
sympathy with the views of the Brethren of the Free Spirit:
That person who has renounced all visible creatures and in whom God performs
His will completely – that person is both God and Man. His body is so completely
penetrated with divine light and with the soul essence which is of God that he can
properly be called a divine man. For this reason, my children, be kind to these
men, for they are strangers and aliens in this world. Those who wish to come to
God have only to model their lives after these men; no one can know them unless
he has within him the same light, the light of truth.12
Eckhart himself provides marvelously clear commentaries on the esoteric meaning of
scripture. In one of his sermons on the Nativity of Our Lord, he calls us away from the
historical, literal narrative: „Here in time, we are celebrating the eternal birth which God
the Father bore and bears unceasingly in eternity, because this same birth is now born in
11
12
Cited by Jones, p. 219
Pfeiffer p. 127, line 38 ff. cited by Jones p. 223
160
time, in human nature. St Augustine says: “What does it avail me that this birth is always
happening, if it does not happen in me?” ‟13 Eckhart is referring to classic meditation
techniques when, further on, he states that „the soul in which this birth is to take place
must keep absolutely pure ... quite collected and turned entirely inward; not running out
through the five senses, but all inturned and collected in the purest part – there is His [i.e.
God‟s] place.14
Professor Jones summarizes Eckhart thus.
We shall find in [Eckhart] the main … lines of thought which are now familiar to
us in the great systems of Plotinus, Dionysius and Erigena. In his profoundly
original style of speech we shall hear again of the undifferentiated Godhead, the
Divine Procession, and of the soul‟s return home …The first point that must be
grasped is the distinction between „God and the „Godhead‟. There is – and this is
the core of Eckhart‟s doctrine – there is a central mystery which for ever lies
beyond the range of knowledge. He whom we call „God‟ is the divine nature
manifested and revealed in personal character, but behind this revelation there
must be a Revealer – One who makes the revelation and is the Ground of it, just
as behind ourself-as-known there must be a self as knower – a deeper ego which
knows the me and its processes. Now the Ground out of which the revelation
proceeds is the central mystery – is the Godhead. It cannot be revealed because it
13
14
ibid.
ibid.
161
is the ground of every revelation, just as the self-as-knower cannot be known
because it is precisely that which does the knowing, and this cannot itself be
caught as object.
The unrevealable Godhead is the Source and Fount of all that is, and at the same
time the consummation of all reality, but it is above all contrasts and distinctions.
It is neither this nor that, for, says Eckhart, in the Godhead, „all things are one
thing‟ – all the fullness of the creatures (i.e. created things) can as little express
the Godhead as a drop of water can express the sea.
All that is in the Godhead is one. Therefore we can say nothing. He is
above all names, above all nature. God works; so doth not the Godhead.
Therein they are distinguished – in working and not working. The end of
all things is the hidden Darkness of the eternal Godhead, unknown and
never to be known.15
Nobody has gone further than Eckhart in removing all anthropomorphic traits
from God, i.e. the Godhead, but the result is that He is left with no thinkable
characteristics ... He entirely transcends human knowledge … No word that
voices distinctions or characteristics, then, may be spoken of the Godhead,
Eckhart‟s favourite names are: „the Wordless Godhead‟; „the Immovable Rest‟;
„the still Wilderness, where no one is at home‟. All mystics have insisted that God
15
Pfeiffer, p. 173
162
in his essence is beyond „knowledge‟, for „knowledge‟ must deal with a finite
„this‟ or a finite „that‟, while God in His absolute reality must be above any „this‟
or „that‟. Eckhart‟s „nameless Nothing‟ is only a bold way of saying that the
Godhead must be above everything that limits or defines – above everything that
can be „thought‟ or envisaged. As he himself says: „In the Naked Godhead there is
neither form nor idea ... He is an absolute, pure, clear One … the impenetrable
Darkness of the eternal Godhead‟. The unoriginated Being, the Ground of all that
is, is the central mystery, and he who would fathom this mystery must transcend
knowledge, must have recourse to some other form of experience than that which
defines and differentiates as the knowing process does.16
The Friends of God
The group known historically as the Friends of God (Gottesfreunde) was formed in Basle
between 1439 and 1444. Its influence extended along the Rhine as far as the Netherlands,
the cities most prominent in its history being Basle, Strasburg, and Cologne. Its
associates, among whom are the greatest names of German mysticism, were devoted to
the practices of the interior life.17
16
17
Jones pp. 225-6
Catholic Encyclopedia, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06306a.htm
163
The title Friends of God does not cover a sect, or even a „society‟… it names a …
type of Christianity which found its best expression in [prophets], both men and
women, who powerfully moved large groups … by their preaching, their writing,
and their extraordinary lives. All the leaders of the movement were profoundly
influenced by … Eckhart. [as well as by St Hildegarde, St Elizabeth of Schonau,
and St Matilda of Magdeburg] …The Friends of God formed small groups or
local societies, gathered about some spiritual leader or counselor. There was little
or no organisation. The type of each particular group was characterized by the
personality of the „leader‟. These … groups were widespread [in Germany, the
Netherlands and Switzerland] … There was a voluminous exchange of letters
among the leaders and frequent personal visits …The leading figures … are
Rulman Merswin of Strasbourg; Nicholas von Lowen; John Tauler, Henry Suso,
Jan Ruysbroek; Margaret and Christina Ebner; Henry of Nördlingen and the great
unknown, who wrote the little book called German Theology.18
Meditation
A document giving „Advice‟ ascribed to Merswin includes the following, stressing the
necessity of daily meditation:
18
Jones p. 242-245
164
All those … who desire to begin a new and spiritual life, will find great profit in
a withdrawal into themselves every morning when they rise, to consider what they
will undertake during the day … Likewise, in the evening, on going to bed, let
them collect themselves and consider how they have spent the day.19
John Tauler, c. 1300 - 1361
According to Tauler: „Great doctors of Paris read ponderous books and turn over many
pages. The Friends of God read the living book where everything is life.‟ And he tells us
that one of the greatest Friends of God he had ever known was a simple day labourer, a
cobbler, who had no magic of ordination and no wisdom of scholarship. Tauler, like all
true mystics, insists on an inner light, „an inward divine light which illuminates [the
Friends of God] and raises them to union with God‟. By merely looking at their
neighbour they can tell his inward state; they know whether he belongs to God or not,
and what hinders him from spiritual progress.20
God is a hidden God – he is much nearer than anything is to itself in the depth of
the heart, but he is hidden from all our senses. He is far above every outward
19
20
Quoted by Jones, p. 256
Sermon LIX, Jones p. 276
165
thing and every thought and is found only when thou hidest thyself in the secret
places of the heart, in the quiet solitude where no word is spoken, where there is
neither creature, nor image nor fancy. This is the quiet desert of the Godhead, the
Divine Darkness – dark from His own surpassing brightness, as the shining sun is
darkness to weak eyes, for in the presence of its brightness our eyes are like the
eyes of the swallow in the bright sunlight – this abyss is our salvation!21
Tauler constantly insists on the religion of experience: „The man who truly experiences
the pure presence of God in his own soul knows well there can be no doubt about it …
this knowledge is not be learned from the masters of Paris‟; it can only come through the
experience of „entering and dwelling in the Kingdom of God … what this is and how it
came to pass is easier to experience than to describe.‟22
Henry Suso, 1296-1366
Henry Suso was a disciple of Eckhart. As a youth he received ecstatic visions. He then
lived a life of terrible self-privations and self-inflicted pain. The ultimate reality for Suso,
as for Eckhart, is the „eternal, uncreated truth‟. „Here the devout man has his beginning
and his end‟. Whatever flows out from the source, the Godhead, can turn back again into
21
Sermon for the Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity, Hutton‟s The Inner Way, being Tauler’s Sermons for
Festivals. Jones, p.278
22
Sermon XXXVI, Sermon XLVIII
166
its source, and so come to reality and bliss, and even while he is living on earth „a man
may be in eternity‟.23
The literary gem of this religious movement is Theologica Germanica; the writer is
plainly influenced by Eckhart and shows the family characteristics of the Friends of God.
He quotes from Tauler, and he holds much the same views. This work together with the
other great classic of the period, the Imitatio Christi of Thomas À Kempis, represents the
culmination of the perennial philosophy in 16th-century northern Europe that had been
operating through the mysticism of the church since the early middle ages. Widely read at
the time, these two books constitute a large part of the basic spiritual resource of the
mystics, philosophers, humanists and thinkers of the period and from among whom Peter
Bruegel cannot be excluded.
Theologica Germanica and Imitatio Christi24
„The Theologica Germanica and the Imitatio Christi were, after the Bible, the two most
universally and widely read books by educated religious people in the 16th century.‟25 For
23
Jones, p. 289
Thomas À Kempis (1380-1472), Imitatio Christi, trl. 1952 by Leo Shirley-Price, Penguin Classics,
London. The author of Theologica Germanica (1380) remains anonymous. The version well known today
is that published by Martin Luther in 1518. See The Theologica Germanica of Martin Luther, trl. Bengt
Hoffman, Paulist Press, New Jersey, 1980. These two works, perhaps together with the writings of St
Augustine, were the mostly widely read, after the Bible, of the Western spiritual tradition throughout the
late Middle Ages and especially in the first half of the 16 th century.
24
167
reasons that will be outlined below, it can be said that they would certainly have been
known to Peter Bruegel and the circle known as the Hiël Group that, under Jansen
Barrefelt, was profoundly influenced by the teachings of Hendrik Niclaes (in fact
Barrefelt had been his follower) and which was part of the rather widespread movement
variously known as Domus Caritatis, the House of Love, the Family of Love or the
Familists.26
A number of quotations have been selected from these two books that express ideas that
belong to the body of traditional mystical and esoteric teaching referred to in this thesis
as the Perennial Philosophy in the form that was current in the 16th century. Interestingly,
the editor of the Imitatio is among those who object to the term Perennial Philosophy.
Apparently wanting to dismiss the idea, he says: „there is a common tendency today to
represent the Saints as experts in “natural” religion or “perennial philosophy” ‟.27 In this
writer‟s opinion he confuses the Perennial Philosophy with „nature mysticism‟ and
dismisses it as „[un]worthy of serious consideration‟. Yet two pages later we find:
It is hardly surprising that a man of Thomas [à Kempis‟] spiritual and mental
powers was widely and soundly read in the best both of pagan and Christian
literature. Every page glows with the reflected light of Holy Scripture, which he
knows so intimately; but he loves also to draw from the wisdom of the Christian
25
A. Hamilton, The House of Love, Cambridge, 1981, p. 6.
Hamilton, p. 6. see also „English Dissenters‟ in Ex Libris.
(http://www.exlibris.org/nonconform/engdis/familists.html) for a comprehensive bibliography.
27
Imitatio, Introduction, p. 12.
26
168
fathers, and from the great philosophers of Greece and Rome, in order to confirm
and illustrate his teaching. Anyone familiar with the writings of St. Bernard, St.
Augustine, and S. Thomas Aquinas can readily detect the thought of these great
theologians, while Thomas also draws from Ovid, Seneca, and Aristotle.28
The last sentence suggests, in outline, a parallel with the Perennial Philosophy already
laid out in this thesis.
The Theologica Germanica predates the Imitatio Christi by a century. Its author is
unknown but its tradition can be related to Tauler29 whose thought was influenced by the
great Eckhart who may have been his teacher.30
The selection of the material set out below, like the interpretation that will be offered of
the deep meaning hidden in Bruegel‟s paintings, is based on the premise that the seeker
of truth begins with the acknowledgment that he is spiritually lost, that he needs a method
of work and practice of a psychological or psycho-spiritual nature. The search has to be
indefatigable and the struggle between a person‟s human nature and spiritual nature is
sometimes compared to war in much the same sense as references to „unseen warfare‟ or
„hidden warfare‟ are found in commentaries on the spiritual life in the Philokalia. A
number of quotations are grouped together here under the heading „warfare‟.
28
Imitatio, Introduction, p. 14
Hoffman-Bengt, Theologica, Introduction, p. 9
30
Catholic Encyclopaedia, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14465c.htm
29
169
Other quotations are selected on the basis of the proposition in this thesis that the central
activity for the pursuit of spiritual perfection is the practice of contemplative prayer or
meditation. It has been shown that the cultivation of attention or mindfulness within
oneself was a concept widely understood and widely practiced, albeit in varying forms, in
Antiquity, throughout the Middle Ages and during the Renaissance rather in the way that
bodily health and the practice of physical exercise is cultivated and practiced today. 31
From this basic principle, central to the inner life of cultures and civilizations of all
periods, a vast literature springs, some fragments of which have been cited in these pages,
that has become the common culture of humanity. Great sacred writings are variously
interpreted as artistic or poetic or historical; though from the esoteric idea as defined by
Origen, Dante and others, they should be considered as alluding to different levels of
meaning: (1) the literal, (2) the moral, (3) the spiritual and (4) the esoteric or anagogic. It
is the last that contains insights and images or descriptions of states of being and states of
consciousness not ordinarily available to people concerned only with mundane affairs.
However, it is said, particularly in Christianity, that all people possess the faculty, even if
undeveloped, for perceiving aspects of God or higher truth and most people have known
momentary insights or, at least, intimations of the existence of „another reality‟. Once in
every generation or so an exceptionally gifted teacher appears who has more continuous
or even permanent access to states of higher consciousness. But their message is almost
invariably misunderstood or ignored or distorted. Eckhart, as we have seen, calls them
„strangers and aliens in this world‟. It is the lot of humanity to fall into the „forgetfulness‟
31
See above, e.g. p. 131
170
and „sleep‟ that spiritual teachers warn against, but to know this is to be a seeker and it is
to seekers that the spiritual teachings try to speak.
Here follows a brief anthology of quotations chosen from Theologica Germanica
(referred to as TG) and the Imitatio Christi (referred to as IC) that this writer considers
central to the themes of this thesis.
Warfare, Work and Trial
Your eternal home and the joys of the heavenly country draw your heart. But the
time for this has not yet come; there remains warfare, work and trial. (IC p. 160) 32
Who has a fiercer struggle than he who would conquer himself? Yet this must be
our chief concern – to conquer self, and by daily growing stronger than self, to
advance in holiness. (IC p. 31)
Job says „man‟s life on earth is warfare‟. (IC p. 40)
Without labour, no rest is won; without battle, there can be no victory (IC p. 118)
Frailty and weakness
À Kempis reminds us of our difficulties caused by the fact that:
32
References are given in the text after each quotation. IC = Imitatio Christi, TG = Theologica Germanica
171
We are not free from passions and lusts, nor do we strive to follow the perfect
way [and] when we encounter even a little trouble, we are quickly discouraged,
and turn to human comfort. (IC p. 38)
Here man is defiled by many sins, ensnared by many passions, a prey to countless
fears. Racked by many cares, and distracted by many strange things, he is
entangled in many vanities. He is hedged in by many errors, worn out by many
labours, burdened by temptations, enervated by pleasures, tormented by want. (IC
p. 157)
Keep me, also, from becoming a servant to my body‟s many needs. (IC p. 129)
The New Man
The writer points out that our reward cannot come until we have completed our spiritual
journey and that, during its course, a fundamental change has to occur:
You desire to be filled with the supreme Good, but you cannot attain this blessing
now. I am that Good; wait for Me, says the Lord, until the coming of the
Kingdom of God. You must be proved in this life and many trials await you.
Consolation will sometimes be granted you, but not in its fullness. So be strong
and courageous both in doing and enduring what by nature is repugnant to you. It
is necessary for you to become a new man, and to be changed into another person.
(IC p. 160)
172
The Human Condition (‘original sin’)
Man‟s difficulties are very great; we are the inheritors of events associated with our
origin
Man is an exile here … he can put his trust in nothing in this world. (IC p. 39)
Man has lost the blessing of original happiness. (IC p. 40)
[Man] lies under the curse common to all men. (IC p. 129)
Self Knowledge
According to the views of Thomas Á Kempis, a pathway exists along which the journey
will be taken. It is an inner journey called the path of Self Knowledge. It is superior to
worldly knowledge, including academic learning.
A humble knowledge of oneself is a surer road to God than a deep searching of
the sciences … where are all those Masters and Doctors whom you knew so well
in their lifetimes in the full flower of their learning? Other men sit in their seats,
and they are hardly ever called to mind. (IC p. 3)
The unknown author of Theologica Germanica takes the question of sin out of the field
of morality and links it firmly to the practice of „knowing within‟:
Sin … is to know within that man has strayed and will stray from God. (TG p. 119)
173
And he warns against the love of knowledge for its own sake:
Knowledge and learning … have become more loved than that which is the object
of knowledge. Yes, the false natural light [i.e. not the spiritual light] loves its
knowledge and its learning more than that which should have been the object of
knowledge.
It is conceivable that this natural light could really know and grasp God and
unadulterated, simple truth as it is in God were it not for one thing: it cannot
become liberated from its nature, which is concerned about itself and things of the
self.
In this sense we face here a mental and spiritual knowledge without love for that
which is known. It rises and climbs so high that it finally develops the fanciful
notion that it can actually know God and the unadulterated, simple truth. But what
it really loves is still itself. (TG p. 124)
Attention
Attention is the means or the tool with which the seeker engages inwardly with the forces
that pass within him. In the Greek Philokalia the term used is προσοχή (prosochi) and
corresponds to the Buddhist sati (mindfulness). It is our lack of attention and mental
instability that renders men so helpless and prone to evil.
174
The beginning of all evil temptation is an unstable mind and lack of trust in God.
Just as a ship without a helm is driven to and fro by the waves, so a careless man,
who abandons his proper course is tempted in countless ways. Fire tempers steel
and temptation the just man. We often do not know what we can bear, but
temptation reveals our true nature. We need especially to be on our guard at the
very onset of temptation, for then the enemy may be more easily overcome, if he
is not allowed to enter the gates of the mind: he must be repulsed at the threshold,
as soon as he knocks. Thus the poet Ovid writes, „Resist at the beginning; the
remedy may come too late‟. First there comes into the mind an evil thought: next,
a vivid picture: then delight, and urge to evil, and finally consent. (IC p. 41)
We should carefully examine and order both our inner and our outer life, since
both are vital to our advance. (IC p. 48)
Where are you when you fail to attend to yourself? (IC p. 73)
Enter deeply into inner things. (IC p. 91)
Keep guard over your whole life. (IC p. 127)
Absence of attention makes the seeker prey to random thoughts that distract him and take
him out of himself.
175
I am usually beset by many distractions. Often, indeed, I do not really remain in
my body at all, but am carried away by my thoughts. (IC p. 158)
It is … better that a man deeply within himself learns the what and the how of his
life. (TG p. 69)
The truth of spiritual teaching is severe and tells us that we live in illusion. Only „When a
person comes to know and see himself‟ (TG p. 72) can man become free of the imaginary
person he pretends to be.
Man fancies himself to be what he is not. He fancies himself to be God, yet he is
only nature, a created being. From within that illusion he begins to claim for
himself the traits that are the marks of God. (TG p. 115)
Even the power of thought that man is so proud of is not properly within his control.
The usual trivial thoughts of men [are] involuntary rather than deliberate. (IC p.
100)
176
Practice
The practice of daily meditations and spiritual exercises is the indispensable discipline
that will enable the seeker on the path to develop attention and self knowledge.
We fail in our purposes in various ways, and the light omission of our spiritual
exercises passes without certain loss to our souls. (IC p. 48)
Although we cannot always preserve our recollections, yet we must do so from
time to time, and at least once a day (IC p. 49)
Enter into your room and shut out the clamour of the world, as it is written,
„Commune with your own heart, and in your chamber be still‟.33 (IC p. 51)
Only direct experience, gained through spiritual practice, delivers the truth. Anything
else, however admired in the eyes of the world, is illusion.
Let no man believe that he can come to this true Light and this inner knowledge
or to the Christ Life with the aid of much questioning or secondhand information
or by way of reading and studying, or with high skills and academic mastery, or
with high natural reasoning. (TG p.83)
33
Ps. iv, 4; Isa. xxvi, 20
177
Inner Knowledge (Esotericism)
The development of spiritual understanding is not a worldly undertaking and it can be
said that it has no place at the mundane level. It cannot be spoken of directly and its
utterances, lacking the logic and structure of the world, often seem shocking or
incomprehensible.
God and man are one. (TG p. 89)
God is a light and an inner knowing. (TG p. 102)
Man recognizes with inner knowledge. (TG p. 110)
It is the inner man who receives God‟s law. (TG p. 114)
God is the true light, void of all I and self. (TG p. 115)
For he who is not on this path is unable to put it into words. And he who is on the
path and knows is equally unable to voice it. (TG p. 85)
One is to come to inner knowledge of the one truth … (TG p. 123)
… a true inwards life. The inward life begins as follows. When a man tastes the
perfect Being, as far as that is possible in an earthly life, all created things, yes,
even his own self, become like nothing to him. (TG p. 147)
In silence and quietness [learn] the hidden mysteries of the scriptures. (IC p. 51)
178
The true esoteric event has to be entirely within and not in the world.
No good action … can make man and his soul virtuous, good, or blissful so long
as it occurs outside the soul. (TG p. 69)
Death
On the mystical path the inevitable death of the body is not such an important issue other
than the obvious need to:
Realize that all things are passing and me with them. (IC p.131)
And so:
Whoever puts his confidence in men or in any creature is very foolish. (IC p. 34)
More importantly, a different idea of death is referred to:
Grant that I may die to all things in this world. (IC p. 113)
Man should die to himself, that is to say, man, self and his I should die. (TG p. 77)
Lo, where the old man dies and the new one is born again, the second birth takes
place about which Christ says: For unless you are born again and thus renewed
you will not come to the kingdom of God. (TG p. 78)
179
Man is lost because of his „attachment to his lower self‟ (TG p. 79). But he must take into
account the realities of his dual-nature. He belongs both to the higher world as well as the
lower one and should take steps accordingly.
Man should order his life with respect to the external and the internal. (TG p. 66)
Christ‟s soul had to visit hell before it came to heaven. This is also the path for
man‟s soul. (TG p. 72)
This experience of hell and heaven is like two trustworthy paths for a man in his
earthly life and happy is the man who travels on them properly and well. (TG p.
73).
This material shows that certain universal truths of the inner life, central to the practice of
mystical religion (a form of the Perennial Philosophy at that time) were taught and
followed in Europe in the 16th century. Liberated from dogma, creed, politics and the
power structures of this or that church, this teaching allows us to glimpse truths resulting
from the actual experience of the writers. They do not hide behind any party line or
doctrine but speak to us directly from the heart and the enlightened mind.
180
The Brotherhood of the Common Life
One author at least has attempted to explore the level lying beyond the historical data
assembled by academic historians. Ross Fuller‟s Brotherhood of the Common Life
successfully reveals much of the richness and variety, high intelligence and deep inner
spirituality of the movement to reform the Christian Church in the Late Middle Ages.34
Among the themes touched on at a deep level, Fuller reminds us of the place of selfknowledge in spiritual work. He shows, quoting from the Meditations of St Bernard,
how „the New Devotion emphasized the growth of the attention of the heart through selfknowledge‟.
Many there be that know & understand many other things & yet they know not
their own self. They take much heed of others, but they look not well to
themselves. They leave their inward & spiritual things and seek God among
outward things. The which is within them. Therefore I shall turn from those things
that be outward to inward things, & from inward things I shall lift my mind to
things above. That I may know whereof I came and whither I go, what I am and
whereof I am. And so, by knowledge of myself I may ascend & come to
knowledge of God.35
34
Fuller, R. The Brotherhood of the Common Life. New York: SUNY, 1997.
Fuller, op. cit. p. 123. The quotation is from the Meditations of Saint Bernard (Westminster 1496, W. de
Worde, STC, 1917, BL C11a22)
35
181
Likewise the author of the Imitatio Christi:
Even … God Himself can never make a man virtuous, good or blessed, so long as
he is outside his soul; that is, so long as he casts about outwardly with his senses
and reason, and does not withdraw into himself and learn about his own life, who
and what he is … for wholly to know oneself is above all learning.36
We are reminded that „Wessel Gansfort, whose outlook owed much to the long period he
spent with the Brethren [of the Common Life] as a young man stated, in De Oratione
that, to be able to pray freely a man must disengage himself, in a certain way, from the
“outward man”. Recollecting all of himself so that the three powers of “the inward man”
might work more as they were intended …The three parts of the interior man, memory,
intelligence and will, each have their proper work, but without “circumspect and
attentive” meditation they cannot function rightly.‟37
Whatever things undermine the first foundation of the inner man, namely,
meditation, are obstacles to all piety and the reformation of the inner man. In
meditation, however, although he may not withstand the multitude and variety of
inner speakers, with attention and deliberation he may plainly withstand.38
36
Theologia Germanica, Joseph Bernhart ed., London 1950, p. 127
Fuller, op. cit. p. 130
38
idem
37
182
Fuller is writing intimately and knowledgeably about the methods and practice of inner or
spiritual work; inner work practiced by those who participated in the New Devotion and
its offshoots, generally known as Anabaptists. One of these Anabaptist groups, regarded
as obscure, was known variously as the „Family of Love‟, the „House of Love‟ or the
„Familists‟. Its leader was Henry Nicholas or Hendrik Niklaes. As will be shown, it is
through the Family of Love that important aspects of Bruegel‟s psychology and
spirituality may be sought.39 Though not exclusively; Bruegel‟s travels in Italy, and
perhaps particularly to Rome, where he may have been in contact with the followers of
Marsilio Ficino and Agostino Steuco, are another likely source.
39
See below, p. 216
183
Chapter 6. Lineaments of the Perennial Philosophy: Renaissance Mysticism
Italy and Renaissance Humanism
Fig. 1, Andrea Solario‟s portrait of Pietro Longoni, Milan 1519, National Gallery, London
184
Solario’s portrait of Longoni
The National Gallery in London possesses a portrait dated 1519 of a man (identified as
Giovanni Cristoforo Longoni) by the Milanese painter, Andrea Solario (see fig. 1). It
conventionally represents the sitter half-length, soberly dressed in black and gazing
calmly and confidently towards the spectator. Behind him is a low wall and, beyond that,
stretching far into the distance, we see an exquisite tranquil landscape with meadows,
river and trees and filled with quiet evening light. A mysterious half-smile plays on the
subject‟s mouth and his look is quizzical and almost playful (fig. 2).
Fig. 2 Solario, detail
The Renaissance produced many such portraits, both in Italy and in Flanders and we
might pause before it only long enough to savour its melancholy thoughtful mood were
not our eye caught by one unusual detail. Just below the lip of the black marble parapet
185
on which the subject‟s hands rest, is an inscription painted so as to simulate letters carved
into the stone: • IGNORANS QUALISFUER • QUALISQUEFUTURUS • SIS QUALIS • STUDEAS POSSE
VIDERE DIV • (You
know not who you were nor who you will be; strive diligently to know
who you are).1
It would be difficult not to see in these words an invitation to ponder the ultimate
philosophical question that confronts Man: Who am I? This reminder of Socrates‟
exhortation to „know thyself, as the Delphinian inscription says‟,2 aptly resonating with
the revival of Platonism in Italy in the middle of the 15th century, was axiomatic for
Renaissance mystagogues like Pico della Mirandola, Marsilio Ficino and his follower
Agostino Steuco.
Whitall Perry lists 70 quotations taken from spiritual masters of all religions stressing the
concomitance of self-knowledge and knowledge of God or knowledge of the All.3 These
quotations show, perhaps more explicitly than the sayings around any other theme that
this principle stands at the centre of esoteric philosophical ideas throughout the ages.
1
I have not yet been able to trace the origin of this saying but Shakespeare would seem to be drawing on
the same source when Ophelia says „We know what we are but know not what we may be‟ (Hamlet VI, 5)
2
„Know Thyself‟. This famous Greek maxim is attributed to any number of ancient Greek philosophers,
including the great Socrates. However, according to the ancient historian Plutarch, "Know Thyself" was
originally the admonition "Gnothi se auton" ("Know Thyself") inscribed on the Sun god Apollo's Oracle of
Delphi, a temple in ancient Greece. Plutarch should know about the inscription on the Oracle, since he was
once one of its caretakers. http://astrology.about.com/cs/basics/l/aa100102a.htm
3
Whitall Perry, A Treasury of Traditional Wisdom, (London, 1971, p. 855ff.)
186
Origen says the soul‟s quest of God comes by self observation, if she knew
herself she would know God also. (Eckhart)
I say, no man knows God who knows not himself first. (Eckhart).
Let me know myself, Lord, and I shall know thee. (Augustine).
If a man knows himself, he shall know God. (Clement of Alexandria).
Let us enter the cell of self-knowledge. (Catherine of Sienna).4
Solario‟s portrait is one of the very few instances where a Renaissance artist presents an
esoteric idea is more or less openly. Present research has so far not discovered for whom
the portrait was made and where it was originally hung. Esoteric groups traditionally met
together in a suitable private house for instruction, meditation and discussion, not
necessarily in secret but discreetly. The picture may have first hung in such a milieu.
If „know thyself‟ is the axiomatic concept of the Perennial Philosophy it is necessary to
acknowledge the profound esoteric meaning that philosophers in antiquity and the
Renaissance gave to it. The quotations selected above are a few examples chosen
4
A Treasury of Traditional Wisdom, London, 1971, p. 855ff.
187
specifically from the Christian mystical tradition to show the continuity of the idea from
Antiquity.
Throughout the Middle Ages the idea of freedom of religious thought was a luxury
tolerated only in those who wrote in Latin and even so, only to a limited degree. In the
later part of the medieval period (1200 – 1600) the growing reaction to the Church‟s
power and materialism was fuelled by the rediscovery, through Greek scholars fleeing to
Italy from Ottoman-occupied Constantinople, of the philosophical ideas of Pythagoras,
Plato, and their followers in late antiquity: Plotinus, Porphyry, Proclus and Iamblichus.
Western theologians had been introduced to the works of Aristotle through the Arabs in
the 11th century and this had led to scholasticism and nominalism,5 but the mysticism of
Neoplatonism was little known until the appearance, in 1438, of Gemistus Plethon who,
as one of the delegates chosen by the Byzantine Emperor, traveled to Italy for the Council
of Florence. Officially Plethon was designated as one of the six champions of the
Orthodox Church but he spent his time discoursing on Platonism to the Florentines. It
was his enthusiasm for Platonism that inspired Cosimo de Medici to found a Platonic
Academy in Florence.6 Cosimo selected Marsilio Ficino, the son of his chief physician,
and provided for his education in Greek philosophy. Ficino‟s natural aptitude was so
great that he was able to complete his first work on the Platonic Institutions when he was
only 23 years old. At the age of 30, after translating the Theogony of Hesiod, the Hymns
5
Nominalism (Latin nominalis, „of or pertaining to names‟), granted no universality to mental concepts
outside the mind. It evolved from the thesis of Aristotle that all reality consists of individual things and
thus it stood in opposition to the extreme theory of realism first enunciated by Plato in his doctrine of
universal archetypal ideas.
6
Philip Sherrard, Christianity, Lineaments of a Sacred Tradition, Edinburgh 1998, esp. Ch. 5 „Christianity
and the Challenge of Georgios Gemistos Plethon and Friedrich Nietzsche‟
188
of Proclus, Orpheus and Homer, and all of the works of Hermes Trismegistus that could
be found, Ficino completed his translations of Plato. When that was finished, he turned to
the Neoplatonic writers, and left behind him excellent translations of Plotinus,
Iamblichus, Proclus and Synesius.7
Renaissance Esotericism
The mystical or esoteric tradition of Christianity in Europe can thus be traced from Plato
(though its origin is much older) through Plotinus and, in the East, to the Desert Fathers
(4th to 9th centuries) and later the Athos Fathers (10th to 14th centuries), whose writings,
gathered together in the anthology known as the Philokalia (Love of the Good) was
published in Venice in 1792 and in English in 1964. In the West, Dionysius the
Areopagite, as we have seen, was translated by Duns Scotus Erigena from whom the
tradition passed on to Hugo of St Victor in Paris in the 12th century and to the great St
Bernard of Clairvaux and the whole of the western mystical tradition. In the East, as can
be seen in the Philokalia, the tradition was rich and unbroken from the 4th century up
until the fall of Constantinople in 1453 if not beyond. By this date Greek scholars such as
Gemistus Plethon and Cardinal Bessarion were in Italy where the study of Plato and
Neoplatonism fired Renaissance mystics such as Marsilio Ficino, Pico della Mirandola
7
THEOSOPHY, Vol. 26, No. 4, February, 1938, pp. 146-152; see
http://www.wisdomworld.org/setting/revival.html
189
and Ficino‟s follower, Agostino Steuco who died in Rome only a few years before
Bruegel visited there in 1551 and with whose school he is likely to have had contact. This
would have been possible through humanist links made at the House of the Four Winds
when he was still an apprentice in Antwerp.
Edgar Wind‟s essay The Language of the Mysteries helps us to see how the Renaissance
saw the methods of the Neoplatonists and their contemporaries, the early Christian
Fathers.8 The esoteric current flowed from philosophy into art because „As Dionysius
says, the divine ray cannot reach us unless it is covered in poetic veils‟.9
„Our interest in Renaissance mysteries might indeed be slight were it nor for the
splendour of their expression in Renaissance art. But the fact that seemingly
remote ideas shine forth through a surface of unmistakable radiance is perhaps a
sufficient reason for pursuing them into their hidden depth. For when ideas are so
forcibly expressed in art, it is unlikely that the importance will be confined to art
alone‟.10
Wind quotes Plotinus on the problems of comprehending and expressing knowledge of
the highest truth, God or the ultimate One, „we can but circle, as it were about its
circumference, seeking to interpret in our speech our experience of it, now shooting near
8
Edgar Wind, Pagan Mysteries of the Renaissance, Introduction, Faber, 1958. He gives patristic sources
for Renaissance Platonism, see his note 30.
9
In librum primum sentenarium Commentationes ad mentem Platonis, Cod. Vat. Lat., 6325, fols 13 f,
Eugenioe Massa ed., cited by Wind, p. 14.
10
Wind, p. 14
190
the mark, and again disappointed of our aim by reason of the antinomies we find in it.
The greatest antimony arises in this, that our understanding of it is ... by a presence
higher than all knowing ... Hence the words of the Master [Plato], that it overpasses
speech and writing‟.11 Plotinus adds: „And yet we speak and write, seeking to forward the
pilgrim on his journey thither.‟ It is a spiritual or inner journey for, as we already noted,
Plotinus states „it is not a journey of the feet‟.12
The language of esotericism is born of the paradox of speech and silence. Wind calls it
the „disparity between verbal instrument and mystical object‟.13 According to Wind,
Pico‟s style, which has been described as „contrived‟ and „conceited‟, derives from „the
parabolic fervour and “tenebrosity” he had found in the late-antique Platonists and the
early Christian Fathers‟. We are referred to the French author Marrou14 who, writing
about the „secretive style‟ of ancient writers, says „the obscurity of the expression, the
mystery surrounding the thought thus dissimulated is [the tradition‟s] finest attribute, a
powerful cause of attraction ... Let us honour esotericism‟s veil (Vela faciunt honorem
secreti).‟ Marrou also cites Festugière: „the more truth is hidden and secret, the more it
has force‟.15 Pico‟s writings „were regarded by his contemporaries as models of how to
adumbrate an ineffable revelation through speech‟.
11
my italics
See above p. 95
13
Wind, op. cit. p. 18.
14
St Augustin et la fin de la culture antique, 1938, pp. 488ff
15
Father André Jean Festugière (1898-1982). French Dominican considered a leading authority on the
thought of late Antiquity. His books include: L'Idéal religieux des Grecs et l'Évangile, 1932; Le Monde
gréco-romain au temps de Notre-Seigneur, 1935; La Révélation d'Hermès Trismégiste, 1944-1949 and
Hermétisme et mystique païenne, 1967.
12
191
Where Wind supposes that it is unlikely that the importance of great Renaissance art will
be confined to art alone, the implication is that we ourselves must try to become initiated
into the same mysteries: „the greatest Renaissance paintings ... were designed for
initiates, hence they require initiation.‟16
This implies, then, that the seeker himself must have a similar, or at any rate related,
spiritual search that aims to penetrate the veils in himself that hide the sacred from the
profane among which latter can be included curiosity and intellectual greed. Without
such a subjective personal search, the historian remains puzzled as, for example, when
William Manchester albeit with intuitive perception, writes: „The most baffling, elusive,
yet in many ways the most significant dimensions of the medieval mind were invisible
and silent‟.17 Writing about the builders of the gothic cathedrals he speaks of „medieval
man‟s total lack of ego. Even those with creative powers had no sense of self ... They
were glorifying God. To them their identity in this life was irrelevant.‟ But later,
remarking on the need in the 13th century for opposition to nominalist philosophy, he
declares that „Men of faith who might have challenged them, such as Thomas à Kempis,
seemed lost in a dream of mysticism‟.18
16
Wind, op. cit., p. 14
A World Lit Only by Fire, London, 1992, p.21,
18
ibid. p. 25.
17
192
Traditional wisdom would claim an opposite view: that those engaged in the affairs of the
world are the ones who are „lost‟ and that mysticism – where we understand it as the
rightly conducted mystical esoteric practice („the pilgrim‟s journey thither‟ as Plotinus
puts it) towards the „presence higher than knowing‟ – is the only true access to reality and
that, rather than being a dream, it is exactly the opposite and provides the means of
escape from the prison of illusion.
Perennial Philosophy and Renaissance Mysticism
It is Thackara who finds the origins of the terms Perennial Philosophy in Renaissance
Rome at the beginning of the 16th century: 19
It was the 17th-century German philosopher Leibniz … who popularized the
Latin phrase philosophia perennis. He used it to describe what was needed to
complete his own system. This was to be an eclectic analysis of the truth and
falsehood of all philosophies, ancient and modern, by which "one would draw the
gold from the dross, the diamond from its mine, the light from the shadows; and
this would be in effect a kind of perennial philosophy”. A similar aim, with the
goal of reconciling differing religious philosophies, was pursued by Ammonius
Saccas, founder of the eclectic theosophical school of Alexandria in the 3rd
century A.D. and inspirer of Plotinus and the Neoplatonic movement.
19
From Sunrise magazine, April/May 1984. Copyright © 1984 by Theosophical University Press)
193
Leibniz, however, laid no claim to inventing the phrase. He said he found it in the
writings of a 16th-century theologian, Augustine Steuch, whom he regarded as
one of the best Christian writers of all time. Steuch described the Perennial
Philosophy as the originally revealed absolute truth made available to man before
his fall, completely forgotten in that lapse, and only gradually regained in
fragmentary form in the subsequent history of human thought. Orthodox
Christianity, in his view, was its purest restoration, and the history of redemption
includes the long quest for this wisdom.20
As far as is known the term Philosophia Perennis is not mentioned before Agostino
Steuco, to give the Latinized version of his name, but similar terms expressing the same
idea are to be found both in antiquity as well as in 20th-century authors. William Quinn
cites many of these, discussing some in depth, that are more or less closely related and
which could be said to belong to the same general terminology. There is traditio legis, the
„handing over of the law‟, a prevailing idea in late antiquity and adopted by early
Christianity. Quinn suggests this idea of traditio as the basis for „Tradition‟, the term
favoured by Guénon and Coomaraswamy in their writings on comparative religion and
culture, esotericism, and natural metaphysics. In his later writings Guénon would use
„Primordial Tradition‟ while Coomaraswamy preferred „Philosophia Perennis‟. Quinn has
a chapter on „Theosophia‟ primarily dealing with theosophia antiqua in contradistinction
to modern „Theosophy‟. Elsewhere we read that in the Renaissance the terms prisca
theosophia and prisca scientia are found. 21
20
"Perennial Philosophy," Dictionary of the History of Ideas, Philip P. Wiener, ed., Charles Scribners Sons,
1973, III, 457-63.
21
William W. Quinn, Jr., The Only Tradition, SUNY, 1997
194
It is the contention of this thesis that the Perennial Philosophy pervades the mysticism of
the medieval church and the Platonic mysticism of the Renaissance, two great streams
that converge in 16th-century Flanders where Bruegel was ideally placed to draw on both
traditions.
The historian of philosophy Charles B. Schmitt develops Plotinus‟ remark that „these
teachings are … no novelties, no inventions of today, but long since stated‟22 when he
cites Marsilio Ficino (who uses the term prisca theologica):
One of the most important facts with regard to Ficino‟s revival of Platonism was
his conception of the Platonic tradition with a supposedly earlier tradition of „prePlatonism‟ to which he gave the name prisca theologica. According to him, the
legitimate strand of true knowledge goes back to a long time before Plato: that is,
wisdom did not start with Greeks but can be traced back to very ancient Egyptian
and near and Middle Eastern sources, which were themselves later taken into
Greece and became the foundations for the development of Greek philosophy. At
the root of Ficino‟s concept lie several writings attributed to pre-Greek (or
considered at that time to be pre-Greek) authors, especially Zoroaster, Hermes
22
C.f. Thackara, cited on p. 73.
195
Trismegistus, and Orpheus, which according to his interpretation were transmitted
to Plato by Pythagoras and Aglaophemus.23
Hermeticism
It would hardly be possible to exaggerate the influence of Marsilio Ficino‟s revival of
Hermeticism on the thinking of artists and intellectuals in the 16th century. Hermetic
books dealing with philosophy and mysticism were preserved during the Middle Ages by
Byzantine scholars and collectors. The group of texts now known as the Corpus
Hermeticum finally returned to the Latin West during the Italian Renaissance when the
Florentine philosopher, Prince Cosimo de Medici obtained a set of manuscripts from one
of his agents in the Greek East and commissioned Ficino to translate the Corpus into
Latin.
Hermeticism, or Hermetism, takes its name from the mythical sage (considered by some
to be a god) Hermes Trismegistos or Thrice-Greatest Hermes. Trismegistos, in turn, was
so-called because of his identification with the great Egyptian God of Wisdom and
Magic, Thoth. Hermeticism was one of the many products of the meeting of the ancient
23
Schmitt, Charles B. “Perennial Philosophy: from Agostino Steucco to Leibniz.” Journal of the History of
Ideas 27, No. 4 (1966): 505-32, p. ix. Se also http://phoenixandturtle.net/excerptmill/yates4.htm:
„Aglaophemus, who had been initiated into the sacred teaching of Orpheus, was succeeded in theology by
Pythagoras, whose disciple was Philolaus, the teacher of our Divine Plato. Hence there is one ancient
theology (prisca theologia) . . . taking its origin in Mercurius and culminating in the Divine Plato‟ from
Ficino‟s preface to Pimander.
196
Hellenic and Egyptian cultures in the centuries surrounding the beginning of the Christian
era. A useful summary is given by „Cassiel Sofia‟:
Hermetism combined Egyptian and Greek theology, philosophy, and spiritual
practice. It found its most fertile home in the great syncretic Græco-Egyptian
metropolis of Alexandria, when that city was the cultural capital of the
Mediterranean under the Pax Romana. Religious and philosophical wisdom
flowed from many cultures into the city, the great spiritual Krater or Mixing Bowl
which gave birth to the new synthesis of religion, philosophy, and practice which
was Hermetism … [This] Hermetic elixir was composed of ingredients from all
the great Traditions active in Alexandria. To the millennia-rich stock of Egyptian
religion, philosophy and magic were added many elements from Greek Paganism
(itself influenced throughout its development by Egypt, Anatolia, Phoenicia, and
Syria), particularly the Mysteries and the philosophical schools of Platonism,
Neoplatonism, Stoicism, and Neopythagorism; Alexandrian Judaism, with its
Angelology, Magic, and deep reverence for the sacred Book; the many forms of
Christianity (Gnostic and otherwise); Persian Zoroastrianism, with its deep
concern with good and evil; as well as the new developments springing up
alongside Hermetism and cross-fertilizing with it, such as Alchemy and
Iamblichan Theurgy.
Ficino and other Renaissance philosophers, magicians, and artists who studied the
Hermetic texts … believed that Hermetic philosophy was an ancient forerunner of
Christianity rather than its contemporary. So when the Hermetic texts showed
197
influence from Jewish or Christian myth, this was understood not as the
syncretism of a late age, but as the prophetic prefiguring of an earlier one. As
such, the Hermetica could be viewed as predicting the supposed triumph of
Christianity and their obvious Paganism forgiven.
Because of this mistaken assumption of prophetic antiquity, conjoined with the
self-proclaimed Orphic Ficino‟s simultaneous re-interpretation of Magic in a
much brighter and less controversial form than that of the Mediæval period
(which itself contained many clandestinely preserved elements of Hermetism), the
new figure of the Hermetic Renaissance Magus entered the cultural consciousness
of the era. Ficino‟s „Natural Magic‟ moved out of the shadows of the grimoires
and once more into the light of general philosophical and theological
consideration. A student at Ficino‟s Florentine Platonic Academy, the brilliant …
Count Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, added the crucial catalytic element of the
Jewish Qabalah to the new Pagan-Christian Hermetic amalgam, and transformed
Hermetism forever. It is here that Hermeticism was born of ancient Hermetism,
once more entering into a syncretic union, this time with Christianity,
Renaissance Neo-Classicism and Humanism, Natural Magic, and Qabalah.
The resulting vigorous Hermetic influence spreading out from the court of the
Medicis and the Academy of Ficino clearly served as one of the most potent
inspirations for the spiritual, artistic, and scientific renewal of the Renaissance.
Hermeticism is also called the Western Esoteric Tradition, and embraces that essential
outpouring of the Light known as the Philosophia Perennis, the Prisca Theologia, the
198
Wisdom Tradition, and the „Ageless Wisdom‟. Esoteric legend holds that this is a body of
spiritual teachings that have been passed down through the millennia from generation to
generation, teacher to student. The Tradition is said to have been the inner impetus for the
blossoming of arts and sciences in many ages and the common inspiration of that which
is truest in the world‟s religions.24
24
http://www.meta-religion.com/Esoterism/Hermeticism/hermeticism.htm
199
Recapitulation: the Esoteric Way of Self-Knowledge
A basic tenet of the Perennial Philosophy is that the world – the cosmos – has its
counterpart in man. Man is the miniature of the universe; man is the microcosm: ‘As
above, so below’,1 ‘in earth as it is in heaven’.2 But Man, according to traditional ideas, is
excluded from his proper place in the cosmic scheme because of what allegory calls
‘Adam’s sin’ which condemns him to lead a false life, a life away from his rightful
inheritance. This is the central difficulty of the human condition, a riddle that calls man to
awaken to the reality of his situation and become a seeker of truth. If he hears this call he
will learn that he must undergo an inner transition or transformation and that this has to
take place before he can once again participate in real life. This transformation –
sometimes called rebirth – is very difficult to achieve and costs a man dearly because it
takes place in opposition to everything he values in material life; but that is an illusory
life which he mistakes for the other. The seeker of truth begins to see the contradiction
between what he is at present and what he is called to become and, seeing this, he cannot
avoid suffering. If he has the courage to continue and if, in spite of suffering and other
difficulties, he remains on the true path, he will eventually come to what tradition refers
to as ‘dying to oneself’ – in Sufism, ‘die before you die’ and, in Christianity, the esoteric
meaning of this ‘death’ is symbolised in the allegory of the Cross which is why we are
told that it leads to eternal life.
1
2
Hermes Trismegistus, The Emerald Tablets,
Matt. vi, 10
200
If a person sees only as far as the literal and moral meaning in the narratives of sacred
literature and has no sense of the mystical or esoteric meanings to which symbolism and
allegory refer, then nobody can convince him otherwise. But if, desiring these yet higher
meanings, he studies the world and himself impartially he may come to see the truth
about what his life is and what it could be. The aim and the constant companion of the
soul’s journey on the mystical path is, therefore, self-knowledge.
The seeker who undertakes a programmed study of himself – his interior self that
traditional literature refers to as the heart – awakens to a new and unknown world. ‘The
heart is only a small vessel, yet dragons are there, and lions, there are poisonous beasts,
and all the treasures of evil, there are rough and uneven roads, there are precipices; but
there too is God and the angels, life is there and the Kingdom, there too is light …’3
Application of the Sacred Tradition in practice
We have explored the idea that traditional sacred art and literature are vehicles for
transmitting knowledge of what philosophers associated with the Perennial Philosophy
regarded as eternal truths. We have also examined the idea that such knowledge comes
veiled in symbolism and allegory. Here a further stage needs to be looked at in
considering how the action of such knowledge can be a transforming and even
transubstantiating event in the life of a person. For actual transformation a person has to
come out from the ambience of ideas and into the spiritual battleground within himself or
3
St Makarios the Great (fl. circa 400). Quoted in J. A. McGuckin The Book of Mystical Chapters,
Meditations on the Soul’s Ascent from the Desert Fathers and Other Early Christian Contemplatives.
Boston and London, 2002.
201
herself where those ideas are applied in practice. Sacred texts and images refer
allegorically to the series of ascending steps that are specific to the spiritual journey. In
literature classic examples are St John Climacus’ the Ladder of Divine Ascent4 and
Walter Hylton’s, The Ladder of Perfection.5 The image of the ladder is also found in art,
among notable examples is the 12th-century Byzantine icon preserved at St Catherine’s
Monastery on Mount Sinai.6 The principle of ascending steps or stages in the mystical
path reflects the idea of the cosmic hierarchy that Christian mystical Tradition inherited
from Plotinus. The implication of all the texts – and Hendrik Niclaes’ Terra Pacis, which
will be discussed below, is typical – is that a preliminary phase of the journey is the
period when the seeker awakens to the reality of his present situation. This is a long and
difficult stage in which the seeker studies, and begins to know intimately, every illusion
and pretence that sustains his or her present life in order to become free from them.
These last words are emphasized because they throw light on an important aspect of the
group of paintings by Bruegel that will be discussed later in this thesis. The idea is
proposed that the path of self-knowledge through spiritual exercises is a central, though
perhaps hidden, element in Bruegel himself and in his art. Rightly conducted spiritual
exercises create a heightened state of consciousness or ‘attentive awareness’ that
corresponds to the Greek proseche – a frequently recurring term in the Philokalia – or the
state of sati or ‘mindfulness’ in Buddhist terminology. When developed, this quality
liberates the seeker from the entanglements of his personal psychology (the thoughts and
4
Saint John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, Revised Edition, Holy Transfiguration Monastery,
Boston, Massachusetts, 1991.
5
W. Hylton (1340-1396), The Ladder of Perfection, Penguin Books, 1957
6
See Evans and Wixom, The Glory of Byzantium, New York, 1996, p. 376
202
feelings with which he blindly and habitually reacts to the world around him) and allows
him to see objectively. The capability to see what is and, therefore, to know truth is the
attribute of a high degree of interior development in a man. According to St Isaac the
Syrian: ‘He who succeeds in seeing himself is better than he who has been graced with
seeing the angels’.7 Or, to quote from the Sufi tradition, we find Rumi writing in the
Mathnawi, ‘The vision in you is the only thing that matters …Transform your whole
body into vision, become seeing, become seeing.’8 It is the contention of this thesis that
Bruegel was a man of wisdom in the perennial tradition. It will be shown that the means
available to Bruegel and his circle in Antwerp in the 1550s were the teachings of the
group that can be regarded as inheritors of the Perennial Philosophy; they are known as
the Family of Love or the Familists. This inheritance was the tradition of esoteric
Christianity surviving in the West that has been outlined above.
Antwerp in the first half of the 16th century was the leading mercantile city in Europe; a
metropolis of world class at every level, ‘the Manhattan of the sixteenth-century’.9 It had
a dazzling life of arts and letters and had been the home of many illustrious figures,
among them the great Erasmus. A few Bruegel scholars, Tolnay among them,
acknowledge the humanist influences on Bruegel.10 The French historian and writer on
heresy Stein-Schneider sees a Cathar connection but he is unsympathetic to the idea of
Bruegel’s connection to an esoteric school.11 Claessens and Rousseau briefly
7
Philokalia, op. cit. St Isaac the Syrian, ‘Direction for Spiritual Exercises’.
Djalậl ed-Din Rumi, Mathnawi, VI, 1463, 4
9
Derek Blyth, Flemish Cities Explored, Pallas Athene, London, revised edition, 1996, p. 147
10
C. De Tolnay Pierre Bruegel L’Ancien, Bruxelles, 1935, pp. 8-14.
11
See below, p. 262.
8
203
acknowledge Auner’s remarks.12 But no documents – other than his paintings – exist that
throw direct light on what might have been Bruegel’s inner life and what role he played
in the intellectual life of his contemporaries. No one has investigated in depth traditional
mystical ideas in their relationship to Bruegel and to the idea that the Familists and the
humanists reflected principles of the Perennial Philosophy.
12
Auner; Claessens and Rousseau, Our Bruegel, Antwerp, p. 210, 1969: ‘the arguments on which Auner
bases himself are rather compelling…’. See.M. Auner, Tahrbuch der Kunsthistorische Sammlungen in
Wien. Vienna: 1956.
204
Chapter 7. The Family of Love
Lineage of the Family of Love
The Family of Love, whose ideas, this thesis argues, are central to Bruegel‟s intellectual
and religious outlook, was not an isolated phenomenon and can be shown to be a link in
the chain of schools – more or less hidden – stretching alongside the more visible history
of Christianity in Europe. This essay has followed the sequence traced by Rufus Jones
and others beginning with the primitive Church itself, mysticism in classical literature
and in the Church Fathers followed by Dionysius the Areopagite in the 6th century and
Duns Scotus Erigena in the 7th. 1 Later, in the 12th century, these teachings were to be a
source for various mystical groups most of whom were violently persecuted as heretics,
these include the Waldenses, who may have been related to the Cathars, and the followers
of Amaury (or Amalrich) de Bene. In the 13th century we find the Franciscan
brotherhoods (Beghards) and sisterhoods (Beguines) who were later to be transformed
into the „Brethren of the Free Spirit‟. The teachings of Meister Eckhart and the Rhineland
Mystics in the 14th century opened the way to the loosely structured „Friends of God‟ and
the Theologica Germanica. Later still, in the Netherlands, the New Devotion and the
Brotherhood of the Common Life were to represent the tradition that Jones calls the
„invisible church which never dies, which must always be reckoned with by official
hierarchies and traditional systems and which is still the hope and promise of that
1
See above p. 72 ff. For similar historical sequences see Underhill, E. Mysticism, 12th edition. New York:
Meridian Books, 1955; also Bruce B. Janz, Who’s Who in the History of Western Mysticism,
http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/gthursby/mys/whoswho.htm
205
kingdom of God for which Christ lived and died‟.2 From there it was passed to such men
as Sebastian Frank, Volkerz Coornhert and Hendrick Niclaes.3 Today some people would
see the Quakers among its descendants.4 Both its apologists and its detractors variously
wrote about the Familists in the 16th and 17th centuries,5 the latter often in violent and
abusive terms. They seem to have been more or less forgotten until the beginning of the
20th century when historians rediscovered them.
The Hiël Group
Terra Pacis and other books by Hendrick Niclaes were printed in secret by his disciple
Christophe Plantin (1520-1589), the leading printer and publisher of his day and a
member of a small group within the Familist Movement known as the Hiël Group. It was
under the direction of Jansen van Barrefelt who was later to break with Niclaes and start
(in 1569) the Second House of Love.6 He took the name Hiël (in Hebrew, „God Lives‟)
presumably because of its symbolism associated with the rebuilding of Jericho.7
According to one scholar, members of this group „represented a much higher stratum of
society and numbered literary and scientific men of renown among them‟.8 Research
indicates that, apart from Plantin, among other participants were Benito Aria Montano
(1527-1598), chaplain to Europe‟s most powerful monarch, Phillip II of Spain. Montano
2
Jones, op. cit
Ibid.
4
Ibid.
5
A bibliography of primary sources is given in Hamilton, A. 1981. The Family of Love, (Cambridge) pp.
167-171.
6
http://www.exlibris.org/nonconform/engdis/familists.html
7
1 Kings, 16
8
Rekers, B. 1972. Benito Arias Montano, (London)
3
206
was in Antwerp to oversee the printing of the Polyglot Bible, the illustrated, multilingual
publication in eight volumes that was to immortalize Plantin‟s name. He was renowned
as a scholar and played a significant role in the high politics of the day.9 Among other
members of the group were the orientalist Andreas Masius and the cartographer and pupil
of Mercator, Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598). Another was the Stoic and humanist
scholar, painted by Rubens and Van Dyke, Justus Lipsius (1547–1606).10 All of these
men knew Pieter Bruegel in one way or another and at least two of them, Ortelius and
Plantin, are known to have been close friends of his.
Bruegel’s Philosophical Circle
Bruegel the man – as opposed to his paintings – remains more or less invisible to history.
There is nothing written by him and, with one exception – Abraham Ortelius‟ remarks in
his Album Amicorum which will be discussed below11 – there is nothing by his
contemporaries that provides a glimpse into his intellectual, psychological, philosophical
or spiritual outlook. But those with whom he is known to have associated are among the
most brilliant and outstanding men of their time; many of them were men of renown in
the world. The writers, artists and religious thinkers whose names are linked with Bruegel
9
See Henry Kamen, The Duke of Alba, Yale, 2004, pp. 117-119
Moss, J. D. 1981. “Godded with Love” Hendrik Niclaes and his Family of Love, Transactions of the
American Philosophical Society. (Philadelphia). p. 20.
11
See p. 261.
10
207
were men of the humanist movement who, inwardly at least, rejected the politics and
dogmatic rigidities of conventional religion in favour of a search for such philosophical
and mystical truths as can be approached through methods of contemplative spirituality.
Like the gnostics before them they cultivated the art of complete inner freedom from
conventions and preconceptions. Outwardly, like Lipsius, they could maintain the
appearance of conformity, even if lightly. Others like Niclaes, the founder of the House
of Love, more openly declared themselves „filled with God‟ and set themselves up as
teachers, though Niclaes himself encouraged his followers to disguise their innermost
convictions and let themselves be counted among the Church‟s faithful.12 Theirs was a
form of gnosticism in that they gave priority to the action of knowledge granted by the
Spirit over the disciplines of conformity to church regulations. It can be argued that they
were students of esoteric Christianity and heirs of the Perennial Philosophy.
12
A practice known as Nicodemism, a position whereby Christians could hide their dissenting beliefs
while conforming to mainstream religious rituals, See Veen M. van. De polemiek van Calvijn met
nicodemieten in het bijzonder met Coornhert. Volume LX of Bibliotheca Humanistica & Reformatorica.
Goy-Houten (Utrecht): Hes & De Graaf Publishers, BV. 2001.
208
Abraham Ortelius
A key that may help to unlock the mystery of Bruegel‟s relationship to such men is
provided by Abraham Ortelius. He and Bruegel, together with Christophe Plantin who
would become Europe‟s leading printer and publisher, were close contemporaries, all
born within a few years of each other, and as young men incorporated into of the guild of
St Luke in Antwerp.13
Abram Ortel was a native of Antwerp who latinised his name, according to the custom of
the day, as Abrahamus Ortelius, is known to the world as a geographer, the some time
associate of Mercator and for his publication of the Theatrum Orbis Mundi, the world‟s
first atlas, published in 1570. We learn that „his youthful reading was very much that of
the humanist-in-the-making; that is, it reflected the humanist‟s conviction, supremely
expressed in the life and work of Erasmus, that the wisdom of Greece and Rome and the
teaching of Christianity constituted, when examined, a seamless fabric. „Saint Socrates!‟
Erasmus had famously exclaimed – to emphasize the unbroken line that stretched from
Greek philosophers to the Church Fathers‟.14 Humanism is a broad category of thought
that defies precise definition as a philosophical system. It comprises the thought of such
men as Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Emanuel Chrysoloras, Cardinal Bessarion, Lorenzo
de Medici, Politian, Pico della Mirandola, Erasmus and Thomas More who translated the
works of classical authors and in whose styles they themselves wrote. Some were accused
13
14
Paul Binding, Imagined Corners, Review, London, 2003, p. 39
Binding, p. 30
209
of paganism or semi-paganism but the rigor and energy of their scholarship gave them
great power and influence and many worked under (and for) the Church‟s authority. It
inspired much of the reform movement of 14th-, 15th- and 16th-century Europe. Much of
humanism can be seen as the exoteric aspect of the Perennial Philosophy.15
Early in his life Ortelius himself had an experience of Christ which was to remain
with him, strong and lucent, throughout its length. He had taken Christ into
himself just as, a century and a half before, Groote‟s Devotio Moderna movement
had advised all true believers to do, and only among those who believed in the
supreme importance of this process, of an inner life dwarfing all dogmas and
disputes, all hierarchies and rites, would Ortelius feel truly at home spiritually.
And such a group Ortelius found: the Family of Love under the charismatic
leadership of Hendrik Niclaes.16
From remarks noted by friends and from the contents of his library, Ortelius was deeply
influenced by Sebastian Franck (1499-1542), a one-time Catholic priest, then a Lutheran
pastor who later became an „independent and highly influential spiritual teacher‟. He
stressed „the longing for oneness with God [who was] so frequently impeded by doctrines
and church obligations … [He] was an enemy of all religious division between believers
… Franck had his roots in those two works … Imitation of Christ and Theologica
15
16
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/h/humanism.htm
Binding, p. 58
210
Germanica.17 He was also well versed in writers at the foundation of the Perennial
Philosophy, often referring to Plato, Plotinus and Hermes Trismegistus as „his teachers‟
who had „spoken to him more clearly than Moses did‟.18
Ortelius, a man of deep spirituality, together with his close friend and colleague
Christophe Plantin – and there is no evidence to suggest that Bruegel was not with them –
joined the movement known as the Family of Love in the late 1540s.19
For Ortelius in particular the movement had roots in earlier traditions in which he
had himself partaken. It‟s clear from the books he owned and read and from his
letters … which abound in references to the spiritual life – that Ortelius was
steeped in the pietistic, quietist Netherlandish religious tradition the roots of
which are to be found in the Devotio Moderna (Modern Devotion) movement
founded in 1397 by Geert Groote … The movement‟s influence was far-reaching,
not least because of the effect of the extraordinarily popular Imitation of Christ
(1518) of Thomas à Kempis, its fullest written expression, which itself relates to
roughly contemporaneous works such as the Theologica Germanica. [The
Devotio Moderna] was a major factor in Netherlands social life mainly through
schools. Axiomatic to Groote‟s belief was a reformed system of education more
humanistically inclined than the dominant one. The Brethren of the Common
17
Binding, p.59
„Apologia‟ in Sebastian Franck, Das verbütschierte Buch (The Seven-sealed Book), 1539. Jones, op. cit.
p. 52.
19
Binding, p. 59
18
211
Life, as Groote‟s followers were called, combined attention to classical language
and literature with a somewhat anti-intellectual approach to religion, dismissing
the tortuously complicated arguments of scholasticism. (Erasmus … was
Brethren-educated.) Common Life schools appealed to a newly prosperous, levelheaded and influential middle-class with little time or regard for the rarefied hairsplitting of orthodox theology. A practical outer life and a developed inner one sit
well together; the one can safeguard the other, can give it appropriate, even
encouraging conditions in which to flourish. Such a cast of mind could well mean
that you stayed within the Catholic fold but developed a private spirituality, and
this … was the position of many a Family member.20
Sebastian Franck
Franck switched his religious allegiance several times led by the combination of his
humanist passion for freedom with his mystic devotion to spirituality. He came to believe
that God communicates with individuals through the fragment of the divine assigned to
every human being. He felt that this communication had to be direct and unfettered and
wrote that „to substitute Scripture for the self-revealing Spirit is to put the dead letter in
the place of the living Word‟.21 He believed that the only true church is an entirely
20
Binding, p. 55
21
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebastian_Franck.
212
inward matter comprising what he called, in a phrase echoing the Gnostics of the second
century, the „invisible church‟.
The true Church is not a separate mass of people, not a particular sect to be
pointed out … not confined to one time or place; it is rather a spiritual and
invisible body of all the members of Christ, born of God, of one mind, spirit and
faith, but not gathered in any one external city or place. It is a fellowship, seen
with the spiritual eye and by the inner man. It is the assembly and communion of
all truly God-fearing, good-hearted, new-born persons in all the world, bound
together by the Holy Spirit – a communion outside which there is no salvation, no
Christ, no God, no comprehension of Scripture, no Holy Spirit and no Gospel. I
belong to this fellowship. I believe in the communion of Saints, and I am in this
church, let me be where I may, and therefore I no longer look for Christ in „lo
heres‟ and „lo theres‟.22
For Franck the church of the spirit is an event within the soul; „an entirely inward event‟
as Jones comments.23
Love is the one mark and badge of fellowship in [the True Church].24
22
Sebastian Franck, Paradoxa, 1533 or 4, sec. 8. cited in Jones, op. cit. p. 58
Jones, op. cit. p. 59
24
Sebastian Franck, Paradoxa, 1533 or 4, sec. 8. sec. 9
23
213
External gifts and offices make no Christian, and just as little does the standing of
a person, or locality, or time, or dress, or food, or anything external. The kingdom
of God is neither prince nor peasant, food nor drink, hat nor coat, here nor there,
yesterday nor tomorrow, baptism nor circumcision, nor anything whatever that is
external.25
As a result of his study of the early Church Fathers Franck declared in, a letter:
I am fully convinced that, after the death of the apostles, the external Church of
Christ, with its gifts and sacraments, vanished from the earth and withdrew into
heaven, and is now hidden in spirit and in truth, and for these past fourteen
hundred years there has existed no true external church no officious sacraments.26
As Jones points out:
„His valuation of scripture fits perfectly into this religion of the inward life and
the invisible Church. The true and essential word of God is the divine revelation
in the soul of man. It is the prius of all scripture and it is the key to the spiritual
meaning of all scripture.27
25
Ibid. sec. 45
„Letter to Campanus‟ in Schellhorn‟s Amoenitatis Literariae, (1729), xi. pp. 59-611. Cited in Jones op.
cit. p. 60
27
Jones R. Spiritual Reformers in the 16th and 17th Centuries, Macmillan, London, 1914
26
214
Elsewhere Franck declares his „dissatisfaction with ceremonies and outward forms of any
sort, his refusal to be identified with any existing empirical church, his solemn dedication
to the invisible church, and his determination to be an apostle of the spirit‟.28 Franck,
dismissing the Lutheran, Zwinglian29 and Anabaptist30 cults of his day, all of which had
large followings, foretells the birth of a church that
…will dispense with external preaching, ceremonies, sacraments and office as
unnecessary, and which seeks solely to gather among all peoples an invisible,
spiritual church in the unity of spirit and faith, to be governed wholly by the
eternal invisible word of God, without external means, as the apostolic church
was governed before its apostasy, which occurred after the death of the apostles.31
Jones tells us that Franck is „without question saturated with the spirit of the mystics; he
approves the inner way to God and he has learned from them to view this world of time
and space as shadow and not as reality.‟ He reminds us that Franck had translated
Erasmus‟s In Praise of Folly and Agrippa‟s Vanity of Arts and Sciences32 and, in the
28
Jones. op. cit. p. 49
Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531) led the Protestant Reformation in Switzerland. He was independent from
Luther but had arrived at a similar position through humanism of which he was a leading scholar.
30
Anabaptists („Rebaptisers‟) are associated with the Radical Reformation that took a different stance from
both Lutherans and Calvinists. „Anabaptist‟ was, and still is, often used as a term of abuse usually with
little or no understanding of their practice and belief.
31
Sebastian Franck, Chronica und Beschreibung der Turkey, Nürnberg, 1530, K. 3 b
32
"Recent historical investigation ... assigns Agrippa a central place in the history of ideas of the Middle
Ages; he is seen as characterizing the main line of intellectual development from Nicholas of Cusa to
Sebastian Franck. Modern opinion evaluates him on the basis of his Platonic, Neoplatonic, and Hermetic
influences - primarily in the De occulta philosophia..." Agrippa von Nettesheim. In Dictionary of
29
215
tradition of such works and of mysticism, he is very harsh on the role of „reasoning‟:
which is „a good guide in the realm of earthly affairs. It can deal wisely with matters that
effect our bodily comfort and our social welfare, but it is “barren” in the sphere of eternal
issues. It has no eye for realities beyond the world of three dimensions‟.33
Dirck Volckertz Coornhert
If Franck, who was a generation older, was a favourite writer of Ortelius, his friend and
contemporary was Dirck Volckertz Coornhert (1522-1590): artist, historian, philosopher,
humanist and writer, also a pupil of Franck.
Coornhert worked as principal engraver for the great Maarten van Heemskerck together
with his pupil, Philip Galle who would later become a famous engraver in his own right
and who would work closely with Bruegel. For art historians, Coornhert‟s importance lies
in the fact that he inspired artists whose designs he engraved – among them Heemskerck,
Scientific Biography. American Council of Learned Societies. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York 1970;
vol. I, 79-81
33
Jones, op. cit. p. 56
216
Adriaen de Weerdt and the young Goltzius – to create images that expressed his own
philosophical outlook,34 Many of the themes of his prints are paralleled in his literary
work.35 A similarly significant intellectual and philosophical symbiosis seems to have
existed between Galle and Bruegel.
The names of Galle, Bruegel, Coornhert, Montano and Ortelius all come together in the
story of the engraving of The Death of the Virgin. The painting, a haunting work in
grisaille that hangs today at Upton House near Banbury, had originally belonged to
Ortelius. A large number of Bruegel‟s drawings were done specifically for the popular
market in engravings but his paintings were private commissions and were not produced
as editions of prints. The print of The Death of the Virgin is an exception and, even so,
there was never a popular edition. Some years after Bruegel‟s death Ortelius engaged
Galle to produce a very limited edition intended for members of the intimate circle that
had constituted the Hiël group. A letter (dated 1578) exists from Coornhert to Ortelius
thanking him for his copy and in 1591 Arias Montano wrote having received his.36
Coornhert openly acknowledged a spiritual outlook formed under the influence of Franck
and, like his mentor, devoted energy to translating great masterpieces of the perennial
tradition including Boethius‟ Consolation of Philosophy, Cicero‟s On Duties, Erasmus‟
Paraphrases of the New Testament and Homer‟s The Odyssey. At first, as a humanist, he
34
The themes include moral allegories and scenes from classical Antiquity.
Abstracted from Grove‟s Dictionary of Art http://www.oup.com/online/groveart/
36
See Manfred Sellink in Nadine Orenstein, Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Drawings and Prints, New York:
The Metropolitan Museum, 2001, pp. 258-261
35
217
was passionately committed to the cause of freedom of religious thought and opposed the
rigidity and doctrinaire stance of Calvin.37 Later he came under the influence of Franck as
well as other spiritual reformers such as Hans Denck and Sebastian Costellio and
„received from them formative influences which turned him powerfully to the cultivation
of inward religion for his own soul and to the expression and interpretation of a universal
Christianity‟.38 Coornhert makes a distinction between the forms of institutional religion,
which he calls „outer or external religion‟, which he allows as a preparatory stage and
„inward religion‟ which is the establishment of the kingdom of God in men‟s hearts.
„Only God has the right to be master over man's soul and conscience; it is man's right to
have freedom of conscience‟.39 „With his intransigent defense of tolerance, even toward
nonbelievers and atheists, the Dutch Catholic humanist and controversialist Coornhert
made a substantial and permanent contribution to the early modern debate on religious
freedom‟.40
Rejection of the institutionalized reform movements on the basis of their new
dogmatism and formalism … motivated the believers in a more “inward”
spiritualized faith. Like the reformers, Spiritualists advocated free Bible research,
but as a result of the notion of a direct personal relationship with God – and
individual approach that we also find in Erasmus – they attach great importance to
an unimpeded access to the Spirit of the individual. At the same time they tend to
37
Dirck Volckertz Coornhert, Epitome processus de occidentis haereticus et coscientiis inferanda (Gouda,
1591) and Defensio procssuset non occidentis haereticis (Hannover, 1593) are, according to Jones,
„powerful pleas for the freedom of the mind‟.
38
Jones, op. cit. p. 107.
39
Coornhert, Oordelen van een ghemen Landts Leere, in Werken, vol. 1, fol. “643C” According to Voogt
„should be 463C‟
40
Gerrit Voogt, Constraint on Trial: Dirck Volckertsz Coornhert and Religious Freedom.. Sixteenth
Century Essays & Studies 52. Kirksville, Mo.: Truman State University Press, 2000. p. 104
218
minimize the importance of “externals”: ceremonies, sacraments, the church,
often also the supreme authority of the Bible, for they consider the Spirit of prior
significance; the Bible without the Spirit becomes a “paper pope” as Frank put
it.41
The same author points out that while Erasmus and humanism were a significant
influence on men like Sebastian Franck, spiritual seekers were also influenced by latemedieval mystical traditions found in Eckhart and Tauler.42 Voogt acknowledges the
importance for 16th century exponents of radical dissent of the anonymous Theologia
Germanica (German Theology) which they frequently used and quoted from.
Henry Niclaes, founder of the Family of Love was profoundly influenced by this
work (and by Thomas à Kempis‟ Imitation of Christ). He, and his main disciple
(and later rival) Barrefelt, felt attracted to the Theologia’s theme of the return to a
Platonic oneness and of the freedom of the will. They embraced the notion, found
in this small book, that incarnation continued after the Ascension of Christ. This
incarnation – known among Familists as Vergottung (godding) – takes place, they
believed, whenever the spirit entered the individual.43
One element of the Theologia that does leave a strong imprint on Coornhert ...
mostly through the mediation of Sebastian Frank … was the idea of the invisible
church, vested in the hearts of true Christians wherever they may be found.44
41
Idem, p. 48
Idem, p. 48
43
Idem, p. 49
44
Idem, p. 50
42
219
Justus Lipsius
We could scarcely find a better candidate to represent our idea of the Perennial
Philosophy in the 16th century than Justus Lipsius or Joest Lips, to give the Flemish
version of his name. The famous professor of Leiden University was a close friend and
associate of Plantin. While there is certainty of Plantin‟s affiliation with Hendrik Niclaes
and the Family of Love, Lipsius is more enigmatic on this point though he lived for a
period in Plantin‟s house in Antwerp and his philosophical views and indifference to
external religious forms would suggest an attitude that resonated with the teaching of the
invisible church and the universality of the true inner life. „Greek philosophy … is the
hedge and enclosure of the Lord‟s vineyard‟ he wrote, and later, „there is one road to
truth, but in that road, just as in an everlasting river, many brooks from other places flow
into and meet this common road‟.45 One biographer, J. L. Saunders, makes no mention of
the Family of Love or of Niclaes46 whereas Moss, on the other hand, places him in the
group around Barrefelt, the former pupil of Niclaes.47 Given his cautious nature and the
characteristic guardedness of the Familists about their affiliation, it is reasonably sure that
Lipsius shared a similar outlook and similar convictions to members of this intimate
45
Lipsius, Manductio, I, 3 (IV, 628, 630) the author is quoting Clement of Alexandria, Strom. I)
Jason Lewis Saunders, Justus Lipsius, The Philosophy of Renaissance Stoicism New York, 1955
47
Moss, J. D. 1981. “Godded with Love” Hendrik Niclaes and his Family of Love, Transactions of the
American Philosophical Society. (Philadelphia). p. 20.
46
220
circle. He typically remarks: „Nature has begotten us for [two] purposes, for theory
(contemplation) and for practice (action).‟48
Lipsius was born near Brussels in 1547 and, at 13, was a schoolboy at the Jesuit College
at Cologne where he „devoured‟ Latin philosophical and humanist texts and was
profoundly influenced by his Jesuit teachers despite the fact that they confiscated some of
his books and disapproved of his passion for Stoic philosophy and the monuments of
antiquity. Soon after, through his father‟s connections with the court of the Emperor
Maximilian II, he studied in Vienna. From 1563 he attended the University of Louvain,
then at the height of its fame. Noted for his brilliance he became, when still a young man,
secretary to Cardinal de Granvella who, during the Reformation, was „one of the ablest
and most influential princes of the church‟.49 In the 1560s de Granvella was secretary of
state to the emperor Charles V and later prime minister to the regent of the Netherlands,
Margaret of Parma. He was to acquire at least two of Bruegel‟s paintings which, it can be
assumed, he commissioned directly from the artist.50 De Granvella was recalled to Rome
in 1567 where Lipsius, still in his employ, immersed himself in the Vatican Library in the
study of antiquity and meeting the most notable scholars. Later he was to make his name
as a Christian interpreter of Stoic philosophy.51 By 1578 Plantin‟s „Officina Plantiniana‟
(which in Antwerp today can be visited as a Museum) was the most famous printing
48
Manductio, ii, 2 (IV, 694)
Encyclopaedia Britannica (11th edition)
50
At this period an artist such as Bruegel would have been known to the public through engravings
published in popular editions. Paintings were privately commissioned by connoisseurs.
51
J. L. Saunders, Justus Lipsius, The Philosophy of Renaissance Stoicism, New York, 1955.
49
221
works in Europe and a centre of humanism and learning. Lipsius had his own study there
before taking up his post as Professor of History at the University of Leiden.
In his writings Lipsius quotes copiously from Plato, Plutarch, Apuleus, Hermes
Trismegistus and Philo Judaeus. „Aristotle is much in evidence. Epictetus is quoted more
often than his near contemporary, Marcus Aurelius. The Scriptures are frequently quoted,
as are many of the Greek and Latin Fathers; there are many references to Tertullian,
Clement of Alexandria, John of Damascus, Eusebius, St Augustine, Minucius Felix,
Orosius and Isidore of Seville. Lipsius has often been criticized for gathering his
materials from such widely separated sources, and … he did read into many writers
specifically Stoic notions. Views which are the common property of many Schools,52
including Stoicism, are occasionally quoted by him to show that one man or another,
pagan or Christian, had Stoic leanings‟.53
The Stoic philosophy, as can be seen in the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, laid
emphasis on philosophy as practice, as „work on oneself‟.54 One is led to the impression
that for Lipsius Stoicism shared the values of the Perennial Philosophy.
52
53
My italics
Saunders, op. cit, p. 60
54
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/stoicism/#Phil
222
Justus Lipsius‟s philosophical reputation rests upon his status as the principal
figure in the Renaissance revival of Stoicism. Stoicism was one of the great
Hellenistic schools of philosophy and dominated ancient intellectual life for at
least 400 years ... In the first two centuries AD it reached its height of popularity
under the influence of Musonius Rufus and Epictetus. In the second century AD it
found its most famous exponent in the form of the Roman Emperor Marcus
Aurelius. However, after the second century Stoicism was soon eclipsed in
popularity by Neoplatonism.
Despite this decline in late antiquity, Stoicism continued to exert an influence. Its
ideas were discussed by Church Fathers such as St. Augustine, Lactantius, and
Tertullian. In the Middle Ages its impact can be seen in the ethical works of Peter
Abelard and his pupil John of Salisbury, transmitted via the readily available
Latin works of Seneca and Cicero. In the fourteenth century Stoicism attracted the
attention of Petrarch who produced a substantial ethical work entitled De
Remediis Utriusque Fortunae („On the Remedies of Both Kinds of Fortune‟)
inspired by Seneca and drawing upon an account of the Stoic theory of the
passions made by Cicero. With the rediscovery of the works of the Stoic
philosopher Epictetus by famous Humanists such as Perotti and Politian in the
fifteenth century, interest in Stoicism continued to develop. However, the
Renaissance revival of Stoicism remained somewhat limited until Justus Lipsius.
223
Among Lipsius‟s friends was his publisher, the famous printer Christopher
Plantin, with whom he often stayed in Antwerp. Among his pupils was Philip
Rubens, brother of the painter Peter Paul Rubens who portrayed Lipsius after his
death in „The Four Philosophers‟.55 Among his admirers was Michel de
Montaigne who described him as one of the most learned men then alive.56
Historians and biographers of Lipsius, describing different academic posts he held at
Lutheran, Calvinist and Catholic institutions after leaving de Granvella, are critical of
what they regard as his lack of steadfastness. One author refers to „a long line of incidents
… which illustrate his mobility of character, his … faulty decisions regarding ways out of
difficult situations, his facility for adopting the current opinions or the locality in which
he was at the time residing, his rather lame reasons for professing one thing openly and
rejecting it in his heart‟.57 Another says „His decisions … were seldom such as his
classical masters, Epictetus and Seneca, would have admired‟.58 But Lipsius would have
learned from Hendrick Niclaes that external forms of religion have practically no
meaning compared with the true experience of God which is entirely within. „The central
idea in all Henry Nicholas‟s writings is his insistence on real righteousness and actual
holiness as contrasted with the fiction of a merely imputed righteousness and a forensic
holiness, or holiness based on a transaction outside the person himself.‟59 It is clear that
Lipsius „remained quite indifferent to the various doctrines of religion, considering them
all of equal value‟. Saunders cites a letter from Lipsius‟ friend Conrad Schlusselburg who
55
c. 1611, now in the Pitti Palace, Florence. An „old copy‟ is in the Plantin-Moretus Museum, Antwerp
John Sellars in Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/l/lipsius.htm, accessed
04/04/04. The reference in Montaigne is Essais 2.12
57
J. L. Saunders, op. cit. p. 10
58
R. Kirk (ed.) Tvvo Bookes of Constancie, by Justus Lipsius. Transl. By Sir John Stradling. New
Brunswick, 1951. Quoted in Saunders, op. cit. note 9.
59
Jones. op. cit. p.433.
56
224
quotes Lipsius: “Nam omnis religio et nulla religio sunt mihi unum et idem.” (to me all
religion, or no religion, is one and the same thing).60 Saunders remarks: „if we have a
clear indication that Lipsius spiritually never left the Catholic Faith, it is abundantly clear
… that he could not conceal his indifference to dogmas and [the] secular concerns of the
Church and clergy‟.61
Christophe Plantin
Born in France, Plantin later settled in Antwerp where, through a combination of superb
skill as a typographer and good business sense he became the leading printer and
publisher of his time. In 1562 he was indicted for his involvement with the Familist
leaders Hendrik Niclaes and Jansen Barrefelt and was obliged to flee from Antwerp. He
succeeded, however, in dissipating the suspicions against him, and it was only after two
centuries that his relations with the Familists, or „Famille de la Charité‟ came to light, and
also that he printed the works of Barrefelt and other „heretics‟.62
The editor of the Polyglot Bible with whom Plantin worked closely in Antwerp was the
scholarly Spanish Benedictine monk, Benito Arias Montano. The last volume contains
essays, illustrations and maps by Montano that show the wide range of his scholarship as
a philologist, an expert in Oriental languages, an antiquarian, a geographer and as a
60
Saunders, op. cit. p. 19.
Saunders, op. cit. p. 36
62
Catholic Encyclopaedia http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12148b.htm, this work, incidentally, regards
his relations with the Familists as a „blot‟ on his reputation.
61
225
specialist in the practice of visualizing and tabulating knowledge. „He designed his maps
both as study aids and as devotional-meditative devices. Moreover, the maps reflect his
wider philosophical outlook, according to which Holy Scripture contains the foundations
of all natural philosophy. Montano's case encourages us to re-examine early modern
Geographia sacra in the light of the broader scholarly trends of the period.‟63 Montano
was also part of the Family of Love circle around Barrefelt.
The revolutionary changes in religious thought that were taking place in the 16th century
did not stop with Luther and Protestant theology. The movement that has come to be
called the Radical Reformation sought to go much further. Its leading thinkers, according
to Jones, „were not satisfied with a programme that limited itself to the correction of
abuses, an abolition of medieval superstitions, and a shift of external authority … They
placed a low value on orthodox systems of theological formulation … insisting that a
person may go on endless pilgrimages to holy places, he may repeat unnumbered
“paternosters”, he may mortify his body to the verge of self-destruction, and still be
unsaved and unspiritual; so too he may “believe” all the dogma … he may take on his
lips the most sacred words … and yet be utterly alien to the kingdom of God, a stranger
and a foreigner to the spirit of Christ.‟64
63
Zur Shalev, ‘Sacred Geography, Antiquarianism and Visual Erudition: Benito Arias Montano and the
Maps in the Antwerp Polyglot Bible‟ in Imago Mundi: The International Journal for the History of
Cartography, Routledge, Department of History Princeton University New Jersey zshalev@princeton.edu.,
part of the Taylor & Francis Group Volume 55, Number 1 / 8 October 2003, pp. 56 - 80
64
Jones, op. cit.
226
The radical reformers brought a new and fresh interpretation of God who, they declared,
„is not a suzerain, treating men as his vassals, reckoning their sins up against them as
infinite debts to be paid off at last in a vast commercial transaction only by the
immeasurable price of a divine life, given to pay the debt which had involved the entire
race in hopeless bankruptcy‟. In the same way, they would not accept the Almighty as a
sovereign, „meting out to the world strict justice and holding all sin as flagrant disloyalty
and appalling violation of law, never to be forgiven until the full requirements of
sovereign justice are met and balances and satisfied‟. These extreme reformers would not
accept that God‟s Salvation could be thought of in such ways. They insisted that he is a
personal God „who is and always was eternal Love‟ and who has to be found through a
personal relationship. Here Jones formulates an idea that would be echoed in more or
less the same words a generation later by Coomaraswamy when he says that „Heaven and
Hell were for them inward conditions, states of the soul‟.65 In other words Heaven and
Hell are not to be put off into the afterlife but are encountered and experienced as the
actual psychological realities of each present moment.
Esoteric nature of the House of Love and Terra Pacis
This writer considers that the House of Love was essentially an esoteric movement, a 16th
century manifestation in Europe of the Perennial Philosophy, and that the writings of its
founder, Hendrick Niclaes, can be interpreted in its light. Niclaes‟ vision of the „Land of
Ignorance‟ where everything goes „wonderfully absurdly‟ is not so far from the
65
Jones, op. cit.
227
contemporary (or near contemporary) writings of Erasmus, in particular In Praise of
Folly,66 or Rabelais who repeatedly focused on dogmas that fetter creativity, institutional
structures that reward hypocrisy, educational traditions that inspire laziness, and
philosophical methodologies that obscure elemental reality. But it would be a mistake to
regard Terra Pacis as satire for it is, in fact, esoteric allegory.
To follow the esoteric idea it is necessary to distinguish between two realities: the
material world in time and the spiritual world in Eternity.67 The formulaic, „pagan‟ idea
sees a separation between spirit and matter, but the universe of Plotinus, and of Dionysius
the Areopagite, shows us a graded world that, descending, understands spirit gradually
becoming less spiritual and more material; while, ascending, it sees matter becoming
gradually less material and more spiritual.68 Pure spirit and pure matter only „exist‟ at the
extreme poles of the universe: the level of „The Absolute‟ and the level of „Absolute nonbeing‟.69 This hypothesis takes on another meaning in the light of the idea that man is the
universe in miniature, the microcosm. It means that all gradations of matter exist in him,
though some are so fine as to be imperceptible to the physical senses and, it could be
said, are not of the material world. Man‟s lack of self-knowledge (lack of inner selfknowledge) leaves his psychological and spiritual worlds in darkness. Never entering
within himself, he has only the vague or distorted and inaccurate ideas about his inner
universe. Esoteric and gnostic teachings hold that, for „light‟, or „love‟, or „Christ‟ to
66
Erasmus of Rotterdam, Praise of Folly and Letter to Martin Droop 1515, Penguin Books, 1971.
c. f. Eckhart „Why celebrate the Birth of Christ in time, if I do not celebrate his birth in eternity, in me‟.
Eckhart attributes the remark to Augustine. See O. M. Walshe Eckhart, vol. I, p. 1
68
Dionysius the Areopagite, Mystical Theology and Celestial Hierarchies, Shrine of Wisdom, Godalming,
1965
69
Plotinus, The Enneads, ed. McKenna, London 1956. Intro. pp.xxvi and xxxi.
67
228
enter into a man, certain conditions have to be prepared through the help of methods of
contemplation and prayer that lie at the heart of all religions – often partly buried or
hidden behind external forms and rituals. These methods can create what the Hindu
masters call an „inner structure‟ and what, in the Philokalia, is called „the house of
spiritual architecture‟.70
Esoteric symbolism in the Gospel
Many commentators hold that an esoteric aspect of prayer can be understood from the
words of Jesus in the gospel.71 Before discussing these in detail it will be helpful to
remember that the entire passage, chapters 5, 6, and 7 of St Matthew‟s Gospel, begins
with a symbolic description hinting that this part of the teaching is esoteric. „And seeing
the multitudes, [Jesus] went up into a mountain; and when he was set, his disciples came
unto him. And he opened his mouth and taught them.72 The movement away from „the
multitudes‟ and the fact that he „went up a mountain‟ esoterically symbolizes Jesus‟
withdrawal from the level of worldliness and multiplicity to a spiritually higher place
where very few could follow him, i.e. only the disciples and not the crowd. It is while
still in this exalted state of being that he tells them: „When thou prayest, enter into thy
closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy father which is in secret; and thy
father which seeth in secret shall reward thee‟.73 The Greek έισελθε εις τό ταμείον σοσν
70
The Monks Ignatius and Callistos in the Philokalia. See Kadloubovsky and Palmer (eds.) Prayer of the
Heart, London, 1957, p.181.
71
Matt. 6:6. (A.V.)
72
Matt. 5:1, 2. (A.V.)
73
Matt. 6:6
229
και κλείσας την θύραν σοσ προσεσζαι τώ πατρί σοσ τώ έν τώ κρσπτώ (literally: „enter
into your hidden room and having shut your door pray to the father, the one in secret‟)
lends itself to mystical interpretation. For example the „hidden room‟ corresponds to the
„house of spiritual architecture‟; the term „father‟ in Neoplatonism is a synonym for „The
Absolute‟, the centre of the universe and origin of all.74 As far as the individual is
concerned the „father which is in secret‟ is unknown to all other parts of the self, and
cannot be known by the „normal‟ process of thought, the process called by Hendrik
Niclaes „knowledge of the flesh‟. The early 4th-century mystic, Aphrahat the Persian puts
it thus:
From the moment you start praying,
Raise your heart upwards
And turn your eyes downward.
Come to focus in your innermost self
And there pray in secret to your heavenly father.75
The text fragments discussed below are from the English translation of 1649. Hendrik
Niclaes‟ Terra Pacis is a classic in the genre of allegorical mystical literature that
describes, in images taken from the visible world, events whose reality is in the invisible
world. These events refer, often directly and intimately, to the adventures of the human
soul – indeed, our own soul – on its evolutionary journey. Examples of the genre are
found throughout all ages and may be amongst the oldest and most enduring literature
74
75
See above, p. 101
McGuckin, op. cit. p. 19.
230
known to humanity. The 3rd-century philosopher Plotinus leaves us in no doubt that, for
him at least, Homer‟s Odyssey is just such an example „For Odysseus is surely a parable
to us…it is not a journey of the feet‟.76
76
Plotinus, The Enneads, p. 63, 1956 edition, trls. MacKenna, (London)
231
Fig. a, Title page, Terra Pacis, courtesy the Bodleian Library
232
Terra Pacis
Introduction
Terra Pacis, The Land of Spiritual Peace was first published in Antwerp in 1574 by
Hendrik Niclaes, the founder of the mystical religious sect known as the Family of Love
or the House of Love (Domus Caritatis, famille de la charité, huis der liefde, etc.). The
title page (see fig. a) gives the author as H. N. This is in fact an abbreviation for Helie
Nazarenus (Elijah the Nazarene), the name bestowed on him for his mission as a prophet.
He founded the Family of Love in the early 16th century and it attracted converts in quite
large numbers in Brabant, Flanders, Friesland, Holland, Antwerp and, later, in France and
England, where it seems to have petered out around 1690 after long harassment and
condemnation by both the Crown and the Church.
Last published in English in 1649 and little read after the end of the 17th century, Terra
Pacis has the status of a lost classic more or less unknown today. The commentary aims
to show that a symbolism can be discerned in the text that corresponds, in part, to the
hidden sense in Bruegel’s art and that such spiritual allegories are part of a continuous
tradition dating at least as far back as the origins of Christianity.
In the introductory ‘Epistle’, Niclaes makes it clear that his intention is to ‘know the
Truth in the Spirit’. His only concern is with the inward, spiritual life though, as he
233
explains, spiritual truth cannot be directly communicated to those who have not the
necessary special preparation. The realities of the Kingdom of God are so far from
anything we can perceive with the physical senses – which he calls ‘knowledg (sic) of the
flesh’ or ‘wisdom of the flesh’ – as to be incomprehensible to those living in the material
world. The term ‘knowledg of the flesh’is not, of course, a coy way of referring to sex. Its
meaning is psychologically precise and refers to the fact that, at the earthly or material
level, our thoughts, attitudes and outlook on the world depend on information from the
physical senses. Science, or what René Guénon calls ‘scientism’, and much of Western
thinking are founded on the rational mind’s ability to weigh, measure, analyse and
classify matter perceived by the senses, so it is difficult for us today to conceive of a
faculty of knowing that is situated ‘beyond reason and beyond sense-perception’. Niclaes
says towards the end of his text ‘The Kingdome of God of Heavens is come inwardly in
us’.77 To those of us who have yet to make the ‘journey’ from the psychological or
spiritual condition allegorised as the ‘Land of Ignorance’ to the inner state represented by
the ‘Land of Spiritual Peace’ he can only speak, as Christ did to the ‘multitude’, in
parables.
For I will open my mouth in similitudes, reveal and witness the riches of the
spiritual heavenly goods as parables, and figure forth in writing the mystery of the
Kingdom of God or Christ according to the true beeing.
77
See below, p. 407. The emphasis is mine.
234
I look and behold: to the children of the kingdom (of the Family of Love of Jesus
Christ) it is given to understand the mystery of the Heavenly Kingdom; but to
those that are therewithout, it is not given to understand the same. For that cause
all spiritual understandings do chance to them by Similitudes, Figures and
Parables.
He goes on to say that the use of ‘parables and similitudes’ is provisional. Later, they will
not be necessary, but only after the occurrence of an event that he calls ‘a new birth’.
What has been said so far uncovers a theme consistent with the perennial Philosophy and,
as this author intends to demonstrate, common to the ideas implicit in Bruegel’s
paintings. Man’s inner world is, or rather should be, and could be, the microcosm, the
image in miniature of the universe; but in his present state, Man fails to reach this in
himself and his inner world is in disorder. There are different stages, or states of being,
in the journey from chaos and darkness towards true life. Various traditional literary
images describe the human condition before the journey begins. For example, the Gospel
refers to ‘blindness’ and ‘deafness’. Saint Anthony the Great defining ‘intelligence’
implies that we are not even worthy to be called men;78 Terra Pacis, as we shall see,
employs the symbol of humanity living in the land of ‘Ignorance’. The first part of the
journey consists of a stage called by the Greek Fathers Praktikos, this is the stage of selfstudy through the practical disciplines of prayer and work through which the seeker
78
‘He alone can be called a man who can be called intelligent (true intelligence is that of the soul), or who
has set about correcting himself. An uncorrected person should not be called a man. St Anthony the Great
(251? -356) in Kadloubovsky and Palmer (ed.) Early Fathers of the Philokalia, London 1954, p. 22.
235
learns to master the physical and psychological machinery that constitute his lower or
worldly self. The next stage is that of Theoretikos or contemplation; the mystic is able to
see what is, he is liberated from worldly matters towards which he is now objective –
indifferent even – and is able to work on specific difficulties in his personal path. The
final stage, Gnostikos, knowledge of what John of Apamea in the 5th century called
‘invisible realities’,79 refers to a realm that cannot be described in ordinary human
language. These stages, Praktikos, Theoretikos and Gnostikos constitute the three main
themes that inform Bruegel’s paintings. Every image, whether a detail or in the broad
plan, serves the search for the meaning of humanity within God’s universal plan.
Much of the text of Terra Pacis – all the part that describes the ‘Land of Ignorance’ –
refers to the first stage of the spiritual journey, that of the seeker’s awakening to the
reality of his or her situation and accurately identifying the nature and quality of each
difficulty. The grim absurdity of all human endeavour, which would be comic if it were
not so tragic, is revealed for what it is. The philosophical point from which Bruegel views
the world is very much that of Niclaes: humanity’s error in looking to the material world
to solve questions that only the higher world can answer. But humanity in general is
ignorant of the higher world, as Bruegel demonstrates in his Numbering at Bethlehem and
Adoration of the Kings, and especially when he implies that access to it is nearby: within
and through oneself. (‘The Kingdom of Heaven is within you’.) Humanity compounds
this error by accepting, in the place of the higher life, a substitute; people allow
themselves to be satisfied with the external formalities of pseudo-religion. ‘Their
79
McGuckin op. cit. p. 21.
236
Religions or godservice is called the Pleasure of Men. Their doctrine and ministration is
called Good Thinking’.
The text of Terra Pacis, like the anecdotes in Bruegel’s paintings, has higher significance
only when considered from an esoteric point of view. Mystical literature has little
meaning outside the psychological or spiritual realm. Every description is an account of
subtle mental events and emotional currents whose energies, vibrating at varying tempos,
animate our psycho-physical world. Our comprehension of what passes in our inner
world depends on the quality and on the level of our consciousness; and consciousness, in
its turn, depends on our ability to focus and hold a disciplined interior attention upon
ourselves.
This will be clear to anyone who has experimented with meditation (with the proviso that
it be conducted in an authentic context such as, for example, a traditional Vipassana or
Zen school). The same would be true from the contemplative prayer traditions of
Christianity such as were once readily available, as we see in the Philokalia anthology, to
those who sought them and which today are difficult to find. Here, it may help to remind
ourselves of the point already made that, in such work, the seeker studies the
waywardness of the undisciplined and untrained mind as well as the unwillingness of the
body to submit itself to stillness and silence. These are attributes of the confused and
unredeemed world that is the human race’s inheritance from Adam, the ‘Old Man’. But if
he persists he will discover intimations of another life within himself waiting to be
awoken: the ‘Buddha nature’, the ‘Christ within’ or the ‘New Man’. The nomenclature
237
varies in the different cultures and civilizations that have existed but the essential truth
that they describe is the same.
Thus when Niclaes exhorts his readers to ‘fly now out of the North and all Wildernessed
Lands; rest not yourselves among the strange people, nor among any of the enemies of
the House and Service of Love; but assemble you with us, into the Holy City of Peace,
the New Jerusalem, which is descended from heaven and prepared by God’, the ideas of
the Perennial Philosophy would insist that we follow with our psychological
understanding, because Niclaes is describing psychological events and places within
ourselves. The author is telling us to make an inner movement, to mobilize an inner
attention, by whose action we can withdraw from the myriad thoughts and feelings that
occupy our subconscious; we may then find the ordered place in ourselves where we can
be open to a higher influence beneficial to our search for eternal values.
The language of Terra Pacis may sound quaint sometimes and the syntax is occasionally
a little obscure. But, honouring the fact that this is the period of English literature that
produced the Authorised Version and the Book of Common Prayer, the present writer has
not sought to modernize the passages he has chosen. But we should not let the writing’s
archaic cadences obscure the fact that H. N. speaks with spiritual authority and
psychological accuracy about the human condition. Terra Pacis is a forgotten work,
virtually unknown since the end of the 17th century. For that reason, as well as its
238
considerable literary merit,80 more than half of the original text is reproduced in the
Appendix.81
The principle according to which psychological or spiritual transformation can take place
is self-knowledge, the study of one’s inner world, called by writers of the mystical
tradition ‘watching over oneself’ or ‘guarding the heart’. The mystical seeker is a
‘traveler’ visiting and observing in himself all those aspects of thought, memory,
imagination, feelings, inner attitudes, habits of mind and so on that make up the
subconscious interior world that Niclaes describes as ‘wildernessed lands and ignorant
people’.
We have gone through and passed beyond many and sundry manner of
wildernessed lands and ignorant people and so have considered the nature of
every land and people. Into all which we found the strange ignorant people very
unpeaceable and divided in many kinds of manners, dispositions and natures, as
also vexed with many unprofitable things to a great disquietness and much misery
unto them all.
The whilst we considered diligently hereon, so we found by experience that every
people had their disposition and nature, according to the dispositions and nature
of the land where they dwelt or where they were born.
80
81
Jones (op. cit.), amongst others, points to its affinity with The Pilgrim’s Progress, which it predates.
See pp. 389-421.
239
Niclaes, a master in the school of self-knowledge, is telling us of the subconscious world
(the people are ‘ignorant’ due to the absence of conscious awareness) where attitudes and
thoughts are subjective. It is this lack of objectivity that causes everything to be
‘unpeaceable and divided’.
Here H. N. touches on a central theme of the perennial tradition: man’s multiplicity
‘divided’, as he says, ‘in many kinds of manners, dispositions and natures’. The situation
for the interior state of unredeemed man is chaos, disorder and contradiction; the opposite
of the condition of the heavenly city: ‘Jerusalem is a city built at unity within itself’.82
The outline of the spiritual predicament for humanity in all its grandeur and complexity
becomes apparent. The solution to the difficulties of the situation is by the esoteric path,
little known and difficult to find.
It is true that the whole earth is unmeasurable, great and large, and the lands and
people are many and divers, but the most part of the lands are beset by grievous
labor, and with much trouble the people are captivated with sundry unprofitable
vexations.
82
Psalm 122. v. 3.
240
But the children of the kingdom have a land that is void of all molestation and a
City which is very peaceable. Verily, without this one City of Peace or Land of
the Living there is no convenient place of Rest on the whole earth.
But this land of peace (which with his people is ful of joy and liveth in concord) is
a secret land and is severed from all other lands and people. It is also known to no
man but of his inhabitants. But the entrance into the same is very straight and
narrow, for that cause it is found of few, but there are many that run past it or
have not any right regard thereon. Therefore remaineth this good land of the
living unloved and unknown of the most part of the strange people.
The founder of the Family of Love, offering himself as a guide, warns of the difficulties
that beset the spiritual traveler and tells him that all will be well, provided that he himself
wishes to make the journey.
We will show forth the neerest ways and the needfullest means and guides that
lead thereunto, because that every traveller may keep the right High Way and
keep the more diligent watch until he comes through the gate.
Seeing now that this way to the Holy Land is perilous to pass through, for him
that is unexpert therein, so have we thought good to testifie and show forth
distinctly (and that altogether to the preservation of the traveller) the most part of
241
the wildernessed places of the strange people, and the perils of deceit, each one
according to his pernicious disposition and nature; to the end that everyone may
be of good cheer and may, without fear, pass through the way rightly and without
harm, and that no man should remain lost, except he would himself.
The main part of the text of Terra Pacis can be read in Appendix I; this writer has added
commentary where it may be helpful in bring the reader’s attention to Niclaes’ ideas
relating to the teaching of the Perennial Philosophy and Peter Bruegel’s paintings. Of
particular importance are passages with the themes of the ‘bread of life’, i.e. spiritual
nourishment, employing the images of ‘corn’ and ‘seed’.
Later, a description of arms, armour and instruments of war corresponds to imagery in
Bruegel’s Adoration of the Kings in the London National Gallery. Elsewhere there are
lists of names indicating the behaviour of different types of people that could describe the
characters in Bruegel’s ‘crowd scenes’ as seen in The Numbering at Bethlehem (1566) in
Brussels and The Road to Calvary (1564) in Vienna. In another passage the text gives
names for a group of suffering people that could be Jesus’ mother and her entourage in
The Road to Calvary.
242
Chapter 8. Esotericism in Art
Hieronymus Bosch
Similarities of artistic style and intellectual ideas between Bosch and Bruegel
As a young man Bruegel was hailed as a „new Hieronymus Bosch‟ and we see that some
of his early works have affinities both of style and of imagery, sometimes so close as to
be indistinguishable, with the works of that master. It has been suggested that the reasons
for this may have been commercial. We learn from Van Mander,1 writing a few years
after Bruegel died that his first employment was at the House of the Four Winds, the
business operated by the publisher, painter and printmaker, Peter Coecke van Aelst
(1502-1556).2 Coecke, a pupil of Bernard van Orley, was also an architect, sculptor,
designer of tapestries and stained glass, a writer and a publisher. He worked in Antwerp
and had travelled to Rome and to Constantinople; the drawings he made on his journey
were later published by his widow Mayken Verhulst (later to become Bruegel‟s motherin-law) as woodcut illustrations (The Manners and Customs of the Turks). He ran a large
workshop and was regarded as one of Antwerp‟s leading painters. However, he is more
important for his publishing activities. The translation (1539) of the architectural treatise
The Five Books of Architecture of the important Renaissance architect and writer
Sebastiano Serlio, played a large part in spreading Renaissance ideas in the Netherlands.3
Coecke, who was also a translator of Vitruvius, became the teacher not only of Bruegel
but also Hieronymus Cock, who became an artist, engraver and publisher. By the 1550s,
1
Van Mander Schilderboek, op. cit..
According to Delevoy this is confirmed by Coeck‟s biographer Fransiscus Sweertius (Robert L. Delevoy
Bruegel, Skira, 1959)
3
Kim H. Veltman, http://www.mmi.unimaas.nl/people/Veltman/books/vol1/ch2.htm
2
243
Coecke's publishing house, At the Four Winds, played an important role in the spread of
texts on perspective and the ideas of Renaissance humanism. The press was later taken
over by the engraver Philip Galle where he rendered many of Bruegel‟s compositions as
engravings.
Bosch‟s work was still extremely popular and a talent such as Bruegel‟s, readily able to
produce drawings in the Bosch manner, would not be short of employment. But the
House of the Four Winds was also a rendezvous for people whose talents and interests
surpassed commercial interests. Most historians agree that it was a meeting-place for
intellectuals, artists, humanists, members of sects such as the Brethren of the Free Spirit,
the Brotherhood of the Common Life and the House of Love.
What can be learned by comparing the work of Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450-1516) with
that of Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525-1569)? Art historians have devoted considerably
more energy to investigating the meaning of Bosch‟s work than that of Bruegel. Problems
of interpretation are sometimes similar in respect of both artists but some writers have
tended to see Bruegel as no more than an imitator or follower of Bosch. This may be true
of Bruegel‟s earlier works but his later paintings are from a man who was, in every sense,
a master, philosophically as well as artistically. In the case of the older painter such
works as The Garden of Earthly Delights, The Temptation of St Anthony or The Haywain,
both the thematic material and the detailed imagery are sufficiently provocative as to
demand investigative response. Bosch appears to work from an idea, or a set of ideas
whose intellectual sources are hard to identify. Historians have attempted variously to
244
place him in the context of the primitive religious and folk traditions of medieval Europe,
or Rabelaisian Renaissance humanism, or among the sexually perverse and Anti-Christ
worshippers of a mad heretical sect. Yet none of these theories convincingly provide
insight into the mystery that attends Bosch. With Bruegel the mystery is less obviously a
feature of his work, though many people sense it as can be seen from the number of
fictional and fantastic books that have been inspired by his paintings.4 The present writer
wants to show that if he possessed the same „secret‟ as Bosch, he hid it more deeply and
with greater skill and subtlety. So much so that some art historians, who refer to the fame
of Bosch after his death and the fact that he was widely admired in the first half of the
16th century, acknowledge Bruegel as no more than the best of the imitators but deny that
he came near Bosch‟s achievement.5
Bosch’s connections to esoteric ideas
The first study of Bosch that relates to the ideas of this thesis is that of the Berlin art
historian W. Fränger (or Fraenger), working in the 1930s and 40s.6 According to him
Bosch‟s symbols do not represent the world that we perceive with the physical senses but
another to which the mystic could be initiated and which he „undoubtedly … deliberately
and consciously revealed‟.7 Fränger, Harris and others demonstrate that Bosch‟s imagery
can be shown to relate to ideas of Gnostic or Neo-Platonic character that would have
been regarded in his time as heretical and which can be shown to be part of the Perennial
4
c.f. non-academic books by Michael Frayn, Headlong, Faber, 1999; Rudy Ruckers As Above So Below,
New York, 2002; Claude-Henri Rocquet, Bruegel or the Workshop of Dreams, Chicago, 1991.
5
Lynda Harris, The Secret Heresy of Hieronymus Bosch, Floris Books, Edinburgh, 1985, p.44.
6
Wilhelm Fränger, The Millennium of Hieronymus Bosch, Faber and Faber, London 1952.
7
Fränger, p.2
245
Philosophy. Where Fränger detects alchemical allusions he sees the universality and the
continuity of the Tradition flowing in Bosch‟s thought and imagery. He says, for
example, with reference to alchemy, the study of which was at that time emerging from
the shadows, „recently … investigation into alchemy … makes it possible to recognise it
for what it really is: namely, a striving towards perfection, a doctrine that saw in the
transmutation of matter a symbol of man‟s spirit and the mysteries of creation, death and
eternal life‟.8
Fränger was among the first to consider Bosch‟s association with the Brethren of the Free
Spirit, and, in particular, with a group within that movement called the Adamites: „The
Homines Intelligentiae of Brussels belonged to a radical sect of the Free Spirit, the socalled Adamites. In calling themselves “men of the spirit” they gave the term
intelligentiae the scholastic definition, which contrasted intelligentiae as a supra sensual
power of perception, comprehending things still uncreated (intuitive vision), with ratio,
the empirical mode of understanding (discursive thinking)‟.9 This terminology, pointing
to a state of knowledge higher than reason corresponds to a level of mystical
understanding at the heart of the perennial tradition which, in the words of Frithjof
Schuon, „is called, anagogical, that is, beyond sense‟.10 The Adamites were a 13th-
8
Fränger, p.7, the italics are mine
Fränger, p. 17
10
c.f., for example, „Keys to the Bible‟, Frithjof Schuon in J. Needleman ed., The Sword of Gnosis,
Baltimore, 1974, p. 355
9
246
century revival in Europe of a 3rd-century sect described by the heresy hunter in the early
Christian period, Epiphanius of Salamis.11
Fränger cites Herbert Grundmann12 who compares the spirituality of the Free Spirit with
that of Eckhart who, like them, sought the „earthly possibility of the ‘homo perfectus’, a
concept that …„to the very end remains the basis of Eckhart‟s moral teaching‟.13 The
indications are that the term esoteric is applicable to the Adamites: „We attribute the
sect‟s ill-fame to malicious slander, due to the fact that the Adamite mysteries were kept
strictly secret. All such secrecy brings suspicion in its wake‟.14
Meditation
Meditation was the principal means for ascent in the spiritual path and a central activity
for the Adamites. It leads to the innermost core of the self, the central and highest faculty
for gnosis that could be symbolically expressed by the image of the eye: „The tiny
reflected image in the eye is regarded as the individual‟s „self‟, his soul, which is a
microcosm inter-radiating with the sun, the world-eye of the macrocosm.‟
11
Frank Williams, Translator, "The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salami", (4th century), Nag Hammadi and
Manichaean Studies, Vol. 35. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1994.
12
Herbert Grundmann: Studien űber Joachim von Floris, Zur Biographie Joachims von Fiore und Rainers
von Ponza. In: Deutsches Archiv für Erforschung des Mittelalters 16, 1960, S. 437-546.
13
Fränger, p. 22
14
Fränger, p. 23
247
A similar idea is found in Indian belief regarding the sun and in the pupil of the eye:
„Purusha in the mirror – on him I meditate‟15 Fränger points out that the idea is found in
Plotinus and in Goethe‟s „sunniness of the eye‟. He tells us that „medieval Platonism
practiced this pupillary concentration in its “speculation” and that it was an instruction
for meditation: „by means of [such] concentration … the individual in meditation
endeavoured to move out of the “ego self” to the “world-self” or the sun-like “God-self”‟.
This shows the central significance that a yoga-like discipline of systematic meditation
had for the sect „whose assemblies apparently were based on the principle of communal
exercises in concentration and the esoteric experiences resulting from such exercises‟.
Further, according to Fränger, it is evident that „Bosch, too, was familiar with this
discipline and an experienced traveler on the unusual paths of visionary illumination‟.16
Such discussion of esoteric themes, with quotations from the Upanishads, Erigena, the
Gnostics and Eckhart, is reminiscent of the writings of Ananda Coomaraswamy; so much
so that one can suppose Fränger to have been in touch with the work of that writer if not
actually associated with the Philosophia Perennis movement with which he was
contemporary. The comments cited above on the role of meditation in relation to
mysticism and to art are central for Fränger to the understanding of Bosch, as they are to
the ideas put forward on these pages and thus to Bruegel. The passage quoted below
reinforces a theme already emphasized in these pages.
15
16
Khandogya Upanishad 1, 6-7:
In this case the picture referred to is Bosch‟s Garden of Earthly Delights, today in the Prado Museum.
248
Fränger, in line with tradition, explains that „the first step in all exercises in concentration
is to exclude completely the external world and all activities of the will, in order to reach
a mental state that is at first completely free of thoughts, words and ideas, a mere
“staring” – as this perfectly self-forgetting condition of abandonment is called in the
language of medieval mysticism‟.17 A further stage consists of summoning an image into
the meditative vision and, remaining in the contemplative state, letting the emptiness of
the initial state of consciousness be permeated with a new energy.18 Fränger continues
„for now the image contemplated unfolds of its own accord, fanning out into a dream-like
wealth of association; and the field that up to now was empty of intellectual and sensual
perception suddenly becomes charged with the energy of a magnetic field, pulling
together as though by a series of shocks the associations belonging to the guiding image.‟
He decribes how, „without any active participation on the part of the individual in
meditation, the image before him discloses its own meaning. Here Fränger uses the word
Innewerden that his translator renders as „comprehension‟, though it more accurately
means „inner becoming‟. In any case it is entirely different from Begreifen, that is,
ordinary understanding. At this stage the contemplative condition, or what Buddhists call
„access concentration‟ is reached, in which „clear perception‟ of truth appears to the
practitioner. According to the same author, Suso describes this state when says that „the
setting of the senses is the rising of truth‟ and „if any man cannot grasp the matter, let him
be idle‟ (i.e. he has to remain perfectly still) „and the matter will grasp him.‟19
17
Here Fränger refers to Jan van Ruysbroek
Similar methods are used in Tibetan Buddhist „Dzogchen‟ meditation; see below p. 245.
19
Fränger, p. 65
18
249
Fränger, referring to Bosch‟s Garden of Earthly Delights in Madrid, says that
„The Brethren who performed their devotions before this panel intended as an aid
to meditation, detached themselves from the ordinary world by gazing at the focus
of concentration and so were drawn into the spell of a spiritual world that opened,
step by step, in ever deeper significance as they returned to it in complete
concentration again and again. In this way the beholders in fact became cocreators and active interpreters of the symbols that stood before their eyes in
solemn, mysterious and enigmatic silence.‟20
The same author is explicit on the subject of the mysteries of that „other world‟ that
Bosch „deliberately and consciously‟ set out to reveal:
„to put it in Gnostic terms, we are drawn out of the Pleroma, that is, the world of
being that is permeated with divine energy, and down into the Kenoma that is
devoid of substance; and so we are confronted with an abyss of nothingness. It is
to this void [that our attention is directed]. [This] conforms to the fundamental
condition insisted on by all mystics as essential to contemplative illumination, the
“shedding of all concepts, images and forms” or the casting off of all that is, not
only what exists outside oneself, but one‟s own being also, as Meister Eckhart
expresses it. Now we have got the exact terms to describe the central point. It is a
20
Fränger, p. 66
250
focus of concentration such as has always been used in the practice of
meditation‟.21
Bosch’s connection to the teachings of Divine Love
The study of Bosch‟s paintings and the spirituality of the Free Spirit movement opens
onto another universal central theme, namely that of love. The Brethren‟s „way to the
heights of sinless perfection‟ can be understood in terms of Platonic love. This must be
qualified in terms of the original meaning of what in the Symposium is called the „greater
and more hidden‟ mysteries. We read there of „ascending under the influence of true
love‟ by stages of perfection and beauty until the aspirant will see with the „eye of the
mind … the true beauty – the divine beauty … not images of beauty but realities‟ and
finally to „become the friend of God and be immortal‟.22 „What mattered to the disciples
of the Free Spirit … was precisely love itself, and what is more, love in its highest ideal
form as a sacrament, and not as a convenient social institution‟.23
We can trace several different sources for the theological system of the Adamites; among
them the identification of Adam with Christ, which derives from the Jewish-Christian
21
Fränger, p. 63, my italics
Plato, Symposium, Jowett Trsl. 209e-212c
23
Fränger, p. 22
22
251
Ebionites, the eschatological prophecies of Giacomo di Fiore24, and finally Origen‟s
doctrine of the return of all things. But there is no doubt that Neoplatonic philosophy,
with its long tradition in Europe, also played a part. „The original contribution of the Free
Spirit movement was the unparalleled daring with which it applied theories to reality and
carried out the dangerous experiment of living a philosophy in precisely the most exposed
area of existence, namely that of love. The three different doctrines could be welded only
in the form of spiritual eroticism, dominated by the image of Adam and Eve and their
innocent love‟.25
Fränger agrees that these ideas were shared by David Joris (1505-1556), who saw himself
as Adam-Christ, and the man who he identifies as „the most likely candidate to be
Bruegel‟s spiritual father‟, Hendrick Niclaes (1502-1581) who founded the huis de Liefde
in Amsterdam, „that is to say, a “house of love”, as a temple for quietistic contemplation
in which the Familia Caritatis that was under his guidance assembled for mystical
celebrations. According to his doctrine, Moses was the representation of the Kingdom of
the Father. As a herald of hope Moses had only entered the forecourts of the Temple, and
although Christ as the salvation-bearer of faith had penetrated into the inner Temple, it
was reserved for himself, Heinrich Niclaes, as the embodiment of love, to enter the Holy
of Holies and … inaugurate the kingdom of the Holy Ghost‟.26
24
Or Joachim of Floris (1135-1202) according to Bernard McGinn „the most important apocalyptic thinker
of the whole medieval period, and maybe after the prophet John, the most important apocalyptic thinker in
the history of Christianity‟.www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/apocalypse/explanation/joachim.html
25
Fränger, p. 23
26
Fränger, p. 42
252
Bosch and Bruegel’s relationship to the church
The spiritual aims of the various schools of the Free Spirit movement and those
associated with them such as Joris, Niclaes and others, far surpassed the narrow, confined
thinking imposed by the church. The esoteric nature of the Perennial Philosophy and the
traditions of its oral transmission render much of its doctrine obscure or invisible to the
conventional researcher. And where its teachings are given form in the world they tend to
be veiled behind symbols and allegory. The doctrine of the three ages of the world was
one such teaching that passed into Free Spirit circles from the 12th-century Italian mystic,
theologian, and philosopher of history, Giacomo di Fiore, a man both acclaimed as a
prophet and denounced as a heretic.27 According to his theory of universal evolution the
world had began with the Kingdom of the Father, revealed in the Old Testament. Its place
was taken by the Kingdom of the Son, which was fulfilled by the New Testament and
continued down to the time of Saint Benedict; in the year 1260 it reached its fullness of
perfection and dissolved into the Kingdom of the Holy Ghost. This last kingdom was to
be one of peace and pure love, of hermit-like contemplation in which the „dead letter of
the two testaments‟ would be quickened into a purely spiritual understanding of the
evangelium aeternum.28 When attempts to realize Giacomo di Fiore‟s doctrine of the
three kingdoms were made by the Spirituals of the Franciscan Order, and in the lay world
by the brotherhoods of the Beghards and sisterhoods of the Beguines, and above all by
the extreme disciples of the Free Spirit „the effect … was to drive a breach into the
ecclesiastical system. For if man in his last kingdom were granted spiritual perfection, a
27
28
http://www.britannica.com/ebc/article?tocId=9368578
Fränger, p. 39
253
direct vision of God, and an ambiguous liberty, then the traditional sacraments of the
church would be superfluous‟.29
Fig. a, The Harvesters, detail with church
Fig. b, Bridal Procession, detail with church.
29
Fränger, p. 41
254
Such observations may be part of the explanation as to why, in Bruegel‟s paintings, the
status of the church is not emphasised. There are several instances in his work, most
notably the Harvest (New York, fig. a) and the Bridal Procession (Brussels, fig. b) where
the church is there in the middle or far distance but inaccessible, usually because of a
ditch or dense foliage. We have seen in The Numbering at Bethlehem (p. 12) that the
church is far away and how, in the composition, its situation corresponds to the castle in
ruins. It is possible to interpret the presence of the church as irrelevant to the
psychological and philosophical themes of the painting and therefore practically useless.
This may be an example of Bruegel‟s caution – compared to Bosch – in exposing esoteric
truths. It is likely that he, like Bosch, understood that „the Free Spirit rejected all
authority of the church. Giacomo‟s three principles: perfectio, contemplatio and libertas,
which Herbert Grundmann has brilliantly called „not anti-Catholic so much as transCatholic‟, inevitably brought about … disregard for the church‟s authority‟.30
If Bosch and, in his own day, Bruegel were cast in the role of prophets, or at least as
witnesses, of the unknown teaching, as painters they could communicate different strands
of thought at different levels of meaning. These could range from humor, irony and satire
behind which are philosophical, psychological and, beyond them, mystical ideas.
According to Fränger the satirical elements in Bosch‟s work derive from a „bitterly
malicious satire on the church‟. But both artists used satire as a corrective against
„fanatical excesses of mysterious sectarian cults‟.31 Following the revolutionary strand in
Bosch‟s work back to its origin we will find that „his metaphorical images are a system of
30
31
Fränger, p. 42
Fränger, p. 3
255
hieroglyphs – half generally acceptable, half a riddling game of hide-and-seek – that we
can now recognise as a secret revelation‟.32 „Bruegel, as his whole cycle of Virtues and
Vices shows in a thoroughly realistic manner and with a vivid awareness of his own time,
was attacking contemporary pagan cults. [Such movements] had become a cancerous
threat to the movement‟s morally pure endeavour‟.33
32
33
Fränger, p.6
Fränger, p. 99
256
Connection between meditation and art in Asia
The idea of homo perfectus and the methods of contemplation are seen as central to the
traditions of European medieval religious art and sacred architecture as, for example,
Titus Burckhardt‟s work on Chartres shows.34 The present writer‟s work on icons echoes
this theme.35 The correlation between art and contemplation can be readily observed in
the field of Asian sacred art. Ian Baker‟s recently published book on a unique group of
Tibetan monastic paintings is helpful in the clarity with which images and meditation are
shown to be reflections of each other.36 The murals, Baker writes: „introduce an
extraordinary series of paintings on the walls of the Lukhang, the Dalai Lama‟s private
meditation chamber in Tibet. The spiritual practices illustrated in these murals belong to
the highest level of Buddhist Tantra and, in particular, to Dzogchen, the teachings of the
“Great Perfection”… [they] convey a timeless vision of one of the world‟s most profound
systems of spiritual illumination‟.37 And further on he writes: „The paintings on the
Lukhang‟s western wall illustrate a range of contemplation techniques unique to a
Tibetan system of meditation called Dzogchen, the Great Perfection. Unlike Tantric
Yogas based on inner transformation, the methods of Dzogchen directly reveal the
enlightened essence that underlies all experience and perception‟.38 Baker quotes a wellknown insight of William James: „our normal waking consciousness, rational
consciousness as we call it, is but one special type of consciousness, whilst all about it,
parted by the flimsiest of screens, there lie potential forms of consciousness entirely
34
Titus Burckhardt, Chartres, Golgonooza, 1995
R. Temple, Icons and the Mystical Origins of Christianity, Luzac, Oxford, 2000.
36
Ian Baker, The Dalai Lama’s Secret Temple, Thames and Hudson, 2000.
37
Baker, p. 9
38
Baker, p. 113
35
257
different‟39 and goes on to say that „the Lukhang murals are windows onto this expanded
world of consciousness which transcend culture, time and space‟. It is in the light of this
universality that Baker suggests that „the gestures and subtler emotions in the faces of the
Rishis and Mahasiddhas bear comparison with the works of Bosch and Bruegel.‟40 He
does not develop this idea but the implications for this thesis are significant. (See fig. 1.)
Fig. 1, Lukhang, 17th century mural
39
Baker p. 40; he is citing William James, Varieties of Religious Experience, New York and London, 1902
and 1982. p. 388
40
Baker, p.39. (I have corrected his spelling from Brueghel)
258
The inference is that Bosch and Bruegel, both associated with schools of esotericism or
mysticism, knew about and practiced forms of meditation capable of leading to that
higher level of consciousness that permits a true vision of man‟s place in the cosmic
scheme. These schools were regarded as heretical by the authorities and it was sensible to
be circumspect about participation in the practice. But, as discussed above, there is also a
deeper and more important reason for the complete silence that surrounds these
mysteries.
Whatever is sacred,
Whatever is to remain sacred,
Must be clothed in a mystery.41
Mallarmé is stating, or rather re-stating, the ancient principle of the necessity for
guarding certain knowledge from profane eyes.
The Teachings of the Brethren of the Free Spirit: a Survival of Catharism.
Lynda Harris sees the Brethren of the Free Spirit as an anomalous survival of
Catharism.42 It has been shown how she traces the history of that movement and presents
the case for its Gnostic origins via the Bogomils in Bulgaria in the Middle Ages,43
thereby suggesting an unbroken chain for the transmission of mystical ideas and esoteric
41
Stephan Mallarmé, Art for All, 1862. Quoted by Baker, op. cit.
Lynda Harris, The Secret Heresy of Hieronymus Bosch, Floris Books, Edinburgh, 1995, 2002.
43
See above p. 133.
42
259
teachings, from the Hellenistic Mystery Religions to Bosch and the Brethren of the Free
Spirit; an idea that can be extended to their immediate successors, i.e. Bruegel and the
House of Love. Harris writes:
Catharism is … indisputably … a Gnostic religion. The Gnostic systems … see
the material world as a world of darkness and death, governed and even created
by, its own deity. The spiritual world, in contrast, is seen as a totally separate
realm of light and life, ruled by a separate god. Birth into the physical world is
viewed by the Gnostics as a trap from which it is very difficult to escape. The
soul, fallen into the world of matter and caught in the wheel of repeated births and
deaths, is seen as “drunk” “asleep” or even “dead.” It is in a state of drugged
oblivion and has forgotten its origins in the world of spirit. But its entrapment
need not be permanent, for a Saviour is sent out from the realm of light to rescue
it. Walker says “Gnosticism is born at the crossroads of many ancient cultures.” 44
Myths, symbols, and ideas from all the main religions of the world, all the way
from Rome through to India contributed … The most important influences
include certain ideas and myths from Egypt, dualistic doctrines from the
Babylonian religion of Zoroaster, philosophical theories developed in the Greek
world, and, above all, concepts from Judaism and Christianity.45
44
45
Walker, B., 1983, Gnosticism. Its History and Influence, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire.
Harris, p. 24
260
Ortelius’ Eulogy and the analysis of H. Stein-Schneider
The one extant contemporary document giving a hint at the depth of Bruegel‟s thought is
provided by Abraham Ortelius who left this statement, recorded in his Album Amicorum
not long after the artist‟s death. It is typically translated as follows:
Peter Bruegel was the most perfect of his century; this could be denied only by
the ignorant, by a rival, or by someone knowing nothing of his art. He was taken
from us while still in his full manhood. I hardly know whether to incriminate
Death, which perhaps thought him old enough, considering the matchless talent it
had observed in him; or whether Nature feared to see herself distained, since he
had imitated her with so much art and talent.
Eupompos, the painter, on being asked whom of his predecessors he had chosen
as master, replied by pointing to a crowd of men: it is nature herself that we must
imitate, not an artist. This observation well applies to our friend Bruegel, so that I
prefer to call him, not the painter‟s painter, but the painter‟s nature, and I mean by
this that he deserves to be imitated by all. Our Bruegel has painted – as Pliny says
of Apelles – many things that cannot be painted. In all his works there is always
more thought than paint. Eunapius makes the same claim for Timanthus in
Jamblicus. Painters who paint graceful things in the bloom of life and go out of
their way to add to the painting an elegance which they derive from themselves,
261
denature the whole image represented, and in departing from the chosen model
likewise fail to achieve true beauty. Our Bruegel never committed this error.46
The heresiologist and writer on Neo-Catharism, H. Stein-Schneider, offers the
commentary that:
Ortelius instructs us, in a surprising passage, that the „drolleries‟ of his friend
Brueghel (sic) and the naturalistic images that he paints have a completely hidden
meaning. All his pictures, his friend [Ortelius] tells us, had a secret, hermetic
meaning beyond that of the represented image. Pieter Brueghel hid, behind his
innocent images, an arcane dimension, with the implications of which Ortelius,
we understand, was cognizant. Brueghel certainly was, as Ortelius is telling us, a
painter capable of imitating nature as no other [artist] of his time. But beyond
Brueghel‟s natural [power of] imitation, he tells us, lies the representation of an
entirely different dimension of which Ortelius gives us a vague indication by
means of a typically Renaissance riddle. Literary allusions abound in this text that
is full of remarkable images. Everything in this text is unusual, at the antipodean
opposite to [the usual idea of] „Peter the Droll or „Peter the Realist‟ with which
we are so familiar.47
The original Latin of the latter part of Ortelius‟ text is as follows
46
Bob Claessens, Jeanne Rousseau, Bruegel, New York, 1984, p. 187.
H. Stein-Schneider, „Les Familistes Une secte néo-cathare du 16e siècle et leur peintre Pieter Brueghel
Ancien‟ in Cahier d’Etudes Cathares, XXXVI, Printemps 1985, 11e Serie No. 105, p. 8.
47
262
Multa pinxit, hic Brugelius, quae pingi non possunt, quod Plinus de Apelle.
In omnibus omnis operibus intelligitur plus semper quam pingitur. Idem de
Timanthe Eunapius in Iamblicho. Pingunt voluntque picture lenocinium quoddam
et gratiam de suo adjicere, Totam depravant representatum effigiem et ab
examplari proposito partier et a vera forma aberrant.
Following Stein-Schneider, we can arrive at the following:
He painted many things, this Brueghel, that usually cannot be expressed by
painting, as Pliny says of Apelles. In every one of his pictures we have to search
for a meaning beyond that which appears on the surface. (Jamblichus makes the
same claim for Timanthe as does Eunapius.) Painters who add to their work an
element of enticement or cheap allurement completely change the meaning of
everything that is represented and they put a distance between the object they
depict and its truth.
Apelles is generally regarded as the greatest painter of antiquity and, though none of his
works survive, he was idealized by Renaissance humanists. He lived from the time of
Philip of Macedon till after the death of Alexander. He combined Dorian thoroughness
with Ionic grace. Attracted to the court of Philip, he painted him and the young
Alexander with such success that he became the recognized court painter of Macedon .
His picture of Alexander, holding a thunderbolt, was likened to the statue of Alexander
with the spear of the sculptor Lysippus. Other works of Apelles had a great reputation in
263
antiquity, among them the noted painting representing Aphrodite rising out of the sea.
This, and other themes, were recreated by Botticelli and other Italian artists of the
Renaissance.48 The painter Timanthus (4th century BC) was another admired figure in the
Renaissance; for example by Alberti who, following Pliny, ascribed a famous fresco in
Pompeii, dating from the 1st century AD and depicting the Sacrifice of Iphigenia, as a
copy of a lost work by that artist.49
The references to Eunapius and especially to Iamblichus, whose importance has already
been mentioned, are significant here. These men, renowned in the late-antique and early
Christian period, were of great interest to Renaissance humanists and we see that Ortelius
makes a connection between Bruegel and the Neoplatonist schools of the 4th century.
Iamblichus has already appeared in the pages of this thesis.50 Eunapius, a Greek sophist
and historian, was born at Sardis, A.D. 347 and, while still a youth, went to Athens.
Initiated into the Eleusinian mysteries, he was admitted into the college of the
Eumolpidae (the sacred priestly families) and became a hierophant. There is evidence
that he was still living in the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Theodosius II (408-450).
Eunapius was the author of the Lives of the Sophists, which deals chiefly with the
contemporaries of the author.51
Stein-Schneider points out:
48
Adapted from an article by P. G. in http://15.1911encyclopedia.org/A/AP/APELLES.htm.
See http://www.philipresheph.com/a424/gallery/course/gtod/ch6.htm
50
Iamblichus is „one of the key figures in the transmission of perennial philosophical ideas‟. Part I. p.109.
51
See http://44.1911encyclopedia.org/E/EU/EUNAPIUS.htm
49
264
that the last lines of Ortelius‟ texts are a variation on Iamblichus‟ citation. The
Sophist has in effect declared that the addition of a personal element on the part of
the painter transforms the portrait from an objective truth to a subjective one.
Here, Ortelius applies Iamblichus‟ idea to Bruegel‟s method which [implicitly]
parallels that of the philosopher. Ortelius tells us that this transformation is
accomplished by two means: one is by the appending an element of „enticement
or cheap allurement‟52 – the Latin word lenocinium being in effect the trickery by
which a harlot attracts her clients. The second means of transformation is gratia,
grace or embellishment, a freely-given indication and, thus, an element that does
not belong to the represented object and so a kind of symbol. Such a sign can be
snow covering the ground which indicates cold [suggesting that] frost means
infertility. Or it can be a bird, either caged or free, by which we understand the
possible starting-point of the soul‟s journey. Bruegel, Ortelius tells us, was prone
to employ signs of this kind in order to transform totally the primary meaning (the
vera forma) of his picture and thus to present an entirely new message and so
different [in meaning] as to have nothing to do with the objective reality of what
was first represented.
Stein-Schneider goes on to assert that Bruegel‟s entire work (omnibus omnis operibus)
cannot support an interpretation based on his realism or any external appearances; that
the external aspects are no more than veils hiding the truth. „Bruegel could, according to
52
Stein-Schneider has „sexual provocation‟ which this author finds too distracting in already obtuse
passage.
265
Ortelius, paint something and, at the same time, signify the opposite of what it seemed to
be saying‟.53
The same author insists that Ortelius‟ text „clearly‟ tells us of a secret and hidden
dimension in Bruegel‟s work inaccessible to those who lack the key to their proper
understanding. This leads to the famous drawing, preserved in the Albertina in Vienna,
known as The Painter and the Art Lover where the artist, perhaps Bruegel himself, with a
poised brush in his hand and a determined expression, gazes with intensity and vision
into the unknown (see figure 1).
Fig. 1
Behind him stands the client, an obviously weak character, clutching his wallet and
looking with hopeless incomprehension at the picture. Late medieval art employed
glasses as a symbol of the inability to see. We shall come across a similar figure in the
National Gallery‟s Adoration of the Kings where spectacles indicate the person‟s inability
53
Cahier d’Etudes Cathares, p. 11
266
to understand what is before him (see fig. 2). „It is this “veil” before the non-initiated
spectator‟s eyes that Brueghel demonstrates in the drawing that some see as a selfportrait‟.54
Fig. 2, detail, Adoration of the Kings.
Stein-Schneider offers the following challenge:
The text of Ortelius and Bruegel‟s self-portrait seem then to be compelling
indication that all the pictures of our painter contain secret messages,
comprehensible only to initiates. The panel-paintings of our Brueghel would be
‘peintures à clef’. But what would then be the key to these paintings that his
friend Ortelius described as „secret’ (Appelles) „veiled’ (Timanthus) and
‘expressing by their message the opposite of what is seen’ (Iamblichus)?
With these questions in mind we are now in a position to continue looking at Bruegel‟s
paintings in the light of the ideas of the Perennial Philosophy.
54
Idem.
267
Part II The Paintings
Chapter 9. The Human Condition: Spiritual Darkness
Adoration of the Kings
Fig. 1
Peter Bruegel the Elder, (1525-30 –1569). The Adoration of the Kings, 1564. Panel:
112 x 84 cm. The National Gallery, London (fig. 1)
268
The event of the adoration of the Kings (also known as adoration of the Magi) is
recounted in the Gospel of St. Matthew (2:1-12). We read that Magi (Wise Men) from the
Orient came to Jerusalem, asking, 'Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We observed
the rising of his star, and we have come to pay him homage.' (Mat. 2:2-3). King Herod
and ‘all Jerusalem’ were greatly perturbed on hearing this; he asked the Magi to bring
him their report after they found the child, so that he too could go and worship him.
Guided by the star, the Magi discovered the infant in a house at Bethlehem, worshipped
him and presented him with their gifts. A dream warned the Magi not to return to Herod’s
court and they set off instead for their own country by another route.
Apocryphal gospels have enriched and embellished Matthew's story. In the 2nd and
3rd centuries A.D. the Wise Men were also referred to as kings. In, approximately, the 9th
century they were given names: Caspar, (or Jaspar), usually the oldest, Balthazar, and
Melchior, usually the youngest. Though Matthew did not reveal the number of the Magi,
they are traditionally thought to be three because of the number of symbolic gifts they
presented to Christ: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Later the three Magi (or kings) came
to personify the three parts of the known world: Europe, Asia, and Africa.1
This theme was widely known and depicted in art throughout the Middle Ages and the
Renaissance both in Italy and in the Low Countries. It was employed by Hans Memling
for example (fig. 2), Perugino (fig. 3) or Dürer (fig. 4) and can be seen in western
galleries where Mary, aristocratic, beautiful and exquisitely dressed in rich costume
(often depicted in lapis lazuli), introducing the Christ child to the royally and
1
http://www.abcgallery.com/religion/adorationmagi.html
269
extravagantly attired kings. The setting, in a tranquil landscape in the soft light of a
warm, early summer morning, is idealized and poetic.
Fig. 2. Memling
Fig. 3. Perugino
270
Fig. 4. Dürer
At the first glance Bruegel’s painting, which includes the main elements of the traditional
composition, seems to place us on familiar ground. But we soon see that many details are
oddly contradictory. The idealized poetry and tranquility are absent, the faces and the
body language of the figures are depicted with an unconventionally harsh realism that
seems rather shocking, until we remember that Bruegel is famous for his grim and
satirical views of life. But, even so, why should Bruegel want to satirize this traditional
holy event?
To try and find an answer this question we will return to the theme that Bruegel suggests
in his image of the Numbering at Bethlehem: Man’s inability to acknowledge the
presence of the divine. The Adoration, according to the conventional chronology
established by tradition, takes place on the morning following the journey of Joseph and
271
Mary to Bethlehem and we may expect Bruegel to pursue the same esoteric theme that
underlies his interpretation of the Numbering at Bethlehem.
It is interesting that in the three pictures associated with the birth of Christ, The
Numbering at Bethlehem, The Adoration of the Kings, and The Massacre of the
Innocents, as with his other paintings based on religious themes, Bruegel chooses
scripturally minor or secondary events, rather than the more usual and conventional setpiece compositions – less explored themes where the Gospel is silent, or at best laconic,
and around which patristic commentary and pious tradition have established meanings
not obviously discernable in the primary text.
This is especially so in the story of the Three Kings which is based on the Gospel of St
Matthew but is not mentioned in Mark, Luke or John. ‘Now when Jesus was born in
Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from
the east to Jerusalem2 . . . And when they were come into the house, they saw the young
child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him . . .’ 3. The gospel
provides no further information and all other details of the story come from sources
external to the Bible.
Bruegel does not follow the scriptural text. The figures are not the Persian Magi of the
earliest mosaic depictions of the 6th century but they are closer to the conventions of his
2
3
Mathew 2:1
Idem, 2:11
272
day. Bruegel uses this imagery as a platform from which to advance his own searing
vision of actuality.
The Child, representing naked truth, does not welcome the two kings who kneel before
him but recoils from them in horror (fig. 5)
Fig. 5
273
They represent the highest values of the worldly realm: power and riches, and Bruegel, at
least in the case of the two figures on the left, suggests the barbarous and brutal means by
which these have been achieved. Their looks express their insincerity; if they seem to
perform an act of generosity and humility it is for the sake of appearances; the real
motive is expediency.
Fig. 6
274
The figure of Melchior in the foreground does not kneel: he grovels (fig. 6). His
magnificent clothing may tell us what he is externally, but inwardly he is old and
shriveled; he believes in nothing. His companion Caspar regards him with jealousy and
suspicion;4 his ravaged face suggests the unspeakable cruelties and corruption that
support his kingship.
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
There could be no greater contrast than that between the nakedness, innocence and purity
of the child and the rottenness and malignity of the representatives of the world that
confront him (figs. 7, 8, 9).
4
For the identity of the three Kings or Magi see Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Wise_Men.
275
According to the Protevangelium5 the Nativity of Christ takes place in a cave in the
desert. An elaborate cosmological symbolism is implied here part of whose meaning is
that Christ’s incarnation takes place at the lowest level of existence;6 the level that
Neoplatonism calls that of ‘Non-being’7. Ontologically, this imagery can be understood
as referring to spiritual states (and non-states) in Man. Where Byzantine iconography (as
in the icon illustrated below, fig. 10) chooses a topographical symbolism – cave, desert,
mountain – Bruegel shows us the same idea expressed as actual human behaviour.
Fig. 10
5
The second century apocryphal document recounting the sacred events in the life of the Virgin Mary and
the chief iconographic source for depicting the events of her life throughout the middle ages; ed., M. R.
James, Oxford 1924
6
see R. Temple Icons and the Mystical Origins of Christianity, New Edition, Luzac Oriental, 2001, p. 20
7
See McKenna, ‘Explanatory Matter’, p. xxxi in Plotinus the Enneads, London: Faber, 1956
276
The whole scene is set in a rough and rather claustrophobic barnyard into which little
light enters. Where there is a small amount of sky it is barred with weapons of war:
ferocious-looking pikes, lances, battle-axes, halberds and other instruments of bloodshed
and cruelty.
Fig. 11
A disorderly, slack-jawed and probably drunken crowd of soldiers gaze curiously and
uncomprehendingly at Christ and Mary. Any suggestion that what they witness could
have interest or significance for them would be met with derision (fig. 11).
277
Fig. 12
The goggle-eyed country boy in his ill-fitting armour is a comic figure, but in a few days
he and his comrades will be butchering small babies (fig. 12).
The types Bruegel has chosen to represent the world here are low-life and ordinary. It is
exactly how people are. Bruegel renders the situation without judgment or criticism.
Withholding his personal opinion he shows us the truth, the actuality of Man’s lack of
true being, even at the moment when the One Who Is is revealed before him.8
Fig. 13
8
An early Christian tradition, preserved in the Russian and Greek icons, ascribes this title to Christ. The ‘Ο
ΏΝ’ inscribed in the nimbus around his head is variously translated as ‘I AM THAT I AM’, ‘The Being’,
‘He Who Is’ and etc. The icon reproduced above (fig. 10), for example, has it around the diminutive head
of the Child in the cave; however, it is not possible to read it clearly in the reproduction.
278
Over on the right the theme of ignorance and blindness is continued in the faces of the
two peasants behind the Moorish king. For artists in the 16th century, to wear glasses was
a visual cypher for the inability to see. And, next to these two, lies and intrigue: the
urgent pressure of the pasty-faced boy’s fingers on Joseph’s shoulder and the latter’s not
so unwillingly bent ear are just the sort of incident one might see in any crowded
Saturday night bar-room where a tidbit of indecent gossip about someone’s wife is being
traded (fig. 13). Here Bruegel echoes an early medieval Byzantine tradition whereby the
Devil, disguised as a shepherd, tempts Joseph concerning the propriety of his wife’s birth
giving (see below, fig. 14, detail of fig. 10).
Fig 14, detail of fig. 10
279
While a common theme in icons, where indeed it is traditional, it is rare in western art [I
have not come across another example] and suggests, in Bruegel, an unusually high
degree of knowledge of theology and iconography outside the western canons of art.
Fig. 15
The cloaked and veiled figure of Mary is in contrast to the sinister kings before her and
the unpleasant aspects of humanity around her. The detail (fig. 15) shows her with a look
that is unusual in western painting though it is recognisable enough to anyone familiar
with the traditions of sacred oriental art, especially those which express the contemplative
280
state. Her gesture indicates what she has brought to the world, but her face expresses little
emotion; she has no reaction to anything taking place outside her. Her state is
concentrated inward; she is serene: completely within herself. Any student of meditation
will recognise that Mary’s state is one of steadily focused inward attention – a state that
needs long preparation and long practice. Students of Buddhist culture and especially
students of meditation practice will understand the implications of these remarks. Similar
practices are central to the Islamic mystical tradition and yogic practices within Hinduism
follow the same principles.9 Part I of this thesis discusses how similar contemplative
methods were practiced in Europe throughout the Middle Ages and in the 15th and 16th
centuries both within the established church as well as within the so-called heretical
circles. Since the Enlightenment and the predominance of science, the west has, in the
last two or three hundred years, more or less lost this feature that, according to the
perennialist school of thought, should be at the foundation of any civilisation.
This painting, together with The Numbering at Bethlehem and The Massacre of the
Innocents, represents the first stage of the spiritual path which is the acknowledgement of
spiritual darkness. This important stage has to be not theoretical but knowledge acquired
in the experience of life.
9
Michaela M. Özelsel, Forty Days: the Diary of a Traditional Solitary Sufi Retreat. Vermont, 1996.
281
The Massacre of the Innocents
Fig. 1. (Version 1)
Peter Bruegel the Elder, (1525-30 - 1569) The Massacre of the Innocents, 1565-7. Oil on
wood 109.2 x 158.1 cm. Version 1 (cleaned in 1981-2 and today regarded by the majority
of scholars as ‘original’ but not in good condition): Royal Collection, Hampton Court
Palace (fig. 1). Version 2 (less securely associated with Bruegel’s hand, though probably
from his workshop): Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (fig. 2). 1
1
Unless stated otherwise, in this essay the pictorial references are to Version 1
282
Fig. 2 (Version 2)
‘A voice is heard in Ramah, Lamentation and bitter weeping,
Rachel is weeping for her children: She refuses to be comforted for her children,
Because they are not. ‘2
‘Then Herod … killed all the male children in Bethlehem’.3
At the narrative level the story is told rather graphically, depicting perhaps just such a
scene of rape and pillage as remote and oppressed peasant villages experienced all too
frequently in the grave political and religious unrest of 16th-century Flanders.
2
3
Jer 31:15
Mat 2:17
283
Fig. 3
What we see is a body of twenty-four ‘ironclad’ mounted cavalrymen, with a sinister
black-clad figure at their head. They form a tightly knit group at the centre of the picture
(fig. 3). Their faces are dark and indistinct and we cannot read their expression. Seven
have been detailed off to deal directly with events in the village;
Fig. 4
one has dismounted and relieves himself against the wall of a nearby house (fig. 4),
284
Fig. 5
two others confer with red-coated sergeants (fig. 5),
Fig. 6
another supervises a violent break-in (fig. 6)
285
Fig. 7
and yet another guards the bridge in the background with a soldier (fig. 7).
Fig. 8
286
Another two have dismounted and, together with a group of foot soldiers, are spearing
children, under the eye of the bearded commander (fig. 8). In the background we see the
horses of the knights who have dismounted tethered to trees.
Fig. 9
Three sergeants in brilliant scarlet jackets and a trumpeter in yellow and green livery, all
of whom seem to be better mounted than the cavalry, occupy the left foreground (fig. 9).
287
Fig. 10
Another sergeant accompanies a herald on a dappled grey who shrugs off the pleas of the
villagers (fig.10). The soldiers doing the actual dirty work seem to be irregulars; oddly
clad riffraff types.
Fig. 11
288
Two barrels, staved-in and their contents spilt, lie abandoned in the frozen pond (fig. 11).
If they are the same barrels we have seen delivered to the inn of the Numbering at
Bethlehem whose ‘new wine’ symbolises the appearance of the Saviour on Earth, then
Bruegel’s commentary confirms the fate that Truth encounters in the world of violence
and cruelty.
In the Hampton Court version there were later overpaintings, now partially removed,
which appear to have been done with the definite intention of changing and distorting the
original meaning and substituting another. According to the picture’s official cataloguer,
‘at an early date (certainly before 1660 and perhaps before 1621), presumably at the
request of a squeamish owner, almost all the Innocents were painted out and all
references to the Biblical narrative were suppressed. Farm animals, poultry, parcels,
crockery and other objects took the place of the babies and flames were added so that
some of the houses on the left appeared to be burning. The flames were removed during a
partial cleaning in 1941-2. The picture was consequently transformed into the Sacking of
a Village.’4 Paintings of such ominous themes were a fashion in the 16th and 17th
centuries, classified in inventories of the period as boerenverdriet, or ‘peasant distress.’
They were developed, according to one scholar, out of a ‘core idea’ of Bruegel. 5 We
further learn from Campbell that the standard floating above the knights originally carried
an image of crosses in a design that resembled that of the coat-of-arms of Jerusalem and
presumably referred to king Herod who was responsible for the massacre of the innocents
4
Lorne Campbell, The Early Flemish Pictures in the Collection of her Majesty the Queen, Cambridge,
1985, pp 13-19
5
Larry Silver, ‘The Importance of Being Bruegel: the Posthumous Survival of the Art of Pieter Bruegel the
Elder’ in Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Drawings and Prints, ed. Nadine M. Orenstein, Metropolitan Museum
of Art, New York, 2001, p 75
289
and ‘who may have been represented as the leader of the knights’. The herald’s tabard
has also been overpainted but underneath are traces of ‘an imperial double-headed eagle,
which would have referred to the Roman Empire, under which Herod exercised his
authority ... The building on the right is an inn: presumably the inn at which there was no
room for the Virgin and Joseph. The inn sign has been overpainted, but originally showed
a star, traces of which are visible in raking light, The inscription is ‘Dit is inde ster’, but
the last three letters have been damaged. It was perhaps felt that ‘Star Inn’ was too direct
a reference to Bethlehem, and it seems that ‘the star was suppressed and the inscription
altered at the same time as the other changes were made.’6
This ‘disguise’ was imposed 50 years or more after the picture was painted. Campbell’s
‘presumably at the request of a squeamish owner’ is not be entirely convincing; partly
because squeamishness is a reaction of the Victorian and the modern age rather than of
the early 17th century and squeamishness would not account for the suppression of all
references to the biblical narrative. Whatever the reason was, and however elusive now, it
was compelling at the time. It is possible that whoever imposed the disguise was perhaps
intentionally deepening the disguises already there. Perhaps they were actually hiding or
suppressing ‘heretical ideas’.
Scholars have sought to find meaning in the picture as either a rendering of the gospel
account, albeit in a contemporary setting; or as a cryptic reference to contemporary
events, in particular the brutalities ordered by the Duke of Alva upon his arrival in
Flanders in 1567. These arguments are summarized succinctly and thoroughly by
6
Campbell, op. cit.,
290
Campbell,7 but they do not acknowledge – much less offer a reason for – the anomalies
thrown up by the narrative’s failure to produce an emotion in the viewer that corresponds
to the story.
This writer has tried to show in an earlier part of this thesis that in the writings of Origen,
Dante and others, it is axiomatic that a great work of art, made according to the principles
of the Perennial Philosophy, should contain simultaneous, multiple meanings. Today,
conventional scholarship attributes to religious, socio-economic, political and, more
tentatively, psychological or moral meaning to Bruegel’s work,8 but we must look further
if we wish to place him among the Neoplatonists and Neopythagoreans of Renaissance
mysticism, or among the so-called heretical sects of the Low Countries in the 16th
century.
The existence of mysterious or more subtle meaning is perhaps suggested by the
incongruity we have referred to between the picture’s emotional tone and its subject
matter. Despite the problems of its condition, the beauty and harmony of the colours in
the Hampton Court version, as well as the delight to be found in its forms and linear
rhythms, can have a spellbinding effect on the viewer’s sensibilities. The picture (but
unfortunately not the reproductions) is radiant with violet evening light like that seen at
sunset on clear days in northern Europe when there is snow on the ground. Here, Bruegel
shares an understanding of the effects of light reflected off large areas of translucent
white matter with, among others, the builders of the Taj Mahal, and – if only we could
7
Campbell, op. cit.
See references in several of the introductory essays in Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Drawings and Prints, ed.
Nadine M. Orenstein, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2001, p 75
8
291
see them in their original state when they were clad with white alabaster – the pyramids
of Egypt. The pulsating clarity of the light, breaking up into its component elements of
pure colour (all the tones of the spectrum are here) can have an effect on the onlooker’s
sensibilities that does not correspond appropriately with the anguish of the narrated
events. Seen from across the room the colours – scarlet, green, blue, yellow, light and
dark ochre, black and white, are joyful and festive; whereas from an intermediate
distance the eye takes pleasure in the forms and dancing linear rhythms such as those of
the horsemen in the lower left (fig. 12)
Fig. 12
292
Fig. 13
or the play of the two lurchers behind the herald (fig. 13). None of this provokes the
feelings of dismay and pity that a viewer immediately finds in himself on viewing say,
Picasso’s ‘Guernica’ (fig. 14),
Fig. 14
or any other painting intended to inspire horror, of which there are many. The question
must be asked therefore, in the light of the emotional distance between image and subject
matter: what is it that Bruegel intends to convey?
293
As an art historian, Campbell is naturally cautious in interpreting the picture’s meaning
and motives for the changes he describes. But our task now is to try to penetrate below
the surface, even if this means exploring the territory of the subconscious. As we have
suggested above in The Numbering at Bethlehem, The Adoration, and as will be shown in
discussing several further paintings, there is a case to be put forward that Bruegel, in the
spirit of the tradition of Marsilio Ficino and other Renaissance mystagogues, definitely
intended to hide, or partially hide, the esoteric or gnostic aspects of his thought in his
pictures.9 His method being to present to the onlooker a narrative situation in all its
myriad human diversity, letting the symbolism of the imagery resonate in the viewer’s
subconscious associations. Such impressions, falling on a person’s inner world,
originating from the mind and hand of a master, can be considered a kind of energy, or
psychological nourishment – perhaps even theurgy – for what G. R. S. Mead refers to as
the ‘subtle body’.10
Coomaraswamy, Guénon, Schuon, Burckhardt and other 20th century exponents of the
perennial tradition have shown how the sacred art of the great ancient traditions served
the cultural outlook of entire civilizations that understood the ideas of man’s higher
possibilities. The religious arts of Hinduism and Buddhism in Asia, of Islam in the Near
9
See above: Edgar Wind, Pagan Mysteries of the Renaissance, Faber, 1958; also the remarks of SteinSchneider.
10
G. R. S. Mead (1846-1933), ‘Hermeticist and scholar was one of the great early researchers into arcane
wisdom in our age. At a time when the 'esoteric' tended to mean little more than table tapping and spirit
trumpets, he was busy translating into English the gems of Neoplatonic and Egyptian philosophy. In works
such as Thrice Greatest Hermes, Pistis Sophia, Orpheus and Fragments of a Faith Forgotten, he almost
single-handedly put back together the lost esoteric tradition of Classical Athens and Alexandria, which goes
by under the general heading of Gnosticism.’ From the Foreword to A. G. Gilbert’s Introduction to the
1919 edition of Mead’s The Doctrine of the Subtle Body, Second Edition, London: Vincent Stuart and John
M. Watkins Ltd, 1967.
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East and, until only a few hundred years ago, of Christianity, took mathematical ideas
from their study of the celestial world and physical imagery from the material world and
made of them a language in which to speak of the numinous cosmos. An example would
be the tradition of the icon whose art, surviving from ancient Slav and Byzantine times
more or less into the present era, conveys higher reality through images that are
recognizable from the physical world yet with which we do not identify literally.
Fig. 15
A medieval Russian icon of St George typically demonstrates this where we see the saint
surrounded by exquisitely beautiful scenes on the border depicting his torture and
martyrdom.
295
Fig. 16
Fig. 17
Fig. 18
But, despite their violent subject matter, these scenes do not illustrate violence but,
instead, spiritual transcendence: ‘the racking, flailing, stone-pressing, freezing and
scourging ... and other scenes are painted in a way that does not disturb the icon’s
stillness. All remains golden and luminous – a world without shadows. The violence of
these happenings has been rendered ineffectual; they have no power to harm St George
and cause him no agitation. The spiritual warrior has transformed violence into nonviolence.’11
Bruegel painted The Massacre of the Innocents about 50 years after this St George icon
was made and, while he may not have known directly the icon-painter’s tradition, it can
be supposed that both painters drew on sources originating in the same universal
tradition. Thus, when our attention finally comes to rest on terrible details in The
Massacre of the Innocents, we are insulated from their horror. Our feelings have been
guided on to another plane so that we look at the scene with dispassion and detachment.
11
R. Temple, Icons and the Mystical Origins of Christianity, Luzac Oriental, 2001, p. 126
296
Bruegel’s image here is painted to correspond to the non-attached state of meditation of
the Adamites that Fränger describes.12
Fig. 19 (Version 2)
Fig. 20. (Version 1, before cleaning)
Fig. 21 (Version 1, after cleaning)
Comparison of details taken from two versions of the painting, or of details of the same
painting before and after the removal of the overpainting, suggests that, despite the
alterations, the essential sense of the picture is little changed. The later 'disguising' of the
12
See above, p. 247.
297
Hampton Court version achieved little; the picture’s innermost meaning was already
disguised. The idea that our reading of the Hampton Court picture is ‘corrected’ when we
compare it with the version in Vienna does not take us far. In the latter picture the dead
children have not been overpainted yet the mystery is still present. Art historians have
pointed out that the events, that is to say, the actual massacres, are painted with ‘much
restraint’ and the violence muted.13 It is as though Bruegel, rather than dwelling on the
literal story, passes beyond it, as though the image is a portal, directly through to another
level of understanding so that we enter with him and contemplate, in tranquility, another
world altogether: a terra pacis where violence has been transformed into silence and
stillness.
Matthew’s gospel recounts the fact of Herod’s massacre of children in Bethlehem in a
single terse sentence. His next verse, ‘A voice is heard in Ramah’, is a quotation from the
Old Testament, used to demonstrate the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy.
Jeremiah is typical of Old Testament prophets in that he describes states – whether
historical or psychological – that veer between two extreme poles. The greater part (a
whole book, Lamentations) dwells on the themes of destruction, punishment, desolation,
abandonment, exile, slavery, guilt, defilement – a long list. All this is the result of
transgression, the refusal to ‘listen to the Lord’ or ‘walk in his ways’, consequently God
in his anger has taken terrible revenge, bringing the people to dust, rottenness, distress,
‘corpses like refuse in the streets’. In contrast there are passages where joy and light
prevail: salvation, comfort, abundance, peace, wisdom, understanding, meekness,
13
Michael Gibson, Bruegel, Wellfleet Press [English edition] New Jersey, 1989, p. 122
298
feasting and righteousness, people eat curds and honey, ‘the earth shall be full of the
knowledge of the Lord’. The switch from one condition to the other is often sudden and
unexpected. For example, the preceding verses to Jeremiah 14:31 are a song of
thanksgiving for the restoration of the ‘fortunes of the tents of Jacob’, ‘life shall be like a
watered garden’. The next four verses are as follows:
(14)
I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance,
And my people shall be satisfied with my goodness
(15)
Thus says the Lord:
A voice is heard in Ramah,
Lamentation and bitter weeping,
Rachel is weeping for her children:
She refuses to be comforted for her children,
Because they are not.
(16)
Thus says the Lord:
Keep your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears;
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For your work shall be rewarded, says the Lord,
And they shall come back from the land of the enemy.
(17)
There is hope for your future, says the Lord,
And your children shall come back to their own country.
16th-century humanist thinkers would not have taken such material literally, even less so
followers of Hendrick Niclaes, who, as has been shown above, speaks of ‘similitudes
[that] reveal and witness the riches of the spiritual heavenly goods as parables, and figure
forth in writing the mystery of the Kingdom of God or Christ’. So we may assume, with
some confidence, that the inconsistency of verse 15, sandwiched between two verses of
contradictory import, had a meaning for Bruegel that could be explored through its
translation into imagery. The power of Bruegel’s art helps the viewer to enter a spiritual
terrain where subtle truths, inaccessible to the mind in its ordinary state, can be
contemplated. In these conditions he may see another meaning in the attitudes of grief
displayed by the groups of women at the centre of the picture.
Bruegel, the master of depicting body language, has adopted conventional classical poses
from the ‘lexicon of rhetorical poses’ that any traditionally trained actor would know, and
the postures, together with the emotion they express, seem staged and artificial when we
consider them at face value. It is as though the crowd of horsemen, sergeants, peasants,
300
soldiers and children were so many actors and extras on a film set at the moment when
the director has called for ‘action’. What we witness, then, is a contrived image, an aspect
of the great teaching, called here the Perennial Philosophy, whose significance will be
fully understood in the context of spiritual transformation.
Fig. 22
Fig. 23
301
Chapter 10. Man’s Possibility: Spiritual Work
The Road to Calvary
Peter Bruegel the Elder ca.1525-1569. The Road to Calvary (1564) , oil on wood panel,
124 x 170 cm. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (fig. 1).
Fig. 1
The artist sets the scene of Christ’s journey on the road to Calvary in a wide landscape
peopled with hundreds of figures the majority of whom are engaged in the kind of
activities one would expect to see at a fairground or carnival rather than at a solemn
religious occasion. The whole town has turned out on a blustery spring day to see the
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execution of two local criminals and the ‘misguided fool’ who tried to raise a revolution
against the state.
Fig. 2
The two thieves in the cart sloshing through slime and mud attract plenty of respectful, if
horrified, attention (fig. 2);
303
Fig. 3
but the stumbling figure of Christ, surrounded and taunted by the bully-boys of the town
garrison, is merely a joke, a minor incident on a day otherwise given over to a fun outing
(fig. 3). The path to the cross follows the painting’s circular composition and we have the
impression that the whole picture, in which is included the incident of The Carrying of
the Cross, represents the Wheel of Life.1
1
See above p. 69 ff for a discussion on this central idea in the Perennial Philosophy.
304
Fig. 4
305
At the centre is a windmill on top of a fantastic rocky spindle (fig. 4). This incongruous
detail alerts the viewer to the possibility that the artist engages with significant
philosophical ideas.
Giorgio de Santillana & Hertha Von Dechend’s book, Hamlet’s Mill is an important
exposition of the symbolism of a theme in world mythology in which a mill turns on a
spindle representing the earth turning under the heavens.2 The authors argue that,
contrary to our contemporary theory of evolution, people of prehistoric cultures were
adept at observing and accurately measuring celestial events. Further, they inscribed the
knowledge thus derived in mythological dramas and stories of the struggles and wars of
great gods or kings or powerful rulers:
cosmological myths are understood to be stories that come from the sky, encoded
maps about the arrangement of celestial features and the movement of planets and
stars during the year. The universal storyboard of the night sky is viewed around
the globe and, in this way, similar cosmologies and metaphors arise to explain the
great questions: human origins, the mystery of life, time, and death, and the
exploits of deities (who are really stars and planets). Echoes of a unified Neolithic
world religion? Even in Greco-Roman myth it is obvious that Saturn, Jupiter and
other mytho-cosmic deities refer to planets.
2
Giorgio de Santillana & Hertha Von Dechend Hamlet's Mill’ An Essay Investigating the Origins of
Human Knowledge and Its Transmission Through Myth. Nonpareil Books, 1969.
306
… ancient people around the globe observed the slow shifting of the celestial
framework, what we call the precession of the equinoxes. Among academics and
without good reason, the suggestion of this knowledge in ancient times has been
dismissed out of hand, and this is exactly the problem. It is considered to be so
patently impossible that no rational examination of the mythic forms describing
precession has ever taken place. Hamlet's Mill is the first study to seriously
address this question.3
Much of humanity's oldest myths were derived from celestial observations. The
important ideas that Hamlet's Mill offers were met with little academic acceptance when
it was published in 1969 though that is less the case today and the book has become
something of a classic.
‘Hamlet's Mill’ is one of the common themes running through the world's
mythology: that of a mill which turns on a spindle representing the Earth turning
under the heavens (or more precisely: the heavens turning over the earth; or more
precisely still, the heavens turning over the ‘four-cornered earth’. Some major
event occurs and the mill is destroyed. In the process, a great ruler/king/god is
overturned and a new ruler/king/god comes into power. This is not just an
adventure story but rather is a scientific explanation of precession. The
ruler/king/god associated with the old astrological sign is overthrown by the new
one.4
3
4
Commentary on Hamlet's Mill by John Major Jenkins, http://edj.net/mc2012/mill1.htm
Craig Rairdin http://www.craigr.com/books/hamlets.htm
307
The authors contend that knowledge of the precession of the equinoxes – the ‘wobble’ of
the earth’s axis during its 26,000-year cycle – was known long before its ‘discovery’ by
Hipparchus in the second century BC.5 This knowledge helps humanity locate itself in
cosmic space and cosmic time – what Plato called the ‘dance of the stars’ – and was
derived from observing in which constellation the sun rises on the vernal equinox and the
fact that, over a long period, this changes. At present the sun rises in Pisces and formerly
(i.e. between two and three thousand years ago) it rose in Aries. Hamlet’s Mill
demonstrates that the intention of myths was to transmit the knowledge of the precession
of the equinoxes from one generation to another across very long periods of time. This
mythology was transmitted in traditional songs or stories such as the Kalevala, the
Finnish National Epic. They are magical in character and filled with sky lore. The Finnish
cultural heritage, like its language, is not of Indo-European origin, and suggests an origin
in Central Asia rather than Europe. Some of the Kalevala stories, according to Jenkins,
‘describe a sacred Mill called the Sampo (derived from Sanskrit skambha = pillar or pole)
with a "many ciphered cover". He continures:
This spinning Mill is a metaphor for a Golden Age of plenty and the starry sky
spinning around the Pole Star (known as the ‘Nail of the North’), which in the Far
North is almost straight over head. The Mill at some point is disturbed, its pillar
being pulled out of its peg, and a new one – a new ‘age’ – must be constructed.
This becomes the chore of Ilmarinen, the primeval smith. In this legend, ancient
5
Some calculations arrive at the figure 21,600; see Naomi Bennet, Has the Age of Aquarius Arrived?
http://www.accessnewage.com/articles/astro/ageaq1.htm. For a more comprehensive article see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precession_of_the_equinoxes.
308
knowledge of precession among unsophisticated ‘peasants’ who were nonetheless
astute sky watchers, was preserved via oral tradition almost down to modern
times.6
It has already been suggested in this thesis that Bruegel grasped the cosmological
dimension of great religious events. For him, the gospel narratives were never only
historical. He saw, in The Numbering at Bethlehem, the birth of Christ as a cosmic event.
An elaborate mythology associates Christ’s birth with the age of Pisces (it is cryptically
referred to in early Christian art by the acronym ІΧΘΥΣ [ichtus, fish]). The idea is very
ancient; it is said by theologians to have been foretold by Virgil and it fits seamlessly into
the humanist ideal of the integration of classical and Christian ideas.7 A Renaissance
humanist of intellectual grandeur such as Bruegel could hardly see otherwise.
The wind blows, the wheel turns, and the gigantic merry-go-round of life moves on.
Bruegel observes every figure, both from the point of view of their relation to the central
event of whose significance they are ignorant, and also in relation to every fleeting
influence that momentarily attracts their attention. He observes what a man is and depicts
him through his understanding that a person’s thought and awareness go no further than
what his attention is attached to.
6
7
Jenkins, op. cit.
Meer, Van der and Mohrmann, F. Atlas of the Early Christian world, Nelson: London, 1958
309
Fig. 5
A man chasing his hat is a man chasing his hat: no more and no less (fig. 5). The situation
involves him totally: his movements and his posture, his thoughts and feelings, all his
energies, all his awareness, are identified with the circumstance of the moment.
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
310
The next moment he may be a man running to catch up with his friends (fig. 6) and the
next, a man goggling at the prospect of the gallows (fig. 7).
In discussing The Numbering at Bethlehem, and The Adoration of the Kings this thesis
has proposed the idea that in Bruegel’s pictures people – at least ordinary people – are
depicted in various circumstances and engaged in various activities but always in the
state that the gospels refer to as blindness, or sleep, and which in today’s language can be
understood as unconscious identification. People, occupied with the distraction of the
moment and lacking higher awareness, are not conscious of the larger situation in which
the events are taking place. By including the windmill, Bruegel shows us what they
cannot see: the higher, unseen influences that create the circumstances in which men live
out their lives.
Every figure is caught up both momentarily and by the larger events. Bruegel shares with
us his observation of how each person is identified with what has attracted his interest. It
may be just the fun of the day’s outing, the curiosity of watching soldiers arresting a
citizen, Simon of Cyrene, and pressing him into service (fig. 8),
311
Fig. 8
or the macabre fascination of an execution. It is fun to see something spectacular or
dramatic, even if it is horrific — and, for some, especially if it is horrific. But, then, your
hat gets blown off in the wind
312
Fig. 9
or you have to wade through the flooded meadow (fig. 9),
Fig. 10
or you get hired to help on a digging job (fig. 10).
313
Above it all, the windmill turns, spinning the vast panorama of life on its up-and-down,
merry course (fig. 5). The mill, itself, is turned by the winds: unseen forces, laws of
nature and laws of the cosmos – perhaps one could say the law of karma – that are beyond
man’s awareness, beyond his comprehension, but to which he is subject and on whose
actions he is dependent.
Such is life and such is man’s situation. In our present usual state of consciousness,
according to traditional esoteric ideas, we do not know Reality; our faculties of
perception are inadequate and our view of the world is illusory. From Plato to
Schopenhauer, philosophers constantly return to this archetypal theme. If we accept the
symbolism of the Gospels, we will find the same message: Man is described as being
blind, deaf, lame, possessed by devils and, in some cases, even dead. According to an
esoteric interpretation of these afflictions they symbolise Man’s low psychological or
spiritual level – his low level of consciousness.8 Bruegel is direct; he shows how things
actually are, leaving his viewers to draw the conclusion that Man’s awareness does not
extend to the existence of a higher level of consciousness. At the same time he shows us
that the higher level, represented by Christ and the Holy Family group in the foreground,
is clearly present here in the midst of ‘life’ with implications for all to see – if they wish.
8
cf. Maurice Nicol, The New Man. Dr Nicol worked with C. G. Jung and later with P. D. Ouspensky; but
his work on the gospels is also influenced by Origen, in particular, the latter’s Commentary on the Gospel
of Saint John.
314
Fig. 11
Bruegel shows that consciousness is a matter of degree and that not everybody stands on
the same level. This is clear from the presence of the Mary and her attendants on the
raised promontory in the foreground (fig. 11). This group represents the possibility for
human beings to stand in a different relationship to the mechanical forces that drive our
lives. Even so, the higher awareness of the Holy Family does not free them from the
consequences of humanity’s psychological blindness and stupidity – for we see that, like
Christ, they must suffer for this. Bruegel’s composition separates them from the general
run of events and from the circular composition, the wheel of Fortune. He has gone to
some lengths to define the difference between them and the masses of people who
represent ordinary humanity. Their scale is proportionately quite different. He has even
adopted the artistic style of a previous generation, working in the manner of Hans
315
Memling or Hugo van der Goes; these figures are thus idealised; their elegant, aristocratic
bearing signifying a level of being beyond that of the general mass of the people.9
In the paintings we have considered so far – The Numbering at Bethlehem, The Adoration
of the Kings, The Massacre of the Innocents – we have suggested that, behind the
pictorial anecdote, Bruegel illustrates basic flaws in the human condition. He shows us
how the mass of humanity lives in ignorance of the higher laws of the universe and the
divine influences that come to the earth with the specific purpose of redeeming us.
Such, too, is one of the underlying themes in The Carrying of the Cross; though into it
Bruegel has introduced a new element. The figures placed on the raised foreground do
not belong to the general condition of men blinded by their identification with the
immediate moment and unable to see the influences under which they live. They are on a
higher level in several senses of the term. How this level is found is revealed in the next
two paintings that we shall discuss: The Fall of Icarus and The Harvesters
9
Hans Memling (Memlinc) (c. 1430 -1494) was an Early Netherlandish painter, born in Germany, who was
the last major fifteenth century artist in the Netherlands, the successor to Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der
Weyden, whose tradition he continued with little innovation.
Hugo van der Goes (c. 1440 - 1482) is generally regarded as the greatest Netherlandish painter of the
second half of the 15th century. In 1475 he became dean of the painters' guild at Ghent. His masterpiece is
a large triptych of the Nativity known as the Portinari Altarpiece is in the Uffizi, Florence. This was
commissioned by Tommaso Portinari, the representative of the House of Medici in Bruges for the church of
the Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova in Florence.
.
316
The Harvesters
Fig. 1
The Harvesters (1565) Oil on wood panel, 177 x 163 cm. Metropolitan Museum, New
York. ( Fig. 1)
317
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
June and July from the months of the Tres Riches Heures of the Duc de Berry, the de
Limbourg brothers, circa 1410. Musée Condé, Chantilly.
It has been shown that, from the art historical point of view, Bruegel comes out of the
traditions of late medieval miniature illumination painting10 of which the finest example
is generally considered to be the famous Très Riches Heures of the Duc de Berry (figs. 2,
3), preserved today at Chantilly just north of Paris. Books of Hours had developed
through the Middle Ages as aids for the private devotion of lay people. The feast days
celebrating the major events in the life of Christ (his Birth, Death, Resurrection, and
Ascension) were set within longer periods of time known as ‘seasons’ or ‘times’
(tempores).11
10
Catalogue, Illuminating the Renaissance, Royal Academy, 2004
11
Wieck, Roger S. Time Sanctified: The Book of Hours in Medieval Art and Life. With essays by Lawrence
R. Poos, Virginia Reinburg, and John Plummer. New York: George Braziller, 1988.
318
The Hours made for the Duc de Berry in 1410, in common with Bruegel’s Seasons series
of paintings, depict human activities appropriate for the time of year in a wide landscape
context and taking place under the appropriate astrological sign. Although the signs are
not actually seen in Bruegel’s Harvesters it is not difficult to sense their influence in the
vast sweep of the ‘cosmic landscape’ referred to by many writers. This thesis has
suggested, in the case of The Numbering at Bethlehem and The Road to Calvary, that
Bruegel provides a vision of cosmological time and its influence on human affairs though
most of humanity remains oblivious to it because of its imprisonment within planetary
time. So it is likely that, like the de Limbourg brothers 150 years before him, Bruegel had
in mind the great cycles of time involving man’s relationship to nature, to the cosmos and
to God. The commentary in Bruegel’s case – and it is a theme running through many of
his later works – being that man, without a higher influence to help him, is ignorant of the
world around him and the higher presence acting in it. This ignorance is the spiritual
sleep from which man needs to awaken that mystics traditionally speak of.
Turning to The Harvesters we see that Bruegel has placed a group of people in the
foreground of the composition and, with regard to the topography of the landscape, on a
relatively high level, overlooking the valley. In the light of other ideas symbolised in the
painting it seems likely that Bruegel means us to understand that the group placed at this
point are situated in a different relationship to the theme of the painting than those down
in the valley. The main theme is the idea of work of the harvest; but we shall return to
this below. As in The Carrying of the Cross, (and also in The Fall of Icarus) the locating
of certain figures at specific places – ‘higher’ or ‘lower’ – in the topography of the image
319
indicates that Bruegel alludes to a psychological and cosmological principle that accords
with the traditional idea of the correspondence between the macrocosm and the
microcosm:12 psychological, in that it refers to higher and lower levels within an
individual person’s being or consciousness (the inner cosmos); cosmological in its
reference to higher and lower levels in the created universe. Christian sacred texts abound
with references to mountains and valleys13 and patristic commentators, such as the 4thcentury Cappadocian bishop Gregory of Nyssa,14 differentiating between the anecdotal
and the symbolic, speak specifically of the ‘Mountain of God’.15 This writer has shown
elsewhere that in the Byzantine artistic tradition, at least in the older icons, mountains
have this allegorical significance.16
We have seen how Bruegel, through his association with Plantin, Ortelius and others,
would have had access to such ideas. Hendrick Niclaes’ Terra Pacis is an example of an
allegorical landscape providing a context in which a mystical journey is undertaken and
Bruegel’s association with its author, the founder of the House of Love, can be inferred
not only from the overwhelming weight of circumstantial evidence but from the paintings
themselves when correctly interpreted. This thesis has also suggested the school of
Agostino Steuco in Rome, where Bruegel was between 1525 and 1530, as well as the
tradition of the Rhineland mystics and the Brotherhood of the Common Life, of which
12
See above, pp. 105 ff.
Christ ascends a mountain in order to deliver the beatitudes and ascends Mount Thabor to be transfigured
by God’s ‘uncreated’ light; he descends into hell to redeem Adam and Eve
14
4th century bishop in Cappodocia. A product of the School of Alexandria, he was trained the the
Allegorical Method of Origen and in the oral (or esoteric) tradition of Ammonius Saccas.
15
E.g. ‘Sandaled feet cannot ascend the mountain of God’. Gregory of Nyssa Commentary on the Life of
Moses. The Classics of Western Spirituality. New York: Paulist Press , p. 59
16
R. Temple, Icons and the Mystical Origins of Christianity, ‘The Topographical Background’, Element
Books, 1990, pp 127-134
13
320
the House of Love is a product – all more or less tending towards gnostic or cases,
esoteric ideas.
It has recently been suggested that Van Eyck had access to, and made use of, Byzantine
imagery during a supposed visit to Italy.17 The significance of the resulting impact on
Van Eyck’s paintings would not have been lost on so perceptive an eye as Bruegel’s. If
Bruegel’s art corresponds to immutable laws of nature, as Ortelius suggests,18 then it is
not a surprise to find such ideas – whether explained by ‘influences’ or not – any more
than it is a surprise to find the Fibonacci series in a pinecone. The laws of nature could
not permit otherwise.
In The Harvest, the first of several mystical ideas is found in the composition itself which
is based on a series of triads. The cornfield is divided into three separate areas by lanes
that pass through it.
17
Craig Harbison devotes a chapter ‘Van Eyck’s Modern Icon’ to this idea in his Jan Van Eyck, the Play of
Realism, Reaktion Books, 1990, pp. 158-167. Scholars are somewhat exercised over the absence of
evidence supporting what has to be no more than a supposition that Van Eyck visited Italy. However Greek
Scholars have unearthed material proving that there was a flow of Byzantine icons from Crete to Flanders
in the 15th century. See M. Catapan, ‘Nove elenchi e documenti dei pittoni di Creta dal 1300 al 1500’ in
Thesaurismata, 9 (1972) docs. Nos. 6-8, pp. 211-13; M. Constantoudaki-Kitromiledes, Taste and the
Market in Cretan Icons in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries, From Byzantium to El Greco, London,
1987, pp 51-3.
18
See above, p. 261 ff for the discussion of Ortelius’ remarks in his Liber Amicorum.
321
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
In the foreground on the left are two men scything and one carrying water (fig. 4); three
women, two of whom are carrying sheaves, are walking up the central pathway (fig. 5);
on the far right are three more figures, two of them gathering pears that have fallen to the
ground (fig. 6) while the third –
Fig. 7
– (you have to look rather carefully to find him) is half-way up
the tree; all three are gathering the fruit (fig. 7).
Fig. 8
To the right of the central tree are a group of three
figures (fig. 8); one is scything, one is cutting and binding a sheaf while the third, a
woman, bends to pick up a sheaf before joining her companions walking down the hill.
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Fig. 9
Under the tree, eating their midday meal are nine workers: three times three (the triple
triad) (fig. 9). The principle of ennead has its roots in Egypt (the ‘nine gods’ of
Heliopolis) and in Neoplatonism (The Enneads of Plotinus); there are schools of thought
that consider the number nine to combine the Law of Seven and the Law of Three.19
The picture speaks to us about the abundance of nature and how her riches reward those
who earn them by work. The fact that in the basket under the tree are loaves of bread and
that the peasants are eating bread – the product of the corn field – emphasises the higher
meaning of the triad for which bread, the product of flour, water and fire, expressing the
interaction of three forces, is a traditional symbol.
19
Enneagram theory has seen a popular explosion in New Age literature of the last 20 years but see P. D.
Ouspensky, In Search of the Miraculous, London, 1950, pp. 294-5, 376-8 for a traditional exposition.
323
No word which John uses conveys this truth better than ‘seed’: ‘Whoever is born
of God does not commit sin, for His seed is in him and he cannot sin because he is
born of God’. (John iii, 9). It is a word that mystics have used again and again to
express the implanting of the Divine Life within the human soul … the same idea
is expressed by ‘water’ and ‘bread’: ‘The water that I shall give him shall be in
him a well of water springing up into everlasting life’ (John iv, 14). ‘I am the
Bread of Life’ (John vi, 35-63). ‘If any man eat of this bread he shall live for
ever’20
In Bruegel’s art the symbolism is allegorical and, beyond that, anagogical. It is necessary
to search for meaning beyond the allegorical. With Bruegel we can go further than the
idea of contagious magic. As van Reyl writes:
A more potent example of the symbolism of bread is in the Catholic mass. In the
act of transubstantiation the host, the wafer of bread that is taken during
communion, becomes the body of Christ. Bread becomes not just physically life
giving but spiritually life-giving. This is a strong example of what James George
Frazer in The Golden Bough termed contagious magic, where some aspect of one
object is transferred into another through the two things being brought into
contact in some way. Here, like in Dionysian rites, the worshipper is ingesting
god and so is taking on some of the nature of god … I believe it is not bread per
se that is carrying the meanings, but the whole cycle from planting to eating. In
20
See above p. 118, note 16.
324
fact, not until the bread is eaten can the cycle be complete ... Let me draw a
parallel. A traditional English folk song tells the tale of John Barleycorn. John is
the barley plant, more particularly the barley seed. In the song men come into the
field and cut down John Barleycorn, then beat him (threshing), grind him between
two stones and bung him in a vat, effectively killing him. The punch line, though,
is that John Barleycorn ‘lives to tell the tale, for they pour him out of oaken vat
and they call him nut brown ale’. This is a story of resurrection, as of course are
the stories of Christ and of Persephone … The common thread in all of this is the
cycle from seed to plant to product, through which the properties of this whole
cycle are incorporated into the human consumer through contagious magic. To the
pre-scientific mind the transformation of seed under the earth into grass, of flower
into seed again, of powdered seed and water into a pulpy lump must have seemed
miraculous.21
The peasants have worked. This is the first thing we notice about them. We see that the
physical demands of the harvest are total and demand all of their strength. Their utter
exhaustion is expressed by the sleeping figure beneath the tree and by the urgent need
with which they replenish themselves with food: bread, milk and fruit. The strength,
power and movement of their work are vividly suggested by the rhythm of the two
scythes on the left. Touching, and even sacred, in its simplicity is the posture of the
peasant woman bending forward to tie a sheaf of corn. She expresses the essential
21
Paul van Reyk, http://www.arts.adelaide.edu.au/centrefooddrink/articles/symbolismofbread.html
325
loneliness and devotion of the worker. We do not see her face yet, in her anonymity, as
Van Gogh was to show, there is great human dignity.
An alternative title for this painting could be The Workers for its theme is the essential
truth of indefatigable commitment to work. Though this work, while certainly true
literally, should also be considered in the light of the ideas that are present but hidden in
the painting that call the viewer to consider a spiritual dimension.
It is the lot of humanity to bear a hard life: people must work to live. Bread represents the
necessities of life earned only by great effort and sweat. At the same time it means the
divine or higher nourishment that enables man’s spiritual nature to grow: the
‘supersubstantial’ bread of the Lord’s Prayer, translated (incorrectly according to some
commentators) as ‘daily bread’. Christ himself instructeded his followers saying, ‘I am
the Bread of life, who came down from Heaven. If any man shall eat of My Bread he
shall live forever.’22 Scriptural scholarship is in agreement with the early tradition of the
Greek and western Fathers, who concur in their interpretation that Jesus' prayer teaches
us to pray for the supersubstantial bread, the Bread of Life, which is Jesus Himself in the
mystery of the Eucharist and to ask for this daily. The Greek text of the Lord’s Prayer in
St. Matthew (originally in Aramaic), ton arton hemon ton epiousion, ‘our supersubstantial bread’ is accurately translated in the Latin Vulgate as panem
supersubstantialem. St. Luke's Latin translation renders it ‘our daily bread’, panem
quotidianum. St. Jerome – the great Doctor of the Church who translated the Holy
Gospels from Greek into Latin – states that give us this day our daily or supersubstantial
bread means that we ask for heavenly bread, the bread of the Eucharist. St. Ambrose, St.
22
John 6, 51.
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Augustine, St. John Chrysostom have dwelt in their sermons and in their writings upon
our daily bread, which is Jesus Christ in the form of the sacrament. The sacrament was
the daily practice, hence daily bread, of the early Christians. St. Luke tells us this in the
Acts of the Apostles (2; 46). And so does St. Cyprian, a saint and martyr of the early
Church.23
The representation of the ‘peasants’ as workers can be considered to have an anagogical
meaning. This means that Bruegel is inviting the viewer to experience the events’
mystical meaning as a real event in the world of gnosis, an insight into the knowledge of
man and the world that lies beyond the short boundaries of sense perception and of
rational thought. The ‘peasants’ belong to Nature (creation and the great laws of the
cosmos) to whom they must give their life and work, looking for no reward other than to
live and eat. And here Bruegel introduces the marvellous idea that Nature grants a further
gift. There is another harvest.
Above the scene depicted, reaching up out of the picture, up into the sky – up onto a
higher level – is a pear tree laden with fruit. The pears are so ripe and so heavy that they
fall unbidden, or with only a shake. On the right we see a man in the branches of another
smaller pear tree shaking them out onto the ground where they are being gathered.
Bruegel was clearly interested in all this and was at pains to recount the details fully and
precisely. Looking carefully we see a ladder by the tree and a basket into which the pears
are gathered; he has even painted the moment when the pears are actually falling through
23
See Bishop Roman Danylak in Heart Of The Harvest, September 1996,
www.heartofjesus.ca/Theology/spiritualCommunion.htm
327
the air.24 This and the prominence of the central pear tree with its burden of fruit thus
attain significance and whose meaning is related to the parallel imagery of the harvest.
Thus the spiritual writer Valentin Weigel, a follower of Sebastian Franck and a
contemporary of Bruegel, in a passage under the title That the Contemplation of the
Eternal Deity and of the Six Works of Creation, and also the Knowledge of Oneself, are
Most Useful emphasises that the cycle of concepts – work, life, nature, reward – operates
on both the visible level and the spiritual plane. He says that:
the visible physical tree remains in the invisible spiritual tree … whence does the
tree come? Indeed, from the astrum or invisible seed. Whence comes the pear?
From the tree … from the invisible astra of the stars that make the invisible
visible. Whence the human being? Out of the limus terrae, which is to say from
the clump of earth that is the entire world. Invisibly Adam lay in the world and
[then] became visible. Spiritually, he lay within the world, and [then] became
visible. That out of which one has been made one has and also bears within one:
the pear is of the tree, the seed of the pear.25
We may ask what work. And what reward? This thesis holds that this must be a matter of
enquiry on the basis of psychological and philosophical ideas associated with a profound
allegory of the mystical life and, in particular, with the symbolism of different spiritual
levels and the use of landscape as the symbolic Terra Pacis makes clear. While depicting
24
25
This detail cannot be seen in any reproduction.
Valentin Weigel, Selected Spiritual Writings, Paulist Press, 2003
328
the scene of the harvest in terms of the eternal cycles of nature and the zodiac in relation
to man,26 Bruegel also conveys the idea of man’s possible spiritual evolution, his
‘escape’, in the gnostic sense, from the terrestrial sphere. Neoplatonic and gnostic
traditions tell us that man’s true ‘home’ is much higher; St Paul tells us ‘If ye then be
risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God’.27
We see in the painting that down in the valley life seems more pleasant; it is cool and
green; people do not work, they play games in the field and swim in the pond. The group
of peasants/workers is already a certain distance up the hillside where they are rewarded
by the pear tree. Even a little further up the hill is the church.
26
The Harvest is generally supposed to be one of a series of six paintings depicting the Months. Others are
the Haymakers, the Dark Day, the Return of the Herd and the Hunters in the Snow. One is lost.
27
Colossians 3;1
329
Fig. 10
But the church is obscured,28 in front of it is an awkward ditch, and around it has grown
up a tangle of dark trees and unkempt shrubs so that, though it is there at a relatively
higher point, with its spire reaching up into the sky, access to it has become difficult (fig.
10). Here, Bruegel is not necessarily passing a judgement, though the crisis of the
Reformation in the Low Countries was at its height in the middle of the 16th-century; he
states no more than the truth – objectively and compassionately that access to spiritual
truth via the church is difficult. But the pear tree and the law it signifies reaches higher
than the church. It is the climax of the whole design of the picture, drawing everything
below it towards its roots and trunk after which all its lines ascend, spreading upwards
and outwards into a level altogether above the picture (fig. 11).29
28
Religion is no more than an outer shell; see above p. 254
For discussion of the symbolism of the tree see Parabola Magazine, Vol. XIV, No. 3, The Tree of Life,
August 1989. Also Cirlot, A Dictionary of Symbols, London 1962, pp. 328-332.
29
330
Fig. 11
331
The Fall of Icarus
The Fall of Icarus, tempera and oil on canvas, 73.5 x 112 cm. Musées royaux des BeauxArts de Belgiques, Brussels, (1567).
Fig.1
These, as the angler at the silent brook,
Or mountain-shepherd leaning on his crook,
Or gaping ploughman, from the vale descries,
They stare, and view 'em with religious eyes,
And strait conclude 'em Gods; since none, but they,
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Thro' their own azure skies cou'd find a way.30
Bruegel‟s theme of work in relation to nature and laws is further elaborated in one of his
most famous and enigmatic works: The Fall of Icarus. Once again Bruegel departs from
the prototype, in this case not a painting or a gospel text but Ovid‟s poem. Typically he
illustrates one story while telling another in order to express ideas relevant to the possible
spiritual development of man.
The highest point in the composition is a promontory in the foreground of the picture
where the main narrative is taking place. Here we find the red-shirted ploughman situated
at the intersection of the two main diagonals of the composition. This compositional
device is also used in The Marriage at Cana to draw attention to the blue-jacketed server,
a figure whose proportion dominates the over-all design in a similar way (figs. 2, 3).
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
In both cases the artist has chosen to give the principal visual emphasis to a figure who –
apparently – plays an unimportant role in the narrative.
30
Ovid, Metamorphosis, VIII:183-235, Sir Samuel Garth (1661-1719), John Dryden, et al trans. The
Internet Classics Archive: http://classics.mit.edu/Ovid/metam.html
333
Fig. 4
He is a young man, perhaps not more than 20 years old, working with skill and
intelligence. He does not crack the whip he holds in his left hand but lays it in the horse‟s
hind quarters, maintaining contact between man and animal. This connection is also
established through the reins held in the right hand, which also guides the plough. Thus
horse, plough and ploughman are intimately co-ordinated, collectively engaged in
humanity‟s oldest task. The scene – so often depicted in art – has perhaps never been
observed with such compassion or invested with such meaning: its three components
expressing the triadic law that defines the elemental constituent parts of man. Platonic
and, later, Christian Neoplatonic ideas saw man as a „tripartite being‟ consisting of body,
soul and spirit. In The Republic we find:
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… with regard to that which is within and in the true sense concerns one‟s self …
It means that a man must not suffer the principles of his soul to do each the work
of some other and interfere and meddle with one another, but that he should
dispose well of what in the true sense of the word is properly his own, and having
first attained to self-mastery and beautiful order within himself, and having
harmonised these three principles … and having linked and bound all three
together and made of himself a unit, one man instead of many, self-controlled and
in unison, he should then and only then turn to practice.31
From this it is clear that the imagery refers to inner life, inner order.
A famous example of ancient art, dating from the 5th-century BC, The Charioteer of
Delphi (now without horse or chariot), once constituted a similar symbolic triad. The
same idea is found in Plotinus where he speaks of the necessity of the driver‟s presence
and „intelligence‟ without which the horse‟s motion is haphazard.32
This central figure, the central idea, of the picture, then, is not Icarus but the ploughman;
he is the „hero‟ while the „anti-hero‟, as we shall see, is the nearby shepherd leaning on
his crook (fig. 5).
31
32
The Collected Dialogues of Plato, Bollingen Series LXXI, Princeton, 1961. Republic: IV, p. 686
Plotinus, Enneads, p.99
335
Fig. 5
336
The ploughman‟s posture, with delicate step and attentive attitude, has a curious fragility
in keeping with the picture‟s elusive and dream-like atmosphere celebrated by Auden and
others.33 Bearing in mind Bruegel‟s famed realism, this young man‟s look is
incongruously refined and thoughtful. One might have expected a blunter, more rustic
look such as we see on the face of the shepherd nearby (figs. 6, 7).
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
If Bruegel‟s commentary is based on an inner, psycho-spiritual vision of reality – a vision
consonant with the teachings of the Perennial Philosophy – then it is possible to see in
this imagery a study of conscious attention, the „awakened state‟ on the one hand and the
sleep of (spiritual) ignorance on the other. The ploughman is an accurate and attentive
worker. The act of ploughing the land in preparation for receiving the seed are images
that call to mind an ancient and universal symbolism of the active inner life such as we
33
Cf. W. H. Auden,
„In Brueghel‟s Icarus, for instance: how everything turns away
Quite leisurely from the disaster; the ploughman may
Have heard the splash, the forsaken cry,
But for him it was not an important failure; the sun shone
As it had on the white legs disappearing into the green
Water; and the expensive delicate ship that must have seen
Something amazing, a boy falling out of the sky,
Had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on.‟
From „Musée des Beaux Arts‟ Another Time (London, 1946), p.47. Altogether the painting has been the
inspiration of at least 48 poems; see http://rechten.uvt.nl/koops/biblicar.htm
337
find in the Mystery Religions of late antiquity and in the gospel of St John where „seed‟,
like „water‟ or „wine‟, may be understood as representatives of divine or cosmic energies
acting in the material world according to the laws of spiritual evolution. „Spirit endows
matter to produce form‟ in the formulation of Plotinus.34
To emphasise the quality of the ploughman Bruegel shows us the contrasting figure of the
shepherd. Traditionally the idea of the shepherd symbolises care and attention while its
esoteric meaning refers to a state of awareness associated with contemplation; we read,
for example, in St John of Damascus (676-754): „Joachim kept a strict watch over his
thoughts as a shepherd over his flock, having them entirely under his control‟.35 The
symbolism is subtle and refers to the psychology of spiritual work, but Bruegel, typically
for his originality of mind, buries the thought more deeply by switching the meaning: the
shepherd has no control over his thoughts. He is a dreamer; leaning on his staff, with his
ignorant snout turned up to the sky, he fails in his task; his sheep stray on the
mountainside and are in danger of falling into the sea like Icarus, the greatest dreamer of
all.
Further below him, to the right, is a fisherman. Our eye is carried down to the water on
which is a great ship and, between it and the land, the ineffectual splash where Icarus‟
legs are seen disappearing below the surface (fig. 8).
34
Plotinus, Enneads, „Matter has been entered by Idea, the union constitutes a body‟, p. 106
From the Three Sermons on the Dormition (Sermon I) of John of Damascus
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/johndamascus-komesis.html
35
338
Fig. 8
The juxtaposition of this last glimpse of Icarus and the nearby stately ship sailing from an
area of darkness towards the light provides a similar idea to the contrast between the
ploughman and the shepherd (fig. 8). Both pairs of juxtaposed ideas show the contrast
between attentive intelligent care directed towards the right ordering of natural forces and
the consequences of inattention through carelessness or impractical dreams.
Ovid's influence on Western art and literature cannot be exaggerated. The
Metamorphoses is regarded as the best classical source of some 250 myths. „The poem is
the most comprehensive, creative mythological work that has come down to us from
339
antiquity‟.36 Based on its influence, „European literature and art would be poorer for the
loss of the Metamorphoses than for the loss of Homer‟.37 Ovid was a major inspiration
for Dante, Chaucer, Shakespeare and Milton. „If Virgil is Rome's greatest poet, Ovid is
the most popular (even in his own time; Ovidian graffiti has been found on the walls of
Pompeii)‟.38
Charles Boer, the author of a recent translation, summarises Ovid‟s work as „a poem of
grotesque injustices, of fierce emotion and frightening political inuendo … all besetting
the darker aspects of human personality. Ovid pathologizes these aspects through the
mythical images of metamorphosis. Many [of which] are terrifyingly downward to a subhuman state in plant's and animals, not upward into stars or Gods … Yet it all comes
wrapped in a deceptively smooth and polished Latin verse, and narrated by a remarkably
cool mythographer who keeps intruding himself coyly into the narrative, constantly
qualifying, reminding us that he is writing all this with ancient myth handbooks open
before him as if he were only some edit-as-you-go scholar or, at best, a detached and
gentle onlooker like ourselves.‟ Boer goes on to warn us that „The posture is, as so much
with Ovid, treacherous, and the reader should beware of falling into the conventional
literary trap of thinking this “high comedy”. It is most certainly sprightly, but ever so
deadly. The radiant humour, the endless irony, Ovid's famous charm, all sit gracefully on
36
GK Galinsky, Ovid‟s Metamorphoses. An Introduction to the Basic Aspects (Oxford 1975)
37
Hadas, Moses. A History of Latin Literature. Columbia, 1952.
38
Brown, Larry A. Ovid’s Metamorphoses. http://larryavisbrown.homestead.com/files/xeno.ovid1.htm
(today‟s date)
340
a stage of murders, rapes, tortures, plagues, starvations, and universal heartache, with the
horror of metamorphosis itself only a welcome (or unwelcome) denouement.‟
The warning that we should avoid the trap of regarding Ovid‟s work as no more than
„high comedy‟ parallels the situation with Bruegel who, until recent times was considered
merely a painter of „drolleries‟. Ovid‟s influence on the greatest poets and artists of
European civilisation suggests a power in his work that comes from the highest possible
source. Ovid‟s English Renaissance translator, discussing in his „Epistle‟ or prologue,
three levels of soul, refers to Pythagoras, regarded by students of the Perennial
Philosophy as the father of the esoteric tradition in the West:
He bringeth in Pythagoras disswading men from feare
Of death, and preaching abstinence from flesh of living things.
But as for that opinion which Pythagoras there brings
Of soules removing out of beasts to men, and out of men
Too birdes and beasts both wyld and tame, both to and fro agen:
It is not to be understand (sic) of that same soule whereby
Wee are endewd with reason and discretion from on hie: ...39
If Bruegel is an artist in the tradition of the Perennial Philosophy then we may look
beyond moral, psychological and allegoric meanings; all of these are in his painting but
these are not all, for beyond them is the anagogic, the highest note that symbolism can
39
Translation into English, 1567, by Arthur Golding. Transcribed and Edited by B.F. copyright © 2002;
additional editing by R. Brazil. http://www.elizabethanauthors.com/ovid00.htm
341
sound.40 What Bruegel has depicted is mystical vision – insight or gnosis. This is what
Ortelius means when he says that Bruegel „painted … things that cannot be painted‟.41
This does not mean that the moral or allegorical meaning is excluded; the image of the
ploughman representing religion was well known in the 16th century. For example, we
find the great Hugh Latimer, martyred in 1555, telling us „the preaching of the gospel is
one of God‟s plough-works, and the preacher is God‟s ploughmen‟.42
Bruegel‟s paintings are universal in their appeal. The gnostic element does not reserve
them exclusively for specialists. They are for all humanity because, as the Tradition
maintains, everyone contains a spark of the divine within himself or herself. There are
many ways to access this part of ourselves, all of them demanding the long and difficult
work of developing interior attention or mindfulness. Tradition uses many words for this
practice: „watch‟, „pray‟, meditate, „awaken‟, „labour‟ and so on. Meditation as a spiritual
discipline – maintaining attention on one‟s thoughts and inner energies – is a concept
almost lost in our present culture whereas Bruegel, following Tradition and
acknowledging its central importance uses events in the world as analogies for this inner
spiritual activity. The ordered, expert work of maintaining the ship‟s trim – as it
progresses from darkness to light – is an image of humanity‟s possibility for attentive and
intelligent transformation of natural forces (fig. 9). The possibility of inner
transformation, according to traditional mystical ideas, is equally a matter of active,
40
See above, p. 104.
See above, p. 263.
42
Englander et al. eds. „Latimer‟s Sermon on thje Ploughers, 1548‟ in Culture and Belief in Europe 14501600, An Antholgy of Sources Oxford UK & Cammbridge USA: Blackwell, 1990
41
342
contemplative regulation of subtle energies. It is worth noting that from a tradition at
least as old as the Catacombs in Rome, a ship sailing signified the human soul.43
Fig. 9
43
See for example, Burckhardt, T. op. cit. p.14
343
Chapter 11. Man’s Redemption: Spiritual Transformation
The Marriage at Cana
Fig. 1. Peasant Wedding Feast, c. 1568, oil on wood, 114 x 164 cm (45 x 64 ½ in.), Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
This is one of Bruegel‟s most widely known paintings, adorning classrooms around the
world, lending itself to use on Christmas cards, jigsaw puzzles, calendars and table-mats.
Art historians suppose it to be a celebration of peasant festivity and greed and have seized
on it as an example of the mention by van Mander, of Bruegel, together with his friend
Frans Frankert, going into the country disguised as peasants and passing themselves off
as invités at such events. Van Mander implies that this was done for amusement and fitted
344
in with what was assumed to be Bruegel‟s love for „drollery.‟1 It is typically said of
Bruegel that „His paintings, including his landscapes and scenes of peasant life, stress the
absurd and vulgar, yet are full of zest and fine detail. They also expose human
weaknesses and follies. He was sometimes called the “peasant Bruegel” from such works
as Peasant Wedding Feast‟.2 It has been suggested that the figure at the extreme right of
the picture conversing with a monk may be the artist himself. All the details in the
picture, as is typical of Bruegel, are minutely and accurately observed.
Analysis of this painting will propose that Bruegel saw human beings from the point of
view of a student of the human condition viewed according to the blend of influences
from mysticism, Gnosticism, philosophy and esoteric Christianity that we have called the
Perennial Philosophy. This interpretation aims to show that Bruegel studied humanity,
not just because it was interesting and amusing, but because he believed that the highest
philosophical and religious truths are found within the world of man and human
behaviour.
In this wedding picture the bride is identifiable seated against a black wall-hanging on
which a paper crown is suspended. Her identity is the only certain one in the picture. If it
is no more than just a wedding feast the groom has not been convincingly identified.3 The
absence of both Christ and his mother has precluded any historian from considering that
the picture may be the Marriage at Cana though some commentators note the similarity of
1
See Introduction , p. 2.
Web Museum, Paris, http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/bruegel/
3
Suggested candidates are the seated man at the end of the table passing plates from the two servers.
Another is the prominent figure in the centre foreground who wears a blue shirt, red cap and white apron;
yet another is the seated I figure in black next to him.
2
345
certain elements to the Cana theme but make no further investigation.4 Bruegel took
gospel events that, for him, had significant hidden meaning and depicted them in a
contemporary „realistic‟ setting and, as we have seen in his treatment of The Adoration of
the Kings, he could use such a scene, changing it very little, to express an entirely
unconventional interpretation. At the same time this new interpretation focuses on
questions of spirituality at the heart of the human condition.
References have been made elsewhere in this work to a school of thought going back to
Origen at the dawn of the Christian era where an allegorical interpretation existed that
saw in the events of the life of Christ, as described by the gospel writers, a meaning
directly related to man‟s spiritual life: his struggle with inner forces encountered on the
journey from human existence to eternal life. The method of allegorical interpretation of
scripture passed from Hellenised Jewish philosophers and Neoplatonists in Alexandria in
the first and second centuries to Christian theologians, such as Clement, Origen and
Augustine. The „allegorical method‟ was widely accepted as a means of interpretation
from the earliest times and only disappeared after the Reformation, giving way to the
literalism and fundamentalism of modern times.
This work will show that the account in Chapter 2 of St John‟s gospel – the story of water
being turned into wine at a wedding in Cana where Jesus and his mother were present –
has a long tradition in theological literature of being interpreted as an allegory; that the
higher meaning of this story concerns the process by which human beings, through the
4
Hagen, R-M. and R. Pieter Bruegel the Elder, c. 1525-1569, Peasants, Fools and Demons. Taschen,
2000, p. 72ff. Also Wilfried Seipel ed., Pieter Bruegel the Elder at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in
Vienna, Milan, 1998. p. 129.
346
agency of Christ and his mother, pass from temporal existence into Eternal Life. It has
been shown in earlier parts of this thesis that Bruegel, through his connection with the
House of Love, was in contact with a tradition that can be linked back through the
Brethren of the Common Life and the New Devotion to Eckhart and the Perennial
Philosophy. Among the ancient writers both pagan and Christian in Eckhart‟s writings
one of the most frequently cited is Augustine. Augustine himself said: „That which is
called the Christian religion existed among the ancients and never did not exist from the
beginning of the human race‟.5
Augustine says in his own commentary on the Marriage at Cana, in a passage that
discusses the mystery of Jesus being both God and a man, that „he did it [changed water
into wine] in our midst‟.6 He stresses the humanity of Christ and tells us to search for the
deep hidden meaning of such events; „beyond all doubt … there is some mystery lurking
here‟.7 It will be suggested in what follows that the occurrence of the mystery in our
midst, as Augustine says, (i.e. among human beings,) is the key to Bruegel‟s pictorial
study of the human condition, that for him humanity is the forum in which divine and
earthly energies interact. We have seen in the painting of The Numbering at Bethlehem
that the as yet unborn Jesus is present in the midst of humanity but unrecognized. The
Marriage at Cana, as theologians remind us, is the first miracle recounted in the Gospel
and the point from which Christ‟s ministry to humanity begins. It is from this point that
5
Augustine Epistolae, Lib. 1. xiii
6
St. Augustine of Hippo, Lectures on the Gospel of John, Tractate 8,
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1701.htm
7
ibid.
347
he begins to be known, though not by everyone. The gospel text tells us that „the servants
knew‟ and implies that some knew and understood what was happening while others did
not. From now on there are two types of human beings: those who „know Christ‟ in a
mystical or esoteric sense, that is, who are capable of recognizing the higher or divine
level in themselves, and those who do not. This distinction between human beings at
different levels of spiritual awareness can be seen in images of the Cana miracle from the
Byzantine and Italian Gothic traditions.
Fig. 2. Mosaic from the Kariye Djami, Istanbul, c. 1340
In the 14th-century Constantinopolitan mosaic in the Church of the Chora (today known
in Istanbul as the Kariye Djami) we see the prototype for subsequent medieval images
that will be discussed here (fig. 2). The composition is made up of two separate groups,
one with Christ, his mother and two apostles standing a little apart with restrained
gestures and attitudes while the other group consists of two servants and the master of the
feast busily occupied with fetching, pouring and serving the water turned into wine. We
note the prominence in the foreground of the six stone water jars. There is neither bride
348
nor groom; there is no table or feasting and there are no guests. By stripping out all the
narrative elements the artist gives only what is essential and relevant to the mystical
meaning. This is emphasized by the building in the background whose symbolic function
is to denote the enclosure of space and can be understood as a reference to an inner or
psycho-spiritual location rather than a literal rendering of John‟s text; the event is taking
place in what the Philokalia calls „the House of Spiritual Architecture‟.8
In Duccio‟s image (fig, 3), painted at about the same time the mosaic made by the
Constantinople master, there is a similar lack of concession to literalism and, though we
are clearly witnessing a feast, the picture‟s rhythm is laconic and pervaded with an
atmosphere of ritual and mystery. There is a contrast between the seven seated figures all
of whom look or gesture towards Mary, and the livelier more informal movements of the
servants and others (also seven in number) in the foreground. There are no obvious
references to a wedding.
8
See R. Temple, Icons and the Mystical Origins of Christianity, Luzac, 2000, pp 135-143, for a discussion
on „the house of spiritual architecture‟.
349
Fig. 3, Duccio (Siena, circa. 1255-1319)
Fig. 4, Giotto, 1267-1337)
In the fresco attributed to Giotto, the isolated contemplative figure at the centre of the
composition next to Mary can be identified as the bride while the young man between
Christ and the bearded apostle is not necessarily identifiable as the groom, nor is the
young man in green with his back to us. The person standing directly before Christ is
probably a servant receiving instruction from Christ. The older man on the right may be
350
the master of the feast. Again, there is a contrast between the impassivity of those seated
and the more animated figures in the foreground.
Fig. 5, Giusto de Menabuoi (1320-1391)
In Giusto de Menaubuoi‟s Florentine wall-painting Christ, together with apostles and
apostle-like figures, and Mary, together with four women, all, as can be seen from their
dress, from the highest order of society, have become „guests‟ (fig. 5). By their gestures
and body language they express surprise while the servants, receiving instructions from
Christ, are active and busy. If the bride and groom are present it is not possible to identify
who they are with any certainty.
The next painting (fig. 6), attributed to Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516) or to his school,
while clearly an image of the Cana miracle, breaks some of the established conventions
and introduces new elements into the composition whose idea is not easy to fathom.
351
Fig. 6, Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516)
Again, there is a clear distinction between two different worlds. The six figures, who sit
on the right hand and far side of the table, by their bearing, body-language and looks,
belong to a different world to that inhabited by the others. But the artist has introduced
unprecedented and odd features into the picture which, following Lynda Harris‟ analysis
that will be considered below, suggest mystical or esoteric ideas that Bosch wanted to
convey. We will return to this after briefly noting three paintings of the Renaissance era.
352
The roles of the participants in the Netherlandish painter Gerard David‟s idealised vision
are differentiated in another way (fig. 7). Ten women, including Jesus‟ mother Mary and
the bride, dominate the composition. David seems to show that everyone in the picture
was a participant in the mystery and the sense of hidden meaning is present even if not all
the figures can be clearly identified according to the gospel narrative. As in several of the
preceding images the bride – modest, contemplative and contained – is the least doubtful
after Christ and Mary. We cannot be sure of the two young servers in front of the table
but their prominence at the centre of the circle suggests the same tradition that Bruegel
drew on when he painted the two young men carrying a door laden with plates.
Fig. 7, Gerard David (1460-1523)
353
Fig. 8, Garofalo (Italian, 1481-1559)
Fig. 9, Tintorreto
Finally, we see in both Garofalo (Ferrara and Rome, 1481-1559, fig. 8), and the great
Tintorreto, (Venice; 1518-1594, fig. 9), both contemporaries of Bruegel, a new approach.
354
Here the tendency is for art to become a vehicle for the expression of the artist‟s
individuality and skill. The subject of the picture is still religious but the sense of a
mysterious allegory is giving way to a different emotional content, appealing to human
sentiments and sensibilities. The painting is no longer an object of contemplation and
spirituality. This trend is typical of the Renaissance, but this writer will endeavour to
show that Bruegel was an exception, that he continued to express allegorical mysteries
that are, at the same time, universal truths, but he concealed his grasp of the inner
meaning by appearing to be no more than an observer of human behaviour and a master
of realism. Schuon seems to have intuited this when he speaks of the „valid experiment of
naturalism [which,] combined with the principles of normal and normalizing art, [and
which] is in fact done by some artists‟. He points out that Renaissance art „does include
some more or less isolated works which, though they fit into the style of the period, are in
a deeper sense opposed to it and neutralize its errors by their own qualities‟. To give a
specific example he further says: „of famous well-known painters the elder Brueghel‟s
snow scenes may be quoted‟.9
***
The text for The Marriage at Cana is found only in the Fourth Gospel. There is a
tradition in theology showing that deep meaning can be discovered in the symbolism of
the story and its imagery. It was written later than the preceding three synoptic gospels
9
Schuon, F. Castes and Races, translated by Marco Pallis and Macleod Matheson, Bedfont Middlesex:
Perennial Books, 1982, p. 87.
355
and has been universally acknowledged as belonging to a different category of
spirituality. Clement of Alexandria (ca. 155-220) wrote that, “last of all, John, perceiving
that the external facts had been made plain in the Gospel … and inspired by the Spirit,
composed a spiritual Gospel”.10 John Chrysostom, the great Cappadocian bishop of the
4th century tells us that „We need much care, much watchfulness, to be able to look into
the depth of the Divine Scriptures. For it is not possible to discover their meaning in a
careless way or while we are asleep‟.11 When Augustine writes in his tractate on the
Marriage at Cana of „uncover[ing] the hidden meanings of the mysteries‟ he
acknowledges the esoteric dimension of the story.12 He refers to the „garniture of heaven,
the abounding riches of the earth … things which lie within the reach of our eyes‟ and
compares them with another world: „these things indeed we see; they lie before our eyes.
But what of those we do not see, as angels, virtues, powers, dominions, and every
inhabitant of this fabric which is above the heavens, and beyond the reach of our eyes‟.
Augustine is using the terminology of both Pagan and Christian Neoplatonists, in their
elaborations the „Divine Ray‟ or the „Great Chain of Being‟.13
In the Authorised Version of the Bible the text is as follows:
[1]
And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of
Jesus was there: [2] And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.
Cited by Steve Ray in http://www.envoymagazine.com/backissues/4.1/bible.htm
Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of John, HOMILY XXI).
12
St. Augustine of Hippo, Lectures on the Gospel of John, Tractate 8,
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1701.htm
13
Ibid. The reference to „angels, virtues, powers, dominions‟ is part of the specific language, later to be
classified by Dionysius the Areopagite in the 6th century, for describing intermediate cosmic stages between
man and God.
10
11
356
[3]
And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no
wine. [4] Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is
not yet come. [5] His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto
you, do it. [6] And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of
the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. [7] Jesus saith
unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.
[8]
And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast.
And they bare it. [9] When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made
wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;)
the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, [10] And saith unto him, Every
man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk,
then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.
At the literal level the episode is full of ambiguities. We are told nothing concerning the
bride and the groom is only mentioned once. The exchange between Jesus and his mother
is enigmatic. What is the meaning of the six-water pots and the excessive amount of wine
– more than 150 gallons – that appeared?14 From the vast amount written by theologians,
a tradition can be identified that pertains to our proposal that Bruegel‟s treatment of the
story is allegorical.
Earlier parts of this thesis aimed to establish the allegorical method at the foundations of
the Perennial Philosophy. Summarising briefly it can be said that the method of
14
The Revised Standard Version (1952) gives „each holding twenty or thirty gallons‟. A firkin corresponds
to the attic amphora that held approximately 9 gallons. See http://christiananswers.net/dictionary/dictf.html.
357
allegorical interpretation of Scripture can be traced to the Jews in Alexandria who sought
to accommodate the Old Testament Scriptures to Greek philosophy. Aristobulus and
Philo are the two great thinkers who worked in this way. Aristobulus, who lived around
160 B.C., held that Greek philosophy borrowed from the Old Testament, and that those
teachings could be uncovered only by allegorizing. Philo (c. 20 B.C. - c. 54 A.D.) aimed
to defend the Old Testament to the Greeks and, even more so, to fellow Jews. The
Christian Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 155-220) was influenced by Philo and proposed a
system of interpretation where any passage of the Bible might have up to five meanings.
Thereafter, Origen, who studied Platonic philosophy and is thought to have been a pupil
of Clement, as well as of the mysterious Ammonius Saccas, went so far as to say that
Scripture itself demands that the interpreter employ the allegorical method. Origen's
interpretive approach had great influence on those who would follow in the Middle Ages,
as did Augustine (354-430) who, like Philo, saw allegorization as a solution to Old
Testament problems.
The allegorical system of interpretation prevailed throughout most of the Middle Ages. It
was in the 16th century that it was mostly rejected by the Protestant Reformers who forced
the more literal interpretation of the Bible that has dominated Christian thought for the last
four hundred years. Bruegel, living in the eye of the storm of the Reformation, with his
knowledge of both Renaissance mystical philosophy and the Northern Schools of German
and Flemish mysticism, appears to have worked to place the higher truths to which he had
access into his paintings in the form of hidden allegories.
358
***
Bearing in mind John Chrysostom‟s injunction to use „much care, much watchfulness, to
be able to look into the depth of the Divine Scriptures‟ this writer offers the following
material investigating the allegorical meaning of the Cana Miracle story.
The renowned German scholar Rudolf Schnackenburg, in his three-volume commentary
on John‟s Gospel, comments concerning the Cana Miracle:
The first impression given by the narrative is that of a simple miracle-story. But
the mysterious words about the „hour‟ of Jesus, the lavish quantity of wine, the
final remark of the evangelist and indeed the whole purport of the story make it
clear that there is a deeper meaning behind the words of the narrative; and this
level of thought forms the real problem.15
The work of Matthew Estrada makes a significant contribution. He has written
comprehensively on the Cana Miracle story where, according to him „almost every word
and every phrase within the Cana miracle has a deeper level of meaning other than the
literal‟.16 He explains: „Many of the insights that I offer in the interpretation of the Cana
Miracle have been suggested before by the scholars here and there, but no one … has
attempted and succeeded at taking all of these “pieces”… and put them together to form a
coherent whole so as to support an allegorical reading of the Cana Miracle.‟ His method
of exposition depends on a close reading of the Greek to „show how almost every word
and/or phrase has its origin from another source, and therefore has symbolic
15
Rudolf Schnackenburg, The Gospel according to St John, vol. 2 (New York: Seabury, 1980), p. 323.
Matthew Estrada in his An Allegorical Interpretation of The Cana Miracle, unpublished pending revision
and editing but available from the author: matt_estrada@yahoo.com
16
359
significance‟.17 His method is based on the discovery of John‟s sources in the language
and imagery of the Old Testament. He systematically traces the Evangelist‟s use of key
words – words whose allegorical meaning is sometimes openly given in the Old
Testament – which occur again in the gospel where people familiar with the Old
Testament would recognise them. Readers steeped in the imagery and language of the
Old Testament would recognise, at both conscious and unconscious levels, the
implications of certain familiar or well-known words and phrases, or even whole setpiece scenes, whose significance is lost today.
An example of Estrada‟s word-parallelism, where he compares the first words of Genesis
with the Prologue to John‟s gospel, gives an indication of his method:
“In the beginning  was the Word (
), and the Word ( ) was with
God ( ), and the Word was God
(). He was with God ( ) in the
beginning (). Through him all things
were made (); without him nothing
was made () that has been made (
). In him was life, and that life was
the light ( ) of men. The light (
17
Ibid. p. 10. „ John borrows words (“glory”, “stone”, “servants”) and themes (Old vs New, letter vs Spirit,
Moses vs Christ, etc) from this source material (as well as other words and themes from other source
materials), knowing that these words and themes would recall in the minds of his audience the familiar
sources that he himself had turned to in order to compose his story‟. p. 52
360
) shines in the darkness ( ),
but the darkness ( ) has not
understood it” (Jn 1:1-5).
He says:
It does not take a bible (sic) scholar to recognize that when John penned these
first few verses he was thinking about and alluding to the first chapters of Genesis
where we read about the First Creation story. Genesis 1:1-3 states:
“In the beginning () God ( )
created the heavens and the earth. Now the
earth was formless and empty, darkness
() was over the surface of the deep,
and the Spirit of God () was hovering
over the waters ( ). And God (
) said, „Let there be () light
(),‟ and there was () light ().
God ( ) saw that the light ( )
was good, and he separated the light (
) from the darkness (
).”18
18
Ibid, p. 13
361
And later he tells his readers:
By beginning his gospel with these allusions to the creation story in Genesis 1,
and in mimicking this first creation story by way of rhetorical imitation, John was
also telling his readers that a New Creation has begun in and through Jesus Christ.
It is this story of the New Creation that John is calling to the attention of his
readers. Again, he does so by alluding to the First Creation story. What John
hopes to accomplish by alluding to the First Creation story is to draw out parallels
between the First and Second Creation stories.19
Thus Estrada suggests that the Cana Miracle story, which begins the next chapter after
the Prologue is actually part of the New Creation idea.20 If, as commentators since the
third century have asserted, the fourth gospel is „a spiritual gospel‟, i.e. esoteric, the idea
of New Creation has to be understood more as „an event in the soul‟ rather than an event
in history. This essay contends that Bruegel expressed his vision of the Marriage at Cana
through the understanding that all the events and the people involved in it represent
psycho-spiritual energies interacting between the higher world and the plane of human
existence. What Estrada has discovered supports this view.
On the identities of the bride and groom and on the symbolism of the wedding idea
Estrada provides arguments that „Mary … is being presented not only as the New Eve but
19
20
Ibid, p. 14
ibid, p. 14
362
also as the bride of Christ, and as such, is a symbolic figure for the collective people of
God‟.21
We should, then, understand Mary, first of all, as representing the New Eve who
is the mother of a New Creation, and secondly, as God‟s people of both the Old
and New Testaments ... For this reason John has her coming to Jesus with the
knowledge that He is the One who is able to supply the wine. An abundance of
wine was one of the characteristics of the messianic age that the Old Testament
prophets used to describe that age.22 Mary, in recognizing Jesus as the One who
could supply that wine, was, in effect, recognizing Jesus as the Messiah – the one
who would inaugurate that messianic age.
Chapter I of John‟s Gospel begins with the famous prologue; chapter II begins with the
Marriage at Cana. It is worth noting that the passage connecting the Prologue with the
Cana story23 is precisely about the recognition of Jesus. John the Baptist, who twice
explains that he baptises only with water, says „but among you stands one whom you do
not know‟, further he says „I myself did not know him‟.24
Here Estrada introduces ideas that relate to the „problem‟ in Bruegel‟s picture of the
absence of an identifiable groom:
21
ibid, p. 20
cf. Joel 2: 19, 24; 3: 18; Amos 9: 13
23
ch. I; 19-51
24
Jn I, 31
22
363
A first piece of evidence among many that adds weight to the argument that Mary
is the bride and that Jesus is the groom in our Cana miracle is the fact that John
does not name in this story who the bride and bridegroom are. John has
purposefully left the identification of the bride and bridegroom ambiguous so that
his readers could wonder who they were, and in their wonderment, consider the
possibility of Jesus as the bridegroom and the Church as the bride.
A second piece of evidence [suggesting that] Mary is the bride and Jesus the
bridegroom is found in the very first two verses of our Cana miracle – what I call
a “miniature inclusio”. There we read:
“On the third day there was a wedding
() at Cana in Galilee. Jesus‟ mother
was there, and Jesus and His disciples had
also been invited to the wedding ().”
Between the twice-repeated word “wedding” we find sandwiched together the
mother of Jesus, Jesus and His disciples. These are the participants in the
wedding.25 Mary is the bride and Old Testament Church, Jesus is the groom, and
the disciples, as we shall see, are the New Testament Church and future
“children” (results) of this marriage.
25
My emphasis
364
On the symbolism of famine imagery and Jesus‟ remark to his mother „Woman
what have I to do with thee?‟ Estrada argues:
What then does John … wish to communicate … when he emphasizes, by stating
… that there is no wine? ... what John is alluding to is a “famine situation”... not a
lack of any physical need. It is rather a lack of a spiritual need.26
He further suggests that „we can first look at a third source material that he used as found
in Jn. 2:4a: “Woman, what between me and you?” (   , )”. This phrase
is taken from I Kings 17. This is a story in which God sends a drought, and as a
consequence of the drought, a famine. Elijah miraculously provides for a widow and her
son until the drought has ended. Later on, the woman‟s son becomes sick, and dies. The
woman then says to Elijah: “What between me and you (   ), man of God
(  )? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”27 Elijah
then takes the son to the upper room, stretches himself out on top of him three times, and
the boy‟s life returns to him.
John, chose to borrow [from I Kings 17] … the phrase “What between me and
you?” (   ) and employ it in his own story … Even as Elijah
supplied for this woman‟s need in time of drought, so too will Jesus supply for the
“woman‟s” need in time of famine (the wine that is lacking).
26
27
Ibid. p. 32 ff
I Kings 17:18
365
But the symbolic implications go further. „Even as Elijah brought back the son‟s life,
after she was reminded of her sin … so, too, shall the Son give his life for the sins of the
people and yet live again after being dead for three days.‟
In Genesis 41:55 we have a famine situation.28 The people are in need, and … cry
out to Pharaoh [who] directs them to Joseph with these words: “Go to Joseph and
do what he tells you”. John, in wanting to present his readers with a “spiritual”
famine … recalled this … story, and thus found this phrase useful … “Do
whatever he tells you”. By indirectly quoting Genesis 41:55, John alludes to this
story and thereby conveys the famine theme … to his own readers … So, too, are
we presented with a famine situation in our Cana miracle (there is a shortage of
wine twice repeated in Jn. 2:3).
Estrada continues, in further support of his argument that John was intentionally alluding
to Genesis 41:55 in his use of the phrase “Do whatever he tells you”, saying that we have
two other source materials used by John in the Cana miracle that also contain within them
a famine situation.
In Amos 8:11-12, we read:
„The days are coming,‟ declares the Sovereign Lord, „when I will send a
famine () through the land- not a famine () of food or a thirst
28
“The seven years of abundance in Egypt came to an end, and the
seven years of famine () began, just as Joseph had said. There
was a famine () in all the other lands, but in the whole land of
Egypt there was food. When all Egypt began to feel the famine…”
Genesis 41:55
366
for water, but a famine () of hearing the words of the Lord
( ). Men will stagger from sea to sea and
wander from north to east, searching () for the word of the
Lord (), but they will not find () it‟.
In Amos 9:13-14 we read:
„The days are coming,‟ declares the Lord, „when the reaper will be
overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes.
New wine () will drip from the mountains and flow from all
the hills. I will bring back my exiled people Israel; they will rebuild the
ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their
wine (); they will make gardens and eat their fruit.‟
Amos speaks of a famine that would come upon the people of Israel, but not a
famine of food or water but rather a famine of the words of the Lord.
The nature of the famine that John is presenting to his readers is a famine of
“hearing the words ( ) of the Lord”. Amos prophecies that the people
are “searching for the word ( ) of the Lord, but they will not find it …
In opening his gospel in this way, John is presenting his readers with what the
people of his time were “starving for” – the Word of God.
367
Estrada finds arguments to demonstrate that the Cana Miracle is a symbolic story
of Jesus „marrying the people of God via his death and resurrection … [It] is a
symbolic story of Jesus both uniting and transforming the dispensation of the Law
and the Prophets into the dispensation of the Holy Spirit‟.29 He goes on to tell us
that the word „water‟ (referred to by John on 15 occasions) symbolizes „the Law
and the Prophets‟ in other words the earlier or preparatory stage (the Old
Testament), „the Father's means of revelation‟ to be completed by the recognition
of Christ as the fulfilment (the New Testament). Further symbolic meaning is
suggested when we learn that Moses‟ name means „drawn from the water‟.30 In
the Synoptic gospels John the Baptist proclaims that he came baptizing with
water.31
29
p. 11
„And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she
called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water‟. Ex 2: 10 (AV)
31
Mt 3: 11; Mk 1: 8; and Lk 3: 16
30
368
The same author shows that the word ‘wine’ in John 2 symbolizes ‘the
dispensation of the Holy Spirit’, and that it alludes to specific Old Testament
texts.31 Performing such function, it further alludes to the prophecy in Joel,32
which speaks of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. It is from Joel that John draws
the symbolic meaning ‘spirit’ for the word ‘wine’. ‘An abundance of wine was
one of the characteristics of the messianic age that the Old Testament prophets
used to describe that age’. A further hint is given by Luke in Acts 2, where he
reveals his knowledge of John's Cana Miracle allegory. There Luke plays on the
word ‘wine’ as symbolizing ‘the Holy Spirit’ when he quotes the multitude
mockingly saying of the apostles ‘they are filled with new wine’. He immediately
recounts how Peter, quoting Joel to refute this, says ‘God declares, that I will pour
out my spirit on all flesh’.33
The mysterious bride in Bruegel’s painting may be accounted for by the idea
offered by Estrada that the ‘mother of Jesus’, also referred to as ‘woman’ in the
Cana story, symbolizes both the New Eve who gives birth to the New Adam, and
the Old Testament people of God who, as Mary, give birth to Jesus and believe in
him. ‘Mary, therefore, is being presented not only as the New Eve but also as the
31
Amos 9: 13-14, Joel 1: 5, 10; 2: 19, 24; and 3: 18
Joel 2: 28-32
33
Acts 2; 13-17
32
369
bride of Christ, and as such, is a symbolic figure for the collective people of
God’34.
Summarizing, we can say that the case is built on the idea that the dispensation of
Law and the Prophets – the Old Testament – is signified by water and that the
dispensation of the Holy Spirit – the New Testament – is signified by wine. The
miracle whereby Jesus marries Mary, (the New Eve, the people of God) unites
and transforms the old with the new and this is signified by the changing of water
into wine.
We now come to the idea of the necessity for the ‘water’ to be changed into ‘wine’
because both John the Baptist and Moses, who are identified with ‘water’, are
personifications of the old order – ‘the Law and the Prophets’. The Cana ‘marriage’,
where ‘water’ is changed in to ‘wine’, brings into being the ‘new’ which replaces the
‘old’. It is the metaphor for an inner process, a mystical transformation of being.
Augustine is saying something similar when he states that ‘For the bridegroom … to
whom it was said, ‘Thou hast kept the good wine until now’, represented the person of
the Lord. For the good wine – namely, the gospel – Christ has kept until now’.35 If the
Byzantine mosaicist and his Late Gothic contemporaries were following this tradition, it
would account for the absence in their pictures of an obvious groom figure. In Bruegel’s
picture the absence of an obvious Christ figure does not necessarily mean that the
painting does not represent the events of Jn 2, nor even that Christ is absent; he can be
34
Estrada, p. 20
35
Augustine, op. cit, p. 9
370
mysteriously present ‘represented in the person’ of someone else, perhaps one of the
figures at the centre of the painting. Bruegel’s method corresponds with what we have
already seen in other paintings: by slightly adapting the standard imagery he invites his
viewers to contemplate the story’s mystical meaning rather than what had by then
become conventional and superficial.
Bruegel seems to be following St Augustine who advises his readers:
to uncover the hidden meanings of the mysteries … In the ancient times there was
prophecy … But the prophecy, since Christ was not understood therein, was water
… Prophecy … was not silent concerning Christ; but the import of the prophecy
was concealed therein, for as yet it was water … And how did He make of the
water wine? ... He opened their understanding … we are now permitted to seek
Christ everywhere, and to drink wine from all the water-pots.36
There is then a tradition, traceable to John Chrysostom, Jerome, and Augustine in the
fourth century, but probably older, uncovered by Matthew Estrada, symbolized in the
Cana Marriage as an allegorical mystery. This view has been touched on by theologians
and commentators within the mainstream churches. But in the 16th century, to have gone
further, as Estrada does, would have amounted to declaring in favour of Gnosticism. The
allegorical writings of Hendrick Niclaes were just this as has been shown earlier in this
thesis. And this was the position in the 15th and 16th centuries of the non-orthodox
traditions with which Hieronymus Bosch and Peter Bruegel were almost certainly
36
Augustine, op. cit., pp. 11-14
371
associated. One would expect that a Gnostic view, whether in the third century or in the
forms Gnosticism took in the 16th century, would be regarded by the church as heretical
and, according to Lynda Harris it is into this category that Hieronymus Bosch’s Marriage
at Cana, painted circa 1500, falls.37
Fig. 10. Bosch (1450-1516)
37
Lynda Harris, The Secret Heresy of Hieronymus Bosch, Floris Books, Edinburgh, 1985
372
Harris analyses Bosch’s painting of the Marriage at Cana in Rotterdam calling it ‘The
Union of Soul and Spirit’ with the subtitle of the ‘Spiritual Marriage’.38 The six figures at
the table ‘are participating at a solemn ceremony, and pay no attention to the worldly
feast that surrounds them’. They are enacting a ‘genuine religious ritual’ in
contradistinction to ‘the heresy and corruption of Satan’s realm’ to which the other
figures belong. She continues:
The six celebrants of this private rite all sit more or less facing a seventh figure.
This seventh figure is small, youthful and unidentified in gender. Nevertheless it
is clearly very important. It faces the bride, with its back to the viewer. It holds a
chalice in its right hand, and raises its left in some sort of ceremonial greeting. It
wears a garland and a brocaded robe and stands next to an empty throne.
This small but richly dressed child is extremely difficult to explain in terms of
traditional Christian theology. What is its significance and why is it so little and
so young? Looked at from the point of view of Catharism, its meaning becomes
more clear. The Cathar and Manichean records tell us repeatedly that the fallen
angels left their attributes of garland (or crown), robe and throne behind in the
Lord of Light when they descended to Earth. These attributes would only be
regained by the souls after they had reunited once again with their spirits. The
way to achieve this reunion was through spiritual baptism or marriage. It therefore
follows that, while Bosch’s bride represents the initiate, the small and youthful
figure which has recovered its attributes of robe, garland and throne represents her
newly baptized soul. In medieval depictions of death and dying, the soul is often
38
Spiritual marriage refers to a Cathar tenet of belief and practice. See Harris, op. cit.
373
shown as a child which is separated from the adult body. In Bosch’s painting the
bride is not on her deathbed, but her newly saved soul is a key player in the
events, and is therefore depicted as a separate figure.
Comparing the two paintings – Bosch’s Marriage at Cana, which we can assume Bruegel
knew, and his so-called Peasant Wedding, which, we are arguing, is in fact a Marriage at
Cana – we see in the latter painting a diminutive figure (fig. 12), also opposite the bride,
that in some ways reminds us of the ‘soul’ figure in Bosch’s work (fig. 11). We have seen
in The Numbering at Bethlehem, and in The Road to Calvary how Bruegel
characteristically hides or understates what is, for him, the important idea. In his picture
the child wears no regalia, makes no gesture and there is no throne. Yet we feel that
Bruegel, in placing the figure near the centre of the composition, opposite the bride, and
in emphasising the silhouette of the face against the white tablecloth, invites us to
consider its meaning.
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
374
If this child has the hidden significance we are suggesting he may throw light on the
second child seated in the foreground whose meaning has not been satisfactorily
explained. Although Bruegel hid or disguised his ideas, he often also drew attention to
them by repetition (the closed window, the two magpies etc., for example in The
Numbering at Bethlehem). The repetition of the child in a different guise and placed
directly below the first invites us to see a connection. Both figures are on the same
vertical line that divides the picture by the proportion of (approx) 6:15. It can be
mentioned that in Western tradition the peacock signifies the Resurrection and eternal
life.
Fig. 13
The figure of the bride has been described as expressing ‘stupid peasant bliss’ but this
idea could only work if the picture was no more than a realistically observed bucolic feast
(fig. 13). But if there is a mystery here and this ‘bride’ is at its mystical centre, then we
may try to understand the figure in the light of its obvious characteristics. This is a
woman inwardly concentrated and deeply contained within herself; she has the
appearance of someone in a state of meditation. She is one of the personages in the
picture who, like the figures in Giotto’s or Bosch’s works, belongs to ‘another world’.
375
In the other paintings examined, it can be seen that Bruegel treats separately certain
individuals who appear to exist on a different level from those who belong to the general
run of humanity and who are wholly caught up in the carnal world. These are often the
holy personages of the story: Christ, his mother and the apostles in for, example, The
Road to Calvary. In the painting under discussion a similar distinction exists but since
Christ, his mother and the apostles are not present (or not obviously present), the
distinguishing „presence‟ of a higher level of being had to be transferred to others.
Fig. 14
A special role in the story is played by „the servants‟ who „knew‟ („but the servants which
drew the water knew‟). One of these is the figure, given prominence in the foreground on
the left, who is engaged in pouring from a large jug into a smaller one (fig.14). This has
376
been described to as „almost certainly beer‟ but its appearance and colours could also be
interpreted as water becoming wine. What is striking is the attitude of the water/wine
pourer and the special atmosphere around him which is in contrast to the movement and
energy everywhere else in the picture. From the look on his face, from the absence of
agitation in his movement, from the prominence in the picture that the artist gives him
and from his careful, attentive stance, the onlooker can sense that this man knows what
he is doing and why he does it. A recurring theme in Bruegel‟s later paintings is one that
appears to refer to different levels of awareness, to the different states of consciousness of
the participants. The idea that some are spiritually awake while the majority sleep is
perhaps most evident in Bruegel‟s painting of The Road to Calvary where Mary and her
entourage are shown in an entirely different light from all the others. In the Cana painting
the water/wine pourer is placed away from the main action almost as if he belonged to
another picture much as Mary and her group are placed outside the wheel of life in The
Road to Calvary.
What then of the group given such prominence by Bruegel in the foreground on the right?
(fig. 15)
377
Fig. 15
There are two diagonal thrusts in the picture and at the point at which they intersect the
movement of the delivery of food changes direction. The seated man handing plates of
food from the improvised tray provides the axis for this new direction. Bruegel has gone
to considerable lengths to show him in a pivotal position: his arms form a right angle
through which the movement passes and this abrupt change of direction through ninety
378
degrees is energised not only by the thrust of his arms but also by the stance of his legs.
His left foot, which appears beneath the improvised tray next to the right foot of the redcoated carrier, shows that he has placed his legs wide apart so as to give extra stability to
the twist of his movement.
Fig. 16
Yet his face (fig. 16) shows that he too is composed and attentive. Of all the faces in the
picture only this man and the water/wine pourer express such a lack of inner agitation. It
is not the same as the look of the bride which seems to be that of concentrated prayer or
meditation. These men are involved in external activity while maintaining an interior
regard on themselves.
The same may be true of the young man in a blue coat and a white apron that is the
dominant figure of the composition (figs. 17, 17a).
379
Fig. 17
Fig. 18
Here we do not see his face but we see that his attention is focused and not distracted by
random thoughts. The stance of his body, leaning slightly forward with knees bent, his
sure grip on the pole, together with his alert look, betoken a state of self-composed
awareness and confidence that most others do not have. All three in this group have an air
of assurance as they go about their business. It can be seen that they are reliable and
trustworthy in a way that the bagpiper obviously is not. The bagpiper (figs. 18, 18a), by
contrast, dreams about something he cannot have, he is placed in the composition so as to
represent the opposite state of the server. With sagging knees and slack jaw, his face
expressing that his inner attention is lost to dreams, he is a victim figure who cannot
participate in the event taking place that could bring about a change in his level of being
380
– the inner transformation signifying the passage from spiritual sleep to active attention
and consciousness, a transition as miraculous as the changing of water into wine.
Fig. 17a
Fig. 18a
We have seen in The Fall of Icarus how Bruegel plays on the contrasting states of
consciousness of two figures – the good ploughman and the bad shepherd – by placing
them in a significant relationship to each other in the composition. An echo of this device
can be seen The Peasant Wedding/Marriage at Cana in the figures of the blue-coated,
white-aproned server and the bagpiper.
381
It may be that Bruegel took the bagpiper from the figure on the platform above the
servants in Bosch‟s Marriage at Cana. The bagpipes, in Bosch‟s world, according to one
scholar, represent the „vacant gut, stuffed full of fear and hope‟ around which the „jigging
masquerade‟ turns on the „disc of the world‟ … „For the vacant, spectre-like existence of
Goethe‟s “Philistine” is inflated now by fear and now by hope, so too these bagpipes are
idle nothingness, blowing and squeaking only as long as living breath inflates the bag,
and wretchedly collapsing as soon as the breath fails.‟39
If the first food-bearer represents man awake and the bagpiper represents man asleep,
Bruegel introduces between these two the figure of a man at the moment of awakening.
At the very centre of the picture is a man in a black coat who Bruegel, by placing him in
a central position, may intend us to see as the master of the feast. He has just tasted the
wine and he reacts with astonishment. Something extraordinary has happened that jerks
39
Fränger, op. cit. p. 69
382
his body back and his head up in amazement while in his eyes appears a look of
recognition.
He seems to see, with melting face and softening eyes, the answer to a great longing. It is
as though a never-dared-for hope could at last be fulfilled.
In this work there is a distinction between the world of self-realized, enlightened beings
and the world of those entirely caught on the „wheel of life‟. A similar distinction is
indicated, as has been discussed, in Bruegel‟s Road to Calvary and it is a feature of early
representations of the Marriage at Cana. The language of sacred scripture speaks of those
who are awake and those who are asleep; those who see and those who are blind. Basing
his thought on the allegorical sense of the miracle of the changing of water into wine,
Bruegel is telling us via his painting about the process of transition from the one state to
the other. Here is the real miracle whose meaning hides within the symbolic miracle: the
„awakening‟ from spiritual sleep, or „resurrection‟ from spiritual death. The traditional
symbolism and allegory of religious myth and legend refers to this. It is a central theme
of the Perennial Philosophy and the ultimate challenge for Man – the transition from
existence in time and in the body to existence in eternity. Conventional religion, when it
becomes pseudo religion, helps us avoid confronting this idea by encouraging us to
believe that heaven and hell belong to the afterlife. The view of Tradition holds that these
383
places are here and now; they are „states of being‟ as Coomaraswamy puts in „within
ourselves‟.40 The mystical meaning of the Marriage at Cana then is about the meeting
between the two opposed aspects of Man‟s nature: an alchemical mystery concerning the
joining of otherwise irreconcilable forces; the joining, in man, of the human and the
divine.
The uniting of these two opposites needs the intervention of a third, or „reconciling‟ force
symbolised in the action of Jesus. The idea of three and the idea of (mystical) union are
inferred in the first sentence of the gospel text: „And the third day there was a marriage.‟
Synthesis overcomes duality to give birth to manifestation. Three, according to ancient
Pythagorean and Hermetic ideas and again at the heart of Renaissance mysticism, „is the
first number to which the meaning “all” was given. It is the Triad, being the number of
the whole as it contains the beginning, middle and end. In the Pythagorean tradition three
means harmony, completion, the world of matter.41 In Christianity it represents the
Trinity. The opening line of the Emerald Tablets of Thoth the Atlantean (Tablet 11)
„Three is the mystery, come from the great one‟.42
40
A. Coomaraswamy, The Bugbear of Literacy. Sophia Perennis; Revised edition (June 1979)
See Peter Gorman, Pythagoras; A Life. London; Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1979. p.143
42
http://www.crystalinks.com/numerology2.html
41
384
Conclusion
The aim of this thesis has been to show Bruegel was among a group of mystics and
humanist philosophers in the 16th-century who believed in and actively sought the
universal philosophical truth common to both ‘pagans’ and Christians and not exclusively
the preserve of the churches. Belief, however, was not the means whereby what they
sought – transformation in the soul – might take place; rather, knowledge and practice
were required.
Although I have used the modern term Perennial Philosophy to refer to this truth, I have
shown that the concept existed since Plato – though Plato himself acknowledged that it
was older – and was central to Renaissance humanist thinking. The verities of the
Perennial Philosophy have no formal doctrine or practical structure. They are partly
hidden from the rational mind and from the sense faculties and require a special initiation
from those who seek them. That initiation is through self-knowledge – the insight gained
through the daily practice of contemplative prayer and the inner journey from ‘Ignorance’
to ‘Spiritual Peace’.
385
The Antwerp truth-seekers, whether they were followers of Hendrik Niclaes, Sebastian
Franck or others, were not an isolated phenomenon; they were not a misguided
aberration, ‘religious libertines’, as historians have sometimes seen them. Their teachers
had not sprung from nowhere as is demonstrated by the influence on them of the Imitatio
Christi and the Theologica Germanica and, beyond those, by Meister Eckhart. And,
antecedent to Eckhart, as this thesis has shown, several lines of transmission concerning
knowledge of the laws of the universe (the macrocosm) and their counterpart in man (the
microcosm) can be traced from antiquity to the Reformation.
The principal method for the transmission of wisdom is oral since by words alone – that
is, words in books – a writer cannot take into account the state of being or the level of
knowledge of his reader. In sacred tradition both the one who transmits and the one who
receives need to be aware each other’s psychological, emotional and intellectual state and
the teacher needs to be aware of the degree of the disciple’s preparedness. Compatibility
has to be established before spiritual exchange can take place – hence the symbolism of
marriage.
The great works of art, architecture and music produced according to the principles of
perennial wisdom are sacred art in the true sense. Works of sacred literature too, belong
to this category for, according to the tradition, sacred knowledge cannot be transmitted in
books other than symbolically which is why the books of the Bible or, for example, Terra
Pacis, should be treated as esoteric and not as history. The research done by Titus
Burckhardt on gothic cathedrals or Schwaller de Lubitch on Egyptian temples, to give
386
examples from many such workers in this field, shows how elaborate programmes of
universal knowledge are conveyed in allegorical ways. If Bruegel’s paintings belong to
this tradition – as this thesis has demonstrated – then Bruegel himself was an initiate of a
philosophical school that vouchsafed hidden knowledge which he, in an unknown way,
succeeded in expressing in his art. We can see the uniqueness of this achievement when
we compare his pictures with those of Peter Brueghel the Younger whose copies
skillfully reproduce the style and the compositions of the father. They reproduce the form
but they are empty of content.
Behind Bruegel the painter is Bruegel the spiritual master tracing out the journey of the
seeker through three stages of endeavour. The first, illustrated by The Numbering at
Bethlehem, The Adoration of the Kings and The Massacre of the Innocents, reveals what
the practitioner of spiritual life experiences at first hand through practices that lead to
self-knowledge: that our human condition is one of spiritual darkness, the title of Chapter
9. This stage corresponds to what the Greek fathers called Praktikos: ‘mastering the
knowledge of the inner self’.
Chapter 10, looking at The Road to Calvary, The Harvesters and The Fall of Icarus,
shows how Bruegel introduces us to the means for man’s possible escape from darkness.
He must engage in spiritual work; the labour of planting seed and growing corn enable
man to eat bread – all this being an allegory for spiritual work, the title of Chapter 10.
This stage corresponds to what the Greek fathers called Theoretikos: the beginning of
vision or ‘seeing’.
387
Chapter 11 deals with the incomprehensible mystery of transformation, the ‘marriage’ or
the perfect union of God and man, the goal of mystical ascent. This stage corresponds to
what the Greek fathers called Gnostikos: ‘knowing’.1
Finally, it is not a question of whether Bruegel was a member of the Hendrick Niclaes’
Family of Love or of Barrefeld’s Hiël group, or whether he was a pupil of Sebastian
Franck or of Agostino Steuco’s school in Rome. Neither is it a question whether he
practiced Christianity as a Catholic or a Protestant. We have seen that the Familist
association is the likely main influence on his spiritual life and that the present state of
knowledge does not permit us to be categorically certain due to lack of documents. But
that is not the important question. All these groups – including even, in its inner essence,
the Church – express aspects of primordial truth and it is from this universal and timeless
primordial tradition – the Perennial Philosophy – that Bruegel speaks to us.
1
These terms: praktikos, theoretikos, gnostikos, are from John McGuckin, The Book of Mystical
Chapters: Meditations of the Soul's Ascent from the Desert Fathers and Other Early Christian
Contemplatives, Boston and London, 2002.
388
Appendix
Text of TERRA PACIS and commentary relating to ideas of the Perennial Philosophy and
to paintings by Peter Bruegel.
N.B. This writer has kept the 17th century spelling.
The Spiritual Land of Peace
Look and behold: there is in the world a very unpeaceable Land and it is the
wildernessed land wherein the most part of all uncircumcised, impenitent and
ignorant people do dwell and in which is, the first of all needful for the man; to
the end that he may come to the Land of Peace and the City of Life and Rest.
The same unpeaceable land hath also a City, the name of which they that dwell
therein do not know, but only those who are come out of it, and it is named
Ignorance.
The people that dwell therein know not their original or first beginning; also they
keep not any Genealogy or Pedigree; neither do they know from whence, or how,
they came into the same. And moreover then, that they are altogether blinde, and
blinde-born.
389
The forementioned city, named Ignorance, hath two Gates. The one standeth in
the North, or Midnight, through the which men go into the city of darkness or
ignorance.
This gate now, that standeth to the North, is very large and great, and hath also a
great door, because there is much passage through the same; and it hath likewise
his name, according to the nature of the same city.
Foreasmuch as that men do come into Ignorance through the same gate, therefore
it is named Men Do Not Know How to Do. And the great door, wherethrough the
multitude do run is named Unknown Error; and there is else no coming into the
City named Ignorance.
The other gate standeth on the one side of the City, towards the East or Spring of
the Day, and the same is the Narrow Gate, through the which, men travel out of
the city and do enter into the Straight Way which leadeth to Righteousness.
Now when one travelleth out through the same Gate, then doth he immediately
espie some Light, and that same reacheth to the Rising of the Sun.
Here the symbolism, taking up the theme of the ‘bread of life’, i.e. spiritual nourishment,
employs the images of ‘corn’ and ‘seed’ whose esoteric meaning was discussed earlier
390
and which will be met again in the paintings by Bruegel of the Harvest and the
Ploughman (Fall of Icarus).1 The importance of spiritual nourishment – or rather the lack
of it – is discussed in the section dealing with the Peasant Wedding Feast (Marriage at
Cana) where the lack of wine is shown to correspond, by rhetorical imitation, with
famine imagery in the Old Testament where the sense is that of ‘famine for the word of
God’.
In this land of Ignorance, for the food of men, there groweth neither corn nor
grass. The people of this land live in confusion or disorder and are very diligent in
their unprofitable work and labor. And although their work be vain or
unprofitable yet hath everyone notwithstanding a delightful liking to the same.
Forasmuch as they all have such a delight to such unprofitable work, so forget
they to prepare the Ground for Corn and Seed to live thereby. And so they live not
on the manly food but by their own dung, for they have no other food to live by,
for their stomach and nature is accustomed and naturally inclined thereto.
They make there diverse sorts of Puppet works for Babies for to bring up the
children to vanity. There are made likewise many kinds of Balls, Tut-staves, or
Kricket-staves, Rackets and Dice; for the foolish people should waste or spend
their time therewith in foolishness.
1
See above p. 106 ff and pp. 317 and 332.
391
There be made also Playing Tables, Draft-boards, Chess-boards, Cards and
Mummery or Masks, for to delight the idle people with such foolish vanity. There
are made likewise many Rings, Chains, and Gold and Silver Tablets and etc … all
unprofitable and unneedful merchandise.
They build there likewise divers houses for common assembly, which they call
Gods houses; and there use many manner of foolishness of taken on Services
which they call religious or godservices whereby to wave or hold forth something
in shew before the ignorant people.
In this manner are the vain people bewitched with these things, wherethrough
they think or perswade themselves that their godservices, and knowledges, which
they themselves do make, or take on in their hypocrisie, that must needs be some
holy or singular thing, and so honor the works of their own hands.
They make there also many Swords, Halberds, Spears, Bows and Arrows,
Ordinance or Guns, Pellets, Gunpouder, Armor or Harness, and Gorgets and etc.,
for that the tyrannical oppressors, and those that have a pleasure in destroying,
should use war and battel, therewithal, one against the other.
392
This could be a description of part of Bruegel’s Adoration of the Kings (1564) in the
National Gallery.2 There the imagery of swords, halberds and etc., conveys the corrupt
state of the world in contrast to the purity of the innocent naked Christ child.
The people of this strange land have strange names, according to their nature. As
their nature is such are their names written upon them. Whosoever can read the
writing let him consider thereon. They are gross letters; whoso hath but a little
sight and understanding, he may read them, whose names are there.
Highmindedness, Lust of the Eyes, Stoutness, Pride, Covetousness, Lust or Desire
to Contrariness, Vanity or Unprofitableness, Unnaturalness, Undecentness,
Masterfulness, Mocking, Scorning, Dallying, Adultery or Fornication,
Contemning, Lying, Deceiving, Variance, Strife and Contention, Vexing, Selfseeking, Oppression, Indiscreetness, etc.
Identically named people are to be seen populating any of Bruegel’s ‘crowd scenes’, in
particular the Numbering at Bethlehem (1566) in Brussels which has already been
discussed and the Road to Calvary (1564) in Vienna.3
Their dealings or manner of life is also variable; for now they take on something,
then they leave somewhat else; now they be thus led, then they be so driven; now
they praise this, then they dispraise that. So, to be short, they are always
inconstant.
2
3
Seep. 277 for a discussion of this painting..
See above pp. 30 and 302.
393
Their Religions or godservice is called the Pleasure of Men. Their doctrine and
ministration is called Good Thinking. Their King is called the Scum of Ignorance.
Which could well describe the kings in Bruegel’s Adoration.4
Whosoever findeth himself in this dark land full of ignorance and desireth to go
out of it, and forsake the same, and hath a good liking towards the good land of
Rest and Peace; he must go through the other gate that lieth towards the East, that
is named Fear of God.
But in travelling forward upon the Way for to come to the good land of Peace, so
do the perils first make manifest themselves. Therefore must the Traveller keep a
diligent watch in the said grace of the Lord; otherwise he becometh hindered and
deceived upon the Way. So we will mark out both the perils of seduction, and also
the means unto preservation for that no man should err upon the Way, nor be
seduced or deceived by any false ends.
Here the text describes how the traveler has to pass the first three stages of his journey: 1.
Fear of God; 2. Beginning of Wisdom; 3. Grace of the Lord in the Confession of Sins.
But he is still ‘young’ and needs instruction form the wise Elders of the Family of Love.
There are two instructors. One is described as outwardly having a form that is
4
See above, p. 273.
394
… not very amiable or pleasant (according to the minds of the flesh) to behold,
nor yet his sayings and counsels to be obeyed, because that he is contrary to all
minds and knowledge of the flesh (notwithstanding, if the traveller have no regard
for him, neither daily receive any counsel of him unto obedience, nor yet follow
his counsel, then shall he not come to the Rest). And he is named the Law or
Ordinance of the Lord.
The other wise one cometh before him out of the thoughts of mans good thinking,
to draw him away from the Way that directeth to the Land of the Living. And his
form is sweet and friendly (according to the minds flesh) to behold, and his
sayings and counsels delightful. And he is named the Wisdom of the Flesh.
These two wise ones do give the traveller several counsels.
The traveller who abjures the Wisdom of the Flesh and who accepts the discipline of the
Law or Ordinance of the Lord receives ‘two instruments’: a compass called the
Forsaking of Himself for the Good Lifes Sake. The other instrument overcomes
temptation and hindrance and it is called Patience or Suffrance.
Now the text gives instructions about ‘meate and drink’ which are the body and blood of
Jesus Christ. The traveler accepts to find himself on the Cross from whence comes
395
… the death and burial of all the lusts and desires of the sinful flesh and all the flesh’s
wisdom or good thinking.
Again, this should not be understood literally but seen as the transition from the material
to the spiritual, the soul’s liberation from its entanglement in the world.5
Now the ‘traveller’, following the counsel of the Law of the Lord, finds himself
…in an unpathed land where many manner of temptations and deceits do meet
with him, and coming into the same there appeareth unto him immediately a star
out of the East, named Belief and Hope. This great unpathed land is named Many
manner of Wanderings. And there is not one plain paved way.
The names of the Travellers are:
Stricken in Heart, Cumbered in Minde, Wofulness, Sorrowfulness, Anguish, Fear,
Dismaidness, Perplexitie, Uncomfortablness, Undelightfulness, Heavymindedness, Many Manner of Thoughts, Dead Courage.
This is reminiscent of the group consisting of Jesus’ mother and her entourage in the
foreground of Bruegel’s Road to Calvary (1566) in Vienna. There we see the expressing
just these emotions while the vast crowd constituting the main descriptive parts of the
picture are oblivious and display all the characteristics, described by H. N., of those who
5
See especially À Kempis, ‘On the Royal Road of the Holy Cross’, op. cit. pp. 84-89.
396
live in the Land of Ignorance or, as he says elsewhere, the ‘Land of Abomination and
Desolation’.6
This land is an open and weak, or unwalled land; and is like unto a barren
wilderness, wherein there is little joy to be found; but it is full of perils and
deceits, because of the sundry sorts of temptations that do come to Travellers
through perplexitie.
For if they (according to the Law of the Lord) have not a sharp watch unto the
compass, nor hold them fast on the Cross, and also do not still mark the leading
star, then they may soon be led into a by-way. For the wisdom of the flesh doth
also come forth there oftentimes very subtilly, with her self-seeking, to point the
traveller aside. But the traveller that passeth through the land of Mortyfying and,
abstaining from all things, in patience, and seeketh not his own selfness; but
(under the obedience of the Love) hath a much more desire to do the Lords will,
he obtaineth a good salvation of the peaceable life. He shall be saved and rejoyce
in the Everlasting Life.
Moreover, in this land, there is no perfect satisfying of hunger and thirst to be
found, nor come by. For the herb wherewith they be sustained, and the fountain
wherewith they be refreshed, do make them still the longer and more hungry and
thirsty: as long as they are travelling towards the good Land of Peace.
6
See above, p. 302.
397
Here the writer openly reveals the meaning of the available food.
The Herb wherewith the travellers be sustained is named the Serviceable Word of
the Lord, and the fountain waters wherewith they be refreshed are named the
Promise of Salvation in the New Testament of the Blood of Jesus Christ.
***
In this land there lie also fair hills that seem to be somewhat delightful of which
the traveller must beware, for it is nothing but deceit, vanity and seducing. These
hills are garnished with divers trees which do likewise bring forth vain and
deceitful fruits [causing] travellers to leave the forsaking of themselves, taking on
their self-seeking (that is, they take on their own righteousness and made holiness,
or their ease in the flesh.) They do likewise leave the Patience and become
negligent towards the Law of Ordinance of the Lord, wherewith they be drawn
away by the deceit of the wisdom of the flesh.
The hills are named Taken on wit, or Prudence, Riches of the Spirit, Learned
knowledg, Taken on Freedom, Good-thinking Prophesy, Zeal after Chosen
Holiness, Counterfeit Righteousness, New-invented Humility, Pride in Ones Own
Spiritualness, Unmindful of any better, and etc.
398
The trees that grow on the hills are named Colored Love, Literall Wisdom, Greedy
towards Ones Own, Flattering-Alluring, Reproving of Naturalness, Promises of
Vanity, Exalting of his Own Private Invention, Pleasing in Chosen Holiness,
Greatly Esteeming his own Working of Private Righteousness.
The name of their fruits is Vain-Comforts [and] the people, having left forsaking
of themselves, and the Cross, with the Meate-offering and Drink-offering, make
their dwelling among these deceitful hills [and] let themselves be fed. They get
some satisfaction from the Vain-Comforts and are also at first somewhat glad
therethrough, also singing and crying: We have it, We have it, We are
illuminated, Born anew and Come to Rest.
But (alas) when the sun riseth somewhat higher, then do the fruits wither. And
when the Winter cometh, then stand the trees barren, and all is deceit and
seducing.
***
The whilst then that the traveller doth travel towards this good land by the leading
star (named Belief and Hope) so cometh he clean through all the deceit by means
399
of forsaking himself. For that is a good compass unto him which pointeth to the
good land.
And, with Patience, he likewise overcometh all assaults.
For there are many molesters and destroyers to be found, which do grievously vex
the travellers in this land. But they do fear and tremble before the Holy Cross.
[They] are named Trying of the Belief, Doubt or Distrustfulness to Come to the
Good Land, Tempting with a Chosen Appeasement to the Flesh, Proving of the
Belief with a Shew of Comforting with the Worldly Beauties, Proffering of the
Possession of all the Riches of the Earthly Corruptibleness.
Here the traveller is exhorted in various ways not to forsake the holy Cross. It may help
him to understand the idea that on the spiritual journey he must not seek to escape from
the impossible contradictions he experiences in himself. Indeed he should welcome the
pain of seeing all his folly, weakness and inadequacy. In respect of that which he longs
for, only an unflinching confrontation with the impossibility of his situation will show
him that, in order to understand this lesson, he has to abandon all judgment and opinion
of himself. The ‘travellers’ on the journey are told to ‘forsake [them]selves’ as Niclaes so
often reminds them. The traditions have special exercises associated with the disciplines
of meditation, contemplative prayer and various forms of inner and outer work to help us
400
here. Such labour introduces us to our personal, psychological cross. It is an inner state
that, if we wish to continue, we cannot forsake.
Therefore be not afraid of your enemies, for God hath made them all
dismaid through the Holy Cross of Christ.
The Holy Cross shall be unto you an Altar of the true burnt offering, and
the serviceable gracious word of the Lord a safe-keeping gift or offering of
Christ upon the same altar in the holy of the true Tabernacle of God and
Christ, upon which Altar your gift becometh sanctified. [It is] kindled or
set on fire for a burnt offering to the consuming of all the enemies of the
good life, wherethrough then, likewise, your willing Dept-offering, Sinoffering and Death offering shall be acceptable to the Lord.
***
In this same throughfaring land, men also find a crafty murderer, that both
high and low, wide and far, runneth all over this same land and he is
named Unbelief. Of this wicked villain it behoveth us to be very wary, for
by him there are many murdered. Forsake not the Holy Cross, nor the
serviceable gracious word of the Lord.
401
[Also in this land there runs] a dangerous river where many travellers be
drowned and choaked. It is named Desire and Pleasure in the Flesh.
The traveller is warned not to catch or eat the fishes that swim in the river whose
names are:
Meate of the Temporal Delights instead of the Everlasting Good, Ease in
the Flesh instead of Zeal to the Righteous, Honor of the World instead of
Rest in the Spirit and Honor of God.
It seemeth indeed to be a very pleasant water for one to refresh and
recreate himself in, but it is all meer deceit: vain and nothing.
[Also there are] thistles and thorns named Uncertain Consciences.
Likewise divers natures of beasts named Envy, Wrath, Churlishness or
Unfriendliness, Cruelty, Offensiveness, Resistance of Disobedience,
Craftyness, Greedy Desire of Honor, Subtilty of Deceit, and Violence. And
also one of the most detestable beasts (that will worst of all give way) is
named Hypocrisie or Dissimulation, where under all manner of
naughtiness is covered up with a colored vertue, or made holiness, and he
is indeed the subtillest beast who provoketh the other beasts to devour
travellers. Of which wild beasts the travellers must take heed with great
402
foresightfulness, that they run not into the mouth of them and be
swallowed up.
***
[There are] three castles [upon which] are subtile watchers which are very
crafty and wily.
The traveler is advised not to fear the castles though their powers are apparently
very terrible. It is necessary to negotiate carefully, but once passed them he will
see that they are
Nothing at all but deceit, vanity and bewitching. [They are named] The
Power of Devils Assaulting, The Forsaking of Hope, Fear of Death.
The watchers, who try to capture people, are named ‘according to their natures’:
Appearing like Angels of Light, Indeavoring to Stealing of the Heart,
Appearance of Vertue, Subtil Invention, Confidence in Knowledg, Made
Laws and Imagined Rights, Disguised or Unknown Holiness, Self-framed
Righteousness, and etc.
403
Now one cometh by the Good Land and approacheth neer unto the
understanding of God. But many do run past the entrance thereof. For the
neerer one cometh the more subtilly the deceits assault him; for beside the
entrance there lieth [joyned to it] also a way that leadeth to an abominable
or horrible land and the same way is a pleasant way to behold and pleasant
likewise to enter into, wherewith many be deceived.
This pleasant way is named Knowledg of Good and Evil.
[Having] come into the pleasant way of the Knowledg of Good and Evil,
and which in itself is ful of contention, ful of great and grievous
incumbrances, then do appear in them an inward or spiritual pride, and
they suppose they are somewhat singular and above other people because
they have so much knowledg to talk of the truth, perswading themselves
that the riches of knowledg is the very light of salvation.
Therefore this land is called the Abomination of Desolation. Howbeit it is
all false and meer deceit.
***
404
In this land there is also a false light. The people do not know the true
light, therefore they be all deceived and corrupted in this wilderness by the
same false light, besides the which they know no other perfect good. [And
so they have] nothing else but destruction and disturbance or dispensing of
mindes and thoughts.
This same land of Desolation is like unto the intangled Babylon, because
the knowledges do there run one against the other and cannot understand
each other.
Here the author gives extended lists of psychological and moral disorders. We are
given to understand that all these result from too much attachment to ‘knowledg’
i.e. ‘made knowledg’ (man-made knowledge) as opposed to revealed knowledge.
There follows this insight
Many do chuse a way unto themselves, according to the knowledg of their
own minde, to the intent to live to themselves therein: and thus doth
everyone walk there according as his knowledg imagineth him.
Everyone is resistant against each other with the knowledg. And the false
light shineth upon them all, quite over the whole land. Therefore everyone
supposeth that he must needs have the right, or cannot err, in his
405
knowledg, and that he is illuminated by the Lord. But it is all dust, which
dust scattereth abroad all over the whole land, like unto a drift-sand and is
named Self-Wils Chusing.
***
The following is one of many passages whose psychological, moral and spiritual
meaning has universal application. The description of the human condition, where
things go ‘wonderfully absurdly’ seems close to Bruegel’s vision of the ‘upside
down’ world.
Behold in this land, the Abomination of Desolation, it goeth very strange
and wonderfully absurdly. For every man seeth that another mans
foundation is vain and meer foolishness, but there is no man there, or very
few, that can marke their own vanity or foolishness. Everyone doth very
gladly thrust off another from his foundation to the end to advance his
own. Yet are all their foundations, notwithstanding, Self-Wils Chusing;
and are everyone uncertain and unstable and all their work is very feeble
or weak. They strive and contend, and with high knowledg they caste
down anothers work and turn up the foundations of it.
For whoever hath the highest mounting knowledge, or is the richest in
spirit, or hath the most eloquent utterance of speech, he can there bear the
sway, or get the chief praise, and can overthrow many other firm
406
foundations and works which are also vain. And when any mans
foundation or work is overthrown through any manner of knowledg, then
is the same a great delight and glory unto the other that getteth the victory
and an advancement of himself. So (contending or taking part, one against
the other) do they likewise divide themselves into many several religions
or God-services.
But although they be partially affected, as also have severall religions, and
many manner of God-services, yet do they, notwithstanding, give their
Religions and God-services one manner of name. Everyones Religion or
God-service is named Assured Knowledg that is Right and Good. And
everyone liveth in his own God-service, thinking and perswading himself
assuredly that his religion or God-service is the best or the holiest above
all other.
***
They have a fair-spoken tongue; but commonly they are not loving, nor
friendly of heart, but ful of envy and bitterness, soon stumbling and taking
offence by reason that they stand captive under the knowledg and not
submitted under the Love, nor under the obedience of his service.
They are also generally covetous of the earthly riches.
407
Their inclination is to speak false against others, also to blaspheme,
oppress, persecute, betray and kill, and yet do know how to excuse all the
same with the knowledg that they do right and well therein.
They use not any common brotherhood.
Here Niclaes expands this theme, pointing out how the absence of brotherhood
and love extends to their various different religious sects and especially how they
are ‘unmerciful’ to anyone who offers them the truth.
The next chapter further analyses man’s spiritual or psychological condition with
the imagery of the inner ruler or king and his constitution.
[They] have also a king who reigneth very cruelly over them named
Wormwood or Bitterness. His sceptre is named Great Esteeming of the
Vain and Unprofitable Things. His crown is named Honor and Glory in
Evil Doings. His horses and chariots are named Treaders Down or
Oppressors of the Simple People. His council is named Subtil Invention.
His kingdom is Unfaithfulness, All his nobility, horsemen, soldiers and
guards are named Disorderly Life. His decrees or commandments are SelfWil. His dominion or Lordship is Violence.
408
The kings subjects are called Craftiness, Arrogant Stoutness,
Stubbornness, Violence, Harmfulness, Spight, Sudden Anger, Greedy of
Revenge, Gluttony, Cruelty, Bloodthirstyness, Resistance against the Love
and her Service, Despising of Naturalness, Disobedience to Equity,
Accusation over the Righteousness, Betrayers of Innocency, Oppressors of
Humility, Killers of Meekness, Enviers of the Lovers of Unity, Exalters of
Chosen Holiness, Usage of Falsehood, Own-selfness, Self-Wils Desire,
Self-seeking etc.
And when one presenteth or profereth any better thing unto them, then
rises up, by and by in them, their king of Bitterness, for to defend their
causes, and judg him to be naught that loveth them to the best good.
***
A false prophet bewitches them with many longings and so he leadeth
their hearts, mindes and thoughts into captivity of the knowledg and not
into the truth. This false prophet is named Presumption whereof cometh
Nothing.
Forasmuch as he hath allured the people unto him with such a presumption
of boasting that they likewise in their unregenerate state, do boast them of
409
the Light and the Word of Life; so perceive they not that they are
bewitched by him.
It seemeth sometimes indeed, as though it would be somewhat, but it is all
vain and presumption and nothing else but knowledg whereof cometh
nothing.
The false prophet has a horrible beast with him named Unfaithfulness
[who] maketh all the people utterly divided.
Niclaes’ psychological insights are the observations of a specialist. Here, for
example, developing themes he has introduced, he describes how ‘the people’
cover their inner nakedness with ‘Garments named Fear of Being Despised’. His
analysis of the spiritual condition of humanity – perhaps as relevant today as ever
– brings light to the subconscious and shadowy parts of our inner landscape with
the sure hand of a master.
This horrible beast, Unfaithfulness; this false prophet, Presumption; and
the cruel king, Wormwood, have a great dominion in this same desolate
abominable land.
410
***
[The traveller] perceiving that these abominations of desolation do stand
in the place where Gods Holy Beeing ought to stand [must] immediately
flie out of the same and submit himself under the obedience of Love, and
not have any regard any more to the Knowledg of Good and Evil, nor to
Boasting of the Knowledge, nor to Assured Knowledg, nor to Presumption,
nor yet to Unfaithfulness. [And thus he frees himself from] bondage to
Bitterness, the king of that detestable land.
[The traveller] must at the end of his journey find himself altogether
turned about.
Hendrik Niclaes is making it quite clear that there can be no half measures for
seekers on the spiritual path. To be ‘altogether turned about’ is nothing less than
the ‘dying to oneself’ in order to be ‘reborn from above’ that is taught in all
traditions. He refers here to the necessarily arduous methods of spiritual work,
symbolized in the text as ‘the Compass’, ‘the Cross’ and ‘Patience’. With the help
of these, having come thus far he now
cometh before the city gate of the Holy Land and stands in submission like
unto a good willing one to the Lords will. [This] is called the Burying of
the Affections and Desires. He findeth, through the same submission, the
411
key for to enter therewithal through the gate into the City where the
Everlasting Life, Peace and Rest is. This key is called Equity.
In the City of Peace he is lovingly received:
Even thus one becometh as they, incorporated to the body of the same true
king, Gods True Beeing, with all the people of the same good land.
The names of the saints [there] are Meekness, Courtesie, Friendliness,
Longsuffrance, Mercifulness, etc.
The city, we are told, has strong fortress-like walls and a watchman who ‘keeps a
diligent watch’, who never sleeps and who
Overlooketh all things, namely, Good and Evil, Light and Darkness. His
trumpet, wherethrough he playeth his song is named After this Time no
More.
There follow several chapters consisting almost entirely of quotations from both
Old and New Testaments in the celebratory style reserved for praising God, his
creation and all his works. The author then returns to describing details of the
412
city’s layout and structure. We learn, for example, that situated on the walls is an
ordinance called the Power of God., and from the city
floweth an unsearchable or infinitely deep river with also a very
tempestuous winde [that] devours all the enemies of the same good City.
[The river and the winde] are called Righteous Judgment of God and the
Spirit of the Almighty God. [Protected by these] the children of the City
learn Understanding and Knowledg, which wisdom (that they learn
thereout) is also an holy wisdom and that Understanding is Godly
knowledg.
The author stresses the entirely different nature and quality of the attributes of the
City and its inhabitants. No enemy can get into the city; and Niclaes is
uncompromising in his criticism and warnings regarding the attempts of men,
through their own foolish and arrogant ‘manly knowledg’, to gain an entrance.
For without this City there is no understanding, wisdom or knowledg of
God, or of Godly things; no not at all. All else is foolishness and
hypocrisie.
Niclaes emphasizes the absolute newness of everything in this place. He tells us
that we have to be ‘new-born in the spirit’ and that this new birth takes place only
413
through ‘Love and the service of Love’. For Niclaes and the Familists the
definition of love is that given in the New Testament: ‘God is Love’.7
His remarks here remind us that what he describes in an entirely inner experience.
The City is a spiritual City of Life
The nature and minde [of the inhabitants] is nothing else but love, like
those that are risen from the death with the Resurrection of the
Righteousness in the Everlasting Life.
The God whom we serve is a secret God. He is the substance of all
substances, the true life of all lives, the true light of all lights, the true
mind of all minds.
Whosoever now forsaketh all the desolate lands and people [and] also hath
his respect diligently bent upon the leading star in the East, and walketh on
rightly according to the compasse, as likewise, forsaketh not the Crosse,
7
cf ‘steady manifestation of love…nobody has ever expressed in equal perfection and beauty the fervor and
enthusiasm of the initiated mystic, inspired by union with God, as Paul has expressed them in his two
hymns of love ― the hymn on the love of God (Rom. viii. 31 ff), and the hymn on the love of men (1 Cor.
xiii) 15. Love is the Kingdom of God.’. See above p. 101.
414
and so cometh to the Submission, by him shall be found the equity, with
the which he entereth into Gods nature. And so he cometh into the good
Citie, full of riches and joy.
The traveler, having reached his goal, is free to go anywhere he wants. He may
even wish to return to his previous abode in order to help those still there to make
their escape.
He now therefore, that is, in this manner come thereunto, may, as then, in
the love and in the unity of peace, go out and in without any harme, and
may walk through all Lands, Places and Cities; bring unto all lovers of the
good land, that are seeking the same, good tydings, give them good
incouragement, as to respect all enemies like chaffe, and as nothing, show
them the next way into the life, and so lead them with him into the good
land.
Whosoever now is under the obedience of the love doth flow out of and
into the same secret kingdome, even like unto a living breath of God. And
[he] can very well walk in freedome, among all people, and also remaine
still free.
For the knowledg separateth nor hurteth not him
415
The serpents deceit nor her poison cannot kill him
The foolishness allureth not him
The chosen righteousness snareth not him
The deceitfull hills seduceth not him
The ignorance blindeth not him
Nor the leaders of the blind doe not lead him
And even thus is God with him and he with God
We praise thee O Father for thou hast hidden these things from the proudboasting wise, and the prudent understanding ones, and revealed them to
the little humble ones. The rich in spirit, nor the great, wise or industrious
scripture-learned ones, have not understood the same; but to the poor in
spirit, and to the simple of understanding, has thou given it.
There follow here several chapters in the form of hymns of praise and rejoicing,
very much in the style of – if not actually quoting from – the Psalms and the Old
Testament prophets.
H. N. now lays out his justification for speaking so openly ‘because of the great
need of the times’. Yet he regrets that he is so little heard. Again and again he
416
emphasizes the fact that a man cannot come to God through his ordinary mind,
however well educated and well developed.
But oh, Alas! We have now in this rebellious time, very speciall cause to
sigh and mourn grievously, over the blindness of many people and to
bewaile the same with great dolour of our hearts. And that chiefly, because
there is now in the same day of love and of the mercy of God, so little
knowledg of the good life of peace and of Love to be found among them.
And also, for that the same knowledg is desired of so few, and yet much
lesse loved. But they do almost everyone delight to walk in strange waies
that stretch to contention and destruction, by which occasion they live in
molestations and deadly afflictions everywhere.
Therefore may we, with wofulness and sighing hearts, very justly say, that
it is now a perilous time to be saved, and to escape or to remain over to
preservation. Oh, what venomous windes do there blow to the desolation
and destruction of men! Yea, it seemeth almost unpossible for the man to
come to his salvation, or preservation in Christ, or the lovely life of peace.
Yet have some, notwithstanding, according to the imagination of their
knowledg, run on, or labored for the spiritual things, for that they would
417
understand them; also many have, according to their understanding of the
flesh, testified of them.
But seeing they have not sought their knowledg of spiritual things in the
obedience of the Christian doctrine of the service of love, but in their
knowledg of the flesh, and so have taken on their understanding of the
knowledg of spiritual things out of the imagination of their own
knowledge; therefore they have likewise understood those same spiritual
things according to the mind of their flesh, and witnessed of them in the
same manner also. For that cause likewise the right knowledge of spiritual
things and heavenly understanding hath not in the cleernesse of the true
light shined unto them.
Wherefore it is in like manner found true, that the fleshly-minded ones,
which sow upon the flesh or which build upon the foreskin of their
uncircumcised hearts, doe mow the corruption and inherit the destruction.
But those that are circumcised in their hearts, in the laying away of the
fore-skin of the sinfull flesh, and in the obeying of the requiring of our
most holy service of Love, are become spiritually minded and so then do
sow upon the spirit, or build upon the spirituall, which is the true being
itselfe.
418
For all flesh, although it does speak of spirituall and heavenly things,
through knowledg, yet it is doubtlesse nothing else but like the grasse of
the field, and all his garnishing of beauty and holiness is like the unto the
flowers of the field; behold the grasse drieth away, and the beauty of the
field withereth and decayeth.
But the spirituall good, the power of God and his living being (whereof all
what is good standeth firm, and floweth thereout) remaineth stedfast,
unchangeable for ever and in the same, or through, the manifestation of
the same being, the Kingdome of God of heavens, cometh inwardly in us,
and that is the true light of everlasting life.
Whose naked cleernesse, although the same be nothing else but light and
life, is hidden, shut and covered from all understandings and wisdomes of
the flesh, or that build thereon.
But it is manifest and shineth bright to the circumcised heart, and to the
upright spirituall minded ones, in a spirituall heavenly understanding. And
the same cleerness is the beeing of God from heaven, the upright
righteousness and holinesse, and the life of God in eternity.
419
Wherefore the doore of life is now opened unto us, the Kingdome of the
God of heavens and the Heavenly Jerusalem, or the City of Peace,
descended downe to us and come neerby.
But not according to the thinking-good, or imagination, of our own hearts,
nor according to the mind of the earthly wisdome, wherethrough many
have estranged them from the truth of life.
Therefore can no man see the kingdom of God except that he becometh
born anew in the spirit and is become plain, and just, and simple like unto
a new-born babe.
***
We have signified or shewed in writing all of what the lover of the
kingdom must forsake; if he will come to the good land of Peace, or enter
into the rest of all the holy ones of God.
But not that the lover of the good land shall therefore think that he must
first come to everyone of the forementioned horrible places, or that must
pass through them all, before he can come to the good city of Peace. O no,
420
ye dearly beloved, but the cause why we have marked out all the
abominations and desolation is, for to make knowne every place of deceit
and all the seducing or leading away from the good land of life.
421
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