the chapters - web viewthe word pan (greek ... world is a mere projection of his own imaginative...

Chapter III. – The Book of Urizen : The Chapters

The Chapters

At this point I have to indicate that Blake's mythology should be considered as a

complex whole, built round several main "ideas" of which perhaps the most consistent

summary is the Four Zoas. The Book of Urizen is therefore not a separate piece of writing, but

fits in with the spiritual progress of Blake's own ideas. All the later pieces of his work tend to

express the various aspects of this myth. The First Book of Urizen is perhaps more shapeless

and chaotic at a first glimpse than any other of these prose poems of the Prophetic Books.

Clouds of blood, shadows of horror, worlds without form and void, rise and mingle and wane

in indefinite ways, with no special purpose or appreciable result. The myth here is of an active

but unprolific God, warring with shapes of the wilderness, and at variance with the eternals:

beaten upon by Time. But what lies beneath the surface of this myth?

Before we can investigate into that question, there are some general points we have to

consider in order to save ourselves from making far-reaching statements. To fully understand

Blake's importance without overestimating his personal potential, we have to accept the

"expressive theory" as a general point of view. I wish to point out by this, the possibility of

gaining unconscious knowledge of universal truths. Blake with his prophetic abilities could

have been precisely the kind of man to gain such 'transcendental' knowledge. For what we

find in his work is one of the most superior literary expression of a certain "psychological

idea", which we could call "The Urizen Myth". So now we can put the question forward

again: What is Urizen?

"The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and safety of a new dark age.Theosophists have guessed at the awesome grandeur of the cosmic cycle wherein our world and human race form transient incidents. They have hinted at strange survival in terms which would freeze blood if not masked by a bland optimism. /.../ Who knows the end? What has risen may sink, and what has sunk

48

Chapter III. – The Book of Urizen : The Chaptersmay rise. Loathsomeness waits and dreams in the deep, and decay spreads over the tottering cities of men. A time will come..."

[H.P. Lovecraft – The Call of Cthulhu.]

Preludium

Blake in the early 1790s was writing about the nature of prophecy in The Marriage of

Heaven and Hell. Almost as if he were replying to Paine's discrediting of biblical prophecy,

Blake makes the fantastic claim that

The Prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel dined with me, and I asked them howthey dared so roundly to assert that God spoke to them; and whether theydid not think at the time that they would be misunderstood, & so be the cause of imposition. Isaiah answered. I saw no God nor heard any, in a finite organicalperception; but my senses discovered the infinite in every thing, and as Iwas then persuaded & remain confirmed; that the voice of honestindignation is the voice of God, I cared not for consequences but wrote.

[The Marriage of Heaven and Hell pl.12.]

Blake thus explains the nature of prophecy paradoxically: Prophets neither see nor hear God,

yet through their senses they discover God. Moreover, one needs only to be honestly

indignant, it seems, to be a prophet.

49

Chapter III. – The Book of Urizen : The ChaptersThis is exactly what Blake's referring to in the

Preludium to The Book of Urizen, where he pays

homage to his great masters – 'the primeval

Priests' – Isaiah and Ezekiel, and calls for their

power [2:1]1. As a self-proclaimed seer he takes

his place among the prophets setting forth his

ability to record his visions of the infinite. He

takes part of their 'assumed power' to

communicate with the Eternals and blindly record

the dictated words of eternity.

This idea of being a non-conscious communicator

is well represented in the figure on the title page

often described as the blind Urizen. In my

opinion it also refers to the prophets of illumination, who took on themselves the tormenting

task of revealing heavenly secrets. Thus Urizen himself is a prophet unfolding the mysteries

of his own creation. The allusion to Moses writing 'The Ten Commandments' [Exodus 19-20.]

is quite clear – the canonical representation of the two stone plates of the Commandments in

the background can be easily recognised.

„If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man asit is: Infinite. This I shall do by printing in the infernal method by

corrosives, which in Hell are salutary and medicinal, melting apparentsurfaces away, and displaying the infinite which was hid.”

[The Marriage of Heaven and Hell]

This is the reason for the development of the Illuminated Book as means of fusing the visual

and the literary into a form which – according to Blake – would cleanse the "doors of

perception," that is the senses and their relationship to the imagination, and awaken Man from

the "sleep of reason."2

1 All Blake quotations are from Erdman, David V. - The Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake. [New York: Doubleday, 1988]. In-text references to poems cite first the plate then the line number.

2 Keep, Christopher & McLaughlin, Tim - William Blake and the Illuminated Book. [robin.escalation@ACM .org, 1995]

50


Chapter I. – Urizen

Chapters I. and II. describe the state of the Universe before Creation unfolds. Since

this 'state of being' precedes every kind of singularity and rational identification, it is

described as Chaos identified with the emerging Urizen thereof. The name "Urizen" comes

from the Greek , "to fix a limit" and is identified with the Jehovah (IHVH) of the Old

Testament by Blake. According to hermetic ideas we can identify Blake's Urizen with the

well-known character of the system called Hermes or Pan. In order to get a full grip of the

question matter we have to investigate into the system of Hermetics3 – the religio-

philosophical system, which deals with the mystical-magical tradition of mankind. Given, that

this is a literary paper focusing on Blake's Urizen, I will not to go into all of the philosophical

and psychological aspects, but rather identify a number of historical-cultural images of the

same idea only.

Hermes-Urizen is a primordial figure; the progenitor-existent of Chaos in the aspect of

Pan. We might understand this better by looking at what Pan means. The word pan (Greek:

), means "everything". Therefore he represents the all-aspect of the universe; the physical

world, the psychic world, the idea world and the one above all, the divine sphere of One. In

this respect he is called Gnosis by the Gnostic, which is rather a state of "existence" than a

defined existent. This all-aspect is anthropomorphised in the figure of Pan-Hermes. Hermes is

everything. In hermetics, as in any other tradition, he is the omnipotent, divine, one-god

aspect of everything. There is nothing else, but Hermes – every movement is happening

within himself. He changes face, appearing in countless figures: In alchemy he is Alchemy.

Not only is he the planet Mercurius, but also the Venus, the Sun and the Saturn. In alchemy

Saturn is called "Sol Niger", therefore he is also the black sun. (The planetary aspects of

Hermes should of course not be understood by physical terms, but as an allegory of different

phases of the mind and of the world.) He is the one appearing in different 'disguises' changing

from one to the other – he was Hermes Trismegistos of Egypt, he was Asklepios, was Imhotep,

was himself Toth, and the deciple of Toth, but also father and sometimes the son of Toth. At

places he was Agathodaimon or the master of Agathodaimon. There are versions where he

3 Hermetics: In a narrow sense – from historical and philological point of view – the Hermetic tradition refers to a well distinguishable cultural phenomenon, starting from Egypt around the 2nd century BC. In general terms it is a philosophical system organizing all religious, mystical, magical, philosophical traditions and mythological ideas ever known to mankind. Of course it is a tradition itself, more ancient than any other systems known...

51

Chapter III. – The Book of Urizen : The Chaptersappears as Asklepios Imhotes deriving from Imhotep who was a real character, the high-priest

and architecture of Heliopoli, uniting with Asklepios, similarly to Hermes who became son of

Agathodaimon. It is not the importance of the exact figure, but the interaction and the

undividable complexity of these symbols. Therefore Hermes is also Pan, who according to the

Greek cosmology and works trying to describe the origin of the cosmos and mind – like

Hesiod's –, belongs to the very first generation of Gods, who precede the existence of the

cosmos.

Hermes-Urizen is the progenitor-existent of the micro-cosmos just the same as of the macro-

cosmos. He is the creator of both Heaven and Earth. Sometimes he is vulgarised, appearing as

a triarchic system of micro-, macro-, and mezzo-cosmos, but really there is a hiding fourth;

the uniting-all divine aspect. The aspect above existence and non-existence.

The character of Urizen is also defined by abstractions and negations – unknown, unprolific,

repelling, void, vacuum, unseen, secret, etc. [3:1-20] – for two reasons: From the point of

view of Eternity, Urizen is unreal; and only an isolated 'Reason' can invent abstract and

negative terms. In a full reality, such terms would have no meaning. By comparison Milton's

God is praised by the angels for being 'invisible' and 'thorned inaccessible' [Paradise Lost

III.375-7]. Blake condemns such qualities in a deity, and mocks them by exaggeration.

As the primarily, divine, ancient and creative idea, Pan-Urizen is called Pan

pangenitor, "the creator of all", but is also called Pan panfager, "the destroyer of all". In Latin

tradition the dark aspect of Pan will be called Dispater, the Father of the Underworld, the

ruler of the Underworld, Dys. So we see that Pan is an ambivalent figure like Mercurius-

Hermes-Toth; he has a satanic face, the Saturnic, the Sol Niger face, the face of the chaos of

the under-waters, the face of the underworld, the nearly-nothing-aspect, and he has the face of

the spiritual sun, the universality of above existence. Just like Blake's Urizen who first

appears embodied in the dark horrors of the "petrific abominable chaos" [3:26], but later

becomes the creator of the World.

Dark revolting in silent activity:Unseen in tormenting passion;An activity unknown and horrible;A self-contemplating shadow,In enormous labours occupied

[The Book of Urizen I.4.]

52


Pan-Urizen's dark aspect can be traced through the centuries, and was always placed in

absolute central position like the city of the underworld, Dys in Dante's Divina Comedia. (In

the Book of Enoch, the same layers of the underworld are given centuries before.) Pan is the

Master of the Universe, the primal Dispater; the lord of the chaotic under-waters and the

equivalent of all dark aspects of things. This "underworldness" was called khthonicity by the

Greeks – the absolute darkness and abyss of all evil. In this chthonic under-water realm is

where Dispater rules. "In his cold horrors silent, dark Urizen prepared" [3:27-28]. Blake also

sees Urizen as a dark, winter god, anticipated in the imagery of "Winter" of Poetical

Sketches.4

We could go on and on showing the immense variety of ideas trying to formulate the

meaning of Pan-Urizen through the various traditions, but it is more profitable to narrow our

subject down to the actual representation of Blake. Of course we will have to reach out to the

latest times of Hermetics; the 20th century, where the hermetic tradition seems rather chaotic,

and therefore presents us with a very rich variety of ontology.

Chapter II. – Prior to Existence

According to every spiritual tradition, the creation of the universe consists of several

“phases”, and the first stage always refers to the realm “before the creation”. It is always

described as the disordered entire beyond the sphere of the universe – the Kabbalah calls it

zimzum meo – which is characterized by absolute nothing (ayin) and absolute everything (ayin

sof). The Gnostic describe it as complete emptiness (keroma) and complete inclusiveness

(pleroma): this is the infinite orb of divinity before the emanation. Blake describes it

beautifully: "Earth was not, nor globes of attraction; the will of the Immortal expanded or

contracted at will his all-flexible senses. Death was not; but eternal life sprang" [3:36].

Eternity is undivided and has nothing to separate the oneness of immanent power. Geoffrey

Keynes understands this as in Eternity there are no spheres (such as planets, moons, stars,

etc.) subject to the law of gravity [3:36]. Eternity is non-Newtonian. Expansion and

contraction are by will, not by the law of gravity [3:37-38].5

4 Keynes, Geoffrey (ed.) - The Complete Writings of William Blake. [Oxford: Oxford Universitiy Press, 1996.] (p.914.)


53

Chapter III. – The Book of Urizen : The ChaptersCreation begins with the unfolding of the

unspeakable creative forces, awakening the

sleeping God of Formation. He is aroused by the

sound of a heavenly trumpet. The trumpet [3:40]

does not refer to the trumpet of the Last

Judgement, but the trumpet that sounded over

Sinai when God gave the Law to Moses [Exodus

19:16]. Similarly to Moses, Urizen is seated on a

mountain writing secret words of wisdom that

are uttered from the bursting thunders [4:3-4].

He – just like Moses – is seeking to learn the

secret laws of the Eternals, but the Almighty God

stays hidden in darkness. Jehovah too, hid

himself in darkness, in the cloud in Sinai, and

then in the windowless “Holy of Holies”. Urizen [pl.4b.]

Details could have been taken from the mustering of armies in Milton's Paradise Lost [VI.55-

60]. This is when Urizen is first named – “the solitary one in Immensity” [3:43]. Urizen

and Moses are identified, not just in their common act of recording the secrets of Heaven, but

also in their task to create order. On plate no.4 Urizen is depicted just like Michelangelo's

Moses; with long white hair and beard.

Urizen’s motivation is clearly explained [4:6-13]. It is intended to sound reasonable, as Urizen

is Reason – he has to justify his task of recording the true secrets of Creation. His reason

echoes the reason of Neoplatonic creation myths: to fulfil the void. He describes his solitude

fighting the fire of passion within himself [4:14] that has pushed him in a state which

Alchemy calls albedo. Albedo is “whiteness” or the ‘emptiness’, when the creative powers are

locked in passivity generating an empty space. Blake describes this with an alchemical

allusion too, describing Nature's wide womb. In Alchemy the philosopher’s vase is often

portrayed as the womb (of Nature).

Consumed inwards, into the world within:A void immense, wild dark and deep,

Where nothing was; Natures wide wombAnd self balanced stretched over the void

I alone, even I!

54

Chapter III. – The Book of Urizen : The Chapters[The Book of Urizen II.5]

In stanza no.5 “I alone, I even!” [4:19] shows the lonesomeness of Urizen which echoes at

once the biblical Jehovah ("I am the Lord thy God" [Exodus 20:2]) and Milton's Satan. It isn’t

egotism like Stevenson would suggest6, but the clear expression of the horrors of standing out

against emptiness. Urizen is the only progenitor-existent capable of withstanding the

excruciating transformation of Creation. Similarly to Ezekiel witnessing the change of times,

or Satan fallen from Heaven, Urizen is left alone to manifest the creative powers of Eternity.

Compare "Why will you die O Eternals?" [4:12] to "Why will ye die, O house of Israel?"

[Ezekiel 18:31, 33:11].

Many more biblical parallels can be found. Compare “Self balanced stretched over the void”

[4:18] with "And the Earth was without form and void" [Genesis I:2] and "And Earth self-

balanced on her Centre hung" [Paradise Lost VII.242]. Urizen partakes in the first stage of

Creation by becoming the God of restraint, the creator of prohibition, whose laws are

forbearance and abstinence, and therefore is for ages divided from Eternity and at war with

Time. But he does not see that joy and pain are necessary contraries for a living existence, that

'a solid without fluctuation' is dead, and that the burning fires of 'the enjoyments of Genius'

only appear like 'torment and insanity' to those who do not understand them. [For comparison

see: The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (pl.17-20)].

He creates the dividing laws and lays down the fundamentals of Creation. Similarly to the

Bible he writes all the laws in “the Book of eternal brass” [4:32-40], setting the foundations of

a created Universe – he becomes the Ordering Power of God. Compare: "Thou shall have no

other gods before me" [Exodus 20:3]. Milton's God promises, after 'long obedience…One

Kingdom' [Paradise Lost VII.159-61.]. This is what the hermetic tradition identifies with

IHVH or Jehovah.

6 Stevenson, W.H. (ed.) – William Blake : Selected Poetry. [Penguin, 1988.] (p. 282.)

55


Urizen floating unconsciously in the dark chaotic waters of emptiness [pl.C6.]

So this is where we meet up with the

hermetic tradition once more, which also

presents us with the expression of the same

idea, which is closely similar to the Sumerian

pan-aspect, which they called Sub Isniggarab.

We also have to introduce a new line: the dark

mythology of H.P. Lovecraft7 called the

"Great Old Ones" – a group of gods from the

times of chaos, who dwell in the inter

dimensional spheres or the deep oceans,

representing the chaotic under-waters. He

calls his main god Yog-Sothoth, as well as Sub

Niggurath, the " black goat of the woods with

a thousand progeny", the principle which

Blake calls Urizen and the Greeks called

panfager. This god lies deep below the realms

of time and space ready to emerge from the

chaotic abyss.

Chaos appears when it is believed to have emerged; then it is the time of Chaos, the Lead

Age, the age of Saturn, the time of 'chaos-magic', when the disintegrated chaotic powers

appear in the world, for everything is allowed. It is interesting to draw a parallel to Aleister

Crowley,8 who chooses Pan as the main principle of his magical system. It is not by

coincidence that he does that; the sabbatical goat is the strongest satanic aspect, for Sabbath is

the resting sun, the last sphere, and the time where one falls or transcends. We can identify

Lovecraft’s beast as the most central figure of chaos magic, where Cthulhu is the most clear

manifestation of Chaos. This is what Crowley – although had no kind of relationship with

Lovecraft – calls CTHLH666. This is the Sumerian Kaprunuja, known in the Islam too as the

satanic principle, the vitiating, the disrupting force, as well as known by the Indian tradition

as a sea-monster called Khatala. The Chinese are also familiar with it as Hui Tai Lao "the

7 H.P. Lovecraft – At the Mountains of Madness. (The H.P. Lovecraft Omnibus 1-3.) [Harper Collins, 1985.]8 Aleister Crowley – MAGICK in theory and practice. [Castle Books, 1991.]

56

Chapter III. – The Book of Urizen : The Chaptersmonster in the sea". The important is that they are all the same representatives of the same

idea, the same principle.

I could go on showing the parallels in Blake's Urizen and the way it appears in certain

mytho-magical systems or the way his intuitive descriptions influence and interact with other

mystic circles, but at this point I wish to summarize.

All mythological representations are symbolic expressions of this chaotic condition preceding

the emergence of the human psyche; consciousness. This certain psychological condition is

still there in every human, far beyond the deepest domain of the mind: The fear of the

unrecognisable, inconceivable, inexplicable non-consciousness. Therefore Urizen is not a

horror character like Frankenstein or Dracula; he is not an outer force, but the symbolical

representation of the 'Pan principle', more ancient than anything else in the world, for it is the

progenitor-existent preceding consciousness. Blake's importance lies in the perfect

representation of this inner force. He is the first, who by means of unparalleled talent of

literary capabilities, goes beyond fantasy and horror as a genre, and is able to express this pre-

conscious principle. All those who see Blake as a simple writer of dark horror and fantasy, not

only underestimate his work, but fall short of understanding their own inner depths.

Chapter III. – Grasping Subsistence

57

Chapter III. – The Book of Urizen : The ChaptersThe Fall (of God or Man) is always

understood by all hermetic traditions as a

division. Creation also starts with a division for

Blake [5:3-4]. The division of Urizen from the

hosts of Eternity has ironically resulted from

his attempts to enforce a fixed static unity.

According to the neoplatonic views Creation is

no other than the emanation of the light of God

arranging chaos around its emanative route

generating different spheres. In the Kabbalah

the emanation creates four “universes”: the

world of Emanation (Aziluth), the world of

Creation (Beriah), the world of Formation

(Yetzirah) and the world of Action (Assiyah).9The bounding forces of creation [pl.6.]

Aziluth separates Heaven and Earth from Nothingness – it is the world that was summoned

from the non-existent by the “Ten Voices of God”. Urizen also summons the first sphere of

existence by opening ‘the Book of Brass’ unleashing the creative powers of nature –

“enormous forms of energy; all the seven deadly sins of the soul” [4:48-49]. Compare the

creation of the world by the power of the Word in the Bible, separating the Heaven and the

Earth [Genesis I.1-10.].

The bounding forces of the productive energies of nature unleashed by Urizen establish the

boundaries of the created universe – Blake compares it to a bloody womb [4:29] and a black

globe [4:33] ‘standing on the shore of the infinite ocean’. Emanating from the dark void

Urizen becomes the focal point of existence gathering the creative powers around his own

existence, like an immense gravitational field that draws light towards itself. This state is

understood in the hermetic tradition as the state of “Hell”. Blake is also aware of it and takes a

detail “No light from the fires” [5:17] from Milton's Hell [Paradise Lost I.61-63.]. This is the

state the Greeks called kthonicity – the absolute darkness of the abyss. At this emanative state

creation is still unconscious and automatically ordains existence around the centre of creation.

The creative processes are mechanical and even Urizen cannot resist becoming the nucleus of

9 MacGregor Mathers – The Kabbalah Unveiled. [Arkana, reprint of 1926.]

58

Chapter III. – The Book of Urizen : The Chapterslife [4:21]. Compare “He dug mountains” [5:22] with Milton's war in Heaven [Paradise Lost

VI. 639-69].

In this condition of existence Urizen can be identified with Pan as ‘the Master of the

Universe’, the primal Dispater; the lord of the chaotic under-waters and the equivalent of all

dark aspects of things. In this chthonic under-water realm is where the Dispater rules without

reason or rational construction – the laws of generating are ruled by chaotic conditions: fear,

fury and fierce madness [4:24]. The created universe in this state is 'unorganised' [6:8] and

'formless' [7:9], so the images are confusing [5:28-37].

The hermetic tradition reveals to us a very interesting ‘aspect’ of this chaotic state of

existence: this is where the female aspect of Nature (Physis), the Sophia, the daughter of the

world is cast. By Hermetics she is called Khoré Kosmu and by the Sumerian tradition

Erestigal. She becomes the mistress of the underworld, in her 'sacred whore' aspect, in

contradiction to Innana, the virgin aspect. We find such examples in Orpheus and Erudite or

the hymns of the Gnostic. Accordingly Pan is this aspect of Nature too, the sabbatical goat,

known as Sub Isniggarad for the 'goat-aspect' by the Sumerians, and Kernumos for the 'deer-

aspect' by the Celts. This pan-face of Hermes can be found in the proto-Indian early states like

the proto-Siva of Mohenjodaro. The same idea is there: the high-aspect of Siva sitting on the

top of the mountain of life, as the representative of the mind, as kta – the Lord of the World,

as mayavin – world magician, with his female aspect (akti) there in the beginning too, later

descending to the bottom of the world and kept prisoner by the snake or becoming a snake-

goddess. (This tradition reflects nicely in the Kundalini-yoga praxis.) She is there in many

other traditions as well; what is prajna in the East is Khoré Kosmu in the Kabbalah and

Hermetics, Shekinah in the Jewish tradition, Shakina in the Sufi, and so on.

Blake calls this wisdom principle of Nature – the Sophia – Los. As with Orpheus and Erudite

in the Ileuses mysteries, or Pan-Hermes and Khoré Kosmu in the hermetic tradition, Urizen

and Los are inseparable – they are the diabolic aspect of the same unity.

Los wept howling around the dark DemonAnd cursing his lot; for in anguish,Urizen was rent from his side

[The Book of Urizen III.9]

59


Los cast in the underworld [pl.C8.]

Los is the power of poetic imagination. If

Imagination is separated from Reason, both are

drastically wounded. Los is in anguish because he

has lost his Mind. The biblical allusion of Adam

and Eve is quite clear – Urizen was created from

the side of Los [6:4] like Eve of Adam’s rib

[Genesis II.21-23.]. Urizen lost in the chaotic

state of his own emptiness is locked in

unconscious sleep. Separated from his power of

imagination, he is dead until Los creates a vault

for him to be reborn [7:8].

It is only the physical sphere (Physis) that is able

to frame and orient the creative powers lost in

chaos.

Chapter IV. – Taking Form

Urizen is asleep or dead from the point of view of Eternity. Hurtling bones…surging…

raging [8:2-4] means he has become a chaos of disorganised motion. His elements (sulphur,

pitch, nitre) suggest that he has become a hell [8:3-5]. In order to change his condition he

needs to be bounded by Los – he has to go through an “alchemical transmutation”. As with

every transmutation he is first hemmed in the alchemical stove, upheld by the nets and rivets

of Los [8:8-11]. His mind is still characterized by “perturbed immortal mad raging” but it is

also "sulphureous" [8:3, 10:14, 10:21] referring to the alchemical theory of metamorphosis,

because sulphur is a primal formative element in alchemical theory. Urizen is locked in the

state that Alchemy calls nigredo. Nigredo is “blackness” or the ‘philosophical death’, when

because of oblivion the creative powers are unrealised, resulting in a death like stupor. 10 Plate

no.10 & 11 (chapter IV [a]) is like a prologue to the detailed description of the transmutation

of Urizen that follow.

10 Compare with Chapter II. : the alchemical state of albedo (page 54.)

60

Chapter III. – The Book of Urizen : The ChaptersThese transformations of Urizen make up some of Blake's grandest and strangest

prophetic studies. The transformation is full of horror and pain. First the spinal skeleton, with

branchwork of rib and savage nudity of joint and clavicle, shaped mammoth-wise, in

grovelling involution of limb. Next a huge fettered figure with blind shut eyes overflowing

into tears, with convulsed mouth and sodden stream of beard: then bones painfully gathering

flesh, twisted forms round which flames break out fourfold, tortured elemental shapes that

plunge and writhe and moan.

Blake describes this change with a number of alchemical allusions. To begin with Urizen is

described as a dark waste [10:3] – what alchemists called prima materia (“first matter”) and

often identified with soil. For the transmutation to go into operation a new order has to be

adopted – the measurement of time – since changes can only take effect in time. Los is now

for the first time called 'the Eternal Prophet' [10:15]. In Eternity there is no need for Prophecy

because there is no Time. Time belongs to the fallen world, and is a necessity for it. Hence

Los divides the night into 'watches' and creates 'hours, days and years' by the repeated beat of

his blacksmith's hammer – which is a metaphor for the metre of poetry. In time the formless

God takes from, creating and assuming feature by feature; bones heart, eyes, nostrils, throat

with tongue, hands with feet; on age of agony being allotted to each of the seven created

features; still toiling in fire and beset by snares.

This stage of Creation belongs to the World of Formation, which the Cabbala calls Yetzirah.

The visionary cabbalistic writing, the Síúr Qomá – as well as the Zohar – give detailed

descriptions of the creation of the First Man (Adam Kadmon) as an allegory to the creative

processes of heavenly emanation. The head, the beard and every part of the first divine body

refer to metaphysical symbols of creation. Without these symbols one would not be able to

gain knowledge of the higher stages of existence. It is interesting that Blake also describes the

unfold of creative powers with the formation of Urizen’s body by Los.

The emanation of the hidden creative powers of Urizen is a re-verbalization of the

biblical Genesis – the seven “Ages” [10:42] refer to the days of creation in Genesis. Also

there is a more ancient tradition of septinity immediately reflected in the occult concept of

“the seven spheres”, each reflecting a stage of emanation. Without going into specific details

of the system; every sphere is connected to one universal principle symbolised by one of the

61

Chapter III. – The Book of Urizen : The Chaptersseven planets. Each sphere is a faculty of awareness and construction, possessing the potential

to organise reality accordingly. With the birth of every ability, reality takes a new form.

The first stage of emanation from is the framework of the mind. The eternal mind…

White as the snow [10:19-23] is an allusion to the tabula rasa of John Lock’s psychology; a

'blank slate' empty of intrinsic ideas, capable only of receiving and combining external

impressions. This is Fire, the Sun – the Light of God –; the clear emanating creative force

imprisoned by the human skull – “A roof shaggy wild inclosed in an orb” [10:33]. It is the

highest of heavenly principle in the human body seated at the highest point of the body. The

Hindu mystics call it sahasrãra, “the lotus with a thousand leaves”, referring to the infinite

nature of this power. From this centre all other forces descend and become more

embodied in matter. Attached to the skull the

spine brings forth the whole body structure,

creating the solid framework of the spinal

skeleton [10:35-41]. In one copy at least these

bones are touched with dim green and gold

colour; such a faint fierce tint as one might

look for on the cast scales or flakes of

dragons left a strand in the ebb of a deluge.11

The second stage starts with the painful

descent of the ‘life force’, which the Gnostic

called logoi spermatikoi, “the seed of life”.

Blake describes it as a “round globe hot

burning deep” [11:3]. When it reaches the

central point of the physical framework it

creates the heart and blood vessels; “A red/round globe…ten thousand branches” [11:2-6].

This is Air – the Human Soul. This is what the Sephirot Kabbalah calls Tiferet (“beauty”); the

central seat of power residing in the heart of the ‘Tree of Life’. It is the dividing line between

the higher- and lower- stages of existence linking the superior and inferior sephiras. It is the

ignition point harmonising the creative and destructive forces. The Hindu mystics call it

anãhata-cakra, “the centre of the Heart”, while the Jewish mystics refer to it as the ‘Throne of

11 Swinburne, Ch. Algernon : William Blake . - Chpt. III.: The Prophetic Books . [ William Heinemann, London 1925.] (p. 249.)

62

Chapter III. – The Book of Urizen : The ChaptersSolomon’, since it connects to the powers of Wisdom (Hokmah) and Understanding (Binah)

as well as the powers of Forgiveness (Hesed) and Judgement (Gevurah). They also refer to it

as “You” or “May He be Holy”, since it is the manifestation of divine presence in the ‘Heart

of Being’.12

The third stage of emanation creates the nervous system “Brain shot branches” [11:11] and

the primal perceptive sense; the eyes. Stages four to seven generate the other four senses of

perception; the ears [11:21], the nose [13:1] and “A craving Hungry Cavern” [13:6] – the

digestive system and tongue. Finally, in the Seventh Age the limbs appear; arms and legs. The

five sensual organs in every hermetic tradition represent the five principle elements: limbs and

thus touch relate to Earth; tongue and thus taste relate to Water; nose and thus smell relate

Fire; ears and thus hearing relate Air; and finally eyes and thus seeing relate to the fifth

element: space. The development of the five sensual organs does not only mean the birth of

Urizen, but also the birth of the physical universe. There is an endless line of analogies where

every existent constituent in the physical world relates to one of the senses. This is the final

world: the World of Action (Assiyah), the Earth-sphere and the body of Men.

It is interesting to note that Blake also describes Urizen’s body as big as the created physical

universe – “his right Arm [reaching] to the north, his left Arm to the south… and his Feet

stamped the nether Abyss” [13:13-16]. It fits in perfectly with the hermetic tradition: the

creation of Men is also the creation of the World – the micro- and macro-cosmos is the same.

“Verum est, certum et verissimum, quod est,superius, naturam habet inferioram et

ascendens naturam descendentis.”

“It is without doubt, certain and true,that what is above corresponds to what is below,and what is below corresponds to what is above.”

[Hermes Trismegistos – Tabula Smaragdina (1-3.)]

12 Papus (Encausse, Gerard) – Kabbala. [Hermit: Miskolc, 1999.]

63


Chapter V. – Foundations of Life

Urizen has become the created universe well ‘bounded in a deadly sleep’ [14:27]. The divine

powers of Urizen have manifested in the body of the World conjured up by Los’ enormous

errand, obliterating his eternal condition. The Chinese mystics know this stage of Creation

very well; they call it Pan Ku, "The Cosmic Man". The Jewish mystics call the same

condition of the form taken universe Adam Kadmon "The World Man". Having created this

stable dimension of existence, Los – the wisdom principle of Nature (Sophia) – returns to the

inactive condition of his primordial passivity. “A nerveless silence, his prophetic voice seized”

[14:38] Examining his own creation Los falls into exhaustion and attachment with Urizen

[13:40] – he is infatuated with what he has created. Thus he unites with his complementary

primordial power – now regulated and ordered. His imaginative powers merge with Urizen’s

creative, rational powers: "The Eternal Prophet & Urizen closed" [13:40].

Urizen (black) and Los (white) locked in the

flames of Creation [pl.11.]

I will elucidate this condition for the sake of

simplicity with the help of Chinese

mysticism. This state is understood by

Chinese mystics as "doubleness" (t'ai-chi),

represented by the black and white flames

rotating in the Wheel of Life (). As Urizen

divided himself from the other Eternals, so

now Los will divide into male (strong, active)

and female (weak, passive). This division

does not exist in Eternity. Here it indicates

passive helplessness in the face of disaster.

Although Blake and his interpreters see this

as a negative process, Chinese mysticism sees

this progression natural and identifies the two

forces of division as yin (black, female) and

yang (white, male). Los sees Urizen "deadly

black" too [13:50].

64

Chapter III. – The Book of Urizen : The ChaptersLos, the imaginative force of Creation, now has space – the potential universe (the body of

Urizen) – and creative "mental" power to fill in the void. It is the creation of the first "living"

organism; the active formation of the unified potential creative powers into something

definite. This process for Blake is triggered by pity. In stanza no.7 pity is a patronizing

emotion, as against love, which unifies [13:51-2].

The separation starts with the birth of "the

globe of life" [15:13], which all hermetic

traditions describe as the "cosmic egg". The

Chinese call it Hun Tun, "the cosmic egg",

the Hindus Mula Trikona, "Great Womb", the

Sufi kashkul, "vessel", the Cabbalists Kelipot,

"bubble", the Gnostic Zoé, "life orb", and so

on. The primal difference of this existent is

that it is material and definite. The formative

creative forces – Los and Urizen – can thus

be identified as 'parents': "the universal father

and mother of all living things".

The birth of the 'globe of life' is naturally

identified with the birth of the first female,

since it is the origin of all material life.

For Blake the first female – Nature – is created from a fluid, rather than a solid rib [18:1],

since she emanates from the supple state of Los. Time, divided against himself, brings forth

Space, the universal eternal female element. From the point of view of the Eternals, the new-

born material world is deceptive and was generated by pity, therefore the first female form is

called Pity [19:1]. This topic is highly important for Blake, well reflected in his separate piece

of painting called 'Pity', where the first female is represented lying on the ground in a position

of the dead with an angelic figure handing down a baby – the symbol of life – to her thus

giving her life. Los's pity is a false love [19:10], which produces a whole range of false

reactions in the responsive material universe (Enitharmon).

65

Chapter III. – The Book of Urizen : The ChaptersThe gods recoil in fear from the dawn of human creation and division and therefore the

material universe is shielded by the Eternals, in order that it would not disturb the 'real' world

[19:2-8]. This is what every hermetic tradition calls "the veil", which blinds us from seeing

the eternal reality. The Gnostic call it "Curtain", the Kabbalah Ruah ha Kodesh, "the shroud

of the soul", the Hindus my, "the veil of illusion", and so on. Blake calls it "Science" [19:9]

reflecting his views on the Newtonian universe, according to which the world is a dead piece

of machinery, operating in accordance with immutable laws leaving no space for divine

organization.

Chapter VI. - Generation

With the birth of the first female – Nature – the World of Generation begins. Since the

materialised world reflects divine nature and as a result resembles true reality Los is

succumbed and blinded by his "own divided image" [19:16]. This process is described in

occult philosophy as "the mirroring". The essence of this teaching is that during the emanative

processes of Creation the creator is blinded by his own reflection and becomes enslaved by it.

He surrenders to false identification and gradually comes to believe that he is identical with

his false (physical) image: the material body or Nature. As a consequence he loses his touch

with his own true nature and loses the connection with ultimate reality. This is exactly what

happens to Los [20:2].

66

Chapter III. – The Book of Urizen : The ChaptersLos does not realise that the manifested world

is a mere projection of his own imaginative

powers ordained by the 'satanic' rationalizing

powers of Urizen. As a result Los becomes a

separated character appearing in the

anthropomorphic form of the first man.

Accordingly the first feminine power becomes

embodied in the human form of Enitharmon.

They are identified with the first humans of the

biblical paradise [Genesis II.], so Enitharmon

is associated with Eve, while Los is related

with Adam. Of these two divinities is born the

first man-child Orc. The imaginative creating

force (Los) unites with the power of Nature

(Enitharmon) creating life (Orc).

According to Platonic philosophy the division of the One (hen) into male and female –

active and passive powers – results in constant movement or 'energy flow' and the eternal

desire for steadiness and oneness. The separation of active and passive energies result in the

unceasing world of motion; in nature active powers flow towards the passive. Only in unity

do they come to a rest. This is what the Greeks called the "Wheel of Ixion", the Gnostic "the

circle of genesis" (cyclostes genestos), the Hindus "the wheel of life" (samsra) and so on. We

can identify Enitharmon's attempt to flee from Los [19:13] – just like Eve fleeing Adam at

first in Paradise Lost [IV. 477-82.] – as the expression of this idea. Sensing the separated

nature of the Female Los feels pity – as in contrast to the platonic love (agapé) – and unites

with Enitharmon only to be separated again.

Similarly to the biblical story Los' intercourse with Enitharmon has fundamental

consequences: he commits the original sin and sets forth the generation of living creatures.

Enitharmon conceives an embryo, which is described as a worm [19:20]. The worm is to

become Orc, who is again identified with the Serpent of Paradise, but the Bible legend is

altered. For Blake, the Serpent is not the tempter to vice, but repressed energy, chained by

67

Chapter III. – The Book of Urizen : The Chaptersmankind's false perceptions. Here Orc also recalls Cain, the cursed child of Adam and Eve

[Genesis IV.].

There is also a hermetic secret of the Serpent concealed in this symbolism. The snake is not

altogether a negative image, but the symbolic representation of generative powers and all

secret knowledge. The coiled snake is in itself symbolizes the womb and the embryo, as the

productive force of life, as well as it's spiral motion connecting to the ascent and descent of

divine powers. Due to its constant change of skin it is the symbol of eternal life and

rejuvenation. In Christian mysticism for example the snake is identified with the force of

Immaculate Conception, while in Greek mythology it appears as the Goddess of Earth with a

snake tail, Erikhthonios. The serpent is seen as a protector-god in Hindu mythology and is

represented in the form of Mucilinda, coiled around the neck of God Siva, and in other forms

it is recognized as the keeper of all secret knowledge; the king of the snakes (nga). It is the

power of fertility appearing in the form of the phallus – the linga of Siva. There are endless

representations of this principium, but perhaps one more important aspect in connection to

Blake is that the Serpent is the symbol of Time locked in motion – the creative forces bolted

in the endless cycle of death and rebirth, of constant revitalization. In this respect the Serpent

is called Uroboros (= Phoenician Lotan, Hebrew Leviatan, Greek Ladon, Scandinavian

Midgardrom, etc.) and is related to the powers of Time (Kronos-Saturnus).

Los act of seduction sets forth the spinning wheels of Life – with the creative powers now

transferred into matter the world becomes a self-generating existent, without having to rely on

the continuous participation and control of divine intervention. The unleashed powers of

creation begin their unfold to generate a whole new race of extant beings: the Human race.

Orc is the progenitor existent of all material beings [19:43] and is clearly the ultimate life

force stimulating dead matter. "Delving earth in his resistless way" [19:44] of course means

'irresistibly digging through the mother's body'13, but on a higher level of interpretation it also

means plunging into the material world. The material world now powered by its own

generating force becomes a separate unit in Eternity – the Eternals close it in a fixed place,

and hide it from the rest of Reality [19:51-52].


68


Chapter VII. – Chains of Being

The birth of Orc – the life force – sets off an avalanche of changes in the materialized

world. Orc developing on the milk of Enitharmon gives rise to what every hermetic tradition

calls "the great chain of being". In Blake's description Orc suckling the power of Nature

creates in Los "a tightening girdle" – a heart-constricting jealousy [20:9]. Orc represents

unrestricted life power, of which Los has no possession, therefore his aroused by longing and

envy. Their struggle – the struggle between the progenitor creative force and materialized life

– is described similarly to the Oedipus legend. Like the infant Oedipus was abandoned on a

mountainside because of an oracle that he would kill his father and marry his mother, so is

Orc abandoned. Blake's version of the Oedipus myth combines the theme of incest-threat with

the idea of adult authority restricting youthful energy. [20:23]

The dead heard the voice of the childand began to awake from sleep

all things heard the voice of the childand began to awake to life.

[The Book of Urizen VII.5.]

The energy of life cannot be restricted by the power of imagination and so it flows into the

material world. The dead refers to matter coming to life, but instead of finding a universe of

freedom and imagination materialized life faces a universe of limitation and dependence. Los

emanated girdles form an inseparable chain "in each other link by link locked" [20:20]. Life is

chained to the material world with 'the Chain of Jealousy' [20:23-24].

In renaissance symbolism the chained man is the allegory of the human bound by his own

desires, who is unable to break free from the world of yearning. This is what Buddhist

philosophy calls "dependent origination" which means the interwoven connections between

all things in existence: nothing is without cause and causation. This is the earth-bound nature

of physical existence, locked in the everlasting cycle of life and death. This idea is also

reflected in Swedenborg's philosophy of nature, especially in the Principia Rerum Naturalium

("Principles of Natural Things"), where he posited that matter consists of interdependent

particles that are indefinitely divisible, and that these particles are in constant vortical

(swirling) motion. Furthermore, these particles are themselves composed of smaller particles

69

Chapter III. – The Book of Urizen : The Chaptersin motion related to each other. 14 In neoplatonic philosophy the chain is an invisible cord by

which the Eternals govern the actions of mortals. Thus, the chain not only means a bonding to

the world of craving and dependence, but it is also a symbol of punishment. We cannot help

recall the figure of Prometheus – also the representation of the life force (heavenly fire) –

chained to the rocks of the Caucasus by Zeus.

It is interesting that like many hermetic traditions, Blake is also aware of the secrets of the

hidden aspect of Nature: "Los encircled Enitharmon with fires of Prophecy from the sight of

Urizen & Orc [20:42-44]. From the corporeal reality of our existence, true nature always stays

hidden. Material beings are locked away from the true gnosis – the secret wisdom of Nature.

The arising of life in matter awakens the sleeping forces of generation: Urizen.

Urizen is awakened by "hunger and the odours of Nature" [20:30]. As the objective, creative

aspect of the Father his powers manifest in the organization and stabilization of the material

world. He seeks to control by reason and natural law, instead of enjoying by imagination. His

main aspect is forming dividing rules to distinguish all material manifestations. This activity

is seen by Blake as creating the natural laws of modern science – scales to weigh, equipments

14 Swedenborg's Philosophy of Nautre in Encyclopaedia Britannica [1994-1998] See: Emanuel Swedendorg

70

Chapter III. – The Book of Urizen : The Chaptersfor measurement – and in the aspect of the

Father creating the biblical Garden of Eden

[20:41], which is also seen in every hermetic

tradition as the symbol of the fixed boundary

of the existing universe.

Urizen is represented as a figure pushing the

orb of the physical world in its set place;

setting the World as we know it. His figure

clearly resembles the figure of Sisyphus

pushing the boulder of human sin and trying

to reach the summit of relief.15 Urizen's labour

is like Sisyphus': hopeless and without end.

Chapter VIII. – The Material World

The divine creative powers manifesting in existence can take the form of many

structures, but manifestation in the form of the material world or Nature (pistis sophia or

physis) can only take one definite structure – the configuration of the 'garden' governed by the

forces of a quaternity. The idea of Paradise, something that is surrounded (Avestan

pairi+díz), is therefore the idea of the world, the universe that God created. This is the den of

Urizen signifying the world of Materialism [20:46]. This structure is called Gan Eden "world

garden" or simply pardes "garden" in the Hebrew tradition – revealing PRDS16, the universal

tetrasomy: P stands for Pesat, R for Remez, D for Drus and S for Sod.

The dens of Urizen, like Paradise, are the symbolic representation of the material universe; an

allegory of the embodied secrets of the world. It is built up of four organizing powers

represented by the four sons of Urtizen: And the children of Urizen were Thiriel, born from

cloud; Utha, from water; Grodna, from earth; Fuzon "first-begotten, last-born, from fire-" and

15 There is a possible influence of Tiziano's or Giordano's Sisyphus on the representation (author's comment).16 Since the body of the word in Hebrew comes from the consonants, only the consonants of pardes are written.

71

Chapter III. – The Book of Urizen : The Chaptershis daughters from green herbs and cattle, from monsters and worms of the pit [23:11-17].

Urizen's four sons are the four principle elements of air, water, earth and fire. This tetrasomy

is the manifesting quaternity of materialised life energy, represented by the great quarters in

every tradition: the four basic principles of

Air, Fire, Water and Earth in all traditions. In

Egyptian tradition, the four guardians of the

quarters of Heaven: Hapi (the Monkey -

north), Thamutet (the Jackal - east),

Quebsenut (the Falcon - west), and Amset

(the Man - south), or the four main gods Re,

Su, Geb and Apis. In Christian tradition, the

four animate beasts: the Bull, the Eagle, the

Lion, and the Cherub or Man. In Hebrew

tradition, the Shem ha Meforash, the most

special name of god, with the four attributes,

represented by the four letters of YHVH. In

the Kabbalist tradition along with the former,

Hayot ha Kodesh, the 'angels' with four faces

around the Keter Sefirah. The tetrakthus in the Pythagorean tradition; monas, dias, trias, and

tetrad, or 1, 2, 3, 4. The four dimensions in Latin tradition: cosmos, spiritus, anima and solum.

In the Kübalion tradition: spiritual, mental, astral, and physical nature. In Gnostic tradition the

emanated arkhons: gnosis, pneuma, psyché, and sarks, which create the prison of the material

body.

Urizen's exploration of the physical world is a highly elaborated topic, greatly

expanded in the Four Zoas Night the Sixth. The episode also parallels the journey of Satan

through Chaos in Milton's Paradise Lost. In the fallen world, everything lives on something

else (the Ox is food) and what one appropriates, another lacks (the Dog goes hungry). Laws of

unity are impossible in this world; the central governing law of this condition of existence is

suffering; "life lived upon death" [23:27]. It is interesting how Blake's description of the world

of suffering and the 'web of religion' parallel the Buddhist teachings of the 'wheel of life'

(samsra) according to which the interdependent origination and existence of all beings in the

material world leads to suffering (dhukha). In Hindu philosophy this is referred to as all living

72

Chapter III. – The Book of Urizen : The Chaptersthings caught in the "Web of Brahman". The "Web of Religion" Urizen leaves trailing behind

him parallels the highway built by Sin and Death in Satan's track [Paradise Lost II:1024-9].

The sons and daughters of Urizen are cursed because they are lost in the world of matter: "no

flesh nor spirit could keep his iron laws one moment" [23:25-26]. Then from his sorrows for

these his children begotten on the material body of nature, the web of religion begins to

unwind and expand, "throwing out from his sorrowing soul, the dungeon-like heaven

dividing" [25:11-12] – and the knotted meshes of the web to involve all races and cities.

Blake again touches on the root of the matter: "the Web is a Female in embrio" [25:18] that is

a growing conviction in the reality of the material world. Blake consistently makes Churches

female – a generating force – since the church signifies a belief in the predetermined actuality

of the physical universe. Material beings bound by the chains of being automatically create

the general conviction that their physical state of existence is real and singular. Thus "The Net

of Religion" [25:22] is a second enclosure for mankind, like the "Tent of Science" [25:19].

This idea is clearly expressed in the yogacra philosophy of Buddhism, according to which

reality is what we believe it to be; the material world is a mere projection of the mind.

Correspondingly Blake compares the web to the meshes of the human brain [25:21]. This is

what Hindu philosophy calls the 'illusion of reality' (my) and the Gnostic the 'force of

corruption' or 'faith' (pistis).

Chapter IX. – The Human Race

The Senses inward rushed shrinking beneath the dark net of infection: till the shrunken eyes, clouded over, discerned not the woven hypocrisy; but

the streaky slime in their heavens, brought together by narrowing perceptions, appeared transparent air; for their eyes grew small like the eyes of a man. Six days they shrank up from existence, and the seventh day rested, and they blessed the seventh day, in sick hope; and forgot

their eternal life.[The Book of Urizen IX.1-3.]

The degeneration of the children of Urizen is a consequence of their belief in the fixed and

limited nature of the natural world. They take on definite material forms; their soft, flexible

powers hardening in shapes of matter [25:25]. Nerves create a marrow around which a limited

structure of senses evolve, but of limited perception. The birth of the Human race is paralleled

to the creation of the universe [Genesis I.] and the birth of Urizen [Chapter IV.], but in a

73

Chapter III. – The Book of Urizen : The Chaptersdegraded state and power. The materialisation of life in the form of human beings also takes

seven stages, but the seven ages of Urizen's creation become seven days for the creation of

humans: "For six days they shrunk up from existence and on the seventh day they rested"

[25:39-40.] "And in reptile forms shrinking together of seven feet stature they remained"

[25:37-38]. The loss of height refers to "There were giants in the earth in those days" [Genesis

6:4]. Primitive mankind recapitulates the constriction and shrinking of Urizen's divine senses.

The limitation of the senses is crucial, since sensual perception blinded by the Net of Religion

("woven hypocrisy … streaky slime" [25:32-3]) is the major cause of the loss of Eternity and

freedom. The narrowing perceptions are responsible for the bound-to-earth nature of

humanity [25:47-48]. Hence grows the animal tyranny of gravitation, and hence also the

spiritual tyranny of the laws of prudence [28:6-7]. Laws of limitation replace the true laws of

God, which allow absolute freedom in every aspect. Law is the root of every human

organization: "thirty cities divided in from of a human heart" [25:43-4] could relate to heart-

formed Africa, [Song of Los 3:3] which is the cradle of civilization17. The thirty cities also

refer to the thirty organs of the human body bounding the spirit of man to earth.

Blake ends his vision in a very gloomy way. Seeing these his brethren degraded into

life and debased into flesh, the son of the Fire, Fuzon, calls together the remaining children of

Urizen and they leave the pendulous earth [28:19-22]. (Fuzon parallels Moses leading the

Exodus from Egypt, a topic highly elaborated in The Book of Ahania.) The freer and stronger

spirits leave the world of men to the dominion of earth and water; air and fire are withdrawn

from them, and they are left only with the heaviness of imprisoning clay and the bitterness of

violent sea. Accordingly humanity is left without the divine elements of Fire, the creative

power of the mind and Air, the imaginative power of the soul. Humanity can no longer

discern the divine element in the universe [28:17-18].

If the doors of perception were cleansed Every thing would appear to man as it is,

Infinite.


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