I send you this beautiful engraving that appears on the frontispiece of a work called NUMEROLOGY OF NATURE
First of all, appreciated reader, we must say that this illustration appears in the book entitled Studium Universale, written by Valentine Weigel, who was a German philosopher, writer and mystic from Saxony and, according to some, a precursor of Theosophy.
I want to show you, on this occasion, a very ancient sculpture that responds to the name of Glykon
En el mismo se aprecia que, ciertamente, estos artistas, independientemente de ser grandes exponentes del arte, tenían grandes inquietudes místicas sobre el destino del hombre en su estancia en la tierra. Por ello, el título de este grabado viene a ser, según el artista…
I approach you on this occasion to make you take part of the content of the present engraving that bears the title…
…ALLEGORY OF TRANSIENCE OR ALLEGORY OF WHAT IS EPHEMERAL
Tomo la pluma para dirigirme a vosotros y, en esta oportunidad, para hablaros de dos grabados ─similares─ y que son originarios del libro Pia Desideria. En ambos se trata del alma, atada a un yugo, moviendo la piedra de un molino o almazara
On this occasion we enter into this engraving that was made in Antwerp ─Belgium─ in the year 1624. It was entitled: Angel chained to the world
It was one of the most pious works known in seventeenth-century Europe. The central theme of these works was always divine love and the human soul, and many authors claim that the artist always liked to represent these virtues in childlike forms, whether associating their engravings with Eros Cupid or with the baby Jesus.
One of those men whom history now calls Apostles was, precisely, a disciple of the Great Kabir of Galilee who is remembered as Saint Bartholomew the Apostle…
First of all, allow me to make a brief review of the artist of this magnificent engraving, The great column, and which has been none other than Albrecht Dürer.
The present artistic work is in direct relation to one of the five senses of our organic machine. First we see in it a beautiful lady who carries in her right hand the horn of the goddess Amalthea, which means material or spiritual abundance.
In the main scene we can see a lady reclining on the tree of life ─the BEING─ and pointing with her right hand to a spider’s web, while with her left she holds a bird. This lady is sitting on a rock representative of the stone of stumbling and rock of scandal ─sexuality─ as Saint Paul so well described it.
The sense of smell [Olfaction], dear friends, also has a profound significance in the mysteries. In addition to allowing us to grasp the smells of Mother Nature, it would moreover allow us to perceive other fragrances that correspond to the superior worlds, once we have been properly educated.
With immense pleasure I send you one of the five engravings that I am sending you gradually and that are related to the five senses that our organic machine possesses.
Para nosotros los gnósticos este grabado posee una importancia trascendental, pues nos permite concebir aquello que para las iglesias católica y ortodoxa fue calificado como dogma de fe.
