Muy amados amigos y amigas lectores:
I am very pleased to send you this engraving entitled…
…THE FOOLISH WORLD PREFERS THE TEMPORARY GOOD
The present engraving was made by the Dutch engraver Dirck Volckertsz (1522-1590) according to a drawing attributed to the Dutch painter Hendrick Goltzius (1558-1617).
The personification of the foolish world ─Stultus Mundanus─ wears the glasses of erroneous belief ─Opinio─. She points out to him the figure of the shadow of the lie ─Mendacium─, who arrives with a bag full of worldly goods: wealth, gluttony, sensual love and power. In return, the foolish world offers his heart. He doesn't seem to realize that he has one foot in the grave. With the other leg he is resting on an hourglass.
The personification of truth —Veritas— tries to change the mind of the foolish world with a crucifix, but to no avail.
The print has a text in Latin and Dutch and is part of a series of four prints on the subject of how erroneous beliefs are destroying the world.
Very kind friends, this engraving clearly shows us the hypnotism that which we call maya ─illusion─ exerts on our psyche. That is why we feel attracted by the vain things in our world and, in general, in our existence. The mental blindness we carry is reflected by the various elements that are above the head of the one who gives his heart to the shadow of the lie that, by the way, is masked, just as it acts on our psyche.
The character who gives his heart is the so-called foolish world ─humanity in general─, who, in addition to having his psyche always bottled up in various stupidities that the Mayavic illusion provides him, wears glasses trying to correct his myopia, but they are of no use to him.
Above the personification of the foolish world appears the word Opinio ─ which must be translated as ‘opinion' ─ and, certainly, that is what we humanoids carry in our psyche: opinions, opinions and more opinions, because the mind is always debating amidst the world of opinions and we never perceive that most of them are precisely those that lead us astray in the labyrinth of our existence.
While the foolish world is giving his heart to Mendacium —the lie— he does not realize that he is about to fall into a pit or grave. At the same time, his other foot is on an hourglass. What does this mean? Answer: While we are “messing up” –as it is commonly said– and therefore falling from error to error, time passes quickly due to our ignorance regarding the need to awaken Consciousness. This is how we continue to act like sleepwalkers throughout our days.
The personification of Truth ─veritas─ tries to help the foolish world, so she carries a crucifix in one of her hands, but all is fruitless. The sacred teachings do not manage to penetrate the thick fog that surrounds our psyche, that is our tragedy. We have been given a Fifth Gospel with IRREFUTABLE TRUTHS, and yet we do not abandon our mechanical reactions to the impacts of the various impressions we are always receiving from the outside or inner world.
This is the reliable proof that the storm of false beliefs is undoubtedly ruining our humanity. Everything has become chaos and the worst thing is that we do not perceive that we are part of that chaos. We prefer to believe in material things: work, money, cars, fashion, bodily beauty, riches of various kinds but which are transitory, rather than immersing ourselves in the study and meditation of that which belongs to the Kingdom of the Spirit.
It is interesting to see Truth naked, because, certainly, truth does not need adornment, since she is simple and without concealment or sophistication. Her presence is directly grasped by men and women who vehemently yearn to abandon the cobwebs that cover the societies of all times.
The Latin words tell us:
Stultus mundan[us]: ‘Foolish world’.
Opinio: ‘Opinion'.
Veritas: ‘Truth' ─is written twice, above and below the figure on the right─.
Mendacium: ‘Lie, falsehood' ─this is written at the bottom left─.
In the sentence, at the bottom of the engraving, a verse from Matthew 13:22 is written, which in Latin tells us:
Qui autem seminatus est in spinis: hic est qui verbum audit, et solicitudo seculi istius et fallacia divitiarum suffocat verbum et sine fructu efficitur. Matthaeus 13.
Translation: ‘He who received seed among the thorns, is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and he becomes unfruitful.'
I will now give you a few sentences for reflection:
“Truth is the soul of history.”
Antonio de Solís
“Truth arises more easily from error than from confusion.”
Bacon
“Every man is obliged to defend the truth, even if he does not always succeed in making it triumph.”
Manzoni
“The truth is of such excellence that, when it praises small things, it ennobles them.”
Leonardo da Vinci
“There is no truth that has not been persecuted at birth.”
Voltaire
ESSE QUAM VIDERI.
─'To be rather than to seem'─.
KWEN KHAN KHU
