Giotto di Bondone, Resurrection 1304-06, fresco, Cappella Scrovegni, Padua
(Resurrectio: Noli me tangere )
And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:
And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.
And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.
He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.
And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.
Mathew 28: King James Version
In all the great myths we have glimpsed over these past weeks – there is this motif of healing and renewal. For all reflect the same deeply rooted pattern that we see recurring endlessly throughout the cosmos and within nature herself. A sacred cycle of birth, death and renewal.
When Christ defies death and rises from his tomb he personifies this great truth and shifts it dimensionally – elevates it to a higher octave – he is born again - yet not as before – he is become luminous – a light body – here and not here, like Giotto's Angels depicted coming momentarily into form - into view - yet incorporeal in their essence.
When Christ defies death and rises from his tomb he personifies this great truth and shifts it dimensionally – elevates it to a higher octave – he is born again - yet not as before – he is become luminous – a light body – here and not here, like Giotto's Angels depicted coming momentarily into form - into view - yet incorporeal in their essence.
His wounds are visible & yet he is transcendent of them – which is the hope of course for all of us in dying and moving beyond the material world.
There are such beautiful stories about Alzheimer sufferers becoming completely lucid in the last moments before death – their sufferings connected only to their bodies it seems– never to their souls.
There are such beautiful stories about Alzheimer sufferers becoming completely lucid in the last moments before death – their sufferings connected only to their bodies it seems– never to their souls.
The resurrection, is like the Mass in a way, like baptism, confirmation, marriage, and the taking of holy vows - sacraments – all reflecting transitions – from one part of life to another – yet also – potentially - transitions from one state of consciousness to another - they are mysteries – to be pondered yet never fully known.
Times were they were more directly referred to as initiations – a language closer to the ancient world and to myth.
When the hero or heroine return from the underworld – they return from periods of deep initiation – and they come back utterly changed.
The point of the adventure, the trail, the test – the falling away of the known world – and all the rest is precisely this.
Oftentimes it feels like part of us is dying – and in many ways this is true. For the hard truth is - we must die in order to be renewed. This is the essence of transformation – of shifting energetically to a new consciousness.
It is said that after his crucifixion Jesus descended into the underworld and that there was a great harrowing of Hell - whilst on earth darkness descended.
Times were they were more directly referred to as initiations – a language closer to the ancient world and to myth.
When the hero or heroine return from the underworld – they return from periods of deep initiation – and they come back utterly changed.
The point of the adventure, the trail, the test – the falling away of the known world – and all the rest is precisely this.
Oftentimes it feels like part of us is dying – and in many ways this is true. For the hard truth is - we must die in order to be renewed. This is the essence of transformation – of shifting energetically to a new consciousness.
It is said that after his crucifixion Jesus descended into the underworld and that there was a great harrowing of Hell - whilst on earth darkness descended.
Symbolically this corresponds to the phase of the Dark Moon that the ancients, called - The Land of No return – for at such times no one knew if the light would ever return.
And so it must have been especially for Mary the Mother and Mary Magdalene and all those who loved Jesus.
And so it had been for Demeter, whose daughter was lost beneath the world – and countless other grieving goddesses whose pitiful cries of lament for their lost loved ones came to populate mythology from the third millennium BC. They are known as the Sorrowing Mothers of the world.
In dying & being re-born Christ and his beloveds – his enemies too - partake of this ancient mystery – rooted as we have seen in nature herself – in the psyche and in the sacred cycle of life.
And so it must have been especially for Mary the Mother and Mary Magdalene and all those who loved Jesus.
And so it had been for Demeter, whose daughter was lost beneath the world – and countless other grieving goddesses whose pitiful cries of lament for their lost loved ones came to populate mythology from the third millennium BC. They are known as the Sorrowing Mothers of the world.
In dying & being re-born Christ and his beloveds – his enemies too - partake of this ancient mystery – rooted as we have seen in nature herself – in the psyche and in the sacred cycle of life.
It is a story created and re-created across time – since people first used language. And always it is told that the great ones will return to the earth at Springtime, when the crescent moon is in the sky - mirroring the re-birth & renewal of the land after the darkness of winter.
I slept, sings Solomon’s bride,
but my heart is awakened.
Listen; it is the voice of my lover calling:
The winter is past & the rain is over & gone;
Flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come,
And the voice of the turtle dove is heard in our land.
Song of Solomon 2:10-12
This is when Jesus returns to us - all but briefly – with all the symbolism of spring and of love. He comes back to show us we are told – the crown of his teaching – the mystical element and reality of the soul in its eternity and perfection.
"I am the way," he tells us – not just to adore and to worship but ultimately – also to become!
The words are open to interpretation of course. We can take them literally, or symbolically. And maybe both are true. In the end it's up to us.
"I am the way," he tells us – not just to adore and to worship but ultimately – also to become!
The words are open to interpretation of course. We can take them literally, or symbolically. And maybe both are true. In the end it's up to us.
So we come to the end of our meditations and to the end of the Easter story…one so beautifully and poignantly portrayed for us in Giotto di Bondone’s exquisite fresco cycle. Some of these works, like the Lamentation - featured on Good Friday – are said to be the greatest paintings of the Middle Ages.
The sacred art of the Byzantine period which preceded Giotto had a solemn and holy beauty of its own, but was two-dimensional, immobile, and largely symbolic, writes Madeleine Stebbins.
Giotto initiated a more natural, emotionally expressive human style, which was — it seems — inspired by the spirituality of St. Francis of Assisi, Giotto being a third order Franciscan himself.
Looking at the Lamentation: Madeleine Stebbins
St.Francis had brought a whole new Humanism to the interpretation of the Gospels which greatly impacted Giotto who carried it over and rendered it so tenderly in these works.
Over the week they have seeped into my soul. Last night I dreamed I was resting within the paintings – in all the blue – the blue of Heaven as we said at the start – and I was still and quiet and peaceful. When I woke I tried to think which painting it was – but couldn’t recall - yet the feeling of deep peace & of the blue remained.
Buona Pasque as they say in Italy,
Happy Easter
much love
Anne Maria
x x x
Over the week they have seeped into my soul. Last night I dreamed I was resting within the paintings – in all the blue – the blue of Heaven as we said at the start – and I was still and quiet and peaceful. When I woke I tried to think which painting it was – but couldn’t recall - yet the feeling of deep peace & of the blue remained.
Buona Pasque as they say in Italy,
Happy Easter
much love
Anne Maria
x x x
Hold the Light/blog published regularly during the Crisis @
www.annemariaclarke.net/blog
These meditations for Easter Week are based on the exquisite 14th century fresco cycle by Giotto di Bondone, from The Scrovegni Chapel, Padua (Italy), that so beautifully elucidate the story as it unfolds.
www.annemariaclarke.net/blog
These meditations for Easter Week are based on the exquisite 14th century fresco cycle by Giotto di Bondone, from The Scrovegni Chapel, Padua (Italy), that so beautifully elucidate the story as it unfolds.
