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| Religious Art | Hover your mouse over one of the thumbnails below to see a larger photo and description. Scroll the thumbnails by hovering your mouse over one of the arrows. |
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Medicine BundleWhen a bird or animal appeared in a vision as a messenger of the Great Spirit, the skin of the animal had to be secured as a medium through which its power could be realized. The bird's body in this Crow eagle medicine bundle has been wrapped in cloth. WERNER FORMAN/ART RESOURCE |
All bodhisattvas are devoted to compassion, so Avalokiteshvara, as the Bodhisattva of Compassion, occupies a special place in the hearts of all Mahayana Buddhists, especially in the Tibetan tradition, where he is considered the patron and guardian of the entire country, and where the Dalai Lama is believed to be his manifestation. Avalokiteshvara, in turn, is a manifestation of the power of Buddha Amitabha, whose image is visible in his crown. The literal meaning of the name Avalokiteshvara is disputed: "The Lord Who Looks Down" and "One Who Hears the Sounds [i.e., Supplications] of the World" are two interpretations. Traditionally, he took vows to free all beings from suffering, and his help is sought in times of great danger. So intense was his compassion that he vowed that if he became discouraged in his efforts to liberate all living beings his body should be ripped into 1,000 pieces and his head torn into 10; when this in fact happened, he called out to Amitabha for help. Amitabha, his spiritual father, caused the fragments to become 10 heads and 1,000 arms, each with an eye in the palm, the better to see where he was needed. In one hand he holds a mala or rosary for counting his special mantra, "Om Mani Padme Hum." The two hands clasped in front of his chest in the prayer mudra also hold the wish-fulfilling jewel. Most images of Avalokiteshvara show him with 11 heads (counting one of Amitabha) and four, six, eight, or ten arms (rarely 18 as in this 18th-century Nepalese bronze), representing his 1,000 arms, which in turn are symbolic of his boundless compassion.
WERNER FORMAN/ART RESOURCE
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Bacchus/DionysusIn the history and mythology of the world's spiritual traditions, the search for physical ecstasy has often paralleled the search for spiritual transformation. This fact is apparent in the dual identity of the beloved Greek icon of pleasure-seeking, Dionysus, who was later adopted by the Romans as Bacchus (seen here in a detail from Caravaggio's Young Bacchus). Besides being a god of wine and fertility, Dionysus/Bacchus also represents the goal of mystery religions, like those practiced at Eleusis: ecstatic delivery from the mundane world through the physical or spiritual intoxication induced by secret rites known only to initiates. Those rites often included the consumption of psychotropic substances, including ergot, a toxic mold found on rye and other grains that has powerful healing and hallucinogenic properties. In the ancient Aryan tradition carried into northern India, the sacrament of Soma (also a god of the Vedic pantheon) played a similar role. The mycologist R. Craig Wasson has made a convincing case that what is referred to as Soma in the Rig Veda is a brew made from the fly agaric mushroom, amanita muscaria, which has entheogenic effects said to be similar to lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD. Others have proposed that the magic substance was Syrian rue or, based on recent archaeological evidence found in Turkmenistan, a mixture of cannabis and Ephedra. UFFIZI GALLERY, FLORENCE |
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Adam KadmonIn Hebrew, the name means "Primordial Man," and in Kabbalistic lore he represents the most perfect manifestation of God that humanity can contemplate. He is formed by the ten sephirot, and both light and the written word are said to have emerged from him. |
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Fasting BuddhaImages of the Buddha abound throughout Asia, from Northern India to the ends of Indonesia, showing the Enlightened One in various stages of his life and in different postures indicating his roles as teacher, protector, contemplative, or compassionate one. This 2nd century AD stone sculpture from Gandhara in northwestern India shows the Buddha at the height of his ascetical phase, an unusual subject for depiction, and remarkably naturalistic compared to other, more ethereal Buddhas. Some art historians feel that later Greco-Roman depictions of Christ, particularly the Christ of the Passion, were influenced by Buddhist paintings and statues such as this. SCALA/ART RESOURCE |
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Jesus the SaviorIn Christian iconography, a hand held as Christ does here symbolizes teaching and judgment. Yet the same hand gesture is referred to in Eastern traditions as the pran mudra, one of the most powerful healing gestures in Indian medicine. The pran mudra, formed by linking the ring and little fingers with the thumb while keeping the index and forefingers upright, increases vitality and immunity of the body against diseases. Is it an accident that Jesus, the great healer of Judea, is so frequently pictured with his hand in this posture? NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON |
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Wheel of DharmaThe Wheel of Dharma symbolizes the Buddha's teaching as it continues to spread endlessly, like the wheel of a cart. The eight spokes represent the Noble Eightfold Path, which the Buddha proposed for achieving cessation of suffering: right understanding, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. There is a legend that soon after the birth of the Buddha-to-be, a soothsayer named Asita predicted that he would become "either a king whose chariot wheels would roll everywhere, or a pre-eminent sage who would set rolling the wheel of the good law [Dharma] throughout the world." The Buddha's father, Suddhodana, was a member of the warrior-ruler caste and preferred the royal vocation. So he provided his son with three palaces and forty thousand dancing girls to keep his mind firmly rooted in the "real" world. But, as so often happens when manipulative fathers groom their sons to take over the family business, Siddhartha rebelled, and set in motion the wheel of the Dharma. |
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The Ka'BahAccording to the Quran, Allah showed Abraham where he and his son Ishmael should build a sanctuary, called the Ka'bah (Arabic for "cube"), a square edifice whose four corners faced the four compass points. A cubical black structure that stands in the open, the Ka'bah was rebuilt several times (the modern Ka'bah in Saudi Arabia is a direct descendent of the original). A celestial Black Stone brought to Abraham by an angel and now thought to be a meteorite, is built into the south-east corner of the Ka'bah; Muslims today kiss the stone as the Prophet Muhammad used to do. The current structure is roughly 40 by 33 feet by 50 feet high, with a marble floor and marble-lined interior walls. During the Hajj, or sacred pilgrimage to Mecca, in a rite called tawaf, Arab pilgrims from time immemorial have circled the stone counterclockwise seven times.
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Confucius/K'ung-TzuLike many other moral reformers of ancient history, Confucius did accept certain conventions of his time, such as the existence of slavery, the divine right of kings, and the secondary position of women in society. What is surprising in retrospect is the revolutionary nature of the changes he and other visionaries promoted at the time, however incomplete they may seem by today's standards. The Buddha's decision to teach all castes and women, Jesus's defense of the woman taken in adultery, and K'ung's demand that women be treated benevolently by their husbands, can be seen in the context of their time as ground-breaking, anti-authoritarian acts. GIRAUDON/ART RESOURCE |
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Tenth-Century Celtic Cross
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GaneshaThe elephant-headed, pot-bellied Ganesha, son of Shiva and Parvati, is a familiar figure in Indian art and popular culture, usually depicted with four arms but only a single tusk. God of wisdom, lord of celestial armies, patron of business people and scholars, he can remove all obstacles to material and spiritual success. According to one of many legends, Ganesha's human head was burned to cinders when Parvati invited Shani, god of planets, to look at him, forgetting in her pride the destructive power of Shani's gaze. Brahma counseled Parvati to substitute the first head she came upon, which happened to belong to an elephant. BERKSON/ART RESOURCE |
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Goddess of VestoniceFound near a hearth in Dolni Vestonice in Czechoslovakia and dated at about 20,000 BC, this figurine made of clay and powdered bone was less than five inches tall. Exhibiting the classic swollen hips, belly, and breasts of the Goddess, and tapered at the bottom, it was probably meant to be placed in the ground or held in the hand during rituals. "The flowing breast is the essential image of trust in the universe," write Baring and Cashford. "The faintest pattern of stars was once seen as iridescent drops of milk streaming from the breast of the Mother Goddess: the galaxy that came to be called the Milky Way." WERNER FORMAN/ART RESOURCE |
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HasidimDrawing of a member of the Hasidim dancing, by the American artist Abraham Walkowitz, c. 1910. Like many great mystics before them, the Hasidim found God in the most mundane activities and practiced physical worship, praising God not, like many religious Jews of the time including the Kabbalists, through prayer and asceticism but in presumably profane activities such as eating, sleeping, dancing, and making love. The goal was the same as it was for the Kabbalists: devekut, or mystical union, and the Baal Shem Tov, an ecstatic mystic whose devotional approach fed the people's need for an emotional, love-based religion, taught that any act performed with mystical union in mind would lead to ecstasy. |
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GaneshaThe elephant-headed, pot-bellied Ganesha, son of Shiva and Parvati, is a familiar figure in Indian art and popular culture, usually depicted with four arms but only a single tusk. God of wisdom, lord of celestial armies, patron of business people and scholars, he can remove all obstacles to material and spiritual success. According to one of many legends, Ganesha's human head was burned to cinders when Parvati invited Shani, god of planets, to look at him, forgetting in her pride the destructive power of Shani's gaze. Brahma counseled Parvati to substitute the first head she came upon, which happened to belong to an elephant. Ganesha's popularity continues in modern India, as shown in this scene from the Ganapati Festival on Chowpatty Beach in Bombay. (Ganapati is another name for Ganesha.) BERKSON/ART RESOURCE |
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LabyrinthThe labyrinth has served as a metaphor for the spiritual search in cultures reaching back to the Goddess religions. Solving the maze is equivalent to ritual initiation. The best known is perhaps the Cretan labyrinth built by Daedalus to protect the Minotaur. Theseus solved the maze with the help of Ariadne and slew the beast. OSWALD WHITE BEAR FREDERICKS |
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Madonna and Child & Isis and HorusIsis, the goddess whose cult began in Egypt, spread to Asia Minor, Cyprus, Crete, Greece, Rome, and Britain, is the Great Sorceress Who Heals, Mother of Heaven, Queen of the Cosmos, Lady of Wisdom, the personification of the life force itself, especially as healer and protector. Many art historians, along with mythologist Joseph Campbell, believe Isis and Horus became the model for countless Christian depictions of the Madonna and child, just as Mary took on the titles once applied to Isis, such as Regina Coeli ("Queen of Heaven") and Stella Maris ("Star of the Sea"). The obvious similarity between this exquisite Egyptian statue of Isis suckling Horus and this classic painting of the Madonna and child speaks for itself. SCALA/ART RESOURCE [Isis] |
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Islamic ArtIslam forbids the representation of God or Muhammad, and so mosques are filled with elegant artwork using abstract designs known as arabesques, elegant calligraphic renderings of verses from the Quran or the 99 Beautiful Names of Allah, and symbols such as the crescent moon on this 19th-century mosque lamp. BRIDGEMAN ART LIBRARY, LONDON |
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KaliKali, whose name means "Black," is the Shakti, or personification of primal creative energy in female form, of the god Shiva. Also a form of the Divine Mother, Kali is depicted as a many-armed figure wearing a garland of human skulls, a belt of dismembered arms, and carrying a severed head in one hand, a sword in another, and offering her gifts with yet another. Standing upon the supine form of her spouse, Shiva, she represents both destructive power and maternal tenderness. Kali is always depicted with a lallajjihva, or "lolling tongue," whose significance varies depending upon the source. Practitioners of Tantra, for instance, believe that Kali's long tongue is for lapping up ritual offerings. The Indian scriptures called the Puranas suggest that it is for drinking the blood of demons. From a yogic viewpoint, the lolling tongue is a mudra, or energy-channeling gesture, used to control the flow of prana. VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM |
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Lao-TzuThe classic depiction of the Old Master riding off on a water buffalo from his life at court to a life of contemplation. In one version of his famous (and perhaps fictional) encounter with Confucius, Lao is supposed to have advised the younger man, "I have heard it said that a good merchant will conceal his wealth and act as if he were poor. A noble person with sufficient inner virtue may give the appearance of a fool. Therefore, give up your high-handed manner, your desires, your vanity, and your zealousness, for they are of no use at all." FOTO MARBURG/ART RESOURCE |
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The Martyrdon of St. LawrenceThe church built over the tomb of this Roman deacon of the 3rd century is one of the seven principal churches of Rome. While being roasted alive on a gridiron, Lawrence allegedly told his tormentors: "You can turn me over now -- I'm done on this side." This drawing is taken from a historical Bible, c. 14th-15th century. GIRAUDON/ART RESOURCE |
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Martin LutherAccording to Erik Erikson's classic psychological study, Young Man Luther, the German reformer was "a second generation ex-peasant," his father having left the farm to become a miner. This created in Luther "that split about ancestral images which is apt to occur in the second generation of migrating families." Although Luther may have felt a certain empathy and nostalgia for the hard simplicity of village life, writes Erikson, "in his later years, with increasing frequency and vehemence, he divorced himself from the German peasant whom he condemned for being vulgar, violent, and animal-like. During the great Peasants' War, he used his efficient propaganda machine to suggest the ruthless extermination of all rebellious peasants -- those same peasants who, at the beginning, had looked to him as one of their natural leaders. Yet toward the end of his life he accused himself of having the blood of these peasants on his head -- the brow of which had never known a peasant's sweat." In this etching by Hans Brosauer, it's not hard to see someone of peasant stock who had hardened into the kind of man who might feel very comfortable sitting on a barstool next to Archie Bunker. FOTO MARBURG/ART RESOURCE |
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MenorahAs with the Islamic mosque, no representations of the Divine are allowed in a synagogue, even on the stained glass windows or other artwork. A six- or eight-branched candelabrum, the menorah, isn't requisite but is fairly common. The menorah has its origin in the Feast of Hanukkah, which celebrates the victory of the Hasmonean Jews under Judah Maccabee over their Greek-Syrian occupiers around 165 BCE. After the victory, the Temple, which had been desecrated, was rededicated to Yahveh. The Jews found only one cruse of uncontaminated oil, not enough to keep burning for the eight days it would take to prepare more oil. But it lasted eight days, and so Hanukkah is also called the Festival of Lights. BRITISH LIBRARY |
A saffron-robed Tibetan monk holds a mala, a string of 108 prayer beads, often made of rudraksha or tulasi berries, tagua nut, lotus seeds, rosewood, or other materials. The mala, a forerunner of the Christian and Muslim rosary, is used in Hinduism and Buddhism to count mantras, prayers, and prostrations. The largest bead is called the guru bead and symbolizes the Spiritual Source or the Teacher. The number 108 is considered especially auspicious, and in Buddhism also corresponds to the number of earthly desires or hindrances that a disciple must overcome.
Prayer beads are used in some form by most of the world's religions. In Hindu practice, focusing on repetition of a mantra as the main tool of meditation is sometimes called japa yoga. Most Christian rosaries are divided into five "decades" or sets of ten beads, on which the Hail Mary is said, separated by a single bead for the Our Father, with a crucifix and a medallion of the Blessed Mother. The rosary in Christianity dates back to the Desert Fathers and Mothers, who counted prayers by moving pebbles from one bag to another. The full rosary of 150 beads was created to aid monks in the recitation of the 150 Psalms, and are worn by some religious orders as a cincture or belt around the religious garb. Muslim beads, called Subha or Tasbih, come in a string of 99, plus a leader bead and tassel, that represent the 99 Beautiful Names of Allah. The Baha'i Faith uses a string of 95 beads.
His name (sometimes written Padma Sambhava) means "Lotus-born," referring to the legend surrounding his birth in the country of Uddiyana in northwest Kashmir (modern Pakistan or Afghanistan). A direct emanation of Amitabha Buddha who appeared as a radiant eight-year-old boy on lotus petal in a lake in Uddiyana, Padmasambhava became a Buddha and an adept. He learned the power of longevity, and tradition holds that he was already a thousand years old when he was invited to Tibet by the 8th century Buddhist King Trisong Detsen. The myths of Padma are clearly rife with magic and mystery, especially in Tibet and Bhutan where he is often revered as sangye nyipa, the "Second Buddha." He is said, for instance, to have arrived in Bhutan on the back of a flying tiger which landed near the top of a sheer, 3,000-foot cliff, marked today by the precariously placed Takstang ("Tiger's Nest") monastery. He is renowned for having spent years meditating in wildernesses and the great cremation grounds of India and the Himalayas, where, according to legend, flesh-eating demonesses called dakinis fed on the remains of the dead; he is also said to have attained his highest realization there, and to have converted many of the dakinis. In Vajrayana practice, dakinis are female skywalkers, angelic or wrathful figures who help the practitioner integrate those powers released by visualization and other esoteric practices.
As in so much of Padma's life story, reality and magic are more confoundingly intermarried than in a Latin American novel. His iconography combines elements of his many attainments, both as a buddha and an adept, as in this 17th-18th century gilt-bronze figure. In his right hand he holds the vajra (Tib. dorje), the double thunderbolt that represents the indestructible energy of enlightenment which can transmute anything, including suffering and evil. In his left hand he holds the skull-cup (symbolizing death of the ego and the realization of shunyata), in which is a small vase holding the elixir of immortality. Cradled in his left arm is the khatvanga, an adept's staff on which are three heads (freshly severed, decomposing, and skull), symbolizing the conquest of the three poisons (desire, hate, and ignorance), and the trident (not clearly visible here) emblematic of his mastery of the three channels (ida, pingala, sushumna) of the yogic nervous system. The trident may have served as a similar symbol in much earlier images of Shiva, the pre-Aryan yogic deity. Despite the fabulous legends, Padmasambhava was undoubtedly an historical personage who changed the face of Tibet and added untold depths of richness to the practice of Buddhism.
WERNER FORMAN/ART RESOURCE
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PentecostThe feast of Pentecost, from the Greek for "fiftieth," was a Jewish feast that took place 50 days after Passover. According to Christian tradition, Christ ascended into heaven 40 days after he and his disciples celebrated the Passover seder that became known as the Last Supper. Ten days later, the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples and inspired them with the ability to preach the gospel so that they could be understood even by those who did not speak their language. The event is traditionally represented by the appearance of tongues of fire above the disciples' heads, as described in Acts 2:3 and pictured in this painting by El Greco that hangs in the Prado in Madrid. Glossolalia, or speaking in tongues, is derived from the same tradition, although the words spoken in "tongues" are generally not understood even by those speaking them. SCALA/ART RESOURCE |
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QuanyinThe influence of Taoist folk religion on Buddhism is apparent in the feminine features of Quanyin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, who in Buddhism is identified with the male figures of Avalokiteshvara, and, in Tibet, Chenrezig. But in China, especially since the 10th century, this male figure was gradually transformed into a woman known as the Goddess of Mercy. The name Quanyin (or Kuan-shi-yin) means "One Who Hears the Sounds [or Outcries] of the World," which is also a possible translation of the Sanskrit name Avalokiteshvara. The influence of Tantrism, in which buddhas and bodhisattvas are associated with their female counterparts, may also account for the transformation. This lovely gilt bronze shows the Goddess reclining at royal ease in a typical pose. GIRAUDON/ART RESOURCE |
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Rama and HanumanThe Ramayana, said by orthodox Hindu tradition to describe events of 870,000 years ago, and composed shortly thereafter (hence its nickname, the Adikavya, or "primeval poem"), was originally sung by itinerant balladeers, and may actually be older than the Mahabharata. Rama is the seventh avatar of Vishnu and the heir apparent to the kingdom of Ayodhya. The epitome of virtue, honor, courage, and loyalty, Rama invariably does the right thing. Forced into forest exile with wife Sita and brother Laksmana, he accepts his condition with no complaint. When Sita is kidnaped by the ten-headed demon king Ravana and taken to Sri Lanka, she is ultimately rescued by Rama with help from an army of monkeys ("shape-shifters" with human intelligence) led by general Hanuman. This monkey king gifted with supernatural powers and a working knowledge of miraculous healing herbs later became a popular Indian deity. A symbol of devotion to the Lord, he is seen here embracing Rama. |
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Inside a MosqueThe interior of this elegant Mosque of Suleyman the Magnificent in Rhodes (rebuilt in 1808) may at first appear spare. But the genius of Islamic design is everywhere, from the framed calligraphy and the arabesques above the windows to the glorious carpets covering the floors. At the right is the minbar, or pulpit; set between two windows is the east-facing prayer niche known as a mithrab, with several small prayer rugs in front of it. ALINARI/ART RESOURCE |
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Shiva NatarajaNataraja (Skt. "King of the Dance") is the most celebrated motif of Shiva, the great creator/destroyer, and one of the most famous images in all Hindu art. According to tradition, members of the Mimamsa school sent the evil dwarf to overthrow Shiva, who responded with his cosmic dance of wisdom which leads to liberation. With one leg, Shiva is crushing the dwarf demon Muyalahan or Mujalaka, symbolic of ignorance and evil; his other leg is raised to represent the supraconscious state of deliverance. In two of his four hands, Shiva holds a drum to beat the rhythm of life and a pot of flames with which to destroy it, and on his face he wears the imperturbable smile of transcendence. The animal-skin loincloth he wears and the snake ornaments on either side of his head represent untamed mind and egoism, respectively, which Nataraja has overcome. Shiva's two empty hands are extended in gestures of reassurance and liberation. The flame halo which surrounds the entire image symbolizes the forces of nature and emphasizes again the destruction of one period of time and the creation of a new cosmos. GIRAUDON/ART RESOURCE |
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Torah ScrollThe Torah scroll, or sefer Torah, is considered the holiest object in Jewish life. The Torah proper consists of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, and contain the 613 commandments that all Jews should obey. To be read publicly during a synagogue service, a Torah scroll must be hand-written, like this one from 18th century Poland. JEWISH MUSEUM/ART RESOURCE |
The oldest and best known book of Chinese wisdom was composed primarily during the late second to early first millennium BC, with later additions of mostly Confucian but some Taoist ideas. Primarily used for casting oracles, the I Ching is believed by many Taoist adepts to be a guide to the secrets of the "celestial mechanism," a tool for understanding and living in harmony with the flow of events in the universe. It is based on the opposing principles of light and dark, later referred to as yin and yang, whose interaction yields change. The Ching is made up of different arrangements of broken (- -) and unbroken (-) lines, which represent yin and yang, respectively. The lines are arranged in 8 groups of three lines, called trigrams, each of which has specific associations: heaven, earth, fire, water, thunder, mountain, lake, wind. The trigrams are combined into 64 different pairs of six lines each called hexagrams, originally obtained by throwing 50 yarrow stalks, later simplified to 3 coins, and today done by computer. So, for example, hexagram 1, Heaven, consists of 6 unbroken lines. Hexagram 2, Earth, consists of 6 broken lines. Hexagram 3, "Difficulty," comprises the trigrams for water and thunder. Hexagram 4, "Darkness," is composed of the trigrams for mountain and water. Hexagram 64, "Unsettled," combines fire and water.
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Lao ChunLao Chun, or "Master Lao," is the deified form of Lao-tzu. He is the embodiment of Taoism and of the future, and lives in the third heaven, the Heaven of Highest Purity. Also known as Tao-te t'ien-tsun ("Celestial Venerable of the Tao and its Power"), Lao Chun is one of the San Ch'ing, or Three Pure Ones displayed in most Taoist temples. Not all temples agree on the identity of the Taoist Trinity, even though they have gone on to become the highest deities of Church Taoism. Four or five figures share these high positions, including the Jade Emperor. FOTO MARBURG/ART RESOURCE |
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St. Teresa of Avila"An angel in bodily form, such as I am not in the habit of seeing except very rarely" appeared to St. Teresa in one of her mystical ecstasies, as described in her Autobiography. "In his hands I saw a great golden spear, and at the iron tip there appeared to be a point of fire. This he plunged into my heart several times so that it penetrated to my entrails. When he pulled it out, I felt that he took them with it, and left me utterly consumed by the great love of God. The pain was so severe that it made me utter several moans. The sweetness caused by this intense pain is so extreme that one cannot possibly wish it to cease, nor is one's soul content with anything but God." This detail from the famous 17th century sculpture by Bernini in a chapel of the church of S. Maria della Vittoria in Rome captures the erotically tinged rapture which Teresa herself claimed was "more beneficial than union." In The Interior Castle, she further likens the experience to marital union, writing that "in genuine raptures . . . God ravishes the soul wholly to himself, as being his very own and his bride, and shows her some small part of the kingdom she has thus won." ALINARI/ART RESOURCE |
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Yab-YumThe term yab-yum, Tibetan for "father-mother," describes the union of masculine and feminine principles, usually depicted as a male and female deity in the act of coitus. In this conception, the masculine symbolizes upaya, the "skillful means" by which a bodhisattva leads other beings to liberation, including skill in expounding the teachings of Buddhism. The feminine principle is synonymous with prajna, an immediately experienced intuitive wisdom that goes beyond mere intellect and is emblematic of universal unity. The enlightenment that can result from the blending of these two different energies is likened in this image to the bliss of sexual union. Here Samantabhadra (Skt. "All Good"), one of the great bodhisattvas of the Mahayana, is shown as the primordial Buddha, whose dark blue body symbolizes shunyata, with his white consort. In Japanese tradition, where he is known as Fugen, Samantabhadra is prepared to assume any form to help liberate human beings; this includes becoming a courtesan to teach those who are unable to overcome their sexual desires. VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM |
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AssurThe national deity of Assyria, depicted in this 9th-century BCE artwork, replaced Marduk in the Assyrian version of Enuma Elish, the Babylonian epic. Ahura Mazda, the primary god of Zoroastrianism, is often depicted in a winged disk similar to this one. This symbol is known as Fravashi, and represents the the active presence of the divinty in every human being. BRITISH MUSEUM |