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CRYSTALRIVERS.COM
THE WEAVING of the CRYSTAL RIVER ~ SONGS of the SPIRITUAL PATH |
VISIONARY
ART and
LITERATURE of MEDITATION and CONTEMPLATION |
These are the poems and songs of mysticism and the spiritual path. They attempt to represent the deepest expressions of seekers, saints, gods, and angels, and those who wish to discover and describe the mystery of being.The poems that follow are divided into four sections. The first section is based on contemplation of well known saints, and the second more generically on the themes of mysticism and spiritual travel. The third and fourth sections contain poetry arising from the contemplation of angels and gods. Each figure in these later poems speaks in the first person, as if talking directly to the individual reader.
Contemplation of Saints The first set of poems was written during contemplation while focusing on the saint or spiritual personality mentioned in the poem's title. These (along with all the other works on this page) were written spontaneously without planning or forethought. Only minor editing changes have been made from the original hand-written versions.
The first poet is Sufi (from mystical Islam) and the rest are Christian saints.
Contemplation of Mystical Themes The next set of poems focuses on the themes of meditation, mysticism, and spiritual travel.
Contemplation of the Angels of Merkabah Mysticism The five Angels chosen for the subjects of the poems that follow are from the Cabalistic (Jewish mystical) text The Book of Enoch. This book is an ancient writing whose authenticity was rejected by Jewish authorities and later by the church fathers, and was therefore never made part of the canon of the Hebrew Bible . The Book of Enoch purports to expand on Ezekiel's vision of the "throne of God" in the Hebrew Bible (Ezekiel 1:15), which associates the prophet Ezekiel's vision of heaven with the mystical symbol of a "chariot". The term chariot was used by later commentators to refer to Ezekiel's description of a series of spoked "wheels within wheels" whose "appearance was like the gleaming of a chrysolite". In the vision, these wheels moved in harmony with four-faced winged angelic beings as they floated below the firmament (or platform) on which God's throne rested.
The Merkabah sect believed that the Merkabah (chariot) was a spiritual vehicle which could transport the mystic into the heavenly realms of the angels. This chariot symbol was the foundation for this mystical sect popular from the 7th through 11th centuries CE. This esoteric Jewish religious group was also strongly influenced by Gnostic and magical thought.
- Kerubiel - The Flames Which Dance Around the Throne of God
- Radweriel - The Scribe of God
- Seraphiel - The Guardian of the Throne of God
- Ophanniel - The Rainbows That Surround the Throne of God
- Chayyliel - The River Delta of Light Proceeding From the Throne of God
Contemplation of Gods and Buddhas The final set of poems are the result of contemplation of some of the Hindu Gods, some Kami as well as a Buddha, a Nature deity, and a Celtic god of the Fair Folk. Some of the contemplations are associated with specific sacred sites and these contain geographical place names in parentheses.
- Sarasvati - The Flowing Waters of Divine Poetry
- Agni - The Purifying Fire of the Gods
- Ganapati - The Lord of Yogic Purification
- Mela Ganapati - The Lord of Celebration
- Vishnu - The Lord and Protector of the Manifest Universe
- Brahma - The Creative Power of the Infinite
- Shiva - The Lord of the Dance of the Universe
- Mahashiva - Shivaratri
- Amida - The Buddha of the Land of Bliss or Pure Land
- Atsuta-no-Ookami - The Kami of the Sword (Atsuta Jingu, Nagoya, Japan)
- The Kami and Guardian of the Ise-Jingu Mai Shrine (Inner shrine, Ise, Japan)
- Sekhmet -The Dark Lady of the Egyptian Night
- Tangaroa - The Polynesian Lord of Life
- Manannan - The Celtic God of the Sea (Well of Immortality, Island of Iona, Scotland)
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