This image is from a church program distributed during Lent. I think the message that Sunday was "Signs of Rescue." I don't remember much from the sermon, but I still see two things in the image: the Christian trinity as perichoresis (the persons of God "dancing around") and the pagan symbol of the Triple Goddess (Maiden, Mother & Crone).
The spiral as triple Goddess is recognized by contemporary pagans, as found in ancient art throughout the world. Most famously, perhaps, in art at Newgrange in Ireland.
I have a friend who went on a pagan pilgrimage to Malta where she was profoundly impacted by the spirals depicted in red ochre in a lower level of the Hypogeum.
Contemporary pagans like to remind us that St. Augustine, in his book City of God, mocked the pagans for belief in a goddess who is simultaneously 3 and 1... only to (ironically?) advocate for a trinitarian view in a later book On the Trinity.
Contemporary Christians like to maintain a clear distinction between the two religions and their trinities. I recall years of lessons (apologetics?) on the uniqueness of the Christian faith (although life experience has worn away at the impression).
I stumbled across one site where the two perspectives were claimed equally, in artistic cooperation:
"Inspired by Newgrange in Co. Wicklow, this attractive brooch depictsthe holy trinity combined with another 'Celtic classic':
the Newgrange spiral."
I'm grateful for the connections between Christian and pagan. Their long complex (tumultuous) relationship links them over & over as they share characters, concepts, seasons... each providing a different approach or facet of the same subject. They each inform my understanding, appreciation, and regard for the other. Together they make, for me, a more complete spiritual life.
I look at the triple spiral and I recognize more. The image points to: Father, Son & Holy Spirit*; Maiden, Mother & Crone; three dancing; eternity; ancient & modern; seed sprouting into a plant...and more besides. What do you see? & feel?
Being able to draw on these two religions gives me more because each is finite and so I am cautioned against absolutism. Each complements & tempers the other; filling gaps; pushing me beyond the specific influences that shaped them into their particular forms. Each gives me its own insight & wisdom. When the gifts & inadequacies of both are coupled they remind me that there is more besides what any religion - any human articulation - can know.
These are all signs. They give us information. They point to something. They aren't the thing itself. They help us find the way. Sometimes they are very beautiful.
I just found the artist who made the image on the program: Jan Richardson. Please visit her site and her blog - lots of inspiring images, especially expressive for what words fail.
* "God is not two men and a bird." Elizabeth Johnson quoting Sandra Schneider
Johnson, Elizabeth. Quest for the living God. New York: Continuum. 2008. p.208.
2 comments:
I love connecting the dots between pagan roots and Christian ideology. This post is fascinating. I have a compulsion to touch sacred stones these day, so these words and images are right up my alley. What fun to read a kindred spirit. Thank Jenni! (And thanks for your comments at Magpie Girl as well.)
Great post!
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