The power of expression in Athens (Pentagram Magazine)

The power of expression in Athens

Above : The Temple of Hephaestus from the fifth century BC, Athene, Greece.

Impressed by the imposing old Greek buildings an onlooker is impelled to look at himself. Who have I become? How have I come into being? A trip to Athens means discovering the world within oneself. It is a path from amazement to insight because the myths, the sculptures, and the temples take the visitor  into a wider perception and far  horizons.

As a child you probably must have had experiences that you treasure  and will never forget. An experience of something sacred, of something outside of time and space. It may even give you a feeling of homesickness when you think back on it. It has a radiant place in your life and will never leave you. You cannot  give it a name. You can only savour it as a holy moment, a mystery. Then, when you become  an adult it recedes into the background  but there are moments in your life that you long for that  same experience, for the overwhelming experience of greatness, the sanctification of creation wherein you could lose yourself briefly.  And sometimes  the moment is there,  as a miracle, a meeting, an outstretched hand.

The Cyclad islands lie in a circle around  the island of Delos. For thousands of years these kind of idols were made there. Their religious meaning  is related to the even older Anatolic people’s worshipping of the mother  goddess.

Clear understanding

It is a sign of a healthy spirit to follow a logical line in all you undertake. The desire to have a goal in life is commonplace. Many people have the need for a well thought out course. Most of the time however Life itself steers us in another direction. A certain possibility comes within our reach, or not quite. Some people are very driven and able to deploy their will to grasp it, but they also they experience that  there are sometimes  gates  and roads that  are closed to them. The average human  will sigh: ‘Yes, that’s how it goes.’ But sometimes he may also rebel against it – for to understand how and why it went awry is difficult.

It turns out that  each human being must fill his own personal place as well as follow a specific direction, a course in life. At all levels, in encounters, in opportunities and in his spiritual life as well.  Strange how these  things go.

Seeking guidance

Much has been given to mankind. In the course of centuries there has been drive, inspiration, teachings  and a general contribution  to our understanding  and consciousness: the attributes necessary to become and to be a true human being. We have the examples from ancient Greece - its stories, statues  and buildings. The Greek myths tell us about  the creation of the world, of the gods and the people.   In these stories there are structures hidden regarding  the structure and the psyche of the human being. It is interesting to see that many children, also in this present time, at a certain moment are greatly interested in these stories. It appeals to something within the human being and the essential question why he is here.
A simple small white statue from the Cycladic period, arms folded and the face looking up to …  yes whereto?  … A deity? The vast universe with its stars?  As if pleading for help it looks upward, seeking guidance  on its way to consciousness. 
The statues of the Kouroi and the Kourai, sometimes quite large statues, beautifully shaped  in stone and marble, many in stone,  yes and yet there is that  secretive smile that  ripples over the stone,  like a remembrance, a deep primal soul memory.
The extraordinary temples with pillars, constructed on elevated places in-land or on the coast where wind, sunlight, blue skies and sweet fragrances play around  the pillars. Where one may look far and experience the vast space of land, sea and air. Where the earth takes the human up in a wider perception and gives him a far horizon. And there is the temple in Delphi with the inscription ‘Know yourself’.

Discovering the possibilities 

There were great thinkers, like Socrates, who wanted to shake the child-man awake and make him conscious of what lies within the human  being and needs to be developed. Like Plato, who said:  ‘Come out of your cave with its carven images into the clear light, where no shadow  exits.’

Man must get to work on himself, discover the world within. Paul, the messenger of the unknown god, speaks of Jesus the Christ on the Areopagus, in old Athens on the Hill of Justice. The Spirit-soul power that lies hidden within, as a seed, as a great possibility.

Onward the human  being must go on his own road of development with trial and error. But like the Corinthians he, too receives a letter again and again:

‘Therefore these remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is Love. Strive after these and receive the gifts of the Spirit. Become a new man in this way.’

What a great way of gaining consciousness  and what a long road… The Rosicrucians of the seventeenth century spoke in their Confession of a: ‘in itself-eternally-constant guideline that  will rise above all confusion and will come in place of digression and darkness.’

What is this guideline? What else can it be but the power of the rose; the help of the brotherhood? In other words: the Christ power  that moves the universe in our being? Within us the monarch  butterfly must emerge. We can start on this road ourselves and react consciously to the Spirit of God and in that  way become  an executor of God’s council.

Paul says to the Ephesians: ‘It is God’s gift.  Not from yourself.  Not from your own labours’.
These words seem to be contradictory but indicate that we are dealing with completely different values, which can only be understood rightly in a soul-evolution. In a different era Lao Tze says:  ‘He who knows himself is enlightened. He who conquers  himself is almighty.’

With the awakening of the rose of the heart,  the human being finds a new compass. In the power of the rose he tries to follow her directions. Step by step he follows the lamp that shines before his foot. All directions of the universal teachings  and the embracing and helping power  of the Spiritual School form a guiding line for many.

Kouros.  The Kouroi were in the time of the aristocracy (650-500  B.C.) the Greek ideal of manliness and of the richness of the givers. Magical powers were ascribed to them as well.

Staying the course

Across the blue shining sea Greek ships sailed out to discover the world, to exchange ideas and to trade. Sometimes they didn’t even know the way. The captain set the course, and looked at the stars for guidance.

The captain trusted  the hands, the goodwill and the experience of the crew and the strength and the quality of his ship.  The sea is often stormy, grey, threatening and dangerous.  There is a chance that the ship, the ship of life on the sea of life, gets stranded, gets damaged, and gets lost. Perhaps you follow the correct course – but is there sufficient strength and insight in your short life to complete  the work?  Perhaps you must continue the work in a next life? However, not one true deed or victory over ourselves will be nullified and the small spark of the spirit-soul consciousness cannot  get lost. This small spark will become  a benefit to the whole - to the development of each human  being. Think of the words:  ‘Truth made available through people, to people’.

Walking on the Agora in Athens, we discover the still intact temple of Hephaestus, the god of fire. An expression of beauty.  Miraculous, like life itself.

Pentagram volume 38. 2016 number 1