View allAll Photos Tagged Purification
The RC Harris Filtration Plant, an art deco masterpiece and public works in Toronto, Canada.
Taken with a Viltrox 20mm F1.8 lens, handheld
See 1st comment box. I have not seen any Flamingo in Potchefstroom since our arrival here in 2005. I may be going through life with closed eyes, but I am pretty sure I would have notice something as spectacular as these beautiful birds!!!!! There were 3 this week at the Potchefstroom Sewer Purification Green Drop Farm
As ritual purification precedes all prayers, mosques often have ablution fountains or other facilities for washing in their entryways or courtyards. However, worshippers at much smaller mosques often have to use restrooms to perform their ablutions. In traditional mosques, this function is often elaborated into a freestanding building in the center of a courtyard. This desire for cleanliness extends to the prayer halls where shoes are disallowed to be worn anywhere other than the cloakroom. Thus, foyers with shelves to put shoes and racks to hold coats are commonplace among mosques.
There is purification trough. Not just water, natural hot spring water!
温泉の手水舎なんかもあります。
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Yugawara Station Square (湯河原駅前広場).
Architect : Kengo Kuma & Associates (設計：隈研吾建築都市設計事務所).
Contractor : Totetsu Kogyo (施工：東鉄工業横浜支店).
Completed : October 2017 (竣工：2017年10月).
Structured : (構造：).
Costs : $ million (総工費：約億円).
Use : Plaza (用途：広場).
Height : ft (高さ：m).
Floor : 1 (階数：地上1階).
Floor area : 14,955 sq.ft. (延床面積：1,389.40㎡).
Building area : sq.ft. (建築面積：㎡).
Site area : sq.ft. (敷地面積：㎡).
Owner : Yugawara Town (建主：湯河原町).
Location : Yugawara Town, Ashigara-gun, Kanagawa, Japan (所在地：日本国神奈川県足柄下郡湯河原町).
Referenced :
kkaa.co.jp/works/architecture/yugawara-station-square/
www.town.yugawara.kanagawa.jp/chousei/toshikeikakudoboku/...
www.town.yugawara.kanagawa.jp/global-image/units/50312/1-...
A chōzuya or temizuya is a Shinto water ablution pavilion for a ceremonial purification rite known as temizu.
Water-filled basins, called chōzubachi, are used by worshippers for washing their left hands, right hands, mouth and finally the handle of the water ladle to purify themselves before approaching the main Shinto shrine or shaden. This symbolic purification is normal before worship and all manned shrines have this facility, as well as many Buddhist temples and some new religious houses of worship.
The temizuya is usually an open area where clear water fills one or various stone basins. Wooden dippers are usually available to worshippers.
Originally, this purification was done at a spring, stream or seashore and this is still considered the ideal. Worshippers at the Inner Shrine at Ise still use this traditional way of ablution. - .wikipedia
Mentha pulegium, commonly (European) pennyroyal, also called squaw mint, mosquito plant and pudding grass, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae native to Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. Crushed pennyroyal leaves exhibit a very strong fragrance similar to spearmint. Pennyroyal is a traditional culinary herb, it was commonly used as a cooking herb by the Greeks and Romans. The ancient Greeks often flavored their wine with pennyroyal. Although it was commonly used for cooking in the Middle Ages, it gradually fell out of use as a culinary herb and is seldom used as such today, only the use as a spice is acceptable.
Medicinal uses - the fresh or dried leaves of pennyroyal have been used when treating colds, influenza, abdominal cramps, employed as an emmenagogue (menstrual flow stimulant) or as an abortifacient. Pennyroyal is used to make herbal teas, which, although not proven to be dangerous to healthy adults in small doses, is not recommended, due to its known toxicity to the liver. Consumption can be fatal to infants and children. Pennyroyal essential oil should never be taken internally because it is highly toxic; even in small doses, consumption of the oil can result in death. Poisoning fatalities have been reported after repeated application of the essential oil as an abortifacient.
Pennyroyal leaves, both fresh and dried, are especially noted for repelling insects. Early settlers in colonial Virginia used dried pennyroyal to eradicate pests. Pennyroyal was such a popular herb that the Royal Society published an article on its use against rattlesnakes in the first volume of its Philosophical Transactions in 1665.
One of the songs of the group «Nirvana» - «Pennyroyal Tea» - devoted to the Mentha pulegium. Kurt Cobain took it from abdominal pain and said that in the song it performs a symbol of purification.:
www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=2561
This song is about making a tough decision, the difficult choices around it, and the guilt following it. Pennyroyal Tea can induce an abortion when drunk in large quantities. Due to its toxicity, however, drinking a lot of it is very dangerous. Nirvana played this on their MTV Unplugged special, which was recorded shortly before Kurt Cobain killed himself. The album was released about 6 months after his death, and went to #1 in both the UK and US.
www.youtube.com/watch?list=SRnirvana%20pennyroyal%20tea&a...
Мята болотная, или Мята блошница (лат. Mentha pulegium) — многолетнее растение из семейства Яснотковые (Lamiaceae), произрастающее в Европе, Северной Африке и на Ближнем Востоке. Её измельченные листья имеют очень сильный аромат, похожий на аромат мяты. Традиционно мята болотная использовалась в кулинарии, греками и римлянами при приготовлении пищи и ароматизации вина. Несмотря на то, что мята болотная широко использовалась для приготовления пищи в средние века, она постепенно вышла из употребления в качестве кулинарной травы и редко используется как таковая сегодня. Приемлемым является только использование травы в качестве специи.
Медицинское использование - народное средство при лечении простуды, гриппа, спазмов в животе, в качестве стимулирующего менструацию или абортивного средства. Сегодня не рекомендуется использование препарата в виде чая (особенно во время беременности) из-за его известной токсичности для печени. Потребление может быть фатальным для младенцев и детей. Эфирное масло мяты болотной никогда не следует принимать внутрь, потому что оно очень токсично; даже в малых дозах потребление масла может привести к смерти. Многократно были зарегистрированы отравления со смертельным исходом после применения эфирного масла как абортивного средства.
Листья мяты болотной, как свежие, так и сушеные , использовались для отпугивания насекомых. Ранние поселенцы в колониальной Вирджинии использовали высушенную мяту болотную для искоренения вредителей. Трава была настолько популярна, что Королевское общество опубликовало статью о его использовании против гремучих змей в первом томе Philosophical Transactions в 1665 году.
Одна из песен группы «Nirvana» — Pennyroyal Tea — посвящена болотной мяте. Курт Кобейн принимал её от болей в животе и говорил, что в песне она выступает символом очищения.
www.youtube.com/watch?list=SRnirvana%20pennyroyal%20tea&a...
www.nirvanaone.ru/history/imhere/2-6.htm
“Pennyroyal Tea” была написана осенью 1990 года, когда уже стало ясно, что НИРВАНА подпишет контракт с Geffen Records. “Мы с Дейвом от нечего делать писали все подряд на обычный четырехдорожечник, и я придумал эту песню за полминуты, - вспоминал Курт. - Потом я сел и за полчаса написал к ней слова, и мы записали ее”. Мята болотная, вынесенная в название этой песни, является лекарственным растением, которое среди прочих других обладает абортивными свойствами, но только в токсических дозах. “Мне казалось, это классный образ, - рассказывал Курт. - Я знал девушек, которые пили эту траву, потому что думали, что беременны. Это тема очищения: я пытаюсь изгнать из себя всех своих злых духов с помощью мятного чая. Его нужно выпить очень много, и, я слышал, он действует не очень хорошо. Я никогда не мог найти трав, которые бы мне помогли.
To appear pure before the God Arulmigu in the Temple, she purifies her soul in the Holy Sea of Rameswaram.
“The successful adept must be endowed with a knowledge of the material of the Great Work; also with faith, silence, purity of heart, and prayerfulness. After passing through the gate surmounted with the hieroglyph of philosophic mercury he traverses the seven angles of the citadel, representing the chief operations of the Great Work - calcination, dissolution, purification, introduction into the sealed Vase of Hermes, transference of the Vase to the Athanor [furnace], coagulation, putrefaction, ceration, multiplication and projection. And even upon reaching the Petra Philosophalis, he finds it is held in custody by a formidable dragon.”
Amphitheatrum sapientiae aeternae, Heinrich Khunrath
Saturn is related to Mercury in alchemical text, and is given the same ambiguous sexuality, or androgyny, and named it ‘Mercurius senex’.In Tiphareth, the geometric symbol is the interlaced triangles of water and fire, or the Star of David. When expanded to connect the planetary sepheroth of the Tree (with Saturn being attributed to Daath), the Triangle of Water connects the spheres of Mars, Jupiter, and Luna. The Triangle of Fire connects Saturn, Venus, and Mercury.
Just as Ouroboros is cosmic energy (the serpent) limiting itself (Saturn), Venus is the creative cosmic force multiplying itself in life (its vegetative nature) as a prism splits the light of the sun. Mercury, like Saturn in many respects, is androgynous, and controls the fire of creation, directing it in the creation of the Philosopher’s Stone. Mercury holds the Caduceus, or winged staff with two serpents intertwined around it. The Wings represent sublimation, the serpents the basic forces of creation. There crossing over is the psychic centers, often given as seven in number, here representing the colors in the spectrum, plus white (Venus). Central to the diagram is Sol, which is the cosmic creative forces which unify, enliven, and harmonize creation, and which we can hope to contact. It is central, and directs and controls all of the other planets, psychic centers, or aspects of Cosmic energy.By contacting the fire of the Sun, we can open the fire of the other psychic centers (via Venus), and more easily direct the restrictive and enlightening energy of Saturn, through the powers of the Mind, or Mercury.To understand these multi-faceted aspects of the planets, particularly Venus and Mercury, it is important to have done the Pathworkings up to Tiphareth. While this is not required to perform the techniques later in this monograph, it is a help for an understanding of the theoretical part.However, we can begin to understand the relationship of the Spheres to each other by undertaking a series of meditations based on the following idea:Venus is the regenerating, sensual, active life force in its vegetative and unconscious manner. It responds to heat, light, and emotion. On the Path of the Decent, Venus splits the singular rays of the Sun into the many facets of the color spectrum, and as such, can lead us to a better understanding of the relationship between multiplicity and unity, the psychic centers and planets, and their unique natures. On the Path of Ascent, Venus re-unites the divergent energies, both planetary and personal (psychic centers) and harmonizes it into a singular force, although still multi-colored, until it returns to the Sun as pure light.
“This Stone rises in growing, greening things. Wherefore when the Green is reduced to its former nature, whereby things sprout and come forth in due time, it must be decocted and putrefied in the way of our secret art.” Splendor solis, Trismosin.The Stone is made through the greening of nature (Netzach) and it returning to its source (Tipahreth) by putrefaction (Death card of the path connecting them).Mercury gives form and meaning to the diverse energies made by the splitting actions of Venus, and re-unites them as fundamental forces, symbolized by the Caduceus. Mercury is Psychopomp, or Guide of the Soul, and directs the energies that Venus represents. Since both Venus and Mercury sit at the base of the Pillars of kabbalah, they access the material, astral, and mental realms, and can influence all three to some degree. On the Descent, Mercury creates form and structure, for the body, the mind, or the soul, and on the ascent, Mercury helps free us from the limitations of form, without forgetting its lessons.The serpent is primordial force or energy, fire and water being the principle two of creation, with air and earth following them. Because it shed it’s skin, it is seen as a symbol of regeneration and renewal. It is also dangerous, deadly, can be found often in ‘guardian’ roles near springs or water as well as deserts. When controlled or mastered, it is seen as mastering a powerful and deadly, yet regenerating force, basic to creation, or possibly from which creation came.
The Secret Fire is directly linked to the sexual, (i.e. principle and most basic creative forces) in humanity. Here, the relationship between ‘bliss’ ‘ecstasy’ and the erotic impulse can be clearly seen and experienced. The development of a host of ‘sexual yogas’ and ‘sex magic(k)’ practices bear this out to some degree. However, it is the sexual desire in humanity that acts as its basic drive and evolutionary force. It also suggests that the ability and need for mystical experience is biologically rooted. Only by ignoring the most basic of pleasures, sex, can we ignore the drive to ecstatic union on some level. The ‘little death’ or petite morte, is a forerunner of the ‘big death’ as we let go and experience divine oblivion.Sexual power, linked to our innate drive for mystical experiences, is also linked to human evolution, and some kind of predetermined point or state to which we are being directed.This is a significant point, in that almost all of modern Western societies psychological illnesses are focused around sexual repression and obsession.If the Secret Fire flows freely, or with greater strength than before, without the proper purification of the Vital Energy of the physical body, it is possible that it will result in what appears to be extreme physical, but more likely psychological, illness in the form of schizophrenia and psychosis, instead of psychic gifts, genius, and either transpersonal states, or simply altered states of consciousness.Wilhelm Reich, the father of Orgon Therapy states that the basis for all mental-emotional disturbances are anchored in the physical body, and that these anchors can be released through breathing techniques, somewhat similar to pranayamana. Since the body is the “Salt” of alchemy, and partially composed of accessible unconscious elements through its “Watery Element” all of our emotional and physical experiences become indelibly marked, associated, or stored in our physical body. If these blocks, or energy concentrations of emotional and physical trauma (composed of Vital Energy) are not removed before the Secret Fire begins to flow more intensely, the so-called negative side effects of ‘Kundalini phenomena’ will appear.
Abuse of drugs, alcohol, and sexual extremes only worsen the condition in that they inadvertently release the Secret Fire by weakening the physical body and its link to the astral, thereby damaging the etheric substructure, and create energy blocks in the end rather than diminish them, when the mind and body attempt to make repairs.A nervous system damaged by substance abuse makes a tricky vehicle for the clear, clean, and powerful expression of the Secret Fire. It is through our nervous system (under the domain of Yesod-Luna) that we engage both the physical world, as well as out interior world. It links the body (Malkooth) with the Mind-Intellect (Hod) as well as instinctual, creative, and sensual urges (Netzach). If it is damaged, our ability to relate fully, creatively, and productively to these psyhco-physical-spiritual parts of our self becomes endangered. If it is damaged, then our most direct and important link to our Holy Guardian Angel, and means of releasing the Secret Fire safely (via Tiphareth) is threatened in this incarnation.
“Listen, then while I make known the Grand Arcanum of this wonder-working Stone, which at the same time is not a stone, which exists in every man, and may be found in its own place at all times…. It is called a stone, not because it is like a stone, but only because by virtue of its fixed nature, it resists the action of fire as successfully as any stone….If we say that its nature is spiritual, it would be no more than the truth; if we describe it as corporeal, the expression would be equally correct; for it is subtle, penetrative, glorified, spiritual gold. It is the noblest of all created things…it is a spirit or quintessence.”
hermetic.com/stavish/essays/secret-fire.html
The American artist Mark Dion invests Fine Arts in Paris which he is invited in 2016. It offers a labyrinthine exhibition consisting of works from the heritage collection of fine arts, contemporary works and his own productions. The theme of the supernatural, they open to a reinterpretation of the collections and the historic site of Fine Arts.Extending the exhibition, two exceptional nocturnal journey in the Fine Arts in Paris will be offered during the night of the opening (Tuesday May 17) and as part of the Museum Night (Saturday 21 May).Since the 1990s, Mark Dion speaks regularly at the heart of cultural and scientific institutions such as museums and natural history museums which it involves typologies and scenic codes. In his speech to the Fine Arts, he will hold a series of works chosen for their report more or less allegorical in the supernatural.Extranatural, large immersive installation, will engage older pieces (drawings, prints, photographs, sculptures ...) and contemporary works, some produced by students and graduates of Fine Arts in Paris, which will result in an original narrative form close of the investigation.Chosen for their enigmatic power, and the power of suggestion, not reducible to a genus, the works assembled by Mark Dion is an opportunity to probe the report to the strange and the supernatural, which passes through art and creation: magic and alchemy, hybrid, and grotesque monsters, witches and sabbaths, unusual objects, morphological elements ...The issue of representation, that of anthropological works and their resonance, form the issues of the work of Mark Dion, whose scenography thwarts the traditional codes, sometimes diverting objects from their original meaning and function.The central device, the Palace of Fine Arts, each room corresponds to one of the four elements (earth, water, air, fire), will mingle including Dürer and Goya, and Kawanabe Goltzius and contemporary works by Jimmie Durham , Extra Lucid, Matt Mullican, morgane tschiember ...Both nocturnal journey to the heart of Beaux-Arts in Paris will allow visitors to discover surprising places, some of which opened for the first time to the public. From the room Melpomene, the course will provide access to lounges and hotel garden Chimay, library, collections, to the cellars of the Palace of studies.Extranatural result of a collaborative process of reflection and research, conducted in close collaboration with the curators of collections of Fine Arts. Particularly significant in the eyes of the artist, the historical continuity of the collection, closely linked to his vocation of transmitting artistic practices, echoes his visual approach and the fact archaeologist museum. The choice of institution and venues that will host this specific work, then makes sense.The works collected by Mark Dion invite the viewer to renew his experience of curiosity through 500 years of history.
Rito de purificación sintoísta en Kyoto, Japan / Japón・日本・京都・清水寺
water / shinto / ceremonial purification rite / basins
El rito ceremonial de purificación sintoísta o temizu se realiza en el chōzuya o temizuya, un espacio abierto con una pila de piedra llena de agua cristalina que podemos encontrar comúnmente en la entrada de todos los santuarios y templos. Para llevarlo a cabo se utiliza el Hishaku (cazo de madera) para verter agua sobre nuestra mano izquierda, sobre la derecha, enjuagarnos la boca sorbiendo desde la palma de la mano izquierda (evidentemente, NO hay que escupir el agua de nuevo en el cuenco, sino en un desagüe), y una vez más sobre la mano izquierda. Terminamos colocando el Hishaku boca a bajo.
Este rito es una versión simplificada del Misogi ShuHo, que se realizaba originalmente en un manantial, rio o mar (básicamente cualquier lugar donde el agua no esté estancada), y que aún hoy se sigue considerando lo ideal. Los fieles del santuario interior de Ise (Kotai Jingu o Naiku, como se le conoce más coloquialmente) en el pueblo de Uji-tachi todavía utilizan este método tradicional.
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The Shinto purification ritual or temizu it's done in the chōzuya or temizuya, an open space with a stone pile filled up with clear water that can be commonly found in the entrance of all the shrines and temples like this one in Itsukushima. To do this we use the Hishaku (wooden bucket) to pour water on your left hand, on the right one, wash out our mouth sipping from the palm of your left hand (of course, do not spit the water back into the bowl, do it in a drain), and again on the left hand. We finish placing the Hishaku upside down.
Pulsa L para ver sobre negro / Hit L to see on black
Pulsa F para marcar como favorita / Hit F to fave
Hubby getting water for the next days trekking with the Katadyn Pro Hiker water filter, an awesome bit of kit.
"I come here once a week for purification"
"What reasons do you usually come here for?" I ask Putu
"Usually if I am having nightmares, bad thoughts or problems with my skin"
"And does it work for you?"
"Yes" he replies "I think the water here is holy but I also think it works because it is what I choose to believe- everything is in the mind"
Pura Tirta Empul is one of the places I was most looking forward to discovering. It is known for its holy spring water and Mother Nature has clearly decided to surround it in the most breathtaking and gracious manner. Many Balinese Hindus come to this temple to pray and to purify themselves in one of the pools where a specific number of fountains release holy water. The pool with 13 fountains for instance is reserved for cremation ceremonies. Another with 8 fountains is symbolically used for spiritual purification (ex: if someone is sick) and the pool with 5 fountains is for those who simply come to pray. I was hoping to see worshipers bathe in this special water, but the pools were empty as I probably showed up a little too early (to beat the tourist crowds)... But either way, not seeing any worshipers is a good excuse to come back to Bali wink emoticon. As cheesy as this may sound, Tirta Empul has been one of the places where I felt an incredible sense of inner calm. I'm certain the nature has something to do with it all...Unlike churches for instance, the idea of a "roof" is non-existant in Balinese Hindu temples. Nature plays an equally spiritual role and must surround one's prayers (this idea of nature & faith has truly fascinated me all throughout my trip). Tirta Empul is also embellished with countless carved stones and art ornating the many shrines. Even the ponds filled with "fish for luck" and the mangosteen trees add something special to this place. If you are ever in Bali, this is a gem that is definitely worth a visit...
LiViD Hedge Witch Doll Box includes a Ritual Magic Circle throw with animations and ritual tools props. The ritual is in 5 steps... First is meditation (not showed). The second one (this pic) is the Purification step with the smoke of incenses.
Taken at the base of Fushimi-Inari. This ritual is believed to purify the body before certain type of activity.
As always, thanks for viewing my photo!
Taken in Ueno, Tokyo. This image is available to buy from Getty Images
Getty Images ID #137451340
Whenever you visit either a Buddhist or Shinto temple it is common to find traditional water basins within the grounds. Provided to visitors to wash their hands and rinse their mouths in order to purify themselves before approaching a main hall or place of worship.
Often in Buddhist temples metal dragons - see comments section - sit atop the purification area, symbolising the obstacles humans face throughout life that must first be overcome before enlightenment may be attained.
Canon EOS 60D | ISO 100 | f/5.6 | 1/25 | 18-135mm at 135mm | AWB
"We can often say that our own sufferings and all the catastrophes, unwanted situations, disasters, wars, failures and sicknesses that are happening in our world these days are a combination of different results of a lack of merit and wisdom.
Therefore the practice of intensive and skillful purification is very urgently needed.
Purification in the sense of cleaning our defilement and obscurations accumulated since beginningless time until today, which have come in the form of the ripening negative karmic results.
Of course, besides spiritual practice, we all must be actively stopping all the negative actions, confessing about our negative activities by body, speech and mind and vowing never to do them again.
Practically also we should be going out there to help all the beings, whenever we can when the circumstances arise.
This goes without saying."
(His Holiness Jigme Pema Wangchen, the Twelfth Gyalwang Drukpa)
This picture was shot at the entrance of Sheh palace which is facing the Himalayan hills of the Tibetan Plateau in Ladakh.
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Clock in rotunda of Filtration Building shows shows the time, the filter backwash conditions and the reservoir tank levels.
The Palace of Purification located in Toronto's east end provides an average of 400 million litres of safe drinking water of Toronto's drinking water - 33% of the Toronto's total water supply.
The days being nearly fulfilled when the Blessed Virgin must, according to the Law, present and redeem her firstborn in the Temple, 143143 The laws about ‘Purification’ and offerings after childbirth are in Lev. 12.4-8, and the ‘sanctification’ of the first-born is directed in Exod. 13.2 and Num. 3.13. (SB) all was prepared for the Holy Family’s journey first to the Temple and then to their home in Nazareth. On the evening of Sunday, December 30 th, the shepherds had been given everything left behind by Anna’s servants. The Cave of the Nativity, the side-cave, and Maraha’s grave were all completely swept out and emptied. Joseph left them all quite clean. In the night of Sunday, December 30 th, to Monday, December 31 st, I saw Joseph and Mary with the Child visiting the Cave of the Nativity once more and taking leave of that holy place. They spread out the kings’ carpet on Jesus’ birthplace, laid the Child on it and prayed, and finally laid it on the place where He had been circumcised, kneeling down in prayer there, too. At dawn on Monday, December 31 st, I saw the Blessed Virgin mount the donkey, which the old shepherds had brought to the cave all equipped for the journey. Joseph held the Child while she settled herself comfortably; then he laid Him in her lap. She sat sideways on the saddle with her feet on a rather high support, facing backwards. She held the Child on her lap wrapped in her big veil and looked down on Him with an expression of great happiness. There were only a few rugs and small bundles on the donkey. Mary sat between them. The shepherds accompanied them part of their way before taking a moving farewell of them. They did not take the way by which they had come, but went between the Cave of the Nativity and the grave of Maraha, round the east side of Bethlehem. Nobody noticed them.
[January 30 th:] This morning I saw them going very slowly on the short journey from Bethlehem to Jerusalem: they must have made many halts. At midday I saw them resting on benches round a fountain with a roof over it. I saw some women coming to the Blessed Virgin and bringing her jugs with balsam and small loaves of bread. The Blessed Virgin’s sacrifice for the Temple hung in a basket at the side of the donkey. This basket had three compartments, two of which were lined with something. These contained fruit. The third was of open wickerwork and a couple of doves could be seen in it. Towards evening I saw them enter a small house beside a large inn about a quarter of an hour from Jerusalem. This was kept by an old childless couple who welcomed them with particular affection. I now know why I mistook Anna’s companions yesterday for the people from an inn in Jerusalem: I had seen them stopping here with these good old people on their way to Bethlehem, when they had no doubt arranged about a lodging for the Blessed Virgin. The old couple were Essenes and related to Joanna Chuza. The husband was a gardener by trade, trimmed hedges, and was employed in work on the road.
[February 1 st:] I saw the Holy Family with these old innkeepers near Jerusalem during the whole of today. The Blessed Virgin was generally alone in her room with the Child, who lay on a rug on a low ledge projecting from the wall. She was praying all the time, and seemed to be preparing herself for the coming ceremony. It was revealed to me at the same time how one should prepare oneself for receiving Holy Communion.
I saw the appearance of a number of holy angels in her room, worshipping the Infant Jesus. I do not know whether the Blessed Virgin also saw these angels, but I think so, because I saw her rapt in contemplation. The good people of the inn did everything possible to please the Blessed Virgin: they must have been aware of the holiness of the Infant Jesus.
About seven o’clock in the evening I had a vision of the aged Simeon. He was a thin, very old man with a short beard. He was an ordinary priest, was married, and had three grown-up sons, the youngest of whom might have been about twenty. I saw Simeon, who lived close to the Temple, going through a narrow dark passage in the Temple walls into a small vaulted cell, built in the thickness of the wall. I saw nothing in this room but an opening through which one could look down into the Temple. I saw the aged Simeon kneeling here rapt in prayer. Then the appearance of an angel stood before him and warned him to take heed of the little child who should be first presented early next morning, for this was the Messiah for whom he had so long yearned. After he had seen Him, he would soon die. I saw this so plainly; the room was illuminated, and the holy old man was radiant with joy. Then I saw him going to his house and telling his wife with great joy what had been announced to him. After his wife had gone to bed, I saw Simeon betake himself to prayer again.
I never saw devout Israelites and their priests praying with such exaggerated gestures as the Jews today. I did, however, see them scourging themselves. I saw the prophetess Anna praying in her cell and having a vision about the Presentation of the Infant Jesus in the Temple.
[February 2 nd:] This morning, while it was still dark, I saw the Holy Family, accompanied by the people of the inn, leaving the inn and going to Jerusalem to the Temple with the baskets of offerings and with the donkey laden for the journey. They went into a walled courtyard in the Temple. While Joseph and the innkeeper stabled the donkey in a shed, the Blessed Virgin and her Child were kindly received by an aged woman and led into the Temple by a covered passage. A light was carried, for it was still dark. No sooner had they entered this passage than the aged priest Simeon came, full of expectation, towards the Blessed Virgin. After addressing a few friendly words to her, he took the Child Jesus in his arms, pressed Him to his heart, and then hurried back to the Temple by another way. Yesterday’s message from the angel had so filled him with longing to see the Child of the Promise, for whom he had sighed so long, that he had come out here to the place where the women arrived. He was dressed in long garments such as the priests wear when not officiating. I often saw him in the Temple, and always as an aged priest of no elevated rank. His great devoutness, simplicity, and enlightenment alone distinguished him.
The Blessed Virgin was led by her guide to the outer courts of the Temple where the ceremony took place, and she was here received by Noemi, her former teacher, and Anna, who both lived on this side of the Temple. Simeon, who now once more came out of the Temple to meet the Blessed Virgin, led her, with her Child in her arms, to the customary place for the redemption of the firstborn. Anna, to whom Joseph gave the basket with the offerings, followed her with Noemi. The doves were in the lower part of the basket; above them was a compartment with fruit. Joseph went by another door into the place set apart for men.
It must have been known in the Temple that several women were coming for the presentation ceremony, for everything was arranged. The room where the ceremony took place was as big as the parish church here in Dülmen. Many lamps were burning on its walls, forming pyramids of light. The little flames are at the end of a bent tube projecting from a golden disc which shines almost as brightly as the flame. Hanging from this disc by a woven cord is a little extinguisher which is used to put out the light without making any smell and removed again when the lamps are lit.
An oblong chest had been brought out by several priests and set before a kind of altar with what looked like horns at each corner. The doors of this chest were opened to form a stand on which a large tray was laid. This was covered first with a red cloth, and then with a transparent white one, which hung down to the ground on each side. Burning lamps with several branches were placed at the four corners of this table, in the middle of which was an oblong cradle flanked by two oval bowls containing two baskets. All these things had been brought out of drawers in the chest, with priests’ vestments, which were laid on the other permanent altar. The table which had been set up for the offering was surrounded by a railing. On each side of this room were seats, raised one above the other, in which were priests saying prayers.
Simeon now approached the Blessed Virgin, in whose arms the Infant Jesus lay wrapped in a sky-blue covering, and led her through the railing to the table, where she laid the Child in the cradle. From this moment I saw an indescribable light filling the Temple. I saw that God Himself was in it, and above the Child I saw the heavens opening to disclose the Throne of the Holy Trinity. Simeon then led the Blessed Virgin back to the women’s place. Mary wore a pale sky-blue dress, with a white veil, and was completely enveloped in a long yellow cloak. Simeon then went to the permanent altar on which the vestments had been laid out, and he and three other priests vested each other for the ceremony. They had a kind of little shield on their arms, and on their heads were caps divided like miters. One went behind and the other in front of the table of offering, while two others stood at the narrow ends of it praying over the Child. Anna now came up to Mary and handed her the basket of offerings, which contained fruit and doves in two separate compartments, one above the other. She led her to the railing in front of the table, and there both remained standing. Simeon, who was standing before the table, opened the railing, led Mary up to the table, and placed her offering on it. Fruit was placed in one of the oval dishes and coins in the other: the doves remained in the basket. 144144 In 1823, when recounting Jesus’ stay in Hebron during the third year of His ministry, some ten days after the death of the Baptist, Catherine Emmerich said that she saw Our Lord teaching, on Friday the 29th day of the month of Thebet (i.e. Jan. 17th), from the Sabbath reading taken from Exodus, Chapter 10 to Chapter 13.17. He taught about the Egyptian plague of darkness and about the redemption of the first-born. In connection with the latter she recounted once more the whole ceremony of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, including the following, omitted from the description given in the text:‘The Blessed Virgin did not present Our Lord in the Temple until the forty-third day after His birth. Because of the feast, she waited for three days with the good people of the inn outside the Bethlehem gate of Jerusalem. Besides the customary offering of doves, she presented to the Temple five triangular pieces of gold from the kings’ gifts, as well as several pieces of beautiful stuff for embroidery. Before leaving Bethlehem, Joseph sold to his cousin the young she-ass which he had given him in pledge on Nov. 30th. I have always thought that the she-ass, on which Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, was a descendant of hers.’ (CB) Simeon remained standing with Mary before the table of offering, and the priest who stood behind it lifted the Infant Jesus from the cradle and held Him up towards the different sides of the Temple, making a long prayer the while. He then gave the Child to Simeon, who laid Him once more in Mary’s arms and prayed over her and the Child from a scroll hanging on a stand beside him. Simeon then led the Blessed Virgin back to where Anna was waiting for her in front of the railing, after which Anna took her back to the railed-off women’s enclosure. Here some twenty women were waiting to present their firstborn. Joseph and the other men were standing farther back in the place for men.
The priests at the permanent altar now began a service with incense and prayers. The priests in the seats took part in this service, making gestures, but not such violent ones as the Jews of today. At the close of this ceremony, Simeon came up to where Mary was standing, took the Infant Jesus from her into his arms, speaking long and loudly over Him in raptures of joy and thanking God that He had fulfilled His Promise. He ended with his Nunc Dimittis [ Luke 2.29-32]. After the Presentation Joseph came up, and he and Mary listened with great reverence to Simeon’s inspired words to the Blessed Virgin [ Luke 2.34]. When Simeon had finished speaking, the prophetess Anna was also filled with inspiration, and spoke long and loudly about the Infant Jesus, hailing His Mother as blessed. I saw that those who were present were greatly moved by all this, and the priests, too, seemed to hear something of what was happening; but no sort of disturbance was caused thereby. It seemed as if this loud inspired praying was nothing unusual, as if it often happened, and as if it must all be so. At the same time I saw that the hearts of all the bystanders were much moved, and all showed great reverence to the Child and His Mother. Mary was like a heavenly rose in radiance.
The Holy Family had, in appearance, made the most humble offering; but Joseph gave Anna and the aged Simeon many of the triangular yellow pieces in secret, to be used specially for poor girls who were being brought up in the Temple and could not afford the expense.
I saw the Blessed Virgin and her Child being accompanied by Anna and Noemi back to the outer court, whence they had fetched her, and there they took leave of each other. Joseph was there already with the two people from the inn; he had brought the donkey which carried Mary and the Child, and they started at once on their journey from the Temple through Jerusalem to Nazareth. I did not see the presentation of the other firstborn children that day, but I feel that they were all given a special grace, and that many of them were among the massacred Innocents.
The Presentation must have ended about nine o’clock this morning, for it was at this time that I saw the departure of the Holy Family. That day they traveled as far as Bethoron, where they spent the night at the house which had been the last stopping-place of the Blessed Virgin when she was brought to the Temple thirteen years before. The owner of this house seemed to me to be a schoolteacher. Servants sent by Anna were waiting here for them. They went to Nazareth by a much more direct road than on their way to Bethlehem, when they had avoided all towns and had only stopped at lonely houses. Joseph had left in pledge with his relations the young she ass which had shown him the way on their journey to Bethlehem, for he still intended to return to Bethlehem and build a house in the Shepherds’ Valley. He had spoken to the shepherds about it, and told them that he was taking Mary to her mother only for a time until she should have recovered from the discomfort of her lodging. With this plan in his mind, he had left a good many things with the shepherds. Joseph had a strange kind of money with him; I think he must have been given it by the three kings. Inside his robe he had a kind of pouch, in which he carried a quantity of little thin shining yellow leaves rolled up in each other. Their corners were rounded and something was scratched on them. Judas’ pieces of silver were thicker and tongue-shaped; the whole pieces were rounded at both ends and the half pieces at one end only.
1. A VIEW OF THE THREE HOLY KINGS ON THEIR JOURNEY HOME.
At this time I saw all three kings together again beyond a river. They had a day of rest and kept a feast. At this place there was one big house with several smaller ones. The direction taken by the kings on their way home lies between the road they followed on their journey to Bethlehem and that by which Jesus came out of Egypt in the third year of His ministry. At first they traveled very quickly, but after this resting-place their pace was much slower than when they came. I always saw a shining youth going before them and sometimes talking with them. They left Ur on the right.
2. SIMEON’S DEATH.
[February 3 rd:] Simeon had a wife and three sons, of whom the eldest was about forty and the youngest twenty years old. All three served in the Temple, and were later secret friends of Jesus and His followers. All became disciples of Our Lord, but at different times: before His death or after His ascension. At the Last Supper one of them prepared the Paschal Lamb for Jesus and the Apostles; but these were perhaps grandsons, not sons, of Simeon; I am not sure. Simeon’s sons did much to help the friends of Our Lord at the time of the first persecutions after the Ascension. Simeon was related to Seraphia, who was later given the name Veronica, and also, through her father, to Zechariah.
I saw that Simeon fell ill yesterday immediately on returning home after his prophecy at the Presentation of Jesus, but he spoke very joyfully with his wife and sons. Tonight I saw that today was to be the day of his death. Of the many things I saw I can only remember this much. Simeon, from the couch where he lay, spoke earnestly to his wife and children, telling them of the salvation that was come to Israel and of everything that the angel had announced to him. His joy was touching to behold. Then I saw him die peacefully and heard the quiet lamentation of his family. Many other old priests and Jews were praying round his bed. Then I saw them carry his body into another room. They placed it on a board pierced with holes, and washed it with sponges, holding a cloth over it so that its nakedness could not be seen. The water ran through the board into a copper basin placed beneath it. Then they covered the body with big green leaves, surrounded it with bunches of sweet herbs, and wrapped it in a great cloth in which it was tied up with long bandages like a child in swaddling bands. The body lay so straight and rigid that I thought the bands must have been tied right round the board.
In the evening Simeon was buried. His body was carried to the grave by six men bearing torches. It lay on a board more or less the shape of a body, but surrounded by an edge higher in the middle of its four sides and lower at the corners. The wrapped-up corpse lay on this board without any other covering. The bearers and those who followed them walked quicker than is usual at our burials. The grave was on a hill not very far from the Temple. The door of the sepulcher was set slanting against a little hill. It was walled inside with a strange kind of masonry like that which I saw St. Benedict working at in his first monastery. 145145 In a vision of the life of St. Benedict which Catherine Emmerich had on Feb. 10th, 1820, she saw amongst other things that as a boy he was shown by his teacher how to use colored stones to make all kinds of ornaments and arabesques in the sand of the garden in the manner of the old pavements. Later she saw him, when a hermit, decorating the roof of his cell or cave with a reproduction in rough mosaic of a vision of the Last Judgment. Still later she saw St. Benedict’s followers imitating and extending this form of decoration. After contemplating in its smallest details the whole history and development of his Order from its foundation, she said: ‘Because in the Benedictines the inner spirit became less active and alive than its outer shell, I saw their churches and monasteries becoming too much ornamented and decorated. I thought to myself, that comes from the picture Benedict made in his cell; it has shot up like a weed, and when once this superstructure collapses, it will strike many of them at the same time.’ (CB) The walls, like those in the Blessed Virgin’s cell in the Temple, were decorated with stars and other patterns in colored stones. The little cave in the middle of which they laid the corpse was just large enough to allow them to pass round the body. There were some other funeral customs such as laying various things beside the dead man—coins, little stones, and I think also food, but I am not sure.
3. THE ARRIVAL OF THE HOLY FAMILY AT ST. ANNE’S HOUSE.
In the evening I saw the Holy Family arrive at Anna’s house, which is about half an hour’s distance from Nazareth in the direction of the valley of Zabulon. There was a little family’ festival like the one when Mary left home for the Temple. A lamp was burning above the table. Joachim was dead, and I saw Anna’s second husband as master of the house. Anna’s eldest daughter, Mary Heli, was there on a visit. The donkey was unloaded, for Mary meant to stay here for some time. All were full of joy over the Infant Jesus, but it was a tranquil inner joy; I never saw any of these people giving way to very violent emotions. Some aged priests were there, and all present partook of a light meal. The women ate separately from the men, as is always the custom at meals.
I saw the Holy Family still in Anna’s house a few days later. There are several women there, Mary Heli, Anna’s eldest daughter, with her child Mary Cleophas, a woman from Elizabeth’s home, and the maidservant who was with Mary in Bethlehem. This maidservant did not wish to marry again after the death of her husband, who had not been a good man, and came to Elizabeth at Juttah, where the Blessed Virgin made her acquaintance when she visited Elizabeth before John’s birth. From here this widow came to Anna. Today I saw Joseph in Anna’s house packing many things on donkeys and going in front of the donkeys (of which there were two or three) towards Nazareth, accompanied by the maid.
I cannot remember the details of all that I saw today in Anna’s house, but I must have had a very vivid impression of it all, for while I was there I was in an intense activity of prayer, which is now hardly comprehensible to me. Before I came to Anna’s house I had been in spirit with a young married couple who supported their old mother; they are both mortally ill, and if they do not recover, the mother will perish. I know this poor family, but have had no news of them for a long time. In desperate cases like this I always invoke St. Anne, and when I was in her house today in my vision, I saw, in spite of the season of the year, and though the leaves had all fallen, many pears, plums, and other fruit hanging on the trees in her garden. When I went away I was allowed to pick these, and I took the pears to the young couple who were ill and so cured them. After that I was made to give some to many other poor people, known and unknown to me, who were restored to health by them. No doubt these fruits signified graces obtained through the intercession of St. Anne. I fear that these fruits mean much pain and suffering for me, which always comes after visions in which I pick fruit in the gardens of the saints—this has always to be paid for. Perhaps these souls are under the protection of St. Anne, and are thus entitled to fruit from the garden; or perhaps it happened because, as I have always recognized, she is a patroness in desperate cases.
4. THE WEATHER IN PALESTINE.
[When asked what sort of weather she saw in Palestine at this time of the year, she answered:] I always forget to mention that, because it seems to me all so natural that I always think everyone knows about it. I often see rain and mist, and sometimes a little snow, but this melts at once. I often see leafless trees with fruit still hanging on them. I see several crops in the year, and I see them beginning to harvest in our spring. Now that it is winter I see people going along the roads wrapped up, with their cloaks over their heads.
[February 6 th:] This afternoon I saw the Blessed Virgin going from Anna’s house to Joseph’s house in Nazareth. She was accompanied by her mother, who carried the Infant Jesus. It is a very pleasant walk of half an hour among hills and gardens. Anna sends provisions from her own house to Joseph and Mary in Nazareth. How beautiful is the life of the Holy Family! Mary is at once the mother and the humblest handmaid of the Holy Child and at the same time she is Joseph’s servant. Joseph is her faithful friend and humblest servant. When the Blessed Virgin rocks the Infant Jesus to and fro in her arms, how marvelous to see the all-merciful God, who made the world, allowing Himself out of His great love to be treated like a helpless little child! How dreadful in comparison the coldness and self-will of deceitful and hard-hearted men!
"Sion, adorn your bridal chamber and welcome Christ the King; take Mary in your arms, who is the gate of heaven, for she herself is carrying the King of glory and new light. A Virgin she remains, though bringing in her hands the Son before the morning star begotten, whom Simeon, taking in his arms announced to the peoples as Lord of life and death and Saviour of the world."
My homily for today can be read here.
Painting by Guido Reni in the Louvre Museum in Paris.
The Chapel of the Constables of Castile, also called the Purification Chapel, was commissioned by the constables, Don Pedro Fernandez (d1492) and his wife, Doña Mencia de Mendoza (d 1500), for their family pantheon in the cathedral of Burgos. It was developed by architect Simon de Colonia between 1482 and 1517 in late Gothic style, with the collaboration of sculptors Diego and Gil de Siloé and Felipe Vigarny. The latter sculpted the figures on the tomb in 1534.
I make no apologies for the number of shots taken of this tomb. The quality of the sculpting is superb. It reminds me very much of the tomb of Francis II & Marguerite de Foix in Nantes Cathedral. I've just checked and find that tomb was sculpted by Michel Colombe, a contemporary and sometime colleague of the Siloé brothers.