Divine Mirror

Discusses the cultural background and meaning of ten goddesses, including Aphrodite, Isis, Athena, Durga, Laksmi, and Sita

"There has long been a curious fascination with eyes and mirrors as evident throughout art, film, and literature. From fantastical characters who shoot lasers from their eyes to those whose memories are altered visually, the way in which a story portrays the function of the eyes demonstrates the way the storyteller imagines the character's relationship to the world. Is the character powerful or powerless? Does she impact her world or is she impacted by that world? The storyteller's portrayal of vision answers those questions and reveals deeper assumptions about the individual and her ability to move within and to know her world. While eyes are associated with interacting with this world, mirrors are distinctly associated with interacting with some other world. Mirrors function as portals to other worlds, windows that glimpse an alternate reality, or harmful traps that hide sinister intentions. How an author portrays eyes reveals how she understands the world, while how she portrays mirrors reveals how she imagines the unknown"--

The idea of a heavenly double—an angelic twin of an earthbound human—can be found in Christian, Manichaean, Islamic, and Kabbalistic traditions. Scholars have long traced the lineage of these ideas to Greco-Roman and Iranian sources. In The Greatest Mirror, Andrei A. Orlov shows that heavenly twin imagery drew in large part from early Jewish writings. The Jewish pseudepigrapha—books from the Second Temple period that were attributed to biblical figures but excluded from the Hebrew Bible—contain accounts of heavenly twins in the form of spirits, images, faces, children, mirrors, and angels of the Presence. Orlov provides a comprehensive analysis of these traditions in their full historical and interpretive complexity. He focuses on heavenly alter egos of Enoch, Moses, Jacob, Joseph, and Aseneth in often neglected books, including Animal Apocalypse, Book of the Watchers, 2 Enoch, Ladder of Jacob, and Joseph and Aseneth, some of which are preserved solely in the Slavonic language.

In this revised biography of an art mystery and an intense family dynamic, Debra Lynn has added an epilogue that details the current status of a painting her father gave her before he died. At a Palm Beach auction house in 1950, Debra Lynn's grandmother, Ethel Cordelia Mount, is drawn to purchase a tiny religious-themed painting, from the estate of Joseph Early Widener, a founding benefactor of the National Gallery of Art. It would remain mostly unnoticed on a hidden wall space until re-discovered in 2009 gathering dust in the family garage. In a moment of profound healing Debra's father gives her this tiny work of art. Her lifelong interest in Grail history is immediately triggered by the hidden symbolism she sees in the unknown artist's structure. Compelled to investigate, the author embarks on a research journey with art conservators and scientists that is both slow and laborious. As the mysterious painting reveals its secrets layer-by-layer, we witness the author's unwinding of personal challenges associated with the patterning from the dysfunctional distortion of alcoholism in her family's past. The parallel journey of discovery takes us across the globe, giving the reader a glimpse into the complex world of art research. Putting pieces together like a proverbial puzzle, the author asks what historical truths have been buried in illusion and distortion. How might history have unfolded to create this powerful artwork that seemed to cause discomfort for the casual observer? How does this same need to look away parallel our emotional response to worldwide trauma today? How do we navigate life when all we hold dear crumbles and falls away? What does it mean to make a quantum leap to where Love All, Serve All lives? At a time when humanity is facing its greatest challenges, Divine Mirror offers hope and insight into our personal power, as well as the consciousness required to help heal an ailing world.

Mystery Meets History in the Hidden Clues of a Painting....In 1950, Ethel Cordelia Mount purchased a small, unsigned oil painting from the Palm Beach "Il Palmetto" estate of Joseph Early Widener, one of the founding benefactors of the National Gallery of Art. This work of art remained unseen for almost 60 years, hidden behind a door in a seldom-used room of the family's home. Finally, in a moment of profound healing and forgiveness, a repentant father gives the painting it to his struggling daughter.The painting's new owner travels around the world to consult art restorers, conservators and curators. She sees patterns and symbolism, including sacred geometry and more than one layer inthe tiny art work. In fact, to Debra Lynn, the painting represents a challenge and a mystery that her spiritual insight demands she decipher. Her quest finally captures the attention of Dr. Maurizio Seracini, of? Da Vinci Code? fame, and together they attempt to unravel a 400-year-old controversy.As the mystery unfolds, we are invited inside the author's personal challenges with her alcoholic father and with her ingrained and inherited societal attitudes toward religion, politics and marital relationships. The painting and her quest to solve its mystery cause Debra Lynn to pose significant questions that all of us may ask at some time in our lives. In a time when humanity is facing its greatest challenges,? Divine Mirror? offers us hope and insightinto our own true power and presence. The book leads us from the author's personal abyss, as mirrored through this mysterious work of art, and into a transformative healing process.Divine Mirror? opens a door of discovery to our own authentic male and female balance, helping us to understand each other with greater compassion. In this book we encounter what the painting hints at: The Sacred Marriage, or Sixth Way Consciousness. And it gives us a taste of Heaven on Earth as we become fully present to our soul's Divine plan and as we follow the trail of hints left for us by Spirit.

Through a unique and stunning collection of paintings, sculpture, rare books, and works on paper, Divine Mirrors examines the complex relationship between sacred imagery and secular identity in the art of the Madonna. This magnificent work--born from a multi-year project that included a museum exhibition, scholarly symposium, and reinstallation of a segment of the permanent collection of the Davis Museum and Cultural Center at Wellesley College--features the work of such renowned artists as Il Pintoricchio, Mantegna, Munch, and Leger, alongside fresh, undiscovered masters and little-known works of art. The book's fifty catalogue entries range from a rare thirteenth-century panel painting to a specially commissioned artwork exploring the intersection of religion and modern life. This volume investigates everything from non-Western perceptions of European religious practices to the Virgin Mary's voice in musical composition. In the opening essay "The Many Names of the Mother of God" noted scholar Robert A. Orsi considers why images of Mary offer contemporary Americans such a powerful visual experience. Unlike paintings and sculptures created solely for aesthetic contemplation, Orsi writes, images of Mary are more than just artistic representations--they become for us an embodiment of the Virgin Mother herself. Then, moving into the historical realm, editor Melissa R. Katz guides us on a twenty-century chronological tour that explores the intersection of art history and world history in representations of Mary. Katz's essay "Regarding Mary: Women's Lives Reflected in the Virgin's Image" takes the elements of Marian iconography most relevant to the study of art and weaves them together to provide a guide for modern audiences to engage with the religious origins of our common artistic legacy. Filled with fascinating information, this important work requires no particular background in art history, religion, or the Bible. Readers of all levels will be rewarded with an in-depth encounter of a remarkable and complex figure."

The first English translation of the rubais of Rumi • Presents 233 of the most evocative of Rumi’s 1,700 rubais • Shows that the mystical embrace is the way to directly experience the Divine Rumi is well known for the over 44,000 verses that appear in a 23-volume collection called the Divan-i Kebir. Yet Rumi also composed 1,700 rubais, short aphorisms and observations, whose depth and message belie their brevity. The form of rubais first became well known through the 11th-century collection The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. But unlike Khayyam, who like most poets would sit and carefully craft each word, Rumi would compose and speak his poems through the spontaneous “language of poetry” that poured from his lips as he traveled the streets of Konya, Anatolia (present-day Turkey). Very few of Rumi’s rubais have been translated into any of the languages of the contemporary Western world. Now, Nevit O. Ergin, the translator of the complete Divan-i Kebir, and Will Johnson present here 233 of the most evocative of Rumi’s 1,700 rubais. Rumi’s poetry expresses profound and complex truths in beautiful yet simple language. He reveals that by going deep into the interior of our heart and soul, we can arrive at a place in which we once again merge and connect with the divine. This mystical quest, Rumi contends, is the birthright of us all. Anything less than a complete dissolving into the world of divine union will not provide the satisfaction and peace that we all seek. The simple, yet profound spiritual truths and visions contained in The Rubais of Rumi lead the way to the path of reconnection to the direct energies of God.

"Mirror, Mirror" is a workbook designed to help readers better understand and gain strength from the knowledge that they are children of God. The suggestions and invitations in the book will enable readers to more fully discover who they are and how to use that knowledge to overcome discouragement and temptation in their lives.