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Spurred on by Yuri and Vyxen’s personal introductions to themselves and to their quests, I feel that, as host of this particular party
, I should be at least as open.So to explain a little bit more about what I’m up to and maybe to make sense of some of those weird articles on this site, I’ve prepared a backgrounder which I hope will be mildly interesting. If anyone has any comments on this I’d love to hear from you.
The Icon Trail – Introduction
This all starts with Joa Bolendas, a Swiss pastor’s wife who, at the age of 40 began to have a series of religious visions. Some of these visions have been collated thematically and published in two books. A niece of Joa Bolendas is married to John Hill, contemporary of Mark Patrick Hederman at Glenstal Abbey. John Hill is an eminent Jungian analyst with a flair for dream interpretation and the relationship of psychoanalysis to religion.
Joa’s visions seem to be communications from various saints (mainly) who urge her to set about reconciling the Western (Catholic/Protestant) and Eastern (Orthodox) Christian churches. A theme of primal light, particularly as is manifest in the Eucharist, runs right through her visions. This theme is a golden thread that can be seen running through the writing of early Christian and Jewish sects (e.g. the Essenes, the Gnostics), St John’s Gospel and the Grail romances (to name the most central to this study).
Apart from this theme Joa suggests that Celtic Christianity is the bridge between the two divided churches (more on this later).
Specific details in a couple of her visions (one of which is published on this site) jumped out at me due to my prior interest in the alternative history of the early church and the legend of the Holy Grail and “psychic questing” in general. Specifically these are (1) the claim that John (the evangelist) was really Lazarus, (2) that he left behind documents which are waiting to be discovered and (3) that all of this connects with the Holy Grail and Glastonbury somehow.
I do some research on Lazarus as John and it checks out to a reasonable degree (article published on this website). This whets my appetite for a quest for his long-lost writings. Details on the whereabouts of these are sparse but what’s there is potentially verified (or at least not dismissed out of hand) by an expert in this field. Plenty of weird synchronicities arise between what Andrew Collins, the originator of the modern psychic questing revival and author of the 21st Century Grail, is doing and what is involved in the icon trail (the Noah/albino link being one of the more obscure but striking).
I initially channel my energies into attempting to get a Psychic Questing “reality TV”-style show made but when that falls through (the fault of the producers not wanting to take a risk) I immerse myself in setting up this website and my quest falters. However, there is another “quest”, triggered by Joa’s visions, that has already been in progress for many years.
Joa had communicated via John Hill to Mark Patrick Hederman (now aka Br Patrick, a monk at Glenstal Abbey) that he needed to bring together a number of Russian religious icons into a specially prepared area for them in Glenstal Abbey. Symbolically this represents that bridging of the East (the icons) with the West (Catholic monks).
Mark Patrick takes this fully on board and after much struggle and synchronicity a startling underground chapel is built (c.1988) to house the icons. (I am attending the school at Glenstal during this period and visit the Icon Chapel shortly after it is opened.) The result of this enterprise is that the icons send out three beams of (psychic) light. One hits Ireland and appears to relate to, and boost, the peace process in Northern Ireland, one hits Russia and is implicated in the fall of the Iron Curtain, and a third hits individuals visiting the chapel and seems to relate to spiritual and physical healing. He looks to build on this energy and establish Glenstal as some kind of spiritual and artistic oasis which will be a model for a coming society.
Mark Patrick writes up an icon diary and I get an early copy. (In a paranoid aside, I wonder whether this diary is not psychically radioactive as bad things appear to happen to many who read it – perhaps those who have not handled it correctly. Also the theme of cancer and the cure of cancer occur repeatedly throughout the activities surrounding the icon trail) He later elaborates on these activities in his book Walkabout (details published on this site). In the interim he has written four other books (Kissing the Dark, The Haunted Inkwell, Manikon Eros and Tarot & Taboo) all of which relate in some way to the project in hand.
Since I’m due to go to a friend’s wedding in September which is not a million miles away from the Icon Chapel, I plan to drop by and visit it with my wife. At the same time I’m reading Walkabout, Br Patrick’s account of his own part of the Icon Trail, and a number of things appear to fall into place leaving the way open for a re-commencement of my Icon Trail quest. I feel that the first thing that I need to do is to gather together all my pieces of the jigsaw (which is what this document attempts).
Many other fragments remain in the melting pot which have not yet taken, and may never take, a high enough profile to figure explicitly in this trail (for example the Benedictines and their possibly heretical leanings, the Brigid/Bega/Diana connection). Other connections are so strong that they would probably need books in themselves to explore but at the moment these connections do not appear to have a direct bearing on the trail though this may change in the future as more information comes to light. For example, the Tarot imagery and the Holy Grail imagery are clearly extremely closely linked but this connection does not at this point seem relavant in itself.
The fragments that I have documented will be supplemented as I do more research/questing.
Simon, tell us more about Joa Bolendas, is she still alive? When did she start channeling all this material?
How old are these Icons? What are they? paintings or ornamements. Are they of Russian origin or British historic. If they are Russian how do they connect with ancient british stuff like Bega etc?
There is a long tradition of sacred icons (the Templars are thought to of hidden four special ones in Britain for instance) And the Arthurian romances arent just about looking for the Grail (Gawain goes on quest to find the sword that decapitated the Baptist for instance)
What’s the Glastonbury connection?
Hey Yuri,
The easy ones first. More as soon as I can…
Joa Bolendas (not her real name) was born in Zurich in 1917. It wasn’t until 1957 that she had her first visions. I believe that she is still alive although now living in a retirement home in Switzerland with frequent communications being beamed around the world. A lot of her material is too obviously “Christian” for my personal taste (although there are plenty of Gnostic touches) but I guess when you feel something is drawing you, you follow it regardless of aesthetics.
One thing that is interesting in her case is that because a few people have taken her very seriously, more of her stuff has been “concretised” that you would normally expect. So for instance Mark Patrick Hederman actually built a new chapel in a monastery – essentially on her orders. At least two of the songs she received in a vision have been recorded (by Noirin ni Riain who, in another aside, is working on a new theory and practice of “theosophony” or accessing the divine by sound). And two volumes of her visions have been published.
The icons that she felt to be very important and which now reside in the custom-built chapel in Glenstal Abbey are all old Russian icons. I guess oil paint on wood being the standard material. They range in age from the 15th to the 18th century. Apparently the icons wre taken out of Russia after the 1917 revolution and ended up in Paris where they were bought by an Irish diplomat, Sir Osmund Grattan Esmonde and brough back to Ireland in the 1920s. They were then donated to Glenstal in the 50s. Photos of them can be found in the Glenstal book of Icons although I found the accompanying dense theological discussion mystifying. Again not trying to plug anything (the monks are more than capable of doing that themselves!) but it’s just interesting how once more the info has been put into the public domain.
I’ll try and get to the other questions first thing tomorrow although the answers are much more my guit feeling and patterns than anything factual.
Cheers,
Simon
Sounds interesting. Like you I am not too keen on anything too ‘christian’ but I am ok with gnostic stuff. You are perfectally right of course, just keep following your gut feelings.
It’s perfectly normal, within ‘questing’ to dip in and out of ‘flavours’. One moment you can have your head deep into the lives of saints and early christianity; the next moment you can be dabbling in Shamanism; then a few months later invoking ancient Greek deities before celebratting a Celtic festival!!!
seems to be what the New Age is all about; this Aquarian age, We’re planetary now, so all the worlds mythologies/religions and folklore belong to all of us. Questing has too involve all aspects.
Sounds like she has been a very inspiring woman, and positive inspiration will always inspire others to manifest writing, music, art, ideas etc… its all good and helps everyone.
Here’s a nice piece of synchronicity. There is an excellent interview with Br Patrick Hederman which has just been posted on RTE’s website (RTE is the Irish equivalent of the BBC). In it he gives the full background to his Icon Quest and the new plan to build a “spiritual university” at Glenstal.
Again I warn you that, as a Catholic monk, there is a very definite Christian wrapping around what he says. But if you listen to what he’s saying rather than how he says it, I think there is no doubt that he is on a psychic quest and that much of what he describes will be instantly recognisable to other questers of all walks.
Here’s the link: [url:3m7vry0f]http://www.rte.ie/radio1/dialogue/rams/10september.smil[/url]
(The radio ads at the very end are fairly terrible!)
Off to Ireland tomorrow. Hoping to get into the icon chapel and might even be able to take some pictures of it (although I’m assuming that I won’t be able to photogrph the icons themselves). Will post if anything interesting transpires.
Fascinating story. Re the idea of Celtic Christianity bridging Eastern and Western Christianity, I’ve recently read something about this in a book on Celtic Spirituality. Basically, because Ireland was never a part of the Roman Empire the Irish Church had a certain freedom. The style of Christianity was greatly influenced by the desert Fathers of the eastern church, which shows through in the lives of many of the Celtic saints, so this might be where the bridging idea comes from. Amongst other things the Celtic Church seemed more sensitive to the sense of the divine presence in nature and the supernatural in general, perhaps thanks to having a more contemplative heart (which in my experience encourages a certain openness to all things).
After the collapse of the Empire the Irish church re-seeded Christianity in Scotland and England, especially through the bases on Iona and Lindisfarne. Eventually the Celtic Church collided with the Roman Church and eventually agreed to adopt Roman practices. But you probably know that, if it’s at all relevent.
I don’t have a problem with Christian wrappings, being Christian myself. I take on board what Yuri said though. A theologian called Keith Ward, in a book called “God: A guide for the perplexed” wrote that in the 21st century we have available to us, for perhaps the first time in our history, the spiritual traditions of the entire planet.
I’m eagerly awaiting news from Ireland. Thanks for the website by the way.
God bless,
Michael
Back from Ireland and the Icon Chapel was as impressive as I remembered. The building work which had threatened to make it inacessible had receded sufficiently to allow our gang in and we spent some very special time in there. However it was not possible to do an extended meditation so that will have to wait for another, more appropriate, time.
I’d forgotten how powerful the stained glass windows are. They were created by modern artist James Scanlon and nominally depict the four beasts of the apocalypse as a set of four circular glass panes, backlit and set into the domed foof of the chapel. However, they are described more vividly by Br Patrick as follows: “The result [of James Scanlon's struggle to overcome the obstacles thrown at him] is expressed very powerfully in the stained glass windows: anti-icons of apocalyptic, archetypal beasts of the underground. One of these was a creature which James Scanlon was pursued by and thought he had escaped. However, it kept knocking him up and appearing in the glass as he worked, until eventually it fixed its blurred enigmatic terrifying face in the third disc opposite the icon of Christ the Healer.” This may sound over-dramatic but for pieces of coloured glass they are bloody scary!
Anyway we gave our thanks to the forces in the chapel and I said a prayer for a colleague’s wife who is gravely ill and then the children started crying to get out so we left.
I had been thinking of taking some photos but it didn’t seem appropriate and, as if to confirm this, I lost my camera as soon as I left the chapel (Friday afternoon) only finding it on Sunday morning. I took the hint and won’t try it again but someone may have some already so I’ll see what I can dig up. Instead here is a weird (and random) photo that I took of the waterfall in Muckross House (Kilarney) on Sunday afternoon:-
and here’s what it should have been like:-
.Are the four beasts the ones mentioned in the Old Testament book of Daniel (chapter 7)? They come out of the sea, the first like a winged lion, the second like a bear, the third like a leapard with four wings and four heads, and the fourth is just described as being terrifying and dreadful. The beast that comes out of the sea in the New Testament book of Revelation appears to be a composite of these four.
Why are there four scary beasts looking down into the chapel of icons?
The wife says we’ll have to visit Ireland one day – I’ve already told her that we’ll have to visit the Icon Chapel!
I like your photo, the light effects (I presume that’s what it is) gives a magical cast to the waterfall.
For what it’s worth I prayed for your colleague’s wife.
Michael
Hi Michael,
I think the four beasts represent those mentioned in Revelation 4:6-8 (6. And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal, and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. 7. And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. 8. And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him, and they were full of eyes within and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.)
which in turn echo Ezekiel 1:4.Why they are there at all in an interesting question. One explanation is that the Icon Chapel is, in one of its aspects, a prison (the entrace is a barred gate). People who visit it are forced to free themselves from the fears that hold them back. These beasts represent the unamed demons that keep us in their thrall and from whom we must escape.
What all this has to do with Eastern Orthodox religious icons I have no idea! In fact it is far more like a Jungian descent into one’s Shadow.
Possibly the best (or at least the most familiar) modern example of this is when Yoda sends Luke down underneath the tree in Empire Strikes Back and he confronts a Darth Vader who ultimately turns out to be himself.
Errr – not sure if this is in any way coherent
but I hope you catch my drift.A lot of this imagery can be veiled astrology.
Like Jesus and John the Babtist being midwinter and midsummer, the Four heavenly creatures also form a heavenly cross between the zodiacal wheel.
Their wings representing ‘heavenly’ (ie stella)Taurus the BULL is opposite Leo the LION
and Aquarius the MAN is opposite Scorpio (often depicted as an EAGLE)These animals are then also attributed to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Everything seems to be hidden astrology, even the Archangel Michael being depicted holding a set of Scales… his feast day is Sept 29th (which occurs during the time when the Sun is in Libra ‘the scales’)
the question is WHY?
The bible doesnt give any dates that could ever be applied to our calendar; nowhere in the bible does it say that the four evangelists should be represented by the four heavenly creatures. So who decided that Jesus and the Baptist should represent the solstices? Who decided that the Four evangelists should represent the cross quartering of the Zodiac?
We’ve been talking of Brigid lately. Her feast day being 1st Feb (Imbolc). The world is now moving into the Age of Aquarius, (Imbolc occurs when the sun is in Aquarius so it would appear that Bride is destined to be an important archytype for the next 2000 years or so?
Ah, those four beasts. I do apologise for being a proper dullard. My mind had taken your descriptions to be demonic, so I just didn’t think of the throne-creatures.
The creatures in Revelation, apart from having echoes with Ezekiel’s rather bizarre vision (Ezekiel 1), also echo the seraphim in Isaiah’s temple vision (Isaiah 6); those seraphim had the six wings (two covering their faces, two covering their feet – often regarded as euphemistically referring to their genitals (painted or unpainted Yuri) – and two for flying)and were calling out “Holy holy holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory”, but no other details are given of their appearance.
Many, many years ago I thought myself that they might indicate signs of the zodiac. (Are there actually depictions of the sign of Scorpio as an eagle, or has someone made that up to fit the imagery?) Why these four signs should be chosen I don’t know; to my knowledge they don’t mark the soltices or equinoxes at the time? I wonder if their call that emphasises the Lord “who was and is and is to come” is a reference to cycles of time, which would tie in nicely with the zodiac and maybe even with precession?
I always assumed that the association with the four evangelists who are traditionally accredited with the four canonical gospels was just someone thinking “Hey, there are four creatures around the throne, there are four gospels of the Lord, lets decide which is which!”
The beasties in Ezekiel’s vision are called cherubim (in a later chapter), which is the name also given to the creatures carved in the temple as guardians (and to the being guarding the gate into the garden in Eden). There are no other biblical descriptions, but it is thought that they are identical to Assyrian karibu, the human-headed lions and bulls that guard gateways, much like Eqyptian sphinxes.
With this in mind, perhaps the four beasts are meant to guard the gateways of the heavens? Maybe echoes of some gnostic myths where after death the soul rises through the heavens, and at each gate has to get past the guardian with the proper sign or sneaky trick. Which brings us back to what Simon was saying about the beasts in the chapel maybe representing our own dark sides that must be brought under control – wheeze You don’t know the pow-wer of the dark side wheeze.
Ah ignore me, I’m just thinking aloud.
I am not sure about The Scorpio/eagle things… I’ll do some hunting.
But as we have already discussed the Solstice and Equinox cross; the Four heavenly creature mark the counter cross.
…………..
Have just found a Scorpio-eagle link which mirrors our conversation and the webpage connects it to one of the major Tarot cards
http://www.byzant.com/astrology/eagle.asp
………………….
I have studied the Four Gospels because of my interest in the Grail myths but the rest of the Bible I have never touched. Found this odd quote; this is probably up Michael and Simon’s street more than my own;
“The emblem of the tribe of Dan was the serpent, in fulfillment of Jacob’s prophecy in Genesis 49:17: “Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.” However, the prince of the tribe of Dan replaced the serpent with an eagle.
“To Dan was given the symbol of Scorpio, which, in the ancient Egyptian zodiac was a snake. However, when the time came to hoist the symbol of the snake, Ahiezer refused and chose instead the symbol of an eagle. According to Unger’s Bible Dictionary:
‘Dan’s position in the journey was on the north of the Tabernacle, with Asher and Naphtali. The standard of the tribe was of white and red, and the crest upon it, an eagle, the great foe to serpents, which had been chosen by the leader instead of a serpent, because Jacob had compared Dan to a serpent. Ahiezer substituted the eagle, the destroyer of serpents, as he shrank from carrying an adder upon his flag. It may prove worthwhile to consider the possible connection to the tribe of Dan whenever an eagle is used as the symbol of subsequent leaders or nations.’ ” (127:117)”
Yuri, that 4 beasts/Tarot link is very interesting. The trump card “The World” does definitely seem to tie in.
In fact, one could draw a very powerful version of this card by making the four beasts more nightmarish and making it clear that the woman has only attained her state of wholeness by escaping from them.
Also, and I’ll admit that I might be getting carried away here by our other conversations
, is it merely coincidence that Marseilles has such strong connections with both Tarot cards and Mary Magdalene?Hi Simon,
While rooting through some journals looking for material for an exegesis I found an article aguing that Lazarus was the beloved disciple, making some arguments that I didn’t see in your article on this website. You might already be familiar with them, but just in case I have posted a comment on your article.
Best Regards,
Michael
P.S. Did you go to QuestCon, and how was it if you did?
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