icons
The Church of St Margaret of Antioch at Cley-next-the-Sea, on the north Norfolk coast, is an inspiration whose distant past leaves space for speculation, inquiry and investigation. It is a testament to the devotion of generations of Christians following the message of peace taught by Jesus of Nazareth, in their pursuit of the love of their God – through images to excite the senses and the soul. There is also play and playfulness, some curious characters carved in stone, left behind by people of the past, for us to speculate and smile about.
Devotees of Vishnu, the preserver of law and order, balance, and harmony, sometimes see him as the avatar Krishna, ‘the glorious lover’, representing perfect union between individuals, and between individuals and the earth. Shakti, or feminine divine energy that gives rise to all creation, is manifest as Lakshmi, the consort of Vishnu. In this universe there is a unity and inseparability of the male and female elements of existence, and worship is an attitude of devotion, an inner space, a divine dance in which devotee and god become one. (see Priya Hemenway 2006 Hindu Gods, Evergreen / Taschen.) These concepts match closely the ideas behind the myth of Hermes and Aphrodite; my interpretations of European Brigantian and Chinese Taoist traditions; and Gnostic versions of the Trinity.
The great mother goddess is a dominant figure of the ancient world. In Egypt she was known as Isis; in Greece as Demeter; in India still with various identities; in Europe as Oestre; in England Brigantia; and as Ireland’s Bridget. She is the mother or sister or spouse of Osiris-Dionysus, or often, in that magical way that myth allows, all three. Gnostic mythology included a ‘more natural and balanced Holy Trinity’ than later more dominant believers allowed - of God the Father, God the Son and the Mother goddess Sophia. The gnostic texts included the goddess by many names - All-Mother, Mother of the Living, Shining Mother. The same is true in South Indian mythology in the pantheon of Hindu deities. (see Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy 1999 The Jesus Mysteries, Element; and William Dalrymple 1998 The Age of Kali Fourth Estate.)
