Left Hand / Right Hand Symbolism
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- čas přidán 1. 06. 2024
- In this video I discuss the symbolism of the left hand and right hand that’s often mentioned in Scripture. Through exploring iconography and other representations of opposites inside and outside of Christianity, we can discover the meaning and role of these basic opposites, how they can feed each other and mysteriously flip. As I mention in my discussion, this is more like poetry, an intuition rather than a system.
Icon of the Last Judgement image I always use, painted by Fr. Luke Dingman: www.lukedingman.com/icons3.htm
Relevant Orthodox Arts Journal articles by Jonathan Pageau:
- Mercy on The Right. Rigor on The Left: orthodoxartsjournal.org/mercy...
- The Icon of The Last Judgement: orthodoxartsjournal.org/icon-...
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Timestamps:
00:00:00 - Start
00:01:20 - Intro music
00:01:46 - Iconography of left and right
00:05:22 - Symbolism of the left and right hands
00:08:08 - Switching opposites: Yin yang, caduceus
00:10:45 - Christian representations of the flip
00:14:49 - Moving towards and away from identity
00:17:47 - Encountering someone else VS yourself
00:24:17 - It's not a system
00:24:42 - Deesis
00:27:05 - Opposites lead to each other
00:29:41 - St. Maximus the Confessor
00:31:20 - The icon of the Transfiguration
00:34:33 - At every level of reality
00:38:43 - God's'Dog fanart
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My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson.
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Hearing you speak about dissipation vs hardening helped me understand something crucial about my ongoing relationship with discipline. I've had to come to the conclusion that the more disciplined I strive to become, the more I come to blows with previous versions of 'myself'. My old habits bite back hardest the more I try to shed them. The heavy-handed approach backfires. Instead if I make it a joyous, wonderful contest where I am competitor, teammate and coach working in unison, then the process is one of racking up countless tiny victories. That diagram was immensely helpful. Thank you, Jonathan.
Ooooo that's beautiful
In all honesty, this was something I read I wish I could understand more. Could you give some examples? Specifically on being a competitor, teammate, etc. ?
I've noticed a type of rebound effect as well as I try to grow. When the Spirit gains territory in my being the flesh reasserts itself.
Insightful.
@@acemanley111 I'm not sure if can, but I'll try. Basically I try to take an approach to improving myself that shifts between the mindsets of people that have been influential to me; Jock Willink, Jordan Peterson, David Goggins, Joe Rogan, Alan Watts, etc. There are times when, watching yourself like you don't know who you are, you see that you're in a rut or the you're about to walk face first into one. The trick is to course correct without being an absolute slave driver with yourself. Think of where you could be if you did that successfully. That guy that's kicked the porn habit completely or is exercising X amount of days of the week, eating clean, or learning an instrument, whatever it is you're trying to make happen. The version of you in the future, whenever that may be, that's already there is your Competition. Then walk back all the steps that it had to have taken for that guy to have gotten there; that's your Teammate. You have to work together to meet your Competition head on so as to have a fair contest. And the you that sits above the process and can see the path that needs to be taken is the Coach. If the Coach runs his team like a tyrant, training is miserable. If the members of the Team don't call each other out when they begin to make excuses for why their performance is flagging instead of owning up to their mistakes, egos get involved and everyone plays for themselves and not for the Team. And if you don't keep an eye on what the Competition does that you don't, where they abstain and you indulge, you risk getting steamrolled. Plain and simple.
So do the extra work when you have to, but don't tear yourself apart because you don't want to. If you can learn to be receptive and reciprocal with yourself there's no telling where you end up. And ALL of that is way easier said than done. Hell, I mess it up all the time. But I don't let anyone, even myself, get in the way of me having a good day.
I hope that rambling mess made sense and cleared things up for you lmao
Bro, you spit at a ridiculously high level
Extremely enjoyable
i have decorated my room to my liking
on the right side are philosophy books, busts of Bach, a Mary statue, my Bible, and my Tolkien collection
on the left side are my anime figurines, gifts from friends, personal attachments
I like it this way
On the right- spirit and evolution
On the left- the earthly
One way of viewing the command "Get behind me" is as a command to align one's right hand with the right hand of that which one is behind, and their left with one's left. After all, the right/left flip only happens if you are facing another. If you and the other are facing the same direction, then there is no flip.
I'm not sure what the implications of this would be though...
excellent insight
Yeah, pretty fascinating the mechanics. The common thread being that the right hand ultimately wields the more significant power. That blood of Jesus thing is something I tell ya.
@Tinecake Can you explain with more detail, please?
Everyone wiped their ass with their left hand.
Or God speaking to Abram "Walk before me and be perfect"
The flipping of left and right when we look at a deisis or of the slides in this video, also happens physiologically: the right hand is connected to the left hemisphere and vice versa.
This past Sunday was the Sunday of Divine Mercy in Catholicism, and seeing the image at mass reminded me of this video. This is a great explanation of the imagery, Jonathan.
a mirror comes to mind... no crossing between left and right happens in a mirror and so it amplifies either the left - pathologically discarding oneself (think of eg anorexia); or the right - (pride). Both is connected to egocentrism (think of narcissus), because you never "cross over", you only stay inside/within your perspective.
The image with the fire of hell/pentecost resonated with my experience of visiting monasteries:
-Before going you look forward to the piece/quite/seriousness/holyness of it
-After you are there for a while and for the same reasons that drew me there in the first place, it starts getting exhausting and you look forward to "worldly" things. The heat of the fire drew me towards it, but being near, the now much greater experienced heat pushes me away from it.
Thank you for your insights into your experiences. I am drawn to a volcanic island and the intensity burns off the extraneous and I inhabit my body fully. For me, though, the leaving is brutal. I am truly only alive when I am hungry, in solitude and in silence. To me, it is paradise. Europe is manageable purgatory and I learn much; however, Canada is definitely the Inferno and that isn’t ever fire, it is ice and cold, as Dante knew well.
This reminds me of when the mother of James and John asked Jesus if her sons could sit at his right and left hand and he told her that she did not know what she was asking for. Would love to hear Jonathan explore that a little.
This is great stuff. Jonathan’s symbolic world opened my mind to Christ. I love these lessons because I understand some, but there’s so much still hidden from me.
I had a very strange Christmas this year. I was alone with no internet and had my own kind [ A Christmas Carol if you will. I was looking for a pair of gloves and every glove I found was the left hand. To this day I can't figure out what it meant. It was several about 11 more or less.
You catch the left hand symbolism during dark Brandon’s speech? Only the marine on the left hands were illuminated.
Ha, I really wondered about that.
I've been trying to figure out the symbolism of the Catholic Divine Mercy icon and this video is super helpful for that
What is the Catholic Divine Mercy icon?
@@thesecondlawandthetowerhou6026 You can find more information if you look for the name of Sister Faustina, to whom Jesus appeared and the feast of Divine Mercy was instituted on the Sunday after Easter. The image she saw was drawn and it has two rays from Jesus' Heart. One of them is red, the other white. Red for blood. White for water. This is from her diary, which I can recommend. I did not read the entire diary, but some excerpts and pray the chaplet associated with this. However, you can add symbolism like purity for white and pain for red.
If you go into depth more, what Jonathan mentioned about Moses is kind of connected. In the sense of this: Sinai means thorn. And it is obviously related to the word sin, which is a kind of thorn, that causes pain, division. Horeb is the name of the same mountain and it means dry land. Which is the desert, basically.
And it is another depiction of the same basic structure that you had over here in the video of the Logos and right and left.
Also, some languages have words for right and left that can be translated as just and unjust. Polish and some other Slavic languages. Even English words, homophones, or other meanings of the words right and left, can provide you with cues.
Right = correct; left = unused (basically unusable, untouched, kind of a pariah).
Hope this was helpful.
God bless! Glory be to God!
It seems that alot of symbolism stays coherent as it moves between fractal levels of reality. It's very interesting to see how this is not always the case. Some of the difficulty in the left/right symbolism seems to stem from the fact that it can flip depending on which level you're trying to perceive.
An excellent insight especially for those of us coming from a Jungian form of symbolism.
The flip can do you in for sure.
Very good point indeed
Gabriel could be on the left side because he has compassion for left path considering the possibilities were Michael acknowledges the consistent path up
I just wish to thank you for making all the beautiful and meaningful content.
I hear you speak often of things as being “fractally true”. This concept resonates with me, I would love to hear a more comprehensive treatment on what you mean by “fractally true” in a dedicated comment rather than here or there in passing. Love your work, thanks!
I would enjoy a video like that too. One way I think about fractals in these levels: (1) your body (left and right hands); (2) groups of people (left and right political groups); (3) of the cosmos (left could be nature and right could be civilization, for instance); (4) God himself (or of any spirit or deity). And the idea too is that you can look more closely at a smaller component of any of these and find the same pattern at play. If the archangel Michael is the “right hand” himself, what do his own right and left hands represent?
Get his brother's book!
I’ve had a hard time understanding the term “chaos” at times because i can confuse the meaning of “chaos” as the unpatterned potential and the meaning of “chaos” that is more like catastrophe (a result of fall). Jonathan has been so helpful helping me understand the place of the margins. He has helped me aim higher than mere efficiency in my life.
My life is changing because I found the symbolic world view through Pageau.
Ask yourself what a pine cone stands for
.why does the pipes staff have one on it and.why is there a pine cone statues at the Vatican
You still don't have the correct definition. Look further. It's primordial nothing
Master and his emmesary. Its the same. Brain hemispheres are two separate intelligence inside us and see the world, communicate and think in two different ways and that maps onto this exactly.
Your insight into the difference between one's own left and right hands and the left and right hands of Christ, and the connection between that and the fire of hell being the fire of Pentecost, gave me chills. There's a profound and challenging truth to that. I count this is among your most successful presentations - it so clearly connects so many basic theological and symbolic concepts with iconographic examples. Fantastic
I've been waiting for this video for years! Thanks Jonathan!
"Who by the vices of the right secretly place in us the vices of the left." Reminded me of the saying that "you can fall off the horse from both sides."
Brilliant Jonathan! Thank you very much.
Beautiful and simple interpretation of a deep subject, thanks Jonathan.
A body has two hands, we need both hands to advance through the Caduceus
Right-hand/Left-hand, Space/Time, Order/Chaos:
Neither is good or bad, but the rational communion of the two is what good is.
This is amazing especially use of the iconography!
Excellent, yes, you put into words the same exact insight I had regarding this problem. The issue is remembering this as we go about our daily lives in the sense of framing the center correctly. Without that center, how can we then direct our attention towards disciplining ourselves. The very act of sacrifice becomes confused. And then comes the further dissolution, where people (and demons) tell you to loosen up, which is indeed the solution, but in their mouths their loosening can be both good or evil. The loosening, which can be both good and bad, is not enough as a solution. The feminine is not enough, surrendering to the currents is necessary but not sufficient. You need the masculine to manifest and show you the way.
Revolution and overthrow can result in anarchist chaos or the assembly of a new stable order. Depends on what principles or virtues are in place at the time of the breaking-down.
@@marcus8710 I think I understand where you're coming from, but I don't know if we can simplify it like that without losing important stuff. What exactly do you mean by stable order? Is it understood in secular terms? All empires fall. There hasn't ever been one unbroken order in history, and by definition, there couldn't be. My reframing would be that by setting a standard on what is considered a "stable order" we're making idols of ourselves since only God suffices. There's a meritocratic element that cannot be avoided, but also hierarchies get corrupted and there's nothing in them that guarantees that revolutions will necessary fix them or that they can even perceive and possess the right principles. Even merit is obscured by sin.
In the story of King David it's important to note that he never openly rebels against Saul because it would undermine his own rule. But David slowly chips at Saul by simply being better than him, which makes Saul's jealousy even worse. I think that's the model of how we should understand and go about it: meritocratic subversion. It's the slave having sex with his master's wife (probably what Joseph should have done with Potiphar instead of being a coward), the conquering king from without. The "uprising" is an inversion of this.
I'd argue that coups and revolutions (which are not exactly the same) are inherently unwanted yet somehow a necessary possibility for right rulership. There's generally a better way than open revolution, which is in itself a form of dissolution at a very big scale. And overthrow encompasses many different things, but the question of legitimacy is still there. That which determines legitimacy is not a pragmatic thing, but it presupposes that since authority comes from God, kings become illegitimate like Saul by taking from God and from the priestly class. Legitimate rulership is given to those that respect those principles, which includes the idea that kings are given by God.
My argument is that while it's tautologically true that the future "depends on what principles are in place at the time of the breaking-down", those principles in themselves are part of the break-down, as they should, and that they are not innocent. There's never a spiritually neutral break-down like "Somehow the order is crumbling as I'm innocently walking by and the crown falls on my head". The successor needs legitimacy which is inherent to their identity, which is tied to their agency and principles. While they may not always be directly influencing the break-down, a spiritual principle which they should share is. So in that sense, it's the match between the new regent and the spirit of God that which gives legitimacy to their rule. And so uprisings can be good or bad depending on the spirit animating them, but in the right spirit they are fundamentally different so that they never become open "revolutions" but almost invisible changes that restore those principles to power.
All of this is without even talking about war and civil war.
The feminine needs the masculine and vice versa. It’s the dance. A very strange and palpable tension always.
You have to feel in the rhythm of it.
@@ivanengel8887 wow I love the way you put that. Exactly. As Pageau would say 'the fool becomes the prince'... the very thing that brings down the old king - decayed in his identification with the Principle - is the usurper being a better example. Meritocratic Subversion is my new favorite phrase. I'm 'TAXING' it!
@@thesecondlawandthetowerhou6026 the dance is stability in the Time axis, as opposed to stability in the Space axis.
Space is the right hand, Time is the left hand, both have meta-stable functions, but require each other to advance.
Space only expands and evolves in Time, and Time only manifests with Space.
Jonathan, Glory to God! It’s videos of yours like this that have helped me through some very dark times. I’ve been able to have a better understanding of myself and my relation to the Logos, I’ve been freed from addictions that we’re destroying me, with no tangible explanation or support aside from reliance on God and listening to your channel. Thank you 🙏
Something about this topic specifically is deeply connected to the "riddle of life and death" that Adam failed to solve in the garden, that Matthieu talks about in LoC.
That was wonderful Jonathan!
Jonathan, this is brilliant!
thank you for opening this world to me
Thank you for your work, and for this study in particular ,it has been very helpful. All glory be to God
To me this is one of your most important works. It is so fundamental in understanding creation and the Symbolic world and about ordinary life. And brings endless food for thought such as how does this relate to the bilateral symmetry morphology of organisms.
I started thinking about the fractal pattern of the gathering together of Bishops at councils and the dispersing back to their churches, and the smaller but bigger gathering together of the laity and clergy within the church, communing, and then the dispersal back out into the world. Hopefully re-centered and re-aligned to carry the light of the gospel into the world. A spiritual breathing in and breathing out that can be fractaled down once more into individual daily prayer life.
And then I watched these videos which seemed to link up these thoughts I had. God bless you sir. Thank you for making these videos. You should right a book on Icon Symbolism!
That was pretty excellent. Subbed. Big picture pieces. Thank you. God bless.
I enjoy your exposition of the fulcrum of truth, underlying the plank of possible opposing extremes. Keep on putting these vids out there, and God bless you and yours.
Amen!
This is insane good stuff. It takes a while to sink in, but it’s there for sure.
Beautiful outro by the way!! Music and fan art
Excellent
You also have to remember that 2000 years ago people ate with their hands and water was not super available to wash your hands so people ate with their right hand and cleaned their backsides with their left. Thom Hartmann explains that this is the rebellious nature of the turn the cheek verse. According to Thom, in those times a master was allowed to hit his slave with his left hand (which would be on the right cheek), because the left hand showed that you were inferior in status. If the master hit you with his right hand (which would be on the left cheek), he was showing you that you were his equals and you legally had the right to respond in kind. I don't know if this is true, but it does make one think.
THIS IS AMAZING thank you thank you thank you
I loved this explaination, since I began getting closer to the Church I've been feeling affinity for saints likes St. James the Greater, St. John the Baptist, and curiously my first name is Gabriel. All this speaks to me at a deep level. Thanks for the explanation, I really enjoyed it.
"The fires of Hell are the Fire's of Pentacost." I'd never heard that phrase before, but when you said that, I immediately connected that to another symbol I'm aware of. In Zoroastrian eschatology, the Saoshant (the Zoroastrian incarnated Messiah) will judge the world by having all souls bathe in a river of molten gold. To the righteous servants of Wisdom, it will be as a bath of warm milk (which I'm sure sounds more pleasant to an ancient Persian than it does to me), but the servants of the destructive spirit will be burned by it. Then the good come out of the river onto the side of the divine, whereas the evil are made to cross it and go away from it. So I'm kind of thinking something along the lines of 'purification is as painful as you make it for yourself?' By that I mean, do you perceive it as a lesson that builds you up, or as a punishment that offends your pride? Whether or not it is torment depends on whether you align yourself with wisdom or or side with destruction? Perhaps I should comment at a time other than 3:00 AM when I'm more coherent (lol)?
P.S. When I reference non-Christian sources, I understand that small wisdoms may be gleaned from everywhere, but full truth comes only from Christ's church. I hope anyone who reads this also understands that.
This video perfectly addresses a problem of representation of “bringing in” and “pushing away” that I was trying to determine for a project I was working on. Which was the “correct way”? because I saw it represented both ways in art. I was going to ask you in Thunder Bay about it, but my interim solution was to make a double sided representation and let the user decide for themselves.
19:55 making me think of the Aries/Libra axis on astrology, self (1st house) and other (7 the house) are mysteriously and necessarily mirror opposites.
Makes me think about Ian Macgilcrest's left and right hemispheres of our brains. The master and the emissary. Thanks 👍
Yeah, the M is engraved on my left hand which indicates I stand at Michael’s right hand. Which, is another indicator of how brutal my dad can ultimately be😂
I wonder what your thoughts are on how this might relate to 1 Corinthians 13:12, “For now, we see as in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face.”
Kind of surprised that you didn’t discuss one of the most fundamental aspects of left and right hand symbolism: cardinal direction.
Left = North …hiddenness …darkness …a storehouse …secret treasures …watchtower (a place for watching) …dryness.
Right = South …a region of warmth & light …Mt. Sinai …the Menorah …and although we moderns associate Negev with dry arid desert, in Biblical times it was forested & well-populated.
Points of view are flipped like a mirror, which is analagous to right hand and left hand as you were saying. Left and right from the point of view of the subject in question is called left or right "proper", and was used in heraldry. The chiasmus also appears in human vision, the image of the world appears upside down on the retina. It's part of the human condition. It's interesting to note that in the Tree of Life, the pillar of mercy from the point of view of God from which the sefira emanate downwards, is the left hand. Severity is the right hand. That agrees with Michael and Gabriel from the point of view of the image of Christ on the divider in the Church. Thanks for the videos and knowledge.
After a trip to Switzerland and France it was obvious how iconoclasm stripped the church of beauty and would be an example of the left hand acting in place of the right where it didn’t have authority to do so. Between your podcast and the lord of spirits I think I have a much better understanding of Christianity. My problem is that I’m having a hard time sorting out the differences between arguments that are thousands of years old, and to be frank, seem extremely minor in comparison to the church’s story. My impression of the Orthodox Church is an exaggeration of the left hand, with a lot of spirit and unyielding potential and the Catholic Church exaggerated on the right hand with the rules and binding and losing, with well defined rules for every occasion. Since I see both as having and lacking, my instinct would be to look at the eastern Catholic Churches as a model for reconciliation. Would you have an advice for people like me trying sort this out?
Read “We Are All Schismatics” by Abp. Zoghby for an inside look at what it means to live with the irresolvable internal contradictions within eastern Catholicisim.
In my experience, Orthodoxy is the perfect balance of right and left hand relation to God.
Thanks, I’ll check it out!
Very interesting. Makes you wonder if in a stressful dynamic work situation where these currents are flowing if finding center is possible.
For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.- St. Paul
In the West, St.Paul ( JP talks about him & Peter representing opposite qualities @ 16:30 -ish ) is often depicted with a sword. This matches the left hand symbolism of St.Michael. And Paul is on the left at images of the Last Judgement.
St.Peter has the keys... can that be in lieu of a lily? St.Joseph has a lily, however!
I'm curious what Pageau's take would be on the symbolism of lefties who have their strong hand reversed.
Same here. I've been told before that I am cursed for my left-hand dominance
I imagine that all the prejudice came from this "right is right" symbolism gone off the rails. Obviously most people are right handed. In those times and even later, margins and outliers were seen as dark, dangerous, abnormal. People fear unknown and margins are so. So naturally it follows that those who were unusual were written to be dark and mysterious, dangerous.
I realise this reads like Lucifer apologia and "weird is good" but i don't mean it so. I simply attempt to explain what seems to me natural human thought patterns. Your left handedness says the same amount about you as your zodiac does- which is, only what you allow.
Jonathan Pageau is left handed
Today, while walking in the park with my youngest daughter, there was a lady with her sons and she kept saying to move to the left. Once we passed, Phoebe said, she kept saying to move to the left, but that side is the right. I told her that it isn't her right, that's her left. She turned around, thought about it for a second, and said oh! A few moments later, she said I think God made it like that on purpose. My first thought was to tell her that God didn't make the concepts of left and right, but it seemed intuitively that I shouldn't say that, so I just said "go on". She said, well, that way when you look at it, you know which way they're going.
She was right. Good insight.
It would be interesting to link this with the work Iain Mcgilchrist has done on righ/left brain hemisphere differences and its wider cultural and metaphysical implications (the master and his emissary (2009), the matter with things (2021)). The right hand is controlled by the left brain hemisphere and the left hand by the right. This is significant considering the phenomenological and attentional differences between hemispheres.
Do one for Rings of Power, the backlash and the content of the show. Symbolism happens!
"Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid."
I've been thinking, in light of Jonathan's recent videos on left and right hand symbolism, about how you can see this symbolism at play in the founding of the United States, for example, with Hamilton being Washington's right hand and Jefferson being Washington's left hand (Washington intentionally put both of them in his cabinet, despite him knowing they would not see eye-to-eye). Hamilton is the deferred center, considering Washington would always have him be his representative, as he knew Hamilton could always get things to conform to how Washington wanted them done. Hamilton is also in favor of greater centralization, as well as protectionism (i.e. a restriction of openness towards the outside). Jefferson, on the other hand, is the author of the Declaration of Independence, i.e. the pushing away of the existing order and authority. He also opposed centralization, protectionism, and was basically sympathetic to the French Revolution, in contrast to Hamilton.
Very interesting observation!
back to basics with a big one here
This is exactly how I talk about the Fe-Ti axis vs. the Te-Fi axis in MBTI
Glad to meet another MBTI nerd
@@chrisenneking9737 The confluence is real!
Can you expand how this relates? I’m also quite familiar with the functions and axis.
Following
@@Jaylloh there may be no real relation. However, many many folks have noticed a certain "quadrants" nature to personality since long before the invention of writing.
Is seems significant, then, that the Argonath in the film of the Fellowship of the Ring have their left hands outstretched as a warning to the enemies in the north to stay away. One of the figures right hand holds his sword close to the center.
Thanks
Left in Latin = sinister
Right = dexter
In Portuguese the word "sinistro" can refer to an accident or a left handed person, colloquially it is also used to refer to something cool or creepy
yea and dexter means favorable or skilled (dexterous), while sinister we still have this word for something evil. In italian we still use destra e sinistra, if you want to say sinister as something bad you change it to masculine form: sinistro
@@geneschmidt8308 É parecido com o Português
The red right hand in Milton is interesting too.
Pleasant talk to listen to and you seem like an all-around good guy, even if the line of thought was sometimes a bit too speculative / associative for my taste. Thanks!
I posit that most of us are actually ambidextrous, but we fail to discover this during school years except by accident. Our brains are able to flip images easily, think of the regular use of mirrors, none of us is startled by the reflection of one we know well even though the image is flipped. You can discover this ability yourself by writing with your weaker hand. BUT instead of trying to write in the same direction as your stronger hand, do the mirror opposite. For example the right handed person writes left to right, so now write right to left with the left hand by reversing the letters as in a mirror, very quickly you should be able to do it without thinking about it.
This ability then gives us some insight into the reason why visionaries see things as if in a mirror, ie reflected back, reversed (eg children of Fatima, and St. Paul now we see darkly as if in a mirror, but then face to face. When both sides of the brain are working in unison to view reality, the light is overwhelming with which it sees and perceives The Truth.
Interesting factoid that is trivial but perhaps related - in Spanish the word for “right” and the word for “straight” are nearly identical, having essentially only one phoneme different ( I imagine this may or may not be true in related languages like Latin (?)). The word for “left,” however is very different.
I’d love to hear you debate/discuss this with Father Evan in Loveland, Colorado, who has explained, and I think very well, why the yin-yang symbol is so wrong for us as Orthodox Christians.
The second time i watched this video, it was from the perspective of left and right brain functions. Jordan Peterson has talked about the idea that the left brain (which controls the right hand) is in charge of what we know: logic, language, culture, the wall in the Garden of Eden. The right brain (left hand) deals with what we don't know, whether it be a dangerous anomaly, or just unexplored territory: wilderness, the ineffable, dragons, and what might lie outside the wall of the garden. So, for example, St. Paul falling off his horse on the road to Damascus, would rely on his right brain to react to his physical fall, as well as the discovery that he has been wrong about Christ and his followers; his "map" was taking him in the wrong direction.
The crossing over from one side to the other, symbolized by the serpents climbing up the staff, also makes sense from the left/right brain perspective. We have to move away from what is known in order to grow and learn, but when the unknown becomes overwhelming, we have to turn back to familiar territory, as least for a bit, while we incorporate what we have discovered.
I'll need to watch this video a few more times!
Forget food for thought, this is a feast for thought
I wonder if Ben-Oni's (son of my pain) birth causing Rachel's death (the cherished bride) and then Jacob (the bridegroom and father) renaming the child Ben-Jamin (son of my right hand) could tie into the right & left discussion. Thoughts, anyone?
This is also the Anakin/Padme - Luke/Leia - Leia/Han - Ben/Rey cycle in star wars.... Interesting 🤔
I think it does. Jacob's name was changed to Israel immediately before Rachel's death at Ephratha (which is also Bethlehem). The tribe of Benjamin produces the first King, Saul. But is replaced by David, who was born in Bethlehem of the tribe of Judah, and who's line will always have the throne (Christ). Israel (formerly Jacob) gives blessings (prophecy) to each of his 12 sons on his deathbed. Benjamin's prophecy is that he is a ravenous wolf that will kill in the day, and dvide the spoils at night. The Holy Apostle Paul, a Benjamite, when he was Saul, went around persecuting the Church, but when it all went dark for Him on the road to Damascus, he converted from the deaness of the law to an Apostle of the Way and divided the spoils of Christ to the Gentiles throughout the world.
Thank you for publishing this video. I have heard you speak on the left hand/right hand paradigm before, and so it is rewarding to have further explication. I wanted to bring a few thoughts to your attention and the attention of the viewers (if anyone should like to reply). Just trying to map your terminology onto another example to see if I am understanding correctly.
First, I am reminded of Nishkama Karma, or action without expectation of, or desire for, the fruits of that action. Karma is what traps us in the wheel of Samsara and the excentric. The concentric, and the move toward identity, could then be represented as "blowing out" or reaching Nirvana. I thought I would bring this example up because I believe the same mechanisms described in the video are at work here, but are in some ways inversions of those mechanisms.
This leads me to the question of how one experiences actions that lead us toward multiplicity in contrast with the experience of actions that lead us toward identity. Keeping to the theme of Karma, when someone decides to "clear up" their Karmic debt, they will invariably be confronted by their creditors. That is to say, when we try to straighten our the consequences of our dis-integrative actions, we are electing to deal with them head on. However, this seems to depend on our perception of the shift toward identity; metanoia.
For example, if you decide to give up a vice for New Years, the devil will magnify the burden of 365 days. And yet, if you decide to give up a vice for 1 day, and repeat this 365 days in a row, you will increase your chances of establishing a strong foundation and walking the path of identity. Another way to express this is by saying that we mustn't let the devil know what we are up to. Better still, we mustn't let ourselves know what we are up to. Thus the saying goes "do not let your left hand know what your right hand doeth."
Saint Pope John XXIII has some rules that work like this:
Only for today, I will seek to live the livelong day positively without wishing to solve the problems of my life all at once.
Only for today, I will take the greatest care of my appearance: I will dress modestly; I will not raise my voice; I will be courteous in my behaviour; I will not criticize anyone; I will not claim to improve or to discipline anyone except myself.
Only for today, I will be happy in the certainty that I was created to be happy, not only in the other world but also in this one.
Only for today, I will adapt to circumstances, without requiring all circumstances to be adapted to my own wishes.
Only for today, I will devote 10 minutes of my time to some good reading, remembering that just as food is necessary to the life of the body, so good reading is necessary to the life of the soul.
Only for today, I will do one good deed and not tell anyone about it.
Only for today, I will do at least one thing I do not like doing; and if my feelings are hurt, I will make sure that no one notices.
Only for today, I will make a plan for myself: I may not follow it to the letter, but I will make it. And I will be on guard against two evils: hastiness and indecision.
Only for today, I will firmly believe, despite appearances, that the good Providence of God cares for me as no one else who exists in this world.
Only for today, I will have no fears. In particular, I will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful and to believe in goodness. Indeed, for 12 hours I can certainly do what might cause me consternation were I to believe I had to do it all my life.
Thank you so much for sharing this!
@@reidelliot1972 Thank God, not me!
James falling off backwards reminds me of Joe biden falling off his bicycle lol.
Great video Jonathan 👍👍, in ethics of beauty patitsas calls this Chiasm. I had a question which is, do you think our perception of beauty has to do with seeing the chiasm?
Absolutely! And this chiasm forms a cross.
Images carved in time.
Paul - the original humble-brag.
HUMBLE-BRAG was the phrase i couldn't recall thanks
I'm curious what your interpretation would be of Song of Songs 2:6 - "His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me." Would love to know!
Oddly enough, I believe, and I hope I'm not wrong, the right hemisphere of the brain is linked to the left hand and the left side of the brain is linked to the right hand.
I think that’s true, I’ve heard it too
Dr Iain McGilchrist has written extensively about his research in this area in his books, The Master and His Emissary and The Matter with Things. The books are beautiful to read and fascinating. There is also a Ralston Colkege podcast called The Coincidence of Opposites, which is brilliant.
I think the symbolism can only be understood if you take the whole cosmology together into one big story.
Michael being "like God" becomes the exteriorization of God's identity which secretly preserves mankind's dignity by making the demons work for God (which means temptation becomes inverted into repentance) as well as preserving God's ultimate transcendence (bridging ultimate immanence and ultimate transcendence together). Michael is the right hand, the manifest identity manifesting (but which also has a right and left hand).
Regarding Gabriel, isn't Gabriel the one who appears to Mary to tell her she will bear Christ? Gabriel is a foreigner, a hidden side of God pointing to Christ, the hidden left hand hiding and secretly discerning (who also has a left and a right hand). Gabriel seems to purvey something like "hidden recognition" and grant legitimacy, becoming an intermediary and judge of what "God approves and accepts", secretly preserving God's manifestation. Gabriel has the lilies, but these foreign lilies are for those who are "already in" participating of the mystery: for Abraham, who welcomes the right strangers (as opposed to Lot, whose name means veil and is akin to our flesh/the garments of skin, who welcomes the right strangers but also the wrong ones, so there's already a dissolution there into pride which leads him to losing his wife to Sodom's demons and to incest), for Mary who receives Christ through the Holy Spirit, etc. So Gabriel is the angelic feminine in the sense of nurturing and covering, which is a private affair.
They basically connect to the masculine-feminine continuum by preserving the dignity of the masculine in the face of the feminine and vice versa: why God deserves to be God to our eyes, what makes a man deserve a wife and children, why a woman deserves a good husband and children. You already know these stories are not moral, and are not written with the intent of moralizing, they describe "whatever wins" (which is God), the spirit that can ultimately "integrate" even demons into manifestation without confusion or duality (neutering their evil so they become guardians of free will). It's a narrative about unity without confusion, true purity, beauty.
From this account true purity of heart transcends all of the world's snares and wins out in the end by establishing measures of God's kingdom organically at each level of identity and manifestation. Innocent as doves and wise as serpents. That's how feminine becomes masculine: man loving God becomes God living in man. Identity through non-identity.
Caravaggio’s masterpiece of The Seven Works of Mercy depicts your insights into the presencing of these archangels: Michael’s powerful right hand reaching down into the world of experience transforming with WORKS of mercy and his left hand protecting Raphael, as he sleeps. Healing does have that quality.
Caravaggio changed the image he painted of Gabriel above into the image of Mary and the Christ-child, to your point.
You have to love the Italian grit of daily life: Mary looking down is still a common image in Naples of the lady sitting on the balcony looking down on the street amongst her laundered white sheets ( the angels’ wings).
@Ivsn Engel Identity through non-identity.
But we now, with open face, beholding as in a glass, the glory of the Lord
Are changed into the same image
From glory to glory
Even as by the spirit of the Lord.
👏🏼
gabriel is related to the holding of mystery, in that he was given the secret command to announce christ to the theotokos. was he the first to know?
Ethics of beauty talks about the flipping of such things (chiasm) in chapter 5. Maybe this will give you nice ideas.
The terms came out of eastern Tantra Buddhism. They were different ways or approaches to reaching a divine state of certain. Left hand was taboo and right hand was traditional . In last decade or so the term came to the west with rising dark spirituality and we began using the term Left hand path to describe a dark way or alternate way of reaching said divine state , left hand is use of the ego through making yourself the ultimate diety right hand is shedding the ego and becoming One with God again. Some people also view the term as destruction and creation , male and female , night and day right hand gives and left hand takes solve and coagula . Two sides of the same coin. Yeah there's a bit of it in the bible in certain ways as the left hand and the right hand of god .
Michael ‘Who is like God?’ is also understood both as rhetoric question & a battle-cry against Satan’s rebellion & his angels. It’s a question that contains the answer. The in & out pointing to the unity of God.
Love your work! It seems that everything you've discussed reminds me of Masonic type teachings. I'm not Masonic; however, it's apparent in their symbolism. Curious your thoughts on this.
An additional thought that comes to mind is the seasons and the equanoixs representing the turning points and duality with a pinch of leven/it's opposite that causes the shif or change.
The duality of Messiah as suffering servant and ruling king as well. Some might say his first visit and second visit as well.
Jonathan doesn't think much of the Masonic symbolism as it is rather shallow and subversive. "Kabbalah, Occultism, Freemasonry and Jordan Peterson - Stop Being Silly" is one video where he talks about it but there are a few other places.
@Ancel Miller very interesting point about equinox etc
Any more detail would be most fascinating. Thank you.
As an Orthodox person, Jonathan is likely opposed to Masonic symbolism. Much of it is Promethean/luciferian and gnostic in nature.
Maybe a strange question but ... any connection to the discouragement of left-handedness in people? I remember this being a thing when I was young (late 70's) because I experienced it as a lefty.
The images of baphomet usually look similar. His right hand pointing up, with his left held downward. He also often has either a staff, or some sort of belt that has those same wrapped serpents. How do the same stances represent good and evil so exactly, with soooo much difference in their meaning?
Also, the rising UP on the one hand and sinking down on the other makes me think of the heroes journey and rising UP going down to the deep and fighting the dragon, to again rise UP and bring back the treasure to society
Could this crossing or interchanging of the left and the right be connected symbolically to the way the left hemisphere is connected to the right sight of the body and vice versa. The mind/brain or spirit looking inward and the body outward. One holding your identity and the other changing your identity in order to fit with the bigger 'one', let say your family. And maybe this crossing happens every time you switch between different fractal levels in all of which we exist.
In ancient Egypt, Mayan, aztec, Inca and Hindu they believe the left hand is associated with Pluto, Jupiter and Venus and known as heavenly force and another term left side was refereed as hummingbird. If your left handed your more creative and using the right side of creative brain and you are right brain dominant. In fact we were meant to be ambidextrous not left or right as we aren’t fully linking the brain and yes we do use both but one part of always more dominant and stronger therefore there are parts that can’t be fully functional etc. right hand was know as Mars, Saturn, mercury which is more logical side of brain (left brain). The left and right was forced by religious forces due to reason right handed people follow order and structure and limited and left handed are the opposite. This was a classic example of to create and control civilisation. Left handed people are good at seeing outside the box, very good at debate and will always win any sort of competition or debates, they are more self-sufficient and right handed people are not. The seed of good and bad was planted for wrong reasons and in fact there is no such a thing as good or bad but rather it is what it is and negative only is a cause of effect of growth and evolution. Both good or bad is out of balance therefore is toxic, both exist to create balance in existence of reality to what ever it may come and if out of balance only chaos create that balance to become scaled. One example of psychology if you go through a long depression or what ever your unconscious mind (less dominant brain side) based on weather you are left or right handed will create inner judgment day for conscious (front cortex development) evolution weather through inner battle by your external reality etc. front lobe start to develop from age 20 depending on your life challenges (everyone is in a different state due to lifestyle) up to age 80-85 sometimes people die from this process due to the body (vessel) not being healthy (the temple) mind communication with heart through nervous system and heart with body on what hormone to produce (stress hormones) are the cause and effect of this process and sometimes people die from heart attack or stroke or other sudden death due to this process. Chakras are glands and glands are responsible for hormones and starts with perception and what you learned and programmed in your environment from age 1-7 (brain at theta stage) realising about your environment. 7-13 your in alpha stage and evaluation of your environment is completed by then and you apply thing unconsciously and some are genetic from parental background and what they were taught that was inherited on your dna etc. you have the power to activate and change your dna and transform fear into junk dna. As above so below / as external so internal
The mere existence of the word 'mercy', means that it is selectively (not universally) applied. If something is universally applied, the word does not exist. Same goes for any other word (rigor).
This cadeusus is also the symbol of the chakras, the shashumna and the nadi channels, within the human body. Very ancient.10:13
In dear thanks to you; our dear Golden Page. We only gno where the light is, because all else is dark enough...
• and we may enjoy the shade of tree, because the light of the sun
Phase change of a Wave form or the Wings of a Dove... Angelic
31:25: I'm curious what John is doing in the image of the Transfiguration. Half upside-down, half kneeling. Reminds me of how he reclines next to Jesus at the last supper.
Centered underneath Christ, kind of laying at his feet, (Which reminds me of Ruth laying at the feet of Boaz.) John was the only disciple to stand at the foot of the cross.
One hand on the ground the other supporting his head (mind?). He seems to be a mix of both Peter and James, having aspects of both.
It looks like he is the only one who is not wearing his sandals. (Reminds me of Moses taking his sandals off on Mt. Sinai. This is holy ground.)
Is he looking back up at Christ? I can't tell.
John is also following on the way up, and leading on the way down. (The first shall be last, the last shall be first...)
I tend to feel as though St. John is the holiest of the apostles, related to his association with love and being "the Beloved," and his being the one who survived into old age to help guide the Church's early formation; even the suggestion of Christ that he might want John to remain until his second coming.
It might be their orientation is something like: Peter reaching for the glory of Christ (as is his wont), James being sort of overwhelmed by it, but John having the best response which is to fall on his face in humility. But I might just be biased because I love St. John best :)
I remember my grand father telling me that he was beaten in catholic school because he was left handed and had difficulty writting with the right hand . I see this as a litteralisation of Writting being a manifestation of the logos and the logos made man being at the right of god , you have To write with the right hand
Because if your dad says no then that’s your answer. If you’re not loyal to the king then boy bye👏🏽
@@the2ndcoming135 my grandfather . He was just a kid , do you think he knew the symbolism of left and right , no he was only beaten because had problem writting good with the right hand , i dont think he said no. He still remember the name of the nun after 70 years
@@gabrielgboucher6546 he probably learned that day. The point being it’s a lesson like it or not.
Just asking the community: Does Jonathan have videos discussing the symbolism of numbers (not only of 666 but numbers in general). If so, can someone share it? If not, can someone recommend other good videos or resources on this topic?
I'm fairly certain he never delved into it beyond maybe a brief, side comment.
He's talked about it in a couple q&as but it'd be hard to find
Yes he did make at least one: czcams.com/video/qM_kQjpAK6g/video.html
I really appreciate your work. I think you would like reading the aphorisms or Hikam by Ibn Ata Allah al-Iskandari.
I hope I wasn't the only gym rat to listen to this. But my understanding of concentrics/eccentrics as they relate to Weight lifting actually helped me grasp what he was talking about when referring to those concepts.
Would you consider doing a video on why the anglosphere likes monarchs, despite today's society being very pro-democracy?
Could anyone explain to me why Christ does not have a beard in the oldest icon shown in this video?