Mary
October 30, 2009
Annunciation
I looked at Mary today as if I saw her for the first time,
and I did see something – I saw the way Mary held her hands! Her left holds a spindle (in some versions of this icon she holds a book, presumably holy scriptures, but not here) – the spindle stands for earthy life, practical aspects of existence, make thread-make cloth- make stuff for living body. Now her right hand is extended slightly over to the archangel, and the palm is open – it’s receptivity, she is open to what the archangel has brought.
It seems so simple, I know, however until now I saw her primarily as a channel, she ‘channels’ the divine, the invisible into earthly visible form. And now- I see that she also stands for a link, a connection between the two worlds- between the visible and the invisible, the divine and the earthly, the ineffable and the flesh and blood. She connects the two. Think about it- archangels and angels are of divine nature, and for the most part they are invisible to most of us- except for those (fortunate or unfortunate, depending on your point of view) in whose life they intrude with visions and messages and tasks. The majority of folk walking around are not seeing winged creatures. To connect the godly and earthly- that is Mary’s quiet yet very active endeavor. She is not just placid, receptive and passive ; she is also active in the transformation of all those energies into shape and form, flesh and blood; and not only by virtue of bearing a child- she herself embodies that connection and keeps it alive.
There is also a matter of height of her hands’ position-
in old pictorial representation height represent the hierarchy of importance. Here we have her left hand holding the spindle pointing down towards the ground, the earth, and it is much lower than her right-
her right is up, open towards Gabriel, open to heaven. Her priorities are set.
“To give all for love is a most sweet bargain. O let me love, or not live!”
Gertrude More, Lover’s Confessions, 1658.
