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"Glass decanters and earthenware jugs are both made by means of fire. But if glass decanters break they are done over, for they came into being through a breath. If earthenware jugs break, however, they are destroyed, for they came into being without breath." Gospel of Philip, verse 38


The mystic is not someone who is born of a delicate flower, a gentle and stainless saint with a halo and followed by birds and butterflies and beloved of all.

No, the mystic is someone who has trod through the worst and somehow survived. The mystic is someone who has scars, who's eyes tell of a life of pain, suffering, humiliation, poverty, disease, addiction, starvation, inhumanity. The mystic is someone who has been broken by life, who looked up at the sky and yelled curses at God, but who despite the odds is still alive. The mystic is a sinner who did exactly what he was told not to do, to see what would happen. The mystic is someone who never once felt welcome or accepted. The mystic is someone who has been both victim and victimizer, who has been dealt pain, and who has the knowing look of someone who has never quite forgiven himself for his transgressions.

I quoted the verse above because it suggests that the deciding factor is "breath," which we might read as spirit. What carries us through the dark night when we have been hollowed out is the wind that blows through us and never lets us give up, even when we want to.

Date: 2003-05-06 06:14 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] heartwork.livejournal.com
wonderful post.

Date: 2003-05-06 08:59 am (UTC)

Date: 2003-05-06 06:21 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] azaz-al.livejournal.com
Dude... sounds like me... sordid little bitch that I am!

Date: 2003-05-06 09:12 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com
It sounds like all of us, really, at least to some extent.

Date: 2003-05-06 07:35 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ex-mommybir.livejournal.com
Right now I am feeling that what you say is so true. I always look forward to your posts on Gnostic stuff.

Date: 2003-05-06 09:13 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com
Thanks! While this is indeed offered as a comment on a Gnostic piece, the commentary could apply to any number of observations, scriptural or otherwise, or even just life itself.

Date: 2004-01-20 09:33 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] beowulf1723.livejournal.com
There is an unstated "sheep and goats" subtext here.

Glass can be recycled. If you break a glass vessel, you can melt it down and recast it. If you break an earthenware vessel, you cannot reuse the shards as you can with glass ones. The best you can do with them is use them for Post-It notes (Ostraca).

The glassware is "pneumatic," i.e., it has both spiritual and earthly qualities because glassware is made by blowing air into a glass bubble. The earthenware is solely hylic, i.e., it has only earthly qualities. It is shaped by the hands alone.

The "glassware" person is someone who is "broken" by the initiatory process but is recast -- or recasts himself -- into something different through spiritual effort. The "earthenware" person is simply broken.

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