symbol
The double circle
T
he ancient Celts had a beautiful symbol to illustrate the connection between the natural world and the supernatural world. Two globes: the lower part of the upper globe and the upper part of the lower globe overlapping each other partially, in order to create their own “space of rest”. Vertically through this “space of rest” there is a path, or often a sword, which runs from below upwards to above. It is also the symbol of the cover of the Glastonbury Chalice Well. Even though it is a two dimensional image, we can imagine it better as a three, or even as four-dimensional image. In this way the two overlapping “spheres” represent the physical world, the outside world of time and space and the spiritual world of causes. In their words: Abred , that is the world of necessity and limits in which we live and Gwynfyd, the world of joy, freedom and wholeness – the home of original man. The part where these two worlds overlap is called the Vesica Pisces – “the bladder of the fish” – it is the vessel that carries “the water of life”, where the fountain of Life permeates the material world. In antiquity this oval form, or mandorla was also associated with Venus, the mystery of “being born” or “given life”. In Christian times the mandorla often had a picture of Christ or Mary as the Matrix, from which the son of the Holiest of Holies is conceived – as creative Light. Speaking from a gnostic standpoint you can see it as “a bridge between heaven and earth”, or a gateway – an etheric field like the Spiritual School, full of vibration, sound, colour, light and etheric force. In the fourth dimension of the symbol, eternal forces like love, wisdom and power flow into other worlds from Ceugant – the world of the primary Absolute, Who is above all form and limititation.
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