Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Boehme

In a letter to a friend and supporter, John Flaxman Blake had this to say:
"Now my lot in the Heavens is this; 
Milton lovd me in childhood and shewd me his face 
Ezra came with Isaiah the Prophet, 
but Shakespeare in riper years gave me his hand 
Paracelsus and Behmen appeard to me."    

Of all the sources of Blake's inspiration Boehme (whom he spelled  Behmen) was the one whose style (and values perhaps) most resembled  his own. It would pay great dividends for any Blake student to  give close attention to his work. There's a multitude of close  correspondence between the poetry and thought of the two  Visionaries. 

About 30 years older than Milton Jacob Boehme had a number of 
English followers; the Behmenites were said to be absorbed into 
the Society of Friends.  
Many of Blake's visions resemble those of the German shoe maker.

Blake had no children; Boehme six. Blake's poetry was ignored for 
the most part; Boehme's writing led to persecution. Sir Isaac 
Newton thought that his theory of gravitation was inspired by 
something Boehme.

Blake read the English translation of Rev. William Law, four 
voumes between 1764 and 1781 (when Blake was 24); and in Plate 22
of The Marriage of Heaven and Hell we read:
 "Any man of mechanical talents may from the writings of 
Paracelsus or Jacob Behmen, produce ten thousand volume of equal
value with Swedenborg's..."

"What influenced Blake most in [Behmen's writings] was Behmen's 
aanalysis of the psyche and the interaction of it's parts.  There 
....are three worlds: the Dark Fire-World, (Hell or the 
Subconscious). Above is the Light World (Heaven) (Read Damon page
40 for the rest of this quote.)

Going on "Heaven and Hell are essential to each other; they exist
simultaneously in God....The third World is the Outer World of 
Nature. (Damon of pages 39-41 has a comprehensive and excellent
write up on Boehme.)
Blake and Boehme
In a letter to a friend and supporter, John Flaxman Blake had this to say:
"Now my lot in the Heavens is this; Milton lovd me in childhood &
   shewd me his face
Ezra came with Isaiah the Prophet, but Shakespeare in riper years
    gave me his hand
Paracelsus & Behmen appeard to me."

Of all the sources of Blake's inspiration Boehme (whom he spelled 
Behmen) was the one whose style (and values perhaps) most resembled 
his own. It would pay great dividends for any Blake student to 
give close attention to his work.  There's a multitude of close 
correspondence between the poetry and thought of the two 
Visionaries.

About 30 years older than Milton Jacob Boehme had a number of 
English followers; the Behmenites were said to be absorbed into 
the Society of Friends.  
Many of Blake's visions resemble those of the German shoe maker.

Blake had no children; Boehme six. Blake's poetry was ignored for 
the most part; Boehme's writing led to persecution. Sir Isaac 
Newton thought that his theory of gravitation was inspired by 
something Boehme.

Blake read the English translation of Rev. William Law, four 
voumes between 1764 and 1781 (when Blake was 24); and in Plate 22
of The Marriage of Heaven and Hell we read:
 "Any man of mechanical talents may from the writings of 
Paracelsus or Jacob Behmen, produce ten thousand volume of equal
value with Swedenborg's..."

"What influenced Blake most in [Behmen's writings] was Behmen's 
aanalysis of the psyche and the interaction of it's parts.  There 
....are three worlds: the Dark Fire-World, (Hell or the 
Subconscious). Above is the Light World (Heaven) (Read Damon page
40 for the rest of this quote.)

Going on "Heaven and Hell are essential to each other; they exist
simultaneously in God....The third World is the Outer World of 
Nature. (Damon of pages 39-41 has a comprehensive and excellent
write up on Boehme.)

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