Why Blake is lmpoftant to Me
lvillia
Blakc (1757-1827),Englishpoer,painter,prophet,printer, and engraver,is
important to mc bccauschc taught mc the nature of re;lity and he showedme who I really
Blake'sgreattask"his mission,wasto teachpeoplehow to see.
TremblinsI sit da':Jand.nlsht,nq frientk ue astonish'dat me.
Yet theyforgiaernJwanfunngs,I rcstnot frorn m1greattasll
To openthe Etemal Worlis, to opentfu ;mnonal Eyes
Of Man irnuard:rnto tfu \Yorld: of Thaught,lnto Etemiq
E er expanllingin thi Bosomo/ Go4 th. Hun,nn Inasntation (Jemsalem 5' 1G20)
That's exact\ what he did for me.
Raisedin a devoutChristian family, I had a debp
personalrelationshipwith Christ; but expedences
in my
me
to
doubt
my
late teensand carlytwcntiescaused
religion. First,as Ryoungmother offour children, I had
a kind of brcakdown-physical ancl emotional, and for a
fcw monttr."I wa-sunableto carefor my children and
horne.Since,as a wife :rnd mother I wasliving thc lifc I
had been taught Ciod wanted me to live, I wondercd why
it had mademe sick.I beganto questionevertthingthc
Church had taught me, beginningwith the role of
woman. Second,at that time the civil righLsmoverlcnt
began :rntl as I becnmemore awareof thc status o{ black
Americans,I found the mcial segrcgationofchurches
Frcntispieceto Jerrrrlerr. Blake
unacceptable.
Third, the anti-VictoamWa. movement
bringing light into darknessashe
leadsthe readerinto his book
rnademe deplorethe churches'supportfor the war or
their silence about it. And finally, thc women's
movementaffirmedmy doubtsabout Christian
teachingson sexrolesand patriarchy.I hadn't completelyjettisonedmy faith, but it had
becomeriddled with doubts,qucstions,and in parts,rejection.
I no longerbelievedthe Bible as I had beentaughtto rcadit. I no longerknew how I vras
supposedto lir,'e:r,sa woman. I no longerbelongcdto a church and I nc,longeracccptcd
thc doctrinesI had beenbrought up with. I didn't know what to believe.lt wasin this
contextthat I beganto readWilliam Blake.SinceI wassteepedin the Bible,havingstudied
it all my life, what I sawimmediatelyin Blakc'sPropheticBookswerehis uscsofBiblical
terminologyand allusions.lt wasclcarthat he understoodthe Bible diffcrcntly from the
way I had beentaught and I felt an urgent needto understandhim.
Blakc sccmedto be for the things I wasfor--equalityofthc scrcs,racialequality,social
justicc,and scxualfreedom.Eventhough he condemnedimperialisticwat, he wasEn
ardcnt suooorterofthe American and FrenchRcvolutions.He wasa ftiend ofTom Paine.
2
Hc opposedslaveryat a time when thcrc rrr$ strongoppositionin Englandto ending it. He
was exceptionary fiank and open about sexuality and he denounced sexualhypocrisy.
In a wile I would drsire
Whnt ln uhnra i-saba'1sfoundTht linzanentsof Gratifieddrrtre. 0y'etsesand Fragments,PB, p.134)
My wom and
tattere4 much read
ln my first studyofBlake's PropheticBooks,Ibecameconvinced
that he wasa tlue prophetin the Biblical tladition. Justasthe
Hebrewprophetshad spokeninspiredwords to the peoplein their
time ard place,addressingcritical issuesof socialj ustice,true
religion, andpolitics, so BIak€ spoketo the
Englishpeopleofthe latelStnandearly19'
centuries.His purposewasthe sameasthe
Hebrcwprophets,to bdng the peopleback
to dght relatioNhip with God. I realized
thenthat revelationdid.not endwith the
closingofthe Biblicalcanon.
The first diffrculty for me wasBlake's conceptofGod. As my
awarenessofsexism grew,the conceptofa male God, a FatherGod,
becamerepugnant.It helpedthat Blake calledthis imageofGod,
"Nobodaddy."
Heavily annotated
as I struggledto
undelstaDd
To Nobotladns
Wh1art thnu silentand imkible,
Fattur of jealauql
Wfu dostthnu hid,etlq seltin clauA:
EJei(PB, p. 130)
Fromevetl seorching
Uproseteriblz Blakein his Pride
F,tr oll Nobodnd.dlalaft
(Blake'sNotebook)
FarteAE BebhAE coush<L
But lf Blake had no use for the orthodox concept of (iod, what wa^shis idea of God?
He iJentilicsGoJ r-rithHumanImagirurion.
Man ts ALIIn'ngination God is Man E ern* in rrsE {'e in him. (Marginalia to Berkclev,
219)
As Northrop Frye explains {irrther, "Man in his creative acts and perceptions is God, and
(Frye'
God is Man. God is the etenul Self,and the worship ofGod is self<levelopment."
p. 30) He goeson, " A1l works of cMlization,all the irnprovemcntsrnd modificationsof
the stateofnature that man hasm;rde,provethat man'screativcpoweris literally
supernatural."(Frye,p.41)
J
Okay, I rejectedthe old Nobodaddyaloft, but seeingGod ,$ imaginationwasa far stretch
for me. I had to understandwhat Blakemeansby "imagination" He uses"imagination"
interchangeably
with "rnental"and "intellectual."(And I think of it as "consciousness".)
Im:rginingis pcrceivingbecauscperceivingmeanswe are forming imagesof objectsin the
mind and incorporatingthoseimagesinto our own experienccand way ofthinking. The
imageswe creatc are reality for us. While the vegetarian and the meat€ater seethe samc
roastedchicken,it:rppearsto one asa slaughtcredcreatureand to the other as appetizing
food. They eachseethe chickcnwith their individual "imagilations."Thus, perceptionis
rcality and for BlaLeeverlthingdcpendsupon how we secPeoplenot only perccive differently, they perceivc (fotm mental images)with varyiog
degreesof intensity,attention,and ac[men. Thc personwho puts more ofhim/herself
into perccivingseesmore, and that which he or shepelceivcsis more rcal. lmagination
which otherwiseare simplychaoticand
organizcsand givesmeaningto sensepeiceptiorrs,
lmaginationis the frcedomofthe activemind to go beyondconventional'
meaninglcss.
normal, accepted,consensualpcrceptionand seefor itseli SuchcrcativeseeingBlale calls
"vision". Turning sightinto vision is selfievelopmentand it is what we should all be
striviru fot-to seemore,
and the
Blal<edealswith two waysofperceivingreality-thc mirterialisy'nattrralist
only in thc
ofseeing
the
conscquences
spirituaycreative.Throughout his works,he shows
materiali\tic way-the world aswe know it, and coltrasts that view of reality with the
crcativeway ofseeingthat seesthe infinite in all things.Of thosewho seein the
materialisticw;y, Blakesays,
to Be:Is: To thoseto whlotu
...I/hat seerns
of the nost drcadfuI
to
Be.
E is modu,cti,Le
It reems
to Bc.(Jetusalem36,50-51)
to u.'ftorn
it seems
esto those
Con:eqtrcn
and thinL they are seeingrcality.Thcy think nature tnd the
Thesepeoplcseeappearances
asfinite, mortal beings:rndnot their
physicalunivcrseare all there is. Thcy seethemselves
true ,livine inner selves.From this iailure ofvision comc all the ills of life in this world'
wereclearxedeoerythinswouldappetnto manas it ir, infnire
If tfu doorcof perception
Fortmn tuts cbse,lhinseLlup, till hz seesaII th:nsr thro' nttnou chinlcsd his cat'ett'
Until we lcarn to seedifferentlY,imaginativcly,we pcrceiveonlywhat we can seewith the
eyesin or.rrheads.IVc Lrckvision.
\*4rat Blrke wanted to achicve is our lib€ration from eve4thing that prer'entsus from
seeingrealityand realizingour ftrll potcntial.F'irstand forcmost
amongthe obstaclesis our inabilityto seeour true Selves,our Dilrnc
w
Humanity.
rn'4renI got it, while
We don't know who we are. Blake showcd me.
sitting hr silencein a Friends'meetingin 1964,I fclt asthough rny
mind had crackedopen and my rigid, orthodox certaintieshad been
broken up. There wasan actualphysicalsensation.It felt as if in my
headwasan aluminum ice cubetray suchaswe uscdfifty years:rgo.
4
Thcsetrayshad dividers,and whcn we lifted a lever,the dividersshiftedslightly,breaking
thc ice into cubcswith a crackingsound.Thafs what it felt llLe in my headat the time.
Stlll, t had a long way to go to undcrstand how Blahe perccived reality. ln The Mamageo/
HeavenondHeIl,l sawthat heavcnand hell arc not placesin an afterlife,but statesof mind
or levelsofconsciousncssin this lifc. Blake'svicw ofthe orthodox ideaof heavenis that it
is hell-dull, passive,and unproductive.For him, the fires ofthe orthodox hell are the
passionsand energythat iuel joful creativity,which is heavcn.As for his ideaofGod,
Blakehad more to sayhcre.
... God onlyAcrs I Is, in etistingbeingsor Men.
(MHH l6: 17)
Ttu u,onhipof Godis; Honolring hrsgilts in
othetrn1n,ea.h dccodrngto iris genirer,anl ioring
tfu gearestmenbest:rhosetrha enol or
cohtnjjnidte
$e!1t n,,n h']te God;tor thue is no
(MHH
21,24'23:27
otiur Cod.
The hook includesa collectionof "Provcrbsof Hcll"
and here arc somethat sttuck home to me.
-fhz roadof etcess
ba,ls to thr Palaceof wkdonL
Prr,rlerceE a r,ch, ugl:1o\l nLa]i'.owted b
Inca|acit).
too hish, ,/ tu soanwith his otm
btd
sodrs
No
u{ngr.
Thz eagJznexetlostso mtch tim."ds \rth.n h.
submittedto bam of the crow.
You neveriino{, {rhat ir eru,,rghlnhs: 1or knol'
.''hat is m.re thai enoueh.
:n- GLd J. &--r lE eajtu 4 F I
t tf1
In'u4 @.-rN
'; I
t ^ . t a e e , ^ t u ^ d - e q @ 'E'ra
N
h
e'g,'tu
af.z
a lz @
+
'
.d tu M,*;.1- *^\1"-t
* IF
E
*it.
;:.it
),a F3 bb;e
E;;4-g'. *tu!'e"
v4./z 8ta,n
qe ,tud
2lL'
D;d*'d,
.4-.d.
r'k se4@ N
-.-qab 'aa
'
e' \\
r4'*.q
--2-tu 'tu
t @8
d c\".tu
4 ra 4"'1 \t t q"'\2
*'
r".qt,brB.
nt
.
16"€*4 Re_-d^3='
6 6.tu
Jb P.ruir ;""4 *
""
@ t&&D aEdd#7'ee@ '
AD
/.tif'
I: e
ld
.142
--.t"---,,?
I.nAPPts{a+!
-5,--.
tulPn''
',
lLa tu e-E r "! tu d
La .-aa"
L!t!.
ltua
'adu
"',gtd
tu
f,
,
tu
Malriase of Heavn und HeI,
Plate16
AII wJrlobsonelood ls causht $ith'ut a rct or a trap.
Pnsoru d'c brilt rairh srone: ol l-aw, Brothek u,tthVnck: t/ Rel,sun.
Religionsdevelopwhen men choose
... fon\: ol wo$hiqt'rcn Poetictales.
A t at bnsth tlr.'J fiono"nc'd that ttu Go,l: httd or&ril slch thlngs'
Thus nen forgotthat AII dzitiesresidein ttu humttnbreast( MHH 11' 11-15)
Religionsmtke the godsof mlth that are pcrsonificationsof human qualitiesinto external
beingsand they turn the mlths into rituals,creeds,and doctrines
r )nr l-au /or rt* LronI Ot rsOpltston .
This wasBlahc'scritique of moral law, which allowsfor no individual diffcrences'
of sexutl
No ascetic,Blake claimed that revelation . uill com! to pdsrit th" improuetnent
enjolmlnt. \Vow, I loved thad
And this is the final, ringing cry of this work:
Foreveri tl:ln1 that Livesis Hob.
of
h Tfu Maniugeof Heaoenanl Heii, Blake broke do*'n for me "orthodox categories
1960s'
in
the
thought und ionlity" as Harold Bloom savs.ds I undcrstoodhim backthcn'
and
I rejoiceclin his boistetousrenunciationsof orthodory and sawin them affitmation
meaningthe
enrichmentof my own rebcllion againstthe church ln his call for revolution'
aflinity for the
American :rnd Frerrch revolutions of his time, I saw a parallel with my own
rights in the anticultural revolutionsof my time-for women'srights,civil dghts' human
Vietnam War movemenqand sexuallibetation.
It
The tlecadeof the 1960ssawthe beginningofthe women'slibention movement
brought up to
.oi r"id"d *ith ,,ry ot t need for a different life fiom the one I had been
the role of
accept.As I soughtto cleatefl new wayofbeing, I read manyworks about
Notebook'
*.'rn"rl M".g"r"t F,tller's Wornanin tfu 19d Cent rl, Doris Lessing'sTfu Gollen
Set'among
Mlstirlut, and Simonede Beauvoir'sTheSecond
Betty Friedan'sThc Feminine
He tautht that
nJ"'.., n"a g..", i"n tenceon me. But BlaLeprovidedspiritual authority'
practice'Trying to be the
,ealizirrgonjs potentialand becomingall one can be ate spiritual
kind ofwoman I had thought I shouldbe, I waslimiting myself'
We met in small
Akey elcmentof the womcn'smovementwasconsciousness'nising'
groupsto talk ab.,utour lite expcrienccsand thus learn to secthem not asiust individual
to Jl womer)like us, asthe resultsof sexbm'Vc taught ourselves
t",
:;;i;;",
""--on
asspiritual
*"v oi p*."it i.g our lives We becamemore conscious'which I saw
for me'
religion
" ^"*
for
d..r"1op-"rl,, ,t *nt". ,i Bl*k". S"fd.',"lop*ent could be a substitute
definitely
And so, in the 1960sI had a conversionexperiencc-outofmy religion'
facilitatedby'William Blake.
I wastoo busy
Duins the 19?0sand'80s, t looked into rny Blakeboolcsoccasionafu'but
consciousnese
in myivork and farni\ life to srudythem. Howcver,asI continucd my
joumaling;
and asI
."l.irlg, ,ro* *"i"ty on my own through intospectioo' reading'and
activities'
parti;;ated in the hum:rn potential movement in my work and in voluntecr
lle had convincedme that I 'tould sulfei mentally'emotionally'
Lhk" .tlll irrfl.,"rt."d
-e.ifl allowedmyselfto be squclchedand ditl not tryto realizemv
and perhapsphysically,
the stultifiing sexrole I had been assignedThis notion
o.i"",uf. if 1"""*a f
"cceptcd
to rhecnJ ot m) 6rsrmrrriage
iontrilrutcJgre,tt'1
doctrine that the
By this timc in my life, in rny thirties and iorties, I had internaliz€d his
practice l acccptedhis
tmagination is Divine and that erercising creativity G spiritual
reinforcedbv what I
t"".ilirrg ,h^t ..1f-d".'.lopmentis spiritualpiactice'My ieminismwas
there is rro evidence
thoughiwas Blake's spiritual argument for sexual equality Although
thutBlakeev.,actedonhisidcasaboutscxualfreedom,ldid,Brie||y.[Astfutruenethndof
be th' facub'Jwhtch€xp€'iences(PR'
]<nwtbdgek eapennantthetrw faculq of knowing111'st
motto its
p.?9.)Havingbecrtshownby Blakethat all religionsare in enor' I tooh Blake's
givc
fi anothn wtn's But I didn't acttrallv
my owrr, I m*t C""at aStstem,or be ensLwed
my spirituallife then'
much thought to systematizing
By the 1980smany pcople,espcciallyyoungpeople,werc activelyand openlyseeking
spiritoal experiencenot availablein their religions.Many of them turned toward the East'
to Butldhism and Hinduism, unawarcthat thc \vest had its own deepspiritualtrrditions
and Moslem Sufism Like thcm, I alsohad
in contemplativeChtistianity,Jewishlcebbalism,
no Lnowlcdgeof the Westerninner, esoterictradition. I thought Blahewasa "one'ofi"
Oeoff retunredftom a Buddhist meditationretreatin Bodh Gaya,lndia,
\(4ren my
",,n
I
whcre flautama Budclhaachievedenlightenment,and talkcd to me about his experiences'
bccameinterestedin Buddhism. I beganrcadingabout it One book that particularly
A WesremClli de tn Tibetan BuAlhismpublished in 1980 bv
intrigued me was Open Secrets:
lll
Wrrli Ande.son,*hl.h I tcad sevcraltimcs.Living in Boulder' Coloradofor abort
getting
know
to
months, I had the opportunity of hearingTibetan Buddhist teachers,
Mcditation
Vestern Buddhist practitioners,ard iftending a Buddhist-Clhistian
Conferencc.
Untilthcn.ldidn'tknowthattherewctecontemplativechristianswhopracticedsolitary,
silent meditationasa group irr
silent meditationas Buddhistsdo. Quakerspr?rctice
Meeting. Although I had gonc to Mccting a few timcs, thc Quakers I mct there were too
I was in
,truch liL. the P..sbytcrians I h:rtl grown up with-rcspectable chutch people' and
tlight from church.
church people;br'rtthey
The ButldhistsI mct in Boulclerweredcfinltelynot respectable
the
werc too Ncw Ageyfor mc. Young, affluent,they seemedtoo much anractedby
I
fcel
ofTib.tan Buddhism,the rituals,art, and paraphernalia'I didn't
forcign-ness
pretcnrlto
;lo;eed with thcm. Besides,I wasn'tlooking for a rcligion anclI didn't want to
be Tibetan.
from then on, I continuedto readbooksby Tibctan lamm and books about
Nevertheless,
in
Buddhism.The teachingsrcminded me of Blake They helpedme understanclconcept-s
Blakc that had beeo obscure.
In 1992. I brokc down with undiagrroseds1'rnptomsand was forced to stop working'
Bccausedoctorsand a pslchothenpistcould find nothing
wrong with me physicallyor emotiona$, I concludedI must
be havinga spiritualcrisis.I beganpracticingmeditation l
undertook training in a seculatmcditationmethodologyba'sed
on Tibetan Buddhism.I continuedto readbooksby Tibetal
teachcrsthat vrere avirilableto me at The Tibetan Meditation
Centcr. ln Tlr SecrctOrdl TeachlngtinTibeun Bldlhist Sects'bv
AlexandraL)avid-Nccland I'amaYongden,I found the same
cmphasison pcrceptionthat I had found in Blakc'
The lower an individual is in the scaleof physical and
psychic dcvelopment, the smaller is the mrmber of his
consciousperceptions.Likewise,more highly
This
dcvelopcdindivldual"perceivcmore than ot'hers'
Ego 'IIE Traffpe'sonal\4sion'
passagein Fron Patts Be1lrrntl
7
by RogerWalsh and FrancesVaughan,aptly ilhntratesthe sameconcept.
...an:rnimalmay sccan oddly shapedblack and white object,a tribal persona
rectangularflexibleobjcctwith curiousmarkings.To a \?estern chilcl it is a book,
while to an adult it rnaybc a particulartt'peof book, namelya book that makes
incornprehensible,
cvenridiculousclaimsabout reality.Finally,to a physicistit may
lt a profouncltext on quannrm phlsics.
Morc about perceptionftom Secret
OralTeachings:
Buddhist s:rlvation,Liheration,consislsin I fundamcntalchangein or.rr
perceptions...itis an awakeningresultingfrom transceDdent:rnd
profound insight
which causesus to'see more' and to discover,beyondthe world ofvirtues and
vices,of (lootl and Evil, a spherewherethesepairsof oppositestlo not exist.
lllumination is the discoveryof the realityexistingbeneathippearances,and he
who is enlightenedwill be awareof the placewhich he, in fact,occupicsin this
What we drink ofas reality,the realityof ordinary-,mundanelife, is ncnrallyan
interpretationofthe energyactivitywith which we comeinto contact.lt is basedon
a combinationofsocial conditioning and education'-(:onsensu
a1reality:we see
what we are taughtto seejand karma-the inheritetl capabilitiesand limitations of
oLtrspeciesplLLs
our own instincts,habits,memoies, and pastexperienccs.
Just as Blakchad donc, thcscancicntcsotcrictcachingswarnedabout the dangerofrelying
on scnscpcrccptionsand thinking that our sensescan show us reality.
givetrs incorrectinformation, they leadus into error, and if we
Becauseour senses
are decei\€dby them we are cultivatingignorance.For lackof acccssto rcalit', not
only do we 'not know,' but we erecton our urong informationvariouswrong
views,and the structurcof a fantasticworldThesedoctrinesan,:lthedisciplinesattachedtheretodatebackto the distantpast...
and the spirit of theseteachingshasalways,either in one world or another,
inspiredan elite of thinkerswho wereparticularb perspicacious,
an,.lwho'saw
ltyond' that which appearedto the majoriq of beings.
Ofcoursc I kncw that Blakcwasamongthe elite ofthinLers.
Researchis the Way.
lllake wrotc, As ttu tnie nethodof llnowledceis expenncntthehte fdcukJo/ knor.L'ing
rnrat k tlt
( PB, p.79r
fa.ulq uhi.h &fenences.
is a
Eachatom ofa grain ofsand or dust,the Mastersofthe SecrctTcachnrgs
-'y,
world which comprisesmlaiadsofbeings an,.lwherea dramaoflifc and deaths,
similar to that ofwhich we are awarein our world, takcsplacc.
And Blakesays:
Hctu do yu ltnowbut ea'\ Bnd that cutsthe airy wa41,
8
k un imnerxeworA of delight,closd i1 lolr serue.s
lioea( MHH, PB, p. 252)
To seea World in a Grain of Sand
Anda Heatenin a Vild Flower
HoLI Infini4 in the Palmof solr hand.
Arr,lEtemittin an hour.(PB,p.15(.
C)verand over I found parallelsbetweenthe Tibetan teachingsand BhLe. And Buddhisrn
gaveme something Blake had not-instruction in how to achievehis visnrn for mFeli
Buddhismgaveme the technology-meditationtechniques,visualizationmethodology,and
manta practice. But after severalretreats at The Tibetan Meditation Cl€nter, I felt like a
tourist in the Tibetan Buddhist environmentwith its exoticpractices.Iurther, I didn't
want to belong to any group. I wa,sstill religion-averse.I had already decided for rnyself that
institutionalized religions were too wrong aboLlttoo many things for me to want to be part
of any.I got from Buddhismthe technologythat would enableme to experiencewhat the
wistlom teachersexperienced.
Then I went bacLto Blake.
Though hc was in my own EnglishProtestanttraditnrn,he had the sameinsightsabout the
nanrrc ofrcality asthc Buddhists,and so I spentabouta yearin 1994and 1995
intensivcly,compulsivcly,studyingBlalc again,re-readingall hi-sworks and manybooks of
scholarshipon thcm. RcadingBlakcbiographies.With the benefit ofmy Buddhist
expericnce,Blakc madea lot more senseto me. Through meditationpractice,I had come
to "seemore," to seeas Blakesaw.
Sincethe 1960sI had thought of Blakeasa prophct in the Hcbrewtrfldition and his main
sourceasthe Bible. ln the 1990sI leamedthat, io fact,hc ',\.?sccluallya sageof the
perennialphilosophyand readthe Biblc in its light. Thc pcrcnnialphilosophyis the
of a smallellte found in all
expressionofthe greaterawareness,
the higher consciousncss,
culturcsand throughout thc agcs,thosereferredto by the Tibetan masters.A11thesegifted
pcoplcwho "sccmorc", sccthc samercality.In essence,
theysharethe conviction "that
afpcarlnces:rrenot reality;that the findlngsof the rational mind aloneare not sulficient,
and that in$ition is a primc sou.ccof lnowledge;drat mind informs the natural universe,
intcrprcting or creatingit in its own likenessithat the cosmicmind is in correspondence
with the mind of the individual;that realityis mental."(Percival,p. 280)
Blakewent evenftrrther. He identified individual mind and
universalmind, or consciousncss
arrdGod. Through my
meditation practice,I camcto experienccthat C)nencss.
ln the 1990s,The BlakeTrust and PrincetonUniveisity Press
began publishing the first facsimile edition of the complete
Prophetic Books as well as his early poetry, which they titled,
The lLlunlnated.Book of William Blal€. Now, in six laree
volumes,I had access
to the gloriousworks as Blakehad
createdthem. I bought them, but did not immediatelydo
more than browse through them. A rlecadelater I was dral,'n
to srudy them closely.
me aboutmy collegepaperson Blakc,and I found
ln 2007 when my grandsonLuke a,sked
them, I warrtcdLuke to understandwhy Blakewasimportant to me. I re-rcadmy papers
and my first Blrke textbooL6om 1963,with irs marginalnotes.Then I rc'rcadNorthrop
Frye'sscminalanrl monumentalstutlyofBlaLe, FearfilS:mmztrr.I didn't want to rngagein
anothcr in-depthstutlyof his works; I intcnded a cutsoryreviewthat would enableme to
I ltcame engrossed.
explainBlake'srelevanceto my life. Dcspitem1"self,
,ds I srudiedBlake'silluminatedbooks,thrilled by the bcautiful designsand imagcs,aswell
ff the powerfulwords,I wasasexhilaratedas I had bcen in 1963,when I iirst met him. I
wasalsoimpressedby how much ofBlake's philosophyhr.sbecomemy own.
Go, teII thzmtMt the Vmshit of God, is hrno&flnghir silB
In othn men:E kwingthe geatestmenbat, eachaccording
To hn Geniru; which is ttu Holr Gfiostin Man; thereis no other
91,?-10)
God,tfun that Godwhois theintelbctualfountaino/ Hrmanitl;..." (]erusalenJ
I carenot wh*ths a Man is Goodor fuil all that I care
Is tl]rtttur tu ts a \V.iseMan or a FooI,Go! Put ot'f Hobness
Andput on Intelbct...{lerusalem91: 54-56)
"I knowof u othzrClvistidni1 and of no oths Gupel thnn thz libeq bothof bot:; E mind
to etercisethe Dilinc Arts of Imaginationlrl.a$nation thr redl E etem^I WmA of whlch
tlv.sVeeetabb
UnhteLeis buta taint shadow..."
Qerusalem77)
The Prophetic Books are extrcmcly difiicult to read.
Youngquistrefetsto theh "beguilingopacity."(Youngquist,
p. 148)Maybeth.n's one reasonwhy I enjoystudyingthcm:
I like givingmy mind a workout. Blakerespondedto a
corcspondent'scomplaintabout the difficulty ofhis work"
...Vhnt is Grunl is necessati\obscweto Weakmen.That which
aLnbenurli Explicit to tfu Lliot is mt worthml care.r{.4rile
playsare equallydensewith meaning,
Shakcspcare's
allowingendlessinterprctations,they are not difficult to
follow on the surface.lt's casyto Lnow what'shappening
ard what the charactcrsare saying.Not so with Blahe's
books.He wrote about the inner life-- at thc sametime the
inner life ofan individual,ofa society,and ofall humanity.
Mind-boggling.To rcad thesebooks,one hasto learn his
Urizen, a pun on "your
l:rnguageof synbols, which is complex. Some sy.rnbolsstand
r€ason",who measur€s,
for scveralthings, and somc things have severaldifferent
analyzes,and s€tsboundarjes
that prcvent humanb€ings
has
to
become
is
of
symbols.
C)nc
and
the
text
full
sl,rnbols,
ftom realizingtheir potential
familiar with the odd nameshe created,suchrs
Enitharmon, Urizcn, Rintrah, Palamabron,Ulro,
Golgonooza,C)lolon,and rememberwho or wh:rt they are.Then there aie thc familiar
words and names that Blake usesin hi^sown way, with his own meaning, such as God,
eternity,Arnerica,slccp,and so on. Not to mention his idios)'ncraticspellingand
punctuation,and his 18'r'centuryuseof capitalization.Moreover,to getthc full meaning,
10
onc must also undcrshrd thc illLrminations-the images and visual symbols th:rt surround
the text. These imagesand graphics do not just illustnte places,people, and actions in the
textt they more frequent\ show us how to interpret it. Sometimes they provide more
information, sometimes they comment honically on the words. They are truly illuminating,
shedding llght on the meaning ofthe books.
What is irnportant for mc in thcsc books is thc psychoiogicalaccount ofcreation, fall,
redemption, and apocalypsc-how thc world carnc (or cornes)into being and why life on
.
u/ rir
rrrrh i.,rs it i'. I i,'. u..J ,'n rhe llirun,r,uru
Bookof lob, Tht Maniace of Heaue"u*I HeLl,ar'd
thc major PropheticBools T/u FourZoa',
Milton,anclJerlsabm,studyingthe art aswcll as
rhc trxr. V. ry hri.fl1,Blalevr-urlize.hrrmarrin
as one man. Beforethe fall, this human is a
fullyintegr.netlandrogynousbeingliving rn a
(Eden,
much higher levelofconsciousncss
Eterniry),jo/ully learningand creating.
Humanity livesin p€rfectunity and
communi(n, in murual self+acrificeand lovc.
When humankind losesintegmtion,it t'allsto a
lower levelofconsciousness
and cDtcrstlrc
world of time and spacc.Acnrally,the frrll ls
simultaneouswith creation,fo. time and space
and the phenomenalworldare the perception
ofthe limiteri sensesand reasono{ the fallen
human being.
T l. t , , u r-r, ' lJ
u h , , l. h u ma ni. n o w b ro k c n
scparateirculties-reason,enotion, thc scnscs,and imagination
or intuition, :rnd into two sexes.Thcsc partsare in conflict with
eachother-what Youngquistcalls"the politicsof
(Youngquist,p. 74) Reasonassertsits sovereigntyorrr fceling.Emoriun
consciousncss."
Thc scnseshaveiost powerand becomeconstrictccl.Moreover,fallen
ovcrcomcsrca.son.
humanity haslost the awareness
ofits own diviniry Only imaginati()n/intuitioncan
which then leadsto
rcstoreto human beingstheir knowledgeofGod within thcrnseives,
or
Eternity
again.Blakesals
rc-integration
of
the
whole
being,
the
experiencc
ofEdcn
thc
that it is possibleto experiencethis higher levelofconsciousncssin otrr everydaylivesL page trom .lelusolen,
showing the fow Zoas
Blakecallslife in this world "gcncration"becauseall life on earth is born or gcnerated,
and dies.Life in this world is a parodyor a partial,
lives,grows,rcproduccsor generntes,
Our
flawed,imitation ofctcrn:rllife, of life llved at a higher levelof consciousress.
ever!'daylife is to ctcrnallife as a mirror reflectionis to the living person.The reflection
hasthe appcaranccofthc person,but it is twcdimensional,immobile, and cle.rd,whiie the
personjs roundcd, living, ,rnd functioning.Ever\'thingin thjs cvcrydaylife is inadequate,
We
incomplctc,faultt, and lackingbecauseit is not the real thing. Wc feel clissatisfied.
know somchowthat there could be a betterworld. Wc want more than this life offers,and
we palliateourselveswith all kinds of distractions.Although we try to improvelife in thls
world, we often fail becausewe have only our limited faculties with which to work. We fail
bccauscwc don't undcrstandwho wc rcallya.e-parts ofcach othcr, and we are driven by
fcar and icalousvofthc othcr.
In this world our task is to createcivilization and to humanize naflrre-tum wildcrness and
wastelantlinto gardensand vineyards.And to developourselves.Blakesceshistoryasa
repeatedstory, humanLind falls away6om God, wanders and suffers; a spiritual leader
appearswho inspires people to turn again to C_iod;but again thcy fall away.
Thr Four Zorr.r,in which BlaLe elaborated this mlth and which is thought by some critics to
bc his greatestachievement,explainswhy life on earth is so bad and how it got that way,
and why human beingsare so troubled.The {our Zoas;rrethe four partsofhuman natutereason,emotion, senses,and imagination,
(Eden),there is perfcctOneness,perfectintegration,
At the hlgher levelofconsciousness
perfectbrotherhoodofall beingsin one Being.With humanity'sfall cometime and spacc,
becausehumansno longerhavethe capacityto pcrceiveeternityrnd infinity. With
humanity'sfall, narure,the natural world, manifestsbeclusehumanshavelost thc ability
to experiencerealityts Ciod does.To us mattcr scemssolid and nature seemsreal-It seems
and capabiliticscan
ultimate.We substitxteor mistakewhat our fallel, limited senses
perceiveand understrnd fbr what 1S.Wc mistakcthe partial for the Whole.
Thc four Zoasfight with eachother and smrggleagainstnatureuntil finalb there is a grcat
cataclysmwhen all their errorsare exposed,which causcsnature to be burnt up, and
Reality(Eternity)to appear.History is seenas a scricsof revolutions,aspeoplesufferas
But hGtoryis not just
thcir oppressors.
much .r-sthey can bear,then they riseup again.st
rcpeatedrevolutions;there is progressaseachncw agcthat followsa revolutionreprcscnrs
a gain in consciousness.
What Blnkeshowsin this epic poem is the inner lifc ofthe
individual person,which is the samcasthe outer life of societyand history-full of contlict
lnd anguish.Brilliant psychologyand sociology.
Humankind'sgrentesterror and the urderlying causeof all our
sufferingis the ignoranceof, lack ofaw;renessol or disbelicf
in, our unitl with Cod- We thinL ofGod asseparatefrom us,
external.ln fact,wc arc part of Gotl.
Miironwasimportant to me becauscI aFpliedthe lessonBlake
learnedto myseli Blakeleamedthat hc could not refuseto be
himsell drat he could not refuseto bc all he could be. ln this
book he shows us how he came to acceptfully his role as
prophet,eventhough it meant rcjectingmaterialcomfort and
security.Fle imaginesthat John Milton leavesEternittrand
retums to this world to correcthis errors.l{e doesso by
Milton as a falling star
enteringBlake'sfoot
enteringinto Blake,whosecpic poemcorrectsMilton's
mistakenPuitan doctrines.Thus, Blakebecomesthe Milton
ofhis time. ln Miiton,Blake:rlsorurns autobiographyinto a
I2
mlth in which one charactcris a fiery,visionarygenius,anothercharactcris that geoiuss
need to earn a living rrnclgct along in life, and the third characteris thc gcnius'swcll,
intentioner.l6iend and patron, a man of mediocretalent and convcnti()naltastc\rrno(rcs
(Milton 4:26)
to instructthe genins.Blakeconcludcs,CorpuealFientl:arc Spiitual Enemiesl
ln Jerzsalem,
Blakeagaintellsthe Biblicalstoryof creation,fall, rcdcmption,and apocal)-pse
in psychological
terms.Thus he madeit possiblcfor me to assimilatemy tradition in nr
inrcrprctationthat madesenseand wasacccptablcto me. lt wascompatiblewith my lived
expcricncc,with my tempemment,and with my intcllcctxalinterests.ln this account,
Albion (England)hasfalien into a deepsleep.He is unconsciousof his Divine llumrnity.
(Libcrty)-,{s Blakcexposesthe errors
Becauscof this lapse,he haslost his bride,JerLLs.rlem
of his timc that kccp Albion in this stateof unconsciousness,
thc crrors oforthoctox
Biblicalrcligion, ofrational materialism,anrl of falseChristian doctrincs,Albion finally
awakcnsand is rcunited with Jerusdem.Realizinghis potcntial,Albion can now build a
truly human civilization.
explainshow all the sufferingand Lrglincss
Jerrsalem
in lifc arc due to humanity's
acccptance
of falseideasaboutwh:rt it merns to lt hrrrnan.Rcligion,philosophy,and the
Church promulgtte wiong notions abouthuman naturc,aboutthe natural world, and
about human reiations.BlaLecondemnsreligionfor positinga separate(iod who rnsrsts
on moral laws,who is punitive and demanclssacrificcfor sin. No, saysBlake.C)odis in us
and wc arc irr Oor.l. Klowledge of thi"" truth comes by dircct
experiencc ofthc rcalitl of who we are and the Oneness of
all that is, our uniq with the ultimate. BlnLe contrasts
ordrodox rcligion with visionary experience.Life can only be
good and positivc when people live in mutual respect an,:1
forgiveness,not undcr moral law ard vengeance;when they
recognize the Divinc in sclfanLl others and not when they
are worJripping,r (iod rhcl h;vc crcnrcJ.
Hc condcmnsphilosophy,meaningthe rationalmatcrialism
ofhis timc, asjust anotherreligion,without God, a bclicf
systcmthat deifiesthe natural human cap&itics,cspccially
rcason,and dcnieshuman divinity-.This philosophyturns
the oniverscinto a dcadsystemand hrman beingsinto
Je salcmwilh fte lour
worthlessworms.Athcism, mtionalism,secula sm,
tirllen Zoas
humanism,cxistcntialism,and all worldviews,accordingto
Biake'sthinking, arc not the oppositeofreligion, becar.Lse
they,too, arc bclief s].stcrns.
Thc
oppositeofrcligion, which is basedon beliefand ritul, is art, which is basedon
i r r .trr.rri,,nI lrL, 'tfo.irc of rhcr. m L .ire A rr\ rry .
\XAilc Blakcgivesprimrrc.yto the imrginatiur, he docsnot rcjcctrcasonasthc rray of
knowing about the phenomenalunivefte and naturallife. It's whcn wc think that rcason
alonc can know realitythat we are actuallycbsed off from rcality-Unlcssreasonis
informcd by imagination,it cannot go bepnd the everydayworld wc inhabit- Morcovcr,if
rca-sonand thc senseswereour only wayofLnowing, thcrc would bc no civiiization,for
13
civilizationis the rcsult ofhuman creativity.lt is possiblconly becausewe can imagile
somethingthat doesnot existin the phcnomcnalworld.
He blamesChristianityfor preachingchastityand veneratingvirginity, causingpeopleto be
at war betweentheir sexualdesireand reason,which cautionsconformityto moral law. He
saw that denial of sexual gratification wreaks havoc psychologicallyand socially. Further,
serualdesirestandsfor all desire,all passion.Blakethought the Church taught peopleto
be mild when it i.sintensetlesirethat motivatespeopleto do grcatwork. Blakeassertsthat
of sin, the religion ofjesus, for thcre is no one who doesnot sin,
true religion is forgiveness
i.e.,fall short of ftrll humanity.
"Jesusdid not discusshcavenand hell(which are statesof mind, not placcs)in terms of
good and cvil, but in tcrms of life and death,the fruitful and the barrcn.The law of God
that we must obcy is thc law of our own spiritual grouth." (F-rye,p. 80)
Blakewrote,
Describinglife in eternity,in the highestlevclof consciousness,
...Ou.rwarsare wao d lite, I ''rounlaof Ul',e,
With intelbctwl spetts,E lnng wingedanotu of thaught
Mutual in onear,othr.lsloueand urath aII rercwing,
\Ye Iiueas Ow Man; lot contutctingoL'tinfinite senses
we behaldas one,
\Ye behoLlmultitdt; or expandlng.
,4"sOne Man all tht UniuersalFamil2:and that One man
We caLlle*s the Christ:and h.ein us and we in him.
Lire in peiect hamlon1in Edenthe land of llfe.
(ferusalem 38:14-22)
Giving, recievins,anLlforgiainsearh othm trcspdsses.
we perceivehumanity asmadeup ofseparate
\?hen we are seeingwith our fallensenses,
we see
beings,"multitude"; but whcn wc areseeingcreativelywith our expandedscnses,
that humanity is One.
Blake'srctclling ofthe Job storyis yet anotherrccounting
of his m1th. Yor.rngquistcalls Thz lllrutrations of the BooLof
thc bcst
JobBlakc's"grcatcstwork of engraving...among
cngravingscver."(Youngquist,p. 12) ln his vcrsion,Job is :r
pious,prosperousman who believeshe is living a righteous
life. But there is no joy in his life. His family'smusical
instromentsarehangingup, unplayed.Then come all his
with his
tcrriblc sufferingsand his theologicaldiscussions
a
friends.Throughout,Job maintainsthat hc is a good man. Finallyhe hasan apocall'pse,
(lod,
in
revelation, enlightenment-a dircct expcricnce of
which he realizesthat Ciod is within him. This realization
liberateshim from his rcligiousthinLing :rndhe
Now h€ is living a
surrendershis self-rightcousness.
creirtive, productivc, and jo'ful life as sho,i'n by hls family
playingthe musicalinstruments.Psychologically
expressed,
through sufferingand his a-hahmoment,Job hasgrown to
BlakeinterpretsJob's
a higher lcvel of consciousness.
14
experienceils that of everyone-how we separatcoursclvcsfrom (iod in our ignorance,
cxperiencethe inevitablesufferingthat ensues,learn from our cxpcricncc,and rcturn to
(iod.
Nietzschein describing"the mystcrydoctrinc oftragedy,"completelyexpresses
Blake's
credo:"...the ftlnclamentalknowlcdgcofthc oncnessof everlthingexistent,the conception
ofindiyiduation asthe primal causcofcvil, and of art asthe joyoushope that the spellof
individuation maybe broLen in an auguryofa restoredoneness."(Quoted in Youngquist,
p. 39)
Williarr Blaketaught me to think differently.Through him I learnedthat eternity is not
cvcrlastingtime and infinity is not endlessspace.They are higherlevelsof consciousness.
Timc and spaceare simplycreationsofthe human mind that resultfrom the limitations of
our sensesat the lower levelof corl\ciousness
in which we ordinarily lire. This world of
ordinary experienceis appearance
onLy,not Realitl. Thinking that we arc individual
bcings,scparatefrom eachother aod ftom nature is a mistake.Realityis all onc. Evcrl.thing
is intcrconocctcdand intcrdcpcndcnt.Evcrlthing is a part ofthc whole and not separate.
Thc r*4role is God. Thus, God is in mc and I am in God, a.sis cverlthing.A11thewoesancl
horrors oflife in this world, all thc suffcringand dissatisfaction,
all tle conflictsand
cxploitationwc scccvcrywhcrcthroughout histort',arc duc to our mistakenthinLing. We
thi'rk that God, Divhity, is scparatcfrom us and that wc arc scparatefrom eachother and
'Wereour doors ofperception cleansed,we would havelore and brotherhoodinstcadof
laws;forgivcnessin^stead
ofpunishment; salvationthrough selfaacrificcinstcadofJesus's
sacrificialatonement;inspirationinsteadofbelief; creativittand studyasworship instcad
ofreligious ritual; and self-development
and consciousneseraisjng
asrcligionV4ren Blakedied in obscurityand poverty,"he had witten someofthe finestpoemsin the
lnnguage,painted someofthe most vital picturestlone by an Englishman,nnd
singlehandedlymadea comprehensivernythology,an lchievementstill unique am{rng
poets,though many haveattemptedit sinceBlake."(Bloom,p. j14)
He changedmy life. I felt liberated.He taughtme that the good life is a lifc livcd from
within. I learnedto mrst my lnner Selfratherthan rely on what othcrsthought. I became
morc indcpcndcnt and sclf-dircctcd.Partlybccauscof Blakc,I havclived my life
experimentally.My husbard and I havca saying,"How elsewill we knowi" Blaketaught
me that thcre wasmorc to scc,and mcditation practicchasallowedme to seemore. Blake
wrote, Praler is the Srndl of Art. Pftlke is thr Pm.ttseo/A't. (PB, p. 497) For the past ten years
or so I havebeen prayingand praisingin my practiceofneedleart.
Rlakeis important to me because,althoughI haverejectedthe Christianityin which I was
raiscd,hc madc it possiblefor me to return to my Biblicalrootsby showingmc thc true
meaningof the Bible.When I first readlJlake,comprehcndingonly parti ly, I felt
somehowthat he spoketo me and that I had to get it. Now as I rcad Blake,I feel that he
speaksfor me. He opened my eyes...intlanls into the \Vorl,k ofTh'ught: into Eterr.it)
Euerexpandincin th. Boson"of GoA,tht Human Imagnwtion.
l5
Bibliography
Bv Willirm Blrkc
Tht PortabbBlahe(PB),with lntroduction lry Alfrcd Kazin,cditor
Thc IlhrminatcclBooks
. Tfu M.Lniage
o! Htactn zrnl Hcll,with IntroductionsanLlNotes by Morris Eaves,
R, 1r n N. l-..r,l.
V r. . o n )r
"r'J Jo. ,f h
. Mihon,r'irh Introductionsand Notcsby Robcrt N. Essick,and JoscphViscomr
r lemsalem,
w'th lntroduction and Notcs by Morton l). Palcy
lllustratiottsto tht Boakof lob
Northrop Frye,Fcaful Slmmctr-r
Harc,LdBLoorn,Bhke'sApoca\p'e
Junc Singcr,Ttu Unluh BrbL
PaulYoungquist,MaJncss
zr Blaicels
Mlth
Mirrna l)oskow, William Bhke'sJerusabm
MargnretStorch,SoruandAdtersanes;
Wonrn rn Bbk" a"J Lt*,"nc"
ln 'fibetanBuidhist
Alexanllra L)alicl-Neeland Larn.rYongden,Tlu .\rcrctOral Tcachlngs
RichardSmolley,lnrtr C,'hnstidnitl
KatlrLeenRaine,Willia.'.,Bhkt
Golronoord
Milton C).Perclval,WillramBlal<elCircL o/ Dcrt;m
Mil1onsirugglingto overcome
his
Puritanical
concepiofcod, the cod of
ihe T€nConrmandments,
who is also
Urizen.the godofthis rvorld,so that
he car experience
"the improvement
ofsensualenjo)ment thalis
enlightenment,
asshownb] thc
music-making
five senses
above.