Sacred Marriage
Symbol for: the merger of the polarities, inner oneness
Alchemy
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The sacred marriage is a metaphor for the merging of the inner polarities, part of the process of kundalini awakening. This inner oneness also leads to a (re)union with God. On the energetic level, during the sacred marriage, the two polar energy channels that flow along the spine – called the ida and pingala-nadi in the yoga tradition – merge. The sacred marriage takes place in the head, at the sixth chakra.
The spiritual tradition of ALCHEMY uses the image of a royal union for the sacred marriage. The MALE pole, the king, is associated with the color RED, and the FEMALE pole, the queen, with the color WHITE.
Aureum Vellus, author Salomon Trismosin, 1598-99.
The POLAR ENERGIES (king and queen) are PURIFIED by the kundalini fire personified by the Greek god Hephaistos. (Philosophia reformata, emblem 3, Johann Daniel Mylius, 1622)
Philosophia reformata, emblem 2, Johann Daniel Mylius, 1622.
Splendor Solis, author Salomon Trismosin, 1582.
Examples from Christian art
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Throughout the ages there have always been initiates, artists and mystics who knew that Jesus was not born as ‘the Son of God’, but had experienced a kundalini awakening, after which he was one with his Divine Father. The Gospel writers have hidden this spiritual truth in their texts in inventive ways, including the use of imagery and wordplay (see my books). Because of the rigid attitude of the church, the truth could not be spoken aloud, but underground, through esoteric groups such as the Freemasons, it found its way onto the canvas.
In the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas, Jesus speaks explicitly about the sacred marriage in logion 22:
When you make the two one and make the inside like the outside and the outside like the inside and the above like the below, and that you might make the male and the female be one and the same, so that the male might not be male nor the female be female, when you make eyes in place of an eye and a hand in place of a hand and a foot in place of a foot, an image in place of an image – then you will enter[the Kingdom.
And in logion 106 of the same Gospel he tells his disciples how they too, like him, can become a “son of man”, a “new generation” God-realised person.
When you make the two one, you will become sons of men,
and if you say, “Mountain, move,” he will move.
The MIRACLES described in the Bible and depicted in paintings, for example the Raising of Lazarus, are about a spiritual awakening, as a result of a kundalini process (including the sacred marriage). The BEHEADING of John the Baptist is a spiritual ‘decapitation’ (loss of the ego), due to the action of the kundalini energy (the ‘Dance of Salome’). Read more in my book John the Baptist who became the Jesus the Christ.
Read about the SYMBOLIC meaning of a DECAPITATION in the article: “The spiritual process of losing the ego.”
THE SIGN OF THE SACRED MARRIAGE (two fingers together: 2=1) is incorporated in many paintings, in one form or another, often in combination with other esoteric symbolism. This hand gesture refers to a fusion of the polar energies/duality, and with this to a process of kundalini awakening.
The feet of Jesus are anointed by Mary Magdalene, Pseudo-Jacopino di Francesco, circa 1330. The (spiritual) ANDROGYNY of Jesus is the result of a fusion of the masculine (RED) and feminine (WHITE) energies.
The Feast of Herod and the Beheading of John the Baptist, Unknown painter, early 14th century. Read about Herod’s BANQUET and John’s BEHEADING in my book “John the Baptist who became Jesus the Christ“.
Francesco Bianchi Ferrari. The man on the left cross makes the SIGN OF THE SACRED MARRIAGE (2=1) with his hand in front of the WHITE-RED flag.
The Raising of Lazarus, Giotto di Bondone. Read about the KUNDALINI SYMOLISM in the story of the Raising of Lazarus in my book “Mary Magdalene, the disciple whom Jesus loved.”
Andrea Mantegna, 1459.
Jesus is arrested in the garden of Gethsemane, Jorg I Breu.
The mocking of Jesus, Maria Laach Kirche Flügelaltar. The extended MIDDLE FINGER (click here), of the man on the right, refers to the awakened SPINE.
Lucas Cranach de Oudere
Jan Cornelisz. Vermeyen
Bernardo Bitti, 1603.
Fra Angelico, 1424.
The five wise and five foolish virgins, Baron Ernest Friedrich von Liphart. Read about the deeper meaning of the story of the TEN VIRGINS in my book ‘Kundalini Awakening in the Bible‘.
Mary Magdalene, Piero della Francesca. Mary Magdalene experienced a KUNDALINI AWAKENING. Read about this in my book “Mary Magdalene, the disciple whom Jesus loved”.
Titian. The red and white POLE (click here) refers to the SPIRALING movement of the rising kundalini.
Juliaan de Vriendt. The FACES of Jesus and Mary express the FUSION of the masculine and feminine energies.
The Beheading of John the Baptist, Pierre-Cécile Puvis de Chavannes, circa 1869. The FIG TREE (click here) is a symbol for kundalini awakening. The golden platter refers to the DOUBLE CIRCLE (click here), an symbol from alchemy for the SACRED MARRIAGE, just like the colors RED AND WHITE.
The Divine Bridegroom (El Divino Esposo), Miguel Cabrera, Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Jesus points with two fingers (2=1) at his HEAD, the place where the union of man with God takes place. The IRIS (click here) is an symbol for the PINEAL GLAND. The LILY (click here) that Jesus has placed on his PELVIS is a symbol for a kundalini awakening.
The Entry into Jerusalem, Romanino. At the symbolic level, the entry into JERUSALEM is about God’s entry into our HEARTS (an aspect of a kundalini process).
London BL Egerton 2653 fol-75
The Beheading of John the Baptist, Johann Georg Bergmüller, Klosterkirche St Johannes, 1741. A DECAPITATION stands on the symbolic level for the DEATH OF THE EGO. Read more in my book “John the Baptist who became Jesus the Christ”.
Martyrdom of saint Justina, Paolo Veronese. The two energy channels that merge during the process of kundalini awakening are symbolized by the two STAFFS (click here), the two PILLARS (click here), and the colors RED AND WHITE (man on the right). The colors BLACK, WHITE AND RED next to Justina’s head represent the three phases of the MAGNUM OPUS (click here).
Bartolomeo Montagna (Bartolomeo Cincani), circa 1487. Saint Roch (right) points to his PELVIS, and to his clothing in the colors RED AND WHITE, instead of – as usual in iconography – to the wound on his leg. The PLATFORM refers to the DOUBLE CIRCLE (click here), an symbol from alchemy for the SACRED MARRIAGE.
A FUSION OF THE MASCULINE AND THE FEMININE (duality) is another way in which the sacred marriage has been incorporated (conceiled) in Christian art. Below are some examples.
The Crypt of the Cathedral of Siena, circa 1280.
The Crypt of the Cathedral of Siena, circa 1280.
Francesco Francia
Bonmont Psalter, 1250-1300.
The Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere
Orthodox icon “Pelagonitissa”, early 15th century. The ARMS of the baby Jesus are a reference to the rising kundalini SERPENT. Only ONE LEG (click here) is visible, this symbolizes the merging of the polar energies (2=1).
Meister der Pietà aus Villeneuf les Avignon
Circle of Quentin Massys (attr.)
Giovanni dal Ponte, 1st half 15th century. The TWO AUREOLES form the symbol of the VESICA PISCIS (click here), which stands for the FUSION of the polar energies (2=1).
Christ in the house of Mary and Martha, Pieter Aertsen. Read more on Mary Magdalene and Jesus in my book “Mary Magdalene, the disciple whom Jesus loved.”
Sandro Botticelli, circa 1490. Jesus has NO BEARD, this is a reference to ANDROGYNY: he is man-and-woman-in-one as a result of the kundalini process.
Read more about the KUNDALINI in the Bible in my book ‘Kundalini Awakening in the Bible’.