Thursday, February 18, 2021

INTRODUCTION

From Blake's Four Zoas
"Thus were the stars of heaven created like a golden chain
To bind the Body of Man to heaven from failing into the Abyss"

From First Corinthians, Phillips Translation
"But God has, through the Spirit, let us share his secret. For nothing is hidden from the Spirit, not even the deep wisdom of God. For who could really understand a man's inmost thoughts except the spirit of the man himself? How much less could anyone understand the thoughts of God except the very Spirit of God? And the marvelous thing is this, that we now receive not the spirit of the world but the Spirit of God himself, so that we can actually understand something of God's generosity towards us.
It is these things that we talk about, not using the expressions of the human intellect but those which the Holy Spirit teaches us, explaining things to those who are spiritual."

The Divine Economy does not operate like this world's economy. It is not designed to maximize profits but to increase the abundance of love upon which the soul of man is fed. Our spirits can be fed by Blake's images which he created to convey spiritual truth in symbolic language. I have selected sixty-four of Blake's pictures to accompany short statement which I wrote to describe the Divine Economy.

The contents of this blog is available as an ebook through the generosity of Ian Mulder of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. You may read the book online, download it to your computer or reader, or print a copy.


Divine Economy as a pdf file


Ian's comment:
To this cosmic introduction from the pens of William Blake & Ellie Clayton, I merely add a footnote to the last four words, "or print a copy".

You can simply print a copy, as Ellie suggests, or you can print it in the form of a high-quality book, double-sided and bound in a handy book size 8.3 x 6in.

I've prepared a short guide to the process which may help.
 

Wednesday, February 17, 2021

1 - WHAT WE GET

We get more than we deserve.

British Museum
William Blake's Illustrations to
Edward Young's Night Thoughts


Tuesday, February 16, 2021

2 - REAL VALUE

Everything of real value can’t be paid for.

British Museum
William Blake's Illustrations to
Edward Young's Night Thoughts


Monday, February 15, 2021

3 - RECEIVING

We receive from those whom we cannot repay.

British Museum
William Blake's
Illustrations to Young's Night Thoughts


Sunday, February 14, 2021

4 - THE PAST

We can’t re-create the past.

William Blake's
Satan Exulting over Eve, 1795

 

Saturday, February 13, 2021

5 - THE FUTURE

We can’t control the future.

British Museum
William Blake's Engraving for
the Book of Job

Friday, February 12, 2021

6 - ECONOMICS

Co-operation out-succeeds competition.


British Museum
William Blake's Illustrations to
Edward Young's Night Thoughts



Thursday, February 11, 2021

7 - DIVERSITY

Diversity contributes to the whole.

British Museum
William Blake
A Pastoral Scene
c. 1780-1785

Wednesday, February 10, 2021

8 - PROVIDENCE

The whole provides for the parts.

New York Public Library
Blake's Milton
Plate 32

Tuesday, February 9, 2021

9 - RECYCLING

Nothing is lost, nothing is wasted.


William Blake
Illustrations to 
Robert Blair's The Grave

Monday, February 8, 2021

10 - TAKING PART

We participate in the great exchange.


William Blake
Illustrations of
The Book of Job
Butts Set 


Sunday, February 7, 2021

11 - SUSTENANCE

 An external source supplies energy to sustain.

Web Gallery of Art
William Blake
Job Confessing His Presumption To God Who Answers From The Whirlwind

Saturday, February 6, 2021

12 - SUPPLY

 There is no limit to the supply of love, mercy, grace, and compassion.

British Museum
William Blake's Illustrations to
Edward Young's Night Thoughts

Friday, February 5, 2021

13 - CONDUIT


We are pipelines for God to supply the world.

British Museum
William Blake's illustrations to 
Young's Night Thoughts




 





















Thursday, February 4, 2021

14 - DESIGN

The richness of the design comes from changing patterns. 


Jacob's Ladder, or Jacob's Dream, illustration to the Bible painted for Thomas Butts, Genesis, xxviii, 12; Jacob lies in foreground l dreaming, behind him rises spiral staircase amid stars and golden rays above, three women stand at foot of staircase carrying trays and urns, other figures ascend or descend stairs. c.1799-1807 Pen and grey ink and watercolour
British Museum
William Blake
Jacob's Ladder

Wednesday, February 3, 2021

15 - FLOW

 We can’t hold back the flow of God’s movement. 

British Museum
William Blake's Illustrations to
Edward Young's Night Thoughts


Tuesday, February 2, 2021

16 - WHERE WE STAND

 We stand on the shoulders of giants.

New York Public Library
Milton 
Plate 1, Copy C


Monday, February 1, 2021

17 - GIVING & RECEIVING

We pass on what we receive, emptying ourselves in the process.

British Museum
William Blake's Illustrations to
Edward Young's Night Thoughts



Sunday, January 31, 2021

18 - RECEIVING & GIVING

There is no receiving without giving; there is no giving without receiving.

William Blake
Songs of Innocence and of Experience
Plate 14

                                                                                                  

Saturday, January 30, 2021

19 - MODUS OPERANDI

Transformation is the mode of operation.

Yale Center for British Art
William Blake  
Jerusalem
Plate 97

Friday, January 29, 2021

20 - METAMORPHOSIS

 We must die to be born again.

British Museum
William Blake
Dedication to Blair's 'Grave'
1807


Thursday, January 28, 2021

21 - THE MESSAGE

 God has declared creation to be good.

Yale Center for British Art 
William Blake

Illustrations to Poems of Thomas Gray



Wednesday, January 27, 2021

22 - CHANGE

God intends change. We are to change ourselves, to change others, to be changed by others.

Illustrations to 
Robert Blair's
The Grave

Tuesday, January 26, 2021

23 - ESSENCE OF LIFE

Nothing static is alive; to live is to change.


William Blake 
Ezekiel

Monday, January 25, 2021

24 - NEW AWAKENING

We are always on the verge of a new awakening.

British Museum
William Blake
Study for America
 

Sunday, January 24, 2021

25 - THE DOOR AWAITS

The key is in the lock, the door awaits opening. Can we turn the key, open the door, and walk through?

British Museum
William Blake
Jerusalem
Plate 1
























Saturday, January 23, 2021

26 - WE ARE MEMBERS

We are members of one another.

Yale Center for British Arts
William Blake
Jerusalem   
Plate 85 

 




 

Friday, January 22, 2021

27 - WHAT WE ARE GIVEN

We are given enough light to take the next step.

British Museum
William Blake's Illustrations to
Edward Young's Night Thoughts

Thursday, January 21, 2021

28 - GRATITUDE

 The attitude of gratitude opens the windows of our hearts.

National Gallery of Art
William Blake
Job and His Daughters, 1799/1800
Rosenwald Collection


Wednesday, January 20, 2021

29 - DIFFERENT TIMES

There is a time to reflect, and a time to participate.

William Blake
Illustrations to Milton's
Il Penseroso
Wikimedia

Tuesday, January 19, 2021

30 - BEING FORGIVEN

We cannot give love if we cannot accept forgiveness.

William Blake
Woman Taken in Adultery

Monday, January 18, 2021

31 - FORGIVING

 We cannot receive love if we cannot forgive others. 


British Museum
William Blake
Milton
Plate 41

Sunday, January 17, 2021

32 - WHEREVER WE LOOK

The image of God can be found wherever we look.

British Museum
William Blake's Illustrations to
Edward Young's Night Thoughts



Saturday, January 16, 2021

33 - REALITY

Spirit is the real; matter is the illusion.
William Blake

The Reunion of Soul and Body
Illustrations to Blair's  Grave
Courtesy of Wikimedia

Friday, January 15, 2021

34 - OUR TASK

Our task is to see the real through the illusion.

Web Gallery of Art
William Blake
The angel rolling away the stone from the sepulchre


Thursday, January 14, 2021

35 - FRAGMENTS OF REALITY

We see a sliver of reality which can contribute to an image with other slivers.

William Blake 
Enoch
Lithograph, 1806-7

Wednesday, January 13, 2021

36 - COMMUNITY

Without the awareness of a community my perceptions are incomplete.
British Museum
William Blake's Illustrations to
Edward Young's Night Thoughts


Tuesday, January 12, 2021

37 - VOID

Darkness is a void without independent existence.
British Museum
William Blake's Illustrations to
Edward Young's Night Thoughts



Monday, January 11, 2021

38 - WHEN LIGHT APPEARS

Darkness disappears when light appears.
William Blake
Illustrations to Milton's
On the Morning of Christ's Nativity























Friday, January 8, 2021

39 - THE SPIRIT

If we open ourselves to the spirit, we receive.
British Museum
William Blake's Illustrations to
Edward Young's Night Thoughts

Wednesday, January 6, 2021

40 - THE END

 The end is the beginning.

William Blake
Frontispiece for
Blair's  The Grave

Tuesday, January 5, 2021

41 - TIME'S DIMENSION

 Time is a cross-section of eternity.
 
British Museum
William Blake's Illustrations to Edward Young's Night Thoughts


Friday, January 1, 2021

42 - TIME

We experience time as a thread not yet woven into the cloth.
William Blake
Illustration to  
Robert Blair's The Grave.