QUEST FOR THE HEAVENLY JERUSALEM

ORIENTATION: A MANDALA OF THE WAY.

(this text is printed on the poster)

Introduction

This painting, by the Israeli artist Hannah-Eliza Omer, was inspired by the visions of Dr. Yitzhak Hayutman (cyber-architect and city planner). These visions became the subject of an ongoing dialogue between them, that resulted in a series of paintings of the Quest for the Heavenly Jerusalem and its promise of a better world. The underlying structure for the painting was provided by the Tree of Life, showing each of us, as pilgrims in search of our own Heavenly Jerusalem, the way from the physical, profane surface world to the spiritual, divine world above.

Mandala of the Way

In the center, the hexagonal, multi-celled cubical formation represents the Heavenly Jerusalem, a virtual reality meeting place for man and the divine force, a dynamic vessel for men and women to transform themselves. Fueled by knowledge of the common heritage of all humankind (imprinted in the DNA-like chains that loop around the sun and the moon), the dynamic vessel becomes a collective unconscious for the pilgrims, returning to Jerusalem from the dispersal of the twelve tribes of Israel, guided by the twelve beams of light.

Projected from the dynamic vessel of the Heavenly Jerusalem is the winged sphere of the new understandings, supported by the joined arms of the cosmic brothers, a metamorphosis of the pilgrims. The winged sphere corresponds to the Sphere of Knowledge (Da'at) , like a giant mirror of the human reflection, male and female, of the divine presence. These are personified as Wisdom and Truth, who have risen up from their earthly test to meet the divine vitality (signified by the four letters of the Name of God, YHWH) descending from heaven above.

Below is the physical world, the continents of the earth spread out around the Mediterranean Sea. They are etched with rivers and seas, along which monuments that provide resting places for the pilgrims on their way to their spiritual home, Jerusalem, where they can renounce their false selves, and transcend the mundane for the divine. The physical world is also populated by a myriad of other elements of the spiritual and the profane in search of the divine in Jerusalem, i.e. an Indian Saint bestowing his blessings; a shrine raising in Japan; the magic spirit of the northern seas and forests, levitating, with his hands in prayer, the heir to European culture, with a 'moontime-pacer' in his hand (to determine the true being, in tune with the pace of the seasons); a noble African prince, falcon on his shoulder, greets the outside world as he listens to his own secret heart; the Queen of Sheba, bedecked in precious stones, gazing in longing to Jerusalem and the temple there; and an innocent and perfect child named Tom (wholeness/innocence), holding the pillars that hold up the world with one hand, and a butterfly of metamorphosis with the other.

The painting contains about 200 symbols relating to the quest for one's true identity, one's place in the physical and spiritual world, and how to find it. These symbols are enumerated and explained, and the evolution of the picture retold, in other files (see The Quest for Heavenly Jerusalem, the Homecoming of The Celestial Templeship). One can also find other interesting, informative and illuminating material relating to the Quest (and how to use this poster as a Quest Game-Board), the Tree Of Life (and how to reach it), and the Heavenly Jerusalem (and what it can mean and do for you).

Heavenly Jerusalem Posters in the Art Gallery
The HOPE Art Gallery main contents page