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Bibliotherapy

Ivan Vladimirovich Lopukhin – Explanation Of The Allegorical Painting, Representing The Temple Of Nature And Grace.

Portrait of Ivan Vladimirovich Lopukhin ( 1756-1816),

philosopher, mystic, writer and humanitarian,
by Dmitri Grigorievich Levitzky (1735–1822),

in the collection of the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia.

Wikimedia Commons.

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Today’s sharing from the Blue House of Via-HYGEIA is Ivan Vladimirovich Lopukhin’s own explanation of the frontispiece gracing the opening of his ‘A few features of the Inner Church‘, here in its 1801 Moscow edition in the French Language. It echoes Karl von Eckartshausen and his seminal works such as ‘Heaven on Earth or Jesus-Christ in the heart of men‘, or ‘Catechism Of The Higher Chimia‘. More to come, soon.

In the late 18th century and during the early days of the 19th century, Russian Masonic Rosicrucianism and Martinism flourished as intellectual and spiritual movements among the aristocracy and intelligentsia, blending esoteric Christian mysticism with the pursuit of moral and personal transformation. Ivan Vladimirovich Lopukhin (24 February 1756 – 22 June 1816) , a central figure in these circles, worked closely with Nikolai Novikov and other Masonic brothers to advance these ideas.

Their shared interests included the writings of Jacob Boehme, whose theosophical visions of divine unity and inner regeneration profoundly influenced their spiritual philosophy. Alongside Boehme, the works of Louis Claude de Saint-Martin, the “Unknown Philosopher,” served as a cornerstone for their studies, emphasizing the inward path to spiritual enlightenment.

Together, these thinkers cultivated a uniquely Russian synthesis of mystical traditions, emphasizing moral responsibility, personal development, and the pursuit of divine wisdom in service to society.

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Explanation of the Allegorical Tableau

Representing The Temple Of Nature And Grace

 

1. The Light in the Darkness

The light that shines in the darkness, which the darkness cannot comprehend (John 1:5), illuminates every person who comes into the world. Love marks the true path: the path of the cross, covered with thorns. A complete renunciation of all self-interest best demonstrates whether one is truly walking this path.

2. Love on the Unshakable Pillar of Faith

Love, upheld by the unshakable pillar of faith, marks the true path leading to the temple of nature and grace—this true church of Jesus Christ, which exists in the world but is unknown to the world (John 1:10). This church is inaccessible to flesh and blood (1 Timothy 4:16; Hebrews 12:29) and is barred to fallen human nature (Genesis 3:24).

3. Self-Study and Symbols

The study of oneself and of nature, along with symbols, allegories, religious institutions, civil laws, and natural law, leads to this path by highlighting the necessity of a unique, essential, and secure way: the way of the cross.

4. Nature’s Study and the Sevenfold Scale

By studying nature through its sevenfold scale and with the light of wisdom sent from above by grace, one discovers the light of nature that invisibly animates all creation.

5. The Light in the Prima Materia

This light, imprinted by the Creator’s omnipotent Word in the prima materia of all existence, also shines within the philosophical chaos.

6. Seeking Light Through Pure Love

Whoever faithfully studies nature, seeking the light of Jesus Christ out of pure love for Him, will see in this divine light the indestructible light of nature, unexpectedly finding it at their doorstep (Wisdom 6:14).

7. New Birth Through Spirit and Water

By following God and Savior on the path of the cross, who desires to bring all into His kingdom, one is reborn of spirit and water. This breaks the sevenfold chains of the old nature, giving rise to a new, inner man capable of entering God’s kingdom (John 3:5).

8. Entry to the Temple of Grace

The entry to the temple of grace is opened through the conception of new life on the cross, just as the temple of nature opens through the birth of the light of nature.

9. Prayer as Nourishment

Prayer nourishes and strengthens this new life.

10. The Thorny Path to Illumination

The narrow, thorn-covered path (Matthew 7:13-14) leads in this life to a state of illumination by the sevenfold light, where the entrance to the temple’s holy sanctuary is revealed.

11. The Divine Adolescent and Inner Earth

The adolescent of divine life, enlightened by wisdom and bearing the cross (Wisdom 7:7), seeks the interior of the earth. Blessed is he who has preserved the good wine (John 2:10), the wine of strength, purity, and chastity.

12. Understanding the World’s Composition

He will come to know the world’s composition and the action of the elements (Wisdom 7:17), decomposing them into effects and reducing them to their principles. By uniting the sun with the moon, he will find the true medicine—a treasure that bestows the qualities of a true philosopher and demonstrates his readiness to enter the sanctuaries of the temple of grace and nature.

13. Completion of the Great Work

The completion of the great philosophical work, which presents the mirror of wisdom showing all that has been, is, and will be, combined with the life of the cross and an inner death with the Savior, opens the sanctuary of the temple, the paradisiacal region of light (Genesis 2:8), the renewed Eden (Revelation 21:1, 23). This is the dwelling of the greatest sages, possessing all the gifts of apostleship (Matthew 10:8), true shepherds (John 10:2), priests offering pure sacrifices to God, and kings who master themselves and nature (2 Timothy 2:11-12).

14. The Creator’s Fiat

The all-powerful Word, the Creator’s Fiat, is their scepter. They receive the imperial globe from the hands of victory, which they win over the world with and in Jesus Christ (John 16:33).

15. Unity Through Sun and Moon

The union of the sun and moon, the active and passive principles, results in unity—the greatest mystery of the creature’s renewal.

16. Crown of Mysteries

This crown of all nature’s mysteries adorns the altar of the sanctuary, illuminated solely by the light of the spotless Lamb, who takes away the sins of the world.

17. The Precious Blood of the Lamb

The precious blood of the Lamb, sacrificed for the world’s salvation, is the only tincture that renews all.

18. The Paradise Rose and the New Earth

The rose of paradise, beginning to bloom when a true bearer of the cross enters the path of renewed life, fully blossoms on a new and entirely vivified earth—a place of relief and rest after the arduous journey of the cross.

19. Return to Eden

The fall of the first man expelled him and all humanity from Eden. Yet, those perfected through regeneration regain this Eden forever in the temple of grace and nature.

20. The Curse and Redemption

This fall caused childbirth pains, death (Genesis 3:16; Romans 5:12), a curse upon the earth, and a life of toil (Genesis 3:17-19). Redemption reverses this state.

21. The Creature’s Longing for Freedom

Sin developed the seven qualities of animal nature in man, corrupted the earth (Genesis 6:11), and subjected creation to vanity. Yet, creation longs for liberation when God’s children are freed (Romans 8:20-22).

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Original French

Explication Du Tableau Allégorique, Représentant
Le Temple De La Nature Et De La Grâce.

1. La lumière qui luit dans les ténèbres, et que les ténèbres ne comprennent point (St jean 1. 5); cette lumière qui éclaire tout homme venant au monde – l’amour, marque la vraie voie : c’est la voie de la croix, couverte d’épines ; et un renoncement entier à toute propriété est ce qui montre le mieux si l’on marche véritablement dans cette voie.

2. L’amour, qui se maintient sur la colonne inébranlable de la foi, marque la vraie voie, qui mène au temple de la nature et de la grâce ; à cette vraie Eglise de Jésus-Christ, qui est au monde, mais que le monde ne connaît point (Jean 1. 10) ; à cette église qui est inaccessible à la chair et au sang (I Timothée IV. 16; Hébreux XII. 29) et dont l’entrée est défendue à la nature humaine déchue (Genèse III. 24).

3. L’étude de soi-même et de la nature, les symboles, les allégories, les institutions religieuses, les lois civiles, la loi naturelle conduisent à cette voie, en portant à sentir la nécessité d’un chemin unique, essentiel et sûr, celui de la croix.

4. Par l’étude de la nature, suivant son échelle septénaire, à l’aide de la lumière de sagesse, que la grâce envoie d’en haut, on découvre la lumière de la nature, qui vivifie invisiblement toute la création.

5. Cette lumière, imprimée par la parole toute-puissante du Créateur dans la matière principe (prima materia) de tout ce qui existe, brille aussi dans le chaos philosophique.

6. Quiconque travaille fidèlement dans l’étude de la nature, ne cherchant la lumière de Jésus-Christ que par l’amour pur pour lui, apercevra dans cette lumière divine la lumière indestructible de la nature, dans un moment et dans un lieu où il ne s’y attendait point. Il la trouvera devant sa porte. (Sapience VI. 14).

7. Lorsqu’on suit sur le chemin de la croix son Dieu et son Sauveur, qui désire faire entrer tous dans son royaume, il naît par l’esprit et par l’eau, en rompant les chaînes septuples de la vieille nature, un homme nouveau intérieur, qui peut entrer dans le royaume de Dieu. (Jean 111. 5).

8. L’entrée du temple de la grâce s’ouvre par la conception de la vie nouvelle sur la croix; de même que le temple de la nature s’ouvre par la naissance de la lumière de la nature.

9. La prière nourrit et fortifie la vie nouvelle.

10. Le chemin étroit et couvert d’épines (Matthieu VII. 13. 14) conduit dans cette vie à l’état d’illumination par la lumière septuple; c’est là où l’on découvre l’entrée dans le saint du temple.

11. L’adolescent de la vie divine, éclairé par la sagesse, et portant la croix (Sapience VII. 7) recherche l’intérieur de la terre. Qu’il est heureux s’il a conservé le bon vin (Jean II. 10), le vin de la force, de la pureté et de la chasteté.

12. Il connaîtra la composition du monde, l’action des éléments (Sapience VII. 17), décomposera ceux-ci en effets, et les réduira à leurs principes ; et, unissant le soleil avec la lune, il trouvera la médecine vraie, un trésor dont la possession lui procurera les qualités d’un vrai philosophe, et qui montrera son aptitude à entrer dans le sanctuaire du temple de la grâce et de la nature.

13. La consommation du grand oeuvre philosophique, lequel présente le miroir de la sagesse, où l’on contemple tout ce qui a été, comment il a été, tout ce qui est et sera, la consommation de cet oeuvre, dis-le, jointe à la consommation de la vie de la croix, par une mort intérieure avec le Sauveur, ouvre l’entrée du sanctuaire du temple, de la région paradisiaque de la lumière (Genèse II – 8), de l’habitation de l’Eden renouvelé (Apocalypse XXI. 1 . 23), de la demeure des plus grands sages, qui ont tous les dons de l’apostolat (Matthieu X. 8), des vrais pasteurs (St Jean X. 2), des prêtres, qui offrent toujours à Dieu un sacrifice pur; des rois, qui sont maîtres d’eux-mémés et de la nature (2 Timothée II. 11. 12).

14. La parole toute-puissante, le Fiat du Créateur est leur sceptre ; ils reçoivent le globe impérial des mains de la victoire qu’ils remportent sur le monde avec Jésus-Christ et en Jésus-Christ. (St Jean XVI. 33).

15. Par la réunion du soleil et de la lune, de l’actif et du passif, il résulte l’unité, qui est le plus grand mystère de la rénovation de la créature.

16. Cette couronne de tous les mystères de la nature sert à orner l’autel du sanctuaire, qui n’est éclairé que par la lumière de l’agneau sans tache, prenant sur lui les péchés du monde.

17. Le sang précieux de l’agneau, immolé pour le salut du monde, est l’unique teinture qui renouvelle tout.

18. La rose du paradis, qui commence à éclore, au même temps qu’un vrai porte-croix, entre dans la route de la vie renouvelée, achève de s’épanouir sur une terre nouvelle et entièrement vivifiée ; et cette terre est pour lui un lieu de soulagement et de repos, après qu’il a parcouru la route pénible à la croix.

19. La chute du premier homme l’expulsa, et en lui tout le genre humain, d’un tel séjour d’Eden, que des hommes, consommés dans la régénération, recouvrent de nouveau et pour toujours dans le temple de la grâce et de la nature.

20. Cette chute causa les douleurs de l’enfantement, et la mort (Genèse III. 16; Romains V. 12), répandit la malédiction sur la terre, la couvrit de ronces et d’épines, et attira sur l’homme le sort de manger son pain à la sueur de son front (Genèse III. 17-19).

21. Le péché, ayant développé dans l’homme les sept qualités de la nature animale, corrompit la terre (Genèse VI. 11), et soumit la créature à la vanité, sous le joug de laquelle elle soupire après sa liberté, lors de la délivrance des enfants de Dieu. (Romains VIII. 2022).

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Details of the engraving

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Source

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 Appendix

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Enabling The Allegories:

(A Little  Practice For  Our Modern Times)

Introduction

The engraving accompanying the ‘Explanation of the Allegorical Tableau’ offers a profound symbolic representation of spiritual transformation and the journey toward divine illumination. Each element in the engraving invites us to engage with the concepts of the temple of nature and grace, the unity of divine and natural light, and the rebirth of the inner self. This essay explores how one might put into practice the allegorical teachings contained within the engraving and text and concludes by emphasizing its relevance in today’s context.

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The Path of Renunciation and Inner Study

The foundational message of the text and engraving is the importance of walking the ‘path of the cross’, symbolized by renouncing personal desires and embracing self-discipline. To put this into practice:

Renunciation: Emulate the ascetic traditions found in various spiritual practices by letting go of attachments to material wealth and status. Modern-day renunciation can be reframed as a detachment from consumerism and superficial distractions, creating space for deeper reflection.

Inner Study and Reflection: The engraving shows multiple stages of inner growth, symbolized by the interplay of light and shadow. Begin with self-examination, asking questions about motivations and areas of resistance to transformation. Journaling, mindfulness, and contemplative prayer are tools to facilitate this.

Faith as the Unshakable Pillar: Just as the engraving centralizes the pillar of faith, let this serve as a guide in moments of doubt or struggle. Practically, this involves cultivating trust in the process of spiritual work, even when results are not immediately visible.

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Engagement with Nature and Symbolism

A central teaching is the study of nature, using its symbols and cycles to understand divine principles. The engraving’s lower portion with its natural imagery invites us to:

Study Nature’s Sevenfold Scale: Observe nature’s rhythms—days of the week, phases of the moon, and other cycles—and reflect on how these patterns manifest in your life. For example, integrate these cycles into your practices, aligning with natural rhythms for rest and action.

Symbolic Interpretation: The elements in the engraving (e.g., the sun, moon, and columns) can be studied as symbols of inner truths. Engage in alchemical or meditative practices that teach how outward forms reflect inner spiritual realities.

Practical Application: Adopt sustainability practices in daily life as a spiritual discipline, treating nature as sacred. Gardening, walking in natural spaces, or observing natural elements can open one to divine wisdom.

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The Role of Prayer and Grace

The upward movement in the engraving suggests a progression toward divine light and the eventual unveiling of the inner temple. Prayer, symbolized by the altar, is a key practice:

Daily Prayer Practice: Set aside dedicated time to connect with the divine, whether through structured prayers, spontaneous conversation with God, or meditative silence. The act of prayer nurtures the ‘new life’ referenced in the allegory.

Living by Grace: Open yourself to moments of grace, which may appear unexpectedly, just as the light of nature and divine illumination are found ‘before one’s door‘. Practice gratitude for these insights.

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Transformation Through the Cross and Unity

The central pillar of the engraving represents the cross and unity between opposites (e.g., sun & moon, active and passive). This can be practiced by:

Integration of Dualities: Embrace the opposites in life—joy and sorrow, action and rest—seeking a harmonious balance. This mirrors the alchemical union of elements leading to the ‘true medicine‘.

Breaking Old Chains: Symbolically breaking the ‘sevenfold chains’ of the old nature involves identifying and transforming limiting patterns. Practices like shadow work and active self-forgiveness help release past burdens.

Service and Love: Put love into action by serving others selflessly, embodying the principle of the cross as both an individual and communal path of transformation.

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Attaining the Sanctuary and the ‘Great Work’

The pinnacle of the allegory and engraving is the sanctified life represented by the innermost part of the temple. Here, the Great Work is achieved—the unity of nature and grace, material and spiritual.

Philosophical Study and Inner Alchemy: Dedicate time to studying spiritual and philosophical traditions that emphasize unity and regeneration. Use reflective meditation to internalize these teachings.

Living the Renewed Life: As the rose of paradise blooms, embody its message by living in a way that reflects the fruits of your spiritual transformation—peace, compassion, and wisdom.

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Relevance to Today

In an era marked by ecological crisis, social fragmentation, and existential questioning, the allegories of the temple of nature and grace are profoundly relevant. They call for a holistic integration of spiritual and natural wisdom, urging humanity to reclaim its sacred connection with the earth and the divine.

Personal Relevance: By following the allegorical path, individuals can rediscover purpose, inner peace, and resilience in the face of modern challenges.

Societal Impact: The call to stewardship of nature and love-driven community resonates deeply with global movements for sustainability and equity.

Spiritual Renewal: As humanity confronts its collective shadows, the teachings remind us of the necessity of regeneration—not just of individuals but of systems and relationships.

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Conclusion

The allegories in the engraving and accompanying text serve as a timeless guide for spiritual seekers, offering practical steps to integrate divine wisdom into daily life.

By walking the path of the cross, studying nature, and embracing the unity of opposites, one can unlock the sanctuaries of the temple of nature and grace.

This journey, though ancient in its language, speaks directly to the modern heart, calling us to regeneration, service, and the restoration of harmony in ourselves and the world.

In this lies the enduring relevance of these teachings, a beacon for those navigating the complexities of today’s world.

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More about Ivan Vladimirovich Lopukhin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Lopukhin
Ivan Vladimirovich Lopukhin – Explanation Of The Allegorical Painting, Representing The Temple Of Nature And Grace.

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