It's almost time for Assisi...again

quite some time since I last wrote on my blog! Well, in a months time I am going back to Ginistrelle and this time a will be accompanied by 5 artists from my province in South Africa:Mpumalanga (were the sun rises) Sarie Eksteen, Tanah van Schalkwyk, Elanie van der Merwe,Kato Neveling and Drini Jacob We will spend some time at the Art residency Ginistrelle in Assisi and our work will be part of an International Exhibition in Assisi...so there will be a lot to talk about. Had an exhibition in Wite River with the theme Chai Chadash : Hebrew for "new life" and I will post a few pictures

 

Bones being used in analogies to convey the essence of a man (his soul)

 

Many cultures only associate   bones with death,  others  used it  to ward off bad spirits or bad luck and to attract good spirits or to have good luck

 

The word ‘bone’ is often mentioned in various contexts in the Old Testament. The Hebrew word for ‘bone’ is “ètsem.” Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible #6106 states that bones mean “essence, substance.”

The bones of a man or skeletal system symbolically represent the invisible soul because bones remain long after the flesh rots away. The long lasting nature of bones proves that the soul is the immortal part of humans that will continue to exist after physical death

 Manly Hall in his book The Secret Teaching of All Ages states

“Since the bones are the frame work that sustains the corporeal structure [physical body], they may be regarded as a fitting emblem of the spirit—that divine foundation

 

There are other instances in the scriptures where ‘bones’ are mentioned.

Prophesy of life in the bones found in Ezekiel

Eze 37:12  Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.

Joseph asked his brothers not to leave his bones in Egypt when they returned to the promised land (Gn. 50:25). Also Ezekiel had a vision of dry bones in a valley (Ezk. 37:1-11). In both of these circumstances bones have a deeper meaning than just physical bones. In this context ‘bones’ spiritually mean the soul.

So, when Moses and Israel took Joseph’s bones out of Egypt (Ex. 13:19), this typified the resurrection of a man’s soul. Likewise, the valley of dry bones symbolically represented Israel. Ezekiel spoke to these bones, they rose on their feet, Spirit entered into them, and they became alive. These bones represented the resurrected souls (Ezk. 37:11-4), which the Messiah fulfilled at His death, burial, and resurrection (Mt. 27:51-52).

As the  skeletal system in the natural body is a reflection or shadow of both the mental and spiritual support systems. On a psychological level, our world view or belief system, although very limited and biased, is our initial framework to our environment and people. Eventually, we have to transcend our beliefs which limit and constrain us.

A scroll may represent the Old Testament, or the gift of writing