Leviathan

(As today is St. George’s day, I thought it the right time to share this video. I love St. George, for many reasons, and his image is always with me.)

This is a chapter from my book A True Jasmine, a grail romance taking place around the year 2000. The book is not yet available in English, but I have translated a few chapters and am sharing this one as a preview in an audiovisual form.

It is a meditative comment on a central event in the book.

A forewarning: There is no grail in this chapter - and if there were, you wouldn’t see it, since the book is written in such a way that what the grail is in this story only becomes visible when walking through the book. The book does not describe a grail quest, but becomes one.

But there really is no grail in this chapter. Because it is about the dragon and who it is after.

The English translation of the Swedenborg quote is by Maria Rustica © 2024.

Sources for images, video, and music are in the footnote.¹

1. Video material

The clips of the sea and its creatures, and of the sunny wood, are quoted from Leo Richards' documentary Into the Midnight Zone, Natural World Facts (YT); the sea footage originally by the Schmidt Ocean Institute, Edi Frommenwiler, Mark Benfield, Indoona (YT).
I warmly recommend watching the entire documentary, as well as visiting the SOI site which contains a wealth of unique revelations of life in the deep.
Copyright belongs to the owners. I quote the clips as an instance of fair use, solely for entertainment and educational purposes, to act as reference points for my existential commentary on the deeps of the spirit.

The fire clips are from: https://www.vecteezy.com/free-videos/camp-fire
10:32: Thamrongpat Theerathammakorn: Bonfire in the Dark.
11:01 and 14:35: Okan Akdeniz: Barbecue Wood and Coal Fire like Hell.

Photos

12:06: N. Roerich: Christ's Descent into Hell is from https://www.rbth.com/arts/335725-paradise-hell-russian-art (Russia Beyond)
12:17: Crocus © Maria Rustica 2022.
12:22: Crucified Crocus © Maria Rustica 2022.
13:05 and 14:55: Graham Crumb: Another perfect day. https://gallery.imagicity.com/freswota-another-perfect-day-11.jpg

The remaining photos are from Wikimedia Commons:
06:37 and 14:38: Henry Essenhigh Corke: Mother and Child.
13:22: Globetrotter19: Mother and Child statue by Garányi József in 1995. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mother_and_Child_statue_by_Gar%C3%A1nyi_J%C3%B3zsef_in_1995._-_Simontornya.JPG
13:43: Guilhem Vellut: Saint Savior in Chora @ Istanbul https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saint_Savior_in_Chora_@_Istanbul_-_8322181754.jpg
15:16: Edmund Blair Leighton: The Shadow.
15:22: Chris Downer: Lamb Holm, George and dragon detail. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lamb_Holm,_George_and_dragon_detail_-_geograph.org.uk_-_2764435.jpg
15:31: Sir Frank Dicksee - The Two Crowns - Google Art Project.
18:12: Nicu Buculei: Baby in the Grass. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Baby_In_The_Grass_(48435328).jpeg
18:16 Robert Whitehead: Mother-Child face to face. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mother-Child_face_to_face.jpg
18:23: Patafisik & Elena Tartaglione: Automa Manzetti 1840 dettaglio.
18:43: Andrea del Verrocchio: Madonna and Child. Bargello. Florence.

The music snippet is from Alfred Schnittke: Declaration of love, composed for the Aleksandr Mitta film A Tale of Wanderings (Сказка Странствий, USSR 1982). The music is copyright of the owner and is here quoted solely for entertainment and educational purposes, and to recommend the film to people. Watch it, it is outstanding.