William Blake, his world, and how he felt about the Order

William Blake was such an amazing and mysterious character, which of course leads one to wonder what all he really knew in relation to the esoteric and the darkened corners that surround us.

Blake was born on November 28, 1757. He was a gifted poet and many of his works have been read by millions.
To warm us up to his work, let's look at one of his poems.
www.biographyonline.net...

Tyger, Tyger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
- William Blake - The Tyger (from Songs of Experience)

The words I've bolded above may seem strangely familiar if you are well versed in the language and linguistics used in secret circles, cults, lodges, etc.
As we're going to see shortly, Blake was quite concerned with alligning his work with enlightenment and even going so far as to call his pieces "illuminating".
The second set of bolded words is obviously related to the Hidden Hand we see so much in artwork and paintings where a man has one hand tucked into his coat or vest while keeping the buttons tight. This same sentence is also bringing attention to the topic of the All Seeing Eye.
The word 'symmetry' is closely related to the core fundamentals of Freemasonry.

Here is another example of how eloquently he weaves these words and symbols into his prose.
www.philipcoppens.com...

William Blake is probably most famous for the opening verse of his “Auguries of Innocence”: “To see a world in a grain of sand, And a heaven in a wild flower, Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, And eternity in an hour.” The verse formed one of the centrepieces of the Tombraider movie about Lara Croft at the height of her fame;

The verse was Blake’s rephrasing of “as above, so below”, expressing Blake’s adherence to the notion of correspondences. He shared with the Hermetics that if one could really see, everything was double, micro- and macro-cosmic. To this, he added, that “without contraries there is no progression”. Ackroyd begins his biography of Blake by stating that “in the visionary imagination of William Blake there is no birth and no death, no beginning and no end, only the perpetual pilgrimage within time towards eternity.”

So, once again we see that Masonry has influenced his poetry and message.

It is well recorded that William Blake reported seeing angels and ghostly entities as far back as eight or ten years old. Although his parents adamently refused to believe his stories, he was often whipped and beaten for telling them what/who he saw.

Another strange coincidenc:
www.philipcoppens.com...

When he became apprenticed in 1772, his master engraver was James Basire, who lived on No. 31 Great Queen Street, opposite the Masonic Grand Lodge. Quite a few of Blake’s friends would enter Freemasonry, though there is no record that Blake ever joined. Blake’s biographer Peter Ackroyd states that Blake never joined any organisation, but according to the lists of grandmasters of the Druid Order, Blake was a grandmaster from 1799 till 1827. Of course, such lists are often grand claims with little substantiation. Still, when he lived at No. 28 Poland Street, between 1785 and 1790, the “The Ancient Order of the Druids” convened merely a few yards down from Blake’s house, in an ale-house apparently established by the Order itself. Too close for comfort?

So, the jury's still out on whether or not Blake was directly involved with the Order, but not for long. Those who have learned to identify Masonic and esoteric symbols can easily see that the Order did influence Blake's work.

From the above mentioned source:

To quote Peter Ackroyd: “All his life, Blake was entranced and persuaded by the idea of a deeply spiritual past, and he continually alluded to the possibility of ancient lore and arcane myths that could be employed to reveal previously hidden truths.”

Blake had read Stukeley’s Abury on the supposed Druid temples of Avebury and Stonehenge. Blake, together with many like-minded people, would transform the history of Britain and direct it into the Celtic direction, away from its Roman foundations and focus. Blake believed that “The Egyptian Hieroglyphs, the Greek and the Roman Mythology, and the Modern Freemasonry being the last remnants of it. The honourable Emanuel Swedenborg is the wonderful Restorer of this long lost Secret.”
At one point, Blake also created an alchemically-themed tarot deck. When he learned that it was to be used by Varley and Hockley as a “key” for the Diogenes’ occult operations, Blake, realizing that the Diogenes represented the “chartered” forces of the establishment, got Samuel Palmer to disperse the cards. Hence, there may be truth to the statement that Blake never joined any organisation, as perhaps he was a serial non-joiner of organisation, preferring to be an individual.

It's very admirable and attractive that he believed joining a club/fraternity would strip him of his independence. It also appears that he never joined the Order because he didn't believe their intentions were pure. Good for him! It would be crazy to find all those cards today and restore the deck.

More fascinating info from the previously notated source:

For Blake, England may have been Jerusalem, but, specifically, for Blake, time did not exist and he therefore looked to the distant past and the distant future, to see a London of utter bliss, the “Heavenly Jerusalem” spoken off in the Bible. He seemed to have a particular affinity for the London Stone, London’s foundation stone, where he had quite a few visions of this “Jerusalem”. On Primrose Hill, a site cherished by the early modern Druids, he had a vision of the “Spiritual Sun”, which he compared to the true light, the light of the Imagination.
Blake is therefore frequently seen as a mystic, but this is not totally accurate. He deliberately wrote in the style of the Hebrew prophets and apocalyptic writers and envisioned his works as expressions of prophecy, following in the footsteps of Elijah and Milton. To be absolutely precise, he believed himself to be the living embodiment of the spirit of Milton. Blake’s Jerusalem was written as a preface to Milton. Here, John Milton, returns from heaven and encourages Blake to develop his relationship with dead writers. The poem is apocalyptic in its setting and deals with the union of the dead and the living.

Is Primrose Hill symbolic of the Rosecrucians?
What was Blake trying to tell us about Jerusalem, Hebrew prophets, the "Spiritual Sun", and a possible zombie apolocalypse?
I certainly can't argue with his definition of "Spiritual Sun". Seems to make sense to me.

Did he really receive messages from the other side? If so, who were these beings?
When Blake wrote "The Ghost of a Flea" in 1819, we're able to get a deeper look into his world.
www.reptilianagenda.com...

William Blake drew a series of "visionary heads" in his latter years, of spiritual visitors which he alone could see.

(Please visit the links to see how he drew the beings.)

Cont. below

Now, let's take a closer look at "Ghost of a Flea" to see if we can get a better grasp about what Blake is trying to explain to his audience.
www.philipcoppens.com...

“Ghost of a Flea” was the result of his vision of a flea and its statement that human souls sometimes resided in fleas, as a punishment for past lives. One friend was there when Blake had a second vision of the flea, at which point he would sketch him in more detail: “here he is – reach me my things – I shall keep my eye on him. There he comes! His eager tongue whisking out of his mouth, a cup in his hands to hold blood and covered with scaly skin of gold and green.”

The above description seems as though Blake is explaining his encounter with a reptilian, yet describing his size to that of a flea seems to be his way of thumbing his nose at them.

I can't stop wondering if the Illuminati Card deck is based on Blake's tarot deck or if it actually is Blake's tarot deck now restored and in the wrong hands.

Continuing along, Blake apparently met several interesting folks.
www.philipcoppens.com...

Again, for Blake, seeing such ghosts was not at all upsetting; it was but one in a series of supernatural visitors, including, apparently Satan – the true devil – “all else are apocryphal”. Late in life, Crabb Robinson had a conversation with Blake, in which he asked: “You use the same word as Socrates used. What resemblance do you suppose is there between your spirit and the spirit of Socrates?” Blake answered: “The same as between our countenances. I was Socrates… a sort of brother. I must have had conversations with him. So I had with Jesus Christ. I have an obscure recollection of having been with both of them.” Indeed, it was Blake himself who said "I can look at the knot in a piece of wood until it frightens me.”

In regards to one of his most famous paintings, which you'll remember that the movie "Red Dragon" was loosely based on this painting,
www.imdb.com...
Blake called him the Great Architect of the Universe.

Newton is probably his most famous painting, in which the physicist is cast in the role of the Great Architect of the Universe – revealing a strong influence of Freemasonry. Foreshadowing Dali, who would claim to be the first painter of the world of quantum physics, Blake seems to have been the first painter of the world of physics. But his mind was definitely quantum physical, if not even more modern.

Seeing as quantum physics was on the minds of artistic and philosophical minds back then, I have to wonder if Blake's subject matter is completely centered upon this theory.
Did Blake believe that quantum physics enabled him to see what others could not?

Blake certainly was a humble man and understood how being in the limelight was not the best route.
This is the supposed reasoning:
www.philipcoppens.com...

Despite having known the leading lights of his time, Blake’s fame would be post-mortem. Still, in life, he had said that “I should be sorry if I had an earthly fame for whatever natural glory a man has is so much detracted from his spiritual glory. I wish to do nothing for profit. I wish to live for art. I want nothing whatever. I am quite happy.”

Certainly words to live by, but this world is already so consumed my greed and desire, they have obviouly fallen on deaf ears. Blake is wise man who understood how materialism and consumerism was going to play havoc on the minds and souls of humanity.

I have to wonder, if Blake had played the game and joined them, would be have lived in the laps of luxery like we see so many actors and starlets doing today? Slaves to the established Order.

Thank you for the post, OP. I recently saw a program on television having to do with such obscure clubs as the Hellfire Club, and William Blake's name was mentioned, as well as Mark Twain, and his work Letters From Earth. I am going to be collecting both the 'Letters" as well as Blake's works next for my quickly expanding library. His work is remarkable and thought provoking. Perhaps the waters run a bit deep for many, but I find it mesmerizing.

reply to post by volafox


I'm glad you enjoyed the thread.
I know I have some of Blake's works around here somewhere. It's nice to hear that you also appreciate his pieces. I'll have to go through and find other works of his that contain this same language and symbolism to see if any further clues can be identified.

These quotes from Blake are rather interesting. Prophetic? Maybe.

Always be ready to speak your mind, and a base man will avoid you.

I see every thing I paint in this world, but everybody does not see alike. To the eyes of a miser a guinea is more beautiful than the sun, and a bag worn with the use of money has more beautiful proportions than a vine filled with grapes.

That the Jews assumed a right exclusively to the benefits of God will be a lasting witness against them and the same will it be against Christians.

You cannot have Liberty in this world without what you call Moral Virtue, and you cannot have Moral Virtue without the slavery of that half of the human race who hate what you call Moral Virtue.

Like I mentioned in my Op, Blake considered his books to be illuminated.
www.neh.gov...

New additions to the archive include a colored version of America a Prophecy, printed circa 1807, completing the archive's collection of all extant copies. First published in 1793, the book is a meditation on the American Revolution, blending historical personages such as George Washington and Thomas Paine with Blake's own mythological characters--Urizen, the god of reason and political repression, and Orc, the spirit of energy and revolt. "The fair Moon rejoices in the clear & cloudless night; / For Empire is no more, and now the Lion & Wolf shall cease,'" Blake writes. The newly acquired copy is an oddity, the editors note, because it was printed with no other works at a time when Blake was not engaged in printing illuminated books.

Here is s link to read America a Prophecy in its entirety.
www.netpoets.com...
An excerpt:

On my American plains I feel the struggling afflictions
Endur'd by roots that writhe their arms into the nether deep:
I see a serpent in Canada, who courts me to his love;
In Mexico an Eagle, and a Lion in Peru;
I see a Whale in the South-sea, drinking my soul away.
O what limb rending pains I feel. thy fire & my frost
Mingle in howling pains, in furrows by thy lightnings rent;
This is eternal death; and this the torment long foretold.

great post

William Blake was a true visionary
Like many great artists he walked his own path
Like many great artists he was also influenced by Dante
And died working on illustrations of Dante's "Divine Comedy" in a two roomed apartment

This great thread was created in 2012 and I feel duty bound to give it a bump

i was looking for this guy Baal Shem of London

found this
www.esoteric.msu.edu...
www.esoteric.msu.edu...

he did some Enochian engravings in 1796

Emanuel Swedenborg a Freemason influenced him

S&F

Too bad todays nonsense ramblers cant get no respect.

Maybe with a more Anglic approach.


Symmetry, because mirrors are exact opposites, not copies.

a reply to: artistpoet

Thank you for the bump.

It's interesting that it got so little attention.

a reply to: geezlouise

Whilst Alive ... William Blake sold only a handful of his illustrated poems "Songs of Innocence and Experience"
Yet his influence is wide spread.

Dante never lived to see Divine Comedy in print

Botticelli fell into obscurity until interest in his work was ignited by Like of Dante Gabriel Rossetti
A victorian artist and poet

These artist's poets, Dante, Botticelli, Blake and Rossetti and many others... all share ont thing in common
They were studious of the past and of mythology the esoteric/ spiritual

Influence is always present yet their sources often obscured

It is no suprise this thread has little attention ... it is the way of the world ... dealing in the immediate and forgetting how the immediate came to be.

Though this thread may fall between the ATS cracks
Without doubt the names and work of these artists will live on for thousands of years
And influence the new waves of creative souls

originally posted by: artistpoet
These artist's poets, Dante, Botticelli, Blake and Rossetti and many others... all share ont thing in common
They were studious of the past and of mythology the esoteric/ spiritual

Botticelli, one of my favorites. The pictures do not do the works justice, you must see it them person:

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Those two paintings are the ones I would choose of all Botticelli's works
"Primivera" being first
"Birth of Venus" second
and bronze to "Mars and Venus"
In the Botticelli olympics.

I have not seen any in the "Flesh" however
One day perhaps

originally posted by: artistpoet
I have not seen any in the "Flesh" however
One day perhaps

Worth the trip, the Uffizi Gallery is one of the best museums on the planet. I have a ton more pics in this thread.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Hey thanks for the link

I can hear Florence calling me

originally posted by: artistpoet
Hey thanks for the link

I can hear Florence calling me

No worries, and you would love it.

People like Blake, Bacon, Van Gogh, et cetera, are rarities. They only come around about every half century or so. More often than not, they have odd, and in the eyes of some, questionable affiliations.
What really stands out about such individuals is that almost invariably their brilliance outshines that of their peers. They're just a class above most others in that regard.