Neal and I visited this site in 2018. It took over a year to begin to decipher its secrets; and another year to write about them.
The church at Serrabona in a remote southeastern part of France contains one of the world’s premiere works of romanesque art: a small chapel built within the church featuring an odd amalgam of Christian motifs and beasts from apparently pagan traditions. A mish-mosh, it would appear; yet the religious intention, no matter how obscure, is clear.
Careful study reveals an initiatory environment of extraordinary subtlety and complexity. The symbolic capitals encode a language of creation, trial, purification and initiation in a processional environment meant to be walked through on one’s way into the church.
This combination of Christian, Pagan and (in hindsight) Jungian psychological motifs serves as a departure point for exploration of the rich artistic skills and deeply spiritual thoughts of a forgotten era. It serves, as well, as a reminder of our own humanity—a reminder just as relevant today as it was to those who conceived of it nearly a thousand years ago.
In this interpretation, the sheer genius of the makers comes alive again; in the end, one is left just as astonished by the philosophy that made it as the stone capitals themselves.
May your heart be close to God,
and God close to your heart.
Lee
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