symbol

Wholeo symbol - Jakob Böhme

Over the years I've seen references to the mystic, Jakob Böhme, a 17th-century German. {Note, see different spellings, Jacob, Beem, Behm, Behinon, Behinont, Boehm, or Boehme. Two dots over the "o" may or not appear, or be shown correctly in your browser.} But until I saw his diagram in a book in 1996, I had no idea how much we had in common.

I still have not found any books by Böhme. In 2009 I found the above figure in the book Mandala Symbolism by CG Jung. He says, "it is .... an image of God ... ". In 2013 I discovered Jung himself uses this symbol in The Red Book.

The following impressions are all based on information from The Spiritual in Art book, organized by Maurice Tuchman, pages 246 and 247. The diagram is on the web here, where it is called "Philosophical Globe", or "Wonder-Eye of Eternity" (translations of the German words on the image).

The diagram from Böhme's Forty Questions of the Soul is said to be a "structural representation of his metaphysical system." Like the Wholeo symbol, Böhme's diagram features a split circle. The openings are to the left and right, as the Wholeo symbol turned on December 21, 2012. The book says,

"Böhme explained that the divine eye, a circle, must be split into two and the two resulting arcs placed back to back and rotated in opposite directions."

Also like the Wholeo symbol, Böhme's diagram has an important focus at the center. However, his is a heart rather than an eye. Other images by Böhme are available on this page: http://www.esoteric.msu.edu/Image_Library.html

{Back to top of page}

Send comments by clicking the ... link below:
lich...@wholeo.net

{Wholeo Online} ~ {Trips} ~ {Wholeo} ~ {Symbol}


© 1999, 2002, 2009, 2012 Caroling All rights reserved. Last modified: 2013-12-04