The Arts and Sciences: Class C: Cards 21-30
The Arts and Sciences [Class C: Cards 21-30]
Introduction: General Aspects and Uses of the Mantegna Deck
The Human Condition: Class E: Cards 1-10
Apollo and The Muses: Class D: Cards 11-20
The Arts and Sciences: Class C: Cards 21-30
The Geniuses and Virtues: Class B: Cards 31-40
Planets and Celestial Spheres: Class A: Cards 41-50
Class C: Introduction
Class C of the Mantenga Deck is The Arts and Sciences. The silver background of each card in this class is accented by an intricate lattice of green. In medieval thought, green was the middle color, which meant that it sat balanced between the extremes of white and black. This is the perfect color for the class that represents the fulcrum of cosmic balance for the entire deck. Liturgically green is the color of ordinary time, it is the time when the work of life is to be done, thus these cards are the work of cosmic integration of the will. Lastly, by nature, green is the color of life and fecundity. When knowledge and will are applied to the cosmos growth is sure to follow.
Class C is a unique set of cards in that it is the fulcrum upon which the other four classes balance. The Arts and Sciences represent humanity’s ability to interface with the cosmos by their own knowledge, discipline, skill, and volition. The sciences do this through knowledge of the cosmos and its application. The arts do this through observation of beauty in the cosmos and it’s expression by the subject.
As the classes represent the mirroring of the inner and the outer, Class C cards easily represent both the field and technique of study and the ability of the subject in the arena of study. Each of the fields is an exercise in organizing and communicating concerning some cosmological aspect. All of this together tries to zero in on the exact point of the interface between internal psycho-spiritual and external cosmological-structural. The Arts and Sciences are imaged as persons, so may be perceived as celestial powers, but they are simultaneously the skills and communication they represent and the self as it learns and exercises those skills and communications.
Class C cards first present the Trivium which are the “arts of discourse”. They work from simple structure to empathetic use. These are followed by the mathematical arts, which include Music as a mechanical and intuitive balance. At this point, one can see that the Arts and sciences work from mechanical skill to existential and teleological investment. The next card is Poetry, the summation of the mathematical arts and the arts of discourse. Poetry is the study of how to apply the beauty of each previous kind to actual and meaningful communication. The last three cards apply the poetry, which is a popular art, toward technical skills of seeking a teleological bearing in the world.
In terms of Class relationship, again, Class C cards are unique. They don’t have balances and opositionals. Rather, they are integrative of all other classes. One will want to notice their position in the layout and how they relate to each of the other classes as skills to be used in relation to them or ways they can be learned, practiced, expressed, and communicated.
When Class C cards present one is being presented with a meditation on a skill, a means of apprehending the cosmos, or of a mode of communicating the cosmos. Each of the C class cards calls can be a call to the querent to hone their particular knowledge or skill. Relating this skill to the position in the layout and the other cards in the layout is key to the good use of this card. In reverse, each of the C class cards can be a warning to the querent as to the lack of the skill or knowledge they represent or how that skill is used poorly, selfishly or defective.
C.21. Grammatica (Grammer)
Significance
Grammar is the study and skill of applying a whole system and structure to give words meaning as they work together. It is the matrix of meaningful language. While the modern school child may think of grammar as, simply, written syntax. It is as applicable to verbal speech because it is fundamentally the way that words relate to each other in order to carry meaning together. Simple linguistic theories see words through the lens of “ostensive definitions”. But a more complex theory allows for definitions that are beyond “objective”. Language is more of a creative game, where there are rules, but also infinite and ever developing meaningful variations. Again, the fundamental set of rules of the language game is grammar. Words that indicate actions, relationships, modal qualifications, etc. are not ostensibly definable. These words in isolation are practically meaningless. But properly combined they carry greater and greater meaning. This is the science and skill of grammar.
Grammar is the first of three “arts of discourse” that allow for effective communication. Communication is the ability of sentient beings to frame and share ideas, concepts, and information. It consists of the highest tools of interpersonal audio visual cognitive integration, which is the back and forth interplay between audio and visual stimulus of the external world. As the external world is processed by voice and script, “the other” is integrated into our being as part of our cognitive landscape. Then that material is processed and reformed to be projected outward in our own communicative process. This back and forth reminds one that one is integrated into one’s deepest self to the furthest reaches of the external world.
Each of the cards presents an “art of discourse” hone skills for communion with others, especially through language. Grammar is the union at the atomistic level, resonant with individual human to human interpersonal connection. Grammar also signifies humanity’s gift of language to the individual, absent the individual's influence and is the basic building block of basic human intercommunication.
Visual Symbology
Grammar is the only female in the deck portrayed as old. Her hair is covered by the hood of her cloak and there are visible lines of age on her brow and face. She is the ancient and foundational art necessary for all other linguistic arts and sciences. She walks forward, on a wide and flat plain. Perhaps the image demonstrates the motion of language and the developing dynamism needed to make connections between words as they flow. She holds an urn in her left hand, clutching it to her breast near her heart. In her right hand, she holds a file. The urn seems to represent the inner self needing to be communicated, it is what consciousness holds. The file is the ability to shape and sculpt the content and render it useful.
Application
To meet Grammar is to meet the skill and art of taking language from the atomistic and combining it to create good use. The motion of complex language invests meaning and the card brings the querent to an awareness of that dance both as language and as a human community. The querent may want to check on their basic ability to communicate and receive communications. She also invites one to consider their individual relationships as atomistic connections and how they coordinate together and form communion and meaning one’s life.
In Reverse Grammar calls one to notice how fundamental communication can break down. Is one fractured in their speech or relationship with other individuals in their community? Is one respecting how each part makes a whole, even if they function differently?
C.22. Logica (Logic)
Significance
Logic is the development of language beyond Grammar, which simply allows language to create meaning. Logic takes that meaning, in the form of premises, and systematizes inferences that lead to valid arguments. A valid argument gives surety of language, though not surety of truth if one’s premises are false, the argument is valid but false. A valid argument with true premises is called a sound argument. Logic works by rules that are much like math when symbolized. Thus logic is neither true nor good, it simply is how language functions.
Thus the card logic is very much the “rules of argumentation” in language. As a social metaphor Logic signifies systematized ideologies as opposed to the interpersonal connections of Grammar. Logic is extremely useful for analysis of a situation, in as much as language lines up with the truth of the situation. Logic also implies a need to validate a situation, so the card carries a feeling of struggle or doubt that needs to be resolved. As an “art of discourse,” it is the brute force of persuasion. It can be a very powerful tool, but used wrongly, even when one is correct, it can be detrimental to one’s position. Thus, Logic can suggest a pharisaical and legalistic approach to language or to a situation. Logic signifies language as it applies to the reason or order of the cosmos, absent any human influence.
Visual Symbology
Logic is imaged as a woman with curly close cropped hair, connoting parsimony and efficiency, the hallmark of any good logical argument. Like the other “arts of discourse” she stands on a flat and unadorned plain. Her right hand dangles behind her carelessly as her left hand holds a basilisk. There is some sort of drape behind the serpent that appears to have just been taken off as she looks. Logic is staring the basilisk directly in the eyes face to face. Legend says that the basilisk can kill just by a gaze, and Logic’s eyes are locked but her mouth is agape in shock. The serpent seems to indicate horrible things one can uncover with cold calculating logic. The horrors can be the truth that one has deduced by hard precision inference. Or it could be the horrors of strict logic with poorly crafted or untrue premises that lead to disaster.
Application
To meet Logic in meditation is to meet precision calculation for better or for worse, but the image of the card implies worse. The querent may want to think about how rigid or dogged they have been in their exchanges as of late. Logic could be an invitation to analyze one’s ideological dispositions for false premises or check in on one’s ability to communicate emotionally and empathetically.
In Reverse Logic could indicate Logic well used with a focus of discernment of true well crafted premises and applied with social tact. It could also imply a need to seek an intuitive stance or an emotive connection at the risk of appearing self contradictory.
C.23. Retorica (Rhetoric)
Significance
Rhetoric is the summation of the “arts of discourse”. Grammar is the form to give meaning, Logic is the structure of persuasion and discovery, Rhetoric is the interpersonal aspect of discourse; Grammar and Logic applied to the audience or situation. Rhetoric is the study and skill that gives writers and speakers the capacity to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. It takes the mechanistic rules of Grammar and the syllogism of Logic and applies them to the fluid and developing reality of person to person relationship.
Rhetoric takes the most personal skill and awareness of the three “arts of discourse”. Rhetoric signifies the awareness and adaptability of the self as one personally utilizes language as it relates to the audience and the situation. She is the phenomenological moment of language, best applied. Thus, as a social signifier, Rhetoric is ideology thoughtfully adapted and reapplied to a personal level.
Visual Symbology
Like all of the “arts of discourse” Rhetoric stands on an unadorned plain. She is the most strikingly dressed of the three. Her shirt is ornate and she is draped in a red cloak. Rhetoric is wearing a golden crown that flanks her head with decorative side guards, indicative of noble battle. In her left hand she carefully holds the right corner of her cloak keeping it off the ground and clean. In her left hand she displays a sword, held upright by the hilt. Everything about this presentation speaks to both nobility and combat. The nobility is Rhetoric well used. When applied such all the skills of communication are honed and applied to truth and out of consideration of the interlocutor. The card generally portrays the beauty of rhetoric well applied. Yet pictured at her feet are two cherubs flanking her with horns, one pointed up and one down. They seem to indicate the projection of sound that can be applied for good or evil.
Application
When Rhetoric appears in meditation, she beckons one to the moment in order to apply language in a personal way. The querent may want to consider the way they personally relate to others and how empathetically they apply their skills of language. One may also take this card as an invitation to seek a teacher of linguistic empathy and skill.
In Reverse Rhetoric becomes propaganda in the worst sense of the term. It calls to mind people who are extremely skilled in discourse but use these skills to manipulate for personal gain. This person may be influencing the querent or the appearance of oppositional Rhetoric may be a wakeup call for the querent regarding the morality of their own speech.
C.24. Geometria (Geometry)
Significance
Geometry is the branch of mathematics concerned with questions of shape, size, the relative position of figures, and the properties of space. The basic concepts measure space and give a framework for understanding and using it in daily life. Such concepts include the point, the line, the plane, distance, the angle, surface, and the curve.
Geometry signifies the self engaging in physical space is a reasoned and calculated way. She is the point of the psyche where one consciously takes stock of their surroundings, measures and analyses them for efficient use or aesthetic merit. As an integration of self physical space is difficult because it presents an “other” in such a profound way. Geometry is a mediator for how one can integrate cognitively what is visually and tactically accessible. The senses can intuit Geometry, but Geometry herself gives a technical language to what is experienced in order to best communicate how to use these impressions effectively.
Visual Symbology
Geometry is the abstraction of space, thus she is pictured in a cloud floating over a complex topography. The landscape is cut in two by a stream that has birds projecting from its surface. The land is dotted with variously shaped shrubs, plants, and trees; leading out to both hills and mountains. This natural and organic shapescape is balanced by Geometry, who is aloft cloud hanging in the sky. Her face shows absolute concentration on the shapes floating before her, shapes which are reflected in the scene below. The image makes for a perfect interplay between the abstract and concrete, even ecological, realms of Geometry.
Application
To encounter Geometry in meditation is to encounter one’s environment. This is true of the three dimensional aspect of environment but as a meditation, she can signify the general greater environment one abides in. It is time for the querent to take stock of the basic environment and apply their skills of analysis to how it is effecting their life. This would certainly include how the aspects of one’s environment work together to form patterns and make connections to form unitive relationships.
In Reverse Geometry presents the breakdown of environmental order. Relationships that were or should be solid realities are falling apart, shapes become lines, lines become points. A devolution to the atomistic stance can be isolating and the querent is asked to reflect on this in their own life.
C.25. Aritmetica (Arithmetic)
Significance
Arithmetic is the fundamental exercise of mathematics. She is the study of numbers, especially the properties of the traditional operations on them addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. It stands to reason that one would put this card before Geometry because as a science Arithmetic builds to Geometry. But phenomenologically geometry is experienced first and intuited as sensory perception, then the more abstract art of Arithmetic is learned. When it is applied to Geometry, Geometry is perfected.
Arithmetic is the language of basic ontology. We discussed this often in the former treatise Christian Ontology. There we remind the reader that Math is a language like any other and that “Math is not fundamental to reality, reality is fundamental to math. Therefore, the questions of Trinitarian theology are not mathematical but ontological.” We pointed out in that treatise that Christian ontology (founded on the revelation of God as Trinity) interprets reality as simple and manifold at the same time. From there we commented that “all of basic math (addition subtraction multiplication and division) is one large system of showing how diversity and simplicity interact together, all plodding along with equal signs as a constant reminder of the truth.”
Arithmetic signifies how the cosmos constantly simultaneously unites and breaks down as its fundamental nature. An understanding of this allows for constant distinction and integration, even of persons. This powerful card displays the most precise language available to express this. Ultimately, Arithmetic points to the cosmos as one reality and at the same time the exponential billions of atoms that form the basic building block of reality, and everything in between.
Visual Symbology
As a fundamental language, again, Arithmetic is shown standing on an unadorned plain, just as each of the “arts of discourse”. She is dressed simply and her hair is covered out of humility, in that she is the “lowest” form of mathematics, but she is crowned with a halo, because she is also the fundamental language of math, allowing all other forms to exist and giving access to these deep mysteries of reality. Her right hand is poised over her left holding small stones and dropping them into her left as she counts, giving visual to her basic skill.
Application
To meet Arithmetic is to meet a deep meditation on how to engage and communicate the fundamental nature of reality. Arithmetic begs the querent to consider how they are one with each aspect of reality, how they are separate, how they group, how they join and divide. This could be a social meditation, an ecological meditation or a standard environmental meditation. Arithmetic could also be an invitation to consider a more basic view of a situation and cease overcomplicating it.
In Reverse Arithmetic may be a warning as to the dullness one has toward integration and division. Arithmetic is a learned skill and takes practice to perfect. To apply it’s onto-gnosis, phenomenologically, to one’s life also takes awareness and discipline. Has one been mindful enough of their interconnectivity or individuality, or the simultaneous manifestations of these realities in one’s life? Oppositional Arithmetic could also make one question whether one’s assessment of a situation has been too simple, perhaps more nuance can be brought to bear.
C.26. Musica (Music)
Significance
Music as an Art and Science is the aesthetical fulfillment of the mathematical arts. Mathematics is often framed as the perfect language. There is no ambiguity. The definitions work to precision each and every time. This is unlike any other language humans speak. Yet also unlike any other language, it is absolutely useless on its own. Math needs some kind of auxiliary language in order to give it meaning. Otherwise, it is simply a “meaningless order”. The “sentence” 1+1=2 in no way references reality until one applies an auxiliary language and we find out there is one apple on the table and another apple so there are two apples.
Music is a special auxiliary language for math. Music forms an opposition to math. It is completely meaningful and completely subjectively ambiguous. But when math is applied to Music by the measure of rhythm one can begin to see the interconnectedness of music (rhythmed sound), universal order (math), the inner self (the human heartbeat) the outer self (the rhythmic motion of dance) the environment (birdsongs, rhythmic ocean waves, the rhythms of the heavens, etc.) and life (rhythmic breathing and the rhythms of sexual motion). Music gives math its most raw existential meaning and math gives music its order and gives one the ability to fulfill Music and expand by calculated creativity.
If math is abstraction and music is subjective, then their union is a dyadinal complementarity that typifies the cosmos. Music signifies this holistic lens, the ability to access universal order and deep existential meaning in one powerful experience. As an Art and Science, one must take the initial and mysterious inspiration of the Muse Euterpe and craft it by human analytical measurement in order to expand its application.
Visual Symbology
Music is seen surrounded by a low wall in the shape of a crescent. She is seated in a swan, again bringing to mind the culminating swan song, which implies a patience to achieving the finality of song and rhythm. This patient silence is the study of music before one can adequately craft it. Scattered about her are various instruments, but she is playing a recorder. This instrument is the one first learned by children and played by simple shepherds and forest dwellers. It most likely signifies a basic level of musical involvement. But as a wind instrument, it also connects the creation of music with the creation of life because the music is created by life breath.
Application
To meet Music in meditation is to be drawn to the cosmological balance of the order of Math and the existential subjective impact in the raw emotion of the experience of music. The querent might want to look for such synchronizing beyond music that may be manifesting in their lives. She could also bring the querent to a realization of gratitude for music or urge one to seek it out in life. Is there a long forgotten special song that one needs in order to channel a relevant emotion in the situation?
In Reverse Music may be calling one to bring order to what appears to be raw emotive rhythms in one’s life or she may be beckoning one to find existential meaning and emotion in what appears to be abstract order. A lack on either end may need a balancing.
C.27. Poesia (Poetry)
Significance
Poetry is every previous system working in unison. She presents the linguistic skills of Grammar Logic and Rhetoric. She presents the mathematical rhythm of rhyme scheme, pentameter, and form. Music is the first synthesis between emotion and abstraction. Poetry takes all of the previous mechanical fields of learning and gives them fundamental emotive and existential meaning in a popular and accessible way, through beautiful human language. The popular and accessible nature is in contrast to the next three fields (Philosophy, Astrology, and Theology) which will have the same task, but they are technical. Like an overarching application of Rhetoric, Poetry adapts to the artist and the audience. Her study can be hyper technical, ordered, and building on a rich poetic tradition or intuitive, immediate and rich in niche (even brute) dialect.
Poetry signifies a synthesis of all basic arts and sciences and application to one’s situation, but not simply in a technical manner, this craft is the beginning of teleological and existential investment. Poetry conveys not simply ostensive or descriptive meaning. There is something more profound by her craft. Even the most nonsensical dadaism is striving to say something about the cosmos, . . . “it is meaningless”.
As an Art and Science, one must take the initial and mysterious inspiration of the poetic Muses Calliope, Erato, and Plyhymnia and use Poetry to craft them by human analytical measurement or experiential condition in order to expand their application.
Visual Symbology
Poetry’s image is comparatively busy. The entire environment screams synthesis. The “ground” she sits on appears to be outside, but the plant life there is decorative, imaging how art reflects environment and vice versa. Behind her, there is a large fountain. She is holding a pitcher in her left hand and appears to have just drawn water from the fountain and poured it into a small puddle on the ground. Water itself is the intuitive unconscious. The fountain holds the collective unconscious as sculpted by the arts and sciences through human history. The puddle is the instance of that fountain in the natural state of the individual human mind. Poetry herself as a skill combines the two. She also plays a small lute with her right hand, similar to how Music is portrayed. These two arts are very similar in how they present and represent. Behind Poetry, to the right, is a high mountain with a single tree on top. True to mythic symbology, this is a perfect spot (in two ways) for divine revelation. That accent is intensified by the sphere at her feet which presents an image of both the heavens and the earth as one unit. This sphere and the mountain convey the existential and teleological nature of Poetry as an art and science. This card has taken the first simple step beyond learning, skill, and discipline as a mechanism into a deeper realm use and application.
Application
To meet Poetry in meditation is to meet one’s own initial steps into a deeper reflection on a situation. How can one integrate one’s multidisciplinary interests into one system to work to help a situation? Poetry also urges one to address situations in their own way suited to their own talents and station in life. She calls for a very personal interaction and engagement with the situation that looks deeper than mechanistic surface solutions.
In Reverse Poetry may call for an approach of compartmentalization. One may contemplate the parsing and direct application of certain skills to certain aspects of a situation. Oppositional Poetry could also hint at very pragmatic solutions that do not require profound reflection.
C.28. Filosofia (Philosophy)
Significance
Philosophy is the "love of wisdom". With this card, the Arts and Sciences moves completely from technical ability to the study of general and fundamental questions about existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophical methods are synthetic and critical. They cover the fields of epistemology, ontology, ethics, etc. These questions assume one has mastered “how” to argue, and now one is moving on to what is worth arguing about and what is to be argued.
Philosophy signifies Humanity’s ability to grapple with profundity on an intellectual level. It is not just a discipline, but a quest for deep truth, thus to engage in its arts is to make oneself vulnerable to an outlook or worldview. If one is simply arguing for the sake of arguing, as if one is playing a game of chess, one is simply practicing Logic or Rhetoric. With Philosophy one is personally invested. Its exercise should deeply impact the practitioner’s life.
Visual Symbology
Philosophy is presented looking skyward toward the heavens. In medieval cosmology, this would be the noblest use of Philosophy, the handmaid of Theology. She holds a spear in her right hand and is fitted with a shield on her left arm. A spear is a weapon that allows for distance fighting, but unlike arrows, it does require “involvement” with one’s enemies. It’s a short throw, but useless once it is thrown, thus it is better used as once engages hand to hand. This is Philosophy’s situation. One can “philosophize” abstractly without involvement, but that is not the point of philosophy. Better to use the skills of philosophy to prescind, only in order to be involved in the deeper questions as they impact one’s life. The shield bears the likeness of Medusa, who symbolizes art, beauty, and Philosophy. This head is symbolic of many simultaneous oppositions, beauty, and sexuality counterposed with hideousness and death. Feminine nurturing that turns to stone. Philosophy has the ability to cut both ways, depending on the Philosophy one follows.
Application
To meet Philosophy in meditation asks the querent to question their fundamental attitudes. There may be issues that need profound reflection. The card could be a call to aid. Does the querent need to seek the help of someone who is accustomed to such reflection? Depending on the situation, one’s question in the meditation may not go deep enough, consider the basic epistemology of the question, the assumptions of ethics, anthropology, cosmology, etc.
In Reverse Philosophy could speak to a lack of needed reflection or a need to be less pensive on a particular topic. Sometimes too much reflection gets in the way of action. The querent may want to consider simplifying their approach to a situation. If the card seems to indicate another person, perhaps they are needlessly over complicating the situation. Oppositional philosophy could also imply sophomoric influence in the situation. Is there a facet of the meditation that appears deeply philosophical, yet upon investigation has not applied groundwork skills of the previous Arts and Sciences?
C.29. Astrologia (Astrology)
Significance
Astrology is the skilled application of the inspiration of Urania one feels when one has observed the Upper Heavens. Urania calls one to marvel at the vault of the heavens and its predictability. Astrology allowed the ancients to predict the changes in seasons, weather, tides, etc. Its skill allows humanity to set the measurement of time for days, months, and years. If a modern mind is immediately put off by astrology as a “junk science” then we need to realize that this science allowed for successful agriculture, fishing, environment adaptation and many things that have helped humanity survive. In short, this science is the seed of human civilization. St. Thomas Aquinas makes note of this in his Summa, “If one were to apply the observation of the stars in order to foreknow those future things that are caused by heavenly bodies, for instance, drought or rain and so forth, it will be neither an unlawful nor a superstitious divination.”
Astrology signifies the rhythmic, cyclical order of the cosmos. Even the Sun, the most linear of cosmological symbols, sets its course by the rhythm of the days. As a science, it is one that keeps humanity in tune with the macro-cosmic order of creation. To study it is to invest oneself in the largest systems of creation and how they are ordered. Astrology seems to indicate a lack of will. As we move toward Class A cards we will study a few astrological entities and like the Class E cards these entities are environmental limiters on human will. Here in Class C we are at the point of maximal manipulability for the agent. Astrology signifies manipulation of one’s situation by study of the environment and applying knowledge and prudential judgment to even its most determined aspects. This is the basic program of secular science.
Visual Symbology
Astrology presented as a winged woman gazing at the totality of the celestial sphere. The wings are indicative of the height of the celestial bodies themselves as well as the height of knowledge one can attain by observation of the stars. The sphere is cosmological order writ large. She looks upon the sphere contemplatively. Tucked under her left arm is a closed book, indicating the study necessary to unlock the secrets of the heavens. In her right hand is a wand, pointed downward. The wand is often seen as a symbol of creative, dynamistic, and volitional power. It is pointed downward to indicate a more subtle order to the cosmos. At the largest level, the cosmos are ordered perfectly. There seems to be no variance, no dynamism, and no will. When one delves to the Quantum level, there seems to be no order, all actions appear to be so random that modern science has a hard time squaring how the order and disorder cooperate. The wand points to the earth, the terrestrial realm, where agents of free will, creativity, and existential introspection thrive. We are the middle ground between absolute order and absolute randomness. Our study, well applied, brings balance to the extremes of the cosmos.
Application
To meet Astrology in meditation is to meet a grappling with the larger order of the cosmos, how it limits one, and how people can use the knowledge to work in one’s environment. The querent may want to consider, what environmental factors are one aware of that can be helpful in the situation? What is beyond their control? How can knowledge of that help them maneuver what they can control? Where do their actions fit in the grander scheme?
In Reverse Astrology could indicate an over reliance on self determination or a stifling fatalism. The card is indicative of study and application. These extremes are the off balance manifestation of over emphasis in such study. Oppositional Astrology could also indicate a lack of perception regarding the big picture of a situation, and/or how all the parts work together.
C.30. Teologia (Theology)
Significance
Theology is the “study of God” and thus forms the highest of the Arts and Sciences in medieval learning. The Study of God takes three forms Theologia a Deo docetur, Deum docet, et ad Deum ducit, that is; what is taught by God, what teaches of God and what leads to God. First one may study what is specifically revealed by God to postlapsarian humanity, though scriptures, through the incarnation, and through the Church. Second, one can study what is revealed by God as a given (what teaches of God) by the general study of nature. In prelapsarian Eden, this is the only revelation that would be needed. Now humanity needs the lens of specific revelation, such as scriptures or the incarnation, to help clarify the blur of perception caused by original sin. Lastly, Theology is the study of what leads to God. Theology is the perfect lead in toward the next class of cards, because Theology is the field study that will help one show proper gratitude for the geniuses and identify and cooperate with the virtues. This field is vast and includes various mystical spiritualities, prayer techniques, sacramental engagement, acts of piety and devotion etc. This last branch of theology is the human subject’s personal engagement with the Muse Polyhymnia.
Theology signifies human effort at self betterment of the highest order. Beyond simply control of the environment, rather it speaks to absolute harmony with the environment coupled with an existential understanding of one’s proper place in relation to that harmony.
Visual Symbology
Theology is imaged standing behind, yet rising above the vault of the heavens. Her dwelling place is definitely the terrestrial realm, below, but she seeks to rise above the mundane. She is pictured with the two faces of the Roman god Janus. Janus is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, and endings. He has two faces, a young face looking forward to the future and an old face looking backward to the past. This is indicative of the nature of theology, which is both traditional and applicable. The young face is looking upwards, above the Upper Heavens toward Divine Light. This is indicative of focus and conversion, facilitated by Theology, from the things of this world to divine things. She holds her right hand poised at her side, while her left hand seems to be touching her genitals, indicative of humans as a receptacle of divine revelation and grace as well as the life-giving nature of Theology.
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