Searching the City

The Song of Songs is very much the expression of longing, and of feeling separated from the Beloved. Part of the symbolism related to this theme comes from a growing tension between what is perceived as the simple pastoral life of wandering nomadic tribes, and the emergence of the city, symbolized by Jerusalem. The shepherd lover has died, and in his place a new figure in the form of a king, who is Solomon, claims Wisdom as his bride.

A similar tension is found in Indian legends concerning the tribal hero Krishna, who is described as living in the gardens of Brindavan, and sporting with the milk maids of a pastoral community, and a later tradition of the King who is Krishna, involved in the great battle of the Mahabharata, and connected with the emerging principality of Mathura. The fact that both these figures are given the same name, and linked by an over arching myth that spans the folk tradition of tribal communities living in the wild, and an emerging civilization based on city centres, and kingly lineage, shows that there is a basic pattern that the epic tries to connect. One way of doing this is to create a narrative that spans Kingdom and exile, seeing the two in a dynamic relationship which has a deeper meaning in complementary centres of power.

While I was working on this series of the Song of Songs, I was also becoming very much aware of the tribal cultures of India, and thinking about the story known as the Karam Kahani, in the tribal belt known as Jharkhand (the land of trees) between Orissa and Bihar. In this story we also find this tension between a life based on a forest economy, and the emerging city centre which is characterized by the City of Light, or Kasi (also known as Varanasi) on the holy river Ganges, west of the Tribal region.

The narrative of the search is the interplay between city and rural economies, in which the human community is drawn in what seems opposite poles—towards increasing urbanization on the one hand, and a sense of the vital forces that inhabit the forest groves. The Karam Tree, and Karam Festival reminds the people that the true wealth of wisdom is not to be found ultimately in the man made structures of the market town, but rather in the God-given natural symbols that lie embedded in the countryside.

Mother Earth receiving the sun.

It is in this context that we are reminded repeatedly of the Mother, who is also Mother earth. It is she who is the custodian of a primal wisdom, related to nature. She holds the mystery of the cycle of the seasons, and the eternal rhythmic movement of the sun, which is both the Heavenly King Dharma Raja, but also mysterious Lord of the underworld, Yama, god of Death.

The heart of the Song of Songs

We now come to the mysterious heart of the Song of Songs, which seems to represent a mystical dimension. It is night, and the Bride, who is also the Soul or Anima, encounters the Other, who appears in one form like a wild animal. The image seems to be dream like. The bride is on her bed, sleeping. But her heart is awake. The passage reflects Isa. 26. 9:
“My Soul yearns for the in the night, my spirit within me earnestly seeks thee”
Can we undestand here the psyche’s love for two realities: on the one hand a cosmic world, (symbolized by the Shepherd, and all that he stands for in mythic thought) and on the other hand a metacosmic call (symbolized by the King and his city). The psyche is torn between these two, and experiences a deep sense of guilt. The love for the shepherd here is almost pushed down into the unconscious, for the love of the king is the prime duty of the realized soul. But there is a psychic danger: if the shepherd is forgotten, and sent into the underworld, the whole of creation will suffer, and the fields, vines etc will be destroyed. So, it is vital that the Bride remembers her past love (of her childhood, before her breasts were properly formed) and tries to integrate into her love for the king, this deeper more instinctual love of the wilderness. Hence the repeated warning: “do not awaken my love”…that is do not force the process by cutting off the unconscious world. Be patient, and allow the natural processes of awakening slowly, and in due season, to take place. This is the “wisdom” of the song.

Anima and Animal

The Bride hears a voice (“quol”) reminding us again of Isa. 40.3 : “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness”
This voice also knocks at the door. Cf. Rev. 3.20, where Christ comes and knocks at the door.
The dews that soak the bride’s hair relate to the tears of the heart that arise from repentance, and are a gift of grace.

The Bride has entered into her inner room—a place of feminine mysteries. She has “washed her feet” and undressed, and therefore cannot open the door.
In this image it is apparent that the intention of the one who comes in the night is not just to tease her, but to reveal that she has an independent will of her own. She has a reality in herself, and therefore is not dependent on her lover. Feet in Indian tradition signify presence, contact with the soil, standing firm.
But still the bride is deeply moved. Her inmost self, or 'Rehem'(Hebrew signifying heart, or inner bowels), is stirred.
"Is Ephraim my dear son, is he my darling child ? Often I speak of him, I cherish his memory still. Therefore my guts stir for him; I will surely pity him."
Jer. 31:20

Return to the Garden of Paradise

The image of the Garden, which reminds us of Paradise, is related to the wilderness, but is also different. The garden, an enclosed, walled in place, is also a cultivated, protected world. It is in the City, or particularly in the palace. It has a fountain in the centre. It represents the wilderness, but within the context of the city. It here becomes a symbol of a new integration between the civilized community, and its primal history.

The garden is also a figure for Israel. It is the fruitful community, which is always in danger of being destroyed by external forces, who want to come and break down its protective boundary, and to turn the garden back once again into a wilderness.
“Going down to his garden”
The theme of coming back, of returning, is another recurring motif of the Song of Songs. Like the idea of “Maranatha”—come Lord. But here it is the return of the Bride that is eagerly awaited.

The enclosed garden.

Come from Lebanon, my promised bride, come from Lebanon, come on your way…..
From the crests of Senir and Hermon, the haunt of lions, the mountains of leopards.
Song of songs. 4.8
She is a garden enclosed,
My sister, my promised bride;
A garden enclosed, a sealed fountain…..
Fountain that makes the gardens fertile, well of living water, streams flowing down from Lebanon. Song of songs 4 :12,16