The Voice of the Mystic Eagle

Book 2: An Illumination of the Gospel of John      
Part 1: The Voice of the Mystic Eagle
      
This episode introduces my study of John's Gospel, undertaken with the help of my friend Erik.  We consider the question: what is unique about John's Gospel, and why is the eagle a fitting symbol for him?

Seth is a psychodynamic therapist, supervisor, and teacher practicing in the tradition of Object Relations.  Erik is a coach and spiritual guide trained in the tradition of psychosynthesis. 

This Spring we plan to conduct an overview of John's Gospel in four parts - leaving open the possibility of a chapter by chapter study in the future.

In this episode:

0:00 - Seasonal rhythm of the Gospels; the Johannine Spring

2:10 - The metaphor of "Illumination"; the plan for a 4-part series

3:15 - Introducing Erik as dialogue partner for this series

4:47 - Vision and format for Underland: a text and a friend

5:55 - Question for today: what is the unique voice of John's Gospel?

11:56 - The Four Gospel Creatures in Christian Iconography

15:20 - Mark, the Lion, the disciple of Peter: a Gospel tour de force

18:20 - Matthew, the Angel, and the 5 Rabbinic discourses

19:40 - Luke, the Ox, the physician and disciple of Paul

22:19 - John, the last living Apostle

27:30 - The 9th century Irish John: Iohannes Scotus Eriugena  

30:09 - Quote from Eriugena: "The voice of the mystic eagle..."

32:05 - Observing actual eagle flight from sky to ground

34:05 - Reading John 1:1-5 - the nucleus of Christian "Theology"

38:19 - The Logos in Greek Philosophy vs. the Logos in Christianity

42:00 - Eriugena on the "Four elements of the universe of Scripture"

45:20 - Erik: Sun & Moon, Logos & Eros, Light & Shadow

48:00 - The work of theology as spiritual seeing

49:20 - New Testament images of Christ's Descent-Ascent

58:40 - Erik: the universal pattern of psychological metacrisis

1:01:55 - Tension between exclusivity and universality in Christianity

1:06:30 - Erik: the universal ethic is love

1:08:00 - The way of what is to come: toward universal religion

1:12:40 - Next episode to treat the "signs" in Jesus' messianic campaign