Chapter XI
RICHARD OF ST. VICTOR
of terrestrial things is another. The brightness of the sun is one thing, and the brightness of the moon another, and star differs from star in brightness (1 Cor.
15:40-41). Thus, if your whole body is full of light, not having any darkness in it, it will be good to hide that from the eyes of human arrogance and to temper the brightness of its own sense of worth in light of the uncertainty of human mutability. "A person knows not his hour, but just as fish are taken by a hook, and birds are seized by a snare, so people are overtaken by misfortune suddenly falling on them." (Eccles. 9:12.) And for that reason it is good for a person to hide his good things, not take his merits entirely for granted, and keep himself always in humility. Thus, with the first pair of wings a person covers his body; with the second he flies to heaven. Why do those two middle kinds of contemplations, which, as has been said, have to do with invisible things only, not raise a person to heavenly and invisible things? Any spiritual person has enough to do always to be in heavenly things by zeal and desire so that he can say with the Apostle: "Our conversation is in heaven" (Phil. 3:20). Nevertheless, if with the same Apostle you prepare to penetrate as far as the third heaven, you ought never to take it for granted that you can do it on two pairs of wings. Without doubt, it is fitting that he who desires and strives to fly up to the secrets of the third heaven and the hidden things of Divinity have all those six wings of contemplations which have been indicated above.
Certainly, in this case, even perfect persons are scarcely able to have these six wings of contemplations in this life. All of the elect among humans and also among angels shall have all these in the future life, so that concerning either nature it can be said truly that there are six wings for one and six wings for the other.
Chapter XI How the first four kinds of contemplations are described mystically It seems to me that Moses speaks of these six kinds of contemplations under a mystical description when he resolves to make that material but mystical ark according to the Lord's command. The
THE MYSTICAL ARK
first kind is indicated in the construction of the ark; the second, in the gilding of it; the third, in the crown of the ark; the fourth we understand by means of the propitiatory; by the two cherubim, the fifth and sixth. However, if we are mindful of the shape and the material product of those six works made by hand, only the first is built from wood. All the others are made up of gold.
So, surely, when we wish, we imbibe by corporeal sense and represent by imagination all those things of which the first kind of contemplation consists. For all the other things from which the other contemplations begin we either gather by means of reasoning or understand with the simple understanding. Thus, think what sort of difference there is between wood and gold, and perhaps you will discover how appropriately the former things are indicated in the wood while the latter are represented in the gold. Those which are subject to imagination are represented in wood; however, those which are subject to understanding only are represented in gold. In itself, gold glitters with a great brightness; in itself, wood has nothing of brightness, except it kindles fire and nourishes a ministering flame of light. So, surely, imagination in itself has neither the light nor the brightness of prudence—except that it is accustomed to arouse reason to discretion and direct it to the investigation of knowledge. However, that second kind of contemplation, in which the rational principle of visible things is sought, is rightly represented in the gilding of wood. For what is assigning the rational principle of visible things and things that can be imagined other than a kind of gilding of wood, so to speak. No less rightly is the crown of the ark able to represent by mystical indication the third kind of contemplation, in which we are accustomed to rise by means of visible things to invisible things, and to rise up to knowledge of them by means of the guiding hand of imagination. For although the crown was attached to pieces of wood at the upper part of the ark, nevertheless it was surpassed by some other higher extension of pieces of wood.
So, that kind of contemplation which is engaged in reason according to imagination certainly is supported by imagination when it draws a reason from the similitude of imaginable things and erects a ladder, as it were, by which it may be able to rise to the speculation of invisible things. However, in every part and everywhere, the propitiatory is placed over wood, and on that account with suffi-