#holy thorn

[j-august]

If you know what happened at Bourges, it is a strange experience to visit the most important specimen of the Duc de Berry's exquisite taste in treasures that still survives today. This is the reliquary of the Holy Thorn, made to show a Thorn that was no doubt taken from the Crown of Thorns itself, the proudest possession of the French kings, for which St. Louis built the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. After the Crown of Thorns reached France in the thirteenth century, it suffered so many depletions by royal gifts of single Thorns that it is nearly Thornless today. The setting the Duc de Berry had made for his Thorn is such a triumph of goldsmith's work that one all but weeps to think of all the Duke's treasures that were lost. But it is also ironical to see the reliquary impersonally lodged in the British Museum, with the slender Holy Thorn still rising from its cabochon sapphire sheath, and then to remember that those who saw it in former times went down upon their knees and wept, not for lost treasures, but for the Passion of Jesus Christ.

Joseph Alsop, The Rare Art Traditions

[sporadicarbiterearthquake-blog]

According to the early legends and traditions of Britain, the oldest of Christian denominations, Grail Christianity, also associated with Celtic, Druidic, Old Catholic, Welsh and other early Christian denominations, was first started by Christ himself during a visit to Glastonbury in the west of England with his great uncle Joseph of Arimathea. Joseph of Arimathea, who was also known as the "tin man" in Britiain, became the guardian of the Christ child during the missing years between his 13th birthday and his ministry in the Holy Land. 

As Joseph of Arimathea was a rich trader who sailed much of the known world in Phoenician ships, he was accompanied by Jesus when he traveled to Glastonbury near the Mendip Hills, whose mines produced much, if not most, of the world's then supply of lead and tin. Over one winter fierce storms forced the two to stay at Glastonbury for an extended period and they established what became known as the Wattle Church converting many of the area Druids to the very first Christianity. 

After the Passion Joseph of Arimathea returned to Glastonbury with the Holy Grail, planted the Holy Thorn and reestablished the Wattle Church on the 12 hides of Glastonbury, a royal land grant. Upon Joseph of Arimathea's death and subsequent burial at Glastonbury, the Holy Grail was lost and it became the quest of the knights of a later king, King Arthur, to relocate it and solve its mysteries. The true identity and nature of Arthur, his knights and the quest are discussed in detail. 

The Grail Church was eventually consumed by the much more aggressive Roman Catholic church although small and often competing revivals of the denomination are still underway. Grail Christianity has also been associated with the concept of Christian reincarnation, as well as a rejection of the concept of original sin.

[thepastisalreadywritten]

The Glastonbury Thorn: a resurrected symbol of Christmas

A stamp printed in United Kingdom in 1999 shows image of the dedicated to the Glastonbury Holy Thorn. | MarkauMark / Shutterstock

By Jonah McKeown, 26 December 2022

The Catholic celebration of Christmas is about God’s entry into our sinful world — a theological truth that is sometimes symbolized, in various forms of art, by the blooming of a flower into a snowy winter.

The hauntingly beautiful Christmas hymn “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming” captures this theological reality beautifully.

But what if, instead of a rose, it was a thorn? 

The English town of Glastonbury, an ancient settlement primarily known today for its raucous annual music festival and also for its connections to paganism, is also home to a special tree — a hawthorn that blooms every Christmas and again in May.

This is notable since most hawthorns bloom only once a year and, generally, not in winter. Recognized for centuries as a Christian symbol, it’s known as the Holy Thorn.

The Holy Thorn refers collectively to the special variety of hawthorn that grows in and around Glastonbury but also to the legendary, original tree, said to have sprouted from the wooden staff of St. Joseph of Arimathea.

Joseph was the Jewish councilmember who offered his own tomb as a resting place for Jesus’ body after his crucifixion, and numerous legends say he visited Glastonbury.

Whether or not Joseph ever actually set foot in England is a matter of some debate — historical accounts of his visit did not emerge until centuries after the time that Joseph lived.

But nevertheless, the legend does speak to the holiness associated with the area.

At one point, Glastonbury was home to one of the only churches in the world dedicated to Mary.

Later, it was home to a monastery from the seventh century up until the repression of Henry VIII.

The first mention of the Holy Thorn blooming at Christmastime appears to be in 1535, in the midst of Henry’s oppression.

Through the years, popular devotion to the thorn fell in and out of favor, experiencing somewhat of a renaissance during the Victorian era.

The Holy Thorn also has royal connections.

Every December 8, in a tradition dating back nearly a century, a sprig of Holy Thorn is taken from a specimen growing in a Glastonbury churchyard and sent to Buckingham Palace, where it adorns the Christmas table of the monarch.

In 2010, a group of unknown vandals cut the limbs off the most well-known of the Holy Thorns, a lone tree on a prominent hill overlooking the town.

Whether it was senseless vandalism or an attack perpetrated by one of the town’s many pagan residents or visitors has never been determined.

“The mindless vandals who have hacked down this tree have struck at the heart of Christianity. It holds a very special significance all over the world, and thousands follow in the footsteps of Joseph [of] Arimathea, coming especially to see it,” Katherine Gorbing, then the director of Glastonbury Abbey, told The Guardian at the time.

While tragic, it’s worth noting that the vandalized tree was not the one supposedly planted by Joseph of Arimathea — that tree was destroyed during the tumult of the English Civil War, around the year 1653, because it was seen as “popish” — that is, Catholic.

The vandalized tree wasn’t planted until 1952 in honor of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s ascension to the throne.

Fittingly, a new tree was planted in September in Glastonbury, with shoots taken from the vandalized thorn.

Whereas the previous tree was planted to honor Queen Elizabeth II, who died in September after more than 70 years on the throne, the new tree honors her son and successor, Charles III.

Over and over, the Holy Thorn is reborn.

The question of whether the original Holy Thorn was planted by a saint is, at this point, almost irrelevant.

The association of this seemingly ordinary plant with the divine has, over the centuries, been enough to elevate its status from lowly to legendary.

In and around Glastonbury, the progeny of the original Holy Thorn will continue to flower every Christmas, reminding Christians everywhere of the birth of Jesus.

[deoidesign]

I clasp my hands and pray to a god who will not listen

(my re-paint of Alexandre Cabanel's "The Fallen Angel" with one of my characters)

[camellia-thea]

so.... i finally started watching burrow's end

[jeffsatur]

Jeff Satur with a nose ring, Jeff Satur with a nose ring. Jeff Satur with a nose ring, Jeff Satur with a nose ring. Jeff Satur with a nose ring, Jeff Satur with a nose ring. Jeff Satur with a nose ring, Jeff Satur with a nose ring. ( < Is being very normal about this)

[your-ne1ghbor]

Wowie old animatic I never finished bc I forgot everything that was supposed happen in it lmao

I do like how this scene came out, even though it is pretty old :3

AND HOLY SHIT OLD ASHA DESIGN

like comparing the 2 together, you can see the difference 😭😭

@signed-sapphire @oh-shtars @spectator-zee

@rascalentertainments @chillwildwave @tumblingdownthefoxden @dangerousflowerpanda

[frnkiebby]

Hiii. Idk if youve seen this one before or not but I just found it and thought it was super cute cause I’ve never seen pre-MCR Frank with glasses

holy. shit. this is baby-baby Frank. no black flag tattoo or star tattoo (that i can see). this is little bitty Pency Frank~🎃

[foursaints]

would you be willing to spare some thoughts abt Evan and Barty’s animagi forms?? I love them they’re so precious your art made me literally giggle kick my feet at my real adult job 🫠

oh YES I CAN! my animagus headcanons have a lot of thought behind them put towards their symbolism & themes

this is just barty to me. he is a spotted hyena

raccoon!barty is pretty popular bc i think people want to see him as a scrappy & raggedy looking thing which i agree with. and on an aesthetic level a hyena has those visuals EXCEPT its maw is covered in old blood and it has that deranged laugh <3

the raccoon hc is like.... I fundamentally don't see barty as a scavenger. he is a Predator & a Carnivore. the spotted hyena is often mislabeled as a scavenger but it's not. its a Hunter that grows Desperate enough to tear at corpses. thats barty to me.

spotted hyenas are persistence predators. they are THE persistence predators. their hunting style is a long, grueling, sun-beaten pursuit chasing down their prey slooowly over the miles until their body gives out and the hyena snaps their neck. that is exactly how barty's revenge in goblet of fire plays out.

he is a dirty, ragged predator that suffers because he knows he is built to withstand it endlessly & his prey will eventually give out first. and he's dedicated. and vicious. and violent when unprovoked.

"When they are raised with a firm hand, [hyenas] may eventually become affectionate and as amenable as well-trained dogs"

evan is a two-headed viper. i don't have a species ive decided on yet but i want it to be venomous & egyptian like him

the two-headed bit is representative of his relationship with pandora (who is a two-headed mongoose. to me). they are far more entwined than regular twins & it shows in their souls

evan as a snake is important because i see him as The Ultimate Slytherin. in canon all we know of him is a competent death eater who took a bit back of the man who killed him. that vindictive "if you take me down, i'll take some of you" is THE slytherin thesis to me beyond just being cunning, ambitious, etc.

my evan isn't violent for no reason. he's measured and patient and poisonous and is the character least ruled by emotion. he's quiet. he flicks his little tongue out, tasting the air.

however, coming out two-headed represents an aberration of what should be a Perfect Snake & his attachment to his sister. evan rosier isnt actually the perfect snake because there is that sensitive core of him that loves her

snake venom is used in medicine and not just to kill; this ties into my larger headcanon of evan as a (dark, fucked up) healer

[carrion-art]

"See I got this thing in my head, it keeps me movin Can’t stop the noise, but when I stop and think about it, where would I be without the noise and the commotion?"

(Civil War - The Arcadian Wild)

[mortdeheros]

L. Munir — Lazarus, Caravaggio —The Sacrifice of Isaac, Arthur Rimbaud — Ophelia, Dir. David Michôd — The King, Sabaa Tahir — A Torch Against the Night, Xooang Choi —The Wing, Raleigh Ritchie — Bloodsport, Karl Bryullov — The Last Day of Pompeii (detail), David Cronenberg— Consumed, Jesus is Scourged. —Chapel of Mount Aloysius College, Holyaches

I can’t even stomach being in the cathedral for more than a few hours at a time anymore. Like a churning deep in the helix of my dna rejects it. It’s part of me, this roiling rejection of lightness, as much as my dark hair and freckles, there is nothing I can do to comb it from my coat.

[christliche-kunstwerke]

Kopf Christi, ca. 1540 von Sodoma

[thornheartless]

Alucard annoys Integra, so she just pulls out a spray bottle filled with holy water

[sleepykitty5549]

Been obsessed with making doodles in my chibi style lately

Erm,,,,,,,,,, mmmnnnyeaaahhhhh…

[waitingforstars]

Just finished my first playthrough of Slay the Princess and I don't understand half of what happened but I'm thinking about how the Narrator's whole plan of ending death involved killing in the first place. Thinking about how the Voice of the Hero is against killing her, and how that makes sense because he's the literal embodiment of stagnation and life (vastly oversimplified) as opposed to her embodiment of death and change (vastly oversimplified). Thinking about ravens and crows or whatever the fuck as a harbinger of death, and yet how that image is associated with both the protagonist and the Narrator. Thinking about how the protagonist is excluded from the Narrator's "good ending," or rather, he gets separated from the world, doesn't get to see it change, thinking about how the Voice of the Hero gets restless and bored in the stillness. Thinking about how the only ending where you can walk out of the final cabin hand in hand with the princess is the one where you don't take the knife with you.

Thinking about life and death, change and stagnation walking out into the unknown hand in hand.