A few years ago I came across this short piece when I was researching Icelandic manuscripts for an essay. I am not quite sure what the exact search was, but it was probably something like “parchment + illumination”; as I wanted to know (more for myself than as information necessary for the essay I was working on) what inks were used, how the parchments were readied, etc. Anyway, I ended up putting this piece up in my writing closet[1].
A Medieval Allegory of the Scribe’s Tools
The parchment on which we write is pure conscience; the knife that scrapes it is the fear of God; the pumice that smoothes the skin is the discipline of heavenly desire; the chalk that whitens it signifies an unbroken meditation of holy thoughts; the ruler is the will of God; the straightedge is devotion to the holy task; the quill, its end split in two for writing, is the love of God and of our neighbor; the ink is humility itself; the illuminator’s colors represent the multiform grace of heavenly wisdom; the writing desk is tranquility of heart; the exemplar from which a copy is made is the life of Christ; the writing place is contempt of worldly things lifting us to a desire for heaven.
The piece can also be found on Rosemarie Berger’s page under the title “How to pray when you have a desk job”.
[1] My writing desk is inside a closet and has become known in the family as “The Writing Closet”; and is a mystical place where you will get lost in another dimension for at least a couple of hours if you’re not careful. We DO NOT, however, refer to it as the “WC”… And at least the Afrikaans is “Die Skryfkas”.
No comments:
Post a Comment