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SOPHIA OF WISDOM III - LADY OF SHALOTT
SOPHIA OF WISDOM III
THE SOPHIA OF ALL SOPHIA OF WISDOMS
AKA CAROLINE E. KENNEDY_____________________________________
OCTOBER 10, 2006
THE THEME OF
THE LADY OF SHALOTT
Here is my story and I don't believe he will come.................
He has already spent all the time there is with all the other women he wanted already...........He spent all the time there was for starting other planets on fantasy.............
Painting by J.W. Waterhouse (1849-1917)
Please click on the image above to go to the poem.
The classic poem, 'The Lady of Shalott' by Alfred Lord Tennyson is renowned in English literature. It is a legend retold from ancient Celtic and other European legends. What is the theme of the poem of the Lady of Shalott? Just what is this haunting story all about?
One of the gifts our patriarch Joseph had was that inner guidance that comes by the Holy Spirit. In the devotion to God he was privileged to know the God of his fathers and comprehend His divine character. With that came an understanding of the meaning and purpose of events in life and in history. In this devotion Joseph came to perceive the hidden meaning of dreams.
This is not unusual. We see many examples of this throughout the scriptures. The Holy Spirit has not changed. He still does this same work today. In fact discernment of spirits is one of the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit. This was laid out for us by our Apostle Paul. (1Cor.12:10)
Much music, art, and literature are dreamscapes. They are passed down through time and through the generations. These stories and legends carry some rich and potent themes. And within the theme of the Lady of Shalott are embedded some very spiritual messages. Some of these messages are beautiful and true. Others of course, are not. They are diversions and obfuscations of the truth. A dark angel is trying to express itself through the artist in the story.
Stories and legends change as they are passed down the generations. A spiritual war is going on in the arts. Different spirits are warring with each other and struggling to take the storyline. Truths are often twisted in their passage through time and through the realms of darkness. They operate in the culture on the beautiful side of evil. Originally many of these themes were eternal truths derived from holy sources. They had meaning in past times. And when they are unravelled and discerned for what they really are they will have meaning for us again in times future. These themes can speak to us again in truth if we can discern the original pattern. This is why we pursue the theme of poem, the Lady of Shalott.
The artists are existential in the way they see things. Even when they deal in these themes they are often completely unaware of their original or true meaning. Even the grail legends depart from the original meaning of the cup of Christ. Diversions of a profane and perverse nature cloaks the truth in the theme of the original story. Artists are artists. The true nature of these dream fragments often escapes them. As artists they perceive and deal in the beauty of the story. But they do not know the truth behind the beauty. Nor are they aware of the origin of the stories they tell. In this present evil age we find that this is quite common. Beauty and truth are twisted and torn asunder. They are in a broken state of disconnection.
Occasionally an artist will discover the connection. It was Keats who said,
Beauty is truth, truth, beauty.
That is all you know on earth.
And all you need to know.
So is there a valid interpretation of the theme of the Lady of Shalott? What is the message in the poem? Is it a story that is perennial as the grass. Or is it telling an epic story that is yet to fully unfold in western civilization? It certainly has a personal application. But is it a prophecy for the English speaking people? Is it a warning? Is it a true story of the future destiny of some people in our culture? And here is another possibility. Is this poem a warning to the English speaking people concerning a great and hidden danger out there in our future?
There are messages all around us and coming at us from the culture in which we live. They are there for those who have eyes to see. Hidden packets of information pass on down through the generations with the people. The messages are there in their oral traditions, in their written literature and in their music. The dreams and their underlying messages are carried along with the peoples in their migrations through various geographical places and through time. These spiritual stories are woven into the cultural matrix. They can be seen in many of the artistic expressions. Will these stories re-emerge and become especially relevant as the western branches of the human family come to the climax of their history?
The classic themes in this famous poem, the Lady of Shalott, extend back a long way into the mists of time. How far back? Is is merely a medieval theme of chivalry as we see in the Arthurian legends? Does it go back to the Celts and their wanderings westward through time? Might the themes within the Lady of Shalott even go back to the ancient apostasy and wanderings of the northern ten tribes of Israel?
Are the Europeans derived from the lost ten tribes? If they are then they don't know about it. All they have are some half buried memories and some vague and shifting stories appearing out of a misty Celtic mythology. Europeans came to call themselves 'Caucasians'. But what does this mean? Did they come west into Europe in a series of ancient migrations? Did they come by way of the Caucasus Mountains? They don't know. Neither do their historians or anthropologists. Their theologians are even more lost. They do not even study the Holy Scriptures here for clues. Many of them have lost contact with their God. Some of them think He is dead. They are just as lost and as disconnected as the Lady of Shalott.
Here is a people who are lost.
They drift aimlessly along the rivers of life.
They don't really know their name.
They have amnesia.
Is this not unlike the Lady of Shalott?
This poem emerged in the Victorian era. For over a hundred years it has been taught in school literature classes throughout the English speaking world. This lady is supposedly safe in her castle. But in her heart and soul she is lost and alone. The days are evil. And she is vulnerable. She weaves her tapestry. And she muses about the one who has gone from her. Will he return? Does she believe he is actually going to be coming for her? And here is the real question.
Can she wait for him? In the poem we see that even in the waiting she has lost contact with someone very important. Even the waiting has become conflicted and oppressive as she takes shelter in her castle.
As we pursue the theme of the Lady of Shalott the poem is painting a picture of a woman who is held in a place of rigid confinement. Her life is apparently in danger. She is alone in a castle of stone. It has been built for her. She is surrounded by cold masonic walls and enclosed by a river flowing on both sides. There she is in a castle, weaving her tapestry and singing to herself. She is not really contented there. She longs for a champion of flesh and blood.
What sort of trouble is she in to be sequestered away like this?
Where is her Father, her mother, and the rest of her Family?
And where is her Betrothed?
In the poem we see her longings. She seems to be estranged, even doubtful. And out of this state of disconnection comes her loneliness. She wants someone she can reach out and touch. She longs for an earthy worldly protector. Someone with substance. Someone who will be her defender. She has become impatient. And so when Sir Lancelot passes by she responds.
Is this piece of literature a condensation of medieval dreams (and nightmares) carried with the European peoples and drifting down through time? What has happened to this girl? Can she remember? Someone, whom she once cared deeply for, is out there somewhere. He is the big story in her past. But where is he? Where is the One who is supposed to be her protector and friend?
The Lady of Shalott is a woman of mystery. Who is she? What is her story? And how did she get this way? As the story comes to its tragic ending we see the young lady in a swoon, with her life fading from her. She is seen drifting down the river towards Camelot. Or is it really Babylon? She has abandoned herself to an earthy champion and a lover. But he is someone she really does not know.
Haven't we seen this picture before? Is this not the story of the lost women? And isn't this the story of the lost northern kingdom of Israel? Is this not the same story as that great Biblical saga of Gomer, the lost wife of the prophet Hosea?
As we seek the interpretation of the main theme of the Lady of Shalott we soon come to realize that we have seen her before. We look at the worldly western church. In the book of Revelation a warning was given to the Congregation of Thyratira? (Rev. 3) The vision and the dreamings Like the ecumenical church they have lost contact with the Christ they once knew and loved. They are estranged from their true Betrothed. And so their deep romantic and spiritual need are not met. So they long for an earthy man of flesh and blood in their here and now to take the place of the true Beloved they have lost contact with. Their heart desire is now for a politico-religious strongman. They want someone like the kings and princes they are beholden to. They want a champion of flesh and blood that they can see!
Our Lady muses and slumbers in her cathedral of stone. And she dreams of an ultimate worldly sort of saviour. Is this the dreaming of that section of the endtime western church who posed the question "Is God dead"?
The Lady of Shalott is a lady in waiting. But where is her heart. And what of the One to whom she is betrothed. Is she preparing herself and her garments for His return? Or is she growing tired of waiting for Him?
Where is her first Love?
Will she keep the faith?
Or will she seek after another?
This is where the main theme of the Lady of Shalott becomes prophetic. In a future world crisis, a worldly global covenant maker is prophesied to come onto the scene. (Dan.9:27) Like Zeuss with Europa he will present himself as someone who will deliver for her. He will present himself as a peacemaker, a megadealer, and the temporal saviour of the world. He will come "in his own name"? (John 5:43)
And yes, Jesus Himself prophesied that his people would forsake Him. They would turn their back on Him and follow after another man. He would not come in the Father's name. He would come in his own selfist name. This is the basis of the end-time drama. The Bible prophesies a general apostasy or 'great falling away' from the faith as this age comes to its climax. God will be sifting and calling His people out once again.
A usurper and a false messiah is destined to arise on the world scene. He will try to imitate, outstage, and pre-empt the coming true Messiah. As a global megadealer and peacemaker this other prince is out to waylay the woman who has been promised to the true Prince of Peace. The true Prince will return at the end of the story. And what will He find?
Meanwhile, our heroine is locked up in a castle. Who built the castle for her? Apparently it has been provided for her by her worldly lovers. She is locked away in a castle of worldly princes, even a castle between two rivers. Might this be a veiled reference to the mesopotamian city of Babylon, a city of which it was said "a river runs through it". Babylon was that ancient city back in the cradle od civilization. The word "Mesopotamia" means "between the rivers". Is Camelot a literary allusion to that first city of mankind, the city of Babylon? The captives of Judah hung their harps in the willows by the rivers of Babylon back in the time of their captivity. They were cut off from their true home. And they had lost their desire to sing.
The Lady of Shalott is a woman enclosed. Why have they locked her up? This is an unnatural state.
Israel, the covenant people of God was born of Sarah, the free woman, not of Hagar the bondwoman. Why is she trapped? Is she a prisoner? Is she like Andromeda, the chained woman of the starry legend? And who made her a prisoner in this place. Why is the Lady of Shalott enclosed in all this imposing and constricting masonry and structure? Is this where her trust really lies?
This is a woman who longs for true freedom within the bonds of love. Where is the Spirit and Life that once coursed within her breast? Surely not in tapestries woven from her human reveries. Will cold earthly masonry and architectual form be sufficient to inspire her? Is this her choice for her eternal dwelling place? Is she to be buried here as Egyptian royalty was buried in their tombs of stone? Is this the only destiny she has? Or has she been promised something better, even a place of her own in mansions in glory? (John 14:2)
As we search out the them of the Lady of Shalott we sense that here is a person and a heart who was born free. Her subsequent actions demonstrate this. What will she do? Will she leave her place of earthly security? And if she does, where will she go? Will she pass up along a Highway towards the Holy City, a city of living stones not made with hands? (1Pet.2:5) Or will she go down to Camelot/Babylon?
The lady of Shalott is in a bind. She is in a quandary involving "choice". What will she do? Two princes are before her. Which one will she choose? Will her "choice" be the coming "Prince of Peace". Or will she choose the ultimate prince of this world? If she chooses the latter then what will become of her? Does the poem tell us? Perhaps it does.
In the poem we see the Lady of Shalott at the threshold. She is waiting for Someone it seems. Is she waiting expectantly for the return of her Betrothed? Or is she fixing her eye on someone else? Is this why she has she become bored and impatient?
"Im half sick of shadows." she says. And then we see her casting her eye on another prince, even her Sir Lancelot. What is happening here? And why has she lost interest with the One to whom she was betrothed in former times?
These sorts of stories are woven all through our culture. The themes and legends in medieval Arthurian romances vary from the love triangles to the narcissism of the goddess spirit Gaia. Then too we see tortured romances and hedonism in all its forms. Is the Lady of Shalott another vignette in the archtypical story of Beauty and the Beast?
Like Gomer, the unfaithful wife of Hosea, the Lady of Shalott has wandered off. She is away from home in a far off land with her lovers. Has she lost contact with, even forgotten, her true Husband? Will her desires for perver
THE LADY OF SHALOTT
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