La Papesse
Esmeralda. The young woman is dancing for the public gathered in front of the French Cathedral of Notre Dame. She does not sing. She does not talk. She does not make any sound, but the music rhythms her dance that can be heard inside the monastery. She is naive, she is artistic, she has vibes and she does not know that her vibes can shove the religious building, this huge tower that overpasses all the other forms of powers in Paris, be it the king, the army, the tribunal. There is one man who knows the very power of this woman. He knows his own vibes. He knows his own biology, his own weakness. He wobbles for his love to her. This love is forbidden.
This is an old belief that women cannot be a pope, a high priest or a cardinal, because it is an old belief that men cannot resist the spell of the women. When they talk, when they move, when they govern, some men believe that women are charismatics. They see the charisma as a threat to their dedication to a God who dictates the rules, and who governs the society.
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The gypsy Esmeralda could have been the Empress Theodora, the compassionate dancer who saved the Constantinople empire. Western historians have written her story. Eastern patriarchs have written her story. Gypsies, with tarot cards, have written the story of the many people inspired by La Papesse. So who is she?
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In the video, the Moscow Orthodox Patriarch says : "I was consecrated bishop many years ago at the Feast of the Victory of Orthodoxy, the symbol of victory over every heresy, and I was enthroned Patriarch at the Feast of Saint Mark of Ephesus. I don't see it as a coincidence. There are many coincidences and some will say it means nothing. For some people, it does not matter. For me, it does a lot. I am here to protect the purity of the Orthodox Faith and to oppose the heresy and any shame. We are obligated to protect Orthodoxy. As fathers of the 7th ecumenical council did, as patriarch Methodius did and Empress Theodora with the bishops did, as Saint Mark of Ephesus did and as our new martyrs and confessors of the Russian Church did".
In the San Vitale basilica of Ravenna, we have the historical mosaic that starts the story of La Papesse. The basilica was built between 526 CE and 547 CE. This is a MONUMENT for the modern history because this basilica shows an epoch, a belief and the roots of a society that reflects the Byzantine Empire. The architecture of the San Vitale basilica is a language in the plan, in the elevation and in the hierarchy of the mosaics.
The cupola of San Vitale is an "arche en ogive" showing four directions. In the center of the arch, there is an occulus represented with a lamb surrounded by a halo and stars. There are two axis. On the main axis, we see the priest with the Z letter on his dress. Inside the semicircular arch that brings to the center of the basilica, there is the hexagonal cross that symbolizes the Christ of the Ancient Christianity. Inside the cupola at the center of the basilica, there is the lamb and on the other semicircular arch, there is Jesus. On both sides of the hexagonal cross, there are 7 symbols of light and on both sides of Jesus, there are the 12 apostles and the two sons of San Vitale, 7 figures on both sides. The hexagonal cross and Jesus are the 8th figure of the vault that symbolize the purity of God.
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The letter Z is the 7th letter of the Greek alphabet. It is also the last letter of the Koine alphabet, the Alexandrian language of the Bible. This letter symbolize the unity of Egypt with Greece around the Mediterranean sea. The definition of a language, Greek rather than Latin, is the signature of a power, an authority and a scholastic. Here, the Greek Christianity is taking over the Roman Empire. The philosopher is taking over the army. The lamb is the spiritual power of God, over the sword. The priest who is entitled with the Koine symbol encrowns the king and gives the church. The king is represented as the man and the Church is represented as the woman. She is the purity of the lamb below the green cupola. She is "Theodora", the "Gift of God". She is Esmeralda, the emerald of the cupola. She is the sacrificed innocent that will cause the chaos by which God will bring justice.
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On the other axis, we see both sides of the cupola with the representations of the sacrifices of Isaac and of the lamb. Those two representations are below the crosses that represents the two balances of justice. One cross is the human balance, as used by merchants. The other balance is fixed with geometrical symbols. This is the Justice of God. Both balances are represented with a hand that gives its orders from the sky. One hand is directed at the sword of Abraham. The other hand is directed at the altar. Both Abel and Melchizedec bring sacrifices to the altar. Melchizedec means "my king is righteousness". The name Melchizedec is also identified with Jerusalem. Below the cupola, there is a representation of the labyrinthe that symbolize the pilgrimage inside the spirituality. It is also a symbol of the pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
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The shape of the narthex is similar to the shape of the Circus of Nero in Rome. The name "narthex" comes from the Greek "narthex" that means scourge, the tool that was used for the punishment. In Paris, the Cathedral Notre Dame is built on the island of "La Cité" where the cathedral is the mirror image of the Tribunal of Paris. In the middle, there is the police headquarters that manage all the city. The island of "La Cité" in Paris is a symbol of the water that purifies the administrative functions.
Quasimodo is like Aesop, he is the story teller, the son on Frollo. He could be the people who had converted to the Latin version of the Middle Age Christianity. He could be the stone carver who had received instructions and questions the myths of the Latin Church. He could be the gargoyle who knows the building, who is the building, who lives inside the cathedral. He could be innocent angel or the lamb that sacrifices himself to save the Esmeralda, the Theodora, the Gift of God. But, Quasimodo is deaf, he can tell the stories, but he cannot hear them, he cannot hear the contradictions.
The "trinity" of the Latin Medieval Christianity is represented with the three crosses. In the center of the rainbow, there is the hexagonal cross. This is the cross of knowledge to draw circles and resolve scientific problems. This is the sacred cross that contains the sacred numbers such Pi, Phi and the divine geometries. This is also the cross that shows the three influences of Egypt, Greece and Jerusalem. On the left, there is the balance of God and on the right, there is the balance of the king. The basilica is the place where entitled humans are judging other humans in the name of the laws that is enacted by the Z letter, the Empire, and in the name of God. The Z letter is the 7th letter of the Greek alphabet. This is also the letter in the name of YHWH, in the name of God and in the translation from Hebrew to Greek of the Pi ratio. The Pi ratio represents the distance from Earth to the Sun during one day.
The San Vitale Basilica shows what we see and what we don't see. We don't see the birth of Jesus. We don't see the Crucifixion of Jesus and we don't see the resurrection of Jesus. The basilica is inspired from the Greek architecture that was developed in Egypt during the Greek Empire and what the architecture tells is central to understand the modern history.
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Sacrifices did not exist before the exodus of Moses, but they became central after the Hebrew arrived in Israel. The first and the second temple have been built around the place of the sacrifices, the korbanot. On the kibbutz Beth Alpha, archaeological evidences dated from the 5th century show the place where slaughtering human and animals were offered as a sacrifice to the twelve constellations of the zodiac.
In ancient Jewish tradition, the synagogue is the place of assembly. It is also the school. The synagogue is considered like a "portable temple" that represents the city of Jerusalem. Unlike the temple of Jerusalem where only the High Priest can enter the temple, the synagogue is a place where the men can pray. In the small city of Capernaum, an event took place during the 5th century. Close to the synagogue, just across the street, an octagonal building was raised in the city. This was a basilica, what was later called the "house of Peter". Capernaum is an harbor at the extreme end of the See of Galilee where the merchandises could be brought from Jerusalem to Damascus on the Jordan River. This is an administrative position.
In 476 CE, the Western Roman Empire collapses. Flavius Odoacer becomes the first king of Italy while the other territories of the Western Roman Empire are divided among the barbarians. In 493 CE, Theodoric the Great takes Italy and reunite the Roman people with the Goths people. He becomes the king of the Ostrogoths and to govern his territory, he reformes the magister officiorum. He delegates this very important office to Boethius and Cassiodorius. They will both codify the life of the people of the empire who by law, will all become Christians with the Codex Justinianus.
The Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo built by Theodoric in Ravenna is built like a synagogue with a nave and two pairs of aisles. This is the plan of the Old Saint Peter basilica in the Vatican.
At the beginning, the cross symbolizes the justice of God. The basilica is a symbol of power and the place where the laws are ruled over the people. This is the place where the submitted territories are pledging allegiance to the Emperor, but the title of "Emperor" has collapse with the empire of Rome and kingdoms have emerged from the Western territories. The Church has become the supreme authority to unit those kingdoms into one set of laws. The figure of the dictator has died. This is when the "Lady Philosophy" and the seven Liberal Arts have become the pillars of the octagon building.
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The modernity has not forgotten the old symbols from the past and the Western culture is full of references that symbolize a sense of Justice, of equity and of wisdom. Children are raised with the idea that a hero will come and save them. This is the kind of education that is given to the children when the world is not an heaven and where danger is in our nature. The nature of parents, of grand-parents, of neighbors, of politics, of administrative clerks, of bad judges, of bad police, of corruption, of conspiracies. Modernity has created its own legends and inside the legends, there is a moral deeply questioning our faith. The biggest question that modern day pauses, is why a religion? Since we have the choice, why to have a religion?
For a very long time, the religions have been the only way to read books, to learn the science, to learn the philosophy, to value the good from the bad and to know if a judgement has been fair or unfair. But for a very long time, this knowledge has been the instrument of the elite, the nobility and the clergy. Only heroes and the revolutions have brought the part of share that the people was entitled to demand and until today, the women are not represented.
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La Papesse was the Empress, the Lady Philosophy, the wisdom, and she has become the lamb that men sacrifice everyday. They rule by the sword and play the heroic adventure to save the world from famine, from invasions and from submission they say, but women are already submitted and they starve from knowledge. The religions have not been a good to them and so long, the nature of men has not been better. La Papesse has survived the years from the construction of San Vitale in Ravenne, maybe because it was "vitale" to keep the faith that maybe one day, this world will be made also for women.