Salome and the Seven Veils of Illusion
It is strange how myths can be transformed into facts. Or how ancient concepts can reemerge disguised in the modern imagination.
Take the story of Salome.
The opera Salome (and the dance of the Seven Veils) is based on the biblical story of the beheading of John the Baptist.
However Herod’s stepdaughter is not referred to by the name Salome in the bible. Nor is there mention of a Dance of the Seven Veils. Nor did the dance exist in Middle Eastern tradition. It appears to have originated in Western imagination.
The famous image of the belly-dancing minx seems to come from the play by Oscar Wilde written in 1894. He also seems to have dreamed up the concept of the Dance of the Seven Veils.
In Salome, the opera by Richard Strauss, the character Salome performs the Dance of the Seven Veils, removing the veils one at a time until she is completely nude.
The idea of the Dance of the Seven Veils seems to be based on the concept of the Seven Veils of Mystical Experience of the Merkabah Mystics, who were forerunners of the medieval Qabalists.
The Seven Veils of Mystical Experience are Dreams, Reason, Passion, Bliss, Courage, Compassion, and Knowledge.
Take the story of Salome.
The opera Salome (and the dance of the Seven Veils) is based on the biblical story of the beheading of John the Baptist.
However Herod’s stepdaughter is not referred to by the name Salome in the bible. Nor is there mention of a Dance of the Seven Veils. Nor did the dance exist in Middle Eastern tradition. It appears to have originated in Western imagination.
The famous image of the belly-dancing minx seems to come from the play by Oscar Wilde written in 1894. He also seems to have dreamed up the concept of the Dance of the Seven Veils.
In Salome, the opera by Richard Strauss, the character Salome performs the Dance of the Seven Veils, removing the veils one at a time until she is completely nude.
The idea of the Dance of the Seven Veils seems to be based on the concept of the Seven Veils of Mystical Experience of the Merkabah Mystics, who were forerunners of the medieval Qabalists.
The Seven Veils of Mystical Experience are Dreams, Reason, Passion, Bliss, Courage, Compassion, and Knowledge.
