Years ago I purchased a poster of this painting by Kandinsky. At the time, I didn't know anything about the story of St. George or what it meant or why he was killing a dragon. It took me years to even make out the dragon's features from the rather abstract and forceful energy of the painting. I bought it only because I was drawn to the vivid colors and movement. I still have the poster to this day and it's hanging in a central place in my living room.Recently I had a wonderful "ah ha" experience from a series of meaningful coincidences (i.e. synchronicity in action) regarding St. George.
While reading one of my favorite books in the whole world, Inner Christianity, by Richard Smoley (a book which really made a big impact on my decision to become Christian/Catholic), there is an excellent breakdown of the symbolism of St. George and the dragon. Here is what the imagery means:
- The dragon represents the "force of illusion" or the "downward pull of the earth" (notice the connection with the idea from A Course in Miracles and the Gnostic Hymn of the Pearl - the idea of the world as illusion; an illusion which obscures our sight of God and drags us down into the mire of materiality, ego, attachment, separation from God, etc).
- The rider represents "the guidance of consciousness" or the rational mind; as a knight "he represents the Christian wearing 'the whole armor of God' (Eph. 6:13)."
- The horse symbolizes the emotions, which can be somewhat unruly and energetic if left to their own devices.
- The spear which pierces the dragon (i.e. which pierces our perception of the illusory world) "may be equated with what The Cloud of Unknowing calls 'the dart of longing love' that pierces the illusion and enables the spirit to reach God." Perhaps our "longing love" is our love for God, the desire to return to God and leave behind the illusion which binds us and keeps us imprisoned.
Wow! Isn't that cool?!
Notice, too, that you need to have both the rider and the horse together. You must have both the rational mind and the emotions to be a complete person. If one of them dominates you are not in control, but unbalanced.
And Smoley concludes by saying, "Thus this image is attempting in another way to tell us something about the proper relationship between the different and often conflicting parts of ourselves."
And I had this poster all these years and had no idea what it was about! And this sort of thing, this search for enlightenment or self-realization, is exactly what I've been interested in for years and years, maybe since I was 8, when my mom and her parents would sit around and talk about religions or Joseph Campbell.
Of course, back then I didn't know the words "self-realization" or what they meant, but I knew there had to be much more to life than going to school, going to work, competing for success, driving a car, accumulating "stuff", and all that other garbage we're fed about being "productive members of society" (i.e. conforming ourselves into our little boxes as "consumers" in America). I always just knew that life couldn't just be an abominable waste of time for nothing, for consumption, for an endless search for happiness in material things, with suffering on top when you and all your loved ones die in the end. So what would be the point of all that?
But anyway, I digress. Back to the synchronicities:
Synchronicity # 1: I had always been drawn to the purpose of what the painting or story of St. George and the dragon represents.
Synchronicity # 2: my husband's name is George.
Then several weeks ago (after a very gradual, years-in-the-making attraction to Christianity), I decided I would become Catholic. I knew that since I had at least been baptized I already had one foot in the door. I asked my dad for the name of the church in which I was baptized, and yes, guess what:
Synchronicity # 3: the church in which I was baptized is called "St. George's Episcopal Church"!
I take this as a sign that St. George ought to be one of my favorite Saints! How many more hints do I need?
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