The IKON
(The Moat in God’s Eye)
By: Michael A. Krapek
©7/2009 18”X26” Prismacolor on vellum bristol
“The IKON”, across the Rubicon River.
View of Emerald Bay as seen from Eagle Falls, Lake Tahoe, California,
with Fannette Island and the Vikingsholm observatory posing as the legendary “Invisible College,” in the sky.
The Invisible College
Founded in 1660, Scholars of English academia built the foundations for what was to become The Royal Society. At the time, scientific inquiry was considered heresy, and a punishable offense, so they dubbed their freethinking society
The Invisible College. This non-institution maintained secretive operations, employed secret codes and the novelty of posted mail to convey the latest discoveries and theories. Fueled by scientific inquiry, this loosely knit network eventually grew into the industrial revolution. In 1726, Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift popularized the notion of a scholastic community dedicated to the highest educational standards unfettered by convention. He called this land Laputa, or The Island in the Sky. Sir Thomas More continued this concept with the theme of Utopia, the ideal society built on the Rosicrucian model. The idea was carried further by the turn of the last century with the inclusion of Never-Never Land in Peter Pan. Many believe this ideal is the as yet unfulfilled vision of America. In 1928, Dutch artist M.C. Escher revealed the vision in the woodcut Castle in the Air. A crumpled homage to his effort is featured as a map in the lower corner of the rendering of The IKON.
“On a day like no other,
In a time unique,
In a place divine,
Keep your eye on the IKON,
Shining with the light of Eternal Mind....
And the music plays forever,
And it captures every ear,
And the sound of barriers crashing down-
Is the sweet harmony you hear...
Never fear for you are living in Eternal Mind.” *
Liberty Caps
The tiny mushrooms next to the Escher glyph are Psilocybe pelliculosa,
a species of moderately psychoactive fungi of the Pacific Northwest. Related to the European Liberty Cap mushroom, whose properties are legendary and responsible for inspiring both the visionary works of Lewis Carroll and the Celtic pagan story of Santa Claus. The World of Fantasy, it seems, is found right here, but on a different channel.**
The Wisdom of the Moat and the Botanical Interface
There is the notion that the Invisible College is representative of all the knowledge that cannot be attained through external input, i.e. the five senses.
In other words, it can only be found with The Third Eye, the inner eye,
The God’s Eye. This is the meaning of The IKON: The Unattainable Truth.
Eastern Shaman cultures maintain this silent Gnowledge can only be gleaned by someone who is consciously not looking for it. The Maya however, made a science out of altered states of consciousness and traveled the universe by “adjusting the assemblage point” *** with botanicals, and applied, focused, Intent.
Kind of like the internet, though the visionary plants cannot lie,
they are just very hard to read, and carry a cost in personal risk. This is why
fear is the Moat around God’s Eye; “Conquer fear and you conquer death.” ****
“Om mane padme om...”
(Behold, the Jewel is in the lotus.)*****
This artwork was inspired by:
Music
*The IKON, Todd Rundgren’s Utopia, 1974
****The Icon II/ Rubicon by: Wetton/ Downes
The music of Asia and Yes.
Literature
The World of M.C. Escher.
Peter Pan by: James Barrie.
Gulliver’s Travels by: Jonathan Swift.
Utopia, by: Sir Thomas More.
**Supernatural by: Graham Hancock
***A Separate Reality by: Carlos Casteneda.
****Attr. to Julius Caesar, upon crossing the Rubicon.
*****Self Realization as taught by Paramahansa Yogananda.
