Touching the originals of William Blake

 

Yesterday I had an oustanding expereince – I had a chance to keep in my hands one original book printed by William Blake himself!

The vibrations were so powerful, the cool breeze was pouring from the pages and my heart cleared in one minute. No wonder – he is said to be the incarnation of the left side. Whatever it is, his vibrations and artistic works are really divine…

William Blake (1757 – 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, his work is today considered seminal and significant in the history of both poetry and the visual arts. He has often been credited as being the most spiritual writer of his time.

Blake may have played a critical role in the modern Western World’s conception of imagination. His belief that humanity could overcome the limitations of its five senses is perhaps Blake’s greatest legacy: “If the doors of perception were cleansed, every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite.”(The Marriage of Heaven and Hell) While his perspective was once perceived as merely aberrant, it now seems to have been incorporated into the modern definition of the term.

 

In particular, his reference to “the doors of perception” resonated demonstrably in the literature and music of the 20th century, as both Jim Morrison‘s band The Doors and Aldous Huxley‘s book The Doors of Perception pay homage to Blake’s sentiment.

LOVE, axinia