The very ancient praxis of theoria in desert Hesychasm purifies the eye of the heart with metanoia, (turning), and illumines the eye of the heart by theoria, (seeing), uniting seer and seen in all seven centres of spiritual awareness including and surrounding the heart, beneath and above it. The three centres beneath the heart were experienced as the throne of glory, ensuring survival, safely and security in God, whilst the three centres above the heart were experienced as spiritual coronation, embracing enlightening receptivity to the uncreated word, inspiring prophetic communication, with the single eye of uncreated wisdom and the sovereign eye of uncreated glory that together open to the mysteries of the uncreated glory of the crown. The uncreated energy of grace purifies and illumines all seven ‘eyes’ of the spirit that sustain the awakened ‘eye of the heart,’ when the single eye beholds the wholeness of the body of light and glory (Mt 6:22-23). Crowning and enthroning are wisdom’s very ancient ways of expressing purification, illumination and deification, iconic symbols that denote mysteries of glory beneath and above the awakened heart. The crown and the forehead are both involved in the awakening of the single eye of uncreated wisdom, enabling the eye of communication to awaken in the throat, inspiring the gift of prophecy. Beneath the heart, the solar plexus wants security and the navel wants safety whilst the perineum in the lower abdomen wants survival, that together enshrine the mysteries of the glory of the throne. Sometimes, however, ancient Hesychast texts simplify wisdom’s sevens to three, the wisdom eye of crowning, the throat’s eye of spiritual prophecy and the enthroned eye of the awakened heart. Sometimes, wisdom’s sevenfold completeness is transmitted as just two, the illumined mind of Christ above and the purified heart of Christ below.
The uncreated energy of grace awakens wisdom in the forehead which unites with glory in the heart, purifying and illumining the whole body in uncreated light (Mt 6: 22-23). The action of grace blesses all seven spiritual centres of awareness with purification that illumines them as seven centres of wisdom and glory. Awareness and presence reside not only in the heart but in all seven of wisdom’s centres of awareness and presence, which is why Biblical wisdom speaks of a sevenfold completeness that lies at the heart of glorification. Love awakens the heart, but wisdom awakens the single eye whilst three many-eyed pillars of the throne awaken to God-centred glory ensuring survival, safety and security in God-centred grace. Each spiritual eye-centre is an opening to uncreated energy, communicating wisdom and glory as blessing. Each ‘eye’ experiences grace differently but all-eyed vision experiences the whole spectrum of uncreated grace as rainbow radiance. Purification cleanses the ‘eye of the heart’ by illumining each eye of spirit in the heart. Illumination transfigures the vision of each eye as it partakes in the uncreated energy of grace, emptying what is not of God so as to imbibe what is of God. Deification crowns with glory what the throne glorifies by securing God-centred safety and survival.
The heart is the centre of the six other centres illumining what is purified by the uncreated energy of grace. The beauty of holiness illumines every centre like an eye of grace, giving being the gift of well-being in the timeless being of uncreated light. Hardness of heart blinds it to the awarenesss of divine presence, not just in the heart, but in all seven centres, just as an awakened heart turns each centre of awareness into seeing, uniting seer and seen. This transfigures the gross, material body into an angelic body of light and glory. Insecurity due to spiritual sclerosis in the solar plexus projects phobias everywhere, whereas God-centred security enables divine safe-keeping to spread by way of the navel down to the root foundation of being at the base of the throne. Suffering arises when uncreated energy is denied access to any of the seven centres of awareness, but all such spiritual diseases are eased when uncreated light welcomes uncreated glory as awareness embracing presence. The Holy Spirit integrates all energy centres of awareness and presence like a central axis of uncreated light and glory in the midst. It is the Spirit that unites the throne with the crown at centre, enabling the heart to remain open even when an experience of rejection deprives it of another’s love.
The Holy Spirit unites mind and heart but also radiates out to each centre of awareness as uncreated light, including throne centres beneath the heart as well as crown centres above the heart. Illumination purifies awareness with the presence of uncreated light from root to crown, enthroning security and safety that survive the loss of all that death can kill. This is the experience of martyrs that created saints, injecting unselfish love in place of phobic terror, grounding fear in love that loves from the awakened heart. Throne and crown are ancient ways of expressing mysteries that cure fear with love. Resurrection, ascension and glorification are actually illumination working mysteries of purification from throne to crown. It is not a question of acquiring manipulative techniques which are imposed from without but of abiding in uncreated grace, surrendering fear by trusting love, relaxing into the uncreated glory of grace at centre everywhere. Love surrenders to what love spontaneously does rather than interfere with unnatural impositions that seek to manipulate and control.
Revelation opens awareness to presence in every centre of awareness and presence. Crowning reveals uncreated wisdom embracing glory, whereas enthroning reveals this same wisdom and glory to fears that have to do with survival, safety and security. Crowning ensures that wisdom and glory bless all centres of awareness and presence, whilst enthroning secures this awareness of presence so that wisdom is embracing glory right down to the root foundations of human being, well-being and timeless being. When materialism, relativism and nihilism are running riot unchecked, there is no crowning and so no enthronement or coronation of the awakened heart, but when the single eye of wisdom unites with the awakened heart, materialism, relativism and nihilism turn and see what was being overlooked, welcoming uncreated light with uncreated glory. Materialism opens to a body of light, relativism to a body of relational, reciprocal glory and nihilism to a self-emptying of all kinds of reification when glorification unveils uncreated presence. Prophecy awakens communication of these mysteries, freeing the throat to sing wisdom songs that restore glory to God. Prophecy trusts love that listens to the Spirit’s prayer in the heart, hallowing the Name so God’s reign comes. Confidence replaces cynicism when prophecy awakens prayer in the heart.
The heart upholds uncreated deification when love’s glory enthrones the heart rather than imprison it in proud phobias. The heart surrenders egotistical self-will to the divine will that loves to save us from fear, curing hardness of heart with hallowing glorification. Trust awakens solar plexus awareness to the infinite generosity of grace, so that anxious stress is healed. Navel awareness is intense energy that can give wings to wisdom, but can be fierce, like a dragon. To ride the dragon is to harness this intense energy for wisdom and love, but dragon energy can wreak havoc if it serves degenerative egocentric or ethnocentric ends. When dragon energy serves wisdom and love, it harnesses spiritual power for wisdom, righting wrongs without abusive force. The power and the glory are God’s, but dragon energy is needed if systems of domination are to be transformed, enabling non-violent power to overcome abusive power and heal systems of overpowering violence. Beneath the navel, wisdom awakens trust so that awareness in the perineum can abide in wholesome peace, knowing that being is grounded in well-being and liberating well-being in timeless being. Survival in God is secured, here, where the uncreated creativity of wisdom and love resounds loud and clear.
Imbalance between crown and throne is often the result of materialistic consumerism that rapes the earth instead of caring for a heavenly wooing of the earth. Crown mysteries are aborted so throne mysteries are never permitted to ground heaven on earth. There can be many culture wars between crown and throne when wholesome joy and peace are lost. Gender wars set up false aggressions of different kinds that call for sound healing, wedding crown and throne in different ways. The ramifications of spiritual imbalance are everywhere, calling for new, radical ways to wed wisdom and glory. The loving crown needs grounding power, whilst powerful domination needs loving infusions, if a loving crown is to wed a loving throne. Glorification is impossible if pious negativity despises throne mysteries beneath the heart, just as deification is impossible if materialism despises crown mysteries above the heart. Love and power must wed if crown and throne are to unite in wholesome glorification. Purification opens power to love, whilst illumination opens love to power, opening wisdom to glory in hallowing glorification. Power can be ruthless unless it awakens to a heart of unselfish love. Love can be spineless unless it is rooted in the mysteries of the grounded throne. Wisdom needs to embrace glory at every centre of human awareness if glorification is to bear fruit as deification. The ancient practice of illumined wisdom ensures that purification bears fruit as illumination and that illumination gives birth to glorification, opening the eye of the heart in all seven centres of human awareness and deifying presence, embracing incompleteness with completeness.