Marion Altena – Silenced by the Rose
The Silenced by the Rose (foto Decent Image Scraps)
Silenced by the Rose
Rose (foto Carlos Quintero | Unsplash)
“Symbolism will be Their Downfall.” There it is again. The Phrase that has been Flogged to Death by way Too Many conspiracy theorists. Do you feel the Touch of Fatigue when Reading This, or maybe even that sting of annoyance? Because – let’s be fair: we have been waiting for so many months, but the Aphorism seemingly didn’t have the Power to turn into Reality, and the Mocking Voices in your Head are Getting Harder to Ignore. They’re whispering that this has become a Hollow Phrase, nothing more than Hope Porn.
But Wait – don’t go yet. There is a Reason why I was opening this Blog with the Statement in Question, because I am Convinced that we can Breathe New Life into it.
So let’s Say It Out Loud once More. “Symbolism will be Their Downfall.”
In Order to Explain what I mean by the Above Claim, I think it’s Good to take you Back in Time with me for a bit. Picture this! It’s a Breezy, Sunny Morning in August, and we are on the Premises of a Beautiful Medieval Castle in the village of Rozendaal, the Netherlands. The Name of the Castle is Rosendael, and we are Strolling through its Impressive 18th Century Landscape Park. As should be in the Gardens of any Castle, there are Many Examples of Art and Architecture that Catch the Eye. They all are Telling us a Story. Stories Full of Symbolism.
De Bedriegertjes of Rosendael Castle (foto Marion Altena)
Let’s take a moment to zoom in to the Meaning of this Heavily Loaded Term Symbolism. The Merriam Webster Dictionary describes it as follows. “Symbolism is the Art or Practice of using Symbols especially by investing things with a symbolic meaning or by expressing the invisible or intangible by Means of Visible or Sensuous Representations”
There are Numerous Situations in which Symbols have been Applied throughout Time. They are the Basis of Family Crests and are broadly used in Art and Literature. But you can also find them in Place Names, in Logos of Businesses, in Theme Parks and the Interior of Restaurants. Although, After a Closer Look, Part of these Symbols turn out to be Not Much More than the Branding of a Product, there are those that do Stand Out. On my Walk through the Gardens of Rosendael Castle for instance, I was Triggered by a Piece of Landscape Art that had an Intriguing Name: De Bedriegertjes (The Little Cheaters). As you may know, in Esoterism, almost Everything has More than One Meaning, and I couldn’t Help but Wondering if that was the Case with the Object I stumbled upon in this Video, as well.
So here we are, with a Mystery on our Hands. There is this Fountain with a Name that possibly has a Dual Meaning. And we’re standing on the Premises of a Castle that is Named almost the same as the Village it’s Situated in. Could these be the First Examples of a Set of Recurrent themes? Check out the Video below.
We already had the Water as a Theme. And now we’ve got a Statue of a Man or a God, and a Huge Fish. Fact is that, a bit further Along the Walking Path in the Garden, you can find Statues of the Greek Gods Hermes, and of Poseidon, with his Big Trident – or as some would say – the Roman Gods Mercury and Neptune.
Hermes and Poseidon, or Mercury and Neptune. (foto @KasteelRS)
But the Huge, almost Monstrous Fish that is being held by that Man in the Video has more of my attention, because I had seen that Fish earlier, at the very beginning of my Walk! Check out the Sled that I took pictures of in the Stables of the Castle, that form the Entrance of the Garden.
Let’s keep that Fish in the Back of our Minds for now and check out Another Recurring Symbol in this Park. The Rose.
In the Video, I was Linking the Rose on the Stone Bench to the Rosicrucians. Although that was Not an illogical Thought, the Story behind this Rose is Not Exclusively Based on Esoterism. After some Research, I learned that the Place name of Rozendaal Village was based on the Name of the Castle, that was Built by Count Reinald of Gelre in the first Half of the 14th Century.
Still, as I stated, there is a Deeper Layer. I sensed it when I was there, Vlogging, but also a Couple of Days Later, when I was Studying the Background of the Village and Castle. It struck me that just about all the Information about the Castle that I could find was Remarkably Superficial. Which was, in a Paradoxical Way, a Confirmation of what I picked up on while I was on Location. Often, the Things that are Not Told are as Significant as What is Being Shared. The Question is, What Do we Do with Ut?
Nota Bene
Apologies for the Finger on the Left Side of the Screen 😉
So we see the Marine Theme coming back in this Landscape Park, in all Shapes and Sizes. Besides that, the Esthetic Quality of the Sea Shell Gallery is Undeniable. Of course you can decide to keep it to that Observation. Or, as I asked from you in the Video, you could Start Paying Attention to the Deeper Meaning behind the Symbols you’re Seeing, and Pray.
But how do we Pray for a Place that keeps a Tight Lid on its Secrets? How do we get a Hold of Information, when we don’t have Contact with Somebody who can Tell us about the Spiritual State of the Village in Question?
Balloon (foto Alexander Shatov | Unsplash)
I think there is No Specific Formula for finding this Kind of Intel, and it may work differently for others, but what acted as a Catalyst for my rRsearch was the Fact that the same Themes kept on Popping Up throughout the Park. To me, that was an Indication that there was some Form of Communication going on, or More Accurately Put, an Exchange of Information.
Now I’d like you to take a Few Moments to Recap. Do you Remember what we Found on our Walk through the Castle Gardens? We’ve seen Water in Various Settings, Dual Messages in the Name of a Fountain Folly, Monstrously Big Fishes. We saw Gods Passing in Review, and Roses, and a Variety of Seashells. You can think of All These Symbols as Intel. Pieces of a puzzle. What needs to happen though, for these Puzzle Pieces to Fall into Place? Is it possible to find a Red lLne that connects the Dots and that gives us a Bird’s View of a Possible Story Line or Message?
For me, Combining Research with Prayer turned out to be the Way to go about these Questions. In Matthew 7:7 – 8, Jesus says, “Ask and it will be Given to you; Seek and you will Find; Knock and the door will be Opened to you. For everyone Who Asks Receives; the one Who Seeks Finds; and to the one Who Knocks, the Door will be Opened.” Now don’t get me Wrong here. By showing this Bible Verse, I’m Not Claiming it as Some Kind of Magical formula that instantly Grants you All the Rewards you Ask for, regardless of the Nature of your Request. What I want to convey, is that the Lord will Provide you with Answers if you Earnestly Ask Him what He would like you to Learn. Believe me when I say that He is Faithful. Psalm 94:9 says “He Who Planted the Ear, does He Not Hear? Or He Who Formed the Eye, does He Not See?” In my Case, God reacted to my Prayerful Search for Direction, by starting to Encourage me to Study the Meanings of Symbols and the Correlation between Them.
Prayer and Study (foto Andrik Langfield via Unsplash)
So I moved on to the Research. I started Googling one of the Recurring Subjects that I had Found – Seashells – Combined with the Term “Symbolic Meaning”. A Wealth of Information Unfolded in the Search Results. Seashells appear to be Associated with Independence, Solitude and Self Reliance, but they also are used to Symbolize the Element of Water in Pagan Rituals. Besides that, they Stand for Feminine Beauty (Venus), Fertility, Abundance, (Spiritual) Growth, Expansion and Much More.
Information Overdose (foto Dmitry Rushny | Unsplash)
What I didn’t Anticipate though, was that after having done Similar Searches on the Other Symbols, I was Confronted with such an Overwhelming Variety of Search Results, that it became hard to Determine which were Worth paying Attention to. For a Moment even the Question loomed, whether it was Doable to Distill something Meaningful from this Confusing Mess at all. That was when I realized that Without Guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Situation would remain as it was. I would Sit here with a Pile of Explanations that Pointed in All Kinds of Directions, without knowing if there was a Story Line or Central Theme to be Found.
So I asked the Lord to give me More Discernment, and slowly but surely a Pattern became Visible in the Form of a Recurring Set of Themes within the Search Results of my Quest. So, not only the Symbols themselves were Repeated throughout the Park, but on a Sublevel there was also a Distinct Correlation between the Significance of the Different Symbols. They all turned out to Complement Each Other.
Fish god Dagon (foto Alien Species Wiki| Fandom)
Roosendael Setting (foto Marion Altena)
An example of that was the Fish, depicted in Various Works of art throughout the park. Both the Statues and the Wood Carving on the Sled showed this Symbol as Particularly Big and Ugly. It caused me to think about the Fish God Dagon (or Dagan). This West Semitic God is said to be the Father of Baal and he is seen as the Provider of Prosperity and Crop Fertility – now didn’t we see the Subjects Fertility and Prosperity Growth in the List of Meanings behind the Sea Shells as well?
At this Point in my Search, Things started to get really interesting. The more I studied the Subject Matter, the More the Symbols Turned Out to be Interconnected. The Seashells obviously are Affiliated with the Water in the Ponds, the Creeks, the Fountains and the Waterfall that is Part of the Seashell Gallery. But that’s only on a Superficial Level – Water also has a Correlation with something else. Something Much Deeper.
I found out that, Among Other Things, Water stands for Fertility. Besides that, it’s Connected to the Principality Demon God Leviathan. As I mentioned in the Video, Leviathan is the Monster from the Sea, the God Demon that reigns over Everything that has to do with Water. He is the very Principality who has Finances, the Stock Market and Trade in his Portfolio. He often works in Conjunction with the Money Demon Mammon.
So what about that Water, flowing from the Mouths of the two Big Fishes, down the Steps of those Stairs? Was that just a Creative Idea, Sprouting from the Landscape Architect’s Artistic Mind? Or could it have something to do with the Fact that Fish God Demon Dagon stands for Fertility and the Provision of Prosperity?
Fleur de Lis (foto Marion Altena)
And then there is the Fleur de Lis, that we saw in the Video. The Fleur de Lis is a very old and well known Symbol in Heraldry. It’s a Reminder of the Fleur de Lis Ampulla that held the Oil used to anoint Clovis I, King of the Franks, in the Sixth Century. So it stood as a Symbol of the King’s Divinely approved Right to Rule. The thus “Anointed” Kings of France later maintained that their Authority was Coming Directly from God. Inevitably, at Some Point in History, the Fine Line between Seeing Oneself as God Given and considering oneself Divine became particularly Thin (Louis XIV).
Do you see how the Central Themes in this Landscape Park are becoming more and more Interconnected? I mean – Louis XIV and his Afiliation with the Fleur de Lis, that just oozes Pride, and automatically my Thoughts go back to the Waterfall Stairs. Do you still think that it’s only an Esthetic Choice of the Landscape Architect, to Situate that Right Opposite of the Castle? Have a look at the Vlog Series that I Mentioned in the Above Video: Dismantled Duality of The Hague. The Stairs Ladder Theme in the Works of Art in the Courtyard of the Raad van State (Dutch Council of State) are a Clear Referral to Freemasonry. The Esoteric Meaning of these Stairs is Believed to be Derived from an Ancient Hermetic Concept that is Dealing with the Hierarchal Ordering of the Universe Known as the Great Chain of Being. It was introduced in the 18th Century in Masonic Rituals, but it Clearly Already Existed. The 33 Lower Degrees (there are 100 in Total!) of Freemasonry are all about Climbing up those Stairs, through Consecutive Initiations and the Works that are Intertwined with the Lodges. This Climbing is Not Done in true Submission and with Full Reference to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ of Nazareth, as We All Know.
Masonic Stairway (foto Samtamonicamasons.com)
But wait a minute.
I’m Making a Discovery now, that, To Be Honest, I cannot Help but being Mind Blown about!
Daniël Marot (foto Wikipedia)
First, I have to admit something to you. Until this Point, I have not been Digging very Deep to Learn More about the Architect of this Landscape Park. Call it Carelessness, call it Amateurism. Anyway, I was Writing about the Pride Connotation that Surfaced when I was Talking about the Fleur de Lis and Louis XIV., right? And for that, I felt the Need to once again look up the Date on which these Castle Gardens – and the Seashell Gallery – were originally Designed. Also, I wanted to get the Name of the Architect right. So here you go.
Daniël Marot (1660 | 1661 – 1752) was the Person who Designed the Gardens of Rosendael Castle. He did that in the Year 1732. And Guess what? Daniël was the Son of Jean Marot, the Court Architect of Versailles, of no one less than Louis XIV! So Daniël was Smack in the Middle of Elite Circles, and in the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands, where he Settled after Escaping France due to his Huguenot Background, he became the Architect of Viceroy Willem III. He has Designed Buildings, Interiors of Buildings and Gardens that are known to many in The Netherlands: the Two Wings and Various Rooms in Huis Ten Bosch Palace (the Residence of King Willem Alexander), a Richly Decorated Garden Pavilion on the Premises of Noordeinde Palace (the kKng’s Working Palace), Kneuterdijk Place and the interior of the meeting room of the very Council of State, that I was just talking about in lLght of its Garden Full of Masonic Ladder Symbolism!
This feels like coming Full Circle, doesn’t it? I told you that it’s All Connected so what do we do with this intel? We pray! Pray for everything that the Lords brings to Mind. I’m Not Claiming that by Researching the Symbols in the Old Architecture of a Place, you will get to know for the full 100% What is Going On there from a Spiritual Point of View. But for more than one Reason, it’s a Good Starting Point. While approaching a Location in this Manner – through Prayer and Research – you will notice that you’re getting a Feel of it, and of its People. That is a Significant Basis of Intercession. Of course, the Research also Increases your Knowledge and Experience and God can use that to Reveal Spiritual lLnks with other Locations, as you just saw Happening.
Symbolism will be Their Downfall
How does that sound to you now? Still as a Hollow Phrase? Or are you Beginning to See that the Lord is Eagerly Waiting for us to Seek His Face and Pray for the People of Any Given Location? You know – demons do exist. And they cannot help but marking the territory that they are Ruling over. But God says in Isaiah 46:1 – 5 (NASB).
Any Given Location (foto Sydney Angove | Unsplash)
1 Bel has Bowed Down, Nebo Stoops Over;
Their Idols have become Loads for the Animals and the Cattle.
The Things that You Carry are Burdensome,
A Load for the Weary Animal.
2 They Stooped Over, They have Bowed Down Together;
They could Not Rescue the Burden,
But have Themselves Gone into Captivity.
3 Listen to Me, House of Jacob,
And all the Remnant of the House of Israel,
You Who have been Carried by Me from Birth
And have been Carried from the Womb;
4 Even to Your Old Age I will be the Same,
And even to Your Graying Years I will Carry You!
I have Done it, and I will Bear You;
And I will Carry You and I will Save You.
5 To Whom would You Liken Me
And Make Me Equal, and Compare Me,
That We would be Alike?
God wants to Partner with us in Tearing Down Strongholds of the Enemy. He wants us to Pray and Look Ip to Him and see how He Fully Reverses the Purpose that these Symbols have been Used for Since So Long. He so Desires to Teach us the True Meaning of the Phrase Symbols will be Their Downfall, and have us consequently Share in the Victory over the Enemy!
God Willing (foto Jacob Bentzinger | Unsplash)
Back to the Castle Gardens. After having Lunch in the Orangery on the Premises of Rosendael Castle, it was time for me to get going. On My Way to the parking lot, I took a Detour of a few hundred Yards, to have a Look at the Town Hall of Rozendaal. It was there, where I knew I could find the Coat of Arms of the Village, with the Illustrious Rose in Full Display. There, I expected to Solve the Riddle that had been Lingering since the Beginning of my Tour.
Once I was Back Home, I looked up the Symbolic Meaning of the Rose. This specific One apparently had a Special Name, the Tudor Rose, and what I did not see coming, was that Instead of First Finding the Common E0xplanations, my Eye immediately fell on the Mysterious Term Sub Rosa. Merriam-Webster describes it as follows:
Sub Rosa Literally means “Under the Rose” in New Latin. Since ancient times, the Rose has often been Associated with Secrecy. In Ancient Mythology, Cupid gave a Rose to Harpocrates, the God of Silence, to keep him from Telling about the Indiscretions of Venus. Ceilings of Dining Rooms have been Decorated with Carvings of Roses, reportedly to Remind Guests that what was said at the Table should be kept Confidential. Roses have also been Placed over Confessionals as a Symbol of the Confidentiality of Confession. Sub Rosa entered the English Language in the 17th Century, and even before then, People were using the English Version, “Under the Rose.” Earlier still, Unter der Rose was Apparently Used in Germany, where the Phrase is thought to have Originated.
Yet again, Things were coming Full Circle. I started out Recording my Vlogs about this Village and its Castle, by Wondering why there is So Little In Depth Information on it. And then, eventually, I found out that the Main Subject of the Place, the Rose, was the Very Sign for the Code of Silence. But the Rose is Not the Only Message bearer that tells us that Things here should Stay Under the Carpet. There is Another Symbol that is Found on More than One Place in these Gardens, and it’s Best Introduced with an Anecdote: did you happen to know that Back in the days, in the Topkapi Palace of the Sultan in Constantinople (nowadays Istanbul), there were Rooms in the Harem Section, with Indoor Fountains and Tiny Waterfalls? They were there for a Purpose. Sitting in that Room, you could talk about Things in Confidence with One Another WWithout Being Overheard, Thanks to the Sound of the Softly Splashing of the Water.
Waterfall Grotto in the gardens of Rosendael Castle (foto Marion Altena)
In the Landscape Park around Rosendael Castle there are Several Waterfalls. The above Picture shows an Artificial Grotto Underneath One of Them. It has a Little Bench and all. Neat, eh? But that’s Not the Primary Reason why I’ve Posted this Picture. It is Because I want to Share with you One of the Most Striking Esoteric Meanings behind the Waterfall
In Numerous Tales, Fictional Ones, Legends, and Myths, Waterfalls are often Featured as a Motif of Hiding some Mystery. Secret Chambers are often Hidden behind the Silvery Veil of Falling Water.
Therefore, we could Think of Waterfalls as Symbols of Mystery, Secrets, Hidden Knowledge, and even Forbidden Knowledge.
Not every Cone Pine on a Garden Fence is meant to Communicate that the Owner of that Garden is an Active Member of the iLLUMiNATi. Having someone taking a Picture of Yourself, Posing in Front of a Brick Wall doesn’t automatically Mean that you are Flirting with Freemasonry. But when one, or a Set of Themes are Repeatedly Displayed on one Location or communicated within a Short Time through One and the Same Person, it could mean something. It tells you that there could be Principalities Demons that Claim Dominion over the Place, or it Possibly is a Message that is meant only for a Select Group of People. If we are Willing to Learn to “Read” those Messages, to Distill the Stories behind the Symbols, and if we are asking the Lord to Teach us through His Holy Spirit to Consequently Use that Information in Order to Pray for People, our Intercession will really make a Change. For the Good.
Rose (foto Bence Balla Schottner | Unsplash)
That is exactly when the Phrase Symbolism will be their Downfall is Brought Back to Life. It is the Very Point where the Rose Transforms from a Warning to Remain Silent about what should Stay in the Shadows, into the Very Symbol of Jesus’ Passion for the Salvation of Mankind.