One People, One Planet, Hon! Hidden Meanings of Common ...

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The Horus Temple at Edfu
1979, watercolor, 26¼” x 32”
As students of Egyptian mythology, Bob and Zohara Hieronimus found their time spent in the Egyptian temples to
be full of deep mystical experiences. Hieronimus was particularly taken with the Horus Temple at Edfu, which is in
an almost perfect state of preservation. He painted this watercolor in 1979 after his return to the States. It shows the
exterior of the temple with a near-complete statue of Horus as the Hawk on the left, and a fragment of the partner
Hawk head and chest on the right.
But the really extraordinary site was inside this temple where there are preserved the inscriptions describing the
Mystery Plays of Horus. Horus was a complex deity of ancient Egypt, but at his essence he was a god-made man. Conceived
by the goddess Isis and the posthumous Osiris, Horus represents the perfected state for mankind. His stages
mark the stages of spiritualization, or how to realize the divine principle within. Originally known as something more
like Heru (for “he who is above”), Horus is actually the Greek name for this deity, whose Mystery Plays were so effective
they were copied and repeated in Greece and in Rome. Carl Jung referred to these community teaching experiences
as participation mystique. Using the dramatic to instruct the traditions of the temple mysteries through symbols, initiation
was made possible, and it was believed that divine beings would communicate through the players.
One People, One Planet, Hon! - Dr. Robert R. Hieronimus
Colorscapes
In the mid 1970s and 80s Hieronimus became fascinated with working in watercolors, and the dichotomy they presented
as one of the most difficult mediums for a painter. Requiring a very steady hand and intense focus, watercolor paints
do not allow for the slip of the hand. One cannot paint over a mistake as one can with oils. And yet the outcome creates
some of the most ethereal and soothing images possible with any paint. Watercolors allow the depiction of a reality
beyond the physical with their ability to give image to transparency. If all things are vibrations, as taught in the ancient
traditions, then the physical world is an illusion (Maya), and the space between all physical matter is just as important as
the atoms composing it. From this perspective there is nothing solid and all is transparent.
The Hieronimus watercolor series of Colorscapes can be understood as a dimension of vibratory reality that is not
physical, and can be interpreted using color as consciousness. What is color? Isaac Newton’s color theory described color
as the result of splitting white light into its component parts. Goethe’s color theory described color arising from the interaction
of light and dark. He believed color is the speech of the soul of nature and therefore has meaning and power.
Yellow/Orange/Red
1980, watercolor, 30¼” x 44½”
In this colorscape, with yellow dominating the highest layers, it is related to air, the nature of Mercury, and the
ability to be airborne (winged feet). Yellow indicates the intellectual and mental interests leading to equilibrium and
balance. Moving into the second levels of orange (red+yellow), combining the nature of Mercury (the mind) and the
Sun, indicates a positive energy with attributes of authority and vitality. Vibrations of pink follow, as a combination of
white (pure spirit), and red (physical energy). The bottom layers of vibration are red, the element of fire, indicating
action, physical energy, courage, strength, and determination – all aspects of Mars. Above the yellow vibrations is the
white of the paper. The combined symbolic interpretation could be that as pure spirit, primal light in its highest form,
manifests in the physical world, it densifies in layers moving through the mental worlds. Eventually it moves into the
physical world of action where it can be readily discerned but where the vibrations are more physical or dense -- thus
having less consciousness, but more stability.
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