CONJURATIO!

by David Bowman



		Joza Plecnik - St. Michael, front view

The provisional Church of St. Michael's on Barje was built by Slovenian architect Josef Plecnik (1872-1957) in periods during 1920-28 and 1937-40 in a small village near the capitol of the present state of Slovenia. This church is one of the most peculiar compositions in his vast opus of architectural 'perversions'. The following analysis will try to dissolve the many layers of meaning that are always present in Plecnik's work, be it a single house or the royal cathedral 'Srdca Jezusovega' in Prague. But this church is something special in terms of symbolism, for never was Plecnik so explicit as here. But to be sure, there is no proof existing that he knew anything at all about the ideas revealed in this analysis. Even though he was a teacher he passed on no direct knowledge of the composition, even less of the symbolism implied when dealing with measures or numbers. His austere, christian-ascetics appearance would deny any such 'accusations', even more, he would gladly donate some wood for the burning of the heretic - his words. Still, encouraged mostly by the ignorance, another portrait of an architect will be presented.

Archangel Michael was Plecnik's most favorite protector, and he placed a leaden plastic of angel on the facade of one of his first architectural achievements, the Zahrl House in Vienna. Even though Michael is the most popular christian angel and protector of Israel it is rarely mentioned in the Bible (Dan 10:13, 21, Jud 1:9, Rev 12:7). It is also believed that Michael appeared to Moses as the fire in the burning bush. Definitely it is the most highest of angels, sometimes mingled with the deity itself, being IHVH, the ineffable name of Jews, or the Christ of Gnostics. Michael's roots are mostly in Egyptian god Toth and its Greek variant Hermes or Roman Mercury. Usually, his attributes are a sword and a pair of scales, perhaps echoing the final judgment of 'weighting of the souls' in Duat with Thoth present as the scribe of the verdict. He is the Archangel of Fire and the Angel of the Sphere of Sun, equivalent with the cabalistic sephira Tiphareth.

The foundation of the ground plan consists of ten, carefully placed, pillars: four in the sanctuary and six on the circumference of the composition. Plecnik's intent was to represent the cabalistic Tree of Life with its ten spheres. Supporting this idea is the value of the total length 23.30 m or 233 dm which is equivalent to the gematric value of Hebrew OTz HChIIM, Tree of Life:

OTz HChIIM = (70+90)+(5+8+10+10+40) = 233

The most obvious allusion to the cabalistic Tree of Life are the openings of the tower, in fact the whole tower with its climbing stairs is a symbolic Tree of Life. The 'number 10' or Malkuth - the doors of the home of the priest - is hidden beneath the stairs leading to the entrance of the church which is on position 9, equivalent to Yesod (The Foundation). Yesod is the sphere of Moon and in human anatomy it corresponds to the generative organs. The width of the tower is 5.10 m, a synonym for Michael in simple Latin gematria:

MICHAEL = 13+9+3+8+1+5+12 = 51


	Tree of Life projected on the tower

The Latin version would be LIGNUM VITAE with the gematric value 133 according to simple Latin gematria1, which is synonymous with the width of the church 13.30 m (133 dm):

LIGNUM VITAE = (12+9+7+14+21+13)+(22+9+20+1+5) = 133


	Ground plan - drawn after the original copy

The module of the composition is 125 cm, number equivalent to the gematric signature of the architect:

JOSEF PLECNIK = (10+15+19+5+6)+(16+12+5+3+14+9+11) = 125

The general dimensions are proportioned according to the 'rule of small numbers' (cf. Vitruvius). The breadth between the axis of the walls is 12.50 m while the width measures 22.50 m. Both main axial measures of the floor plan have cubical nature, since 125 = 5^3, and 225 = 1^3+2^3+3^3+4^3+5^3. The ratio is thus 10:18 or 5:9, numbers from the fourth Fibonacci series: 1-4-5-9-14... The pillars are positioned to fit a special Pythagorean diagram consisting a rectangle 8:6 (also 4:3, Pythagorean triangle) with circumscribed circle of radius 5. All numbers from 1-10 are generated from this diagram, with exception of number 7 approximated as 5 x sqr2 which is close to 72.


	St. Michael - composition of the floor plan

One of the methods of divination is called geomanty, described in every serious book of western occultism, mentioned also by classics like Agrippa in De Occulta Philosophia. Sixteen lines of holes are drawn with a stick into the desert sand without counting. The holes in every line give one dot or two, depending if the number of holes is odd or even. Every four lines form a figure that divinator interprets.


	Pillars forming geomantic figures

The middle six pillars along the breadth of the floor plan represent geomantic figure CARCER, prison, a symbolic representation of the abyss into which Michael threw that old serpent, which is Devil, and Satan for thousand years3:

Rev 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
20:3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

Six pillars across the length of the plan represent geomantic figure POPULUS, Congregation. The dimensions of the cubus of the main building are 7.50 m height, 12.50 m width, and 22.50 m length. This numbers are in the ratio of 3:5:9, resembling the gematric value of Hebrew name for the Adversary:

ShTN = 300+50+9 = 359

The overall story is therefore very simple: the upright triumphant Michael with the fallen Adversary beneath.

The composition of the central part of the sanctuary is made of three cubes with sides 7.50 meters or 6 times the module 125 cm. This spatial proportioning resembles the composition of the Tabernacle as described in Exodus, and the composition of Solomon's temple which is the later elaboration of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness. Again, the three cubes are a metaphor of the Tree of Life since this diagram can be projected on three cubes.


	Cube as compositional principle

A cube of 6 modules has some specific characteristics that contribute to the general idea written in architecture. Pythagorean much venerated the figural numbers and especially the cube built of calculii, which they called 'metacube'. Even the original word in Greek, Gk. METAKYBOS = 888 emphasizes the symbolic importance. The metacube of 6 (6 modules of the composition) has 91 visible calculii, whereas 125 (a cube of 5) are hidden to the eye. All numbers of the metacube are important: 216, 125, and 91:

216 = DBIR, The Holy of Holies in the Temple of Solomon
125 = JOSEF PLECNIK
91 = MLAK, Angel

DBIR, Devir was the most sacred part of the Temple of Solomon, a cubical oracle entered only once a year by the High Priest to receive the prophecy. It was also called Holy of the Holies and contained the Ark of Covenant guarded by the two Cherubim, and it was said that between the Cherubim the Holy Presence dwelt, the Shekinah. The hidden part of metacube 6 is the cube of 5 and Plecnik demonstrated the use of these two cubes, 5 and 6, at the entrance of the church, which is composed entirely with these numbers. The visible part of calculii, 91, is the number of Angel in Hebrew gematria, the Messenger. The metacube 6 contains the key to the ideas embedded in the church of St. Michael's: the Seer(125) within the Sanctuary(216)4 invoking the Angel(91). The main width, 23.30 m, is also synonymous with Greek spelling for Oracle, Gk. Logion = 233. The composition as presented is based on a geometry of a circle, a triangle, and a square, interlaced in a seal called The Universal Seal of Light or sometimes Hermes' Seal. Corresponding numbers 3, 4, and 1, resemble Hebrew word MShA, Oracle, with gematric value 3415.

In order to communicate with angels conjurer must be familiar with the method, and one of the most famous western grimoires is Lemegeton Clavicula Salomonis or The Lesser Key of Solomon, also very popular during the Magickal Revival at the beginning of twentieth century (Mathers, Crowley, Waite et al). The middle part of the ground plan much resembles the Hexagram of Solomon as described in the grimoire:

This is the form of the Hexagram of Solomon, the figure whereof is to be made on parchment of a calf's skin, and worn at the skirt of thy white vestment, and covered with a cloth of fine linen white and pure, the which is to be shown unto the Spirits when they do appear, so that they be compelled to take human shape upon them and be obedient.
(Colours. - Circle, Hexagram, and T cross in centre outlined in black, Maltese crosses black; the five exterior triangles of the Hexagram where Te, tra, gram, ma, ton, is written, are filled in with bright yellow; the T cross in centre is red, with the three little squares therein in black. The lower exterior triangle, where the Sigil is drawn in black, is left white. The words "Tetragrammaton" and "Tau" are in black letters; and AGLA with Alpha and Omega in red letters.)6


	Goetic seal

Notice, that the four pillars within the circle stand for the four letters of the Ineffable name IHVH. The Sigillum of Archangel Michael drawn over the ten pillars is also obvious.

THE FINAL JUDGMENT

Rev 1:17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:
1:18 I [am] he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

The whole key of the composition, together with the basic idea, is incorporated into the chandelier hanging before the altar. A peculiar circular chandelier, with a pendant cross and a pair of scales with sword hanged from it, is a sigillum of of the Final Judgment as prophesied in John's Revelation and other apocalyptic and Gnostic texts - a metaphor in which archangel Michael defeats the antichrist at the second coming of the Messiah and establishes the 'Civitas Dei'.

It is proportioned with previously mentioned 'a circle, a triangle, and a square', and a pentagram to complete the sequence 3-4-5. The idea of Judgment and resurrection is comprised on the Tarot card XX: The Judgment, an older variant is also called The Angel. The correspondences of the card are Fire and the Hebrew letter Shin, traditionally the letter of Spirit. The trump presents the Archangel of the Solar Fire Michael which blowing the trumpet heralds the descent of the Holy Spirit and the resurrection of the dead.

1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
4:17 Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.


	Final Judgement

Twenty lights on the circumference are direct association on trump XX. The upright, compositional, triangle is a glyph of Fire, whereas the outer dimension of the chandelier, 300 cm, is a synonym of Shin since its gematric value is 300. According to cabalistic analogy 300 is also the sum of the expression Spirit of Gods:

ShIN = 300 = RVCh ALHIM, Spirit of Gods

A cross is suspended from the circumference of the chandelier with ten decorative rivets for each sephira of the Sephiroth, and Alfa and Omega symbolizing the paths between them. Greek word for Cross is

STAUROS = 7777

with the same value as the sum of the Paths that like the lightning connects all sephiroth from Kether to Malkuth. It is also called the Flaming Sword, known to the eastern mysticism as a Kundalini. The winding of the sword's blade may represent exactly this Flaming Sword. The cross is carrying a pair of scales balanced by the sword resting on them. The Middle Pillar of the Tree of Life represents the equilibrium of the antonyms and leads from Malkuth via Yesod, Tiphareth, and Daath to Kether. Often it is called the Path of Messiah. Plecnik scribes this idea with a pair of scales and the sword balancing them:

ChRB (Sword) + MAZNIM (a pair of scales) = 358 = MShIH, Messiah

The symbolism of a pair of scales and the tongue of decree measuring between them is known from the cabalistic text called Sepher Yetzirah when describing the Three Mother Letters Aleph, Mem, and Shin8, the foundation of the Tree of Life9:

SY 3:1 Three Mothers: Alef Mem Shin
Their foundation is
a pan of merit
a pan of liability
and the tongue of decree deciding between them.

Notes

1 - Rule of simple Latin gematria is A=1, B=2, ... , Z=26.
2 - This approximation is close: 5 x sqr2 = 7.07106.
3 - The horizontal distance between the middle pillars is 1000 cm.
4 - Devir, Holy of Holies, the Sanctuary, etc. is always Tiphareth, the sixth sephira of Sun, the conjunction of Microprosopus and Macroprosopus. Along the path of initiation it is Knowledge and Conversation with Holy Guardian Angel that takes place in Tiphareth.
5 - 341 is the sum of Three Mother Letters - Alef, Mem, Shin - the foundation of the whole alefbeth (Sefer Yetzirah).
6 - Taken from The Book of the Goetia of Solomon the King, trans. A. Crowley, First Impressions 1993.
7 - Gk. ST is taken as digamma with value 6.
8 - Aleph, Mem, and Shin have the value 341 (a triangle, asquare, and a circle) a symbol of the proportional key used in the composition.
9 - Sefer Yetzirah - The Book of Creation, trans. A. Kaplan, Weiser 1991.