The Ever-Present Origin - Michael Goodnight - Editor

anticipated by Pope Sabinus, who in 604ordered the ringing of bells toannounce the passing of the hours.We shall examine the question of time in detail later in our discussion;here we wish to point out that there is a forgotten but essentialinterconnection between time and the psyche. The closed horizons ofantiquity's celestial cave-like vault express a soul not yet awakened tospatial time-consciousness and temporal quantification. The "heaven ofthe heart" mentioned by Origen was likewise a self-contained innerheaven first exteriorized into the heavenly landscapes of the frescoes bythe brothersAmbrogio and PietroLorenzetti in the church of St. Francescoin Assisi (ca. 1327-28). One should note that these early renderings oflandscape and sky, which include a realistic rather than symbolic astralmythicalmoon, are not merely accidental pictures with nocturnal themes.In contrast to the earlier vaulted sky, the heaven of these frescoes is nolonger an enclosure; it is now rendered from the vantage point of the artistand expresses the incipient perspectivity of a confrontation with space,rather than an unperspectival immersion or inherence in it. Man ishenceforth not just in the world but begins to possess it; no longerpossessed by heaven, he becomes a conscious possessor — if not of theheavens, at least of the earth. This shift is, of course, a gain as well as aloss.There is a document extant that unforgettably mirrors this gain and loss,this surrender and beginning; in a few sentences it depicts the struggle ofa man caught between two worlds. We refer to the remarkable letter ofthe thirty-two year old Petrarch to Francesco DionigidiBorgo San Sepolcroin 1336(the first letter of his Familiari, vol. 4),in which he describes hisascent of MountVentoux. For his time, his description is an epochal eventand signifies no less than the discovery of landscape: the first dawning ofan awareness of space that resulted in a fundamental alteration ofEuropean man's attitude in and toward the world.MountVentoux is located to the northeast of Avignon, where the Rhôneseparates the French Alps from the Cevennes and the principal mountainrange of Central France. The mountain is distinguished by clear andserene contours; viewed from Avignon to the south, its ridge slowly andseamlessly ascends against the clear Provençal sky, its south westernslope sweeping broadly with soft restraint toward the valley. After adownhill sweep of nearly two kilometers, it comes to rest against thesycamore slopes of the Carpentras, which shelter the almond trees fromthe northern winds.Although then unaware of its full significance, the present writer saw themountain years ago and sensed its attraction. Certainly this attractionmust have been sensed by others as well; it is no accident that Petrarch'sdiscovery of landscape occurred precisely in this region of France. Here,the Gnostic tradition had encouraged investigation of the world and placedgreater emphasis on knowledge than on belief; here, the tradition of theTroubadours, the Cathari, and the Albigensi remained alive. This is not to13