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The Divine Chariot
Hebrew MERKABAH
The
Chariot seen by Ezekiel (ch. 1) has long been connected
with the idea of theosis. In Judaism, a proto-cabalist
"Merkabah mysticism" developed soon after the destruction of
the Temple (if not earlier); Enoch "who walked with God"
appears (in the guise of the divinised
"Metatron") as a major figure in
this Gnostic literature. St. Macarius the Great (Spir.
Hom. 1) says that the Chariot is the soul ridden by
the Lord. The Theotokos, both as the woman who physically
carried one of the Trinity in her womb
and as the created person who
has most fully attained to theosis, is called a Chariot
in many Orthodox hymns.
--- Norman Hugh Redington
Under construction --- far from complete! Read with caution.
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