Icons, those often brightly painted religious pictures that we see increasingly in our churches and see in profusion if we holiday in the Eastern Orthodox Christian part of the world. Of course that might be what we initially think, but icons are much, much more and are not painted but, "written."
Eikon in Greek means an image and thus the word icon has derived from it. It is often an image of Christ or one of the saints or holy person, which is created through the medium of paint but is "wriitten" by the iconographer and the whole thing from preparation to creating (writing) is a prayer, an ongoing prayer. So an icon although physical and visible in our eyes, is a sacred item, a divine mystery even and can be a way to enter the mystery, contemplative state or to be used for spiritual meditation.The artist does not want the Christian to admire the icon as a beautiful piece of artwork, but to use it to be drawn into prayer always, and in doing so to be raising the mind and heart to God. They are a medium through which God can communicate with us, the worshipper, and say something about the faith of a given community. An icon can invite you to be completely present to the icon and intentionally looking upon it in silence and stillness. You can be then led on to an opportunity of communication between you and God.
They are often brightly coloured and the colours used often reflect regional interests and spirituality.
Gold: Radiant light of God and the splendour of the celestial kingdom where there is never any night. Gold symbolises the divine nature of God himself.
Purple: Colour of the Celestial King and is often used for clothing of the Mother of God ‐ the Celestial Queen.
Red: Heat, passion, love, life and life‐giving energy, the symbol of the resurrection ‐ the victory of life over death. It is also is the colour of blood and the colour of Christ’s sacrifice. Martyrs are depicted in red clothing on icons.
White: The heavenly realm and God’s divine light. Colour of cleanliness, holiness and simplicity. Saints and righteous people are usually depicted clothed in white as righteous ones.
Blue: Symbol of another everlasting world. Dark blue was considered the colour of the Mother of God who combines in herself both the terrestrial and celestial.
Green: Natural, living things, grass and leaves, youth, flowering, hope,and eternal renovation. Ancient iconographers often painted the earth green to denote where life began ‐ such as in scenes of the Annunciation and the Nativity. It is also the colour of the Holy Spirit in the Eastern Orthodox Church
Brown: Earth, dust, and all that is transient and perishable. Used in combination with the royal purple clothing of the Mother of God, this colour reminds us of her human nature.
Black: Evil and death. In iconography, caves were painted with the colour black as a symbol of humankind’s grave. In some subjects this was also the colour of mystery.
In iconography there is much use of symbols to represent things:
Christ carrying a scroll: represents a setting before the resurrection. It is a symbol of teaching.
Christ carrying the book of the gospels: denotes his presence after the resurrection
Sacred geometry
Circle ‐ Divine unity
Square ‐ Four corners of the earth
Triangle ‐ The Holy Trinity
Octagon ‐ Seven days to create the world plus one day of the resurrection.
So we can see that an icon isn't just a holy picture but bringing with it so very much, a living prayer which binds us to God. It binds us too by using our senses: sight, smell, hearing, touch for example. It is a physical and spiritual way of praying. The icons contain certain things eg hand gestures which all mean something and aren't just haphazardly placed there.
These images are traditionally less realistic and more symbolic in nature. They are often called “windows into Heaven,” and are designed with that goal in mind. Are the eyes of the holy person looking at you, then look back at them and what are they saying to you?
Have you tried using an icon in your prayer life? Do you have one at home, maybe from a foreign holiday, try using it simply. Just look at what is in the picture, find out information about the person. If it is Jesus refresh your Scripture reading of what this depicts. Is there symbolism in there or sacred geometry? What do the use of colours say to you? What attracts you to it? Then try and use it as you pray, either by meditating upon it or by allowing it to take you deeper into your prayers for say 10 -15 mins..
"Many spiritual writers explain that praying with icons is a receptive experience, where we gaze into heaven and allow God to touch our heart."
"It is important to simply look at the icon and notice the various details and colours. An icon is often called a “theology of colours” and can teach us a great deal about the Christian faith. Everything in the icon is symbolic and points to some spiritual truth about God. If the subject of the icon is a saint, there are typically various symbols that create a “spiritual portrait” of the saint, reflecting attributes or events that contributed to the person’s holiness."
It is like all things it may well feel strange and invasive at first but keep trying for a period and see how you move through that. You could enhance the experience by lighting a candle, which you might do anyway in prayer time, or burn some incense so that its smells different and holy. Stick with it and it can be so useful and helpful, again enriching our prayer life. Remember too that you don't have to use an icon for evermore, but after say 2/3 weeks go back to your normal routine for a while. The icon can be used daily and possibly best suits the more contemplative person, but whatever, don't be afraid to try it.
If you are feeling like it, why not try and "write" your own icon with watercolours, acrylics or pastels, which you can use in your own devotions and maybe share it with the blog, if you wish. You too are more than able to be an iconographer! As you create it make it a prayer.
I have just given you some very basics simple ideas about icons there is so much more to them and maybe if you are interested we can explore this aspect of our prayer life again.
