The Lamp-post and the Burning Bush (Part 2)

There's one more point I wanted to raise with respect to the lamp-post (for now). In fact, it's another parallel to Moses. At the Passover seder (the multistep ritual of the first night(s) of Passover), we say, "In every generation our enemies seek to destroy us. And the Holy One, Blessed be He, saves us from their hands." The truth of this statement is beyond doubt, and even over the past week we have seen God's hand through the brave men and women of the Israeli and United States military. Lewis references this towards the end of The Silver Chair (as discussed here). 

The last phrase of this statement, however, has been cleverly interpreted. "From their hands," does not just mean that God saves us from the enemy's evil plans, but that the salvation comes from the enemies themselves. Thus, it is not simply that God saved the Children of Israel from the Egyptians, but that God's emissary was Moses who was raised by the Pharoah himself. It is the hand of Pharoah that unleashed the salvation.

The Narnian lamp-post was planted, albeit unknowingly, by the White Witch. It stood for generations, a relic of an evil that had entered the world, a sign that evil may materialize but that the light of goodness would continue to shine. Generations passed, the evil did not materialize and the lesson of the lamp-post was forgotten. Then one day, the evil reared its head, but no one paid any attention to the lamp-post, until a young girl stopped and wondered. Why would you plant a lamp-post in the middle of the wood, in a place of darkness? 

The answer (though unknown to her at the time) came immediately, "a very strange person stepped out from among the trees into the light of the lamp-post." The light of the lamp-post wasn't useless it enabled her to recognize the faun Tumnus, to make a friend, eventually to save Narnia. That same lamp-post, planted in Narnia as a weapon used to kill Aslan, was eventually overcome at the hands of a young girl who used the lamp-post to find a friend. From the hands of the White Witch there arose salvation. 

Actually, writing this got me thinking about the following contrast. The stone knife was used to kill Aslan and was brought to the island of Ramandu to rest in honor. The lamp-post was used to in an attempt to kill Aslan, but it stayed in Narnia. Why?

I guess we need another post on this... 

Photo by Sarah Sheedy on Unsplash

The Forgotten Lamp-post (Part 2)

So I've been thinking again about the children's apparent forgetfulness of the lamp-post after spending years as rulers of Narnia. Perhaps there are a couple of ways to understand this. The easier way is to say the children lost touch with their previous lives. For anyone who has moved, especially as a child, it's sometimes hard to remember how things were after many years in the new place. Considering the Pevensie's move consisted of changing universes, how much more so their previous lives would be little more than a blur. The lamp-post was part of that life. True it was stationed in Narnia, but it's essence, not mention electricity, was our worldly. Hence it was forgotten by the Pevensie children.

Perhaps another approach is to note the following. In our last post we compared the lamp-post to the burning bush seen by Moses on Mt. Sinai. Where is Mt. Sinai? Well, it doesn't seem that anyone really knows. That's a bit strange for such an important place - a place where God, and the Heavens themselves, came down and touch our world. That it happened we know. The cosmic significance of the occurrence is undeniable, but where it is? Irrelevant. The magnitude of what happened changed the entire world so the location of the epicenter doesn't matter. 

So too with the lamp-post. The lamp-post started a chain of events which would rewrite Narnia and its world. The echoes of Lucy entering Narnia continued for hundreds of years and refocused the perspective of all nations. What difference does it make exactly where Lucy was first seen? Hence, it was forgotten.  

The Lamp-post and the Burning Bush (Part 1)

The redemption of Narnia began with Lucy discovering the lamp-post.  

But this is not the only such story in our world too redemption began with seeing a strange, unnatural light. 

In both cases, the light attracted a great leader, who needed to be thrust into leadership, to be convinced they would be a redeemer. 

In Narnia it is Lucy, a seemingly normal young girl who wonders about the lamp-post and, though never told of its origin, seemingly by coincidence and loyalty becomes a beloved Queen. In our world, that figure is Moses, who perceives God in a burning bush and is commanded to go to Egypt to demand the freedom of the Children of Israel.

Let us reassess Moses' story. Moses has escaped from Egypt, and we find him peacefully settled in Midian. He spends his days shepherding his father-in-law's sheep. One day, he heads for the wilderness and finds himself at the Mountain of God, Horeb. Now, there is no Mountain of God mentioned in Genesis (though Isaac's binding did take place on a mountain) so the midrash tells us that the moniker is future oriented, namely that it is Mount Sinai upon which God will reveal Himself and present the Torah to the Children of Israel. But, of course, Moses doesn't know this. 

So, Moses finds himself on a random mountain and sees a burning bush. He turns to it to assess how it is that the bush is on fire but not being consumed. The text is careful to point out the active decision Moses made and that it was noticed by God (Exodus 3:3-4): 

Moses said, “I must turn aside to look at this marvelous sight; why doesn’t the bush burn up?” And God saw that he had turned aside to look, God called to him out of the bush: “Moses! Moses!” He answered, “Here I am.”  

Moses contemplates the bush, and God notices. Only then does God call out. 

Is there anyone with Moses who ignored the bush? From the story it doesn't seem so (though one midrash says there were others present, but they could not see the burning bush), but it doesn't particularly matter.

Notice how redemption starts. Not with a grand revelation, not with a holy declaration but with seemingly ordinary people willing to accept that light can come from an unnatural source. 

Edmond also sees the light, but he doesn't see the lamp-post. To him light comes from elsewhere - from Turkish delight and magical power. But to Lucy, light comes from a friendly faun and willingness to forgive, she can bring redemption.  

And for Moses light comes from a people who, though enslaved and embittered, under constant attack and abandoned by the world, are not willing to give up. For they know that God's redemption will come. 

Photo by Sarah Sheedy on Unsplash

The Forgotten Lamp-post

 

The lamp-post unknowingly planted by the White Witch seems pretty well known to the creatures of Narnia. Mr. Tumnus tells Lucy that the boundaries of Narnia are from the lamp-post to Cair Paravel. At the end of  "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" we are told that the area around the lamp-post became known as the Lantern Waste. So how could it be that the children, as they grew up in Narnia, forgot about the lamp-post? It would seem almost unnatural to forget such a clear landmark!

I actually don't have a good answer for this one. But I had to ask the question before going on to considering our two final points in the previous post. 

Photo by Naoki Suzuki on Unsplash

The Lamp-post: the Way to the World of Men

In our last, we asked how the White Witch knew that the door back to the 'World of Men' was past the lamp-post. The truth is, we could have asked the opposite question, why, of all possible places in the Narnian world, does the wardrobe open to the area of the lamp-post? 

But I think the answer is clear (like Michael commented on the last post). The lamp-post is the object in Narnia most belonging to our world (the World of Men), while the wardrobe is the object in our world, most belonging to Narnia. The connection between the wardrobe and Narnia is made explicit at the end of The Magician's Nephew. Digory takes the core of the apple he received from Aslan, plants it, and eventually uses the wood from the tree that grows from the core to construct a wardrobe. Lewis proves that the tree never forgot its Narnian roots by the fact that Lucy goes through the wardrobe back to Narnia.

The connection between the lamp-post and our world is just as explicit. The White Witch had ripped off part of a lamp-post in our world and, during the creation of Narnia, threw it at Aslan. The piece of lamp-post hit Aslan, fell to the ground and grew into a fully mature lamp-post. However, unlike the wardrobe, Lewis does not explicitly tell us that it retains any connection to our world. But it seems to - because when Lucy comes through the wardrobe the first thing she sees is the light of the lamp-post which she follows until she reaches the lamp-post itself. 

It seems that there is a resonance between the wardrobe and the lamp-post that between the two is the link between the worlds. Does this matter? Well, maybe, let's think about two more things and see if that helps.

1) The seed of the wardrobe was brought from Narnia to our world for the purposes of good - healing a dying woman. After that good was accomplished, the seed was honorably buried and even when the tree that grew from the seed was knocked down, it was cared for and built into something that would always be cared for. 

The seed of the lamp-post was plucked for evil, as a weapon for the White Witch. In Narnia it was used to attack an innocent being - who happened to be the creator of Narnia. It fell unceremoniously and no one took notice of it until it actually became a fully grown lamp-post. A forest grew around it (except for the small patch where it stood), and it remained, lit, apparently forgotten until a young girl from our world rediscovered it.

2) Edmund comes through the wardrobe and also sees the light. He too follows it until stepping out into an open place in the woods. But Lewis never says that Edmund saw the lamp-post! It may be that Edmund assumed the light was from the open area, but the lamp-post itself he never even notices - not at least until the White Witch points it out to him. 

I think it's worth pondering over this one and perhaps thinking of another strange light that appeared to a wandering individual on the cusp of a great redemption.    

Photo by Spencer Bergen on Unsplash

The Lamp-post: the Way to the World of Men?

Edmund's first visit to Narnia is, as we know, when he becomes entrapped by the promises and delights of the White Witch. Though, by the end of their meeting, Edmund is ready to follow the Witch anywhere, she insists that he go back and bring his brother and sisters. Edmund claims not to know the way back, to which the Witch replies:

"That's easy," answered the Queen. "Do you see that lamp?" She pointed with her wand and Edmund turned and saw the same lamp-post under which Lucy had met the Faun. "Straight on, beyond that, is the way to the World of Men..." 

It is not stated that Edmund ever noticed the lamp-post and he certainly said nothing about it to the White Witch. Neither Lucy nor Tumnus had spoken to the Witch at this point, so how does the Witch know the way to the World of Men? 

How is it so easy? 

Photo by Spencer Bergen on Unsplash

Must a Creator Immortal?

In the previous post, I asked why the White Witch thought she could kill Aslan. She knew that he created Narnia (and presumably the universe of Narnia) so how could she not realize that he is immortal? 

Before we get to an answer we should note that a spirtual mistake of this sort happen another time in Narnia. The Narnians assumed that Tash was simply a false god, one that did not exsit. And they weren't the only ones: the Calormen of "The Last Battle" also did not believe in the existence of Tash and I think we can argue that the Tisrocs did not either. Remember this exchange: 

    "O impeccable Tisroc," said the Vizier. "In comparison with you I love neither the Prince nor my own        life nor bread nor water nor the light of the sun."

    "Your sentiments," said the Tisroc, "are elevated and correct. I also love none of these things in                   comparison with the glory and strength of my throne..."

The Tisroc mentions no love for Tash only for his own power. Strangely enough, the only character we know for sure believed in Tash was Emeth!  

As for the Narnians, only when Tash came into Narnia did they realize there was a spiritual evil that had possessed the Calormens and aimed to fight against Aslan on Narnian soil. 

Be that as it may, I think there's a reason the White Witch did not equate Creator to immortal, because she did not equate Destroyer to immortal. She was the great destroyer of Charn, yet not immortal. What is the difference between creation and destruction. In fact, destroying is far easier than creating. Only a truly intelligent and loving being can create, but any tyrant can destroy. 

The value of creation is underestimated, undervalued, and perhaps even vilified. Screwtape says, "At present the Enemy says 'Mine' of everything on the pedantic, legalistic ground that He made it: Our Father hopes in the end to say 'Mine' of all things on the more realistic and dynamic ground of conquest." Thus, the devil, the White Witch, Tash, the Tisroc, and so many others gain power and ownership through destruction. But in truth, only evil must be destroyed, ownership is attained via creation. And a true creator must be greater than what he creates. Thus, the creator of the world must be immortal.