From Journal Entry 4/2/2002
I looked up in the sky after arriving at Grandma Theresa's house. I saw two constellations. One was a dragon and the other an angel. The dragon was breathing fire on the angel.
There are three kinds of creatures- first angels. Angels are pure intelligence. Their nature and their nourishment are worship, service, and perpetual remembrance of God. They eat and live by these exactly like fish live and by water. They have no desire, so they have no need to struggle against it. Obedience is their essence.
Then there are animals. They are pure desire, desire in its naked state.
Then comes humankind- that strange hybrid of intelligence and desire. Man is half-beast, half-angel. The fish in man attracts him toward the shining water; the serpent in him drags him toward the earth.
The angel is always saved by knowledge; the animal by its unadorned ignorance. Man is between them, struggling, suffering, aspiring, falling, confused, desperate, ambiguous.
"He whose intelligence conquers his desires is higher than the angels; he whose desire overwhelms his intelligence sinks lower than any animal."
Reference~ Light Upon Light Inspirations from Rumi, Andrew Harvey
