The Burning Bush

From ancient times people have known that four elements make up the body:

Air, Water, Earth, and Fire. Blake used this is many ways. The four zoas were

associated with it as follows:




Air - Urizen

Water - Tharmas

Earth - Urthona

Fire - Luvah

In this post we will focus on the last one.









Wikimedia Commons Book of Urizen




A wrathful Luvah

A bewildered Urizen

An earthy Urthona

A wet Tharmas

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The Bible frequently refers to fire:




My God is a consuming fire.

Elijah refers to water and fire.

Pentecost: tongues of fire

the pillar of fire

and many, many others.

Blake also used fire in his poetry (and pictures):

What the hand, dare sieze the fire?

“Bring me my chariot of fire.”




The blacksmith, Los, was intimately acquainted with fire and used it to shape and temper the ‘matter’









that he worked with.

Exodus 1:

[1] Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the

flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.




[2] And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he

looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.




[3] And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.




[4] And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.




[5] And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.