with Frank DeBadrihayé and Judith Tripp
Through lecture, images, music, movement and meditation, we will explore the theme of Mystical Christianity as it manifests in the glories of Chartres Cathedral and in our contemporary lives. We will center our work on Thursday’s labyrinth walk, encouraging participants to enter into their own experience of the mysteries. Wednesday’s lecture/meditation will introduce Frank DeBadrihayé’s own mystical journey . This will be supplemented by meditations and movement. On Thursday, we will consider what it has meant to walk the Chartres Labyrinth throughout history, exploring the themes of the Sacred Feminine, the Inner Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Sacred Marriage. Friday’s presentation will integrate the experience of the labyrinth walk and use art to create a mandala for participants to use as a talisman for further study and experience.
The Inner Path
At a very young age Frank De Badrihayé experienced an inner awakening. From the age of 12 onwards, this developed into a more conscious search for contact with God and His Kingdom of Light.
Fundamental questions concerning life and death kept surfacing with great intensity. Contemplation and meditation increasingly found their way into his every day life and this eventually resulted into a growing awareness of Christ and the Great Celestial Host. During this intense process Frank was given glimpses of God’s Almighty Light.
In the course of this process he gradually felt the urge to search for confirmation of his own ideas and experiences. So he was increasingly drawn towards the study of the Wisdom and Mystic Traditions. This led to the recognition that mankind had walked the same Path of inner awakening and development for thousands of years.
In his own development Christ became the longer the more important. Though he deeply respects all spiritual traditions that bring people really closer to God, he nevertheless found a deep recognition, a coming home in the Inner, Mystical Teachings of Christianity and Judaism.
Through his own experiences, Frank recognized that the essence of this mystical tradition was indeed the love for God and Christ. It was this same love that ignited a deep yearning in him to really get to know God. He realized it marks the beginning of every seeker’s inner quest which he believes will ultimately lead to union with God. This longing stems from a deep level within the soul. The writings of the mystics, Theresia of Avilla and John of the Cross among others, have offered him a wealth of confirmation on this subject. The Nag Hammadi writings also proved to be very inspirational as they offered a fundamental insight in early gnostic Christianity. Some of these documents emphasize the importance of seeking God through the initiatory experience of the Celestial Journey. In the same way the gospel of Saint Thomas advocates the importance of finding the inner Christ. In the deeper levels of the soul lives the longing for participation with the Celestial Host and ultimately communion and union with God. This is enabled through the presence of the Inner-Christ - the Consciousness that leads us to the inner Kingdom of Light an thus to God - residing in the soul.
On this initiatory path, that Frank has walked for more than thirty years, personal experience has proved to be of the utmost importance. The words ‘inner’ and ‘mystical’ emphasize the very personal nature of inner growth. It is a gradual process of incorporating that which is experienced and bestowed by the Divine Grace along one’s Path. It is a fundament in building the very intimate relationship with God and the Heavenly Host. It is through these inner experiences and guidance that Holy Sophia bestows Wisdom or Gnosis (higher knowledge through experience) upon the mystic. As such, birth is given to the Inner-Christ consciousness. In this way the initiate walks in the footsteps of Jesus Christ and the Holy Ones who offer invaluable safety and guidance on his path. Through study of the Holy Bible and contemplation on the life of Christ and the lives of the holy ones, we are given strong anchors and examples.
From this growing connection with Christ, a more loving nature arises which expresses itself in a longing for service to one’s fellow beings and to society. The example of Christ invites us all to aspire to His image and thus to become more loving people.
Moreover and very importantly, the Inner, Mystical Teachings of Christianity incorporate the idea of the sacred feminine as the eternal companion of Father God. The sacred Feminine is since olden times known to us as Holy Sophia of whom we - for example - can read in the Old Testament in the letters of the ‘wise king’, Salomon. Holy Ghost, Heavenly Shekina, or Divine Mother are other names that have been used in the mystic traditions.
Deepening the connection with our souls also means deepening the connection with the universal soul, the Anima Mundi. Thus respect for and deep connectedness with nature on a planetary and cosmological level is also part of this path, as all stems from God. These ideas are clearly expressed in a number of Frank’s paintings. This is typical of the mystical tradition as we can also see in the inspiring writings and art of Hildegard of Bingen.
Visionary Paintings
From the dawning of his inner awakening, Frank felt the urge to paint some of his experiences. During this creative process he felt how he was progressively guided and inspired by the Heavenly Host. A growing urge to portray these inner realms of beauty and splendour led him to follow a 5 years fulltime course at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bruges. Some of the subjects given during these years were classic painting and drawing, art history, hermetic and religious symbolism, heraldry and philosophy. During the last two years there, he made a study of the old master painters such as P.P. Rubens, Raphael and Jan Van Eyck. The latter lived and worked - just as Frank does now - in the beautiful medieval town of Bruges in Flandres.
Through large projection of his visionary art he has taught and lectured for over 20 years in Europe. The main subject being the inner or initiatic Path to God realization with the Christian an Hebrew mystical wisdom tradition as its foundation. These actions find their origin in his longing to share the insights that were given to him during many years of spiritual development. As stated above, service to and support of spiritual development in society is a very important aspect of any seeker’s Path. In line with this he founded a spiritual school, which now goes by the name of Immanuel and offers practical courses for those drawn to walk the mystic path of the Inner-Christ.
Natural Medicine
After his art studies Frank went on to study naturopathy, his second great interest and calling in life. In 1993 he became a certified naturopath. This eventually took him further to the more subtle forms of therapies, such as Spiritual Healing. Part of his training as a spiritual healer he did at the National Federation of Spiritual Healers of Great Britain of which he is a member. In 2005 he founded a school for Spiritual Healers, the Academy for Planetary Healing.
