Lady Aquila wrote:
In Aristasia, as in all traditional cultures, the body is seen as microcosmos – the cosmos in miniature, with the interconnexions between the Great Body of the world, the small body of an individual maid and the body as a general, as opposed to an individual, phenomenon being a fundamental element in our understanding of each.
The heart is the Solar centre in maid, as the Sun is in the cosmos (the chest, by extension, refers to the heart, and also to the lungs, which are the source of breath - another aspect of the spirit – re-spir-ation is from the same word as spiritus).
The head is the lunar centre – so the light of reason is the reflected light of the solar Intellect, whose home in maid is the heart.
To touch first the forehead and then the chest is an in-gathering gesture, bringing exterior things (represented by the head) back to their true centre in the heart. It can be made in significance of receiving a teaching or a reprimand, thus it can also be a sign of humility. It can be made to acknowledge and centre ourselves in the Higher reality, or to show respect – gathering oneself in from the fragmented and peripheral world of the head to the still and Essential world of the heart.
Although in late western Telluria the heart has been taken as a (very loose) symbol for the emotions (so “heart vs head” means “reason vs emotion”), in Aristasia this is not the case. The heart is the centre of the Spirit, and thus of Pure Intellect. It is also the centre of Pure Love – first Divine Love and then its true reflection in human love. But it is not the centre of emotional impulses and passions. That is the stomach.
There is also an inverse form of this gesture, touching first the chest and then the forehead, and then opening the hand in a “giving” or “indicating” gesture. This is the “outward” gesture and is one of generosity. It might, for example, be used when inviting someone into one’s house. Its implication is “from my innermost being, through my exterior faculties, to you”.
