Structural-spatial scheme of the Tree of Life in the topographical iconicity of the city–temple–icon–human

Abstract

The article reveals regularities between the spatial structure of the city-temple-icons and the similar structural principle, which, in the context of Hesychast anthropology, acts in the topography of the human soul. The spatial structure of the Tree of Life, a universal symbol contained in the topographical icons of the level and of the city, temple, icon, and human, is developed and proposed. It is proved that the spatial framework of the Tree of Life is the Golgotha ​​Cross. Considerable attention is paid to the analysis of the main spatial zones of the temple-icons, which have a hierarchical construction. It is assumed that the topographical icon of the city-temple-icon-human is arranged in such a way that it is possible to overcome the ontological gap that was created as a result of original sin. Particularly with the help of distinct geometric constants that determine the structure of the Tree of Life, ancient iconographs tried to restrain/seal the gaping hole, which seemed to be an insurmountable Rubicon, at the moment of the fall between the Spirit and the soul, the mind and heart of man, earthly and divine, profane and sacred worlds. Consequently, the use of sacred numbers was deliberately incorporated into sacred texts, icons, and in the architecture and iconographic programs of the temples. It was analyzed that the internal structure/main sacral energy framework of the icon-temple contains compositional nodes associated with the disclosure of the main semantic load in the iconographic program/plot, and are always constructed on the lines of the golden section. Some regularities in the placement of the central figure in the composition of the temple icon are traced. In the temple, as in the icon, the semantic center of the sacred space is the image of Christ the Almighty, who is placed in a top of an equilateral triangle with a side size corresponding to the width of the temple. The center of the Nimbus passes through the golden section. In the context of the relationship between the topography of the icon-temple and the proposed scheme for determining the topography of the human soul. According to the analogy principle, the structural-spatial scheme of the Tree of Life in the anthropological aspect is associated with the stages of the spiritual perfection of the human soul.