Sveta-lohita

The Sanskrit term "Sveta-lohita" is a compound of "sveta" meaning white, and "lohita" meaning red. It appears in Puranic literature, particularly associated with specific cosmogonic cycles or Kalpas, signifying a particular divine form or attribute within the Hindu pantheon.

Tlie name .Siva when he a]»pears in the 29th Kalpa as '■;! iiKHui-culourcd Kumara". Swedenborg, Emmanuel. Thr gnat Swedish seer and mystic. Ilf was born on tlie li9th Jainiary. 1688, and was the son of Dr. Jasper Swedberg, bishop of Skara. in West Gothland; and died in London, in Great Bath Street, Clerkenwell, on ^larch 29th, 1772. Of all mystics, Swedenborg has certainly influenced "Theosophy" the most, yet he left a far more profound impress on official science. For while as an astronomer, nuithematiciaii. physiologist, naturalist, and idtilosoplier he had no rival, in i)s_\-ch()logy and metaphysics he was certainly beliind his time. When forty-six years of age, he became a "Theosophist", and a "seer"; but. although his life had been at all times blameless and respectable, lie was never a true philanthropist or an ascetic. His clairvoyant powers, however, were very remarkable ; but they did not g'o beyond this plane of matter; all that he says of subjective worlds and spiritual beings is evidently far more the outcome of his exuberant fancy, than of his spiritual insight. He left behind him numerous works, which are sadly misinterpreted by his followers. Sylphs. The Kosicrucian name for the elements of the air. Symbolism. The pictorial expression of an idea or a thought. Primordial irriting had at first no characters, but a symbol generally stood for a whole phrase or sentence. A symbol is thus a recorded parable, and a paral)le a spoken symbol. The Chinese written language is nothing nu)re than symbolical wi-iting, each of its several thousand letters being a symbol.

The term Sveta-lohita, meaning "white-red," invites contemplation on the intricate symbolism woven into the fabric of Hindu cosmology. It presents Shiva not merely as the destroyer, but as a divine youth, a Kumara, adorned with a color that speaks of paradox. White, the color of purity, of the unmanifest, of the snow-capped Himalayas where Shiva often meditates, and red, the color of ardour, of creation, of the vital life force, of the blood that pulses through existence. This is not a simple binary but a sophisticated chromatic theology, reminiscent of the alchemical axiom "solve et coagula," to dissolve and to coagulate, the essential process of transformation.

Mircea Eliade, in his seminal work on shamanism and archaic techniques of ecstasy, often pointed to the significance of color symbolism in ecstatic states and initiations. The merging of white and red in Sveta-lohita can be seen as a representation of the divine embracing the full spectrum of existence, from the ethereal to the material, from stillness to dynamic action. It suggests a divine presence that is both transcendent and immanent, pure and passionate, a paradox that the human mind struggles to reconcile but which the mystic can apprehend.

This epithet also resonates with the concept of the divine as a source of both cosmic order and creative dynamism. The white aspect might represent the underlying, unchanging truth, the Brahman, while the red signifies the active, creative energy, Shakti, that manifests the universe. The Kumara form itself, the divine youth, speaks of potentiality, of a stage of development, of a nascent power that is both pure and potent. It is a reminder that divinity is not static but a living, evolving force, capable of appearing in forms that challenge our conventional understanding of oppositions. The contemplation of Sveta-lohita encourages a recognition of the profound unity that underlies apparent dualities, a lesson that remains profoundly relevant for the modern seeker grappling with fragmented realities.

RELATED_TERMS: Shiva, Kumara, Puranas, Brahman, Shakti, Kalpa, Alchemical symbolism