FORGIVING

British Museum
Sketch for Frontispiece of Book of Ahania

Plates 61 and 62 of Jerusalem present a long passage relating incidents found in the Bible with the myth which Blake developed based on his own experience of seeking to live in a world fraught with a struggle to resolve contraries. He begins with the story of incidents around the birth of Jesus as told in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.
 
Luke 1
[30] And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
[31] And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
...
[34] Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
[35] And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Matthew 1
[18] Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
[19] Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.
[20] But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
[21] And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

Blake invites us to enter the Visionary state and behold with him the dynamics through which salvation is enacted. He begins by viewing from Mary's perspective. If Joseph would not marry her, she would be seen as a 'Harlot & an Adulteress' when her pregnancy was publicly known. Mary did not claim purity but plead for love and forgiveness. She likens herself to the people Israel who were forgiven by Jehovah when they fell away. Mary was able to call upon Joseph to recall the behavior of Jehovah: although the anger of Elohim Jehovah was aroused by the disobedience of his people, he did not cast them out. Mary appeals to Joseph, not trying to justify herself, but recognizing that love is stronger than anger. She sees that passing through the fiery furnace forges stronger ties than those based on the semblance of righteousness.

Jerusalem, Plate 61, (E 211)
"Behold: in the Visions of Elohim Jehovah, behold Joseph & Mary   
And be comforted O Jerusalem in the Visions of Jehovah Elohim

She looked & saw Joseph the Carpenter in Nazareth & Mary
His espoused Wife. And Mary said, If thou put me away from thee
Dost thou not murder me? Joseph spoke in anger & fury. Should I  
Marry a Harlot & an Adulteress? Mary answerd, Art thou more pure
Than thy Maker who forgiveth Sins & calls again Her that is Lost
Tho She hates. he calls her again in love. I love my dear Joseph
But he driveth me away from his presence. yet I hear the voice of God
In the voice of my Husband. tho he is angry for a moment, he will not      
Utterly cast me away. if I were pure, never could I taste the sweets
Of the Forgive[ne]ss of Sins! if I were holy! I never could behold the tears
Of love! of him who loves me in the midst of his anger in furnace of fire." 

In the Biblical account Joseph, finding his espoused wife pregnant, intended to break off their relationship quietly. It took the reassurance by an angel to reconcile him to Mary. In his Book of Ahania, Blake describes a couple who were unable to resolve their differences over another issue. Ahania was thrown out by Urizen for her honest attempt to make him aware of the consequences of his behavior. Urizen was unable to forgive and so lost his emanation, an essential aspect of his whole self.

Book of Ahania, Plate 4, (E 88)
2: And the voice cried: Ah Urizen! Love!
Flower of morning! I weep on the verge
Of Non-entity; how wide the Abyss
Between Ahania and thee!                      

3: I lie on the verge of the deep.
I see thy dark clouds ascend,
I see thy black forests and floods,
A horrible waste to my eyes!

4: Weeping I walk over rocks                 
Over dens & thro' valleys of death
Why didst thou despise Ahania
To cast me from thy bright presence
Into the World of Loneness
...
Plate 5
14: But now alone over rocks, mountains
Cast out from thy lovely bosom:                          
Cruel jealousy! selfish fear!
Self-destroying: how can delight,
Renew in these chains of darkness

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