"Jacob s Ladder"

Mount Angel Abbey - Order of Saint Benedict

Tapestry designed and woven by

Pam Patrie

I was asked by the Catholic Benedictine Brothers of Mt. Angel Abbey in Oregon to design and weave a tapestry for their refectory, cloistered within the abbey walls. This private monastic chamber is accessible only to the monks whose community numbers about seventy souls. The monks eat in silence in this room three times a day. The monastery is over one hundred years old, and only one other artwork--a beautifully painted icon illustrating the Old Testament story of Abraham and Sarah entertaining angels in their home--adorns the walls of the refectory.

After much research into Benedictine tradition and art in religious spaces, I decided to design and weave a theme from the Old Testament story of Jacob. This decision also satisfied my desire to maintain continuity with the refectory's already existing artwork, for Abraham and Jacob are two of the three revered Old Testament Patriarchs.

Jacob's story is fairly well-known and is often a favorite. As a young man, Jacob agreed with his mother to deceive his blind old father--the patriarch Isaac--in order to steal his twin brother's birthright. His mother believed he was the more capable son to lead the tribe and more deserving of the father's blessing, even though Jacob had been the second out of the womb. According to tribal law, the firstborn male received everything. Jacob's brother was naturally angered by this deceit. All hell broke loose, and Jacob consequently found it prudent to leave home to escape his brother's wrath.

Having lost his provisions en route to work for his uncle, Jacob fell asleep and had a most amazing dream of Angels ascending and descending a ladder to heaven. This dream--the theme of the ladder--subsequently became very useful for Benedictine teaching. Humility, the primary virtue and goal of Benedictine life, is the means by which one may ascend to the heavenly realm. True humility is tough. To go up is to go down...a real duality. Go to the back of the line.

With regard to design, I put Jacob in an earthly dome glittered with space age stars and the flowering plant called Jacob s Ladder at his feet and head. His fantastic dream bubbles up over the dome splitting into wing-like clouds that hold visual secrets--symbols--woven into the textile. Meditation over time will reveal the small symbols, enhancing contemplation. The monks' silence in the room will be a meditative key to the way the subtle Christian symbols will disclose themselves. Mary as "Queen of Heaven"; was my choice for a truly humble figure. The Mt. Angel brothers liked this idea very much. They also liked the figures on either side of the dome. Posted like sentries, they are Saint Scholastica and her twin brother Saint Benedict.

St. Benedict, the Father of western Christian monasticism, and his twin sister St. Scholastica are set as sentries or guides to help demystify the dream. Through the practice St. Benedict's Rule for monastic life, the ladder can be climbed. I chose a rope, a hand over fist ladder instead of the rung ladder so commonly seen in images of this story. Although occupying the sidelines in a compositional sense, Scholastica and Benedict--both well-versed in the Old Testament and therefore cognizant of the story of Jacob--guide us to our ascent by and within the pillars of the Rule of Benedict on one hand, and the faith and ethic of theological philosophy on the other. These two saints remind us that the Ladder is ascended through devotion, faith and humility. Without those two stalwart figures to guide us, we would wear the palms of our hands raw attempting to ascend the rope ladder to Heaven. Guiding and aiding us, they are the protectors and teachers of the Faith.

At the outset, I knew very little about all of this, but I intended to make the monks and myself happy in the design and weaving of this large work. I discovered wonderful things including new ways to gather information and conduct research. I am a spontaneous weaver, and I like to weave without a regular cartoon for everything. I have, however, learned through the years the value of strenuously applying myself to time-consuming woven studies, paintings and various cartooning methods. I found that I could combine many of the methods--Navaho, Gobelin, Aubusson, and Scots--that we have learned from one another through the years. What results is an AMERICAN method, an approach typical of our way of blending processes and ideas to develop rewarding techniques.

I wove the tapestry at 8 epi and double warped the loom in order to split the warps and weave the faces, the rope ladder and Scholastica's dove at 16 epi. I weave on an old, nine and one-half-foot high and eleven foot wide Gobelin type loom that was brought to this country from Belgium 30 years ago. It can weave 10 feet wide and any length. After twenty years in downtown Portland, I have moved the loom and my studio home to a room built off of the back of our house on an old patio slab.

Please contact Pam for current information on workshops or to schedule a workshop with your guild.
email: pampatriestudios@yahoo.com
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