Tycho's Prayer, or a Mormon Pietà

Jake C.

Jul 1

The Fable

Lord of lords,
Eternal Friend,
Let me not have lived in vain.

In 16th century Denmark, Tycho Brahe aimed his telescope first at a bright guiding star, and then upward toward a more distant star. He gazed deep into the night through his crystal lens. And as often happened, at his moment of greatest hunger, the light arriving at his eyes burst with visions into his mind.

Tycho longed for things, as much as any man ever does. A human's context shifts through Time, quavering on the edge of a streaming arrow's vane. Tycho's longing amounted to a pious fetish for the glimmering lights in the firmament. He wanted to be the universe's boyfriend, for surely the Milky Way belonged to a divine feminine.

Through his telescope, Tycho had seen her worlds without number. For this astronomer, no earthly church or pastor would do. His desire raced back along the light piercing his natural eyes through the telescope's eyepiece. He followed it out into the darkness. His telescope presented a rocky world near the distant star.

Mistress Lord,
Eternal Muse,
Let me not cry out unheard.

Facing away from Tycho's lens, she stood as though suspended in the blackness above the rocky world. A heavenly being, her arms opened with hands at waist level, in attitude of ministering. Beneath her, like an altar, a hill of volcanic rock floated in the darkness upon the face of the deep.

At the summit, Joseph the carpenter slumped and whimpered in defeat. He cradled his right hand, recently bruised by the Virgin's cheekbone. Somewhere a choir sang: So long, Joseph. Poor old, Joseph. Cuckold Joe from Bethlehem.

Tycho felt no pity for this Joseph of Biblical lore. Rather, jealousy crept into him as he watched the Lord, his Muse, condescending to comfort this disgraced laborer of Nazareth. Tycho coveted the intimacy of her sympathy. Why would she offer mercy to this brutish and jaded husband? Mary's womb had been commandeered by the omnipotent Eternal Father. Tycho sighed. How could Joseph have become anything other than a misogynist?

I WANTED HER! I DESERVED HER!
I REFUSE TO GO TO MY GRAVE
UNFULFILLED!

This was Tycho's vision of the Spirit Prison to which he felt himself being sentenced. His own life had been gluttonous, so much effort and care devoted to maintaining extravagance. Suddenly he felt his and Joseph's hearts beating in time. Tycho tried to pull away from this impending fate. As all privileged men do, he felt himself willing to hurt others if doing so might keep him from losing his pride of place.

Tycho and Joseph's covetous wailing slammed into the hill. Their words shook everything: the rock, the waters below, and the stars above. All organized matter trembled before their rage, except her. Calm amidst their thunder, she descended to the pinnacle of the rocky hill. Transfiguring Joseph, she placed her hands on his head. She blessed and forgave him.

Joseph's mortal frame pressed down beneath her touch. First, he became great drops of blood, and then mere powder which soon permeated the hill. Tycho witnessed Joseph become a mere face within the stone—Joseph the adoptive father of the Savior; Joseph the wife beater; Joseph the unrequited heir of King David's urges. 1,500 years later, Tycho gnashed his teeth and wept. Then he waited for the touch of her hands upon his head.

Lord of lords,
Eternal Friend,
Let me not have lived in vain.

Discussion Questions and Notes

Given what little we know of Joseph after Jesus's childhood, what are your feelings about the harsh way he is depicted in this fable? How does this piece compare with your sense of the reasons some men become destructive toward themselves and others? How do you feel about Heavenly Mother's depiction here? Your comments are invited below.

Tycho Brahe was famed for advances he made in astronomical instrumentation and observational accuracy (though his use of a telescope in this fable is an anachronism). According to his scientific heir, Johannes Kepler, Tycho's last words were, "Let me not seem to have lived in vain."

The Pietà is a popular subject in sculpture. Mary is depicted holding the slain body of Jesus after he is brought down from the cross. Click here to see another example on display at The Met. Thank you for reading.