Johfra Bosschart

On the Multerland website this page is attached to the page “Metaphysical Art”, and that page is then again attached to “Metaphysics”, “Cosmic Sciences” and finally the main page “New Directions”. Johfra Bosschart was not a metaphysical painter – at least, he did not consider himself to be metaphysical – but especially one, and some more of the many incredible, fantastic paintings he created, are for me metaphysical art in the way metaphysical art has to be understood: this has been explained in this blog on this page. The in all sorts of dictionaries explained term is wrong, because metaphysics are misunderstood. The one painting where I refer to is titled: Aquarius.

Johfra Bosschart deserves, because of his unique art paintings and philosophical views on life and man, nature, an introduction, followed by my interpretation of his Aquarius, that he painted in 1975.

Franciscus Johannes Gijsbertus van den Berg (15 December 1919, in Rotterdam, The Netherlands – 6 November 1998, in Fleurac, France) or just Johfra Bosschart was a Dutch modern artist. Johfra described his works as “Surrealism based on studies of psychology, religion, the Bible, astrology, antiquity, magic, witchcraft, mythology and occultism.” – Read on Wikipedia or read the biography on the Johfra Museum website here.

See also:

Videos about Johfra

The playlist starts with a film, created by the Dutch Roderik Rodenburg. This film was part of his final exam, in which he explored the relationship between the artist and his environment. He visited Johfra on November 6, 1990, when Johfra was 77 years old. On November 6, 1998, exactly 8 years later, Johfra died. The film was published on YouTube in 2012. The playlist contains 13 videos of various creators. These videos become visible via the icon on the top right, with three horizontal lines and a triangle. Click to open the list.

My personal story about Johfra

Being interested in astrology already from when I was 12 years young, so, in 1960, I was of course attracted by a completely new sort of astrology book, when it was published in 1981. I bought it and was impressed by the beauty of the pictures: photos from unique art paintings. I did not recognize the name Johfra on the top, did not consider it as the painter’s name, I interpreted it as a sort of astrology, with another philosophy, and never looked further. Computers and Google did not exist then.

Fifty years later, and already been moved to Norway, there were sometimes moments, during a meditation, that there was suddenly the word jofra, for me it was a word, pronounced in Dutch. I more often hear words or names when meditating, but this word was strange to me, so finally I searched via Google and was surprised to discover the art of Johfra. I found the paintings that were used in the book about astrology I once bought and was again impressed, but I could see more in these paintings, after all the personal developments I went through during my life.

Especially one painting took my attention, and much more than all other astrological paintings. It was Aquarius. Not because Aquarius is my personal sign, because Scorpio is my personal astrological sign. I wrote already about the Aquarius painting in this post: The Age of Aquarius, published on February 2, 2020.

When I was working at the pages about quantum physics, and discovered the meaning of quantum, I went on a mental journey from that word to another sort of physics: meta physics, metaphysics, and from there to searching for metaphysical art and discovering how little mankind has understood of what exactly metaphysical means, what metaphysical art is, and then, because already a long time present in this blog: to the painting mediumship of metaphysical writer Jozef Rulof, and then to the question: which painters could I add here also? Then I remembered Aquarius, its total message. All is metaphysical.

Johfra, and the Zodiac paintings

Johfra painted the twelve astrological signs in 1974 and 1975, in his own unique way. These twelve paintings appeared in 1981 in a book: “Johfra – Astrologie, de tekens van de dierenriem.” This originally in the Dutch language published book is only available in English and French.

In 1973, at the suggestion of the Haarlem art critic Hein Steehouwer, poster magnate Engel Verkerke conceived the idea of publishing a poster series of the twelve constellations. Steehouwer advised him to have these works made by Johfra. Verkerke concludes a contract with Johfra. The twelve paintings are made in the format 90 by 60 centimeters, which corresponded to the format of the posters to be published. The compositions of the paintings were permeated with symbolism. To ensure that the colors came out well on the posters, Johfra painted the paintings in a color scheme that was brighter than usual for him. Johfra has been working on these twelve paintings for over a year. In 1975 the Zodiac series was fully exhibited at Galerie Kamp (Amsterdam). The owner Walter Kamp purchased the twelve paintings himself. The art critics did not respond positively to Johfra’s work, but the public came to look at the artworks in large numbers. The Zodiac series was accompanied by booklet written by Hein Steehouwer: Johfra en de Zodiak. At the same time, posters were also being released for other works by Johfra. Galerie Kamp organized exhibitions of which Johfra’s work was part, including at the Baseler Kunstmesse. Source: Wikipedia, Johfra Bosschart, Working career

What is astrology?

According to “etymonline“: astrology(n.) – late 14c., “calculation and foretelling based on observation of heavenly bodies,” from Latin astrologia “astronomy, the science of the heavenly bodies,” from Greek astrologia “astronomy,” literally “a telling of the stars,” from astron “star” (from PIE root *ster- (2) “star”) + -logia “treating of” (see -logy).

Astrology is an interesting -let me name it- “art of reading the constellation of the planets and the moon within our solar system” concerning the exact hour, minute, month and year of birth of a human being. In the early 90s I have experienced a very excellent reader of my personal zodiac, with amazing revelations of my life as it was already developed, and which she could not know, but knew anyway. She was even foretelling me occasions and developments that I could hardly accept as going to be true. I therefore forgot what she foretold, till it came back in my memory a while after it indeed had been realized, many years later. Her name was Carien Rietberg. She spoke about becoming “the eagle”, the transformed Scorpio, and how wonderful: there is an eagle on Johfra’s painting “Scorpio“.

I also consulted another astrologer, but the result of that reading was utterly poor. This, together with publications on the web about what might come to you in the next year, are so shallow, that I may conclude that indeed astrology is not, and never will be, a materialist-science1, because the outcome is not from research, but from interpretations, and these depend on the intuition of the astrologer, the one who reads the constellations, and the metaphysical [meta ta physika] information that streams between the astrologer, the reader, and the one who is “read”. A comparable reading took place in the mid nineties in the Centre of New Directions, White Lodge, England, but with Tarot cards. In this case, these cards were the tools to be able to read, and, again, the metaphysical information that was present, and that she, Chrissie, could perceive.

Johfra’s interpretations of the 12 signs of the Zodiac

Nowhere is to be found what the exact texts are in Johfra’s book about astrology, and who has written these texts. The paintings have been published. Not the texts. For an overview of all paintings and an in-depth interpretation of the rich symbolism depicted in each painting, you could visit the website Symbolreader: Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Scorpio, Libra, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Gemini, Taurus

My interpretation of Johfra’s Aquarius

A copyrighted picture of the painting Aquarius, as published on the Johfra Museum website, page: the year 1975:

©Johfra, #1122: Zodiakserie: Waterman, 90 x 60 cm – Aquarius
1975, c/o Pictoright Amsterdam 2025, https://pictoright.nl/en/

Prophecies

Johfra’s Aquarius, painted in 1975, is a message, a prophecy, that corresponds with the Hopi prophecy 2, and the message around the end of the 1st cycle of the Mayan calendar 3, in 2012, at the beginning of the Aquarius era. In both prophecies the end of the still not completely finished era has been announced. The subject “prophecy” is related with metaphysics, and for me the reason to add Johfra’s painting to “metaphysical art“.
A new time is developing, and that process started already decades before the Aquarius era began officially, at the final end of the former era, the Pisces 4 era, which is logical, because it concerns a birth of a new time, in this case a being born from the Pisces era. This era, like all zodiac eras, lasted 2000 years, and started with the birth of Jesus, in Palestine, in Bethlehem, and who lived later in Nazareth, therefore named Jesus of Nazareth, who received later the name Christ, because of an evolutionary process within, developing an energy that is known as kundalini, but also Christ energy.

Christ: word that is derived from the Greek word χριστός (chrīstós), meaning “anointed one”. Anointed: the receiving of a special blessing, power or task, often through a ritual -like for instance a baptise- or divine intervention, which could be the unification with the Holy Spirit, as happened with what is celebrated with Pentecost. Pentecost commemorates the arrival of the Holy Spirit to the Disciples 5. The kundalini experience is comparable, only not named (w)holy, but creating wholeness, oneness, wHOLYness during a SPIRITual experience6.

Births are not 1 second occasions, but processes. All around the birth of the Aquarius era happened during the latest decennia of the Pisces time. We have witnessed, and are still witnessing, a change in the belief system named Christianity, and the abandonment of churches, monasteries, at the same time a total break down of Christian values and virtues in the American branch of “Christianity”. In the present American Christianity the American version of Jesus Christ shows the characteristics of a devilish, evil creature, explained in the witness-documentary “Praying for Armageddon” 7. Jesus Christ, and Christianity, have been politicized in the USA, to gain political goals, and support for even genocides and wars.

At the end of the Pisces era also the concept of “God” changed. A transformation took place: from “believing” to “knowing” by experiencing God not outside the self, because assuming that “God” is somewhere far away in the universe, but within the Self, which is possible by meditation, awakening processes, holistic therapies, yoga practices, and the evolutionary kundalini 8 energy, also named Christ energy, experienced in the chakras: the time was and is more and more ready for it.

The prophecy in Johfra’s Aquarius painting

Aquarius, water man, aqua is water9, pours water from an earthen jar, down to earth. That water is transformed into a spiritual substance, quenching spiritual thirst, spreading spiritual light, and while spreading, illuminating the path of humanity, symbolically present in the painting as one single human being, who, because of that light, has been triggered to follow that light, to go forward, through the gate of matter, metaphorically visualised as the scalp, which represents the end of the era in which the physical reality is the only accepted reality, dogmatized by science 10, and follows his path, that leads to the enormous Light Source on the horizon. The passing through that gate is going to the “meta ta fysika11“, the beyond the physical reality, where the human being arrives in the Aquarian age, leaving the old era behind. This new world is explained by the Hopi as the fifth world 12. The heart chakra is the fifth chakra.

The seven lotus flowers are the symbols of the 7 chakras, which -when fully blossoming because of the everywhere present spiritual, cosmic energy, offered by Aquarius- are the symbol of the evolved human being, who is able to experience the meta ta fysika in his own physical body.

FOOTNOTES

  1. To understand materialist science, read “Post-Materialist Science” – https://pimvanlommel.nl/en/pim-van-lommel/postmaterialist-science/ ↩︎
  2. Hopi prophecy – https://www.welcomehome.org/rainbow/prophecy/hopi1.html – Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H8NEqdWMP0 ↩︎
  3. Mayan Calendar https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/mayan.html ↩︎
  4. Pisces: 12th sign of the zodiac ↩︎
  5. See Rudolf Steiner Archive https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/AscenPent/19230507p01.html – https://rsarchive.org/blog/Pentecost.html ↩︎
  6. Recommended: “Nag Hammadi Texts”, an easy introduction with possibilities to dive deeper into the subject is to be found in Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nag_Hammadi_library. ↩︎
  7. Documentary “Praying for Armageddon” – https://backups.blog/2024/04/12/christian-zionism/ – Videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDsR5P9Lkw3NP7d4CxSLDLOB6fZcNB601 ↩︎
  8. Kundalini energy: https://multerland.blog/learning-about/tantra-and-kundalini/ – Website Kundalini Guide: https://www.kundaliniguide.com ↩︎
  9. Water, The Elixer of Life, Threatened By Radiation? – The World Foundation for Natural Science – https://www.naturalscience.org/news/2021/09/water-the-elixir-of-life-threatened-by-radiation/ /
    In the references of this article is mentioned several times: Pollack, G.H. : The fourth phase of water. Beyond solid, liquid and vapor, see book in Open Sciences: https://opensciences.org/books/physics-and-cosmology/the-fourth-phase-of-water-beyond-solid-liquid-vapor
    and on the G.H. Pollack website: https://www.ebnerandsons.com ↩︎
  10. Science – https://multerland.blog/different-worlds/world-of-science/ ↩︎
  11. Meta ta fysika – https://multerland.blog/meta-physics/ ↩︎
  12. Fifth world – Hopi Prophecy and the “Fifth World” https://threadsofspiderwoman.blogspot.com/2019/11/hopi-prophecy-and-fifth-world.html – The Hopi Prophecy: A Call to Humanity from the Caretakers of the Earth https://medium.com/@erica.salvemini824/the-hopi-prophecy-a-call-to-humanity-from-the-caretakers-of-the-earth-a89c47deebe7 ↩︎