CENTURIA VI · QUATRAIN XIX
The Monstrous Bull
La vraie flamme engloutira la dame,
Que voudra mettre les Innocens a feu:
Pres de l'assaut l'excercite s'enflamme,
Quant dans Seville monstre en boeuf sera veu.
The true flame will engulf the lady,
who will want to put the innocents to fire:
near the assault the army bursts into flame,
when in Seville a monster in the form of a bull will be seen.
THE MASTER SAYS…
He says that this quatrain is connected with political ideology, especially at the end of the 20th — beginning of the 21st century. The true flame symbolizes freedom and thoughts of freedom. He says that the woman who wants to consign children to the fire represents a country that stands for freedom. At the moment he did not specify whether he means the United States or France. But it is a country that has traditionally stood for freedom, and its political ideology is going astray. This is a very gradual process, and political leaders say they are doing all this in the name of freedom. They want to plunge people into war and the like in the name of freedom, although in reality it is done for their own benefit. The people will understand this, rise up and swallow them. This is the true flame of freedom, returning to its place and burning the false political ideology. He says that the monstrous bull that can be seen in Seville symbolizes the forces that will cooperate with the Antichrist, trying to incite political unrest and revolution in preparation for the Antichrist’s seizure of this part of Europe. It seemed to me he once said that Spain would not fall. No, it will not fall. But within Spain there will still be forces inciting to fall. This will cause much unrest and misfortune among the people. Then is the monstrous bull the Antichrist? The monstrous bull is the forces working for the Antichrist within Spain. Even if they do not achieve complete success, they will cause enough suffering to make people’s lives very unhappy. We thought maybe the bull is an astrological symbol. He said that he was creating an illusion for Taurus, the astrological sign that symbolizes the bull, partly because Spain is associated with bullfighting and bull-baiting. He said that this is their culture, and these people who will incite toward the Antichrist will take advantage of this bloodthirsty aspect of Spanish culture. Thinking that since they like sports such as bullfighting, they will not be against human fights. But the people will deceive these instigators. The quatrain does not depend on an astrological interpretation of its meaning. Translators said that the bull in Seville probably refers to bullfighting, “although the identity of the fanatical queen is unclear.” They thought it literally referred to a real woman. He says that it is easy to make a mistake. In the interests of protecting his writings from the Catholic Church, he never clarified whether he spoke literally or figuratively.