Bucovina Monasteries -3

Still saturday April 2d: from the Moldovita  Monastery to the Sucevita Monastery, 35 kms through the mountains, hairpin turns and all. A very quiet road, as everywhere here in Rumenia. The Sucevita Monastery was built between 1580 and 1601. The paintings were made by two brothers Sofronie and Ioan between 1595 and 1596. Incredibly beautiful is the ladder of virtues, the Jacob's ladder? At one side angels are helping people to move up to heaven;  on the other side devils are tearing people down from the ladder.
According to our guidebook: the pictorial  expression of exceptional esthetic value reflecting man's aspiration to perfection, in the fight between good and evil, to regain the lost harmony after you 've committed sin.  

I find it very interesting after having been in Assisi, where the focus of the western catholic church was on the life of Christ, his death and  in particlular the resurrection, the life after death! After having been in Ethiopia, where the focus was also on Jesus' life and the good deeds he did. Here the focus is on you as a human being and what may happen to you.

The next photo is  a special for Lisette Thooft (author of the book "de onverzadigbare vrouw en de afwezige man", about man having to deal with the dragon =women), as it shows a woman riding her dragon, meaning, being in control of her dragon, the beast.

The next fresco shows a man sleeping, or dying(?), where from his navel (where we now that the CHI, the life gining energy is) his soul or higher self emerges, fascinating! What did it mean to say, all those years back?