Joseph Campbell, Creative Mythology: The Masks of God

[novapsyche]

"The wound in Christ's side, delivered by Longinus's spear, is a counterpart of that of the Maimed Fisher; also, the poisoned wound of Tristan. The crown of thorns is a counterpart of the Bodhisattva's turning wheel, and the Cross, of the wheel of Ixion. Christ's role as the Man of Sorrows, blood flowing from the nail wounds in his palms and feet, head dropped to one side, eyes closed, and blood streaming from that painful crown, corresponds to the Grail King in torture. In his other mode, however, as Christ the Logos, Triumphant (as True God), crucified yet without anguish, head erect, eyes open, outward gazing at the world of light, the nails there, but no sign of blood, he is the image of that immanent 'radiance' (claritas), 'thus come,' which hangs everywhere, as the world's joy-to-be-known, behind its battered face of torment. In his being, as in the Bodhisattva, there is ambrosia. He too descended into Hell: and though the credo of his church returned him to the sky, in his Bodhisattvahood he is still there--as Satan." (p. 425)

This passage reminds me of the climactic scene in The Devil's Advocate, when the Devil is revealed to actually be Christ. Thinking of them as two sides of the same coin is spiritually freeing (though I suspect most Christians would have serious problems with this religious worldview...).