The Seba library treats Mount Tabor in 9 passages, across 5 authors (including Coniaris, Anthony M., Palmer, G. E. H. and Sherrard, Philip and Ware, Kallistos (trs.), Eliade, Mircea).
The Light of Mt. Tabor is Within Fr. John Meyendorff explains how the kingdom becomes a reality in us: Since the Incarnation, our bodies have become ‘temples of the Holy Spirit within us’
This passage internalizes the Taboric light, arguing that theosis relocates the luminous presence of Mount Tabor from an exterior sacred geography to the sanctified interiority of the human body.
, Philokalia: The Bible of Orthodox Spirituality, 1998thesis
after six days He took Peter, James and John, and when they had ascended Mount Tabor He shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as light… in accordance with the Savior’s promise they did see the kingdom of God, that divine and inexpressible light
This passage identifies Mount Tabor as the site of the Transfiguration where the disciples directly witnessed the kingdom of God as uncreated divine light, the central datum of Palamite mystical theology.
, The Philokalia, Volume 4, 1995thesis
his successful defence of the divine and uncreated character of the light of Tabor and his victory over the heretics of his time — Barlaam, Akindynos, Gregoras and others — were seen as a direct continuation
This introductory note frames Gregory Palamas’s defense of the uncreated Taboric light as the defining Orthodox theological achievement, placing it in direct continuity with the Triumph of Orthodoxy.
, The Philokalia, Volume 4, 1995thesis
the experience of theosis on Mount Athos has often been described as a participation in the ‘Taboric light.’ Orthodoxy sees the Transfiguration as the destiny of all creation, that is, the entire universe is to be transfigured with the glory of God.
This annotation establishes Mount Tabor’s Transfiguration light as the paradigm for theosis, extending the mountain’s significance from a historical event to a cosmological and anthropological destiny.
, The Philokalia, Volume 1, 1979thesis
Mount Tabor, in Palestine, might signify tabbir, that is, ‘navel,’ omphalos. Mount Gerizim, at the center of Palestine, was doubtless invested with the prestige of the ‘Center,’ for it is called ‘navel of the earth.’
Eliade situates Mount Tabor within the universal archaic symbolism of the sacred Center, proposing its name encodes the omphalos concept that designates the meeting point of cosmic axes.
, Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, 1951thesis
Tabor, Mount, 13
The index entry for Mount Tabor in The Myth of the Eternal Return confirms its systematic placement within Eliade’s broader analysis of sacred mountains and the symbolism of the Center.
, The Myth of the Eternal Return: Cosmos and History, 1954supporting
Tabor, Mount, 461f
Jung’s index reference in Psychology and Alchemy signals that Mount Tabor is treated in the context of alchemical and Talmudic materials, linking the site to broader symbolic discussions of transformation.
, Psychology and Alchemy, 1944supporting
The Sacred Mountain — where heaven and earth meet — is situated at the center of the world. Every temple or palace… is a Sacred Mountain, thus becoming a Center.
This passage provides the theoretical framework within which Eliade’s identification of Mount Tabor as omphalos operates, articulating the architectonic symbolism of the Center common to all sacred mountains.
, The Myth of the Eternal Return: Cosmos and History, 1954supporting
Barlaam proposed a definition of God that went back to the ancient Greek rationalists and emphasized his absolute simplicity… it was not possible, therefore, for men and women to ‘see’ God
Armstrong contextualizes the Palamite controversy that centered on Taboric light by presenting Barlaam’s opposing claim that divine vision is impossible, framing the conflict between mystical and rationalist conceptions of God.
, A History of God, 1993aside