Author Archives: Richard Emerson

Join us!

Posted on July 28, 2025 by Richard Emerson

Building a Renaissance Mind! We are currently doing a pilot project for weekly group and individual sessions going through Purgatorio, both as personal transformation and for balancing the brain hemispheres better. Contact us in the comments below, or by DM … Continue reading →

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Benvenuto da Imola – and Anagogical Readings

Posted on July 25, 2025 by Richard Emerson

After several years of searching for anagogical interpretations of specific passages in Dante’s Divine Comedy in all of the Anglo-American scholarship, and in the more recent Italian scholarship (the last few centuries), we have finally found an illuminating source: Benvenuto … Continue reading →

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Main Keys to reading the Garden of Eden

Posted on July 16, 2025 by Richard Emerson

As a brief summary: to approach the Garden of Eden in Dante’s Purgatorio as an anagogical/spiritual reading, the following images are essential: The Tree: The relationship between Human-Divine, or your Soul and God. It is discovered withered, but blossoms with … Continue reading →

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Ready for the Stars

Posted on July 16, 2025 by Richard Emerson

The ending of the Garden of Eden in Purgatorio is pure bliss and beauty, as we are now ready to finally rise to the stars. We are there with the seven handmaids, Beatrice, Stazio, Matelda and the Pilgrim, all standing … Continue reading →

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Eunoe – and Remembering

Posted on July 14, 2025 by Richard Emerson

After the full restoration of soul and relationship – and understanding God’s Grace in the process – there is one last stop in Eden, with the River of Eunoe. The Greek Tradition had five rivers, and Dante here invents a … Continue reading →

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The “515” and its role in Redemption

Posted on July 14, 2025 by Richard Emerson

After the vision presented by Beatrice with the Eagle, Fox and Dragon – she presents a new image in cryptic form, which is most likely describing the role of Grace in healing distortions and redemption. Beatrice first says that the … Continue reading →

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Distorted perception of Reality

Posted on July 5, 2025 by Richard Emerson

After the vision of the Eagle tearing into the Tree (relationship) and Carro (perception), Beatrice continues her lesson to the Pilgrim about the perils and consequences of losing aligned perception of fuller Reality. In short, after the Eagle (partly seen … Continue reading →

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Protecting the Tree and Carro

Posted on July 3, 2025 by Richard Emerson

After the appearance of the Tree of Relationship to God, now revitalized and blossoming again, the anagogical meaning unfolds and enriches even further. Beatrice, in the sense of your soul/inner spiritual life, has descended from the carro and is now … Continue reading →

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New Life to the Relationship

Posted on June 29, 2025 by Richard Emerson

After the restoration of the soul and the first 65 cantos of the Comedy, one can take a long break and simply enjoy the fruits of the readings. The first main step is completed. And one’s life, apprehension, perception, experience, … Continue reading →

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The Internal Restoration in Eden in 14 Essays

Posted on June 28, 2025 by Richard Emerson

Here are the 14 essays that give a new and more anagogical (spiritual) reading of the Garden of Eden in Canto 28-31 of Dante’s Purgatorio, focusing primarily on the Soul’s Journey to God. Beatrice’s eyes – and smile Dual Perception … Continue reading →

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