Motion

Posted on July 17, 2021 by Richard Emerson

The last step before the Empyrean is the source of Motion itself, the First Mover. It might be helpful to remember the Greek definition of nature, or physis; “the underlying force (or source) of motion and change.” Motion is thus what animates and starts the whole thing. The material chain-reaction in itself.

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Reflections on Paradiso

Posted on July 17, 2021 by Richard Emerson

Reading the Paradiso for the third, and now fourth time, has been a fully different experience from the first journey through the spheres up to the Empyrean. The narrative seems even less structured than in the other two books, which is partly suggested by the idea that all the souls are living in the Empyrean, but things are reflected into nine spheres to accommodate the nature of the Pilgrim’s intellect and capability for comprehension. But what stands out after the reading of the first 8 spheres, is how deep and rich the Sun and the Fixed Stars are on theology, in a blend with philosophy. They are also the two biggest spheres in the book, with 4,5 Cantos for the Sun, and 5 full Cantos (mid 22 to mid 27) for the Fixed Stars.

While the 4th Sphere (the Sun) is in many ways an overview of 24 thinkers and historical people to illuminate Dante’s beliefs and sources of theology, the 8th sphere is a deep meditation on the theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Love. Plus some final words from the symbolically first human, Adam, and St. Peter’s final words on the contemporary Church in Dante’s times. And these two spheres forms a rich outline of Dante the Writer’s ideas about the Heavens and Paradise, before the last two spheres of Primo Mobile and the Empyrean itself. In some ways the 4th and the 8th sphere form the foundation within the material part of the Cosmos for Dante, at the cusp of Motion itself, and then the Mystery and Beyond.

In general – the Paradiso keeps growing as perhaps the biggest of the three books in the trilogy by far, as a different kind of portal into something more eternally growing and more evasive in the beginning. But it takes time, introspection, patience, and sometimes a calm peace of mind to apprehend the substance of the book.

And now, we’re curious as to how the last two spheres, and the remaining 6,5 cantos, will be experienced this time in the fourth reading. So far, there are always great new discoveries from re-reading the Divine Comedy by Dante.

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Good morning!

Posted on July 17, 2021 by ancientworld

Great coffee! ☕️☀️🏞😊

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Dante’s thoughts of the New Papacy around 1300

Posted on July 16, 2021 by Richard Emerson

Towards the boundary of the material cosmos, and right before entering the Eternal Mind of the Divine, Dante sums up his thoughts about Pope Boniface VIII through the voice of St. Peter – the first Pope:

He who on earth usurps that place of mine,
that place of mine, that place of mine which now
stands vacant in the eyes of Christ, God’s Son,

has turned my sepulchre into a sewer
of blood and filth, at which the Evil One
who fell from here takes great delight down there.

A sewer of blood and filth, to the delight of Lucifer. But a historical account of the New Papacy that emerged after the Great Schism, might largely suggest the historicity of this.

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Afternoon Tea

Posted on July 16, 2021 by ancientworld

Summer afternoon, and a cup of tea 🍵😊

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Beauty in Arts, Nature, and the Mystery

Posted on July 16, 2021 by Richard Emerson

Here is the passage where Dante compares beauty in arts or in nature, with the spiritual beauty within oneself, of the Divine Mysteries:

And all that art and nature can contrive
to lure the eye and thus possess the mind,
be it in living flesh or portraiture

combined, would seem like nothing when compared
to the Divine delight with which I glowed
when once more I beheld her smiling face

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Adam in Paradiso

Posted on July 16, 2021 by Richard Emerson

Here are the words from Adam to the Pilgrim in Paradiso – as to why they were metaphorically expelled from the Garden of Eden:

Know now, my son, the tasting of the tree
was not itself the cause of such long exile,
but only the transgression of God’s bounds.

A thought to ponder from Dante – that the transgression, or a form of Hubris, is what caused (and causes) the loss of Eden. Not the tasting of the Knowledge.

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Sunny

Posted on July 13, 2021 by ancientworld

Nice summer days are coming back again 😊☀️☀️

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Aiming one’s Love

Posted on July 12, 2021 by ancientworld

In the third and final examination, conducted by St. John, the Pilgrim is asked “what is it that your Soul is set upon.”

The answer is firstly; the Good.

“The Good, that full contentment of this Court,
is Alpha and Omega of all texts
Love reads to me in soft or louder tones.”

The question is then – why is he aiming at this. The reply:

“Good received as good enkindles love,
and makes that love more bright the more that we
can comprehend the good which it contains.

So, toward that Essence where such goodness rests
that any goodness found outside of It
is only a reflection of its ray,

the mind of man, in love, is bound to move
more than toward any other, once it sees
the truth on which this loving proof is based.”

In some ways foreshadowing the reciprocal effect the Divine Light will have on him in the Empyrean, with the concept that the Love of Good increases the understanding of the Good, which then increases the Love of it. And moving towards the Essence of this Good, was in many ways seen as the purpose of the Earthly life in the Medieval Cosmology!

Dante is connecting the Good with the Divine, thus expanding on the answer that his Love is for the Divine, through the Good, and Truth.

Last part of the questioning is then how this love manifests itself for the Pilgrim, or: “Explain the many teeth with which your love can bite.”

The final answer:

“The being of the world and my own being,
the death He died so that my soul might live,
the hope of all the faithful, and mine too,

joined with the living truth mentioned before,
from that deep sea of false love rescued me
and set me on the right shore of true Love.

I love each leaf with which enleaved is all
the garden of the Eternal Gardener
in measure of the light he sheds on each.”

In some ways saying that his Love of the Divine is expressed through the Love of everything in the Creation, “each leaf”, to the degree that the Divine Light and Glory is reflected in them. Thus Dante is also repeating the opening Canto of how the Divine is penetrating and reflected in the whole Universe.

And with that, the Pilgrim has passed all three tests, and the blessed souls chant “Holy! Holy! Holy!” – a reference to Isaiah and the tripling of adjectives as the superlative in ancient Hebrew; the Holiest of the Holy.

And then, the Pilgrim has his vision and eyesight restored once again, and better than ever before.

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The Definition of Hope

Posted on July 10, 2021 by Richard Emerson

In the second examination the Pilgrim has to define “Hope”. His answer is:

“Hope is sure expectancy of future bliss
to be inherited – the holy fruit
of the Divine’s own grace and man’s precedent worth.”

He then says it came to him from David the Psalmist:

“he who first instilled it in my heart
was highest singer of the Highest Lord”

And the promise the Pilgrim’s Hope gives to his soul is:

“The Old and the New Testaments
define the goal – which points me to the promise
of those souls that Our Lord has made His friends.

Isaiah testifies that every man
in his homeland shall wear a double raiment,
and his homeland is this sweet life of bliss”

Meaning the Unity of Body and Soul in Heaven.

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