In the 8th Sphere of Paradiso, Dante suddenly arrives in the Constellation of his Birth, the Gemini. From there we can look back all the way down to Earth, and on the seven spheres that Beatrice has helped “put beneath his feet” already. From the Moon, to the Sun, Mercury and Venus, to temperate Jupiter between hot Mars and contemplative Saturn.
At this point the Pilgrim has finally reached the strength to look directly at the Sun, and now the final part of the Journey – is about to begin.
In the opening of the Sphere of the Mystics, the Pilgrim is once again focusing exclusively on theology and the beauty of the divine mystery:
“By now I had my eyes fixed once again upon my lady’s face, and with my eyes, my mind, which was oblivious of all else.”
A glorious and sunny morning today! The sun is flowing into the room.. sitting with a laptop and a good cup of coffee 😊☕️🌇
Reading Song 17 again – the “heart” of Paradiso, it’s striking how this goes to the very deep of Dante as a person, with his lineage, but also his fate, and the purpose and framing of writing the Divine Comedy. Pure splendor from first to last verse!
A brief overview of the Sun in Dante’s Paradiso is here!
https://dantescomedy.com/cherubims-and-seraphims..
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Two days before June, and finally a full summer’s day! 18 degrees, warm and sunny ☀️😊
And great coffee!! ☕️
This tercet is one of the most breath-taking in Song 11 of Paradiso, describing the Angelical forces of Love and Wisdom – represented symbolically as Princes, for the Franciscan and Dominican Orders of the time.
“One of the two shone with Seraphic love, the other through his wisdom was on earth a splendor of Cherubic radiance.”
