An interesting aspect with the four cardinal virtues is how they are dynamic and "living" realities, rather than static definitions or set doctrines. So we can often try to ponder a canto through these four lenses, here is an example from Canto III in Purgatory:

Prudence
how they respond to the wall of the mountainside. Discernment as in looking down, up, aside - then seeking other souls for more learning.

Courage
seeking the mountain without knowing exactly how to approach it, and also exploring the unkown with the approaching group of souls. 

Temperance
Virgil as repeatedly acknowledging his own limitations, and the deeper mysteries of reality.

Justice
Manfred coming to Purgatory through repentence, despite a life in vice. A true spiritual turning of the soul is met with Mercy (but still with consequences).


Any other ideas here?

R






___

For reference:

Prudenza - capacity of the intellect to direct the discernment of Truth and the morally Good
Courage - intellectual strength to endure challenges and hardships
Temperance - the virtue of self-control, moderation and restraint
Justice - judging right consequences according to actions and exercise of Free Will

Good morning!

Every day one can remember this - as spiritual reality:

For better waters, now, the little bark
of my poetic powers hoists its sails,
and leaves behind that cruelest of the seas.


And welcome to Flaviu and Chris, again! August will be a "testing period" and gradually building up a small community here. And feel free to post anything related to Dante and the Journey - this forum is primarily for you!

We’ve now started a new reading of Paradiso in Italian, and we are building on the foundations from a new understanding of Eden. How we interpret the scenes, and what emerges out of the passages, will largely rely on an inner development of the capacity of the Chariot, the Tree of Relationship, and Beatrice as one’s inner spiritual life. Without these basic elements – much of our posts in the coming year or two, will likely not give a fuller resonance internally.

And the wealth that comes out of the poetry with these keys are very different from earlier readings. Rather then evocative, celestial poetry, it touches on far deeper spiritual depths in the soul.

An example is this (Par.i.58-60):

Io nol soffersi molto, né sì poco,
ch’io nol vedessi sfavillar dintorno,
com’ferro che bogliente esce del foco;

This is when Dante suddenly emulates Beatrice and stares at the Sun in Canto I. He says: “I did not endure it much, nor yes so little, that I did not see glowing sparks all around it, like boiling iron that emerges out of the furnace“.

And then it is like a new day is added to the day, and his perception is bright like “another sun” is illuminating his perception and experience.

And a key here is this: with a basis in the Relationship to God that was established in the Garden of Eden, this almost becomes more of a form “charging” of the relationship with intense energy, that does not strike “directly” at oneself and blinds or overwhelms. It becomes a charging mechanism into the relationship, that further enhances the Pilgrim’s spiritual and fuller perception of Reality. The “Tree” becomes a form of vessel that can be loaded and charged again and again, which then grows the soul, as we will see in how Beatrice grows more and more beautiful and radiant for every new sphere in Paradiso.

So in short;

we’re now starting a new journey into Paradiso with a whole new approach, and a much deeper anagogical layer. More internally expanding, vs. an external flight out into the Universe. The Kingdom of God is within you, and can flood your perception right here and now, once the dynamics of Eden have come to fruition. Into the Heavens is also an infusion, right here into the Earthly too.

Attached Files

Thumbnail(s)
   

We just updated the default theme with a banner and new menu times!

You can still use the old theme by choosing "New Frontpage" in the theme selector at the bottom right.

Enjoy!

Welcome to Foster, Flaviu and Krzysztof!

This is very early testing - both in terms of design/theme, and which kind of forums we should use. Letting it grow a bit organically at the beginning!

"I turned towards him the tear-stained cheeks
and there he made it fully revealed
that colour that Inferno had hidden"

A reminder from Dante - that in his cosmology, we as human souls are originally Good. Becoming virtuous is to return to the natural state, and remove the stains and blockings that have accumulated over decades of lived life.

In some ways in direct contrast to other strains of theology!

R

Attached Files

Thumbnail(s)
   

Interesting how he was the first choice - for the atoning souls in Purgatorio.

From Paradiso’s opening:

Surge ai mortali per diverse foci
la lucerna del mondo; ma da quella
che quattro cerchi giugne con tre croci

In a way: The Divine source is rising in different places for different people, but that place where the cardinal and theological virtues meeet – is the better light and better path for the shaping of the soul.

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 sixth river from the words “well” (eu-) and “nous”, a “well/good mind”, as the purpose of the river.

While often thought of as the river to “restore the memories of the Good” or of “the Good deeds”, there is also likely a much deeper function, drawing on St. Aquinas and older Catholic theology: the soul deep inside has memories of its own origins, and roots, in God. So in a way, this final scene could also imply that the final “touch” of preparation for the ascent to Heaven, is to connect your soul with its deepest roots in existence, reality, the breath and image of God, within its very origins.

This might also be why Matelda provides this function here, as the transformed earthly life that is transparent for Divine realities. She has the capacity to lead or assist in this process or threshold for the soul, to have its first experience of again sensing or “remembering” its origins. Which would in a larger way complete Eden with not only the soul and the relationship, but also its memory of connection.

When Matelda gently tells Stazio to go with the Pilgrim, this likely suggests that this new remembrance of origins, is a step that every soul will go through as completing the Purgatorio. The task is complete. And the Heavens await, in the stars.