September has been a very challenging month. At the end of August, I had blinding pain in my skull on one side and behind one ear. A rash started developing on my forehead, and it ended up being shingles. Yoyo has taken to sleeping in front of my shrine. She curled up by my knees … Continue reading September 2022: Hitting a Hard Reset
Tag: platonism
The Path to the Summit
I wish to communicate something exciting that has its origins in a conversation with a few people about the Platonic Theology (in which I learned that @barefootwisdom has memorized a lot of Proclus' hymns) and the way that the soul experiences ascent. After that conversation, I went back to the commentary and translations of Proclus' … Continue reading The Path to the Summit
Windows Can Be Mirrors
Last night, I came across a paper by Edward Watts, "The Lycians are coming: The career of Patricius, the father of Proclus," in Proclus and His Legacy. As someone who always loves personal and interpersonal anecdotes in commentaries, and who absolutely loved Damascius' Life of Isidore/Philosophical History fragments, I clicked on it, and I started … Continue reading Windows Can Be Mirrors
The Love of Ambition and Reputation
In a recent blog comment, someone mentioned the struggles that come about from a desire for social approval and feedback, and I admitted that I do check blog stats and that I do feel pleased when I come to know that something I've done are meaningful to someone else. This "instinct to check for approval" … Continue reading The Love of Ambition and Reputation
The Seasons and the Gods
One 🤯 moment in Proclus' Republic essays — specifically in the one on the speech of the Muses, essay 13 — is when Proclus describes the correspondences between different Gods and seasons. We are now in summer, meaning that we are in a season of Ares. Winter is for Kronos, spring for Zeus, and autumn … Continue reading The Seasons and the Gods
On the soul’s descent; or, a cosmic web of thoughts and ideas, barely arranged
Know thyself is the maxim that is given to us by the God at Delphi. Plato’s Alcibiades I and the commentary tradition surrounding it establish that the self is the soul, hereafter interchangeably described as the soul or the psūkhe (IPA: /psiˈçi/), which is using the body as an instrument. Plato’s Republic and the Platonic … Continue reading On the soul’s descent; or, a cosmic web of thoughts and ideas, barely arranged
Gods, Theurgy, Philosophical Schools, and Community
There is a lot of weirdness in contemplation. After I pray to Apollon in the mornings, I simply breathe. If everything inside can be calmed (not halted, but calmed), it is possible to rest in an inner place, where light seems to stream and where I know there is something true waiting to be coaxed … Continue reading Gods, Theurgy, Philosophical Schools, and Community
Verse and Matter
In 2022, one goal I set was to read more poetry. After November 2021, while processing many challenging emotions, I found some amazing poems that put things into perspective and that made me feel connected to humanity in a way that was difficult given the stress I was under and how difficult I found it … Continue reading Verse and Matter
A Beautiful Snippet from the LAWS
The Gods are on our side — as also are the guardian spirits — and we in turn are the property of the Gods and guardian spirits. What is fatal for us is injustice, and arrogance allied to folly; our salvation is justice, and self-control allied to wisdom, and these are to be found dwelling … Continue reading A Beautiful Snippet from the LAWS
KALLISTI 