Recently, while checking to make sure that my scheduled posts were working properly on the account that spews out (slightly modified for length in some cases) passages from The Soul's Inner Statues with a few sleek quotations from (mostly) Platonists, I saw a TweetDeck notification that someone had quote-tweeted one of the tweets, which comes … Continue reading Worship and the Punishment Mindset
Tag: proclus
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 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
Internalizing Externals and Fighting One’s Way Out
The true warfare with the Giants takes place in souls: whenever reason and intellect rule in them, the goods of the Olympians and Athena prevail, and the entire life is kingly and philosophical; but whenever the passions reign, or in general the worse and earth-born elements, then the constitution within them is tyranny. Proclus, Commentary … Continue reading Internalizing Externals and Fighting One’s Way Out
Something Helpful From Proclus If You Want to Be Less Very Online in 2022
A few years ago, I discussed a passage from Proclus' Parmenides commentary. It was a short post, and I didn't share much beyond that. I want to flesh out some thoughts about that, speaking very heavily in first person, with the expectation that I am facing challenges similar to many people. Here is what Proclus … Continue reading Something Helpful From Proclus If You Want to Be Less Very Online in 2022
Prayer Itself Isn’t Toxic, but Spiritual Leaders Sometimes Can Be
For the past few weeks, I've been reading Amanda Montell's Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism. I'm two-thirds through reading it. In this post, I will discuss two points within the book: the first my critique of how Montell describes prayer, the second some comments I have on toxic leaders in spiritual communities abusing the concept … Continue reading Prayer Itself Isn’t Toxic, but Spiritual Leaders Sometimes Can Be
Offering Cosmos Flower incense to Aphrodite and Eros
This morning, I opened new incense blend called Cosmos Flower and lit it for Aphrodite and Eros. I didn't have a lot of time, so instead of reading Aphrodite's Orphic Hymn, I read one of the ones written by Proclus. But Goddess — for you are far-hearingno matter where you are, whether you embrace the … Continue reading Offering Cosmos Flower incense to Aphrodite and Eros
Proclus, On the Timaeus of Plato, Book 5, 324.5-24
This very topic should be investigated from the very beginning, asking why it is that the soul comes down into bodies. It is because it wants to imitate the providential care of the Gods, and it enters into generation on this account, abandoning contemplation. For, given that divine perfection is of two kinds, the one … Continue reading Proclus, On the Timaeus of Plato, Book 5, 324.5-24
KALLISTI 