In 1931, librarian Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan proposed a set of five laws of library science that are still in use today. I was reflecting on these earlier today while thinking about the ethical difficulties of reader's advisory and collection development (when there is a conflict between the materials you wish people were asking for and … Continue reading Five Points About Polytheism
Tag: theology
Matter Is Not Evil
From Proclus, On Evils, §31.5-14, trans. Opsomer and Steel, with images. If matter is evil, we must choose between two alternatives: either to make the Good the cause of evil or to posit two principles of beings. For, indeed, everything that exists in any way whatever must either be a principle of complete beings or … Continue reading Matter Is Not Evil
Seira Org Charts
As a follow-up to my most recent post on the divine series, I would like to share some Google Draw diagrams that I've made to use when explaining these things. I'm adding two quotations for reference to this post, but I think it's a good idea to look at them while reading another thing I've … Continue reading Seira Org Charts
On being in a God’s series
I have written at length about seira, both on this blog and in The Soul's Inner Statues. One thing I've reflected on over the past few days — seeded by interactions in a variety of places since July or so — is just how grounded and level-headed the conversation about individual people being in a God's … Continue reading On being in a God’s series
Worship and the Punishment Mindset
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
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
Sallust, On the Gods and the World, Chapter 2
That a God is immutable, without Generation, eternal, incorporeal, and has no Subsistence in Place.And such are the requisites for an auditor of the gods. But the necessary discourses proceed as follows: the essences of the gods are neither generated; for eternal natures are without generation; and those beings are eternal who possess a first … Continue reading Sallust, On the Gods and the World, Chapter 2
When a God Comes Into Your Home
In Marinus' Life of Proclus, one moment that I never thought too much about was the part when Proclus is described as having a vision of Athene. Proclus had preternatural levels of endurance, driven by his writing, teaching, and devotional worship, at a time when it was becoming very clear just how much needed to … Continue reading When a God Comes Into Your Home
A Cool Theological Moment in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes
There is a moment in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes that I didn't notice before, but once I did, it filled me with excitement, so I want to share it as an example of something theological in the hopes that the inspired words of the poets excite your minds, too. [Hermes] chose a stout branch … Continue reading A Cool Theological Moment in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes
KALLISTI 