theology
Cosmic Dualism
Ontological opposition between two primal principles (light/darkness, truth/lie, spirit/matter) as the fundamental structure of reality.
991 passages · 18 traditions
gnosticism196
The Secret Writing According to John (Apocryphon of John), Codex II, 1 | Yaltabaoth-a
“Further, being an aeon, Sophia of Reflection thought a thought [IV, 15] on her own, together with the conception of the unseen Spirit and Precognition. She willed to bring forth a likeness from out of herself, apart from the agreement of th…”
The Secret Writing According to John (Apocryphon of John), Codex II, 1 | The Archons Conspire Against Adam
“When they gazed down, they realized that his intellect surpassed (their own), and they convened in counsel together with the group of archons and all angels.
They took fire and earth [II, 21] and water, and combined them with each other to…”
The Secret Writing According to John (Apocryphon of John), Codex II, 1 | The Chief Archon Creates Eve
“Reflection of Light then concealed herself inside him, and the chief archon desired to extract her from his rib, but Reflection of Light is beyond grasping. Even though the darkness chased after her, it could not catch her, and he extracted…”
The Secret Writing According to John (Apocryphon of John), Codex II, 1 | The Chief Archon Pollutes Eve
“I appeared in the shape of an eagle on the tree of knowledge, which is Reflection of Providence of Pure Light, so that I could instruct them and rouse them out of their deep sleep, because both of them were in a fallen condition, and they w…”
The Secret Writing According to John (Apocryphon of John), Codex II, 1 | The Destiny of Souls-a
“I also asked the savior: “Lord, will then all the souls be conducted safely into the pure light?”
He answered and said to me: “Great things have arisen in your mind, because it is difficult to explain them to others, with the exception of…”
The Secret Writing According to John (Apocryphon of John), Codex II, 1 | The Vile Spirit
“I, however, asked: “Lord, where did the vile spirit originate?”
He then said to me: “The Mother- Father, who is abundant in mercy, the holy Spirit in every mode, the one who is merciful and [II, 28] who shows compassion for all of you – th…”
The Secret Writing According to John (Apocryphon of John), Codex II, 1 | The Savior Enters the Realm of Darkness
“Therefore, I, the perfect Providence of the all, transformed myself into my (own) seed, because I was the first to exist, traveling all paths, because I am the wealth of the light.
[IV, 47] I am the remembrance of the Fullness, but I enter…”
Gospel of Judas | Jesus Criticizes the Disciples
“One day he was with his disciples in Judea. He found them sitting together practicing their piety. When he [came up to] his disciples 34 sitting together praying over the bread, [he] laughed. The disciples said to him, "Master, why are you…”
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Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VII
“Of the extremes, therefore, one is supreme, transcendent, and perfect; but the other is last in dignity, deficient, and more imperfect. And the former, indeed, is capable of accomplishing all things at once, uniformly in an instant; but the…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter X-a
“After these things, you again subjoin another division for yourself, “ in which you separate the essences of the more excellent genera by the difference of passive and impassive .” But neither do I admit this division.
For no one of the mo…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XV-a
“After this, you pass on to another division into contraries, viz.
the division of Gods with reference to dæmons.
For you say, “ that the Gods are pure intellects ;” but you propose this opinion as an hypothesis, or you narrate it as a dog…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XVI
“The difference which separates “ Gods from dæmons by the corporeal and incorporeal ,” is the next thing that follows in what you have written; this being much more common than the former difference, and yet it is so far from expressing the…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XX
“After this, you again resume the same inquiries, of which what has been already said may be considered as a sufficient solution. Since, however, it is necessary, according to the proverb, frequently to speak of and consider things that are…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter I
“It is also necessary to demonstrate to you, in what dæmons, heroes, and souls differ from each other, and whether this difference is according to essence, or according to power, or according to energy. I say, therefore, that dæmons are prod…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter III-a
“Let us, however, now proceed to the appearances of the Gods and their perpetual attendants, and show what the difference is in their appearance.
For you inquire, “ by what indication the presence of a God, or an angel, or an archangel, or…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter IV-a
“Proceeding, therefore, to other peculiarities of them, we say, that with the Gods, indeed, there is acuteness and rapidity in the energies, which shine forth with greater celerity than those of intellect itself, though in themselves they ar…”
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Pseudo-Dionysius: The Mystical Theology | Chapter I-a
“Wheat is the Divine Gloom.
T rinty, which exceedeth all Being, Deity, and Goodness!
514 514 Lit.
“Super-Essential, Supra-Divine, Super-Excellent.” Thou that instructeth Christians in Thy heavenly wisdom!
Guide us to that topmost height…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Mystical Theology | Chapter II-a
“How it is necessary to be united with and render praise to Him Who is the cause of all and above all.
Unto this Darkness which is beyond Light we pray that we may come, and may attain unto vision through the loss of sight and knowledge, an…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Mystical Theology | Chapter II-b
“but now ascending upwards from 196 particular to universal conceptions we strip off all qualities 528 528 The process from the universal to the particular is the process of actual development (existence before life, and life before rational…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Mystical Theology | Chapter III-a
“What are the affirmative expressions respecting God, and what are the negative.
Now I have in my Outlines of Divinity set forth those conceptions which are most proper to the affirmative method, and have shown in what sense God’s holy natu…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Mystical Theology | Chapter IV
“That He Who is the Pre-eminent Cause of everything sensibly perceived is not Himself any one of the things sensibly perceived. We therefore maintain 536 536 Being about to explain, in these two last chapters, that no material or mental qual…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Mystical Theology | Chapter V-a
“That He Who is the Pre-eminent Cause of everything intelligibly perceived is not Himself any one of the things intelligibly perceived.
Once more, ascending yet higher we maintain 537 537 It is not (1) a Thinking Subject; nor (2) an Act or…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Mystical Theology | Chapter V-d
“safeguards the position against pure negativity by explaining that they are not absent either.
The rest of this chapter deals with the qualities (1) of inanimate matter; (2 ) of material life.
537 It is not (1) a Thinking Subject; nor (2)…”
Meister Eckhart's Sermons (Field translation) | V-c
“Thus happens it to the noble soul which goes to God to school, and learns there what God is in His essence, and what He is in the Trinity, and what He is in man, and what is most acceptable to Him.
St Augustine saith that the righteousness…”
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The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite) | Page 6 (part 2)
“Here Magic itself rises up and responds that there is a Black and a White Art, an Art of Hermes and an Art of Canidia, a Science of the Height and a Science of the Abyss, of Metatron and Belial.
In this manner a fourth point of view emerge…”
The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite) | Page 7 (part 1)
“§ 2.
The Distinction between White and Black Magic Having considered the possible standpoints from which the Rituals may be regarded, we come now to the distinctions that are made between them, and, first and foremost, to that which has be…”
The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite) | Page 7 (part 2)
“Thus, the most which can be stated is that the literature falls chiefly into two classes, one of which usually terms itself Black, but that they overlap one another.
In what perhaps it may be permissible to call the mind of Magic, as disti…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Ancient Mysteries and Secret Societies Which Have Influenced Modern Masonic Symbolism-g
“In the present world, said they, Good and Evil are so exactly balanced that man has the utmost freedom and is able to choose or reject either.
The Welsh Triads tell us there are three objects of metempsychosis: to collect into the soul the…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Ancient Mysteries and Secret Societies Which Have Influenced Modern Masonic Symbolism-i
“As Mithras, he is the ford of the sun, powerful and radiant, and most magnificent of the Yazatas (Izads, or Genii, of the sun).
As Mithra , this deity represents the feminine principle; the mundane universe is recognized as her symbol.
Sh…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Ancient Mysteries and Secret Societies Which Have Influenced Modern Masonic Symbolism-m
“Of these shoots one is manifested from above, which is the Great Power, the Universal Mind ordering all things, male, and the other, [is manifested] from below, the Great Thought, female, producing all things.
Hence pairing with each other…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Ancient Mysteries and Secret Societies Which Have Influenced Modern Masonic Symbolism-ae
“The Bacchic state signifies the unity of the rational soul in a state of self-knowledge, and the Titanic state the diversity of the rational soul which, being scattered throughout creation, loses the consciousness of its own essential one-n…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Life and Teachings of Thoth Hermes Trismegistus-e
“The Divine Pymander consists of seventeen fragmentary writings gathered together and put forth as one work.
The second book of The Divine Pymander , called Poimandres , or The Vision , is believed to describe the method by which the divine…”
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Plato: Phaedo | Section 1d
“Socrates replied: And have you, Cebes and Simmias, who are acquainted with Philolaus, never heard him speak of this?
I never understood him, Socrates.
My words, too, are only an echo; but I am very willing to say what I have heard: and in…”
Plato: Phaedo | Section 1e
“And I rather imagine that Cebes is referring to you; he thinks that you are too ready to leave us, and too ready to leave the gods who, as you acknowledge, are our good rulers.
Yes, replied Socrates; there is reason in that.
And this indi…”
Plato: Phaedo | Section 1g
“And he attains to the knowledge of them in their highest purity who goes to each of them with the mind alone, not allowing when in the act of thought the intrusion or introduction of sight or any other sense in the company of reason, but wi…”
Plato: Phaedo | Section 1j
“I reckon, said Socrates, that no one who heard me now, not even if he were one of my old enemies, the comic poets, could accuse me of idle talking about matters in which I have no concern.
Let us, then, if you please, proceed with the inqu…”
Plato: Phaedo | Section 1l
“But if, said Socrates, you are still incredulous, Simmias, I would ask you whether you may not agree with me when you look at the matter in another way; I mean, if you are still incredulous as to whether knowledge is recollection.
Incredul…”
Plato: Phaedo | Section 1m
“And yet from these equals, although differing from the idea of equality, you conceived and attained that idea?
Very true, he said.
Which might be like, or might be unlike them?
Yes.
But that makes no difference; whenever from seeing one…”
Plato: Phaedo | Section 1n
“For this is clear, that when we perceived something, either by the help of sight or hearing, or some other sense, there was no difficulty in receiving from this a conception of some other thing like or unlike which had been forgotten and wh…”
Plato: Phaedo | Section 1o
“For admitting that she may be generated and created in some other place, and may have existed before entering the human body, why after having entered in and gone out again may she not herself be destroyed and come to an end?
Very true, Si…”
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The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 5 (part 2)
“In course of time he became king of Egypt, and devoted himself to civilizing his subjects and to teaching them the craft of the husbandman; he established a code of laws and bade men worship the gods.
Having made Egypt peaceful and flouris…”
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 5 (part 3)
“When Isis heard of this she went to Byblos, and, gaining admittance to the palace through the report of the royal maidens, she was made nurse to one of the king's sons, Instead of nursing the child in the ordinary way, Isis gave him her fin…”
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 5 (part 4)
“Horus in his rage tore from her head the royal diadem; but Thoth gave her a helmet in the shape of a cow's head.
In two other battles fought between Horus and Typhon, Horus was the victor. Identity of the deceased with Osiris.
This is the…”
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 9 (part 2)
“One scene makes the morning and evening boats of Ra to sail along the back of Nut; another depicts Shu holding up the boat of the sun wherein is the disk on the horizon. A third from the sarcophagus of Seti I.
represents Nu the god of the…”
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 10 (part 2)
“Originally his festival was celebrated in the evening, wherefrom it appears that he represented some form of the night sun; but in later times the ceremony of drawing the image of the god Seker in the hennu boat round the sanctuary was perf…”
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 10 (part 4)
“In his daily course he vanquished night and darkness, and mist and cloud disappeared from before his rays; subsequently the Egyptians invented the moral conception of the sun, representing the victory of right over wrong and of truth over f…”
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 10 (part 6)
“Auset or Isis , the seventh member of the company of the gods of Annu, was the wife of Osiris and the mother of Horus; her woes have been described both by Egyptian and Greek writers. Her commonest names are "the great goddess, the divine m…”
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 10 (part 7)
“Horus , the son of Osiris and Isis, appears in Egyptian texts usually as Heru-p-khart, " Horus the child," who afterwards became the "avenger of his father Osiris," and occupied his throne, as we are told in many places in the Book of the D…”
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The Book of Concealed Mystery (Siphra Dtzenioutha) | 1a
“CHAPTER V.
1.
(It is written) Isa.
i.
4: "Woe unto the sinful nation, unto the people heavy with iniquity, unto the seed of evildoers, &c." (Here the author of the "Siphra Dtzenioutha" reasoneth concerning the small word HVI, "woe," whi…”
The Book of Concealed Mystery (Siphra Dtzenioutha) | 1c
“And to it also pertain the following names, namely, the name) IH, Yah (whensoever it is written in full with A in this manner:) IVD HA, Yod Ha (and containeth the number of the numeral powers of the letters of the Tetragrammaton, namely, 26…”
The Book of Concealed Mystery (Siphra Dtzenioutha) | 1e
“31: "And He was wise above every man." Because these are not classed with man.
21.
(But when it is said) "And the Tetragrammaton gave him wisdom," then is understood the supernal He .
(Because he gave unto him the influx of the wisdom of…”
The Book of Concealed Mystery (Siphra Dtzenioutha) | 1f
“[The letters of the Hebrew alphabet are divided into three classes, the three mothers as they are called, AMSh; the seven duplex letters, BGDKPRTh, so called because they are sometimes tenues and sometimes aspirates, according to whether th…”
The Book of Concealed Mystery (Siphra Dtzenioutha) | 1g
“The four wheels are their correlatives under the second Sephira, on their four sides--namely, the four elements of the air, fire, water, and earth, which are the abodes of the spirits of the elements, the sylphs, salamanders, undines, and g…”
The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) | Page 3 (part 7)
“xix as Burkitt says, "most of the most convincing proofs that the Greek text of Enoch is a translation from a Semitic language fit equally well with a Hebrew or an Aramaic original"; his opinion is that Aramaic was the original language, "b…”
The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) | Page 3 (part 8)
“Of special interest here is the mention of the Garden of Righteousness, and the Tree of Wisdom (xxviii.-xxxvi.).
Much that is written in these chapters may appear p.
xxi pointless and uninspiring; but we must bear in mind the purpose that…”
The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) | Page 3 (part 9)
“The Apocalyptist prophesies further of the repentance of the Gentiles (chapter l.), an universalistic note of significance, and speaks of the Resurrection of the dead in a notable passage: And In those days shall the earth also give back th…”
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Orphic Hymns | Hymn II. NIGHT
“II. TO NIGHT. The FUMIGATION with TORCHES. NIGHT, parent goddess, source of sweet repose, From whom at first both Gods and men arose, Hear, blessed Venus, deck'd with starry light, 3 In sleep's deep silence dwelling Ebon night! Dreams and s…”
Orphic Hymns | Hymn III. HEAVEN
“III. TO HEAVEN. The FUMIGATION from FRANKINCENSE. GREAT Heav'n, whose mighty frame no respite knows, Father of all, from whom the world arose: Hear, bounteous parent, source and end of all, Forever whirling round this earthly ball; Abode of…”
Orphic Hymns | Hymn V. PROTOGONUS, Or the FIRST-BORN
“V. TO PROTOGONUS, Or the FIRST-BORN. The FUMIGATION from MYRRH. O Mighty first-begotten, hear my pray'r, 1 Two-fold, egg-born, and wand'ring thro' the air, p. 119 Bull-roarer, glorying in thy golden wings, 3 From whom the race of Gods and m…”
Orphic Hymns | Hymn VII. THE SUN
“VII. TO THE SUN. The FUMIGATION from FRANKINCENSE and MANNA. HEAR golden Titan, whose eternal eye With broad survey, illumines all the sky. Self-born, unwearied in diffusing light, And to all eyes the mirrour of delight: Lord of the seasons…”
Orphic Hymns | Hymn VIII. THE MOON
“VIII. TO THE MOON * . The FUMIGATION from AROMATICS. HEAR, Goddess queen, diffusing silver light, Bull-horn'd and wand'ring thro' the gloom of Night. 2 p. 125 With stars surrounded, and with circuit wide Night's torch extending, thro' the h…”
Orphic Hymns | Hymn XI. HERCULES
“XI. TO HERCULES. The FUMIGATION from FRANKINCENSE. HEAR, pow'rful, Hercules untam'd and strong, To whom vast hands, and mighty works belong, Almighty Titan, prudent and benign, Of various forms, eternal and divine, Father of Time, the theme…”
Orphic Hymns | Hymn XXVIII. PROSERPINE
“XXVIII. TO PROSERPINE. A HYMN DAUGHTER of Jove, almighty and divine, Come, blessed queen, and to these rites incline: Only-begotten, Pluto's honor'd wife, 3 O venerable Goddess, source of life: 'Tis thine in earth's profundities to dwell, 5…”
Orphic Hymns | Hymn XXXVIII. CORYBAS * The FUMIGATION from FRANKINCENSE
“XXXVIII. TO CORYBAS * The FUMIGATION from FRANKINCENSE. THE mighty ruler of this earthly ball, For ever flowing, to these rites I call; p. 170 Martial and blest, unseen by mortal sight, Preventing fears, and pleas'd with gloomy night: Hence…”
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Corpus Hermeticum 1: Poimandres | Section 1b
“But when He raised His head, I see in Mind the Light, [but] now in Powers no man could number, and Cosmos grown beyond all bounds, and that the Fire was compassed round about by a most mighty Power, and [now] subdued had come unto a stand.…”
Corpus Hermeticum 1: Poimandres | Section 1c
“And when she saw that Form of beauty which can never satiate, and him who [now] possessed within himself each single energy of [all seven] Rulers as well as God's own Form, she smiled with love; for 'twas as though she'd seen the image of M…”
Corpus Hermeticum 1: Poimandres | Section 1d
“Thou seem'st, He said, O thou, not to have given heed to what thou heardest.
Did I not bid thee think?
Yea do I think, and I remember, and therefore give Thee thanks.
If thou didst think [thereon], [said He], tell me: Why do they merit d…”
Corpus Hermeticum 1: Poimandres | Section 1e
“To the first zone he gives the Energy of Growth and Waning; unto the second [zone], Device of Evils [now] de-energized; unto the third, the Guile of the Desires de-energized; unto the fourth, his Domineering Arrogance, [also] de-energized;…”
Corpus Hermeticum 2: The Serapeum | Section 1b
“A: How is it, then, that things down here, Thrice-greatest one, are moved with those that are [already] moved?
For thou hast said the errant spheres were moved by the inerrant one.
H: This is not, O Asclepius, a moving with, but one again…”
Corpus Hermeticum 3: The Sacred Sermon | Section 1
“The Sacred Sermon 1. The Glory of all things is God, Godhead and Godly Nature. Source of the things that are is God, who is both Mind and Nature - yea Matter, the Wisdom that reveals all things. Source [too] is Godhead - yea Nature, Energy,…”
Corpus Hermeticum 4: The Epistles | Section 1b
“And having raised themselves so far they sight the Good; and having sighted it, they look upon their sojourn here as a mischance; and in disdain of all, both things in body and the bodiless, they speed their way unto that One and Only One.…”
Corpus Hermeticum 4: The Epistles | Section 1c
“It is Itself Its Source, since It may have no other Source.
The Oneness then being Source, containeth every number, but is contained by none; engendereth every number, but is engendered by no other one.
11.
Now all that is engendered is…”
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Gnostic John the Baptizer — Portents at John's Birth | Section 4
“Yahyā proclaims in the nights, Yōhānā on the Night's evenings. 4
YAHYĀ proclaims in the nights and says: "Through my Father's discourses I give light and through the praise of the Man, my creator, I have freed my soul from the world and fr…”
Gnostic John the Baptizer — Portents at John's Birth | Section 5
“The Sun opened his mouth and spake unto Yahyā: 2 "Thou hast three
[head-] bands [and] a crown which equals in worth the whole world. Thou hast
a ship of mashklil , 3 which sails about here
on the Jordan. Thou hast a great vessel which sails…”
Gnostic John the Baptizer — Portents at John's Birth | Section 8
“[What follows is presumably the beginning of the Letter.]
Gnosis of Life 8 who is far from the height [writes]:
"I have come unto thee, O Soul, whom Life has sent into this world. In
robes of the Eight 9 went I into the world. I went in t…”
Gnostic John the Baptizer — Portents at John's Birth | Section 12
“Thereon they 3 fashioned for Yahyā a wife out of thee, thou Region of the Faithful. 4 From the first conception were Handan and Sharrath born. From the middle conception were Birhām and R'himath-Haiyē born. From the last conception were Nṣa…”
Gnostic John the Baptizer — Portents at John's Birth | Section 16
“When Messiah said this, Yahyā cries aloud; tears come to him without
ceasing, and he speaks: "[God] forbid that the high King of Light should look
for lot in deceivers. The soul is not like the blood, that it should become
heated in the bod…”
Gnostic John the Baptizer — Portents at John's Birth | Section 17
“"[The women] who wept ran hither and thither and [the men] who wailed
ran hither and thither, as long as the body lay there before them. When the
soul leaves the body, four 2 go forth to the
graveyard. [The women] who wept ran hither and th…”
Gnostic John the Baptizer — The Story of the Breach with Judaism | Section 1
“MIRYAI IS EXPELLED FROM JEWRY (§ 34).
In the Name of Great Life, may hallowed Light be glorified.
MIRYAI am I, of the Kings of Babel 1 a daughter, a daughter of Jerasalem's mighty rulers. They have given me birth; the priests brought me u…”
Gnostic John the Baptizer — The Story of the Breach with Judaism | Section 2
“Thereon he cried: "Come (pl.), look on Miryai, who has left Jewry and
gone to make love with her lord. Come, look on Miryai, who has left off
coloured raiment and gone to make love with her lord. She forsook gold and
silver and went to make…”
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Agrippa: The Philosophy of Natural Magic, Chapter V — Of the Wonderful Natures of Fire and Earth | Chapter V, Section 1a
“CHAPTER V.
Of the Wonderful Natures of Fire and Earth .
There are two things, saith Hermes, viz., Fire and Earth, which are sufficient for the operation of all wonderful things: the former is active, the latter passive.
Fire, as saith Di…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | First Dialogue-d
“Some are called in vain to put in a ready appearance, and are chiefly those which proceed from the lower instincts, and which obey the reason either not at all, or very little; and forcing himself to prevent their actions and condemn those…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Second Dialogue-d
“So that, finding himself thus ascending and descending, he feels within his soul the greatest dissension that is possible to be felt, and he remains in a state of confusion through this rebellion of the senses, which urge him thither where…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Third Dialogue-d
“In this disposition, I believe, was the Nolano when he said: 14.
Woe's me!
my fury forces me To union with the bad within, And makes it seem a love supreme and good.
Wearied, my soul cares nought That I opposing counsels entertain, And w…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Third Dialogue-h
“In which generation finding themselves once more through the changes which permutably succeed, they return again to the superior forms.
Cic .
So that they mean, that souls are impelled by the necessity of fate, and have no proper counsel…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Fourth Dialogue-g
“Behold me, miserable one, deprived of heart, abandoned of thoughts, left by hope, I, who had fixed my all in them.
Nothing is left to me but the sense of my poverty, my unhappiness and misery; why does not this too leave me?
Why does not…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Fourth Dialogue-h
“Heaven the second gift denies, To him who does the first despise.
With these and similar reasons the soul, taking part with the weakest, seeks to recall the thoughts to the care of the body.
And these, although late, come and show themsel…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Fourth Dialogue-i
“And amongst men the same thing is seen, according as some resemble one species of brute beast and some another: these having something of the quadruped, and those of birds, and, may be, some affinity, which I will not explain, but through w…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Fifth Dialogue-d
“Be it far from me to make complaint of love, Love, without whom I will not happy be, And though through him these weary toils I bear.
Yet what is given my will shall not reject.
Be clear the sky or dark, burning or cold, To that one ph[oe…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Fifth Dialogue-e
“The degrees of contemplation are like the degrees of light, which exist not at all in the darkness, slightly in shade, more in colours, according to their orders, from one opposite which is black to the other which is white; but more fully…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Fifth Dialogue-r
“But it is not so, if you consider well, for it cannot be that in one instant, which is an atom or point, love persists or endures; therefore one must of necessity understand the instant in another signification.
And for the sake of getting…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori) | PREFACE
“. The second part of "The Heroic Enthusiasts" which I am now sending to the press is on the same subject as the first, namely the struggles of the soul in its upward progress towards purification and freedom, and the author makes use of low…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori) | First Dialogue-a
“.
Interlocutors: Cesarino.
Maricondo.
1.
Ces.
It is said that the best and most excellent things are in the world when the whole universe responds from every part, perfectly, to those things; and this it is said takes place as the plan…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori) | First Dialogue-b
“This is precisely the humour of a furious lover, though the same may be said of nearly all mortals who are seriously affected in any way.
We cannot say that this accords with all conditions in a general way, but only with those mortals who…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori) | First Dialogue-e
“For nothing is produced absolutely from a homœogeneous (pacifico) principle, but all from opposite principles, through the victory and dominion of one part of the opposites, and there is no pleasure of generation on one side without the pai…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori) | First Dialogue-l
“Besides which, because he does not believe that all which is not, could not be, he prays the divine light, that by its beauty, which ought not to be entirely concealed, at least according to the capacity of whoever beholds it, and by his lo…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori) | First Dialogue-m
“Thus everything has an impetus towards its beginning retrogressively, and progressively towards its end and perfection, as Empedocles well said, and from which sentence I think may be inferred that which the Nolan said in this octave: The s…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori) | First Dialogue-n
“So much so that whatsoever you might add thereto would appear to me superfluous.
IX.
Ces.
Let us see what is here represented by those two radiating arrows upon a target around which is written: Vicit instans.
Mar.
The continual strugg…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori) | Second Dialogue-a
“Maricondo.
Here you see a flaming yoke enveloped in knots round which is written: Levius aura; which means that Divine love does not weigh down, nor carry his servant captive and enslaved to the lowest depths, but raises him, supports him…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori) | Second Dialogue-c
“Therefore in this present time it is proper that noble spirits equipped with truth and enlightened with the Divine intelligence, should arm themselves against dense ignorance by climbing up to the high rock and tower of contemplation.[L] [L…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori) | Second Dialogue-d
“The long life of Archimedes, of Euclid, of Priscian, of Donato, and others, who were found up to their death occupied with numbers, lines, diction, concordances, writings, dialectics, syllogisms, forms, methods, systems of science, organs,…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori) | Third Dialogue-d
“Why rather stay a pilgrim here below Than open through the air and us a way?
No spark of fire from that heart Goes out through the wide atmosphere.
Body of dust and ashes is not seen, Nor water-laden smoke ascends on high.
All is contain…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori) | Fourth Dialogue-a
“.
Interlocutors : Severing.
Minutolo.
Sev.
You will see the origin of the nine blind men, who state nine reasons and special causes of their blindness, and yet they all agree in one general reason and one common enthusiasm.[AB] [AB] May…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori) | Fourth Dialogue-b
“The other follows, who says that he became blind through having been suddenly brought out of the darkness into a great light: accustomed to behold ordinary beauties, a celestial beauty was suddenly presented before his eyes—a sun-god—in thi…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori) | Fourth Dialogue-c
“Besides which he considers that his blindness is not from constitution, but from habit, and is peculiar to himself, because the luminous fire which kindles the soul in the pupil, was for too long a time and with too much force, repressed an…”
← Collapsezoroastrianism23
Avesta (Gathas) | Ahunavaiti Gatha, Yasna XXVIII, Section 1a
“1.
(A strengthening blessing 1 is the thought, a blessing is the word, a blessing is the deed of the righteous Zarathu s tra.
May the Bountiful Immortals 2 accept and help on 3 the chants.
Homage to you, O sacred Gâthas 4 !) 2.
With ven…”
Avesta (Gathas) | Ahunavaiti Gatha, Yasna XXIX, Section 1a
“(Homage to you, O Sacred Gâthas!) 1.
Unto you (O Ahura and Asha!) the Soul of the Kine (our sacred herds and folk) cried aloud: For whom did ye create me, and by 1 whom did ye fashion me?
On me comes the assault of wrath, and of violent p…”
Avesta (Gathas) | Ahunavaiti Gatha, Yasna XXX, Section 1a
“1.
And now I will proclaim, O ye who are drawing near and seeking 1 to be taught!
those animadversions 2 which appertain to Him who knows (all things) whatsoever; the praises which are for Ahura, and the sacrifices (which spring) from the…”
Avesta (Gathas) | Ahunavaiti Gatha, Yasna XXX, Section 1b
“And may we be such as those who bring on p.
34 this great renovation, and make this world progressive, (till its perfection shall have been reached).
(As) the Ahuras of Mazda 1 (even) may we be; (yea, like Thyself), in helpful readiness t…”
Avesta (Gathas) | Ahunavaiti Gatha, Yasna XXXI, Section 1a
“1.
These doctrines (therefore) we are earnestly declaring to You as we recite them forth from memory, words (till now) unheard 1 (with faith) by those who by means of the doctrinal vows 2 of the harmful Lie are delivering the settlements o…”
Avesta (Gathas) | Ahunavaiti Gatha, Yasna XXXI, Section 1b
“as the one to be adored with the mind in the creation, as the Father of the Good Mind within us, when I beheld Thee 7 with my (enlightened) eyes as the veritable maker of our Righteousness, as the Lord of the actions of life 8 !
9.
Thine,…”
Avesta (Gathas) | Ahunavaiti Gatha, Yasna XXXI, Section 1c
“49 harm to the tiller's herd, to the pious husbandman's flock, who speaks no word with lying, (who abjures the Lie-demon's faith 1 )?
16.
Yea, I would ask Thee such a thing as this: How such an one as he who, with wise action, has striven…”
Avesta (Gathas) | Ahunavaiti Gatha, Yasna XXXII, Section 1a
“(That rival-monarch (thus we may supply the sense of lost verses) for whom some are plotting to secure the sovereignty, and who, once in power, would deliver over home, village, town, and province to ruin and to death 2 , is active in his e…”
Show all 23 →mesopotamian12
The Descent of the Goddess Ishtar into the Lower World | Section 1a
“Return to Ancient Near East index Return to Main Index DESCENT OF THE GODDESS ISHTAR INTO THE LOWER WORLD [From The Civilization of Babylonia and Assyria, M.
Jastrow, 1915] To the land of no return, the land of darkness, Ishtar, the daught…”
Enuma Elish: The Epic of Creation | 1a
“THE FIRST TABLET When in the height heaven was not named, And the earth beneath did not yet bear a name, And the primeval Apsu, who begat them, And chaos, Tiamut, the mother of them both Their waters were mingled together, And no field was…”
Enuma Elish: The Epic of Creation | 1b
“let us wage war!" ...
the gods in the midst of...
...
for the gods did she create.
They banded themselves together and at the side of Tiamat they advanced; They were furious; they devised mischief without resting night and day.
They pr…”
Enuma Elish: The Epic of Creation | 1c
“Whoever beholdeth them is overcome by terror, Their bodies rear up and none can withstand their attack.
She hath set up vipers, and dragons, and the monster Lahamu, And hurricanes and raging hounds, and scorpion-men, And mighty tempests, a…”
Enuma Elish: The Epic of Creation | 1d
“rejoice and be glad; The neck of Tiamat shalt thou swiftly trample under foot.
...
rejoice and be glad; The neck of Tiamat shalt thou swiftly trample under foot.
0 my son, who knoweth all wisdom, Pacify Tiamat with thy pure incantation.…”
Enuma Elish: The Epic of Creation | 1e
“Be thou exalted, thou my chosen spouse, May they magnify thy name over all of them ...
the Anunnaki." She hath given him the Tablets of Destiny, on his breast she laid them, saying: Thy command shall not be without avail, and the word of t…”
Enuma Elish: The Epic of Creation | 1f
“She hath given him the Tablets of Destiny on his breast she laid them, saving: Thy command shall not be without avail, and the word of thy mouth shall be established.' Now Kingu, thus exalted, having received the power of Anu, Decreed the f…”
Enuma Elish: The Epic of Creation | 1g
“When the gods, his fathers, beheld the fulfillment of his word, They rejoiced, and they did homage unto him, saying, " Marduk is king!" They bestowed upon him the scepter, and the throne, and the ring, They give him an invincible weapony wh…”
Show all 12 →hinduism11
The Bhagavad Gita | Chapter XIII, Section 1a
“CHAPTER XIII.
The Deity said: This body, O son of Kuntî!
is called Kshetra , and the learned call him who knows it the Kshetra g ña.
.
And know me also, O descendant of Bharata!
to be the Kshetra g ña in all Kshetras.
The knowledge of…”
The Bhagavad Gita | Chapter XIII, Section 1b
“The supreme spirit in this body is called supervisor, adviser , supporter, enjoyer, the great lord, and the supreme self also.
He who thus knows nature and spirit, together with the qualities, is not born again, however living .
Some by c…”
The Bhagavad Gita | Chapter XVI, Section 1a
“CHAPTER XVI.
Freedom from fear, purity of heart, perseverance in (pursuit of) knowledge and abstraction of mind, gifts , self-restraint , and sacrifice, study of the Vedas, penance, straightforwardness, harmlessness, truth , freedom from a…”
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book II | Sutra 5
“The darkness of ignorance is: holding that which is unenduring, impure, full of pain, not the Soul, to be eternal, pure, full of joy, the Soul. This we have really considered already. The psychic man is unenduring, impure, full of pain, not…”
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book II | Sutra 6
“Self-assertion comes from thinking of the Seer and the instrument of vision as forming one self. This is the fundamental idea of the Sankhya philosophy, of which the Yoga is avowedly the practical side. To translate this into our terms, we…”
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book II | Sutra 17
“The cause of what is to be warded off, is the absorption of the Seer in things seen. Here again we have the fundamental idea of the Sankhya, which is the intellectual counterpart of the Yoga system. The cause of what is to be warded off, th…”
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book II | Sutra 26
“A discerning which is carried on without wavering is the means of liberation. Here we come close to the pure Vedanta, with its discernment between the eternal and the temporal. St. Paul, following after Philo and Plato, lays down the same f…”
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book III | Sutra 12
“When, following this, the controlled manifold tendency and the aroused one-pointedness are equally balanced parts of the perceiving consciousness, his the development of one-pointedness. This would seem to mean that the insight which is cal…”
Show all 11 →taoism5
Tao Te Ching | Chapter 11
“The thirty spokes unite in the one nave; but it is on the empty space (for the axle), that the use of the wheel depends. Clay is fashioned into vessels; but it is on their empty hollowness, that their use depends. The door and windows are c…”
Tao Te Ching | Chapter 40
“The movement of the Tao By contraries proceeds; And weakness marks the course Of Tao's mighty deeds. All things under heaven sprang from It as existing (and named); that existence sprang from It as non-existent (and not named).…”
Tao Te Ching | Chapter 42
“The Tao produced One; One produced Two; Two produced Three; Three produced All things. All things leave behind them the Obscurity (out of which they have come), and go forward to embrace the Brightness (into which they have emerged), while…”
The Writings of Chuang Tzu (Inner Chapters) | Book VI (part 5)
“Dze-sze 1 , Dze-yü 1 , Dze-1î 1 , and Dze-lâi 1 , these four men, were talking together, when some one said, 'Who can suppose the head to be made from nothing, the spine from life, and the rump-bone from death?
Who knows how death and birt…”
The Writings of Chuang Tzu (Inner Chapters) | Book VI (part 11)
“243:4 Men at a very early time came to believe in the existence of their spirits after death, and in the existence of a Supreme Ruler or God.
It vas to the Tâo that those concepts were owing.
243:5 The primal ether out of which all things…”
theosophy4
The Secret Doctrine | Page 13 (part 2)
“And the Dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world." The Kabalistic version of the same story is given in the Codex Nazareus, the scripture of the Nazarenes, the real mystic Christians…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 20 (part 1)
“The Secret Doctrine by H.
P.
Blavatsky -- Vol.
1 [[Vol.
1, Page]] 342 THE SECRET DOCTRINE.
§ IV.
CHAOS -- THEOS -- KOSMOS.
T HESE three are the containment of Space; or, as a learned Kabalist has defined it, "Space, the all containin…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 30 (part 5)
“That, however, which God and the Christian Saints are justified in doing, becomes a crime, if successful, in simple mortals.
Sorcery and incantations are regarded as fables now; yet from the day of the Institutes of Justinian down to the l…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 80 (part 2)
“Bear in mind, that almost every ancient King and priest was an initiate; that from toward the close of the Fourth Race there had been a feud between the Initiates of the Right and those of the Left Path; finally, that the garden of Eden is…”
native_american2
Myths of the Cherokee | Myth 70
“THE BRIDE FROM THE SOUTH The North went traveling, and after going far and meeting many different tribes he finally fell in love with the daughter of the South and wanted to marry her. The girl was willing, but her parents objected and said…”
Myths of the Cherokee | Myth 71
“THE ICE MAN Once when the people were burning the woods in the fall the blaze set fire to a poplar tree, which continued to burn until the fire went down into the roots and burned a great hole in the ground. It burned and burned, and the ho…”
sufism1
The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY VI-a
“Omar and the Ambassador.
The hare, having delivered his companions from the tyranny of the lion, in the manner just described, proceeds to improve the occasion by exhorting them to engage in a greater and more arduous warfare, viz., the st…”