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praxis

Divine Intoxication

Ecstatic, non-rational receptivity to the divine figured as drunkenness — Plato's symposium wine, Rumi's sukr, Eckhart's 'sober drunkenness'; the passive/receptive metaphor for divine encounter, distinct from divine_madness's active possessing rapture.

91 passages · 10 traditions
renaissance_hermeticism: 28 passagesrenaissance_hermeticism28western_esoteric: 14 passageswestern_esoteric14neoplatonism: 11 passagesneoplatonism11greek_mystery: 10 passagesgreek_mystery10platonism: 8 passagesplatonism8sufism: 8 passagessufism8finnic: 5 passagesfinnic5gnosticism: 3 passagesgnosticism3hermeticism: 3 passageshermeticism3norse: 1 passagenorse1
renaissance_hermeticism28
◆Agrippa: The Philosophy of Natural Magic, Chapter LX — Of Madness, and Divinations which are made when men are awake, and of the Power of a Melancholy Humor, by which Spirits are sometimes induced into Men's Bodies | Chapter LX, Section 1a
“CHAPTER LX. Of Madness, and Divinations which are made when men are awake, and of the Power of a Melancholy Humor, by which Spirits are sometimes induced into Men's Bodies . It happens also, sometimes, that not only they that are asleep,…”
◆The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | INTRODUCTIONi
“The life of man is more than an experience or trial; it is an effort, a struggle to reproduce and represent upon earth some of that goodness, beauty, and truth which are diffused over the universe and constitute its harmony. Long, slow, an…”
◆The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | First Dialoguea
“. Tansillo, Cicada. Tans. The enthusiasms most suitable to be first brought forward and considered are those that I now place before you in the order that seems to me most fitting. Cic. Begin, then, to read. Tansillo. 1. Ye Muses, t…”
◆The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | First Dialoguec
“Hence he cries: "O mountain of Parnassus, where I abide! Muses, with whom I converse! Fountain of Helicon, where I am nourished. Mountain, that affordest me a quiet dwelling-place! Muses, that inspire me with pro found doctrines. Fount…”
◆The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Second Dialoguea
“. Tansillo. Now begins the enthusiast to display the affections and uncover the wounds which are for a sign in his body, and in substance or essence in his soul, and he says thus: 9. Of Love the standard-bearer I; My hopes are ice, and g…”
◆The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Second Dialoguec
“I can very well conceive, from what you have said, the condition of that heroic enthusiast, who says, "My hopes are ice and my desires are glowing," because he is not in the temperance of mediocrity, but, in the excess of contradictions, hi…”
◆The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Second Dialogued
“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 Dialoguea
“. Tansillo . There are several varieties of enthusiasts, which may all be reduced to two kinds. While some only display blindness, stupidity, and irrational impetuosity, which tend towards savage madness, others by divine abstraction bec…”
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western_esoteric14
◆Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XV (part 5)
“When one encounters these perversions of love, one involuntarily calls to mind the words of Zarathustra: 2 Voluptuousness: unto all hair-shirted despisers of the body, a string p. 173 and stake; and cursed as "the world" by all backworldsm…”
◆Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XVII (part 3)
“The snail is a complex centre of transmutation of some physical energies into others. This centre possesses a consciousness of its own. It is for this reason that the snail is indivisible. Its psyche is infinitely higher than that of the…”
◆Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XIX (part 7)
“In the reduction of your soul to its simplest self, its divine essence, you realize this union—this identity. But this sublime condition is not of permanent duration. It is only now and then that we can enjoy this elevation above the limi…”
◆Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXI (part 3)
“All attempts to penetrate mentally into that higher, noumenal world, or world of causes, by means of the logic of the phenomenal world, if they did not fail altogether, or did not lead to castles in the air , gave only one result: in becomi…”
◆Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXII (part 11)
“Let not thy Left Eye deceive thee, by making continually one representation after another, and stirring up thereby an earnest longing in the self-propriety; but let thy Right Eye command back this Left . . . And only bringing the Eye of…”
◆Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXII (part 13)
“Then the understanding of such a man receives from the Holy Spirit the highest and hidden mysteries which according to the divine Paul, neither the human eye can understand nor the human reason comprehend unaided. (Ii Corinthians ii, 9).…”
◆Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXII (part 18)
“This is at the same time a religious sect and a philosophical school of high idealistic character, which struggled against materialism and against the narrow fanaticism and the literal understanding of the Koran. The Sufis interpreted the…”
◆Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky) | Chapter XXII (part 21)
“Blood describes the value of the anæsthetic revelation for life as follows: "The Anæsthetic Revelation is the initiation of man into the mystery of the open secret of Being, revealed as the inevitable vortex of continuity. Inevitable is th…”
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neoplatonism11
◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XIa
“In what follows, in which you think that ignorance and deception about these things are impiety and impurity, and in which you exhort us to the true developement of these particulars, is not, indeed, attended with any ambiguity, but is ackn…”
◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter V
“There are, therefore, many species of divine possession, and divine inspiration is multifariously excited; whence, also, the signs of it are many and different. For either the Gods are different, by whom we are inspired, and thus produce a…”
◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter X
“Let us, however, discuss what pertains to divination more particularly; not asserting this, that nature leads each thing to its like; for the enthusiastic energy is not the work of nature; nor again asserting that the temperature of the air…”
◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XXV
“That which follows in the next place, descends from a divine alienation of mind to an ecstasy of the reasoning power which leads it to a worse condition, and absurdly says, “ that the cause of divination is the mania which happens in diseas…”
◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VII
“With respect to the good , likewise, they conceive that one kind is divine, and this is the God who is prior to the intelligible; but that the other is human, and is a union with the former. And these two kinds of good Bitys has unfolded fr…”
◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIIIh
“Hence the ancient priests, by the mutual relation and sympathy of things to each other, collected their virtues into one, but expelled them by repugnancy and antipathy; purifying when it was requisite with sulphur and bitumen, and sprinklin…”
◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIIIk
“the musical, the telestic, the prophetic, and the amatory, previous to the discussion of each, we must first speak about enthusiasm, and show to what part of the soul the enthusiastic energy pertains; whether each part of it possesses this…”
◆Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIIIl
“Opinion, likewise, and the phantasy, are said thus to energize when they discover arts, and accomplish admirable works, such, for instance, as Phidias effected in the formation of statues, and another in another art, as also Homer says [157…”
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greek_mystery10
◆Orphic Hymns | Hymn X (part 1)
“X. TO PAN * The FUMIGATION from VARIOUS ODORS I Call strong Pan, the substance of the whole, Etherial, marine, earthly, general soul, Immortal fire; for all the world is thine, And all are parts of thee, O pow'r divine. p. 131 Come, bles…”
◆Orphic Hymns | Hymn XXIII. THE NEREIDS
“XXIII. TO THE NEREIDS. The FUMIGATION from AROMATICS. DAUGHTERS of Nereus, resident in caves Merg'd deep in Ocean, sporting thro' the waves; Fanatic fifty nymphs, who thro' the main Delight to follow in the Triton's train, Rejoicing close b…”
◆Orphic Hymns | Hymn XXVI. THE MOTHER OF THE GODS
“XXVI. TO THE MOTHER OF THE GODS. The FUMIGATION from a Variety of ODORIFEROUS SUBSTANCES. Mother of Gods, great nurse of all, draw near, Divinely honor'd, and regard my pray'r: Thron'd on a car, by lions drawn along, By bull-destroying lion…”
◆Orphic Hymns | Hymn XXVIII. PROSERPINE (part 1)
“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,…”
◆Orphic Hymns | Hymn XLV. LIKNITUS + BACCHUS
“XLV. TO LIKNITUS + BACCHUS. The FUMIGATION from MANNA. LIKNITAN Bacchus, bearer of the vine, Thee I invoke to bless these rites divine: p. 179 Florid and gay, of nymphs the blossom bright, And of fair Venus, Goddess of delight, 'Tis thine m…”
◆Orphic Hymns | Hymn XLIX. LYSIUS LENÆUS
“XLIX. TO LYSIUS LENÆUS. A HYMN. Hear me, Jove's son, blest Bacchus, God of wine, Born of two mothers, honor'd and divine; Lysian, Euion * Bacchus, various-nam'd, Of Gods the offspring secret, holy, fam'd: Fertile and nourishing whose libera…”
◆Orphic Hymns | Hymn LI. TRIETERICUS
“LI. TO TRIETERICUS. The FUMIGATION from AROMATICS. BACCHUS fanatic, much-nam'd, blest, divine, Bull-fac'd Lenæan, bearer of the vine; From fire descended, raging, Nysian king, From whom initial ceremonies spring: Liknitan Bacchus, pure and…”
◆Orphic Hymns | Hymn LIII. SILENUS, SATYRUS, and the PRIESTESSES of BACCHUS
“LIII. To SILENUS, SATYRUS, and the PRIESTESSES of BACCHUS. The FUMIGATION from MANNA. GREAT nurse of Bacchus, to my pray'r incline., Silenus, honor'd by the pow'rs divine And by mankind at the triennial feast Illustrious dæmon, reverenc'd a…”
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platonism8
◆Plato: Phaedrus | Section 1f
“"I believe that I have said enough; but if there is anything more which you desire or which in your opinion needs to be supplied, ask and I will answer." Now, Socrates, what do you think? Is not the discourse excellent, more especially in…”
◆Plato: Phaedrus | Section 1…
“But he who thinks that in the written word there is necessarily much which is not serious, and that neither poetry nor prose, spoken or written, is of any great value, if, like the compositions of the rhapsodes, they are only recited in ord…”
◆Plato: Symposium | Section 1v
“"And you mean by the happy, those who are the possessors of things good or fair?" "Yes." "And you admitted that Love, because he was in want, desires those good and fair things of which he is in want?" "Yes, I did." "But how can he be a god…”
◆Plato: Symposium | Section 1y
“And this is the reason why, when the hour of conception arrives, and the teeming nature is full, there is such a flutter and ecstasy about beauty whose approach is the alleviation of the pain of travail. For love, Socrates, is not, as you…”
◆Plato: Symposium | Section 1}
“Thereupon he was led in by the people who were with him; and as he was being led, intending to crown Agathon, he took the ribands from his own head and held them in front of his eyes; he was thus prevented from seeing Socrates, who made way…”
◆Plato: Symposium | Section 1~
“Well, said Eryximachus, before you appeared we had passed a resolution that each one of us in turn should make a speech in praise of love, and as good a one as he could: the turn was passed round from left to right; and as all of us have sp…”
◆Plato: Symposium | Section 1€
“In the prosecution of this design, when I next went to him, I sent away the attendant who usually accompanied me (I will confess the whole truth, and beg you to listen; and if I speak falsely, do you, Socrates, expose the falsehood). Well,…”
◇Plato: Symposium | Section 1
“When we hear any other speaker, even very good one, he produces absolutely no effect upon us, or not much, whereas the mere fragments of you and your words, even at second-hand, and however imperfectly repeated, amaze and possess the souls…”
sufism8
◆The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | PROLOGUEa
“HEARKEN to the reed-flute, how it complains, Lamenting its banishment from its home: "Ever since they tore me from my osier bed, My plaintive notes have moved men and women to tears. I burst my breast, striving to give vent to sighs, And t…”
◆The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY II
“The Oilman and his Parrot. An oilman possessed a parrot which used to amuse him with its agreeable prattle, and to watch his shop when he went out. One day, when the parrot was alone in the shop, a cat upset one of the oil-jars. When the oi…”
◆The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY IXb
“Woman is a ray of God, not a mere mistress, The Creator's self, as it were, not a mere creature! Moses and Pharaoh, alike doers of God's will, as Light and Darkness. Poison and Antidote. Verily, both Moses and Pharaoh walked in the right…”
◆The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY IXc
“When love of God kindles a flame in the inward man, He burns, and is freed from effects. He has no need of signs to assure him of love, For love casts its own light up to heaven. Other details are wanting to complete this subject, But tak…”
◆The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY XIV
“The Chinese and the Greek Artists. The Chinese and the Greeks disputed before the Sultan which of them were the better painters; and, in order to settle the dispute, the Sultan allotted to each a house to be painted by them. The Chinese pro…”
◆The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY XVa
“Counsels of Reserve given by the Prophet to his Freedman Zaid. At dawn the Prophet said to Zaid, "How is it with thee this morning, O pure disciple?" He replied, "Thy faithful slave am I." Again he said, "If the garden of faith has bloomed…”
◇The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY VIIc
“My ardour arises not from joy or grief, My sense mates not with illusion and fancy. My condition is different, for it is strange. Deny it not ! God is all-powerful. Argue not from the condition of common men, Stumble not at severity and…”
◇The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY VIIIa
“The Harper. In the time of the Khalifa 'Omar there lived a harper, whose voice was as sweet as that of the angel Israfil, and who was in great request at all feasts. But he grew old, and his voice broke, and no one would employ him any lo…”
finnic5
◆The Kalevala | Rune XXe
“"Osmotar, the beer-preparer, Thought again, and long debated: 'Who or what will bring the ferment, Th at my beer may not be lifeless?' "Kalevatar, magic maiden, Grace and beauty in her fingers, Softly moving, lightly stepping, In her trimly…”
◆The Kalevala | Rune XXf
“"Osmotar, the beer-preparer, Kapo, brewer of the barley, Spake these words in saddened accents: 'Woe is me, my life hard-fated, Badly have I brewed the liquor, Have not brewed the beer in wisdom, Will not live within its vessels, Overflows…”
◆The Kalevala | Rune XXg
“Is not like the smoke of camp-fires, Is too large for fires of shepherds!" Lemminkainen's ancient mother Journeyed in the early morning For some water to the fountain, Saw the smoke arise to heaven, In the region of Pohyola, These the words…”
◆The Kalevala | Rune XXIc
“"Come, ye maidens that should serve me, Come, ye fellows from the village, Bring me fire upon the birch-bark, Light the fagots of the fir-tree, That I may behold the bridegroom, Chosen suitor of my daughter, Fairy Maiden of the Rainbow, See…”
◆The Kalevala | Rune XLIVc
“"Give me, maiden, of thy tresses, Give to me thy golden ringlets; I will weave them into harp-strings, To the joy of Wainamoinen, To the pleasure of his people." Thereupon the forest-maiden Gave the singer of her tresses, Gave him of her go…”
gnosticism3
◆Gospel of Philip | Section 1j
“In the world these are the true people. They are the attendants of the bridal chamber. POWER AND WEAKNESS In this world, power and weakness mingle when man and woman have sex. Joining is different in the eternal realm, though we use the…”
◆Gospel of Thomas | Logion 2
“Jesus said, "Let him who seeks continue seeking until he finds. When he finds, he will become troubled. When he becomes troubled, he will be astonished, and he will rule over the All."…”
◇Gospel of Thomas | Logion 13
“Jesus said to his disciples, "Compare me to someone and tell me whom I am like." Simon Peter said to him, "You are like a righteous angel." Matthew said to him, "You are like a wise philosopher." Thomas said to him, "Master, my mouth is who…”
hermeticism3
◆Corpus Hermeticum 10: The Sermon on the Mount | Section 1b
“For It doth will to be, and It is both Itself and most of all by reason of Itself. Indeed, all other things beside are just bacause of It; for the distinctive feature of the Good is "that it should be known". Such is the Good, O Tat. Tat…”
◆Corpus Hermeticum 10: The Sermon on the Mount | Section 1f
“But God is o'er them all, and God contains them all. God's rays, to use a figure, are His energies; the Cosmos's are natures, the arts and sciences are man's. The energies act through the Cosmos, thence through the nature-rays of Cosmos u…”
◆Corpus Hermeticum 13: The Discourse of Hermes to Tat | Section 1b
“Thou seest me with eyes, my son; but what I am thou dost not understand [even] with fullest strain of body and of sight. 4. Tat: Into fierce frenzy and mind-fury hast thou plunged me, father, for now no longer do I see myself. Hermes: I…”
norse1
◆The Poetic Edda: Hovamol | Section 1b
“Hail to the giver! | a guest has come; Where shall the stranger sit? Swift shall he be who, | with swords shall try The proof of his might to make. [1. This stanza is quoted by Snorri, the second line being omitted in most of the Prose…”