The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori) · 11 of 49 · tr. L. Williams
First Dialogue-j
So that the continual movement of one part supposes and carries with it the movement of the whole, in such a way that the attraction of the posterior parts is consequent upon the repulsion of the anterior parts; thus the movement of the superior parts results of necessity from that of the inferior, and from the raising of one opposite power, follows the depression of the other opposite.
Therefore the heart, which signifies all the affections generally, comes to be concealed and open, held by zeal, raised by magnificent thoughts, sustained by hope, weakened by fear, and in this state and condition will it ever be seen and found.
VI.
Ces.
That is all well.
Let us come to that which follows.
I see a ship floating on the waves; its ropes are attached to the shore and there is the legend: Fluctuat in portu.
Deliberate about the signification of this, and when you are decided about it, explain.
Mar.
Both the legend and the figure have a certain connexion with the present legend and figure, as may be easily understood, if one considers it a little.
But let us read the sonnet.
46.
If I by gods, by heroes and by men Be re-assured, so that I not despair, Nor fear, pain, nor the impediments Of death of body, joy and happiness, Yet must I learn to suffer and to feel.
And that I may my pathways clearly see, Let doubts arise, and dolour, and the woe Of vanished hopes, of joy and all delight.
But if he should behold, should grant, and should attend My thoughts, my wishes, and my reasoning, Who makes them so uncertain, hot, and vague, Such dear conceits, such acts and speech, Will not be given nor done to him, who stays From birth, through life, to death in sheltered home.
Non dà, non fa, non ha qualunque stassi De l'orto, vita e morte a le magioni.
From what we have considered and said in the preceding discourses one is able to understand these sentiments, especially where it is shown that the sense of low things is diminished and annulled whenever the superior powers are strongly intent upon a more elevated and heroic object.
The power of contemplation is so great, as is noted by Jamblichus, that it happens sometimes, not only that the soul ceases from inferior acts, but that it leaves the body entirely.
The which I will not understand otherwise than in such various ways as are explained in the book of thirty seals, wherein are produced so many methods of contraction, of which some infamously, others heroically operate, that one learns not to fear death, suffers not pain of body, feels not the hindrances of pleasures: wherefore the hope, the joy, and the delight of the superior spirit are of so intense a kind that they extinguish all those passions which may have their origin in doubt, in pain and all kinds of sadness.
Ces.
But what is that, of which he requests that it consider those thoughts which it has rendered so uncertain, fulfil those desires which it has made so ardent, and listen to those discourses which it has rendered so vague?
Mar.
He means the Object, which he beholds when it makes itself present; for to see the Divine is to be seen by it, as to see the sun concurs with the being seen of the sun.
The Hermetic axiom that the structure of the cosmos is reflected at every scale — 'as above, so below; as within, so without' — making each level a legible map of the others.
The text posits that the movement of parts reflects and necessitates the movement of the whole, echoing 'as above so below'.
The Stoic and Plotinian doctrine that all parts of the cosmos are bound by hidden affinities, so that a movement in one part resonates through the whole; the metaphysical basis for astrology, magic, and divination.
[auto] The opening paragraph explicitly states that the movement of one part supposes and carries with it the movement of the whole.
John of the Cross's stage of contemplative purgation: a felt absence and aridity of God that strips the soul of attachments to its own consolations en route to deeper union.
The sonnet describes the necessity of doubts, dolour, and woe of vanished hopes as part of the spiritual pathway.
Ecstatic irrational rapture — Plato's mania, Bruno's furore — by which the soul transcends ordinary reason and attains direct contact with divine reality; madness reframed as higher knowledge.
[auto] The passage describes thoughts rendered 'uncertain, hot, and vague' as a means to divine contact, aligning with the concept of ecstatic irrational rapture.
Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.
[auto] The text emphasizes that 'to see the Divine is to be seen by it,' indicating salvation through direct experiential knowledge rather than ritual.
Bruno's eroici furori — a passionate, ennobling spiritual ardor that drives the soul toward divine wisdom; distinguished from base or animal passions by its orientation to infinite truth.
[auto] The passage is from the work titled 'The Heroic Enthusiasts' and explicitly discusses methods that operate 'heroically' to extinguish base passions.
Diotima's staged ascent from love of beautiful bodies → beautiful souls → beautiful pursuits → beautiful knowledge → Beauty itself; the canonical scala amoris that grounds Plotinus's On the Beautiful and Bruno's Eroici Furori — distinct from generic spiritual_ascent in that eros is the specific motive force.
As a text from Eroici Furori, it describes the ascent through stages of passion and thought toward the heroic object.
The human being as a small-scale image of the entire cosmos; the body, soul, and intellect mirroring the structure of the heavens and the divine — distinct from correspondence in that it makes the human the privileged mirror.
The heart signifies affections generally, linking human interior states to the movement of the cosmic whole.
Iamblichean ritual practice that engages the gods directly through consecrated material symbols and actions, on the premise that divine power descends into properly prepared matter — distinct from philosophical contemplation alone.
The text cites Jamblichus regarding the power of contemplation causing the soul to leave the body, a core tenet of Iamblichean theurgy.