This page simply reformats the Flickr public Atom feed for purposes of finding inspiration through random exploration. These images are not being copied or stored in any way by this website, nor are any links to them or any metadata about them. All images are © their owners unless otherwise specified.
This site is a busybee project and is supported by the generosity of viewers like you.
Les contes drolatiques d' Honoré de Balzac: bestseller of the 19th century. What makes the charm and interest of these funny tales today, it is above all the 425 drawings created by Gustave Doré that are scattered throughout the work. It is important to remember that Gustave Doré did not engrave the 425 drawings himself (he produced lithographs and etchings representing only a small part of his production).
In many descriptions of sexual intercourse between incubus or succubus with a human being, the intense pleasure this brings is often emphasized. After 1470, it is no longer a question of this, we are "talking about horrible and disgusting stories. In the descriptions of the witches' Sabbath, the authorities realized that this should not be the envy. The supposed witches had to admit under torture all the horrors that came out of the imaginations of these frustrated and sadistic singles. The authors of the "Malleus Maleficarum" are particularly interested in the details of sexual relations with demons. This book, first published around 1486, was the first official manual of persecution of witches. There is an unpleasant description of copulation between a woman and an incubus and the possibility that self-management is responsible for these "relationships". They say that in every case they know, the witch has seen the devil. But according to some, witches have often been seen lying naked on their backs in the woods or fields in a position allowing copulation and orgasm, observing their movements it was obvious that they were copulating with an invisible demonic incubus, if not, in rare cases, a black vapour the size of a man climbing up into the sky at the end of the act. In the medieval atmosphere where sexual relations were tantamount to sin, these scenes could only be understood by the intervention of a demon, the one who was in the spirit of the woman and the witness.
Descriptions of the relationship between a man and a succubus are less frequent. When they are found, they are in the order of incubation stories. The succubus takes the form of a very beautiful woman, but her vagina is frozen and sometimes her lover notices that her legs end in hooves. Again, the oldest stories speak of magnificent and passionate demons that appear to priests and hermits to tempt them, and they often do so. Pope Sylvester II (999-1003) is a Pope who is said to have been secretly a sorcerer and legend has it that he had a relationship with a succubus named Meridiana which was his familiar mind. The icy bodies of succubi must come from the descriptions of the incubus, because most succubi stories speak of being diabolically seductive in the form of a courtesan or prostitute to seduce men. The origin of many of these stories seems to come from men's erotic dreams. Most of these dreams are pleasant, but if you feel guilty and the fear of sin comes into play, the phantasms become dark and the dreamer passes into the world of the nightmare. An incubus is a Lilin-demon in male form who, according to mythological and legendary traditions, lies upon women in order to engage in sexual activity with them. Its female counterpart is a succubus. Salacious tales of incubi and succubi have been told for many centuries in traditional societies. Some traditions hold that repeated sexual activity with an incubus or succubus may result in the deterioration of health, mental state, or even death.The word incubus is derived from Late Latin incubo (a nightmare induced by such a demon); from incub(āre) (to lie upon). One of the earliest mentions of an incubus comes from Mesopotamia on the Sumerian King List, ca. 2400 BC, where the hero Gilgamesh's father is listed as Lilu. It is said that Lilu disturbs and seduces women in their sleep, while Lilitu, a female demon, appears to men in their erotic dreams. Two other corresponding demons appear as well: Ardat lili, who visits men by night and begets ghostly children from them, and Irdu lili, who is known as a male counterpart to Ardat lili and visits women by night and begets from them. These demons were originally storm demons, but they eventually became regarded as night demons because of mistaken etymology.[5] Written later but described as happening before the Sumerian King List was completed is the mention of the Nephilim: Christian tradition attributes the completion of the Biblical book of Genesis to the time of the 16th century BC.
Incubi were thought to be demons who had sexual relations with women, sometimes producing a child by the woman. Succubi, by contrast, were demons thought to have intercourse with men. Debate about the demons began early in the Christian tradition. St. Augustine touched on the topic in De Civitate Dei ("The City of God"). There were too many alleged attacks by incubi to deny them. He stated, "There is also a very general rumor. Many have verified it by their own experience and trustworthy persons have corroborated the experience others told, that sylvans and fauns, commonly called incubi, have often made wicked assaults upon women."Questions about the reproductive capabilities of the demons continued. Eight hundred years later, Thomas Aquinas lent himself to the ongoing discussion, stating, "Still, if some are occasionally begotten from demons, it is not from the seed of such demons, nor from their assumed bodies, but from the seed of men, taken for the purpose; as when the demon assumes first the form of a woman, and afterwards of a man; just so they take the seed of other things for other generating purposes." This view was also shared by King James and in his dissertation titled Dæmonologie he refutes the possibility for angelic entities to reproduce and instead offered a suggestion that a devil would carry out two methods of impregnating women: the first, to steal the sperm out of a dead man and deliver it into a woman. If a demon could extract the semen quickly, the transportation of the substance could not be instantly transported to a female host, causing it to go cold. This explains his view that Succubae and Incubi were the same demonic entity only to be described differently based on the sexes being conversed with. Being abused in such a way caused women at nunneries to be burned if they were found pregnant. The second method was the idea that a dead body could be possessed by a devil, causing it to rise and have sexual relations with others. This is similar to depictions of revenants or vampires and a spirit taking deceased corpse to cause some mischief. It became generally accepted that incubi and succubi were the same demon, able to switch between male and female forms.A succubus would be able to sleep with a man and collect his sperm, and then transform into an incubus and use that seed on women. Even though sperm and egg came from humans originally, the spirits' offspring were often thought of as supernatural.
Some sources indicate that it may be identified by its unnaturally large or cold penis. Though many tales claim that the incubus is bisexual, others indicate that it is strictly heterosexual and finds attacking a male victim either unpleasant or detrimental.
Incubi are sometimes said to be able to conceive children. The half-human offspring of such a union is sometimes referred to as a cambion. An incubus may pursue sexual relations with a woman in order to father a child, as in the legend of Merlin.
According to the Malleus Maleficarum, exorcism is one of the five ways to overcome the attacks of incubi, the others being Sacramental Confession, the Sign of the Cross (or recital of the Angelic Salutation), moving the afflicted to another location, and by excommunication of the attacking entity, "which is perhaps the same as exorcism." On the other hand, the Franciscan friar Ludovico Maria Sinistrari stated that incubi "do not obey exorcists, have no dread of exorcisms, show no reverence for holy things, at the approach of which they are not in the least overawed."
There are a number of variations on the incubus theme around the world. The alp of Teutonic or German folklore is one of the better known. In Zanzibar, Popo Bawa primarily attacks men and generally behind closed doors. "The Trauco", according to the traditional mythology of the Chiloé Province of Chile, is a hideous deformed dwarf who lulls nubile young women and seduces them. The Trauco is said to be responsible for unwanted pregnancies, especially in unmarried women. Perhaps another variation of this conception is the "Tintín" in Ecuador, a dwarf who is fond of abundant haired women and seduces them at night by playing the guitar outside their windows; a myth that researchers believe was created during the Colonial period of time to explain pregnancies in women who never left their houses without a chaperone, very likely covering incest or sexual abuse by one of the family's friends. In Hungary, a lidérc can be a Satanic lover that flies at night and appears as a fiery light (an ignis fatuus or will o' the wisp) or, in its more benign form as a featherless chicken.
In Brazil and the rainforests of the Amazon Basin, the Amazon River Dolphin (or boto) is believed to be a combination of siren and incubus that shape-shifts into a very charming and handsome man who seduces young women and takes them into the river. It is said to be responsible for disappearances and unwanted pregnancies, which metamorphoses back into a dolphin during the day. According to legend the boto always wears a hat to disguise the breathing hole at the top of its head.
The Southern African incubus demon is the Tokolosh. Chaste women place their beds upon bricks to deter the rather short fellows from attaining their sleeping forms. They also share the hole in the head detail and water dwelling habits of the Boto.
In Swedish folklore, there is the mara or mare, a spirit or goblin that rides on the chests of humans while they sleep, giving them bad dreams (or "nightmares").Belief in the mare goes back to the Norse Ynglinga saga from the 13th century,but the belief is probably even older. The mare was likely inspired by sleep paralysis.
In Assam, a north-eastern province of India it is mostly known as "pori" (Assamese: পৰী, meaning "angel"). According to the mythology, Pori comes to a man at night in his dreams and attracts towards her. Gradually the victim's health deteriorates and in some cases a tendency to commit suicide generates in him.
In Turkish culture, incubus is known as Karabasan. It is an evil being that descends upon some sleepers at night. These beings are thought to be spirits or jinns. It can be seen or heard in the nightmare and a heavy weight is felt on the chest. Yet people cannot wake up from that state. Some of the causes are sleeping without adequately covering the body (especially women) and eating in bed.
Victims may have been experiencing waking dreams or sleep paralysis. The phenomenon of sleep paralysis is well-established. During the fourth phase of sleep (the deepest stage, also known as REM sleep), motor centers in the brain are inhibited, producing paralysis. The reason for this is ultimately unknown but the most common explanation is that this prevents one from acting out one's dreams. Malfunctions of this process can either result in somnambulism (sleepwalking) or, conversely, sleep paralysis—where one remains partially or wholly paralysed for a short time after waking.
Additional to sleep paralysis is hypnagogia. In a near-dream state, it is common to experience auditory and visual hallucinations. Mostly these are forgotten upon fully waking or soon afterwards, in the same manner as dreams. However, most people remember the phenomenon of hearing music or seeing things in near-sleep states at some point in their lives. Typical examples include a feeling of being crushed or suffocated, electric "tingles" or "vibrations", imagined speech and other noises, the imagined presence of a visible or invisible entity, and sometimes intense emotions of fear or euphoria and orgasmic feelings. These often appear quite real and vivid; especially auditory hallucinations of music which can be quite loud, indistinguishable from music being played in the same room. Humanoid and animal figures, often shadowy or blurry, are often present in hypnagogic hallucinations, more so than other hallucinogenic states. This may be a relic of an ancient instinct to detect predatory animals.
The combination of sleep paralysis and hypnagogic hallucination could easily cause someone to believe that a "demon was holding them down". Nocturnal arousal etc. could be explained away by creatures causing otherwise guilt-producing behavior. Add to this the common phenomena of nocturnal arousal and nocturnal emission, and all the elements required to believe in an incubus are present.
On the other hand, some victims of incubi could well have been the victims of real sexual assault. Rapists may have attributed the rapes of sleeping women to demons in order to escape punishment. A friend or relative is at the top of the list in such cases and would be kept secret by the intervention of "spirits"
♡ HI GUYS ♡
New release!! ACCESS - OPENING today, the 12th!
💟.PALETO. JOC44 💟
Land Impact - 128
Copy - Mod - No Transf (Contains PBR Physics and Light ) ❢
SHOP HERE ⇩⇩⇩
ACCESS Event
‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥※‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥
Join our discord for more information.
.PALETO. Flickr
.PALETO. DISCORD
.PALETO. Facebook
.PALETO. Marketplace
.PALETO. Primfeed
‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥※‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥
Sun Ayashi - Media Manager
Panda Banana - Blogger Manager
♡ HI GUYSSS ♡
New release ✨ Equal10 - Open 10th!
💀 PALETO.PANIC ROOM 💀
Land Impact 140
Copy - Mod - No Transf (Contains Physics and Light ) ❢
✨ SHOP HERE ⇩⇩⇩
Equal10 Event
‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥※‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥
Join our discord for more information.
.PALETO. DISCORD
.PALETO. Facebook
.PALETO. Marketplace
.PALETO. Primfeed
‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥※‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥
Sun Ayashi - Manager Media
Panda Banana - Manager Blogger
In particular, the Churches of the East, being the churches east of Greek Orthodox influence, which included the churches of Syria, the Assyrian church, the church of the Chaldeans, and various churches making up Persian Christianity, still to this day hold Evagrius to be one of their three principal theological doctors and saints. Issac the Syrian would be become Evagrius’s most brilliant interpreter within the Church Orient. It is these churches, especially those within Persian Christianity, which were to have such a profound and intimate influence upon Persian Sufi psychology and theology. It is also this group of churches, the churches of the East, which Georgio Gurdjieff asserts were the most influential in the creation of his own psychological and cosmological synthesis. Evagrius’ writings: Evagrius lived in the great desert contemplative project of the Nile Delta. He was highly educated in Greek history and philosophy, and of course, Christian theology, and had been a ‘stand out’ participant at the First Council of Constantinople. He had been later exiled to rural Egypt, where he found a world of Egyptian Coptic Christianity which was down-to-earth, hard working individuals, almost all of whom could neither read nor write. As a consequence, Evagrius, who was a towering intellectual figure of late antiquity, was even more so within the earthiness and timeliness of Coptic Christianity. While much of the Evagrian Corpus has been attributed to other writers such as Cassian, remarkable recent discoveries in the libraries of Mt Athos have confirmed the Evagrian authorship of a number of ancient manuscripts previously unknown or thought to have been lost. Amongst these ‘lost’ texts is the Eulogios and an annexure that sets out Evagrius’ nine passions and their corresponding virtues. An authoritative English translation of the Eulogios and its annexure only became available in 2003. The existence of these texts is intriguing, for we know that Gurdgieff himself and his ‘Seekers after Truth’ visited Mt Athos at a time when the Russian Church had significant influence over the Holy Mountain[4]. It seems certain that he would have had access to the libraries and their manuscripts which have only recently been revealed to the West. That Evagrius wrote a treatise on nine passions which was held extant in monasteries known to have been visited by Gurdgieff or his collaborators (and only there), is a remarkable coincidence. Within Evagrius’ Corpus, his most important books have been considered to be a theological trilogy: The Praktikos (The Practice) Gnostikos (The Knower)
Kephalaia Gnostica (The Gnostic Chapters). Amongst other works, he also wrote De oratione (Chapters on Prayer), Anti Rrhetikos (Counterarguments), Scholia (Biblical Commentaries), The Eulogius (To the Monk Eulogius), 64 letters, and some smaller papers on The Eight Spirits of Evil, On Thoughts, On the Vices opposed to the Virtues, Foundations of Monastic Life (Hypotyposis), Exhortations to the Monks, and To Monks in Community and Exhortations to a Virgin (Ad Monachos).
Without question, within these works, Evagrius is best known for his systemization of the passions. The study of the passions has a long history, dating back to Plato and the New Testament, especially in letters of St Paul. However, it is within the Egyptian-contemplative-project of the third and fourth centuries that the study and documentation of the passions encompasses not only their deepest theological aspect, but also their clinical psychological consequence. In The Life of St Anthony, written by St Athanasius, St Anthony, who is traditionally ascribed the position as the founder of the Egyptian monasticism, is shown to have a highly refined understanding of the nature of the passions, and The Life describes an embryonic systemization.
Evagrius enters this contemplative world nearly 100 years after its documented establishment, where the clinical observation of the passions and therapeutic recourse (or management of the passions) was already well developed by the contemplative communities. Evagrius’ genius may not, in the end, be in his own clinical observations for which he is well recognized, but in the cataloguing of a century of observations made by theological clinicians within the contemplative communities. In other words, Evagrius’ greatest contribution to contemplation may lie in the fact that he was highly literate in a place where literacy and numeracy were almost non-existent – but where a powerful oral tradition was obviously in existence. It is worth remembering that while Evagrius is famed for ‘writing things down’, the greater part of the most important information remained oral and as such, also esoteric. Praktikos is a method of Christian introspection developed in the 4th century by Evagrius Ponticus, one of the Desert Fathers. It takes its name from a therapeutic work called “Praktikos” (“Practical Treatise”). Its objective is to analyze the states of mind, the impulses, the passions, the thoughts which agitate the human being and to achieve through its purification a non-pathological state of soul, called Apatheia. This method consists of observation, analysis and the inner struggle against the “logismoi” which could be translated as thoughts. For Evagrius, there would be eight in number: Gastrimargia, Philarguria, Pornéia, Orgè, Lupè, Acedia, Kenodoxia, Uperèphania. Reduced to 7 by Gregory the Great, this list is said to be the origin of the “seven deadly sins”. The Praktikos is one of Evagrius' pamphlets which had the most influence in Eastern monasticism, particularly in Byzantium and Syria. It was distributed in the West by Jean Cassien. The eight “logismoi”: eight “logismoi” are sometimes described as demons or “diabolos”. The omnipresence of demons is an essential component of the popular beliefs that Egyptian monks of the 4th century shared with the peasant class from which most of them came1. Through praktiké, Evagrius offers a way to combat the demonic enemies who oppose the monk's progress towards God. It is a struggle against vices through virtues to reach a state allowing the contemplation of God. Evagrius counts eight "logismoi" or vices: Gastrimargia: Gluttony. Pornéia: Sexual obsession. Philarguria: Greed. Lupè: Sadness. Orgè: Anger. Acedia: Depression, or disgust with life.
Kenodoxia: Vain glory. Uperèphania: Pride2.The Logosmoi. It has been traditionally believed by scholars (in the West at least) that Evagrius cataloged eight logosmoi, or ‘patterns of thoughts’[10]: gluttony, porneia (fornication), love of money, sadness (also called dejection), anger, listlessness (acedie), vainglory, and pride. However, in an ancient manuscript, until recently attributed to St Nilus of Ancyra (as late as 1987 and discovered on Mt Athos), but most surely authored by Evagrius and addressed to the monk Eulogios, Evagrius pairs the vices with the virtues, and adds a ninth passion, that of jealousy. Through John Cassian, Evagrius’s original nine principal logosmoi would eventually become the ‘seven deadly sins’ of Latin medieval theology as authored by Pope Gregory the Great. It is through Cassian’s influence that in the West, Evagrius was assumed to have proposed eight logosmoi only, but in light of the recent discoveries and translations at Mt Athos, this assumption must seriously be held in question. It appears as though Cassian published his works on the passions as a student of Evagrius based upon Evagrius’ early work. It is most likely that the subsequent addition of a ninth logosmoi was developed at a later point in time. As William Harmless notes, Evagrius’ originality in cataloging the logosmoi is not in the collation of the list itself, for other writers such as Origen have a similar list [and John Climacus has an even longer list], but stems from the ‘classic [clinical] descriptions he provides from his insights into the psychology and their [the passions’] interplay’. While Evagrius uses the word logosmoi to describe these psychological states, he also uses the word ‘passion’ interchangeably. The nine passions, as described by Evagrius, arise in an individual, but do not necessarily lead to their manifestation or acting out by the individual. In other words, the individual can choose to act out the passion or not. As Evagrius wrote, ‘It is not in our power to determine whether we are disturbed by these thoughts, but it is up to us to decide if they are to linger within us or not, and whether or not they are to stir up our passions’. It is important to understand in Evagrius’ schema that opposed to these logosmoi, is the purification and transformation of the ‘nous’, or mind. For Evagrius, the word ‘mind’ does not mean, as it does within Western philosophy, logical, rational thought. Instead, as Harmless SJ explains, in the Greek tradition, the mind / the nous is our intuitive side. Harmless SJ goes on to explain, ‘…it enables us to know and recognize the truth of things instantly, whether a friend’s face or a mathematical proof. For Evagrius, the way the mind knows God is not a matter of logic, of thinking; it is a direct intuition.’ There have been various attempts at the classification of demons within the contexts of classical mythology, demonology, occultism, and Renaissance magic. These classifications may be for purposes of traditional medicine, exorcisms, ceremonial magic, witch-hunts, lessons in morality, folklore, religious ritual, or combinations there of.
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euagrios_Pontikos
As Evagrius once wrote, ‘…For knowledge of God, one needs not a debater’s soul, but a seer’s soul.’ Harmless SJ concludes that, ‘The mind, the nous, is the highest dimension of the human person. It is the image of God within us, that which is most like its creator. And since it is the most God-like part of us, it is the faculty most capable of knowing God.’ In Evagrius’ theological tradition, the nous is unformed at birth, but in the presence of the Divine, the unformed mind is transformed like lead into gold.
The parallels with Gurdjieff’s concept of essence are striking. Gurdjieff believed that in human experience, both essence and personality existed. Essence was innate and unformed, whereas personality was acquired as a consequence of nature and the socialisation of life. Further, Gurdjieff believed that personality was the interface between the human being and the world, while the growth and maturity of the individual was dependent upon the development and transformation of the essence. The personality was ‘the false’ in human beings, but ‘The Work’ in transcending the personality provided the grit necessary to polish the essence. Likewise, Evagrius believed that the nous was unformed at birth, and the askesis, (translated as ascetics in English) and virtue required to transcend the passions provided the grit necessary to transform the soul. As personality is to essence for Gurdjieff, so are passions to the nous for Evagrius.
The logosmoi then, are thoughts that confuse, distract or divert the mind away from the contemplation of the Divine, and away from transformation. As such, they can not only be described as distractions, but as causing a perpetual immaturity in the psychology of the person, where adult maturity is finally achieved when contemplating one’s true and authentic nature in union with the Absolute. Both Gurdjieff and Evagrius believed that the personality/passions were a limited experience of human consciousness and potential. Only when ‘The Work’ (askesis) of transcending or transforming the personality/passions had been accomplished could human beings expect to experience themselves and their world in the fullness of their potential. Transcendence, self-actualisation, adult maturity, greatness, contemplation and a true understanding of the nature of creation, are all the consequences of moving past the limitations of personality / passions and unconsciousness that is the ‘ordinary waking state’of human beings and causes them to forget their origin and destiny. Thus, both Evagrius and Gurdjieff were able to connect wholeness and psychological maturity with holiness and greatness, as compared to the logosmoi or passions which were the origin of immaturity, suffering and physical disease. As part of the journey towards purification of the passions within the psychology of the person, and eventually psychological maturity and theological transformation, Evagrius mandated the practice of self-observation. As he writes, ‘[if you wish] to take the measure of some of the more fierce logosmoi (passions), so as to gain experience in your monastic art, then let you keep watch over your thoughts, let you observe their intensity, their period of decline, and follow them as they rise and fall. Note well the complexity of your thoughts, their periodicity, the passions which cause them with the order of their succession, and the nature of their associations. Then ask from Christ an explanation of this data that you have observed.’ Here we see a snapshot of Evagrius’ method – ie. to observe the passions, and in particular, the way in which they act in concert or in succession. Evagrius understood that an individual was not afflicted by a single passion, but that any number of them could influence a person’s behaviour – however, there was nonetheless a pattern to be observed concerning their rise and fall. Another way of looking at this is through a different interpretation or translation of the word logosmoi. Rightly, logosmoi is translated as ‘my thought’. However, within Christian theology, the word logos has a particular meaning, especially in relation to John’s gospel, where logos is used for the first time to mean ‘the Word’ or more conventionally, ‘the Divine’. The Divine might also be understood as ‘Life-force’. Thus, logosmoi in this context, with which Evagrius would undoubtedly have been familiar, would mean literally ‘my divines’ (idols) or more accurately, ‘my obstacles to the Divine’. The Life-force brings to life or animates the human being, giving it spirit and forming its soul. Life-force is wild, erotic, pulsing, un-trammelled, chaotic, brooding, dark, magical, healing, infinite, supra-rational, confronting and creative love. The Areopagite calls this Life-force Eros. As it enters the human being, the unformed soul is unable to control or manage it, creating in the person an existential reflex of fear, anger and envy, which are expressed eventually as the passions. In the case of Evagrius and the Enneagram, this would be nine passions or Personality-Types. When a person is able to love or to fall in love unconditionally, they surrender to the formative experience of love, thereby redirecting love not through anger, fear and envy, but through the virtues instead. Evagrius says, ‘… We must practise the virtues in order to achieve contemplation of the hidden patterns in nature, the logoi, which point to the presence of the Divine. From here, we pass to contemplation of the Divine, logos. This is revealed as a result of the practice of contemplation.’ Evagrius here connects the Life-force, contemplation, meditation and askesis. The Work or askesis with meditation allows for the contemplation of the hidden, animated by the Life-force, which leads eventually to the contemplation of the Divine itself. Thus, for Evagrius, the Divine breath gives life to creation, which when it enters the human being creates a psychological crisis for the unformed soul, which is not equipped to move with or surrender to the Life-force, producing envy, fear and anger, which are then discharged in daily life through the logosmoi – or obstacles – to contemplation, that is, the passions or personality types. ‘The Work’, or as Evagrius would have described it, askesis, forms the soul so that it can surrender to the Life-force and express it as human beings are meant to through the virtues. The highest experience of psychological maturity that can be experienced by a human being is, for Evagrius, the capacity to surrender to Divine Love or the Divine Life-force. Meditation in this context builds the awareness and capacity of the contemplative to hold or contain the Life-Force without discharging it. This act of holding onto the Life-force forms the soul, allowing the Life-force to be expressed as virtue and love. Evagrius’ penetrating clinical observations of the psychology of the passions as they were experienced within human consciousness led him to their study and, in particular, their transformation under the yoke of meditation, askesis and prayer and in association with love (agape) which Denys the Areopagite calls Eros. Evagrius was to conclude that the absence of the passions (apatheia) led the individual to recover the ground-of-their-being and to the contemplation of the Divine (theologica). Apatheia: Within Evagrius’ framework, the path towards divine contemplation (theologica) was made possible through achieving a state of apatheia. The definition of apatheia is difficult. Often it is defined as ‘passionless-ness’ in English, which as this interpretation implies, is a state where the passions have ceased to operate. Apatheia literally means the absence of suffering (patheia), and is best understood as a state of calm in a sea of swirling passions… the eye in the middle of a storm, or the calm that comes upon the sea at the end of a summer storm in February. During the Pelagian controversy in the West, apatheia was defined as ‘sinlessness’ – which it is not. Rather, it is like a solitary island of stone amidst a tempestuous ocean. Some writers have argued that apatheia was the suppression of the passions, while others believed the passions were transformed by love into psychological wholeness and virtue. Evagrius uses apatheia in both ways, and given that his theological heirs have increasingly argued for the transformational aspect of apatheia, it seems likely that Evagrius too appreciated apatheia’s remedial qualities. The way in which to achieve apatheia is through meditation, prayer, and askesis or ascetic practice. For Evagrius writes, ‘If you are chained, you cannot run. Nor can your mind enslaved by passion stand in the place of prayer and meditation. Rather, it is dragged along and tossed by your passion-filled thoughts and cannot stand firm and tranquil.’
davidburkeblog.wordpress.com/2020/02/04/71/
Classifications might be according to astrological connections, elemental forms, noble titles, or parallels to the angelic hierarchy; or by association with particular sins, diseases, and other calamities; or by what angel or saint opposes them. Many of the authors of such classifications identified as Christian, though Christians authors are not the only ones who have written on the subject. The Testament of Solomon is a pseudepigraphical work, purportedly written by King Solomon, in which the author mostly describes particular demons whom he enslaved to help build the temple, the questions he put to them about their deeds and how they could be thwarted, and their answers, which provide a kind of self-help manual against demonic activity. The date is very dubious, though it is considered the oldest surviving work particularly concerned with individual demons. Michael Psellus prepared the influential De operatione dæmonum (On the Operation of Demons) in the 11th century, with a taxonomy dividing demons into six types: Leliurium (Igneous), Aërial, Marine (Aqueous), Terrestrial (Earthly), Subterranean, and Lucifugous (Heliophobic). Lanterne of Light: In 1409–1410 The Lanterne of Light (an anonymous English Lollard tract often attributed to John Wycliffe) provided a classification system based on the seven deadly sins, known as the "seven deadly devils" or "seven princes of Hell", with each demon tempting people by means of those sins, as follows: Þe firste is Lucifer þat regneþ in his malice.̉ ouer þe children of pride
Þe secounde is clepid Belzebub.̉ þat lordiþ ouer envious
Þe þridde deuel is Sathanas.̉ & wraþþe is his lordschip
Þe fourþe is clepid Abadon.̉ þe slowȝ ben hise retenwe
Þe fifþe deuel is Mammon.̉ & haþ wiþ him þe auarouse
and also oone þat is his feere.̉ a foule synne couetise
Þe sixte is clepid Belphegor.̉ þat is þe god of glotouns
Þe seuenþ deuel is Asmodeus.̉ þat leediþ wiþ him þe leccherouse. The first is Lucifer that reigns in his malice over the children of pride. The second is called Beelzebub that lords over [the] envious. The third devil is Satan and wrath is his lordship
The fourth is called Abaddon, the sloth[ful] be his retinue
The fifth devil is Mammon and has with him the avarice [avaricious] and also fittingly, a foul sin, covetousness, is with his company of subjects. The sixth is called Belphegor, that is the god of gluttons. The seventh devil is Asmodeus, that leads with him the lecherous. In popular belief in antiquity and the Middle Ages, the idea that midday was a preferred time for the appearance of spirits and gods was widespread; claims to this effect still exist today. The term midday demon as a separate term first appears in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the 3rd century BC. BC, on. In the 4th century AD, the monk Euagrios Pontikos equated the midday demon with that of akedia (Greek ἀκήδεια 'carelessness, carelessness, unwillingness to do nothing' from κῆδος 'care'), according to him one of the eight main vices that later became the seven became mortal sins.
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mittagsd%C3%A4mon
This list was later used in the works of John Taylor, the Water Poet. Later writers, such as Peter Binsfeld, assigned different demons to the respective sins and should not be confused with this list. The two classification systems are shown side-by-side below: The Lanterne of Light Binsfeld's classification Lucifer: Pride Beelzebub: Envy[Beelzebub is at number '5' in Binsfield's scheme]: Satan: Wrath, Abaddon: Sloth, Mammon: Greed
[Mammon is numbered '2' in Binsfield's scheme] Belphegor: Gluttony Asmodeus: Lust, Lucifer: Pride, Mammon: Greed [Mammon is at position '5' in Lanterne], Asmodeus: Lust, Leviathan: Envy, Beelzebub: Gluttony [Beelzebub is shown second in Lanterne] Satan: Wrath, Belphegor: Sloth.
Spina's classification: Alphonso de Spina, in 1467, prepared a classification of demons based on several criteria: Demons of fate, Incubi and succubi, Wandering groups or armies of demons can include multiple regions in hell, Familiars, Drudes, Cambions and other demons that are born from the union of a demon with a human being. Liar and mischievous demons: Demons that attack the saints are rogue demons. Demons that try to induce old women to attend Witches' Sabbaths. This classification is somewhat capricious and it is difficult to find a criterion for it. It seems that Spina was inspired by several legends and stories. The drudes belong to German folklore. Familiars, goblins, and other mischievous demons belong to the folklore of most European countries. The belief in incubi and succubi (and their ability to procreate) seem to have inspired the sixth category, but it could also have been inspired in the Talmudic legend of demons having sexual intercourse with mortal women and men (see also Mastema). The visions of tempting demons that some early (and not so early) saints had, perhaps inspired the eighth category (e.g. the visions of Anthony the Great). The idea of old women attending Sabbaths was common during the European Middle Ages and Renaissance, and Spina mentioned it before the Malleus Maleficarum. Agrippa's classification: In De occulta philosophia (1509-1510), Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa proposed several classifications for demons, based on numeric scales, like his whole Cosmology.[11] Francis Barrett, in his book The Magus (1801), adopted this classification of demons. Scale of unity
One prince of rebellion, of angels, and darkness: Lucifer, Scale of binary, Two chiefs of the devils: Behemoth, Leviathan. Scale of ternary. Three furies: Alecto, Megera, Ctesiphon. Three infernal judges: Minos, Aeacus, Rhadamanthus. Scale of quaternary
Four Princes of devils in the elements: Samael: Fire, Azrael: Water, Azazel: Air, Mahazael: Earth. Four Princes of spirits, upon the four angles of the world. Oriens: East, Paymon: West
Egyn: North, Amaymon: South. Despite listing these separately, Agrippa mentions that these groups are identical, making the first as the Hebrew equivalent of the names of the latter The same four demons appear in the Semiphoras and Schemhamforas. Scale of six. Six authors of all calamities:
Acteus, Megalesius, Ormenus, Lycus, Nicon, Mimon, Scale of novenary. Nine princes ruling over nine orders of devils (with biblical references): Beelzebub: False Gods (Matthew 4:1–11)
Python: Spirits of Lying (1 Kings 22:21–22) Belial: Instruments of iniquity and wrath (Genesis 49:5, Psalms 7:13, Isaiah 13:5, Jeremiah 50:25, Ezekiel 9:2) Asmodeus: Revengers of Wickedness. Satan: Deluders or Imitators of miracles (Genesis 3:1–5). Merihem: Aerial Powers (Revelation 7:1–2). Abaddon: Furies – sowing mischief. Astaroth: Calumniators – inquisitors and accusers. Mammon: evil genies – tempters and ensnarers
Binsfeld's classification. As part of his 1589 Treatise on Confessions by Evildoers and Witches, German theologian Peter Binsfeld prepared a classification of demons known as the Princes of Hell. Like the Lanterne of Light, Binsfeld used the seven deadly sins as a basis, though the two schemes differ in various ways: Lucifer: pride, Mammon: greed, Asmodeus: lust
Leviathan: envy, Beelzebub: gluttony, Satan: wrath, Belphegor: sloth. King James classification (Main article: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daemonologie)
King James' dissertation titled Daemonologie was first published in 1597, several years before the first publication of the King James Authorized Version of the Bible. Its three short books are in the form of a philosophical dialogue, making arguments and comparisons between magic, sorcery, and witchcraft. Within them, James classified demons into four sections: Lemures or Spectra: Spirits that trouble houses or solitary places :
Obsession: Spirits that follow upon certain people to outwardly trouble them at various times of the day: Possession: Spirits that enter inwardly into a person to trouble them :
Fairies: Spirits that prophesy, consort, and transport :
His classification was not based on separate demonic entities with their names, ranks, or titles, but rather categorized them based on four methods used by any given devil to cause mischief or torment on a living individual or a corpse. The purpose was to relay the belief that spirits caused maladies and that magic was possible only through demonic influence. He further quotes previous authors who state that each devil has the ability to appear in diverse shapes or forms for varying arrays of purposes as well. In his description of them, he relates that demons are under the direct supervision of God and are unable to act without permission, further illustrating how demonic forces are used as a "Rod of Correction" when men stray from the will of God and may be commissioned by witches, or magicians to conduct acts of ill will against others but will ultimately only conduct works that will end in the further glorification of God despite their attempts to do otherwise. Michaëlis's classification
In 1613 the Dominican prior and French inquisitor, Sébastien Michaëlis wrote a book, Admirable History, which included a classification of demons as it was told to him by the demon Berith when he was exorcising a nun, according to the author.[a] This classification is based on the Pseudo-Dionysian hierarchies, according to the sins the devil tempts one to commit, and includes the demons' adversaries (who suffered that temptation without falling). First hierarchy: The first hierarchy includes angels that were Seraphim, Cherubim, and Ophanim/Thrones:
Beelzebub was a prince of the Cherubim, founder of Hell’s Order of the Fly. He tempts men with envy and is opposed by St. Francis. Leviathan was also a prince of the Cherubim who tempts people to give into heresy, and is opposed by St. Peter.
Asmodeus was a prince of the Ophanim/Thrones, burning with desire to tempt men into wantonness. He is opposed by St. John the Baptist. Berith was a prince of the Cherubim. He tempts men to commit homicide, and to be quarrelsome, contentious, and blasphemous. He is opposed by St. Barnabas. Astaroth was a prince of Thrones, who tempts men to be lazy and is opposed by St. Bartholomew. Verrine was also a prince of Thrones, just below Astaroth. He tempts men with impatience and is opposed by St. Dominic. Gressil was the third prince of Thrones, who tempts men with impurity and is opposed by St. Bernard.
Soneillon was the fourth prince of Thrones, who tempts men to hate and is opposed by St. Stephen. Second hierarchy
The second hierarchy includes Powers, Dominions, and Virtues:
Carreau was a prince of Powers. He tempts men with hardness of heart and is opposed by St. Vincent. Carnivale was also a prince of Powers. He tempts men to obscenity and shamelessness, and is opposed by John the Evangelist.
Oeillet was a prince of Dominions. He tempts men to break the vow of poverty and is opposed by St. Martin. Rosier was the second in the order of Dominions. He tempts men against sexual purity and is opposed by St. Basil. Belias was the prince of Virtues. He tempts men with arrogance and women to be vain, raise wanton children, and gossip during mass. He is opposed by St. Francis de Paul. Third hierarchy: The third hierarchy Principalities, Archangels, and Angels: Verrier was the prince of Principalities. He tempts men against the vow of obedience and is opposed by St. Bernard. Olivier was the prince of the Archangels. He tempts men with cruelty and mercilessness toward the poor and is opposed by St. Lawrence, patron saint of the poor. Iuvart was the prince of Angels. At the time of Michaelis's writing, Iuvart was believed to have possessed a young novice nun of the Ursulines, Madeleine Demandols de La Palud, from whom it was exorcised. Many of the names and ranks of these demons appear in the Sabbath litanies of witches, according to Jules Garinet's Histoire de la magie en France, and Collin de Plancy's Dictionnaire Infernal. Classification by office
In the study of demonology, many spirits are classified by office, rank, or titles which theologians believe were once held in heaven before the fall, or which they currently hold in their infernal dwelling. These offices are usually elaborated in several grimoires which determines their authority in hell or abilities. Demons categorized by office are often depicted in a militant hierarchy, in which a general may hold command over some designated legion for a specialized function which they may trouble men. Other theologians have determined the classification of a spirit's office depending on the times or locations which they roam the Earth. The Book of Abramelin:
The Book of Abramelin, possibly written in the 14th or 15th century, lists four princes of the demons: Lucifer, Leviathan, Satan and Belial. There are also eight sub-princes: Astaroth, Magoth, Asmodee, Beelzebub, Oriens, Paimon, Ariton (Egin) and Amaymon. Under the rule of these there are many lesser demons. Le Livre des Esperitz
Main article: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_Abramelin
Written in the 15th or 16th century, this grimoire was a likely source for Wierus hierarchy of demons, but while Wierus mentions 69 demons, Le Livre des Esperitz has only 46. Wierus omitted, however, the four demons of the cardinal points: Oriens, Ponymon, Amaymon and Equi (see Agrippa's classification) and the three great governors of all the other demons: Lucifer, Beelzebub and Satan. The Munich Manual of Demonic Magic
Main article: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munich_Manual_of_Demonic_Magic
Written in the 15th century, this manual includes a list of eleven demons. Fasciculus Rerum Germanicarum
Written in 1494, this grimoire contains a list of 37 demons.
Le Dragon Rouge (or Grand Grimoire)
Main article: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Grimoire
Like many works of mystical nature, Le Dragon Rouge (or the Red Dragon) claims to come from Solomon and his priests and is said to be published in 1517 by Alibeck the Egyptian. However, it was most likely written in France in the 18th century. The grimoire details the different hosts of hell and their powers, describing how to enter a pact with them to attain the magicians' goals. The demons of hell are classified by three different tiers from Generals to Officers. The Grand Grimoire, also known as Le Dragon Rouge or The Red Dragon, is a black magic[1] goetic grimoire. Different editions date the book to 1521, 1522 or 1421. Owen Davies suggests 1702 is when the first edition may have been created and a Bibliothèque bleue version (a popular edition, similar to a chapbook) of the text may have been published in 1750.[2] The 19th-century French occultist Éliphas Lévi considered the contemporary edition of Le Dragon Rouge to be a counterfeit of a true, older Grand Grimoire.[3]
The "introductory chapter"[4] was written by Antonio Venitiana del Rabina, who said he had gathered his information from original writings of King Solomon.[5] Much of the material of this grimoire derives from the Key of Solomon and the Lesser Key of Solomon, pseudepigraphical grimoires attributed to King Solomon.[6] The first book contains instructions for summoning Lucifer or Lucifuge Rofocale, for the purpose of forming a deal with the Devil. Pseudomonarchia Daemonum
Main article: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudomonarchia_Daemonum
Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, by Johann Weyer, is a grimoire that contains a list of demons and the appropriate hours and rituals to conjure them in the name of God, Jesus and the Holy Ghost (simpler than those cited by The Lesser Key of Solomon below). This book was written around 1583, and lists sixty-nine demons. The demons Vassago, Seir, Dantalion and Andromalius are not listed in this book. Pseudomonarchia Daemonum does not attribute seals to the demons.Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, or False Monarchy of Demons, first appears as an Appendix to De praestigiis daemonum (1577) by Johann Weyer. An abridgment of a grimoire similar in nature to the Ars Goetia (first book of The Lesser Key of Solomon), it contains a list of demons, and the appropriate hours and rituals to conjure them. The Pseudomonarchia predates, and differs somewhat from, Ars Goetia. The Pseudomonarchia lists sixty-nine demons (in contrast to the later seventy-two), and their sequence varies, along with some of their characteristics. The demon Pruflas appears only in Pseudomonarchia, and Pseudomonarchia does not attribute any sigils to the demons. Weyer referred to his source manuscript as Liber officiorum spirituum, seu Liber dictus Empto. Salomonis, de principibus et regibus daemoniorum. (Book of the offices of spirits, or the book called 'Empto'. Solomon, concerning the princes and kings of demons.) This work is likely related to a very similar 1583 manuscript titled The Office of Spirits, both of which appear ultimately be an elaboration on a fifteenth-century manuscript titled Le Livre des Esperitz (of which 30 of its 47 spirits are nearly identical to spirits in the Ars Goetia). The Lesser Key of Solomon. Main article: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lesser_Key_of_Solomon
The Lesser Key of Solomon or Lemegeton Clavicula Salomonis is an anonymous 17th century grimoire, and one of the most popular books of demonology. The Lesser Key of Solomon contains detailed descriptions of spirits and the conjurations needed to invoke and oblige them to do the will of the conjurer (referred to as the "exorcist"). It details the protective signs and rituals to be performed, the actions necessary to prevent the spirits from gaining control, the preparations prior to the invocations, and instructions on how to make the necessary instruments for the execution of these rituals. The author of The Lesser Key of Solomon copied Pseudomonarchia Daemonum almost completely, but added demons' descriptions, their seals and details. The Ars Goetia See also: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_demons_in_the_Ars_Goetia
Ars Goetia is the first section of The Lesser Key of Solomon, containing descriptions of the seventy-two demons that King Solomon is said to have evoked and confined in a bronze vessel sealed by magic symbols, and that he obliged to work for him.
The Ars Goetia assigns a rank and a title of nobility to each member of the infernal hierarchy, and gives the demons "signs they have to pay allegiance to", or seals. Dictionnaire Infernal
Main article: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dictionnaire_Infernal
The Dictionnaire Infernal (English: Infernal Dictionary) is a book on demonology, organised in hellish hierarchies. It was written by Jacques Collin de Plancy and first published in 1818. There were several editions of the book, but perhaps the most famous is the edition of 1863, in which sixty-nine illustrations were added to the book. These illustrations are drawings that depict the descriptions of the appearance of a number of demons. Many of these images were later used in S. L. MacGregor Mathers's edition of The Lesser Key of Solomon though some of the images were removed. The book was first published in 1818 and then divided into two volumes, with six reprints and many changes between 1818 and 1863. This book attempts to provide an account of all the knowledge concerning superstitions and demonology. Collin de Plancy presented a hierarchy of demons based in modern European courts: Princes and dignitaries: Beelzebub, supreme chief of the empire of hell, founder of the order of the Fly. Satan, prince dethroned and chief of the opposition party. Eurynome, prince of death, Grand Cross of the order of the Fly. Moloch, prince of the country of tears, Grand Cross of the order. Pluton, Prince of Fire, also Grand Cross of the order and governor of the regions in flames. Pan, prince of incubi and Lilith, princess of succubi. Leonard, the great lord of the Sabbath, Knight of the Fly. Balberith, great pontiff, lord of alliances. Proserpina, archdiablesse, princess of evil spirits.
Ministers of the Office: Adrammelech, Grand Chancellor and Grand Cross of the Order of the Fly. Ashtaroth, general treasurer, Knight of the Fly. Nergal, chief of the secret police. Baal, commander in chief of the armies of Hell, Grand Cross of the Order of the Fly. Leviathan, Grand Admiral, Knight of the Fly.
Ambassadors: Belfegor, Ambassador of France. Mammon, of England. Belial, of Italy. Rimmon, of Russia. Tammuz, of Spain. Hutgin, of Turkey. Martinet, of Switzerland.
Justice: Lucifer, chief of (in)justice, Knight of the Fly. Alastor, executor of his sentences.
House of the princes: Verdelet, master of ceremonies. Succorbenoth, chief of the eunuchs of the seraglio. Chamos, Grand Chambelain, Knight of the Fly. Melchom, payer treasurer. Nisroch, chief of the kitchen. Behemoth, chief cupbearer. Dagon, grand pantler. Mullin, first valet.
Secret expenses: Kobal, director of theaters. Asmodeus, superintendent of the gambling houses. Nybbas, grand buffoon. Antichrist, charlatan and necromancer.
Alexis-Vincent-Charles Berbiguier used some of these names and ranks for the demons who tormented him, in his autobiographical work Les farfadets ou Tous les démons ne sont pas de l'autre monde (1821). The Satanic Bible
Main article: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_infernal_names
LaVey utilized the symbolism of the Four Crown Princes of Hell in The Satanic Bible, with each chapter of the book being named after each Prince. The Book of Satan: The Infernal Diatribe, The Book of Lucifer: The Enlightenment, The Book of Belial: Mastery of the Earth, and The Book of Leviathan: The Raging Sea.[30] This association was inspired by the demonic hierarchy from The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abra-Melin the Mage. Satan (Hebrew) "Lord of the Inferno": The adversary, representing opposition, the element of fire, the direction of the south, and the Sigil of Baphomet during ritual. Lucifer (Latin) "The Morning Star":
The bringer of light, representing pride and enlightenment, the element of air, the direction of the east, and candles during ritual.
Belial (Hebrew) "Without a Master": The baseness of the earth, independence and self-sufficiency, the element of earth, the direction of the north, and the sword during ritual. Leviathan (Hebrew) "Serpent of the Abyss": The great dragon, representing primal secrecy, the element of water, the direction of the west, and the chalice during ritual.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classification_of_demons#Notes
(Typus religionis An allegory of religious orders, the nave of Faith is ruled by religious orders, headed by Jesuites. The founders of the various orders are represented: Saint Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, Saint Francois of Assisi, S)
The Church shown as a galleon with different religious factions attempting to gain command; etched from an allegorical painting of the French Wars of Religion, which had been discovered in the Jesuit College at Billom in Auvergne. The original painting after which this print was made is now in the Musée de l'Histoire de France housed in the Hotel de Soubise in Paris. It is on a vast scale, measuring some 10 by 20 feet. The painting was confiscated from the Jesuit College in Billom in 1762 in the course of the dissolution of the Order in France, and brought to the Parlement in Paris.It there served as the basis for a learned antiquarian investigation by le President Rolland, delivered on 15 July 1763. This is printed in full, together with a thorough study of the painting's history, Between sky and sea: around an allegory of the wars of religion. Since Antiquity, the theme of navigation has nourished the imagination and served as a metaphor, whether to designate the crossing of the tumults of existence, as Saint Augustine emphasized (the topos of navigatio vitae), or to symbolize the passage of death, which Gaston Bachelard called the “Caron complex”, which refers to the crossing of the waters of the Styx in Greek mythology and which we find in different cultures: the solar boat in Egypt ancient, to take one of the best-known examples, or the famous Anglo-Saxon “grave boats”, such as that of Sutton Hoo, or Scandinavian ones, such as the Oseberg boat, in Norway. We also often find these themes as philosophical and political metaphors, starting with Plato, who compares human life to a turbulent sea, made up of pleasures and sorrows, on which only the philosopher can establish calm. In The Republic, he compares the good ruler to the pilot who masters the art of sailing, while demagogues take the form of sailors who compete for the rudder and claim that the art of sailing "is not an art which 'learn'. According to Diogenes Laertius, Anacharsis, one of the seven wise men of Greece, considered those who sail as another species of men, between the living and the dead, while Lucretius made the shipwreck observed from the shore a metaphor for existence human. These marine metaphors irrigate the philosophical and theological culture of Antiquity and the medieval West, from Saint-Ambroise to Dante, including Hugh of Saint-Victor and Saint Thomas Aquinas. In Christian culture, the sea has long retained a repulsive, or at least ambivalent, image. As Alain Cabantous points out, “Genesis sees in the waters the symbol of chaos, the Tohu-Bohu, domain of hideous creatures”. In this way, it is a continuation of Sumerian and Assyro-Babylonian cosmologies. The image is taken up in the psalms which place the dragons and Leviathan there, then in the books of Daniel, Jonah and Jeremiah and in the Apocalypse. The sea represents both the double and the negative of the Sky. These are two infinities facing each other, delimited by the horizon line. But the inconstancy and fluidity of the sea are opposed to the Sky, immutable and symbol of eternity. Furthermore, the great ocean depths, also infinite, are bottomless pits, unfathomable abysses. The sea is therefore a symbol of death, both physical and spiritual, a symbol of perdition. One of the fears of those who take to the sea is death without burial and without viaticum. Furthermore, we already find in the Gospels the image of a sea which punishes and swallows up the unbelievers. Engulfment by the waves is in fact a fall, the opposite of the celestial ascension.
This negative vision of the sea in the collective imagination echoes the numerous risks and perils that were associated with all navigation for centuries (storms, shipwrecks, pirate attacks) and the particularly trying travel conditions of these long-distance crossings, that the “great discoveries” have made worse. Indeed, the considerable lengthening of these journeys was the cause of the appearance of scurvy, of repeated famines, not to mention the frequentation of extreme climates: heat of the "torrid zone" around the Equator, humid tropical climates , which could accelerate the rotting of ship hulls, extreme cold around Newfoundland, Labrador or Cape Horn in particular.
It is possible that these real sufferings contributed to fueling this demonic image of the sea, as Michel Mollat underlined, when he wrote that in the 16th century we were witnessing a “devaluation of the world of the sea”. In some travel stories such as accounts of pilgrimage to the Holy Land, physical degradation can be interpreted as a stigma of sin. The sea voyage sometimes resembles a descent into hell. But these crossings are also in Christian culture an opportunity to test one's faith: "If you want to learn to pray, go to the sea", declared Sancho Panza in Don Quixote. An idea that we find in the Bible, notably in Saint-Paul, who, during a storm at sea, is said to have promised his companions their lives if they put all their trust in God. A scene that echoes the storm calmed by Christ on Lake Tiberias: “Men of little faith, what are you afraid of? ". The sea is also the place of trial, redemption and redemption, of penance. Hence the metaphor of the ship as a symbol of the Church, borrowed from certain passages of the Bible (from Noah's ark to the boat of Saint Peter). According to the Dictionary of the French Academy (1694), the “vessel is also said of certain large main parts of large bastiments, large buildings, and especially of the Nave or the Choir of Churches”. The term “nave” is also significant and the roof of many churches resembles an upturned boat hull. We find this comparison in all kinds of texts, such as Canon Louis Balourdet, who went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem under Henry IV: the mast resembles the cross and the sail, whose whiteness is a symbol of innocence to Christ, while that the composition of the crew is an image of the ecclesiastical hierarchy, the one who holds the helm and rings the bell to be relayed representing “the one who holds the “pastoral staff”. An image far from reality, the missionaries often deploring the indiscipline of the crews and describing the seafarers as brutal men, quick to insult and blasphemy and inclined to violence and promiscuity.
bib.ens.psl.eu/ulm-lsh-jourdan-shs/entre-ciel-et-mer-auto...
HI GUYSSS ♡♡ New release !! Here at Palet0 ♡
🔥🔥GIVEAWAY🔥🔥 ✧ (ENTER THE GIVEAWAY)✧ 🔥 🔥
Giveaway link-> Facebook Palet0
Manhood Event - Open 27th
💟.PALETO.NIGHTMARE💟
Land Impact - 95
Copy - Mod - No Transf (Contains - Physics and Light )❢
SHOP HERE ⇩⇩⇩
Manhood Event
‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥※‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥
Join our discord for more information.
.PALETO. DISCORD
.PALETO. Facebook
.PALETO. Marketplace
.PALETO. Primfeed
‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥※‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥
Sun Ayashi - Media Manager
Panda Banana - Blogger Manager