Dante's Divine Comedy (Purgatorio)

Daily Reflections on Dante's Purgatorio, from the medieval Italian | Dante | McGilchrist | Renaissance | One year journey July 2024-2025

[Dante's Divine Comedy (Purgatorio) @dantes_cmdy]

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[The New Renaissance @danteschariot]

Thought for the Day:

"ma priego che m’addite la cagione"
but I pray that you tell me the cause

After going through Pride and Envy, Dante asks a soul the simple question: WHY is there so much vice and destruction in the Earthly? What is the cause of this? Why is the connection to the Transcendent Truth and the Heavens so weakened?

And the answer is presented promptly:

It is because of how we exercise our own Free Will. It is the consequences of human choices, and our choices of inner orientation. This is at the heart of the whole Comedy and Dante's cosmology.

[Dante's Divine Comedy (Purgatorio) @dantes_cmdy]

You will go through the first 12 cantos with Ante-Purgatory and the First Terrace as essential preparation for the rest. Being aware of both the climb and the flight, is indispensable for the transformative effect.
Try it for one week first!

[Dante's Divine Comedy (Purgatorio) @dantes_cmdy]

To build the necessary foundation for discernment of Purgatorio, take four months of daily reflections on morning emails here: https://t.co/gfo1aBmQB1

This will gradually prepare your mind and open up a new way of discernment, with the rational and spiritual as two wheels.

[Dante's Divine Comedy (Purgatorio) @dantes_cmdy]

Summary of Terrace Two: the Terrace of Envy.

The main point builds on Pride as distortion of Truth, and Envy as choosing the wrong reference point in life. But it's not so much about material coveting, as it is a consequence of not aiming for Transcendent Truth.

[Dante's Divine Comedy (Purgatorio) @dantes_cmdy]

Dante uses two evocative metaphors: One is a gradual descent into vice (The Valley of Arno), and then the end state: the flat Plains of Po filled with poisonous thorns. Nothing grows, the whole world is infested. And even good instincts and intentions will be distorted.

[Dante's Divine Comedy (Purgatorio) @dantes_cmdy]

Summary of Terrace Two: the Terrace of Envy.

The main point builds on Pride as distortion of Truth, and Envy as choosing the wrong reference point in life. But it's not so much about material coveting, as it is a consequence of not aiming for Transcendent Truth.

[Dante's Divine Comedy (Purgatorio) @dantes_cmdy]

And once Self and Comparison become the guiding stars in a life, all morals become relative, and vices gradually become natural tools to pursue elevation of self and relative comparison. There are no constraints anymore. Thus there is a gradual descent over time.

[Dante’s Divine Comedy @read_dante]

Protestants especially have a special aversion to Purgatory. But what is Dante up to in this middle canticle? Hint: it has little to do with the afterlife.

Here’s your quick guide to the who, what, and why of the most relatable part of Dante’s grand masterpiece.

[Dante's Divine Comedy (Purgatorio) @dantes_cmdy]

🎙️ NEW EPISODE: "Purging Modernity: A New Renaissance with Joe Carlson" @read_dante

How can medieval wisdom cure our modern blindness? Join us for a fascinating conversation on Dante's roadmap to cultural renewal with translator Joe Carlson.

Listen now🎧 https://t.co/PIeCbag4GF

[Dante's Divine Comedy (Purgatorio) @dantes_cmdy]

Quick update; the reflections might be a bit more sporadic for a few weeks, due to other work commitments.

We'll be back soon with the second terrace of the climb!☀️

[Dante's Divine Comedy (Purgatorio) @dantes_cmdy]

And with that, the 12th canto concludes with the verse: "and seeing this, my guide smiled". Ending the first terrace of purgation with a moment of warmth, joy and happiness.

[Dante's Divine Comedy (Purgatorio) @dantes_cmdy]

"and with the right hand fingers spread
I discovered only six letters marked
upon my temples, from the one with the keys"

The Pilgrim checks his forehead.. 🧵

[Dante's Divine Comedy (Purgatorio) @dantes_cmdy]

..with his fingers spread out and finds only six letters remaining, of those marked earlier by the guardian of the real purgatory.

[Dante's Divine Comedy (Purgatorio) @dantes_cmdy]

This points to Pride as the "meta-sin" and source of all the others. It is an error of perception of the world and your place within it. Thus it is the indispensable starting point, for learning and for further self-repairing.

[Dante's Divine Comedy (Purgatorio) @dantes_cmdy]

"He answered: 'When the P's that remain
still on your face, close to faded out,
will be like the first, fully removed"

Virgil comments on the Pilgrim's forehead.. 🧵

[Dante's Divine Comedy (Purgatorio) @dantes_cmdy]

Meaning: removing Pride as ego but more deeply, distortion of reality, automatically diminishes the work needed to remove the other sins and vices. Once the process of realigning to reality starts, it all changes.

[Dante's Divine Comedy (Purgatorio) @dantes_cmdy]

Meaning; the distortions of pride and inferno creates patterns of discord and pains, while the clarity and truth of the heavens are like harmounious music, and expressed in beauty. More joy and clarity awaits the Pilgrim.

[Dante's Divine Comedy (Purgatorio) @dantes_cmdy]

"We turned towards there, ourselves,
'Beati pauperes spiritu!' voices
were singing such, that no speech could express it."

As they approach the passage.. 🧵

[Dante's Divine Comedy (Purgatorio) @dantes_cmdy]

Dante also makes a point of the contrast to Inferno; here there are harmonious songs at the thresholds, down there, screams of torment and pains.