Or have you ever grasped [the Just itself, Beauty, or the Good] with any of your bodily senses? I am speaking of all things such as Bigness, Health, Strength and, in a word, the reality of all other things, that which each of them essentially is. Is what is most true in them contemplated through the body, or is this the position: whoever of us prepares himself best and most accurately to grasp that thing itself which he is investigating will come closest to the knowledge of it? Then he will do this most perfectly who approaches the object with thought alone, without associating any sight with his thought, or dragging in any sense perception with his reasoning, but who, using pure thought alone, tries to track down each reality pure and by itself, freeing himself as far as possible from eyes and ears and, in a word, from the whole body, because the body confuses the soul and does not allow it to acquire truth and wisdom whenever it is associated with it. Will not that man reach reality, Simmias, if anyone does?

Plato, Phaedo 65d-66a

"This, in turn, is to be able to cut up each kind according to its species along its natural joints, and to try not to splinter any part, as a bad butcher might do. ... God knows whether this is the right name for those who can do this correctly or not, but so far I have always called them 'dialecticians.'"

Plato, Phaedrus 265e-266c

"That day I had a better opportunity to watch Socrates than I ever had at Potidaea, for, being on horseback, I wasn't in very great danger. Well, it was easy to see that he was remarkably more collected than Laches. But when I looked again I couldn't get your words, Aristophanes, out of my mind: in the midst of battle he was making his way exactly as he does around town,

...with swagg'ring gait and roving eye.

He was observing everything calmly, looking out for friendly troops and keeping an eye on the enemy. Even from a great distance it was obvious that this was a very brave man, who would put up a terrific fight if anyone approached him. This is what saved both of them. For, as a rule, you try to put as much distance as you can between yourself and such men in battle; you go after the others, those who run away helter-skelter."

Plato, Symposium 221b-c

"Since there must be continuous motion in the world of things, and this is a single motion, and a single motion must be a motion of magnitude (for that which is without magnitude cannot be in motion), and of a single magnitude moved by a single mover (for otherwise there will not be continuous motion but a consecutive series of separate motions) , then if the mover is a single thing, it is either in motion or unmoved: if, then it is motion, it will have to keep pace with that which it moves and itself be in process of change, and it will also have to be moved by something: so we have a series that must come to an end, and a point will be reached at which motion is imparted by something that is unmoved. ... Now that these points are settled, it is clear that the first unmoved mover cannot have any magnitude. For if it has magnitude, this must be either a finite or an infinite magnitude. Now we have already proved in our course on physics that there cannot be an infinite magnitude; and we have now proved that it is impossible for a finite magnitude to have an infinite force, and also that it is impossible for a thing to be moved by a finite magnitude during an infinite time. But the first mover causes a motion that is eternal and causes it during an infinite time. It is clear, therefore, that it is indivisible and is without parts and without magnitude."

Aristotle, Physics 267a21-b25

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, one of the greatest emperors of Rome, was born 1,903 years ago today. Hail!

"The man who lives with the Gods is the one whose soul is constantly on display to them as content with its lot and obedient to the will of the guardian spirit, the fragment of himself that Zeus has granted every person to act as his custodian and command center. And in each of us this is mind and reason." Meditations 5.27

An article worth reading by the Romanist Society:

https://nistsocietytheroma.substack.com/p/on-romanist-prayer

"God [is] that which is beyond all things and to which all things aspire ..."

Proclus, The Elements of Theology Proposition 113

"…The oracle [of Hecate] declared Christ to be a most pious man, and his soul, like the soul of other pious men after death, favored with immortality; and that the mistaken Christians worship him. ... But that soul [of Jesus] has fatally been the occasion to many other souls to be involved in error, to whom it has not been given to acknowledge the immortal Jove. But himself is pious, and gone to heaven as other pious men do. Him, therefore, thou shalt not blaspheme; but pity the folly of men, because of the danger they are in."

Porphyry, quoted by Augustine De Civitate Dei, l. xix. cap. 23

Flora is the Goddess of flowers and today is her day!

First worship the Immortal Gods, as they are established and ordained by the Law. Reverence the Oath, and next the Heroes, full of goodness and light. Honour likewise the Terrestrial Dæmons by rendering them the worship lawfully due to them. Honour likewise thy parents, and those most nearly related to thee.

— Golden Verses of Pythagoras 1-4

"Since errors come from false opinion while the passions arise by an irrational impulse, I thought the first step was for a man to free himself from his passions; for these passions are probably the reason why we fall into false opinions. And there are passions of the soul which everybody knows: anger, wrath, fear, grief, envy, and violent lust. ... How, then, could a man cut out these passions if he
did not first know that he had them? But as we said, it is impossible to know them, since we love ourselves to excess. ... If you
find such a [good and excellent] man, summon him and talk with him one day in private; ask him to reveal straightway whatever of the above-mentioned passions he may see in you. Tell him you will be most grateful for this service and that you will look on him as your deliverer more than if he had saved you from an illness of the body. Have him promise to reveal it whenever he sees you affected by any of the passions I mentioned."

Galen, On the Passions and Errors of the Soul 3

"[My father] went on to say that I must not be hasty in proclaiming myself a member of one sect [of philosophy], but that I must inquire, learn, and form my judgment about these sects over a considerable period of time. He also maintained that I must strive, now and throughout my life, to pursue those practices which all men praised and which the philosophers agreed must be emulated. He asked me to learn and wax strong while seeking after justice, temperance, fortitude, and prudence."

Galen, On the Passions and Errors of the Soul 8

"Vigor and strength of body are the nobility of cattle; but the rectitude of manners is the nobility of man."

The Golden Sentences of Democrates 24

"And the priests ought to keep themselves pure not only from impure or shameful acts, but also from uttering words and hearing speeches of that character. Accordingly we must banish all offensive jests and all licentious intercourse. And that you may understand what I mean by this, let no one who has been consecrated a priest read either Archilochus or Hipponax or anyone else who writes such poems as theirs. And in Old Comedy let him avoid everything of that type—for it is better so—and indeed on all accounts philosophy alone will be appropriate for us priests; and of philosophers only those who chose the gods as guides of their mental discipline, like Pythagoras and Plato and Aristotle, and the school of Chrysippus and Zeno [i.e., the Stoics]. For we ought not to give heed to them all nor to the doctrines of all, but only to those philosophers and those of their doctrines that make men god-fearing, and teach concerning the gods, first that they exist, secondly that they concern themselves with the things of this world, and further that they do no injury at all either to mankind or to one another, out of jealousy or envy or enmity. I mean the sort of thing our poets in the first place have brought themselves into disrepute by writing, and in the second place such tales as the prophets of the Jews take pains to invent, and are admired for so doing by those miserable men who have attached themselves to the Galilaeans. ... For just as not every road is suitable for consecrated priests, but the roads they travel ought to be duly assigned, so not every sort of reading is suitable for a priest. ... Let us not admit discourses by Epicurus or Pyrrho; but indeed the gods have already in their wisdom destroyed their works, so that most of their books have ceased to be."

Emperor Julian, Letter to a Priest 325-329

Explore the River of the Soul, so that although you have
become a servant to body, you may again rise
to the Order from which you descended, joining works to sacred reason.

The Chaldean Oracles

Virtue in the Classical Tradition: Techniques

Technique 1: The Rule of the Stoics

“There are things which are within our power, and there are things which are beyond our power.” These are the opening words of the Handbook by the Stoic philosopher, Epictetus. He continues, “Within our power are opinion, aim, desire, aversion, and, in one word, whatever affairs are our own. Beyond our power are body, property, reputation, office, and, in one word, whatever are not properly our own affairs.”

Method:
This technique can be used in any setting and for any length of time, but I recommend sitting quietly and taking at least 5 minutes to go through the following steps.
Note what kinds of things are in your power: opinion, aim or intention, what you avoid, what you move towards. Note what kinds of things are not truly in your power: everything else, including your body, your property, your reputation, as well as the behaviors and opinions of other people. Then, recall anything you may be anxious about, angry about, feel guilty about, or are otherwise troubled by, and determine whether those worries belong to the class of things within your power or to the class of things that are beyond your power. If they are within your power, commit to taking corrective action. If they are beyond your power, release them and return your focus to those things within your power.

Source: Epictetus, Handbook 1

"Everything changes; nothing dies; the soul
Roams to and fro, now here, now there, and takes
What frame it will, passing from beast to man,
From our own form to beast and never dies.
As yielding wax is stamped with new designs
And changes shape and seems not still the same,
Yet is indeed the same, even so our souls,
Are still the same for ever, but adopt
In their migrations ever-varying forms."

Ovid, Metamorphoses 15.164-172

The Powers of the Soul

NOTE: The outline presented here is drawn from the Platonic literature.

The soul is the immaterial substance by which the living differs from the nonliving.

Beginning from this simple definition, we can, by observation and analysis, develop a more sophisticated model of the soul, outlined below.

We observe that there are many ways to be alive. For example, comprehension, perception, sensation, self-movement, nourishment, and growth. We further observe that some living things live in all of these ways (like humans), while other living things live in only some of these ways (like plants).

Therefore, the powers of the soul are arranged hierarchically, with those characteristic of e.g. plant life at the bottom, and those characteristic of more divine natures at the top, and the animal nature midway between the two.

Since living virtuously (i.e., in imitation of the Gods) is our life's purpose, this hierarchy is important because virtue is the perfection of the powers of our soul.

The virtue of the rational soul is Wisdom; the virtues of the nonrational soul are Courage and Temperance; and the virtue that ties them all together is Justice.

🔸Rational:
Intellect: Mental sight. That which knows fully and immediately. Its energy is weak in those who are not spiritually advanced.
Reason: That which moves from premise to conclusion and knows the "why" of things.
Opinion: That which knows data. It knows that something is, but it doesn’t know why something is.
Intention (or Will): That which has a voluntary directedness or orientation towards the good.
🔸Nonrational:
Imagination: That faculty which has a kind of internal image of sensory information.
Sensation: That which apprehends external phenomena present to the individual.
Passion (Gr. thumos): That which nonrationally opposes the harmful or obstructive and rejoices in overcoming them. Concerned with preservation.
Desire (or Appetite): That which seeks what is (or appears to be) good. Concerned with acquisition.
Vegetative:
Reproduction: In imitation of the immortal Gods, mortal creatures generate beings like themselves, one after the other.
Growth
Nourishment