Classical spirituality as a practice has a sequential structure, meaning that you must complete the first part before moving on to the second, and so on. It is essential that we go in the proper order without skipping any steps.

The first part is moral education, which is the process of acquiring the cardinal virtues of wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice. It is critically important and should not be rushed.

Most of us will spend most of our lives practicing the first two steps (i.e., purification of the irrational soul), and that's OK.

The collection of texts in Protreptikos, including The Handbook and Works and Days among others, is ideal for moral education.

"It is requisite that those who are willing to hear concerning the gods should have been well informed from their childhood, and not nourished with foolish opinions. It is likewise necessary that they should be naturally prudent and good, that they may receive, and properly understand, the discourses which they hear. The knowledge likewise of common conceptions is necessary; but common conceptions are such things as all men, when interrogated, acknowledge to be indubitably certain; such as, that every god is good, without passivity, and free from all mutations ..."

Sallust, On the Gods and the World Chapter 1

"Do not demand that events should happen as you wish; but wish them to happen as they do happen, and you will do well."

Epictetus, The Handbook 8

"It is necessary that he who hastens to reach virtue as if it were his homeland should pass by pleasures, as he would the Sirens."

The Similitudes of Demophilus 23

"Do not neglect the health of your body;
but give it drink, food, and exercise in due measure."

The Golden Verses of the Pythagoreans 32-33

A subtle but basic shift in perspective is necessary for European peoples to most effectively advance our spirituality: we must see that our classical inheritance is spiritual in nature and is the Western analog of the Vedic tradition.

The average person no longer perceives e.g. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, and the great Poets as figures of spiritual wisdom, but they do so perceive Jesus, Buddha, Confucius, Lao Tze, and others. The first group is thought to inhabit a tedious academic realm of no real importance. Westerners—tragically—do not even understand that their deepest well of spiritual wisdom is spiritual.

How many people know, for example, that Platonism is a polytheistic spiritual path involving the purification of the soul over a series of reincarnations, ending in apotheosis? Nobody leaves a college philosophy course with that understanding, but it is the vision which animates the whole Platonic project. How many people know that there's an ancient tradition of reading Homer, not as a mere story teller, but as a divinely inspired sage?

But this situation we find ourselves in is not only a spiritual matter. We're losing more than a wisdom tradition. To know ourselves, says the Platonic tradition, is to know our causes; to look deep inside ourselves is to, eventually, find something higher than ourselves, that which we descend from, and this inner vision refreshes and energizes us—it gives us form. I believe the same idea applies at the level of civilization. A civilization that no longer remembers its causes, its traditions, is a civilization in disintegration. We are losing our identity because we are disconnected from the past.

Our people will likely continue to turn to Buddha or Jesus or (worst of all) atheism until this change of perspective occurs.

- CWT admin

"Do not let a woman with a fancy rear coax and cozen and deceive you: she is after your barn."

Hesiod, Works and Days 373-374

"As we live through the soul, it must be said that by the virtue of this we live well; just as, since we see through the eyes, it is by the virtue of these that we see well."

Iamblichus, Exhortation to Philosophy Chapter 2 gnômê 1

"O Lord, son of Leto, offspring of Zeus, neither in the beginning will I forget you nor at the end, but I will sing of you always, both first and last and in between; and you, give ear to me and grant me success."

Theognis, Elegies 1-4

A few announcements:

1. I have corrected a handful of typos, formatting errors, etc. since the release a couple weeks ago. If you download the PDF again, you should get the updated version. At this point, I think it's pretty stable.

2. A hard copy will be available for purchase, but it is a work in progress and I don't have a release date yet. It will be a paperback. A hardcover edition may follow later. The book will be smallish, intended for practical use and convenient for carrying around.

3. The hard copy will be in essence the same as the PDF but with the following differences: a general index at the end of the book; a profile of the god Dionysus; possibly, additional Pythagorean texts; any further corrections or clarifications needed in the introduction.

4. As you probably noticed, the channel is active again, for now. I will mostly emphasize moral education.

"The sacrifices of fools are food for the fire, and the offerings which they bring supply the temple robbers."

The Pythagorean Sentences of Demophilus 22

"Reason, like a good potter, introduces a beautiful form to the soul."

The Similitudes of Demophilus 5

"Remember that you are an actor in a drama of such sort as the author chooses. If short, then in a short one. If long, then in a long one. If it be his pleasure that you should enact a poor man, see that you act it well; or a cripple, or a ruler, or a private citizen. For this is your business, to act well the given part; but to choose it belongs to another."

Epictetus, The Handbook 17

"And do those things which will not harm you, and reflect before your deed."

The Golden Verses of the Pythagoreans 39

"Do not ever dare to taunt a man for deadly poverty, which eats out the heart; it is sent by the deathless gods. The best treasure a man can have is a sparing tongue, and the greatest gift, one that moves in measure; for if you speak evil, you yourself will soon be worse spoken of."

Hesiod, Works and Days 717-721

"We worship God rightly if we render our intellect pure from all vice, as from some stain."

Iamblichus, Exhortation to Philosophy Chapter 2 gnômê 11

"Excess destroys many a fool, because it is hard to know the due measure when good things are at hand."

Theognis, Elegies 693-694

"Since the roots of our natures are established in God, we should tenaciously cling to our root; for streams of water, and other offspring of the earth, when their roots are cut off, also become rotten and dry."

The Pythagorean Sentences of Demophilus 38

"Duties are measured on the whole by social relations. Is a certain man your father? In this are implied taking care of him; submitting to him in all things; patiently receiving his reproaches, his correction. 'But he is a bad father.' Is your natural tie, then, to a good father? No, but to a father. Is a brother unjust? Well, preserve your own just relation towards him. Do not consider what he does, but what you are to do, to keep your own will in a state conformable to nature. For another cannot hurt you unless you choose it. You will then be hurt when you consent to be hurt. In this manner, therefore, if you accustom yourself to contemplate the relations of neighbor, citizen, commander, you can deduce from each the corresponding duties."

Epictetus, The Handbook 30

"The intellect derived from philosophy is similar to a charioteer, for it is present with our desires and always conducts them to the beautiful."

The Similitudes of Demophilus 34

Notes On The Odyssey

Some thoughts I had regarding my latest reading:

This time through I carried a stronger knowledge of Hellenism than the last time. I was aware Odysseus was considered in ancient times to represent the soul, and his journey the path of the soul to the divine. This opens up a lot of meaning in the story, and unlocks its metaphysical significance.

Odysseus in ancient Greek meant "to be troubled" or pained.

Odysseus begins as a wealthy man, crowned with a kingdom and unified with a beautiful and perfectly loyal wife. This is the state of the soul before falling into material desire, incarnation, etc.

Odysseus experiences a fall -- departure from his wife as he leaves for Troy. The war of Troy ends in Odysseus being lost at sea.

The sea is the constant landscape of the story, with Poseidon as the former antagonist (the latter antagonists being Penelope's suitors).

Poseidon is often referred to in terms that sound that same as how Zeus is referred to; an omnipotent king, ever present, presenting trials that angrily surge upward from the depths. His servant is Polyphemus, the cyclops.

Polyphemus -- ancient Greek for "much spoken of", in the sense of being notorious.

Cyclops' one eye is a double entendre -- cyclops is sexual passion, the male genitals even. His consumption of flesh an allegory for the effects of unrestrained sexual appetite. He is an aspect of the destructive nature of Poseidon -- the cthonic god who rules the unconscious (whereas Zeus is the divine mind/illumination).

Some of Odysseus's companions are consumed by the cyclops -- they are consumed by sexual desire, which effectively catapults them from their spiritual journeys (death).

The reason Odysseus is not consumed by Polyphemus is because he had already overcome his sexual trial when he was with Calypso, the goddess who ensnared him for sexual purposes. Though ensnared, Odysseus never forgot Penelope (his constant, ever loyal higher self), and greatly mourned that his sexual life with Calypso was keeping him from her. His eventual escape is his victory over lust and therefore the continuation of his reunification with Penelope.

Telemachus (Gr. for "far fighter") is the distant memory of the spiritual potentiality that Odysseus glimpsed as a consequence of his former unification with Penelope (having only seen Telemachus as a baby is the indication of Odysseus only having caught a glimpse of this potentiality). This glimpse, this memory of a spiritual epiphany arising from his marriage, is part of what spurs Odysseus on, motivates his journey even though Telemachus is a distant memory, symbolized by his living far from Odysseus' initial troubles. Hence, "far fighter".

Zeus as totality

All events in The Odyssey, both good and bad, are attributed to Zeus. Even the actions of other gods are ultimately the actions of Zeus; sometimes this is simply acknowledged by Odysseus and other characters, sometimes Zeus is depicted as directly giving direction or permission. This applies not only to the actions of the gods, but to natural phenomena and to the behaviors of mortal men. This ties directly into the poem's central theme of hospitality.

Hospitality (Xenia) as the metaphysical ground of The Odyssey

The entire poem revolves around hospitality and reciprocity. Odysseus is a fallen soul, represented by his poverty and the image of him being dressed in rags (the state of being mortal).

The poem declares time and again that hospitality is necessary because the estranged, impoverished soul is Zeus. To show generosity to an ailing soul is to show generosity to Zeus, to give Zeus his due. This is an even more striking indication of Zeus's position as totality; Zeus is not only the cosmos and the cause of physical events, he is the souls that populate the cosmos.