AGAINST PERFECTIONISM

In your practice as in your life, seek continuously to learn and progress -
but do not be overburdened by a need for perfection. This will only slow you down.
Seek to ground your beliefs and practice in tradition;
but as you practice and devote yourself to the path of our Gods,
you will find that you will always learn something new.
In fact, your quest for knowledge should be an aspect of your practice:
ask the Gods for guidance.
Start with what you have, and you will be aided along the way by the Gods and the pagan community.

How each man weaves
his web will bring him to glory or to grief.
King Jupiter is the king to all alike.
The Fates will find the way.

Virgil, The Aeneid, Book 10

Emperor Julian (Flavius Claudius Julianus Augustus), often known as the last Pagan Emperor of Rome, reinstated Roman Polytheism as the state religion and advocated the Cult of Apollo, Graeco-Roman Solar God.

Christian detractors called him Julian the Apostate, but philosopher Savitri Devi refers, more aptly, to Julian the Sun Worshipper.

"It is impossible to receive from divinity any gift greater than virtue."

The Pythagoric Sentences of Demophilus

A selection of Delphic Maxims.

The Delphic Maxims, which were inscribed on the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, are timeless proverbs we can use for inspiration daily!

“...The things that come into [the universe] from god are good, whereas evils come from ‘the archaic nature’, meaning the material substrate before it has been ordered by some god.” Plotinus, Enneads: 1.8.7

Orphic Hymn to Ares

Indestructible, doughty, mighty, valiant divinity, Delighting in arms, indestructible, man-killing, stormer of cities: Lord Áris, rattling in armor, always defiled with the slaughter of war, Rejoicing in man-slaying blood and raising the clamor of combat, horrifying one, You who lust for the obscene carnage of swords and spears: Halt the raging strife! Cease the travail grieving our hearts! Rather, yield to the peaceful yearnings of Aphrodíti and the revels of Diónysos.  Exchange your fury and weapons for the gentle works of Dimítir. Conceive a desire for peacefulness which will cultivate the young and grant them blessedness.

The most important thing is not life, but the good life.

Plato, Crito 48b

Delphic Maxims 1 - 3

Ἕπου θεῷ Follow God

Νόμῳ πείθου Obey the law

Θεοὺς σέβου Respect the Gods

Delphic Maxims 4 - 6

Γονεῖς αἰδοῦ Respect your parents

Ἡττῶ ὑπὸ δικαίου Be ruled by justice

Γνῶθι μαθών Know by learning

Delphic Maxims 7 - 9

Ἀκούσας νόει Listen and understand

Σαυτὸν ἴσθι Know yourself

Γαμεῖν μέλλε Set out to be married

“To honour the gods, to do no evil, and to practise bravery.”

A saying attributed to the Druids and the Hindus by Diogenes Laertius.

Delphic Maxims 34 - 36

ἀλλοτρίων ἀπέχου – keep yourself away from others’ things

ἄκουε πάντα – hear everything

εὔφημος ἴσθι – be religiously silent

“That which in our nature is divine, intellectual, and one, or intelligible, is perfectly excited by prayer from its dormant state; and when excited, vehemently seeks that which is similar to itself, and becomes copulated to its own perfection.”

- Iamblichus, On the Mysteries

"Never sleep before going over the acts of the day in thy mind.
Wherein have I done wrong? What have I done? What have I left undone?
Examine thyself. If thou hast done evil, blame.
And if thou hast done well, rejoice."

- from The Golden Verses of Pythagoras. While the Golden Verses were certainly not written by Pythagoras, they were highly influential in antiquity and were a standard part of the Neoplatonic curriculum.

I will post ten verses per day of the Golden Verses and then move to the Handbook of Epictetus. Both of these works were part of the historical curriculum for students at the Academy. (The Academy was established by Plato and was the premier center of pagan thought till it was shut down by Christians.)

The idea with this curriculum was that you should purify yourself psychologically and ethically before seriously pursuing the depths of metaphysical speculation.

1 First worship the Immortal gods, as they are established and ordained by the Law.
2 Reverence the Oath, and next the Heroes, full of goodness and light.
3 Honour likewise the Terrestrial Daemons by rendering them the worship lawfully due to them.
4 Honour likewise your parents, and those most nearly related to you.
5 Of all the rest of mankind, make him your friend who distinguishes himself by his virtue.
6 Always give ear to his mild exhortations, and take example from his virtuous and useful actions.
7 Avoid as much as possible hating your friend for a slight fault.
8 Power is a near neighbour to necessity.
9 Know that all these things are just as what I have told you; and accustom yourself to overcome and vanquish these passions:
10 First gluttony, sloth, sensuality, and anger.