Every manifold in some way participates unity.

For suppose a manifold in no way participating unity. Neither this manifold as a whole nor any of its several parts will be one; each part will itself be a manifold of parts, and so to infinity; and of this infinity of parts each, once more, will be infinitely manifold; for a manifold which in no way participates any unity, neither as a whole nor in respect of its parts severally, will be infinite in every way and in respect of every part. For each part of the manifold - take which you will - must be either one or not-one; and if not-one, then either many or nothing. But if each part be nothing, the whole is nothing, if many, it is made up of an infinity of infinities. This is impossible: for, on the one hand, nothing which is is made up of an infinity of infinities (since the infinite cannot be exceeded, yet the single part is exceeded by the sum); on the other hand, nothing can be made up of parts which are nothing. Every manifold, therefore, in some way participates unity.

Proclus, Elements of Theology 1

"Furthermore, I actually think that the purposes for which souls descend are different and that they thereby also cause differences in the manner of the descent. For the soul that descends for the salvation, purification, and perfection of this realm is immaculate in its descent. The soul, on the other hand, that directs itself about bodies for the exercise and correction of its own character is not entirely free of passions and was not sent away free in itself. The soul that comes down here for punishment and judgment seems somehow to be dragged and forced."

Iamblichus, De Anima 29

At dawn, when you're reluctant to get up, have this thought readily available: I have work to do as a human being, and that's why I'm getting up. Do I still resent it if I'm on my way to do the work for which I was born and for the sake of which I was brought into the world? Or is this what I was made for, to lie in bed and keep myself warm?

"But it's really nice."

So is pleasure what you were born for? And, in general, was it for feeling, not for doing? Can't you see plants, sparrows, ants, spiders, and bees all doing their own work and playing their part in the world's order? And are you then reluctant to do human work? Why aren't you eager to do what comes naturally to you?

"But rest is important too."

Yes, I agree. Nature has set limits on rest, however, as it has on eating and drinking as well; but aren't you overstepping those limits and taking more than suffices for your needs? It's only when it comes to action that you haven't yet reached the limits of your abilities. And the reason is that you don't love yourself. If you did, you'd love your nature and its purpose.

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 5.1

Philosophy is a perfecting of every knowledge, music is preparatory to paideia. Philosophy is precise because it is an accomplishment that, through calling things to mind, makes up in full what was shed by the souls through circumstance in the course of creation; music is an initiation into the Mysteries and an agreeable preliminary sacrifice that presents a little something and gives a foretaste of things brought to perfection in philosophy; and music transmits the beginnings of every kind of learning, philosophy the extremes.

Aristides Quintilianus, On Music 3.27

The rational element in you - that is what is superior in you. Adorn and beautify that; but as for your hair, leave it to him who made it in accordance with his will. … Are you a man or a woman? A man. Then adorn yourself as a man, and not as a woman. … Man, what complaint do you have to bring against nature? That she brought you into the world as a man? What, ought she to bring everyone to birth as a woman, then? … Whom do you want to please? The women? Then please them as a man.

“Yes, but they like smooth-bodied men.”

Go hang yourself. But if they liked inverts, I suppose, you’d become one of those? Is this your business in life, then; is this what you were brought into the world for, to make yourself appealing to licentious women?

Epictetus, Discourses 3.1.26-33

Consider lost all the time in which you do not think of divinity.

Sextus the Pythagorean

For God is my witness that our country is a sort of secondary divinity, and our first and greatest parent.

Hierocles, On How We Ought to Conduct Ourselves Towards Our Country

There will be a day when the clear light of divine truth shines on our people once again, unifying us in its perfection and beauty. We must all do whatever we can to work towards that day, and to embody that truth in our own lives to the best of our ability.

"For that element in us which is divine and intellectual and one - or, if you so wish to term it, intelligible - is aroused, then, clearly in prayer, and when aroused, strives primarily towards what is like to itself, and joins itself to essential perfection."

Iamblichus, On the Mysteries 1.15

All inhabitants of city or country should in the first place be firmly persuaded of the existence of divinities as result of their observation of the heavens and the world, and the orderly arrangement of the beings contained therein. These are not the productions of chance or of men. We should reverence and honor them as causes of every reasonable good. ...

Should anyone feel the presence of an evil spirit, tempting him to injustice, he should go into a temple, remain at the altar, or into sacred groves, flying from injustice as from an impious and harmful mistress, supplicating the divinities to cooperate with him in turning it away from himself. He should also seek the company of men known for their virtue, in order to hear them discourse about a blessed life and the punishment of bad men, that he may be deterred from bad deeds, dreading none but the avenging divinities.

Citizens should honor all the Gods according to the particular country's legal rites, which should be considered as the most beautiful of all. Citizens should, besides obeying the laws, show their respect for the rulers by rising before them and obeying their instructions. Men who are intelligent and wish to be saved should, after the Gods, divinities and heroes, most honor parents, laws and rulers.

The Preface to the Laws of Zaleucus the Locrian

We shall then find that customs are corrupted in two ways: through ourselves, or through foreigners. This occurs through ourselves, indeed, due to our flying from pain, whereby we fail to endure labor, or through the pursuit of pleasure, whereby we reject the good. For labors procure good, but pleasures evil. Hence through pleasure, becoming incontinent and remiss, men are rendered effeminate in their souls, and more prodigal in their expenses. Customs and manners are corrupted through foreigners when their numbers swamp the natives, and boast of the success of their mercantile employments, or when those who dwell in the suburbs, becoming lovers of pleasures and luxury, spread their manners to the simple neighbors. Therefore the legislators, officers and mass of the people should diligently take notice whether the customs of the city are being carefully preserved, and that throughout the whole people. Moreover, they should observe whether the genuine and indigenous multitude, of which the polity consists, remains pure and unmingled with any other nation, and whether the magnitude of possessions remains in the same state, and does not become excessive. For the possession of superfluities is accompanied by the desire of still more of the superfluous. In such ways the customs should be preserved.

Hippodamus the Thurian, On a Republic

One who is just does not allow any part of himself to do the work of another part or allow the various classes within him to meddle with each other. He regulates well what is really his own and rules himself. He puts himself in order, is his own friend, and harmonizes the three parts of himself like three limiting notes in a musical scale - high, low, and middle. He binds together those parts and any others there may be in between, and from having been many things he becomes entirely one, moderate and harmonious. Only then does he act. And when he does anything, whether acquiring wealth, taking care of his body, engaging in politics, or in private contracts - in all of these, he believes that the action is just and fine that preserves this inner harmony and helps achieve it, and calls it so, and regards as wisdom the knowledge that oversees such actions. And he believes that the action that destroys this harmony is unjust, and calls it so, and regards the belief that oversees it as ignorance.

Plato, Republic 443d-e

PAGAN FUTURES conference, full playlist with live music from Wolcensmen and talks from Borja Vilallonga and Tom Rowsell: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcroOUap-NynE3ARVQ1KZvfCRllnN2F27

Jupiter, found in a lararium at Boscoreale, the site of a Roman villa near Pompeii.

If you're the academic type, I encourage you to consider pursuing philosophy (or other relevant disciplines) academically. As paganism grows, there will come a time when we will need intellectually elite defenders of paganism representing us in academic institutions.

How to overcome bad habits and characteristics

1. Sincerely wish that you will be happy, fulfill your highest purpose, and live in tranquility. Sincerely wish to be beautiful before God. Commit to obtain the purity that lies within you and that comes from divinity.

2. Imitate great men, such as Socrates, or any others you know. Remember how they behaved in difficult situations.

3. When anything happens - a temptation or a problematic situation or anything else - call on the aid and support of God. (By the way, it is perfectly correct to use singular God within the context of polytheism. Of course you can call upon a specific God too.)

4. Tell your thoughts and feelings to wait a moment, so that you can see what they’re all about. Tell them you don’t want to be swept away by their speed and momentum. When they ask you to start imagining all sorts of things that might happen, say no and instead think of something beautiful and noble.

5. Offer a sacrifice and prayer. To whatever extent you committed a wrong, gave into temptation, etc., acknowledge that in your sacrifice and prayer.

6. Consciously note every day that goes by since you were last defeated by your problem. “The last time I lost my temper was yesterday.” “The last time I was overcome by lust was three days ago.” Enjoy your victory each time.

7. If you defeat your problem for thirty days in a row, offer a sacrifice to God.

Source: Epictetus, Discourses 2.18

The Titanic mode of life is the irrational mode, by which rational life is torn asunder.

It is better to acknowledge its existence everywhere, since in any case at its source there are Gods, the Titans; then also on the plane of rational life, this apparent self-determination, which seems to aim at belonging to itself alone and neither to the superior nor to the inferior, is wrought in us by the Titans; through it we tear asunder the Dionysus in ourselves, breaking up the natural continuity of our being and our partnership, so to speak, with the superior and the inferior. While in this condition, we are Titans; but when we recover that lost unity, we become Dionysus and we attain what can be truly called completeness.

Damascius, Commentary on Plato's Phaedo 1.9

"Let everyone dearly love his lawful wife and beget children by her. But let none shed the seed due his children into any other person, and let him not disgrace that which is honorable by both nature and law. For nature produced the seed for the sake of producing children, and not for the sake of lust.

A wife should be chaste and refuse impious connection with other men, for otherwise she will subject herself to the vengeance of the daimons, whose office it is to expel those to whom they are hostile from their house, and to produce hatred."

Preface to the Laws of Charondas the Catanean

Indeed, it cannot be denied that in every component of the universe there is a striving for ultimate perfection. For example, in vines or cattle we see that nature will proceed along her own path to the goal of completeness unless some outside force intervenes. We know that with painting or architecture or other arts, there is an idea of perfect workmanship. Even more so with nature as a whole it is necessary that there must be some process of moving toward completion and perfection. Of course, the many individual parts of nature at times encounter obstacles which block their path to perfect realization of their potential, but it cannot be that nature as a whole can be frustrated, since she embodies and contains all things. This is why the fourth and highest level must exist [ = divine universe], so that no external force can approach it.

It is on this fourth level that the nature of all things rests. Since this level is such that it presides over everything and nothing is able to impede it, it necessarily follows that the universe is intelligent and indeed wise.

Cicero, On the Nature of the Gods 2.35-36

Julian - Against the Galileans

I. [193-4] «(...) Then Jupiter set over her [Rome] the great philosopher Numa. This then was the excellent and upright Numa who dwelt in deserted groves and ever communed with the gods in the pure thoughts of his own heart. (...) It was he who established most of the laws concerning temple worship. Now these blessings, derived from a divine possession and inspiration, (...) were manifestly bestowed on the City by Jupiter.»

@collispalatinus