In 1938 the Catholic esotericist Valentin Tomberg gave a series of seven lectures on inner development, his fifth lecture being on Christ’s temptations in the wilderness. The devil’s three temptations in reverse order of Matthew’s Gospel account are as follows:1. The world and its glories, if he worships him2. Testing God by jumping from the … Continue reading Three Temptations
Metaphysics
What to Make of the Flowers
“When the world seems to tremble on its foundations, a glance cast upon a flower can restore order.”~ Ernst Jünger, Journal 1945–1948. Aristotle, and some 1,500 years later Aquinas, would call the vegetative soul the most basic aspect of the living hierarchy, with Plato too before them attributing the ‘appetitive’ aspect of the tripartite soul … Continue reading What to Make of the Flowers
Man the Animal
Science and the materialists say we’re apes. Traditional teachings say the same, to a point. This shouldn’t be an observation that alarms anyone, though of course it’s a common tendency to desire to be special and view oneself as somehow separated from the animal; and we are, ideally. Part of what sets us apart from … Continue reading Man the Animal
Sum Ergo Oro 