Hearing set for Kash Patel nomination to lead FBI

by Rebecca Beitsch - 01/24/25 10:59 AM ET

Kash Patel, President Trump’s nominee to lead the FBI, is expected to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday.

Patel held numerous national security roles during the first Trump administration but would be a new face at the FBI.

Patel regularly attacks a “deep state” he blames for having “weaponized the government for their own political and personal agenda.”

He has said he would clear out FBI headquarters on his first day in office.

“I’d shut down the FBI Hoover building on Day 1 and reopen it the next day as a museum of the deep state. And I’d take the 7,000 employees that work in that building and send them across America to chase down criminals. Go be cops,” Patel said.

He’s sparked concerns among Democrats due to his past comments about “government gangsters,” penning a book by the same name that includes an appendix with a list of people he later said must be “held accountable.”

Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.), the top Democrat on the panel, announced earlier this week he would oppose Patel’s confirmation.

“Kash Patel has neither the experience, the temperament, nor the judgment to lead the FBI,” Durbin said in a statement after a 30-minute meeting with Patel.

“Mr. Patel’s political grievances make him a favorite of the MAGA world, but they have not prepared him to work night and day to keep us safe from violent crime, drug trafficking, terrorism, and other threats. Mr. Patel is the wrong choice to lead the FBI.”

Durbin previously asked a trio of national security agencies that employed Patel during the first Trump administration to turn over information from their personnel files.

The letters lay out a series of allegations, including that Patel pushed to stop transition coordination with the incoming Biden administration, sought to declassify information that would be favorable to Trump and was identified as a helpful figure for the man leading Trump’s efforts to thwart the transfer of power after losing the 2020 election.

https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/5104880-kash-patel-nomination-fbi-hearing/

Vivek Ramaswamy To Kash Patel: Indian-Americans Who Made Headlines In 2024

According to data from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Indian diaspora’s political significance was felt in the US elections with 2.6 million eligible Indian-American voters. States where Trump won with a majority are composed of a vital number of Indian-American voters.

author-479267430

Authored by:

Afifa Iqbal

Updated Jan 1, 2025, 06:36 IST

Donald Trump got elected as the 47th US President as America went to polls in 2024. However as Trump and Harris contensed for power, India became the talk of the election with Indian-American origin, US Vice-President Kamala Harris being the Democratic Party nominee, reports TOI.

However, the significance of Indian-Americans in US elections were not just limited to casting of ballots but also making headlines by being Presidential contenders for popular political parties. Here are some of the names that were in limelight in 2024:

Kamala Harris: Chosen by Joe Biden as his running mate in 2020, Harris made political headlines during the presidential election campaigns. Kamala Harris also became the first woman Vice President in America’s history. Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan was a well-known Indian-American scientist who moved to the US from India at the age of 19.

Vivek Ramaswamy: As a Republican Party contender for Presidential elections, Ramaswamy garnered attention earlier this year by challenging Donald Trump. Later on he got appointed by Trump to head the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) alongside Elon Musk. Being a biotech entrepreneur and a staunch follower of Hinduism, Ramaswamy hails from Kerala, India.

Tulsi Gabbard: Although not of Indian-origin, Tulsi has a connection with India owing to her religious underpinnings. It was her name and religious identity as a Hindu that confused people about her origin. She came in the news for quitting the Democratic Party in order to back Trump.

Former federal prosecutor and Trump’s trusted ally Kash Patel, renowned health policy expert and Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Jay Bhattacharya and Republican lawyer Harmeet Kaur Dhillon were other such Indian-American names that came in the spotlight in 2024.

https://www.timesnownews.com/world/us/us-news/vivek-ramaswamy-to-kash-patel-indian-americans-who-made-headlines-in-2024-article-116843270

"[Convention of States] is within the Constitution for a reason. The framers of the Constitution had great forethought for periods just like this one. So I think just getting that convention together will have a useful function for the country. I challenge every other GOP candidate to recognize the same thing."

Vivek Ramaswamy

Devastating, dangerous, untested: NO to Article V convention

December 16, 2021

By Civic Nebraska

In 2022, the Nebraska Legislature will consider LR14, introduced by Sen. Steve Halloran, to add Nebraska to the list of states calling for an Article V constitutional convention. As an organization committed to protecting and advancing voting rights, we are deeply concerned about what such a process would most likely yield.

What’s an Article V convention?

The Constitution can be amended in two ways. The only way we’ve used so far needs two-thirds of both houses of Congress to propose an amendment, which must then be ratified by three-fourths of states (presently, 38 states). This is almost always done by a simple vote of each state Legislature, though Congress required the twenty-first amendment (repeal of prohibition) to be ratified by state convention.

In the last decade, organizations of varying political affiliations have promoted the second way to amend the Constitution – a convention – to make changes that would be extremely unlikely to make it through Congress. There is a substantial effort among progressive activists, namely Wolf-PAC, to call a convention to pass an amendment to overturn Citizens United. Wolf-PAC has passed its application resolution in five states.

The more active and imminent effort is by the Convention of States Action, a group led by conservative activist and Tea Party Patriots co-founder Mark Meckler. Convention of States Action, or COSaction, supports a call to convention to:

Impose fiscal restraints on the federal government;

Limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government; and

Limit the terms of office for its officials and for members of Congress.

COSAction has successfully passed its resolution in 15 states, with active legislation in all but eight states. COSAction legislation has been repeatedly introduced in Nebraska. It is consistently defeated by a bipartisan group of senators with a range of concerns, from devastating effects on our state’s budget to unpredictable outcomes with the Constitution.

What does an Article V convention have to do with voting rights?

In short, it can strip the Department of Justice of its powers and standing to enforce voting rights.

The amendments proposed within the scope of a COSAction-style convention could expose federal voting protections to political sabotage and retribution by jeopardizing the capacity and authority, if not the very existence, of the Department of Justice.

While states have broad authority to administer their own elections, they are bound by certain baseline rules and protections designed to provide an at least somewhat uniform, accessible experience for all eligible voters. Some of these protections are enshrined in the Constitution in the fifteenth, nineteenth, twenty-fourth, and twenty-sixth amendments, but most of them come from four pieces of federal legislation – the Voting Rights Act of 1965, The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act of 1986, The National Voter Registration Act of 1993, and the Help America Vote Act of 2002. All of these provisions are enforced by the Voting Section of the Department of Justice.

When a state violates one of the protections outlined in these laws, the Department of Justice is the office responsible for intervening. The DOJ is voters’ last line of defense against state infringement of voting rights. The DOJ’s capacity and authority to challenge voting restrictions are directly threatened by the second plank of the COSAction legislation: “Limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government.”

There is no restriction, consolidation, or elimination of a federal agency not included under this broad call to action. Restricting the DOJ’s authority to protect voters against a state legislature’s restriction, reducing the voting section to hamper its efficacy, or eliminating the voting section entirely would be entirely within the scope of this “limited” call to a convention.

The current political climate and the results of a simulated convention in 2016 raise the possibility of grave consequences for voting rights.

When we began work on this issue in 2016, it was defending against a bad hypothetical. Today, with the national rhetoric surrounding voting and elections increasingly venomous, it is easy to imagine amendments written, funded, and promulgated by the toxic and well-funded politicians and D.C. strategists determined to erode public trust and participation in our elections.

We have no doubt that much of the grassroots support for an Article V convention is driven by genuine, well-intentioned concerns about the national debt or perceived government overreach. But those intentions don’t stand a chance against the political and financial forces waiting to capitalize on this opportunity. The well-meaning objectives of grassroots supporters will be ignored entirely or accommodated, co-opted, and exploited to make anti-voting efforts even more powerful.

Our concerns about a COSAction call for a convention were validated by the organization’s simulated convention, in which legislators from all 50 states gathered in Colonial Williamsburg in 2016 to debate and advance mock-proposals to get a sense of how a convention would work and the kinds of proposals it might advance. The simulated convention, hailed as “a complete success” by COSAction, advanced the following proposals:

Raising the debt ceiling will require a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress;

Limit Congress’s power to regulate interstate commerce;

Term limits on both houses of Congress;

Give the states the power to rescind federal laws and regulations with three-fifths ratification;

Eliminate all taxes on income, gifts, and estates and require a three-fifths majority in both houses to enact any federal taxes; and

Allow Congress to repeal any federal regulation unless a majority of both houses vote to affirm or adopt the regulation.

From a voting rights perspective, Nos. 4 and 6 are particularly troubling. Giving three-fifths of states the power to rescind federal law, including the aforementioned legislation providing the bulk of our election rules and protections, is a bad, dangerous policy. This could allow national protections to be rescinded by less than one-fourth of the population.

For example, if the 30 least populous states and the District of Columbia all ratified the repeal of the Voting Rights Act, those states would represent a population of 79,538,370 or just 24 percent of the U.S. population. Meanwhile, the states representing the remaining 248,492,951, or 76 percent of the population, would be overruled. We cannot allow federal protections for voting rights to be dictated by 24 percent of the population.

No. 6 – allowing Congress to repeal any federal legislation unless a majority of both houses affirm it – is equally unacceptable. This would make federal protections of voting rights especially vulnerable to the political whims of Congress. A slight majority in one chamber by one party should not jeopardize baseline federal protections.

This is a real threat.

Supporters of an Article V convention tout the high ratification threshold – three-fourths of states – as protection against any highly controversial proposals becoming law. This argument relies on either misinformed or blatantly deceitful assertions that the state’s voters will have a direct impact on a state’s decision to ratify.

Constitutional amendments are almost always ratified by an up-or-down vote of state Legislatures. Each state can create its own rules for ratification as long as they don’t interfere with the Article V process. Most states, including Nebraska, treat ratification of amendments to the U.S. Constitution just like any other resolution or bill, requiring a simple majority vote to affirm. The only other method is a state convention, which can also exclude the majority of voters from the process.

It is dangerously naive to assume that a process as high-stakes as an Article V convention can be safeguarded by the moral fortitude of 13 state Legislatures or state conventions. Our most representative measure of “the will of the people” – a statewide vote – is completely absent from the amendment-ratification process.

There are many reasons beyond endangering basic voting rights why Nebraskans should oppose LR14. But the danger to voting rights via such an untested process is urgent.

Eliminating or rendering useless the Department of Justice, voters’ last line of defense against state infringement of voting rights, is entirely within the “limited” scope of a COSAction-style call for a convention. Such a proposal could emerge under a number of guises, from “reducing spending” to “limiting government overreach,” and could be advanced from the convention and ratified by three-fourths of state legislatures despite opposition from a majority of voters. The simulated convention supports these concerns, and the current political climate around voting makes this a singularly bad time to expose our election protections.

We should not – and must not – add Nebraska’s name to this dangerous and untested idea.

Westin Miller is Director of Public Policy at Civic Nebraska.

https://civicnebraska.org/20211215-devastating-dangerous-untested-no-article-v-convention/

Information CSG-COS & COSA

2:11 PM (2 hours ago)

to me

STOP-TAKE US OFF THIS EMAIL LIST NOW!

Yours in Liberty,

Convention of States Action Team

conventionofstates.com

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The Prayer Warriors Team consists of people of many faith traditions who recognize that the battle for freedom in America is more than political or even cultural. There is a spiritual war being waged for hearts and minds of the American People and for the very destiny of the nation.

https://conventionofstates.com/prayer-warriors-team

Pope Addresses Congress

Blesses crowd outside the Capitol

Pope Francis addressed a joint session of Congress on Thursday, Sept. 24.

The Pope, who became the first pontiff to address Congress, thanked lawmakers for their warm welcome.

"I am most grateful for your invitation to address this joint session of Congress," he said.

"Each son or daughter of a given country has a mission, a personal and social responsibility. Your own responsibility as members of Congress is to enable this country, by your legislative activity, to grow as a nation. You are the face of its people, their representatives."

Before the speech, House Speaker John Boehner met with Pope Francis in a room outside the House chamber, where the Pope complimented the Speaker's green tie, saying it was the "color of hope."

After his remarks, Pope Francis stopped in Statuary Hall, where he blessed a statue of Junipero Serra, an 18th century Spanish missionary, whom the Pope had canonized the previous evening. Serra is the first saint to be canonized on U.S. soil and his statue is one of two California has in the Capitol collection.

Pope Francis, Speaker Boehner, Vice President Joe Biden, and other Congressional leaders then stepped out onto the Speaker's balcony, where the Pope blessed a crowd who cheered "papa, papa."

Speaking in Spanish, he greeted the crowd with "Buenos Dias."

"I am so grateful for your presence," he told the crowd via a translator.

http://www.speaker.gov/pope [ Link changed in new Congress, content kept for historical reasons. ] Speaker Boehner's behind-the-scenes photos and video on his website of the Pope's visit.

https://www.house.gov/feature-stories/2015-9-24-pope-addresses-congress

[666] 6. 1On the side of the superior general, what will aid toward this union of hearts are the qualities of his person [G], to be treated in Part IX [723-25], with which he will perform his office, 2which is to be for all the members a head from which the influence required for the end sought by the Society ought to descend to them all. 3It is thus from the general as head that all authority of the provincials should flow, from the provincials that of the local superiors, and from the local superiors that of the individual members. 4And from this same head, or at least by his commission and approval, should likewise come the appointing of missions. And the same should apply to communicating the graces of the Society. 5For the more the subjects are dependent upon their superiors, the better will the love, obedience, and union among them be preserved."

The Constitutions of The Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms

A Complete English Translation of the Official Latin Texts

THE INSTITUTE OF JESUIT SOURCES

SAINT LOUIS, 1996

https://web.archive.org/web/20200211182223/https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf

Head:

1. See Illness, mental

2. The superior general, head of the Society [666]"

page 463

The Constitutions of The Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms

A Complete English Translation of the Official Latin Texts

THE INSTITUTE OF JESUIT SOURCES

SAINT LOUIS, 1996

https://web.archive.org/web/20200211182223/https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf

Revelation 13:18

New International Version

18 This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man.[a] That number is 666.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

Revelation 13:18 Or is humanity’s number

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%2013%3A18&version=NIV

BULL of Pope Boniface VIII promulgated November 18, 1302

For, according to the Blessed Dionysius, it is a law of the divinity that the lowest things reach the highest place by intermediaries. Then, according to the order of the universe, all things are not led back to order equally and immediately, but the lowest by the intermediary, and the inferior by the superior. Hence we must recognize the more clearly that spiritual power surpasses in dignity and in nobility any temporal power whatever, as spiritual things surpass the temporal. This we see very clearly also by the payment, benediction, and consecration of the tithes, but the acceptance of power itself and by the government even of things. For with truth as our witness, it belongs to spiritual power to establish the terrestrial power and to pass judgement if it has not been good. Thus is accomplished the prophecy of Jeremias concerning the Church and the ecclesiastical power: ‘Behold to-day I have placed you over nations, and over kingdoms‘ and the rest. Therefore, if the terrestrial power err, it will be judged by the spiritual power; but if a minor spiritual power err, it will be judged by a superior spiritual power; but if the highest power of all err, it can be judged only by God, and not by man, according to the testimony of the Apostle: ‘The spiritual man judgeth of all things and he himself is judged by no man‘ [1 Cor 2:15]. This authority, however, (though it has been given to man and is exercised by man), is not human but rather divine, granted to Peter by a divine word and reaffirmed to him (Peter) and his successors by the One Whom Peter confessed, the Lord saying to Peter himself, ‘Whatsoever you shall bind on earth, shall be bound also in Heaven‘ etc., [Mt 16:19]. Therefore whoever resists this power thus ordained by God, resists the ordinance of God [Rom 13:2], unless he invent like Manicheus two beginnings, which is false and judged by us heretical, since according to the testimony of Moses, it is not in the beginnings but in the beginning that God created heaven and earth [Gen 1:1]. Furthermore, we declare, we proclaim, we define that it is absolutely necessary for salvation that every human creature be subject to the Roman Pontiff."

https://www.papalencyclicals.net/bon08/b8unam.htm

[529] C. 1The entire purport of this fourth vow of obedience to the pope was and is with regard to missions; 2and this is how the bulls should be understood where they speak of this obedience in all that the sovereign pontiff may command and wherever he may send one, and so on."

The Constitutions of The Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms

A Complete English Translation of the Official Latin Texts

THE INSTITUTE OF JESUIT SOURCES

SAINT LOUIS, 1996

https://web.archive.org/web/20200211182223/https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf

Historical Institute of the Society of Jesus: a Roman work of the entire Society, 304 §2

The Constitutions of The Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms

A Complete English Translation of the Official Latin Texts

THE INSTITUTE OF JESUIT SOURCES

SAINT LOUIS, 1996

https://web.archive.org/web/20200211182223/https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf

DrGeo A Living Sacrifice · January 24 at 6:38 PM ·

🅻🅸🆅🅸🅽🅶🄻🄾🅁🄳🄹🄴🅂🅄🅂✝️😇🕊️🅘🅝🅢🅘🅓🅔ⓊⓈ✝️

𝗗𝗿𝗚𝗲𝗼4𝗥𝗢𝗠-12:1&2✝️, 𝑵𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒂, 𝑫𝒆𝒍𝒉𝒊, 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂.

*(Hindi Traslation Available After English)

My Beloved Spiritual Friend,

𝐈𝐧 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲, 𝗡𝗢 𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗗 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗 𝗗𝗜𝗩𝗜𝗗𝗘 𝗛𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗧𝗪𝗢-𝗕𝗖(𝗕𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁✝️)𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗗(𝗔𝗻𝗻𝗼 𝗗𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗶=𝗔𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗶𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝗟𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗝𝗲𝘀𝘂𝘀𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁✝️) ,𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗢𝗡𝗟𝗬🅻🅾🆁🅳 🅹🅴🆂🆄🆂 🅲🅷🆁🅸🆂🆃✝️😇🕊️🔥. 𝐍𝐨 𝗚𝗢𝗗𝗦 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭-

"𝐈 𝐀𝐌 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐀𝐘,𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐓𝐇,𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄, BUT LORD JESUS CHRIST✝️ ONLY.

The Historicity of Lord Jesus Christ✝️ has been roundly challenged by Christ deniers for some time, but not during the time of Christ. The Jewish authorities in the time of Jesus did not deny His existence, they just attempted to discredit Him. The official Jewish position was and still is that Jesus Christ was not the Messiah, but a bastard and a sorcerer. The descriptive rhetoric — bastard and sorcerer — may have changed but not the official Jewish position. For the unbelieving Jews, the two descriptions above are acutely critical. First, if Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, then He fulfilled the marvelous Old Testament prophecy in Isaiah 7:14:

Therefore the Lord Jesus Christ✝️😇🕊️ Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His Name "IMMANUEL".

Immanuel means "God with us." The Apostle Matthew quoted the virgin prophecy in chapter 1:23:-

"Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us".

Therefore the official Jewish position must be that Lord Jesus Christ✝️ was a fatherless child (bastard) and not virgin-born, or they would have crucified the Christ — their Messiah. Second, if Lord Jesus Christ✝️ performed the marvelous miracles, of which only a small number are listed in the scriptures, then these miracles were God’s endorsement of His ministry.Lord Jesus Christ✝️ said- John 14:10-11

"Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake".

The Authorities did not Deny the Miracles. They Attributed them to Sorcery, or if not Sorcery, they had Crucified their Messiah.

We don’t wish to lump together all of Hebrew people with their Jewish leaders, for many Jews are washed in the blood of Christ. Romans 11 speaks of the Spiritual Blinding of the nation of Israel which was a result of its Disobedience, which also opened the doors of Redemption to the Gentiles.

The Prophet Zechariah pointed to the Time of Armageddon when Israel as a Nation will Once Again Surrender their Hearts to the scriptures and to their Messiah, Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory. Nevertheless, the Jewish Hierarchy of today is True Antichrist- I John 2:22-23:-

. 22 Who is A Liar but he that Denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is Antichrist, that Denieth the Father and the Son.

23 Whosoever Denieth the Son✝️, the same hath not the Father😇: (but) he that Acknowledgeth the Son✝️ hath the Father😇 also". Further-

I John 4:3:-

"And Every Spirit that Confesseth not that Lord Jesus Christ✝️ Is Come in the Flesh is not of God: and this is that Spirit of Antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world".

Unfortunately for the Lord Jesus Christ✝️😇🕊️ deniers there is a plethora of historic fact that shouts a resounding "YES!"too if researched and learned without any desputes.

My dear Friend, God's Words Teaches Us Very Clearly and Strictly How We Must Live Our Daily Lives-

"𝐀𝐬 𝐀 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐓𝐨 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭✝️😇🕊️🔥

12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world🌎, but be 𝐓ransformed by the renewing of your 𝐌ind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will".

May Lord Jesus Christ✝️ Bless You✝️😇🕊️🔥Amen🙌👏✝️

* If You Are Touched by Lord and find it helpful for you, Kindly Pray&Join With-𝗥𝗢𝗠-12:1&2✝️𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀🙏

𝗛𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

🅻🅸🆅🅸🅽🅶🄻🄾🅁🄳🄹🄴🅂🅄🅂✝️😇🕊️🅘🅝🅢🅘🅓🅔ⓊⓈ✝️

𝗗𝗿𝗚𝗲𝗼4𝗥𝗢𝗠-12:1&2✝️, 𝑵𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒂, 𝑫𝒆𝒍𝒉𝒊, 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂.

मेरे प्रिय आध्यात्मिक मित्र,

"हमेशा के लिए, लेकिन केवल प्रभु यीशु मसीह ही हैं।

प्रभु यीशु मसीह की ऐतिहासिकता को कुछ समय से मसीह के इनकार करने वालों द्वारा पूरी तरह से चुनौती दी गई है, लेकिन मसीह के समय के दौरान नहीं। यीशु के समय में यहूदी अधिकारियों ने उनके अस्तित्व से इनकार नहीं किया, उन्होंने बस उन्हें बदनाम करने का प्रयास किया। आधिकारिक यहूदी स्थिति यह था और अब भी है कि यीशु मसीह मसीहा नहीं थे, बल्कि एक कमीना और जादूगर थे। वर्णनात्मक बयानबाजी - कमीना और जादूगर - बदल गई होगी लेकिन आधिकारिक यहूदी स्थिति नहीं। अविश्वासी यहूदियों के लिए, ऊपर दिए गए दो विवरण बहुत महत्वपूर्ण हैं। सबसे पहले, यदि यीशु मसीह का जन्म वर्जिन मैरी से हुआ था, तो उन्होंने यशायाह 7:14 में पुराने नियम की अद्भुत भविष्यवाणी को पूरा किया:

इसलिए प्रभु यीशु मसीह✝️😇🕊️ स्वयं तुम्हें एक संकेत देगा; देखो, एक कुंवारी गर्भवती होगी और एक पुत्र को जन्म देगी, और उसका नाम "इम्मानुएल" रखेगी।

इम्मानुएल का अर्थ है "हमारे साथ ईश्वर।" प्रेरित मैथ्यू ने अध्याय 1:23 में कुंवारी भविष्यवाणी को उद्धृत किया:-

"देखो, एक कुंवारी गर्भवती होगी और एक पुत्र को जन्म देगी, और वे उसका नाम इम्मानुएल रखेंगे, जिसका अर्थ है, ईश्वर हमारे साथ"। इसलिए आधिकारिक यहूदी स्थिति यह होनी चाहिए कि प्रभु यीशु मसीह एक अनाथ बच्चा (नाबालिग) था और कुंवारी से पैदा नहीं हुआ था, अन्यथा उन्होंने मसीह को क्रूस पर चढ़ा दिया होता - उनका मसीहा। दूसरा, यदि प्रभु यीशु मसीह ने अद्भुत चमत्कार किए, जिनमें से केवल कुछ ही शास्त्रों में सूचीबद्ध हैं, तो ये चमत्कार उनके मंत्रालय के लिए भगवान का समर्थन थे। प्रभु यीशु मसीह ने कहा - यूहन्ना 14:10-11

"क्या तू विश्वास नहीं करता कि मैं पिता में हूँ और पिता मुझ में है? जो बातें मैं तुमसे कहता हूँ, वे अपनी ओर से नहीं कहता, परन्तु पिता जो मुझ में रहता है, वही काम करता है।

11 मेरा विश्वास करो कि मैं पिता में हूँ और पिता मुझ में है: या फिर कामों के कारण ही मेरा विश्वास करो"।

अधिकारियों ने चमत्कारों से इनकार नहीं किया। उन्होंने उन्हें जादू-टोना के लिए जिम्मेदार ठहराया, या यदि जादू-टोना नहीं था, तो उन्होंने अपने मसीहा को क्रूस पर चढ़ाया था।

हम सभी इब्रानी लोगों को उनके यहूदी नेताओं के साथ एक साथ नहीं रखना चाहते, क्योंकि बहुत से यहूदी मसीह के खून में नहाए हुए हैं। रोमियों 11 इस्राएल राष्ट्र की आध्यात्मिक अंधता की बात करता है जो उसकी अवज्ञा का परिणाम था, जिसने अन्यजातियों के लिए छुटकारे के द्वार भी खोले। पैगंबर जकर्याह ने आर्मागेडन के समय की ओर इशारा किया जब एक राष्ट्र के रूप में इस्राएल एक बार फिर से अपने दिलों को शास्त्रों और अपने मसीहा, यीशु मसीह, महिमा के प्रभु के सामने समर्पित कर देगा। फिर भी, आज का यहूदी पदानुक्रम सच्चा मसीह विरोधी है- I यूहन्ना 2:22-23:-

22 कौन झूठा है सिवाय उस व्यक्ति के जो यीशु को मसीह मानने से इनकार करता है? वह मसीह विरोधी है, जो पिता और पुत्र को अस्वीकार करता है। 23 जो कोई पुत्र का इन्कार करता है, उसके पास पिता भी नहीं: परन्तु जो पुत्र को मान लेता है, उसके पास पिता भी है।" आगे-

1 यूहन्ना 4:3:-

"और जो कोई आत्मा यह नहीं मानती कि प्रभु यीशु मसीह देह में होकर आया है, वह परमेश्वर की ओर से नहीं: और यह वही मसीह विरोधी की आत्मा है, जिसके विषय में तुम सुन चुके हो कि वह आएगा; और अब भी यह दुनिया में पहले से ही है"। दुर्भाग्य से प्रभु यीशु मसीह के इनकार करने वालों के लिए ऐतिहासिक तथ्यों की अधिकता है जो बिना किसी विवाद के शोध और सीखे जाने पर एक जोरदार "हाँ!" चिल्लाती है।

मेरे प्यारे दोस्त, परमेश्वर के वचन हमें बहुत स्पष्ट रूप से और सख्ती से सिखाते हैं कि हमें अपना दैनिक जीवन कैसे जीना चाहिए- "As A Living Sacrifice

12 इसलिए, हे भाइयो और बहनो, मैं तुम से परमेश्वर की दया स्मरण दिलाकर विनती करता हूँ कि अपने शरीरों को जीवित, पवित्र और परमेश्वर को भावता हुआ बलिदान करके चढ़ाओ—यह तुम्हारी सच्ची और उचित उपासना है।

2 इस संसार के सदृश न बनो, परन्तु अपने मन के नये हो जाने से रूपान्तरित हो जाओ। तब आप परमेश्वर की इच्छा को परख सकेंगे और स्वीकार कर सकेंगे—उसकी अच्छी, मनभावन और सिद्ध इच्छा।

प्रभु यीशु मसीह✝️ आपको आशीर्वाद दें✝️😇🕊️🔥आमीन🙌👏✝️

* यदि आप प्रभु द्वारा प्रभावित हैं और इसे अपने लिए सहायक पाते हैं, तो कृपया प्रार्थना करें और 𝗥𝗢𝗠-12:1&2✝️𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀🙏 के साथ जुड़ें

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1405515253511935?multi_permalinks=1724324688297655&hoisted_section_header_type=recently_seen

The Farāvahār (Avestan: 𐬟𐬀𐬭𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬵𐬀𐬭𐬀; Persian: فَرْوَهَر), also called the Foruhār (فروهر) or the Fārre Kiyâni (فرّ کیانی),[1] is one of the most prominent symbols of Zoroastrianism. There is no universal consensus on what it means or stands for, as a variety of interpretations exist. The most common belief is that it depicts the fravaṣ̌i (𐬟𐬭𐬀𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬴𐬌), which is the Zoroastrian concept of the monotheistic god in Zoroastrianism.[2][3]

Rooted in ancient Near Eastern tradition, the Faravahar was especially prevalent in the Achaemenid Empire, correspondingly appearing in many works of Achaemenid architecture. Although it is originally religious in nature, it has become a secular and cultural symbol among non-Zoroastrian Iranian peoples (including Persians, Kurds and Tajiks), having been popularized in this capacity after the Muslim conquest of Persia and the subsequent fall of Sasanian Empire.[4][5]

More recently, the Faravahar and other aspects of the Zoroastrian religion were at the forefront of a campaign by the Pahlavi dynasty to revive the pre-Islamic Iranian identity. Since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, it has remained a popular symbol among both Iranians inside of Iran and the Iranian diaspora.

Etymology

The New Persian word فروهر is read as foruhar or faravahar (pronounced as furōhar or furūhar in Classical Persian). The Middle Persian forms were frawahr (Book Pahlavi: plwʾhl, Manichaean: prwhr), frōhar (recorded in Pazend as 𐬟𐬭𐬋𐬵𐬀𐬭; it is a later form of the previous form), and fraward (Book Pahlavi: plwlt', Manichaean: frwrd), which was directly from Old Persian *fravarti-.[2][6] The Avestan language form was fravaṣ̌i (𐬟𐬭𐬀𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬴𐬌).

Symbolic meaning of the Faravahar

The Faravahar (or Farvahar) is a significant symbol in Zoroastrianism that conveys deep spiritual and moral meaning. Its elements are interpreted as follows:

Human Figure: Represents the soul and human wisdom, symbolizing an individual's choice to follow the righteous path in life.[7]

Wings: Composed of three rows of feathers, each row stands for the core Zoroastrian principles of Good Thoughts, Good Words, and Good Deeds.[8]

Tail Feathers: Divided into three sections, these signify Bad Thoughts, Bad Words, and Bad Deeds, highlighting what should be avoided to lead a virtuous life.[9]

Two Streamers: Extending from the central circle, these symbolize the duality of existence: good and evil. The right-hand streamer represents good, while the left-hand streamer points to evil, emphasizing the importance of choosing the right path.[10]

Circle in the Middle: Signifies the eternal nature of the universe and the soul, representing the cyclical essence of life.[11]

Ring in the Figure's Hand: Often interpreted as a ring of covenant or loyalty, it symbolizes a commitment to righteousness.[12]

Head Facing Forward: Indicates progress and the continual pursuit of growth and improvement.[13]

The Faravahar embodies moral integrity, spiritual progression, and the concept of choosing good over evil, encouraging individuals to live by the principles of wisdom and virtue.[14]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faravahar

The Farnese Cup or Tazza Farnese is a 2nd-century BC cameo hardstone carving bowl or cup made in Hellenistic Egypt of four-layered sardonyx agate. It is at the Naples National Archaeological Museum.[1] It is about 20 cm (8 in) wide and similar in form to a Greek phiale or Roman patera, with no foot.[2][3] It features relief carvings on both its exterior and interior surfaces.[2][3]

There is no surviving evidence regarding when and why the piece was made, though there is consensus among scholars that it was created in Alexandria, due to the blending of Ancient Egyptian and Ancient Greek or Roman iconography found in its relief carvings. This provides a range of time wherein it may have been created, spanning from approximately 300 BC to 20 BC.[2][4]

The underside has a large Gorgon's head occupying most of the area, probably intended to ward off evil. The upper side has a scene with several figures that has long puzzled scholars. It seems clearly an allegory containing several divine figures and perhaps personifications, but corresponds to no other known representation and has been interpreted in several different ways.

History

The origin of the Tazza Farnese is unknown, leaving archaeologists and art historians to theorize a date and purpose for its creation. While its size and the material used are usually considered, theories of origin are mainly arrived at via individual analysis of the iconography of the piece, and therefore vary from one analysis to the next.[2][3][4]

Many archaeologists and art historians attribute the Tazza to the Hellenistic Period, asserting that its blending of Greek and Egyptian cultural symbols, as well as the funds necessary to commission such a large gemstone cameo, tie it to the Ptolemaic court.[4] Though not a widely held view, more recent analyses of the piece have assigned it a later date in the Augustan Period.[2][3]

After Octavian's conquest of Egypt in 31 BC, the Farnese Cup was possibly acquired by the Treasury of Rome; according to some, it was only made after the Romans took Egypt. It seems it was later taken to Byzantium, then back west after this city was sacked in 1204 during the Fourth Crusade. By 1239 it was in the court of Frederick II,[5] from which it then reached the Persian court of Herat or possibly Samarkand, where a contemporary drawing documents it;[6] thence it found its way to the court of Alfonso of Aragon in Naples, where Angelo Poliziano saw it in 1458. Lorenzo the Magnificent finally purchased the famous "scutella di calcedonio" in Rome, in 1471. From there it came into the possession of the Farnese family through Margaret of Austria and thus into the Naples National Archaeological Museum[1]

Iconography

Though some analyses of the iconography of the Tazza Farnese build upon and expand previous analyses, each scholarly writing on the piece leads to a slightly different theory about its inherent meaning.

Eugene J. Dwyer

In his analysis of the Tazza Farnese, Dwyer builds upon previous analyses by experts in the field, including Ennio Quirino Visconti, Frederic Louis Bastet, and Reinhold Merkelbach, among others. Dwyer's two major assertions are that the iconography found in the interior and exterior carvings is a sophisticated mix of Greek and Egyptian philosophic and religious concepts and that the composition of the carved figures correspond to specific constellations which, in their orientation, resemble a map of the night sky during the time of year in which the flooding of the Nile would have occurred. In assigning the piece a multi-faceted religious and philosophic meaning, Dwyer repeatedly references the Corpus Hermeticum. More specifically, he points to the Poimandres and how the figures of the interior carving closely match the elements it presents in its discussion of the creation of life. He uses this reference to assign each figure a corresponding Greek and/or Egyptian god. In this sense, Dwyer sets up the piece as a direct illustration of the creation of life that would have been easily understood by both Greeks and Egyptians living at the time the Tazza was created. Though he credits Merkelbach with first coming up with the theory, Dwyer also discusses the figures' and their placement on the piece as corresponding to specific constellations in an astronomical map. In particular, Dwyer assigns each figure to constellations that would be seen together in the sky during the time of year when the flooding of the Nile took place. He argues that through this apparent map of the night sky, the creator of the Tazza was directly referencing the time of the Nile flooding in order to present more fully the concept of divine creation of life.[4]

Julia C. Fischer

Fischer is one of the few who have assigned the Tazza Farnese an Augustan date rather than a Hellenistic one. Her analysis of the piece therefore focuses on reexamining preconceived notions arrived at by other scholars who have assigned it a Hellenistic date, as well as attempting to provide evidence for her assertion of an Augustan date. Fischer's main evidence for placing the piece in the Augustan period is its size and the material it was carved from. She discusses the unstable economic position of the Ptolemaic Court, asserting that the funds for such a piece would not have been available until the improvement of the economy during the Augustan period. Fischer also discusses that while the piece features a mix of Greek and Egyptian figures, concepts, and methods, it also contains distinctly Roman aspects, especially in the Romanesque features of the Gorgon carving found on the piece's exterior.[2]

John Pollini

Like Julia C. Fischer, John Pollini attributes the Tazza Farnese to the Augustan period in Rome. His evidence is also based on the size and material used, but Pollini's primary focus is providing analysis of the piece's iconography in an attempt to prove that it was made during Augustus' reign, and was possibly even commissioned by Augustus himself. To this end, Pollini discusses the figures carved on the inner and outer surfaces, and how the symbolism found in each relates it to an aspect or region of the Augustan empire. Pollini's interpretation of the piece's iconography leads him to assert that it was meant to convey the Golden Age of Augustus and act as a sort of talisman to propagate the strength of the empire.[3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farnese_Cup

St. John Lateran Basilica in Rome is considered the mother church of all the Catholic churches in the Western world; inscribed on the church facade for all to see are the Latin words “omnium urbis et orbis ecclesiarum mater et CAPUT,” meaning, “The mother and HEAD of all the churches of the city and of the world.”

https://www.simplycatholic.com/st-john-lateran-basilica/

The Capetian dynasty (/kəˈpiːʃən/; French: Capétiens), also known as the House of France, is a dynasty of Frankish origin, and a branch of the Robertians. It is among the largest and oldest royal houses in Europe and the world, and consists of Hugh Capet, the founder of the dynasty, and his male-line descendants, who ruled in France without interruption from 987 to 1792, and again from 1814 to 1848. The senior line ruled in France as the House of Capet from the election of Hugh Capet in 987 until the death of Charles IV in 1328. That line was succeeded by cadet branches, the Houses of Valois and then Bourbon, which ruled without interruption until the French Revolution abolished the monarchy in 1792. The Bourbons were restored in 1814 in the aftermath of Napoleon's defeat, but had to vacate the throne again in 1830 in favor of the last Capetian monarch of France, Louis Philippe I, who belonged to the House of Orléans. Cadet branches of the Capetian House of Bourbon house are still ruling over Spain and Luxembourg."

Name origins and usage

The name of the dynasty derives from its founder, Hugh, who was known as "Hugh Capet".[4] The meaning of "Capet" (a nickname rather than a surname of the modern sort) is unknown. While folk etymology identifies it with "cape", other suggestions indicate it might be connected to the Latin word caput ("head"), and explain it as meaning "chief" or "head".[citation needed]

Historians in the 19th century (see House of France) came to apply the name "Capetian" to both the ruling house of France and to the wider-spread male-line descendants of Hugh Capet. It was not a contemporary practice. The name "Capet" has also been used as a surname for French royalty, particularly but not exclusively those of the House of Capet. One notable use was during the French Revolution, when the dethroned King Louis XVI (a member of the House of Bourbon and a direct male-line descendant of Hugh Capet) and Queen Marie Antoinette (a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine) were referred to as "Louis and Antoinette Capet" (the queen being addressed as "the Widow Capet" after the execution of her husband).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capetian_dynasty

When were the Jesuits restored?

August 7, 1814

Pressured by the royal courts of Portugal, France and Spain, Pope Clement XIV suppressed the Society, causing Jesuits throughout the world to renounce their vows and go into exile. Pope Pius VII, a Benedictine, restored the Society on August 7, 1814."

https://www.xavier.edu/jesuitresource/online-resources/video-resources/jesuit-values-videos/suppression-of-the-society-of-jesus

In the second prelude, for Chief- Gene ral read highest Leader, and for captain read leader. For the first Leader the Spanish Autograph has Captain General, and for the second (leader), caudillo ; the former title expressing, as Father Rothaan remarks, a Commander-in-Chief of lawful warfare, the latter designating rather the leader of a faction, and being often used in a bad sense, as of a captain of robbers or malefactors. In order to express in some measure this distinction, he has made use of the terms Dux Generalis (LeaderGeneral) and CAPUT (head) in his literal Version. The Common Version makes no distinction ; and hence, in order to render this Version with strict faithfulness, must read, both here and in the next two paragraphs, leader instead of captain, although (as the reader will already have perceived) this latter is the term which erceived) this latter is the term which corresponds the more nearly with the Spanish original. In all three places Father Rothaan has caput : in the third prelude he has again Dux instead of Imperator : see above. In the first point, in order to be strictly with the Common Version, readier?/ and smoky chair in stead of chair offire and smoke ; although this latter is what the Autograph has, a certain great chair of fire and smoke, " in which", observes Father Rothaan, there is no solidity, no true glory, but mere agitation and perpetual disturbance joined with thick darkness"; And this image", he adds, " exhibits the evil spirit such as he is, but not such as he offers himself to men's minds."

The Spiritual Exercises of Loyola

https://ia600303.us.archive.org/3/items/a588350800loyouoft/a588350800loyouoft.pdf

Head:

1. See Illness, mental

2. The superior general, head of the Society [666]"

page 463

The Constitutions of The Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms

A Complete English Translation of the Official Latin Texts

THE INSTITUTE OF JESUIT SOURCES

SAINT LOUIS, 1996

https://web.archive.org/web/20200211182223/https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf

The Church of the Gesù (Italian: Chiesa del Gesù, pronounced [ˈkjɛːza del dʒeˈzu]) is the mother church of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), a Catholic religious order. Officially named Chiesa del Santissimo Nome di Gesù[1][a] (English: Church of the Most Holy Name of Jesus),[2] its façade is "the first truly baroque façade", introducing the baroque style into architecture.[3] The church served as a model for innumerable Jesuit churches all over the world, especially in the central Europe and then in the Portuguese colonies. Its paintings in the nave, crossing, and side chapels became models for Jesuit churches throughout Italy and Europe, as well as those of other orders.[4] The Church of the Gesù is located in the Piazza del Gesù in Rome.

First conceived in 1551 by Saint Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, and active during the Protestant Reformation and the subsequent Catholic Counter-Reformation, the Gesù was also the home of the Superior General of the Society of Jesus until the suppression of the order in 1773. The church having been subsequently regained by the Jesuits, the adjacent palazzo is now a residence for Jesuit scholars from around the world studying at the Gregorian University in preparation for ordination to the priesthood.

History

Although Michelangelo, at the request of the Spanish cardinal Bartolomeo de la Cueva, offered, out of devotion, to design the church for free, the endeavor was funded by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese,[5] grandson of Pope Paul III, the pope who had authorized the founding of the Society of Jesus. Ultimately, the main architects involved in the construction were Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola,[6] architect of the Farnese family, and Giacomo della Porta. The church was built on the same spot as the previous church Santa Maria della Strada, where Saint Ignatius of Loyola had once prayed before an image of the Holy Virgin. This image, now adorned with gems, can be seen in the church in the chapel of Ignatius on the left side of the altar.

Construction of the church began on 26 June 1568 to Vignola's design. Vignola was assisted by the Jesuit Giovanni Tristano, who took over from Vignola in 1571. When he died in 1575 he was succeeded by the Jesuit architect Giovanni de Rosis. Giacomo della Porta was involved in the construction of the cross-vault, dome, and the apse.[7]

The revision of Vignola's façade design by della Porta has offered architectural historians opportunities for a close comparison between Vignola's balanced composition in three superimposed planes and Della Porta's dynamically fused tension bound by its strong vertical elements.[3] Vignola's rejected design remains in an engraving of 1573.

The design of this church set a pattern for Jesuit churches that lasted into the twentieth century; its innovations require enumerating. Aesthetics across the Catholic Church as a whole were strongly influenced by the Council of Trent. Although the Council itself said little about church architecture, its suggestion of simplification prompted Charles Borromeo to reform ecclesiastical building practise. Evidence of attention to his writings can be found at the Gesù. There is no narthex in which to linger: the visitor is projected immediately into the body of the church, a single nave without aisles, so that the congregation is assembled and attention is focused on the high altar. In place of aisles there are a series of identical interconnecting chapels behind arched openings,[b] to which entrance is controlled by decorative balustrades with gates. Transepts are reduced to stubs that emphasize the altars of their end walls.

Dome

The plan synthesizes the central planning of the High Renaissance,[c] expressed by the grand scale of the dome and the prominent piers of the crossing, with the extended nave that had been characteristic of the preaching churches, a type of church established by Franciscans and Dominicans since the thirteenth century. The Jesuits relied heavily on the acoustics of the church; they wanted the faithful to clearly hear the words of the sermon. This is why the church was constructed with a single nave, and a dome at the nave, transept intersection.[8]

Everywhere inlaid polychrome marble revetments are relieved by gilding, frescoed barrel vaults enrich the ceiling and rhetorical white stucco and marble sculptures break out of their tectonic framing. The example of the Gesù did not eliminate the traditional basilica church with aisles, but after its example was set, experiments in Baroque church floor plans, oval or Greek cross, were largely confined to smaller churches and chapels.

The church was consecrated by Cardinal Giulio Antonio Santorio, the delegate of pope Gregory XIII, on 25 November 1584.

Façade

The façade of the church was modified and done later by Giacomo Della Porta. We can see two main sections which are decorated with acanthus leaves on pilasters and column capitals. The lower section is divided by six pairs of pilasters (with a mix of columns and pilasters framing the main door). The main door is well decorated with low relief, the papal coat of arms, and a shield with the initialism SPQR, tying this church closely to the people of Rome. The main door stands under a curvilinear tympanum and over it a large medallion with the letters IHS representing the Christogram and an angel. The letters IHS are the Latin form of the first three letters of the Greek spelling of the name Jesus, indicative of both the central figure of Christianity and the Jesuit's formal name, Society of Jesus.

The two other doors have triangle pediments, and in the higher part of this first level, two statues are set in the alignment of each of these doors. A statue of St Francis Xavier stands on the right of the façade. His left foot on a human body. On the other side stands a statue of St Ignatius of loyola.

The upper section is divided with four pairs of pilasters and no statues. Upper and lower sections are joined by a volute on each side.

Interior decoration

The first high altar is believed to have been designed by Giacomo della Porta. It was removed during the renovations in the 19th century and its tabernacle was subsequently purchased by archbishop Patrick Leahy for his new cathedral where it was installed after some minor modifications.[9]

The present high altar, designed by Antonio Sarti (1797–1880), was constructed towards the middle of the 19th century. It is dominated by four columns under a neo-classical pediment. Sarti also covered the apse with marble and made the drawings of the tabernacle. The angels surrounding the IHS aureole were sculpted by Rinaldo Rinaldi (1793–1873). The two angels kneeling at each side of the aureole are the work of Francesco Benaglia and Filippo Gnaccarini (1804–1875). The altarpiece, representing the Circumcision of Jesus, was painted by Alessandro Capalti (1810–1868).[10] The ceiling of the apse is adorned by the painting Glory of the Mystical Lamb by Baciccia (Giovanni Battista Gaulli).[11]

The most striking feature of the interior decoration is the ceiling fresco, the grandiose Triumph of the Name of Jesus (1678-1679)[12] by Giovanni Battista Gaulli. Gaulli also frescoed the cupola, including lantern and pendentives, central vault, window recesses, and transepts' ceilings.[11]

The first chapel to the right of the nave is the Cappella di Sant'Andrea, so named because the church previously on the site, which had to be demolished to make way for the Jesuit church, was dedicated to St. Andrew. All the painted works were completed by the Florentine Agostino Ciampelli. The frescoes on the arches depict the male martyrs saints Pancrazio, Celso, Vito, and Agapito, while the pilasters depict the female martyred saints Cristina, Margherita, Anastasia, Cecilia, Lucy, and Agatha. The ceiling is frescoed with the Glory of the Virgin surrounded by martyred saints Clemente, Ignazio di Antiochia, Cipriano, and Policarpo. The lunettes are frescoed with Saints Agnes & Lucy face the storm and St. Stephen and the Deacon St. Lawrence. The altarpiece depicts the Martyrdom of St Andrew.

The second chapel to the right is the Cappella della Passione, with lunette frescoes depicting scenes of the Passion: Jesus in Gethsemane, Kiss of Judas, and six canvases on the pilasters: Christ at the column Christ before the guards, Christ before Herod, Ecce Homo, Exit to Calvary, and Crucifixion. The altarpiece of the Madonna with child and beatified Jesuits replaces the original altarpiece by Scipione Pulzone.[d] The program of paintings is indebted to Giuseppe Valeriano and painted by Gaspare Celio. The altar has a bronze urn with the remains of 18th century Jesuit St. Giuseppe Pignatelli, canonized by Pius XII in 1954. Medals on the wall commemorate P. Jan Roothaan (1785–1853) and P. Pedro Arrupe (1907–1991), the 21st and 28th Superior General of the Society of Jesus.

The third chapel to the right is the Cappella degli Angeli, which has a ceiling fresco of the Coronation of the Virgin and the altarpiece of Angels worshiping the Trinity by Federico Zuccari. He also painted the canvases on the walls, Defeat of the rebel angels on right, and Angels liberate souls from Purgatory on the left. Other frescoes represent Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory. The angles in the niches of the pilasters were completed by both Silla Longhi and Flaminio Vacca.

The larger Saint Francis Xavier Chapel, in the right transept, was designed by Pietro da Cortona, originally commissioned by Cardinal Giovanni Francesco Negroni. The polychromatic marbles enclose a stucco relief representing Francis Xavier welcomed to heaven by angels. The altarpiece shows the Death of Francis Xavier in Shangchuan Island by Carlo Maratta. The arches are decorated with scenes from the life of the saint, including Apotheosis of the saint in the center, Crucifixion, Saint lost at sea, and at left, Baptism of an Indian princess, by Giovanni Andrea Carlone. The silver reliquary conserves part of the saint's right arm (by which he baptized 300,000 people), his other remains are interred in the Jesuit church in Goa.

The last chapel on the far end of the nave, to the right of the high altar, is the chapel of the Sacro Cuore (holy heart of Jesus).

The sacristy is on the right. In the presbytery is a bust of Cardinal Robert Bellarmine by Bernini. The sculptor prayed daily in the church.[13]

The first chapel to the left, originally dedicated to the apostles, is now the Cappella di San Francesco Borgia, the former Spanish Duke of Gandia, who renounced his title to enter the Jesuit order, and become its third "Preposito generale". The altarpiece, Saint Francesco Borgia in Prayer by Pozzo, is surrounded by works by Gagliardi. Ceiling frescoes of (Pentecost) and lunettes (left Martyrdom of St. Peter, to sides Faith and Hope, and right Martyrdom of St. Paul) with allegorical Religion and Charity are works of Nicolò Circignani (Il Pomarancio). Pier Francesco Mola painted the walls, on left with St. Peter in jail baptizes saints Processo & Martiniano, to right is the Conversion of St. Paul. There are four monuments by Marchesi Ferrari.

The second chapel on the left is dedicated to the Nativity and called Cappella della Sacra Famiglia, commissioned by patron Cardinal Cerri who worked for the Barberini family. The altarpiece of the nativity is by Circignani. In the roof, the Celestial celebration on the nativity of Christ, on the pinnacles are David, Isaiah, Zechariah and Baruch, on the right lunette an Annunciation to the Shepherds, and on the left a Massacre of the Innocents. Also are frescoes on Presentation of Jesus to the Temple and Adoration by Magi. Four allegorical statues represent Temperance, Prudence on right; and Fortitude and Justice.

The third chapel to the left is the Cappella della Santissima Trinità, commissioned initially by the clerical patron Pirro Taro, named due to the main altarpiece by Francesco Bassano the Younger. The frescoes were completed mainly by three painters and assistants during 1588–1589; the exact attributions are uncertain, but it is said the Creation, the angels on the pilasters, and the designs of some of the frescoes are by the Florentine Jesuit painter, Giovanni Battista Fiammeri. Painted with assistants was the Baptism of Christ on the right wall. The Transfiguration on the left wall and the Abraham with three angels on the right oval were by Durante Alberti. God the Father behind a chorus of angels in the left oval and in the pinnacles angels with God's attributes were completed by Ventura Salimbeni. The reliquary on the altar holds the right arm of the polish Jesuit St. Andrew Bobola, martyred in 1657 and canonized by Pius XI in 1938.

The imposing and luxurious St. Ignatius Chapel with the saint's tomb is located on the left side of the transept and is the church's masterpiece, designed by Andrea Pozzo between 1696 and 1700. The altar by Pozzo shows the Trinity on top of a globe. The lapis lazuli, representing the Earth, was thought to be the largest piece in the world but is actually mortar decorated with lapis lazuli. The four lapis lazuli-veneered columns enclose the colossal statue of the saint by Pierre Legros. The latter is a copy, probably by Adamo Tadolini working in the studio of Antonio Canova. Pope Pius VI had the original silver statue melted down, ostensibly to pay the war reparations to Napoleon, as established by the Treaty of Tolentino, 1797.

Originally the project was designed by Giacomo della Porta, then by Cortona; but ultimately Pozzo won a public contest to design the altar. A canvas of the Saint receives the monogram with the name of Jesus from the celestial resurrected Christ attributed to Pozzo. The urn of St. Ignatius is a bronze urn by Algardi that holds the body of the saint; below are two groups of statues where Religion defeats heresy by Legros (with a putto – on the left side – tearing pages from heretical books by Luther, Calvin and Zwingli), and Faith defeats idolatry by Jean-Baptiste Théodon.

The St. Ignatius Chapel also hosts the restored macchina barocca or baroque machine of Andrea Pozzo. During daytime the statue of St. Ignatius is hidden behind a large painting, but every day at 17.30 triumphal music is played and the painting is lowered by the machine into the altar, revealing the statue, with spotlights used to highlight various aspects of the Ignatian Altar, while describing aspects of the history and spirituality of the Society of Jesus.[14]

The last chapel on the far end of the nave, to the left of the high altar, is the Chapel of the Madonna della Strada. The name derives from a medieval icon, once found in a now-lost Church in the piazza Altieri, venerated by Saint Ignatius. The interior is designed and decorated by Giuseppe Valeriani, who painted scenes from the life of the Virgin. The cupola frescoes were painted by G.P. Pozzi. The painting depicting the death of Saint John Francis Regis by Jacopo Zoboli is located in the sacristy rooms.

The pipe organ was built by the Italian firm, Tamburini. It is a large, three manual instrument with 5 divisions (pedal, choir, great, swell, and antiphonal). The swell and choir are enclosed. The pipes are split into three separate locations within the church. Two ornamented façades flank the transept walls (Swell and Great on the left and Choir and Pedal on the right) and a small antiphonal division is located above the liturgical west entrance.

Influence

The Church of the Gesù was the model of numerous churches of the Society of Jesus throughout the world, starting from the Church of St. Michael in Munich (1583–1597), the Corpus Christi Church in Nyasvizh (1587–1593), the Saints Peter and Paul Church, Kraków (1597–1619), the Cathedral of Córdoba (Argentina) (1582–1787) as well as the Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola in Buenos Aires (1710–1722),[15] the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Tbilisi (1870–1877), and the Church of the Gesù in Philadelphia (1879–1888). Various parishes also share the name of the Church of the Gesù in Rome.

Cardinal-deacons

In 1965, the Church of the Gesù was made a titular church, to be held by a cardinal-deacon.

Michele Pellegrino, cardinal-priest pro illa vice (1967–1986)[16]

Eduardo Martínez Somalo (1988–2021; elevated to cardinal-priest pro illa vice in 1999)[17]

Gianfranco Ghirlanda (2022–present)[18][19]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Ges%C3%B9

Francis Borgia SJ (Valencian: Francesc de Borja; Spanish: Francisco de Borja; 28 October 1510 – 30 September 1572) was a Spanish Jesuit priest. The great-grandson of both Pope Alexander VI and King Ferdinand II of Aragon, he was Duke of Gandía and a grandee of Spain. After the death of his wife, Borgia renounced his titles and became a priest in the Society of Jesus, later serving as its third superior general. He was canonized on 20 June 1670 by Pope Clement X.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Borgia

PART VI 1THE PERSONAL LIFE OF THOSE ALREADY ADMITTED AND INCORPORATED INTO THE BODY OF THE SOCIETY

SECTION 1: THE APOSTOLIC CHARACTER OF OUR VOWS IN GENERAL

143 §1. Our consecration by profession of the evangelical counsels, by which we respond to a divine vocation, is at one and the same time the following of Christ poor, virginal, and obedient and a rejection of those idols that the world is always prepared to adore, especially wealth, pleasure, prestige, and power. Hence, our poverty, chastity, and obedience ought visibly and efficaciously to bear witness to this attitude, whereby we proclaim the evangelical possibility of a certain communion among men and women that is a foretaste of the future kingdom of God.[1]

§2. Our religious vows, while binding us, also set us FREE:

FREE, by our vow of poverty, to share the life of the poor and to use whatever resources we may have, not for our own security and comfort, but for service;

FREE, by our vow of chastity, to be men for others, in friendship and communion with all, but especially with those who share our mission of service;

FREE, by our vow of obedience, to respond to the call of Christ as made known to us by him whom the Spirit has placed over the Church, and to follow the lead of all our superiors.[2] [1] See GC 32, d. 4, no. 16; see GC 31, d. 16, no. 4; d. 17, no. 2; d. 18, no. 3. [2] GC 32, d. 2, no. 20. 215

The Constitutions of The Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms

A Complete English Translation of the Official Latin Texts

THE INSTITUTE OF JESUIT SOURCES

SAINT LOUIS, 1996

https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf

Borghese

Recorded in many forms including Bourges, Bourgaize, Bourgeois, (France), Burgess, Burges and Burgis (England and Scotland), Borghese, Borgesio and Burgisi (Italy), and others, this interesting surname is of pre 8th century Old French origins. It derives from the word "burgeis", meaning inhabitant and FREEMAN of a fortified town, one which could apply municipal rates, taxes, and duties. A burgeis generally had tenure of land or buildings from a landlord by "burgage", which involved the payment of a fixed money rent. In Scotland, the position of burgess required not only the making of payments, but to be availble to take part in guarding the town. The surname is one of the earliest recorded anywhere in the world. These recordings are from England because this country was the first to adopt both hereditary surnames and to make the necessary registers in which to record them. France was several centuries later, and Italy, not until the 19th century in most areas. Early recordings showing the influence of the Norman-French in England after the Invasion of 1066 include: Ralph le Burgeis, in the Pipe Rolls of the county of Sussex in 1195, and Philip Bourges in the cartulary of Oseney Abbey, Oxford in 1197. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Geoffrey Burgeis, which was dated 1115, in the "Winton Rolls" of Hampshire. This was during the reign of King Henry 1st, known as "The Lion of Justice", 1100 - 1135. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. Over the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop", often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

https://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Borghese

Pope Paul V (Latin: Paulus V; Italian: Paolo V) (17 September 1550 – 28 January 1621), born Camillo Borghese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 16 May 1605 to his death, in January 1621. In 1611, he honored Galileo Galilei as a member of the papal Accademia dei Lincei and supported his discoveries.[2] In 1616, Pope Paul V instructed Cardinal Robert Bellarmine to inform Galileo that the Copernican theory could not be taught as fact, but Bellarmine's certificate allowed Galileo to continue his studies in search for evidence and use the geocentric model as a theoretical device. That same year Paul V assured Galileo that he was safe from persecution so long as he, the Pope, should live. Bellarmine's certificate was used by Galileo for his defense at the trial of 1633.[3]

Trained in jurisprudence, Borghese was made Cardinal-Priest of Sant'Eusebio and the Cardinal Vicar of Rome by Pope Clement VIII. He was elected as Pope in 1605, following the death of Pope Leo XI. Pope Paul V was known for being stern and unyielding, defending the privileges of the Church. He met with Galileo Galilei in 1616 and was involved in the controversy over heliocentrism. He canonized and beatified several individuals during his papacy and created 60 cardinals in ten consistories.

His insistence on ecclesiastical jurisdiction led to conflicts with secular governments, notably with Venice, which resulted in an interdict on the city in 1606. This disagreement was eventually mediated by France and Spain in 1607. Pope Paul V's diplomacy also strained relations with England, as his actions were perceived as undermining moderate Catholics in the country.

In Rome, he financed the completion of St. Peter's Basilica, improved the Vatican Library, and restored the ancient Roman aqueduct Aqua Traiana. Pope Paul V established the Banco di Santo Spirito in 1605 and is also known for fostering the rise of the Borghese family through nepotism. He died on 28 January 1621, after suffering from a series of strokes and was succeeded by Pope Gregory XV.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Paul_V

The Knight’s Templar was expelled from the Papacy in 1312 by Pope Clement V and Philip IV of France. The few Templars who escaped went to the powerful kingdom of Aragon and became known as the Order of the Calatrava, who would later align with the the Montessa. In 1534, a Spanish nobleman by the name of Ignatius Loyola would revive the Templars and call them the "Society of Jesus." Loyola was a Templar, and a member of a secret society called the "Alumbrados." The third Superior General and co-founder of the order was Francis Borgia. The Borgia bloodline is part of the notorious "Black Nobility" which dates back to the ancient Ptolemaic period in history."

Exposing the Jesuits and the Papacy: The Jesuits are the revived Knights Templar (jesuitinquisition.blogspot.com)

http://jesuitinquisition.blogspot.com/2016/02/the-jesuits-are-revived-knights-templar.html

Defining Locura: The Inquisitors’ Interpretive Problems Loosely translated the word loca means “crazy” or “mad.” In general Spanish use, loca is the feminine form of the adjective locura, a noun that signifies “MADNESS”, “craziness” or “insanity”. Loca was likely used in the sixteenth century Castile, as it is today, when referring to a person who has lost reason or rationality.27 According to the 23rd edition of the Diccionario de la Lengua Española the word loca also signifies someone who is possessed of “poor or little judgment, [who is] foolish/ridiculous and imprudent”.28 Likewise, the Diccionario Crítico Etimológico Castellano e Hispánico similarly asserts “Loco is a word in general use throughout all literary periods of the Middle Ages”.29 The Diccionario Crítico notes that loco has also been taken to mean “insane” or “unhealthy” (insano).30 27 Sara T. Nalle, Mad for God: Bartolomé Sánchez, the secret Messiah of Cardenete. (Charlottesville, VA: The University of Virginia Press, 2001), 151. Thus, for the purposes of this thesis locura and its adjective loca are considered to imply loss of reason or judgment and, depending on the context, imprudent or foolish behavior i.e. “craziness” or “madness”."

EL SABOR DE HEREJIA: THE EDICT OF 1525, THE ALUMBRADOS

AND THE INQUISITORS’ USAGE OF LOCURA

https://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/uf/e0/04/13/85/00001/montoya_j.pdf

Father Sosa invited everyone to “fix our eyes on him, so that his eyes may reflect to us the poor and humble Jesus who seduced him to the point of MADNESS. St. Ignatius was a madman for Christ, as the monk of Montserrat called him.”"

Ahead of World Youth Day, the head of the Jesuits had a candid Q&A with six young pilgrims

Ricardo da Silva, S.J.

August 02, 2023

Ahead of World Youth Day, the head of the Jesuits had a candid Q&A with six young pilgrims | America Magazine

https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2023/08/02/father-arturo-sosa-magis-world-youth-day-questions-245777

Thus, contrary to accepted opinion the Illuminati did not begin with Adam Weishaupt, but had always been a major influence in Jesuitism, from the time the Society of Jesus was founded by Loyola. In fact, Leopold Engel says that Weishaupt was the head of the revived Order of the Illuminati. Indeed, Weishaupt himself originally claimed that the Illuminati originated from the Zoroastrian religion of the last King of Persia, Yadzegerd III (632-651 B.C.).

Catholic priest Fr. John Hogan is even more conclusive. He writes: "The Jesuits are well-known... [as] ... reforms of older orders..." And the Jesuit priest Malachi Martin said the same thing. We quote again the observation of Schuster: "It is a strange phenomenon in the history of the Roman church, [that] every time there is a crisis of extraordinary value, new Masonic Orders are called forth and that is how the Jesuit came into being." [Emphasis supplied]"page 265 "Ruling Through the Bavarian Illuminati"

Codeword Barbelon book One

by P.D. Stuart

Rosicrucianism is a theosophy advanced by an invisible order of spiritual knights who in spreading Christian Hermeticism, Kabbalah, and Gnosis seek to enliven and to preserve the memory of Divine Wisdom, understood as a feminine flame of love called Sofia or Shekhinah, exoterically given as a fresh unfolded rose, yet, more akin to the blue fire of alchemy, the blue virgin. Rosicrucians have no organisation and there are no recognizable Rosicrucian individuals, but the order makes its presence known by leaving behind engrammatic writings in the genre of Hermetic-Platonic Christianity.1 The historical roots of Hermeticism is to be located in Ancient Egypt. Long before the rise of Christianity, Hermetic texts were structured around the belief that organisms contain sparks of a Divine mind unto which they each strive to attend. Things easily transform into others, thereby generating certain cyclical patterns, cycles that periodically renew themselves on a cosmic scale. These transformations of life and death were enacted in the Hermetic Mysteries in Ancient Egypt through the gods Isis, Horus, and Osiris. In the Alexandrian period these myths were reshaped into Hermetic discourses on the transformations of the self with Thot, the scribal god. These discourses were introduced in the west in 1474 when Marsilio Ficino translated the Hermetic Pimander from the Greek. The story of Christian Rosencreutz can be seen as a new version of these mysteries, specifically tempered by German Paracelsian philosophy on the Lion of the darkest night, a biblical icon for how the higher self lies slumbering in consciousness.2" Rose Cross Over The Baltic by Suzanne Ackerman

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vWI_uTVg5lzNCDm16itq-PLSavozNR_F/view?usp=sharing

Around 1530, more than eighty years before the publication of the first manifesto, the association of cross and rose already existed in Portugal in the Convent of the Order of Christ, home of the Knights Templar, later renamed Order of Christ. Three bocetes were, and still are, on the abóboda (vault) of the initiation room. The rose can clearly be seen at the center of the cross.[34][35] At the same time, a minor writing by Paracelsus called Prognosticatio Eximii Doctoris Paracelsi (1530), containing 32 prophecies with allegorical pictures surrounded by enigmatic texts, makes reference to an image of a double cross over an open rose; this is one of the examples used to prove the "Fraternity of the Rose Cross" existed far earlier than 1614.[36]"

Rosicrucianism - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosicrucianism

“Rosa Jesuitica, oder Jesuitische Rottgesellen, das ist, Eine Frag ob die Zween Orden, der ganandten Ritter von der Neerscharen Jesu, und der Rosen-Creuzer ein einiger Ordensen: per J. P. D. a S. Jesuitarum Protectorum. Prague, 1620.” (4to). This is a truly curious tract upon the “relations of the Jesuits and the Rosicrucians."

Rosa jesuitica, oder, Jesuitische Rottgesellen (1620) - Google Drive

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dT28PyPUPfqDfC0iVg7nGFsle8vYBXLf/view

The name Ormus also represents Sion's religion. Ormus was the name of an Egyptian sage and mystic who was supposedly converted to Christianity in 46 A.D. In reality he was a gnostic adept

of Alexandria, blending Christianity with Masdaism, which was the Greek-Roman form of Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrianism was a modification of Brahamanism (now Hinduism) at a time when Buddhism was a reformation of the same. As was common practice in the eastern mystery religions, the Priory of Sion often used mind-expanding drugs in their ceremonies.

The Priory of Sion set out to emulate the Knights Templar by using the religion of the Egyptian, Ormus. Ormus and his initiates had taken the red cross as their identifying symbol four centuries

before Merovee (founder of the Merovingian Holy Grail dynasty) was born with the red cross birthmark above his heart. The Knights Templar adopted Merovee's red cross six centuries later.

To emulate the Templars, the Priory of Sion took the red cross of Ormus as its own emblem, then adopted the title l'Ordre de Ia Rose-Croix Veritas, which means "The Order of the mie Red

Cross." This additional name was added at the behest of Sion's Grand Master, Jean de Gisors.

Thus, Jean de Gisors is considered the founder of the Rose-Croix, or Rosicrucians."

Scarlet and the Beast

by John Daniel

https://ia803001.us.archive.org/28/items/ScarletAndTheBeastJohnDaniel1995/Scarlet%20and%20the%20Beast,%20John%20Daniel%20(1995).pdf

The Prieuré was cited by name in references extending from the twelfth to the early seventeenth century. Then, in documents dating from 1619, it was stated to have incurred the displeasure of King Louis XIII of France, who evicted them from their seat at Orléans and turned the premises over to the Jesuits.5 After that, the Prieuré de Sion seemed to vanish from the historical record, at least under that name, until 1956, when it appeared again, registered in the French Journal officiel. And yet the present-day Order had repeatedly cited certain of its activities between 1619 and the twentieth century, certain historical events in which it had played a role, certain historical developments in which it had some sort of vested interest. When we examined the events and developments in question, we found indisputable evidence attesting to the involvement of an organised and coherent cadre working in concert behind the scenes, sometimes using other institutions as a façade. This cadre was not named specifically, but everything indicated that it was indeed the Prieuré de Sion. What was more, it proved to involve precisely the same network of interlinked families claiming Merovingian descent. Whether it was the intrigues and the Wars of Religion in the sixteenth century, the insurrection known as the Fronde in the seventeenth century or the Masonic conspiracies of the eighteenth century, successive generations of precisely the same families were implicated, operating in accordance with a single consistent pattern."

The Messianic Legacy

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UV7FwghOOhdkp4fdk2SzG7oem2nRleW0/view?usp=sharing

The Priory of Sion is an initiatory Order of chivalry, founded on July 15 1099 in Jerusalem, by Godfrey of Bouillon, at the Abbey "Our Lady of Mount Sion" as "Order of our Lady of Mount Sion."The Order, after being registered for the first time in history, in 1956, and then being dissolved in 1993, was newly registered in 2015, perpetuating the legitimate Pierre Plantard de Saint-Clair's lineage, through the actual Grand Master, Marco Rigamonti.The Priory of Sion is characterized by a gnostic and rosicrucian influence, who sets himself the task of supporting and nurturing personal growth, moral and spiritual, with respect and in harmony with the personal objectives that each of us, by nature, has to carry through in life experience.It's also our purpose the esoteric research as the study and experience related to the transcendent and mystical in an environment of communion with our Brothers and Sisters, Members of the Order.The Priory of Sion today inherits a tradition of esoteric, philosophical, spiritual and cultural legacy, which favors the cultivation of values and principles that offers the way to live a more aware and noble personal dimension.We work through symbols, ancient rituals, theurgic practice and traditions, in order to live a personal and collective sprirituality in communion with our Brothers and Sisters.The Order is apolitical and forbids its members to be made a place of political debate, or even worse, to be exploited for such purposes."

http://www.prieure-de-sion.com/

The origins of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem date back to the First Crusade, when its leader, Godfrey de Bouillon, liberated Jerusalem. As part of his operations to organize the religious, military and public bodies of the territories newly freed from Muslim control, he founded the Order of Canons of the Holy Sepulchre. According to accounts of the Crusades, in 1103 the first King of Jerusalem, Baldwin I, assumed the leadership of this canonical order, and reserved the right for himself and his successors (as agents of the Patriarch of Jerusalem) to appoint Knights to it, should the Patriarch be absent or unable to do so.The Order’s members included not only the Regular Canons (Fratres) but also the Secular Canons (Confratres) and the Sergentes. The latter were armed knights chosen from the crusader troops for their qualities of valor and dedication; they vowed to obey Augustinian Rule of poverty and obedience and undertook specifically, under the command of the King of Jerusalem, to defend the Holy Sepulchre and the Holy Places.Very soon after the First Crusade the troops – including the Knights of the Order of Canons of the Holy Sepulchre – began to return to their homelands. This led to the creation of priories all over Europe, which were part of the Order as they came under the jurisdiction of the noble knights or prelates who had been invested on the Holy Sepulchre itself and who, although they were no longer in the direct service of the King of Jerusalem, continued to belong to the Order of Canons.The Order first began to fail as a cohesive military body of knights after Saladin regained Jerusalem in 1182, and completely ceased to exist in that format after the defeat of Acre in 1291. The passing of the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem left the Order without a leader, though it continued to survive in the European priories thanks to the protection of sovereigns, princes, bishops and the Holy See. The priories kept alive the ideals of the Crusader Knights: propagation of the Faith, defense of the weak, charity towards other human beings. With the exception of events in Spain, it was only rarely that the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre ever took part again in military action to defend Christianity.In the 14th century, the Holy See made an extremely high payment to the Egyptian Sultan so that he would grant the right to protect the Christian Sanctuaries to the Franciscan Friars Minor. Throughout the whole period of the Latin Patriarchate’s suppression, the right to create new Knights was the prerogative of the representative of the highest Catholic authority in the Holy Land: the Custos.In 1847 the Patriarchate was restored and Pope Pius IX modernized the Order, issuing a new Constitution, which placed it under the direct protection of the Holy See and conferred its government to the Latin Patriarch. The Order’s fundamental role was also defined: to uphold the works of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, whilst preserving the spiritual duty of propagating the Faith.In 1949, Pius XII decreed that the Grand Master of the Order should be a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church and assigned the position of Grand Prior to the Patriarch of Jerusalem. In 1962 Pope John XXIII and, in 1967, Pope Paul VI reorganized and revitalized the Order by adding more specific regulations to the Constitution with the intention of making the Order’s activities more co-coordinated and more effective.In February 1996, the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II enhanced the Order’s status. Today it is a Public Association of faithful with a legal canonical and public personality, constituted by the Holy See under Canon Law 312, paragraph 1:1.

https://eohsjeastern.org/a-brief-history/

Horses: the extent to which they can be possessed in our houses [575, 576]; the extent to which they can be used on missions [574, 625]"

The Constitutions of The Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms

https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf

1236

June 29 – Siege of Córdoba: Castilian forces under King Ferdinand III (the Saint) capture Muslim Córdoba from Emir Ibn Hud, as part of the Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula.[2]

July – At a diet (princely convention) in Piacenza, Emperor Frederick II proclaims his wish to recover all Italy for the Holy Roman Empire.[3]

Pope Gregory IX condemned the links that both the Knights Templer and Knights Hospitaller have with the Assassin fighters in the Middle East. He issues a bull, a formal proclamation issued by the pope, preventing further contact with the Assassins.

May 6 – Roger of Wendover, English Benedictine monk and chronicler, dies at St. Albans Abbey. His chronicle is continued by Matthew of Paris.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1236

Atheism: resisting it with all our forces is a special mission given to the Society by the supreme pontiff, 253 2°; a mission which should permeate all forms of our apostolate, 254; our efforts are to be directed toward nonbelievers, ibid.; toward that end, an experience of God must be fostered in ourselves, 223 §§3-4, 224, 247

1° 2° 3° 6°;

and also in others, by means of the Spiritual Exercises, 271

The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus and Their Complementary Norms

https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf

The idea of uniting the Templars with the Hospitallers was first argued publicly in a book published in 1305 by Raimon Llull, a renowned illuminatus from Majorca. Llull’s book, Libre de Fine, (“Free At Last”) appeared in the midst of a raging controversy between the French monarchy and the Roman papacy over who held jurisdiction over the Templars. That is the subject of our next chapter.

Rulers of Evil

by F. Tupper Saussy

https://dn790006.ca.archive.org/0/items/rulers-of-evil-f.-tupper-saussy/Rulers%20of%20Evil%20-%20F.%20Tupper%20Saussy.pdf

The historian Newman gives this eloquent assessment, "The Jesuit missionary or worker in any sphere may adapt his dress, manner of life, and occupation to the exigencies of the occasion. He may disguise himself and figure as a Protestant or a Brahmin, if by so doing he can gain an entrance otherwise difficult for Catholic teaching. The story is familiar of a Jesuit who mastered the Sanskrit language and the Vedas, assumed the dress and the mode of life of a Brahmin priest, and finally wrote and palmed off as ancient a Veda in which Roman Catholic Christianity under a thin disguise was taught." pages 217-218

"Sons of Loyola: Their Subtlety, Genius, and Various Disguises"

Codeword Barbelon book One

by P.D. Stuart

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The alumbrados of Castile were a movement that caused much trouble during the first three decades of the sixteenth century. Their ideas were represented by the “Big Three” beatas who, under noble patronage, for at least a decade previous to the arrest in 1524 of the “mother” of the movement (Isabel de la Cruz) had successfully proselytized and spread their ideas throughout Old and New Castile.1

The alumbrados certainly were a charismatic bunch; they enjoyed success with the elites of Castilian society, comuneros, but above all with women and conversos. As a religious movement led by women the alumbrados were part of a growing trend of individual, charismatic female piety. By the time of Cardinal Cisneros’s death in 1517, however, the era of the alumbrados and their grassroots converso spirituality was nearing its end. While the actual heyday of their movement was short-lived the alumbrados made a huge impact upon the minds Prospering in the environment of Catholic spiritual exploration fostered by the personal theological interests of the Archbishop of Toledo Cardinal Ximenez de Cisneros the alumbrados presented an interiorized approach to Christianity. Equipped with the meditational practice of dejamiento the alumbrados stressed the importance of an individual, pseudo-mystical “abandonment” to God and His will. They also emphasized the insignificance of external rituals and works, calling them ataduras or “shackles” to the material world, ties that only served to hinder one’s abandonment to God.

of the Inquisitors who prosecuted them and upon the Spanish religious imagination, an impact that would last across seas and time."

EL SABOR DE HEREJIA: THE EDICT OF 1525, THE ALUMBRADOS

AND THE INQUISITORS’ USAGE OF LOCURA

JAVIER A. MONTOYA

http://etd.fcla.edu/UF/UFE0041385/montoya_j.pdf

Alumbrado, (Spanish: “Enlightened”, ) Italian Illuminato, plural Illuminati, a follower of a mystical movement in Spain during the 16th and 17th centuries. Its adherents claimed that the human soul, having attained a certain degree of perfection, was permitted a vision of the divine and entered into direct communication with the Holy Spirit. From this state the soul could neither advance nor retrogress. Consequently, participation in the liturgy, good works, and observance of the exterior forms of religious life were unnecessary for those who had received the “light.” The Alumbrados came primarily from among the reformed Franciscans and the Jesuits, but their doctrines seem to have influenced all classes of people. The extravagant claims made for their visions and revelations caused them to be relentlessly persecuted. The Inquisition issued edicts against them on three occasions (1568, 1574, and 1623)."

https://www.britannica.com/event/Alumbrado

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Pali Buddha (“the Awakened One, the Enlightened One”), from buddha (“awakened, enlightened”), from Sanskrit बुद्ध (buddha, “awakened, enlightened”), past participle of बोधति (bodhati, “to wake, to awaken”). Distantly related to English bid and bede. Also cognate with Russian будить (buditʹ, “to wake up”)."

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Buddha

Gautama

surname of the Buddha, from Sanskrit Gotamah, properly a patronymic, literally "descendant of the greatest ox," from superlative of gauh "ox, bull, cow."

https://www.etymonline.com/word/buddha

Unam Sanctam

One God, One Faith, One Spiritual Authority

Pope Boniface VIII - 1302

Bull of Pope Boniface VIII promulgated November 18, 1302

Urged by faith, we are obliged to believe and to maintain that the Church is one, holy, catholic, and also apostolic. We believe in her firmly and we confess with simplicity that outside of her there is neither salvation nor the remission of sins, as the Spouse in the Canticles [Sgs 6:8] proclaims: ‘One is my dove, my perfect one. She is the only one, the chosen of her who bore her,‘ and she represents one sole mystical body whose Head is Christ and the head of Christ is God [1 Cor 11:3]. In her then is one Lord, one faith, one baptism [Eph 4:5]. There had been at the time of the deluge only one ark of Noah, prefiguring the one Church, which ark, having been finished to a single cubit, had only one pilot and guide, i.e., Noah, and we read that, outside of this ark, all that subsisted on the earth was destroyed.

We venerate this Church as one, the Lord having said by the mouth of the prophet: ‘Deliver, O God, my soul from the sword and my only one from the hand of the dog.’ [Ps 21:20] He has prayed for his soul, that is for himself, heart and body; and this body, that is to say, the Church, He has called one because of the unity of the Spouse, of the faith, of the sacraments, and of the charity of the Church. This is the tunic of the Lord, the seamless tunic, which was not rent but which was cast by lot [Jn 19:23- 24]. Therefore, of the one and only Church there is one body and one head, not two heads like a monster; that is, Christ and the Vicar of Christ, Peter and the successor of Peter, since the Lord speaking to Peter Himself said: ‘Feed my sheep‘ [Jn 21:17], meaning, my sheep in general, not these, nor those in particular, whence we understand that He entrusted all to him [Peter]. Therefore, if the Greeks or others should say that they are not confided to Peter and to his successors, they must confess not being the sheep of Christ, since Our Lord says in John ‘there is one sheepfold and one shepherd.’ We are informed by the texts of the gospels that in this Church and in its power are two swords; namely, the spiritual and the temporal. For when the Apostles say: ‘Behold, here are two swords‘ [Lk 22:38] that is to say, in the Church, since the Apostles were speaking, the Lord did not reply that there were too many, but sufficient. Certainly the one who denies that the temporal sword is in the power of Peter has not listened well to the word of the Lord commanding: ‘Put up thy sword into thy scabbard‘ [Mt 26:52]. Therefore, both are in the power of the Church, namely, the spiritual sword and the material. But indeed, the latter is to be exercised on behalf of the Church; and truly, the former is to be exercised by the Church. The former is of the priest; the latter is by the hand of kings and soldiers, but at the will and sufferance of the priest.

However, one sword ought to be subordinated to the other and temporal authority, subjected to spiritual power. For since the Apostle said: ‘There is no power except from God and the things that are, are ordained of God‘ [Rom 13:1-2], but they would not be ordained if one sword were not subordinated to the other and if the inferior one, as it were, were not led upwards by the other.

https://www.papalencyclicals.net/bon08/b8unam.htm

Constitution of the Society of Jesus Papal Bull, 1540

THE PLAN of the proposed rule follows and is this: In our society, which we wish to be called by the name Jesus, let whoever desires to fight under the sacred banner of the Cross, and to serve only God and the Roman pontiff, His vicar on earth, after a solemn vow of perpetual chastity,-let him keep in mind that he is part of a society, instituted for the purpose of perfecting souls in life and in Christian doctrine, for the propagation of the faith through public preaching, ministering the word of God, spiritual macerations, works of charity, and especially through the teaching of the young and uninstructed in the Christian precepts; and lastly for giving consolation to believers in hearing their confessions. Let him think first of God, then of the rule of this order, which is the way to Him; and let him follow after the end proposed by God with all his strength. Let each one, nevertheless, rest in the grace given him by the Holy Spirit, and in the proper grade of his calling, and lest anyone use zeal but not discretion, let the deciding of the grade of each, of the offices, and whole arrangement be in the hands of the general or prelate selected through us, in order that the harmony so necessary in all well-governed institutions may be preserved. Let this general, with the council of his associates, have the power in council to draw up rules suitable for the end proposed, the majority of all voters of the society always having the right of deciding. Let it be understood that there be consultation in regard to the more important or permanent questions, the majority of the whole society, that can conveniently be convoked; in the case of less important or transient matters, all those that are present where the general lives. The right of carrying out laws, however, belongs only to the general. Let all members know, and let it be not only at the beginning of their profession, but let them think over it daily as long as they live, that the society as a whole, and each of them, owes obedience to our most holy lord, the pope, and the other Roman pontiffs, his successors, and to fight with faithful obedience for God. And however much he may be learned in the Gospel, and however we may be taught in the orthodox faith, let all Christians profess themselves under the Roman pontiff as leader, and vicar of Jesus Christ. For the greater humility of our society, and toward the complete self-mortification of each one, and in order to aid the abnegation of our own wills to the greatest extent, let each one, besides that common obligation, be devoted to this by special vow. So that whatever the present or other Roman pontiffs order that concerns the saving of souls and the spread of the faith, and to whatever provinces he shall wish to send us, this let us strive to accomplish as far as in us lies, without any turning back or excuse; whether he shall send us to the Turks, or to any other infidels, even those living in the lands that are called the Indies; or to any heretics or schismatics, or believers, whatever. Wherefore let those that are about to join us consider long and well, before they put their shoulders to this task, whether they have enough grace for good deeds to mount this citadel at the command of their superiors; that is, whether the Holy Spirit that urges them promises to them enough grace to enable them with God’s help to bear the weight of this calling. And after they have given their name, at the inspiration of the Lord, to the service of Jesus Christ, having thus girded up their loins, they will be prompt to fulfill this grand vow. Lest in some way there arise ambition or jealousy in regard to such missions or provinces, let all agree never either directly or indirectly to interfere with the Roman pontiff in this regard, but let them leave all such concern to God, and to the pontiff himself, His vicar, and to the general of the society. And let the general himself promise the same as the others, not to take upon himself a mission in any direction unless by the council of the society, with the agreement of the pontiff."

Given at Rome at St. Mark’s, in the year of Incarnation of our Lord 1540, the fifth before the Kalends of October, in the sixth year of our pontificate."

http://www.catholiclawyersmalaysia.org/sites/default/files/constitution_of_the_society_of_jesus.pdf

At least some deities received daily offerings of bread or flour, as attested in Hattusa and Nuzi.[62] One well known type of Hurrian offerings was keldi, translated as "peace offering"[137] or "goodwill offering."[138] It is also assumed that many monthly or seasonal festivals were observed by Hurrians, but very few of them are well documented, one exception being the hišuwa festival from Kizzuwatna, possibly originally celebrated in Syria.[62] It was meant to guarantee good fortune for the royal couple.[139] Deities who received offering during it included "Teššub Manuzi," Lelluri, Allani, Išḫara, two manifestations of Nupatik (pibithi - "of Pibid(a)" and zalmathi - "of Zalman(a)/Zalmat") and the Anatolian goddess Maliya.[139] Another Kizzuwatnean festival, which was dedicated to Išḫara, took place in autumn.[140]

A Hurrian ritual calendar is attested in documents from Nuzi.[141] In the earliest sources from the third millennium BCE, when the city was known as Gasur, the local calendar was similar to these from Ebla, Mari, Abu Salabikh and Eshnunna, and the month names used at the time originate in Semitic languages.[142] However, after Hurrians settled in the city, they started to use one of their own, which in some cases could be combined with the old calendar, as evidenced by a document combining month names from both into a sequence.[141] The Hurrian month names in Nuzi were Impurtanni, Arkuzzi, Kurilli, Šeḫali ša dIM (the logogram stands for the name of the god Teššub, while šeḫali might mean "festival"), Šeḫali ša Nergal, Attanašwe, Šeḫlu (followed by a month whose name is not preserved), Ḫuru, Mitirunni (mitirunnu was a festival involving a parade of divine statues) and Ḫutalši.[143] Only the names of a few of the etymologically non-Hurrian months are preserved: Ḫiaru (second; the name refers to a festival also known from northern and western Mesopotamia), Ḫinzuru (third), Tamūzu (fourth), Ulūlu (sixth), Sabūtu (seventh, as indicated by the name), Kinūnu (ninth; the name refers to a festival focused on a ritual brazier), Ḫegalla, Qarrāti and Ḫamannu (position in the calendar unknown).[144] Some Hurrian month names, including a possible cognate of Attanašwe, Atanatim, are also known from Alalakh.[145]

It is possible that Attanašwe, "month of the fathers," was connected to the cult of deceased ancestors, which is well documented in Nuzi.[34] Families apparently owned figurines representing their spirits.[34] In the west, references to "gods of the fathers," enna attanewena, can be found,[146] but it is not clear if they refer to similar customs,[34] and it is possible this term instead referred to nebulously defined ancestors of deities.[147] Funerary rites and other burial practices are poorly represented in known sources.[148] It possible that the term karašk-, known from one of Tushratta's letters to the Egyptian pharaoh referred to a type of mausoleum meant to honor a deceased relative.[148] A single text from Ugarit alludes to the dead being led to their destination by Nupatik, seemingly acting as a psychopomp in this case.[149]

Ritual texts are commonly accompanied by instructions pertaining to music which was supposed to be performed during celebrations, both choral and instrumental.[150] While some contain what is most likely the oldest instance of written musical notation, its decipherment is difficult.[151] One well known example of such a Hurrian hymn comes from Ugarit and is dedicated to Nikkal.[152] A genre of Hurrian songs whose name, zinzabuššiya, is derived from that of an unidentified bird, was associated with the worship of Šauška according to Hittite documents.[96]

Divination is well attested as an element of Hurrian religious practice.[153] Its most commonly employed method combined an inquiry aimed at a specific deity with extispicy, the examination of an animal's entrails.[64] Hepatoscopy, or examination of the liver, is mentioned particularly often.[154] A similar practice is known from Mesopotamia, where the examination of a sheep's liver was commonly understood as a way to gain answers to questions directed as the gods Shamash and Adad.[64] A method of divination involving a specific type of bird, the mušen hurri (Akkadian: "the cave bird" or perhaps "the Hurrian bird," possibly a shelduck or rock partridge) is also known, but it remains uncertain what this procedure entailed.[154]

Hurrian incantations are also well known, though they are often difficult to interpret, and many known examples are unprovenanced.[155] They were imported into Mari and Babylonia as early as in the Old Babylonian period.[155] A well-preserved corpus of such texts is also known from Hattusa.[155] Kizzuwatna was most likely the source of many incantations and other similar formulas.[155] Two examples are the itkalzi ("mouth-washing"[156]) and itkahi series of purification rituals.[155] It has been argued that the former most likely reflect a Mitanni tradition.[157]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurrian_religion

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Muhammed Fethullah Gülen (27 April 1941 – 20 October 2024) was a Turkish Muslim scholar, preacher, and leader of the Gülen movement[8][9] who as of 2016 had millions of followers.[10] Gülen was an influential neo-Ottomanist,[11] Anatolian panethnicist,[clarification needed][12][13] Islamic poet, writer,[14] social critic, and activist–dissident developing a Nursian theological perspective[15] that embraces democratic modernity.[13] Gülen was a local state imam from 1959 to 1981[16][17] and he was a citizen of Turkey until his denaturalization by the Turkish government in 2017.[18] Over the years, Gülen became a centrist political figure in Turkey prior to his being there as a fugitive. From 1999 until his death in 2024, Gülen lived in self-exile in the United States near Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania.[19][20][21]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fethullah_G%C3%BClen

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Kodashim (Hebrew: קׇדָשִׁים‎, romanized: Qoḏāšim, lit. 'holy things') is the fifth of the six orders, or major divisions, of the Mishnah, Tosefta and the Talmud, and deals largely with the services within the Temple in Jerusalem, its maintenance and design, the korbanot, or sacrificial offerings that were offered there, and other subjects related to these topics, as well as, notably, the topic of kosher slaughter.

Topics

This Seder (order, or division) of the Mishnah is known as Kodashim (“sacred things” or “sanctities”), because it deals with subjects connected with Temple service and ritual slaughter of animals (shehitah). The term kodashim, in the Biblical context, applies to the sacrifices, the Temple and its furnishings, as well as the priests who carried out the duties and ceremonies of its service; and it is with these holy things, places and people that Kodashim is mainly concerned. The title Kodashim is apparently an abbreviation of Shehitat Kodashim ("the slaughter of sacred animals") since the main, although not the only subject of this order is sacrifices.[1][2][3]

The topics of this Seder are primarily the sacrifices of animals, birds, and meal offerings, the laws of bringing a sacrifice, such as the sin offering and the guilt offering, and the laws of misappropriation of sacred property. In addition, the order contains a description of the Second Temple (tractate Middot), and a description and rules about the daily sacrifice service in the Temple (tractate Tamid). The order also includes tractate Hullin, which concerns the slaughter of animals for non-sacrificial use, as well as other dietary laws applying to meat and animal products. Although Hullin is about the slaughter of animals for non-sacrificial, and therefore unsanctified purposes, because the rules about the proper slaughter of animals and birds, and their ritual fitness for use were considered to be an integral part of the concept of holiness in Judaism, they were also included in the order regarding “holy things”.[2][3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kodashim

And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

Revelation 18:2

Zevachim (“Sacrifices”), with FOURTEEN chapters, and originally called Shehitat Kodashim ("slaughtering of the holy animals") deals with the sacrificial system of the Temple period, namely the laws for animal and bird offerings, and the conditions which make them acceptable or not, as specified in the Torah, primarily in the book of Leviticus (Lev 1:2 and on).[1][2][4]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kodashim

The lamentations of Isis were so terrible that one of the royal children died of fright. Isis then brought the chest by ship to Egypt, where she opened it and embraced the body of her husband, weeping bitterly. Then she sought her son, Horus, in Lower Egypt, first having hidden the chest in a secret place. But one night Set, hunting by the light of the moon, found the chest, and, recognizing the body, tore it into FOURTEEN pieces, which he scattered up and down throughout the land. When Isis heard of this, she took a boat and gathered the fragments of Osiris's body. Wherever she found one, there she built a tomb.

https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100255831

"14We ought to act on the principle that everyone who lives under obedience should let himself be carried and directed by Divine Providence through the agency of the superior 15as if he were a lifeless body, which allows itself to be carried to any place and treated in any way; or an old man s staff, which serves at any place and for any purpose in which the one holding it in his hand wishes to employ it. 16For in this way the obedient man ought joyfully to employ himself in any task in which the superior desires to employ him in aid of the whole body of the religious order; 17and he ought to hold it certain that by so doing he conforms himself with the divine will more than by anything else he could do while following his own will and different judgment.[3]"

The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms

https://web.archive.org/web/20200211182223/https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf

14 And deceived them that dwell on the earth by the signs which were permitted to him to do in the sight of the beast, saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make the [t]image of the [u]beast, which had the wound of a sword, and did live.

Revelation 13:14

Himmler used the Jesuits as the model for the SS, since he found they had the core elements of absolute obedience and the cult of the organisation.[59][60] Hitler is said to have called Himmler "my Ignatius of Loyola".[59] As an order, the SS needed a coherent doctrine that would set it apart.[61] Himmler attempted to construct such an ideology, and deduced a "pseudo-Germanic tradition" from history.[61] Himmler dismissed the image of Christ as a Jew and rejected Christianity's basic doctrine and its institutions.[62] Starting in 1934, the SS hosted "solstice ceremonies" (Sonnenwendfeiern) to increase team spirit within their ranks.[63] In a 1936 memorandum, Himmler set forth a list of approved holidays based on pagan and political precedents meant to wean SS members from their reliance on Christian festivities.[64] In an attempt to replace Christianity and suffuse the SS with a new doctrine, SS-men were able to choose special Lebenslauffeste, substituting common Christian ceremonies such as baptisms, weddings and burials. Since the ceremonies were held in small private circles, it is unknown how many SS-members opted for these kind of celebrations.[65]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideology_of_the_SS

The large Latin inscription on the façade reads: Clemens XII Pont Max Anno V Christo Salvatori In Hon SS Ioan Bapt et Evang. This abbreviated inscription translates as: "The Supreme Pontiff Clement XII, in the fifth year [of his Pontificate, dedicated this building] to Christ the Savior, in honor of Saints John the Baptist and [John] the Evangelist".[5] The inscription indicates, with its full title (see below), that the archbasilica was originally dedicated to Christ the Savior and, centuries later, rededicated in honor of Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist. Christ the Savior remains its primary dedication, and its titular feast day is 6 August, the Transfiguration of Christ. As the cathedral of the pope as bishop of Rome, it ranks superior to all other churches of the Catholic Church, including Saint Peter's Basilica.

Name

The archbasilica's Latin name is Archibasilica Sanctissimi Salvatoris ac Sancti Ioannis Baptistae et Ioannis Evangelistae ad Lateranum,[6] which in English is the Archbasilica of the Most Holy Savior and Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist at the Lateran, and in Italian Arcibasilica [Papale] del Santissimo Salvatore e Santi Giovanni Battista ed Evangelista in Laterano.[4]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archbasilica_of_Saint_John_Lateran#Lateran_Palace

From modest beginnings the SS (Schutzstaffel; Protection Squadrons), became a virtual state within a state in Nazi Germany, staffed by men who perceived themselves as the “racial elite” of Nazi future.

In the Nazi state, the SS assumed leading responsibility for security, identification of ethnicity, settlement and population policy, and intelligence collection and analysis. The SS controlled the German police forces and the concentration camp system. The SS conceived and implemented plans designed to restructure the ethnic composition of eastern Europe and the occupied Soviet Union.

From 1939, the SS assumed responsibility for “solving” the so-called Jewish Question; after 1941, its leadership planned, coordinated and directed the so-called Final Solution of the Jewish Question. This “solution” was the annihilation of the European Jews, which we now refer to as the Holocaust

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/ss

2 §1. The character and charism of the Society of Jesus arise from the Spiritual Exercises which our holy father Ignatius and his companions went through. Led by this experience, they formed an apostolic group rooted in charity, in which, after they had taken the vows of chastity and poverty and had been raised to the priesthood, they offered themselves as a HOLOCAUST to God,[2] so that serving as soldiers of God beneath the banner of the cross and serving the Lord alone and the Church his spouse under the Roman Pontiff, the vicar of Christ on earth,[3] they would be sent into the entire world[4] for the defense and propagation of the faith and for the progress of souls in Christian life and doctrine. [5]

The Constitutions of The Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms

A Complete English Translation of the Official Latin Texts

THE INSTITUTE OF JESUIT SOURCES

SAINT LOUIS, 1996

https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf

20. It is better and safer to make alliance and amity with [Moslem] Turks, [Communist] Infidels, or [Talmudic and anti-Torah, Zionist] Jews, than with [Reformation Bible-believing] Heretic Protestants [and Baptists], because they may draw us into the errors of their novelties. {1}

Absolutist Papal Maxims of the Jesuits

Qetesh (also Qodesh, Qadesh, Qedesh, Qetesh, Kadesh, Kedesh, Kadeš or Qades /ˈkɑːdɛʃ/) was a goddess who was incorporated into the ancient Egyptian religion in the late Bronze Age. Her name was likely developed by the Egyptians based on the Semitic root Q-D-Š meaning 'holy' or 'blessed,'[2] attested as a title of El and possibly Athirat and a further independent deity in texts from Ugarit.[3]

Due to lack of clear references to Qetesh as a distinct deity in Ugaritic and other Syro-Palestinian sources, she is considered an Egyptian deity influenced by religion and iconography of Canaan by many modern researchers, rather than merely a Canaanite deity adopted by the Egyptians (examples of which include Reshef and Anat)[4][5]

Character

In Egyptian religion, the functions of Qetesh are hard to determine due to lack of direct references, but her epithets (especially the default one, "lady of heaven") might point at an astral character, and lack of presence in royal cult might mean that she was regarded as a protective goddess mostly by commoners. Known sources do not associate her with fertility or sex, and theories presenting her as a "sacred harlot" are regarded as obsolete in modern scholarship due to lack of evidence.[6]

Her epithets include "Mistress of All the Gods", "Lady of the Stars of Heaven", "Beloved of Ptah", "Great of magic, mistress of the stars", and "Eye of Ra, without her equal".[7] A connection with Ptah or Ra evident in her epithets is also known from Egyptian texts about Anat and Astarte.[8][9]

Iconography

Stele of Qetesh / Kadesh, Dynasty XIX (1292–1186 BC), Museo Egizio

Qetesh wearing the headdress of Hathor and standing on a lion; she holds a lotus flower and a snake and is flanked by Min on the left and Resheph on the right (Louvre).

On a stele representing the deity, Qetesh is depicted as a frontal nude (an uncommon motif in Egyptian art, though not exclusively associated with her), wearing a Hathor wig and standing on a lion, between Min and the Canaanite warrior god Resheph. She holds a snake in one hand and a bouquet of lotus or papyrus flowers in the other.[10][11]

Origin

Early researchers attempted to prove Qetesh was simply a form of a known Canaanite deity, rather than a fully independent goddess. William F. Albright proposed in 1939 that she was a form of the "lady of Byblos" (Baalat Gebal), while René Dussard suggested a connection to "Asherat" (e.g. the biblical Asherah) in 1941. Subsequent studies tried to find further evidence for equivalence of Qetesh and Asherah, despite dissimilar functions and symbols.[12]

The arguments presenting Qetesh and Asherah as the same goddess rely on the erroneous notion that Asherah, Astarte and Anat were the only three prominent goddesses in the religion of ancient Levant, and formed a trinity.[13] However, while Ashtart (Astarte) and Anat were closely associated with each other in Ugarit, in Egyptian sources, and elsewhere,[14][15] there is no evidence for conflation of Athirat and Ashtart, nor is Athirat associated closely with Ashtart and Anat in Ugaritic texts.[16] The concept of Athirat, Anat and Ashtart as a trinity and the only prominent goddesses in the entire region (popularized by authors like Tikva Frymer-Kensky) is modern and ignores the large role of other female deities, for example Shapash, in known texts, as well as the fact El appears to be the deity most closely linked to Athirat in primary sources.[17][18] One of the authors relying on the Anat-Ashtart-Athirat trinity theory is Saul M. Olyan (author of Asherah and the Cult of Yahweh in Israel) who calls the Qudshu-Astarte-Anat plaque "a triple-fusion hypostasis", and considers Qudshu to be an epithet of Athirat by a process of elimination, for Astarte and Anat appear after Qudshu in the inscription.[19][20]

Modern egyptologists, such as Christiane Zivie-Coche, do not consider Qetesh to be a hypostasis of Anat or Astarte, but a goddess developed in Egypt possibly without a clear forerunner among Canaanite or Syrian goddesses, though given a Semitic name and associated mostly with foreign deities.[21]

In popular culture

Qetesh is the name given to the Goa'uld that once possessed Vala Mal Doran, a recurring and then regular character in Seasons 9 and 10, respectively of the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1.

Qetesh is also the name used in The Sarah Jane Adventures episode Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith, and confirmed to be the humanoid species (also known as "soul-stealers") of Ruby White (the episode's villain) who feeds off excitement and heightened emotion and have stomachs that live outside their bodies.

Moreover is Qadesh, also called Qwynn, a character in Holly Roberds' fantasy novel "Bitten by Death", published in 2021.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qetesh

What It Means:

"Kadosh" is the Hebrew word for "holy," but it goes beyond just being sacred or set apart. It signifies something that is entirely devoted to God, pure, and distinct from the ordinary.

Why It Matters:

This term is a cornerstone of the Hebrew Bible and frequently appears in passages that describe God’s nature and His expectations for His people. When God is described as "Kadosh," it emphasizes His ultimate purity and separation from all that is common. It's not just about reverence; it’s about living in a way that reflects God’s holiness in our own lives.

Fun Fact:

In Isaiah 6:3, the seraphim around God's throne declare, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty" ("Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh"). This triple repetition highlights the supreme and unparalleled holiness of God, making it a central aspect of divine praise. It’s as if they're shouting, "God is incredibly, utterly holy!"

In ancient Israel, the most sacred place ever is the Temple site in Jerusalem. Perched on a high hill in the heart of the holiest city, it was the ultimate example of setting something aside for special protection. Inside the Temple’s inner chamber, known as the Holy of Holies, was where the presence of the Lord was believed to reside.

What About You?:

Is there something special in your spiritual life that you cherish and want to protect? Maybe it’s a personal ritual, a cherished belief, or a special moment of connection that you hold dear?

Note 345.—'*As to the history of the Kadosh degree, it is said tg have been first invented at Lyons, in France, in 1743. where it appeared under the name of the Petit Elu. This degree, which is said to have been based upon the Templar doctrine heretofore referred to, was afterwards developed into the Kadosh, which we find in 1758 incorporated as the Grand Elect Kadosh into the system of the Council of Emperors of the East and West, which was that year formed at Paris, whence it descended to the Scottish Rite Masons. Of all the Kadoshes. two only ai*e now important, viz.: the Philosophic Kadosh, which Kas been adopted by the Grand Orient of France, and the Knight Kadosh, which constitutes the thirtieth degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, this latter being the most generally diffused of the Kadoshes."—Mackey's Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, Article Kadosh.

In 1748 the Rite de Veilla Bru, or Faithful Scotsman, was established at Toulouse with nine degrees, the first three Symbolic, followed by the Secret Master, four Elu degrees, and the Ninth degree ' Scientific Masonry.^" " In 1750 and 1751, a Lodge styled ' St. Jean de Ecossais ' was established at Marseilles, which afterwards assumed the style of ' Scottish Mother Lodge of France.' Its regime finally consisted of Eighteen degrees, of which the Scottish Mother Lodge of France at Paris afterwards borrowed Eight."

" In 1752 a power of the High degrees was established under the pompous title of * Sovereign Council, Sublime Scotch Mother Lodge of the Grand French Globe.' It afterwards called itself* Sovereign Council, Sublime Mother Lodge of the Excellents of the Grand French Globe.' The ' Council of the Emperors of the East and West ' assumed that title also on the 22d January, 1780. — Ragon."

"In 1754, The Chevalier de Bonneville established a chapter of the High degrees at Paris, styled the ' Chapter of Clermont.' In it the Templar system was revived, and the Baron de Hund received the High degrees, there and thence derived the principles and doctrines of his ' Order of Strict Observance ' —Thory and Leveque—Ragon says, The regime of the Chapter of Clermont at first comprised only three degrees, viz., the three Symbolic, followed by the Knight of the Eagle or Master Elect, Illustrious Knight or Templar, and Illustrious Sublime Knight—but that they soon became more numerous."

" In the same year Martinez Pascalis established his rite of ' Elus C'dens ' with nine degrees. He did not carry it to Paris until 1767, where Martinism in ten degrees grew out of it." — Clavel.

" In 1757 M. de St. Gelaire introduced at Paris the ' Order of Noachites.' ^'

page 50

THE ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED SCOTTISH KITE, IN THIRTY-THREE DEGREES. KNOWN HITHERTO UNDER THE NAMES OF THE " RITE OF PEEPECTION" ^THE " EITE OF HEEEDOM" THE " ANCIENT SCOTTISH rite"—THE " RITE OF KILWINNING" AND LAST, AS THE " SCOTTISH RITE, ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED." A FULL AND COMPLETE HISTORY, WITH AN APPENDIX, CONTAINING NUMEROUS AUTHENTIC DOCUMENTS, RELATING TO THE ORIGIN, PKO- OB£SS AND ESTABLISHMENT OP THE EITE—EDICTS, CIRCULARS, PATENTS, REGISTERS, AND THE OPINIONS OF NUMEROUS AUTHORS — ILLUSTRATED WITH "TABLETS," / BY ROBERT B. FOLGER, M. D., Past Master, 33d., iJi-SECRETARY GENERAL, &0. SECOND EDITION. ,c ^ j ;^ NEW YORK: PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/The_ancient_and_accepted_Scottish_rite%2C_in_thirty-three_degrees_%28IA_ancientaccepted00folg%29.pdf

PART VI 1THE PERSONAL LIFE OF THOSE ALREADY ADMITTED AND INCORPORATED INTO THE BODY OF THE SOCIETY

SECTION 1: THE APOSTOLIC CHARACTER OF OUR VOWS IN GENERAL

§2. Our religious vows, while binding us, also set us FREE:

FREE, by our vow of poverty, to share the life of the poor and to use whatever resources we may have, not for our own security and comfort, but for service;

FREE, by our vow of chastity, to be men for others, in friendship and communion with all, but especially with those who share our mission of service;

The Constitutions of The Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms

A Complete English Translation of the Official Latin Texts

THE INSTITUTE OF JESUIT SOURCES

SAINT LOUIS, 1996

https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf

I began by attending Fordham University in the Bronx, mostly because I wanted to be close to home. I got along very well with the Jesuits who ran the school, but after two years, I decided that as long as I had to be in college, I might as well test myself against the best. I applied to the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania and I got in. At the time, if you were going to make a career in business, Wharton was the place to go. Harvard Business School may produce a lot of CEOs—guys who manage public companies— but the real entrepreneurs all seemed to go to Wharton: Saul Steinberg, Leonard Lauder, Ron Perelman—the list goes on and on."

The Art of the Deal

Donald Trump

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DLcbnLrl6moQT7nGj1JitG6AiQ6qgK0y/view?usp=sharing

University of Scranton welcomes President Biden

The university has illuminated its Class of 2020 Gateway in red and blue lights.

Author: WNEP Web Staff

Published: 10:52 PM EDT October 19, 2021

Updated: 10:52 PM EDT October 19, 2021

SCRANTON, Pa. — In preparation for President Joe Biden's visit, a university lit up their lights in his honor.

The University of Scranton has illuminated its Class of 2020 Gateway in blue and red with the number 46 prominently displayed to welcome the 46th president."

University of Scranton welcomes President Biden | wnep.com

https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/lackawanna-county/university-of-scranton-welcomes-president-biden-gateway-lights/523-cdba68b1-822b-4747-94be-4cd7e4de9d67

"His son, Hunter Biden, 38, is a longtime federal lobbyist for the Jesuit university located in his father's hometown, Scranton PA. According to federal disclosures, Hunter Biden has been earning about $80,000 a year since 2006 to lobby for this university. Senator Biden himself has lectured at the Jesuit University of Scranton, and received an honorary degree from the same university, in 1976."

Codeword Barbelon by P.D. Stuart

The centers of Hurrian religious life were temples, known as purli or purulle.[35] No separate exclusively Hurrian style of temple construction has been identified.[35] Of the few which have been excavated, these in the east, for example in Nuzi, follow the so-called "bent axis" model well documented in Mesopotamia from the third millennium BCE onward, while the western ones in Syria often adhere to a local plan with an axially arranged forecourt, a cella with a niche for a statue, and an antecella.[35] However, exceptions from the latter rule are known, as a temple from Alalakh, the temple of the weather god of Halab and a building from Ugarit often described as a Hurrian temple follow the bent axis model.[110] While typically temples were dedicated to major members of the Hurrian pantheon, such as Teššub, Allani or Išḫara, they often also housed multiple minor deities at the same time.[62]

The notion that specific gods could favor, and reside in, specific cities was present in Hurrian religion, and by extension is attested in Hittite rituals dedicated to Hurrian deities.[111] For example, Teššub was associated with Kumme,[22] Šauška with Nineveh,[20] Kušuḫ with Kuzina,[25][112] Nikkal with Ugarit,[25][97] Nabarbi with Taite,[113] and Išḫara with Ebla.[114] While Kumarbi's connection with Urkesh is well documented, in the earliest sources the city was seemingly associated with Nergal.[66] It has also been proposed that his name in this case served as a logographic representation of Kumarbi or perhaps Aštabi, but this remains uncertain.[53] A secondary cult center of Kumarbi was Azuhinnu located east of the Tigris.[66]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurrian_religion

Pearl Harbor and our declaration of war put a temporary end to the political organization that Clerical Fascism was in the process of forging. Coughlin was just about to take over majority control of America First and form it into a political party, when war was declared.

He had already given hints, which were seconded by Philip LaFollette and the N. Y. Daily News. He was about to replace Catholic John T. Flynn of the strategic New York chapter with a more obedient lackey.

AMERICA FIRST, started by fascist minded business magnates, had at first been independent of Coughlin. But by infiltration the Coughlinites became the dominant element. Catholic church prelates gave it their enthusiastic approval.

At one of its mass meetings in Madison Square Garden in New York City, under the chairmanship of John T. Flynn, Cardinal O’Connell, dean of the American Catholic hierarchy and Bishop Shaughnessy of Seattle, formerly of the Apostolic Delegation in Washington, D.C., sent telegrams of congratulation which were publicly read.

Carlson (p. 260) quotes an official of America First to the effect that its membership was 80 per cent Coughlinite and would eventually be under Coughlin’s complete control. General Wood had at first objected to Coughlinite dominance but later ‘‘humbled himself before the reverend-dictator of Royal Oak?’ in a letter published in SOCIAL JUSTICE.

In addition to the Coughlinite majority, America First included large

numbers of the Ku Klux Klan element who in recent years have allied themselves with Catholic Fascists in a war on Jewry and ‘Communist’ unions. Louis B. Ward, one of Coughlin’s chief assistants, addressed the Pontiac chapter of America First four different times. This chapter was made up almost exclusively of Klan members. Garland Alderman, secretary of the National Workers League, a fascist organization of KKK members, said that he was nurtured in Fascism by Father Coughlin’s Social Justice and had also attended a series of ““special lectures’’ by Coughlin one winter. ( Under Cover, p, 305)

He named Coughlin as one of the Americans who in the opinion of his organization would negotiate with Hitler after the hoped-for world triumph of Nazism. pages 6-7

....

"Under the camouflaged name of ‘“Midtown Sporting Club’’ the Manhattan ‘Iron Guard Unit’ of the Christian Front drilled in Donovan’s Hall near the Paulist Catholic church mentioned above. Like Franco’s revolutionaries they took a secret oath that said, ‘‘I will look to God for guidance.’’ They were exhorted previous to the drill:

“You are soldiers of Christ. Men like you fought in Spain. Men like you will fight in America ... You are defenders of the Faith. Your duty is to fight for Christ and Country.”

On January 13, 1940, the FBI raided a Brooklyn ‘‘Sporting Club’’ of the Christian Front. A Federal court suit ensued. The Jesuit publication America, leading Catholic weekly in its issue of January 27, 1940, ridiculed the case, and called it a Jewish plot. Public masses were said for the ‘‘heroes on trial.’’ Carlson sums up the case and its foredoomed failure when he says that “‘the ‘big boys’ behind the scenes were never made public.’’ The verdict of the Catholic jury was a foregone conclusion. Father Curran, Coughlin’s

lieutenant in the East, slyly hinted at an acquittal celebration that a close relative of his was the jury foreman.

In 1926, in Germany, Hitler revolutionaries were similarly arrested and acquitted. As late as 1930 Thomas Mann said of the Nazis: ‘‘I regard the National Socialist Party as a flash-in-the which will soon be over,’’

The Christian Front is only temporarily under cover. Coughlin is biding his time. Father Edward Brophy of Brooklyn, a Christian Front leader at one of their meetings in June 1942 paid :

“‘The days are coming when this country will need a Coughlin and need him badly. We must get strong and keep organized

for that day.’’

In Social Justice of Sept. 1, 1939 Coughlin predicted that it would take seven to ten years to win control. He added :

“We predict that .. . the National-Socialists in America—organized under that or some other name—eventually will take control of the government on this continent. We predict, lastly, the end of democracy in America.”’

Even when he was put off the radio he confidently threatened:

"I have been retired temporarily . . .

Not until there is an opportunity for the pendulum of reaction to swing to the right will I resume my place before a microphone . . . I extend to them (‘men powerful in the field of radio and other activities’) my heartiest congratulations for all that the future holds in store for them." pages 8-9

....

"Clerical Fascism, driven underground during the war, is certain to rise again with a cry to ‘SAVE AMERICA for the Americans.’ Those who fail to realize this threat to our future should ponder well the following facts:

America First controlled by Coughlinites boasted of 15,000,000 members.

In one meeting in the Hollywood Bowl in California it drew a crowd of 100,000 ‘patriots.’ Gerald L. K. Smith, Fascist, polled 100,000 votes in Michigan last year. The Hearst-Gannett and the Mc-Cormick-Patterson newspaper chains have over 15,000,000 readers. Mrs. Finley J. Sheppard, daughter of the late Jay Gould, gave millions to American Fascists. Robert O’Callaghan, Irish- Catholic friend of Joe McWilliams and Ku Kluxer Edward Smythe, is doing confidential government work in the Chicago office of the Alien Property Custodian, Leo Crowley.

If America waits too long to wake up to its danger, it may ironically fulfill the words of Jesuit-trained Goebbels, spokesman for Catholic Hitler:

“IT WILL ALWAYS REMAIN THE BEST' JOKE MADE BY THE DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM THAT IT PROVIDED ITS DEADLY ENEMIES WITH THE MEANS TO DESTROY IT.” page 11

Clerical Fascism in America by J.J. Murphy

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1glXjGioabYyJL0LN_Cr1u8d9JewFRP3J/view?usp=sharing

Deadpool is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld, the character first appeared in New Mutants #98 (December 1990). In his comic book appearances, Deadpool is initially depicted as a supervillain of the New Mutants and X-Force, though later stories would portray him as an antihero. Deadpool is the alter ego of Wade Wilson, a disfigured Canadian mercenary with superhuman regenerative healing abilities. He is known for his tendency to joke incessantly and break the fourth wall for humorous effect.

The character's popularity has seen him featured in numerous other media outlets. In the 2004 series Cable & Deadpool, he refers to his own scarred appearance as "Ryan Renolds [sic] crossed with a Shar Pei".[7][8] Reynolds developed an interest in portraying the character after reading the comic,[9] which was ultimately realized in the X-Men film series, including X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), Deadpool (2016), and its sequels Deadpool 2 (2018) and Marvel Cinematic Universe's Deadpool & Wolverine (2024),[10][11][12][13] in the latter of which Blake Lively, Matthew McConaughey, Paul Mullin, Nathan Fillion, Peggy, and Reynolds' children Inez and Olin portray alternate universe variants of Deadpool.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadpool

Deadpan, dry humour, or dry-wit humour[1] is the deliberate display of emotional neutrality or no emotion, commonly as a form of comedic delivery to contrast with the ridiculousness or absurdity of the subject matter. The delivery is meant to be blunt, ironic, laconic, or apparently unintentional.

Etymology

The term deadpan first emerged early in the 20th century, as a compound word (sometimes spelled as two words) combining "dead" and "pan" (a slang term for the face). It appeared in print as early as 1915, in an article about a former baseball player named Gene Woodburn written by his former manager Roger Bresnahan. Bresnahan described how Woodburn used his skill as a ventriloquist to make his manager and others think they were being heckled from the stands. Woodburn, wrote Bresnahan, "had a trick of what the actors call 'the dead pan.' He never cracked a smile and would be the last man you would suspect was working a trick."[2][3]

George M. Cohan, in a 1908 interview, had alluded to dead pans without using the actual term "deadpan". Cohan, after returning from a trip to London, told an interviewer that "the time is ripe for a manager to take over about a dozen American chorus girls and wake up the musical comedy game. The English chorus girls are dead–their pans are cold.”[4]

The Oxford English Dictionary cites a 1928 New York Times article as having the first appearance of the term in print.[5] That article, a collection of film slang compiled by writer and theatrical agent Frank J. Wilstach, defines "dead pan" as "playing a role with expressionless face, as, for instance, the work of Buster Keaton."[6] There were several other uses of the term, in theater and in sports, between the 1915 Bresnahan article and the 1928 article in the Times.[3]

The usage of deadpan as a verb ("to speak, act, or utter in a deadpan manner; to maintain a dead pan") is recorded at least as far back as 1942.[5]

Examples

See also: List of deadpan comedians

Rat Pack comedians Joey Bishop and Brad Jewell, noted for their deadpan style, with Jennie and Terrie Frankel (Doublemint Twins), Sig Sakowicz, Tony Diamond, Sara Sue, Tippi Hedren and Mel Bishop

The English music hall comedian T. W. Barrett, working in the 1880s and 1890s, is credited with being the first to perform in a deadpan manner, standing completely still and without a smile.[7]

Early in his vaudeville days, Buster Keaton developed his deadpan expression. Keaton realised that audiences responded better to his stony expression than when he smiled, and he carried this style into his silent film career.[8] The 1928 Vitaphone short film The Beau Brummels, with vaudeville comics Al Shaw and Sam Lee, was performed entirely in deadpan.[9] The 1980 film Airplane! was performed almost entirely in deadpan;[10] it helped relaunch the career of one of its supporting actors, Leslie Nielsen, who transformed into a prolific deadpan comic after the film.[11] Actor and comedian Bill Murray is known for his deadpan delivery.[12]

Many popular American sitcoms use deadpan expressions to deliver dry humour, including Curb Your Enthusiasm, Arrested Development, and My Name Is Earl. More recent examples are Andre Braugher as Captain Raymond Holt from the TV show Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing in Friends, Nick Offerman as Ron Swanson and Aubrey Plaza as April Ludgate in Parks and Recreation, Jennette McCurdy as Sam Puckett in iCarly, and Louis C.K. in Louie. Another example is the comedy of Steven Wright.[13]

Deadpan delivery runs throughout British humour.[14] In television sitcoms, John Cleese as Basil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers and Rowan Atkinson as Edmund Blackadder in Blackadder are both frustrated figures who display little facial expression in their put-downs.[15] Atkinson also plays authority figures (especially priests) while speaking absurd lines with a deadpan delivery. Monty Python include it in their work, such as "The Ministry of Silly Walks" sketch.[16] For his deadpan delivery Peter Sellers received a BAFTA for Best Actor for I'm All Right Jack (1959). A leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, Peter Cook delivered deadpan monologues in his double act with Dudley Moore.[17] In his various roles Ricky Gervais often draws humour from an exasperated sigh.[18] While in his various guises such as Ali G and Borat, the comedian Sacha Baron Cohen interacts with unsuspecting subjects not realising they have been set up for self-revealing ridicule; on this The Observer states, "his career has been built on winding people up, while keeping a deadpan face."[19]

Dry humour is often confused with highbrow or egghead humour, because the humour in dry humour does not exist in the words or delivery. Instead, the listener must look for humour in the contradiction between words, delivery and context. Failure to include the context or to identify the contradiction results in the listener finding the dry humour unfunny. However, the term "deadpan" itself actually refers only to the method of delivery.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadpan

"The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was created under the National Security Act of 1947, which President Truman signed on July 26, 1947. The CIA officially came into existence on September 18th that same year, which is when we celebrate our birthday.

With the passage of the 1947 Act, Truman achieved his goals of modernizing and unifying America’s armed services, and, by creating a centralized intelligence agency, reformed our intelligence capabilities. To protect American’s civil liberties, he made sure to clearly divide intelligence roles between domestic and foreign: FBI would handle anything domestic, while CIA was limited to foreign intelligence only. Furthermore, the Act specified that CIA would have no police, subpoena, or law enforcement powers.

President Truman appointed Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter as the first CIA director, known as the Director of Central Intelligence. He had been the Director of one of our immediate “ancestors,” called the Central Intelligence Group. The CIG was a bureaucratic anomaly with no independent budget, no statutory mandate, and staffers assigned from other departments of the government. America needed a peacetime, centralized intelligence agency with its own budget and mandate. That’s why Truman replaced the CIG and created the CIA.

The 1947 Act loosely defined CIA’s mission into four broad tasks:

The 1947 Act was relatively unchanged until 2004. President Bush, after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, made major updates to the 1947 act, including the creation of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

If you’re interested, you can find out more about what is called “the National Security Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of December 2004” on the DNI’s website.

The importance of the 1947 National Security Act cannot be overstated. It created our Nation’s first peacetime intelligence agency, reflected America’s acceptance of its position as a world leader, and it remained a cornerstone of our national security policy for 75 years… and counting.

~ Molly

https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/ask-molly-the-national-security-act-of-1947/

Molly

fem. proper name, a diminutive of Moll, which is a familiar form of Mary.

molly (n.1)

a common 18c. colloquial term for "homosexual man" or "man who is deemed effeminate, a sissy," by 1707, perhaps 1690s. The fem. proper name Molly or Moll served as a type-name of a low-class girl or prostitute in old songs and ballads (perhaps in part for the sake of the easy rhymes).

But the colloquial word also resembles Latin mollis "soft," which also had been used classically in a specific pejorative sense in reference to men, "soft, effeminate, unmanly, weak," in Cicero, Livy, etc. A 1629 publication from the Catholic-Protestant theological disputes, "Truth's triumph ouer Trent," written in English with swerves into Latin, at one point describes the denizens of Hell as fideles fornicarios, adulteros, molles, and so forth, and molles is translated parenthetically in the text as "effeminate." Molly House as a term for a brothel frequented by gay men is attested in a court case from 1726.

also from 18c.

molly (n.2)

seabird, 1857, short for mollymawk, mallemuck, from Dutch mallemok, from mal "foolish" + mok "gull."

also from 1857

https://www.etymonline.com/word/molly

Operation Mockingbird is an alleged large-scale program of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) that began in the early years of the Cold War and attempted to manipulate domestic American news media organizations for propaganda purposes. According to author Deborah Davis, Operation Mockingbird recruited leading American journalists into a propaganda network and influenced the operations of front groups. CIA support of front groups was exposed when an April 1967 Ramparts article reported that the National Student Association received funding from the CIA.[1] In 1975, Church Committee Congressional investigations revealed Agency connections with journalists and civic groups.

In 1973, a document referred to as the "Family Jewels"[2] was published by the CIA containing a reference to "Project Mockingbird", which was the name of an operation in 1963 which wiretapped two journalists who had published articles based on classified material.[3] The document does not contain references to "Operation Mockingbird".[4]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mockingbird

Topics

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kodashim

Revelation 18:2

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kodashim

14We ought to act on the principle that everyone who lives under obedience should let himself be carried and directed by Divine Providence through the agency of the superior 15as if he were a lifeless body, which allows itself to be carried to any place and treated in any way; or an old man s staff, which serves at any place and for any purpose in which the one holding it in his hand wishes to employ it. 16For in this way the obedient man ought joyfully to employ himself in any task in which the superior desires to employ him in aid of the whole body of the religious order; 17and he ought to hold it certain that by so doing he conforms himself with the divine will more than by anything else he could do while following his own will and different judgment.[3]"

page 221

The Constitutions of The Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms

A Complete English Translation of the Official Latin Texts

THE INSTITUTE OF JESUIT SOURCES

SAINT LOUIS, 1996

https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf

Pope meets Jimmy Fallon and 105 other comics at Vatican

By Malu Cursino, BBC News

Pope Francis has met with more than 100 comedians from across the world, including Jimmy Fallon, Chris Rock and Whoopi Goldberg, at the Vatican in Rome.

The Pope said comedians have the "power to spread serenity and smiles" in a world where people are immersed in "many social and personal emergencies".

"You unite people because laughter is contagious," he added.

The entertainers were hosted in the Vatican hours before the pontiff was expected in Puglia for the G7 summit.

During the audience with 107 comedians from 15 countries, the Pope praised their ability to make people smile.

"You can also laugh at God, of course, and that's not blasphemy," the pontiff told comedians, adding that "it can be done without offending the religious feelings of believers".

According to reports on US media, comedian Jimmy Fallon was seen larking around the front of the audience hall before proceedings got under way - he was reportedly quickly told take his seat as the pope was due to walk through the door.

Fallon was joined by other big names in the entertainment industry, including US comedian Chris Rock, Italy's Silvio Orlando, and British actor and comedian Stephen Merchant.

Comedian Whoopi Goldberg, well known for Sister Act, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, from hit-show Veep, were also in attendance.

The cultural event preceded the pope's appearance at the G7 in the southern Italian region of Puglia - the first time a leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics attends the summit of the world's seven largest advanced economies.

The 87-year-old pontiff has called for global regulation of AI, warning of its danger to ethics and human rights.

In reference to current global events, the pope told comedians that while communication today "often generates conflict," the entertainers are able to bring together diverse realities.

"How much we need to learn from you," he added.

After the audience the Pope met briefly with each comedian, exchanging a few words with each - though some interactions were somewhat one-way.

"Well it was brief, he spoke in Italian, so I'm not quite sure what was said," quipped late-night host Conan O'Brien.

"It was quick... I had a wonderful time," he added.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c722vd9274yo

Hollywood Work Was Already Drying Up. Then the Fires Hit.

The wildfires have given new urgency to discussions about how to revive one of Los Angeles’s defining, and dominant, industries: film and television production.

The Hollywood sign seen from the distance, with smoky haze over the hills.

The Hollywood sign was shrouded in smoke this month as several wildfires burned across Southern California. Credit...Loren Elliott for The New York Times

By Nicole Sperling and Matt Stevens

Nicole Sperling and Matt Stevens reported from Los Angeles.

Jan. 26, 2025

Even before the devastating wildfires, Hollywood was struggling.

Squeezed by studio cutbacks and competition from other states and countries, film and television production in the Los Angeles region had already fallen to a near-record low last year, imperiling the livelihoods of not just casts and crews but also the caterers, drivers and many others who depend on the entertainment industry. Some, seeing their work dry up, were leaving for other states that have lured productions with tax credits.

Then the fires swept through, dealing yet another blow to a region, and an industry, that had been buffeted in recent years by a pandemic and then strikes that halted production amid a rapidly changing entertainment landscape. The Southern California fires have given new urgency to efforts by state and local officials to keep Los Angeles a place where films and television shows are made, and not just greenlit by studio executives to be shot elsewhere.

At stake is the future of a defining industry that helps make Los Angeles a vibrant creative capital, employing tens of thousands of workers in a wide variety of fields — people like John W. Rutland, a cinematographer, and his wife, Marta Gené Camps, a television writer.

Just a week before the fires the couple had been looking over their mortgage documents. They wanted to reassure themselves that even though work had grown sparse, the equity in their three-bedroom home was on the rise. Then the Eaton fire rampaged through the eclectic art hamlet of Altadena, burning their pet chickens, destroying their home and leaving them with “a worthless strip of charred land,” as Rutland described it.

Image

The rubble of a burned home under a smoky sky.

The home of John W. Rutland, a cinematographer, and his wife, Marta Gené Camps, a television writer, was destroyed in the Eaton fire.Credit...John Rutland

“Who knows when it’ll be safe to come build again?” asked Rutland, 44. “And if we want to build again?”

As Los Angeles begins to think about how to rebuild homes and whole neighborhoods that were reduced to rubble, officials are renewing their efforts to revive local film and television production. Even after recent setbacks, the region remains the business’s epicenter. The entertainment industry contributes more than $115 billion annually to the regional economy, local officials estimate, and helps sustain 681,000 jobs in a wide variety of fields.

But things have not been going well for some time. Still reeling from the long shutdowns and extended periods of unemployment during Covid, the business ground to a halt for another six months in 2023 when the writers and actors went on strike.

After production resumed, studios retrenched, effectively ending the peak television era. The number of television series produced in the United States last year fell for the second year in a row, and are down 23 percent since 2022, according to a study by Luminate.

Image

Camps, Rutland and their daughter, Sofia. “Who knows when it’ll be safe to come build again?” asked Rutland. “And if we want to build again?”Credit...Alex Welsh for The New York Times

Image

Rutland salvaged a commemorative plate from when he was born.Credit...Alex Welsh for The New York Times

The slowdown has had a big impact in Los Angeles. Location shoots in the region fell last year to its second-lowest total on record, behind only 2020, the year the pandemic stopped work, according to FilmLA, the film permitting office. The number of location shooting days in the region has dropped 40 percent since reaching a high in 2016, according to data from the office. Reality TV has seen an especially steep decline, it reported.

The fires underscored how few major movies are being filmed in Hollywood these days. When the blazes erupted, only two movies from major studios were affected — because only two movies were shooting in Los Angeles at the time.

Local officials said Los Angeles was losing productions to other nations and other states, including Georgia and New Mexico, which have wooed them with generous tax incentives. A survey by the The New York Times last year found that 38 states offer such incentives, and have spent more than $25 billion attracting productions over the past two decades. Most economists consider such subsidies a poor investment for states, but the programs continue to be popular with legislatures and studios, and have lured many productions from Los Angeles.

“More and more jurisdictions have come online to compete and take business away from L.A. and the U.S., and they’re broadening what’s eligible for those credits or refunds,” said Paul Audley, the president of FilmLA.

While Los Angeles County had 35 percent of the nation’s film and television jobs before the 2023 strikes, its share dropped to 27 percent afterward, according to a recent report from Otis College of Art and Design.

California has its own tax credit program, which offers $330 million a year in incentives, but state and local officials say that is not enough to remain competitive. In October, Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed more than doubling the funding to $750 million annually.

Colleen Bell, the state’s film commissioner, said that expanding the credit was essential, and that she often had to turn away projects because the program was oversubscribed.

“The truth is, people want to shoot in California,” she said. “I hear this over and over and over again, the depth and talent of our crews, our equipment, innovation, our infrastructure.”

Image

A sign on the side of a street says “Writers Guild of America on Strike.”

The film and television industry had been diminished even before the fires, after the pandemic and then the strikes halted production amid a rapidly changing entertainment landscape.Credit...Stella Kalinina for The New York Times

Last week thousands of people in the entertainment industry signed the #StayinLA petition, calling for uncapping the state’s tax incentive program for the next three years for projects that shoot in Los Angeles County, and calling on studios and streamers to pledge to increase local production by at least 10 percent during that period.

This month the Los Angeles City Council approved a $1 billion project to build and enhance sound stages and production facilities at the Television City complex at Beverly Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue. Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles, who supports increasing the state tax credit, is planning to meet this week with a council of entertainment industry leaders to discuss keeping more productions local.

But many workers in the industry who have seen jobs dry up say they now face a choice: keep hanging on in the hopes that things turn around, or try something new. And those who lost their homes in the fires could be forced to decide soon.

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, which represents a wide range of professionals including makeup artists, set decorators and animal wranglers, said that at the peak of the crisis, 8,100 of its members were in evacuation zones. At least 300 lost their homes. “Pretty devastating,” said Michael Miller, a union vice president.

Marco Cordero, 42, a director of photography, was among the workers stressed by the shrinking job market even before his home in Altadena was destroyed.

“We all know so many people that haven’t worked a very long time, that are either leaving the industry, considering doing so or moving somewhere else, where the cost of living is lower,” he said, “because the amount of work that was here to support them isn’t here anymore.”

Adrienne McDonnell, 46, a makeup and special effects artist, and her husband, BJ McDonnell, 49, a director and camera operator, lost their house in the Sunset Mesa neighborhood of Malibu.

“Everybody was starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel,” she said. “Negotiations are done, the strikes are done. Newsom is going to finance some incentives for us to get filming back here. We were all hopeful — and then this happens.”

The loss of so many homes and the skyrocketing cost of housing in the region could be the last straw that pushes some workers out of the state, or even the industry.

But nearly a dozen members of the film and television industry who lost their homes said in interviews that they plan, at least for now, to stay and rebuild.

Many said they have been overwhelmed by the support they received. When Olivia Newman, the director of the upcoming film “Remarkably Bright Creatures,” lost her home in the Eaton fire, Netflix set her family up in a home in Vancouver, British Columbia, where the movie is being made.

Unions set up pop-up donation centers with everything from basic supplies to opportunities to meet with emergency resource officials. Fire victims said it had become clear their support system was in Los Angeles.

Image

BJ McDonnell, a director and camera operator, and Adrienne McDonnell, a makeup and special effects artist, lost their house.Credit...Alex Welsh for The New York Times

Image

The McDonnells were able to save their rabbits Lola and Bun Bunz when they evacuated during the Palisades fire.Credit...Alex Welsh for The New York Times

Others worry that they may not be able to afford to leave, if their insurance is not enough to pay off their mortgages, or if doing so would leave them with no savings. Some said their losses had granted them a moment to contemplate what they wanted their futures to look like.

“Is this our get-out-of-jail-free card?,” the cinematographer Gabriel Patay, 40, said he wondered after he and his wife, a documentary producer, lost the home they spent nine years restoring.

“We are tied to this property, we are stuck in L.A.,” he has thought. “Should we leave?”

Patay is cleareyed that his insurance will not cover the cost of rebuilding. He and his wife are looking into mortgage deferment and recently applied for hardship status with their bank.

Job opportunities have not been robust either. Patay recently finished work on a documentary for Hulu, but described current job prospects as “bleak.” Now the couple is considering rebuilding their home, slowly over time, if they can somehow make the economics work.

Some have rethought their futures in other ways.

Madeline Power, a 32-year-old producer, had been just about ready to leave Los Angeles before the diaster.

With no work, the past 12 months had been “the worst financial year of my life,” she said, noting that she took odd jobs babysitting and cleaning. She felt, at times, like the city itself was rejecting her.

Then her house burned down. She found purpose using her skills as a producer to help raise money for her neighbors, and when people heard of her situation, some came to her with job leads. Now she, too, has $30,000 in donations — more money than she says she has ever had.

There is no question in Power’s mind. She is staying.

“L.A. caught me,” she said. “L.A. came and just showed up.”

John Koblin contributed reporting from New York and Alyce McFadden from Los Angeles.

Nicole Sperling covers Hollywood and the streaming industry. She has been a reporter for more than two decades. More about Nicole Sperling

Matt Stevens writes about arts and culture news for The Times. More about Matt Stevens

A version of this article appears in print on Jan. 27, 2025, Section C, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: Amid Crises, Hollywood Ponders Its Future. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

See more on: Governor Gavin Newsom, Karen Bass

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/26/movies/los-angeles-wildfires-hollywood-production.html

Pope Francis at 9/11 memorial: ‘We can never forget them’

Catherine E. Shoichet

By Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN

4 minute read

Updated 7:42 PM EDT, Fri September 25, 2015

New York

CNN

—

He calls his church a field hospital for the spiritually wounded. And on Friday, Pope Francis spoke to hundreds who are still trying to heal.

Praying with families of victims of the September 11 attacks at a ground zero memorial and speaking at an interfaith service, Francis offered a message of hope at a place of horror.

“The name of so many loved ones are written around the towers’ footprints. We can see them, we can touch them, and we can never forget them,” Francis said.

“Here, amid pain and grief, we also have a palpable sense of the heroic goodness which people are capable of. … Hands reached out, lives were given.

“This place of death became a place of life, too, a place of saved lives, a hymn to the triumph of life over the prophets of destruction and death, to goodness over evil, to reconciliation and unity over hatred and division,” Francis said.

On Friday, his first full day in New York and his fourth day in the United States, Francis spoke at the UN General Assembly, sang with children at a school in Harlem, rumbled through Central Park in his Popemobile and celebrated a Mass with thousands of Catholics at Madison Square Garden.

His visit to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum was billed as a moment to pause and reflect in a day packed with large events in the public eye.

‘This really is the beginning’

At a place that’s often the site of somber memorials, the arrival of Pope Francis brought a chorus of cheers and chants.

Outside the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, about 1,000 family members of victims of the 2001 terror attack greeted the Pope.

Standing steps away from where their relatives perished, they lined up along guard railings to catch a glimpse of Francis.

Some got the chance to talk with him one-on-one. Others watched from behind barriers, trying to catch his attention.

A man shouted: “Francisco! Our whole family’s here! A blessing, please!”

It wasn’t long before the crowd joined him: “Our blessing, please! Francisco! Francisco! Francisco!”

Nixia Mena-Alexis held a bouquet of yellow roses in one hand and wore a photograph of her sister pinned to her shirt.

The flowers, she said, symbolize the Catholic Church – and hope. She said she hoped to give some to the Pope and place some beside her sister’s name – one of thousands surrounding the reflecting pools at the memorial.

Diarelia Mena worked in IT for Cantor Fitzgerald. She had just turned 30 and had a 2-year-old daughter when she was killed on September 11.

“She was full of life and her laughter was contagious,” her sister said as her eyes filled with tears.

The lifelong Catholic said coming here fills her with a mix of emotions. But Mena-Alexis knew she wanted to be here when the Pope came.

“To me, he symbolizes peace, and that’s part of what we’re striving for after what happened here,” she said. “This is sacred ground, so I wanted to be present when he came.”

Jean Colaio, 50, lost her two brothers on 9/11. Both worked at Cantor Fitzgerald.

Being in the Pope’s presence, she said, will help heal her family.

“We were here on that day and witnessed everything and evacuated. We had our horrible experience here,” Colaio said. “And this really is the beginning. We’ve been working on our healing. But I think this really has propelled it.

“I feel close and connected to my brothers because he’s here.”

Marjorie Kane, whose father was killed on 9/11, said she felt differently after seeing the Pope than she ever had at the site.

“It’s honestly the first time I can recall being on this ground and feeling this peace and calm,” she said. “I’m usually full of such sorrow and such sadness coming here.”

Papal power

It wasn’t just Catholics who said they were inspired by the Pope’s message.

Dr. Gunisha Kaur, who offered a Sikh prayer onstage at the ceremony, is pregnant and asked the Pope to bless her baby.

Onstage, before the crowd, he placed his hand on her belly.

“That is the power of this pope, that he means something to all religions,” her husband, Simran Jeet Singh, said after the service.

Kaur said she was moved by Francis – and all the faiths that were part of the program.

“During prayers that were in languages that I don’t know, I I found myself singing along,” she said. “It really felt like we were all there praying together.”

https://www.cnn.com/2015/09/25/us/pope-francis-united-nations-friday/index.html

A Look at the Museum’s Memorial Hall

“No Day Shall Erase You From the Memory of Time.”

This quote from Book IX of "The Aeneid" by the Roman poet Virgil suggests the transformative potential of remembrance and is indicative of the museum’s mission to honor and remember the victims of the attacks of September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993. Each letter was forged from pieces of recovered World Trade Center steel by New Mexico artist Tom Joyce.These words are part of a larger art installation in the 9/11 Memorial Museum created in 2014 by artist Spencer Finch, titled “Trying to Remember the Color of the Sky on That September Morning.” The installation is the focal point for Memorial Hall, the area between the two main exhibitions at bedrock in the museum.Every one of the 2,983 watercolor squares is its own shade of blue – one for each of the 2001 and 1993 attack victims – and the artwork as a whole revolves around the idea of memory. Our own perception of the color blue might not be the same as that of another person. But, just like our perception of color, our memories share a common point of reference.By Jordan Friedman, 9/11 Memorial Research and Digital Projects Associate "

A Look at the Museum’s Memorial Hall | National September 11 Memorial & Museum (911memorial.org)

https://www.911memorial.org/connect/blog/look-museums-memorial-hall

Rosicrucianism is a theosophy advanced by an invisible order of spiritual knights who in spreading Christian Hermeticism, Kabbalah, and Gnosis seek to enliven and to preserve the memory of Divine Wisdom, understood as a feminine flame of love called Sofia or Shekhinah, exoterically given as a fresh unfolded rose, yet, more akin to the BLUE fire of alchemy, the BLUE virgin. Rosicrucians have no organisation and there are no recognizable Rosicrucian individuals, but the order makes its presence known by leaving behind engrammatic writings in the genre of Hermetic-Platonic Christianity.1 The historical roots of Hermeticism is to be located in Ancient Egypt. Long before the rise of Christianity, Hermetic texts were structured around the belief that organisms contain sparks of a Divine mind unto which they each strive to attend. Things easily transform into others, thereby generating certain cyclical patterns, cycles that periodically renew themselves on a cosmic scale. These transformations of life and death were enacted in the Hermetic Mysteries in Ancient Egypt through the gods Isis, Horus, and Osiris. In the Alexandrian period these myths were reshaped into Hermetic discourses on the transformations of the self with Thot, the scribal god. These discourses were introduced in the west in 1474 when Marsilio Ficino translated the Hermetic Pimander from the Greek. The story of Christian Rosencreutz can be seen as a new version of these mysteries, specifically tempered by German Paracelsian philosophy on the Lion of the darkest night, a biblical icon for how the higher self lies slumbering in consciousness.2" Rose Cross Over The Baltic by Suzanne Ackerman

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vWI_uTVg5lzNCDm16itq-PLSavozNR_F/view?usp=sharing

The Sphere (officially Große Kugelkaryatide N.Y., also known as Sphere at Plaza Fountain, WTC Sphere or Koenig Sphere) is a monumental cast bronze sculpture by German artist Fritz Koenig (1924–2017).[2]

The world's largest bronze sculpture of modern times stood between the Twin Towers on the Austin J. Tobin Plaza of the World Trade Center in New York City from 1972 until the September 11 attacks. The work, weighing more than 20 tons, was the only remaining work of art to be recovered largely intact from the ruins of the collapsed Twin Towers. After being dismantled and stored near a hangar at John F. Kennedy International Airport, the sculpture was the subject of the 2001 documentary Koenig's Sphere. Since then, the bronze sphere has become a memorial for the attacks.

The sculpture was installed in Battery Park between 2002 and 2017, when the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey moved it to Liberty Park, overlooking the September 11 Memorial and its original location.[2] The sculpture, rededicated at its permanent location on August 16, 2017, has been kept in the badly damaged condition it was found in after the September 11 attacks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sphere

Social Park USA

November 15 at 9:11 AM

The Sphere and the North Tower 🇺🇸

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid02Ggy86MmsLCbJAubHGqxADhb5N4Au3hWPsHkTKjXqKuZbsb2wuZGWHHutJUST59r3l&id=61555655113607

Ignatius Loyola, a Catholic Priest, theologian and founder of the Jesuit Order of the Catholic Church in the 16th Century, said, among his many inspiring sayings, “Go forth and set the world on fire."

Fire as the agent of Truth

Asha Vahishta is closely associated with fire. Fire is "grandly conceived as a force informing all the other Amesha Spentas, giving them warmth and the spark of life."[27] In Yasht 17.20, Angra Mainyu clamours that Zoroaster burns him with Asha Vahishta. In Vendidad 4.54-55, speaking against the truth and violating the sanctity of promise is detected by the consumption of "water, blazing, of golden color, having the power to detect guilt."

This analogy of truth that burns and detecting truth through fire is already attested in the very earliest texts, that is, in the Gathas and in the Yasna Haptanghaiti. In Yasna 43–44, Ahura Mazda dispenses justice through radiance of His fire and the strength of aṣ̌a. Fire "detects" sinners "by hand-grasping" (Yasna 34.4). An individual who has passed the fiery test (garmo-varah, ordeal by heat), has attained physical and spiritual strength, wisdom, truth and love with serenity (Yasna 30.7). Altogether, "there are said to have been some 30 kinds of fiery tests in all."[28] According to the post-Sassanid Dadestan i denig (I.31.10), at the final judgement a river of molten metal will cover the earth. The righteous, as they wade through this river, will perceive the molten metal as a bath of warm milk. The wicked will be scorched. For details on aṣ̌a's role in personal and final judgement, see aṣ̌a in eschatology, below.

Fire is moreover the "auxiliary of the truth," "and not only, as in the ordeal, of justice and of truth at the same time."[11] In Yasna 31.19, "the man who thinks of aṣ̌a, [...] who uses his tongue in order to speak correctly, [does so] with the aid of brilliant fire". In Yasna 34-44 devotees "ardently desire [Mazda's] mighty fire, through aṣ̌a." In Yasna 43–44, Ahura Mazda "shall come to [Zoroaster] through the splendour of [Mazda's] fire, possessing the strength of (through) aṣ̌a and good mind (=Vohu Manah)." That fire "possesses strength through aṣ̌a" is repeated again in Yasna 43.4. In Yasna 43.9, Zoroaster, wishing to serve fire, gives his attention to aṣ̌a. In Yasna 37.1, in a list of what are otherwise all physical creations, aṣ̌a takes the place of fire.

Asha Vahishta's association with atar is carried forward in the post-Gathic texts, and they are often mentioned together. In Zoroastrian cosmogony, each of the Amesha Spentas represents one aspect of creation and one of seven primordial elements that in Zoroastrian tradition are the basis of that creation. In this matrix, aṣ̌a/arta is the origin of fire, Avestan atar, which permeates through all Creation. The correspondence then is that aṣ̌a/arta "penetrates all ethical life, as fire penetrates all physical being."[12]

In the liturgy Asha Vahishta is frequently invoked together with fire. (Yasna l.4, 2.4, 3.6, 4.9, 6.3, 7.6, 17.3, 22.6, 59.3, 62.3 etc.). In one passage, fire is a protector of aṣ̌a: "when the Evil Spirit assailed the creation of Good Truth, Good Thought and Fire intervened" (Yasht 13.77)

In later Zoroastrian tradition, Asha Vahishta is still at times identified with the fire of the household hearth.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asha

CHAPTER THE NINTH.

FIRE-THEOSOPHY OF THE PERSIANS

THE Fire-Philosophers, or Philosophi per ignem, were a fanatical sect of philosophers, who appeared towards the close of the sixteenth century. They made a figure in almost all the countries of Europe. They delcared that the intimate essences of natural things were only to be known by the trying efforts of fire, directed in a chemical process. The Theosophists also insisted that human reason was a dangerous and deceitful guide; that no real progress could be made in knowledge or in religion by it; and that to all vital—that is, supernatural—purpose it was a vain thing. They taught that divine and supernatural illumination was the only means of arriving at truth. Their name of Paracelsists was derived from Paracelsus, the eminent physician and chemist, who was the chief ornament of this extraordinary sect. In England, Robert Flood, or Fludd, was their great advocate and exponent. Rivier, who wrong in France; Severinus, an author of Denmark; Kunrath, an eminent phyisican of Dresden; and Daniel Hoffmann, professor of divinity in the University of Helmstadt,—have also treated largely on Paracelsus and on his system.

Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Paracelsus was born in 1493, at Einsiedeln, a small town of the canton of Schwitz, distant some leagues from Zurich. Having passed a troubled, migratory, and changeful life, this great chemist, and very original thinker, died on the 24th of September 1541, in the Hospital of St. Stephen, in the forty-eighth year of his age. His works may be enumerated as follow:

The German editions: Basil, 1575, in 8vo; Ib. i, 1589-90, in 10 vols. 4to; and Strasbourg, 1603-18, in 4 vols. folio.

2. The Latin editions : Opera omnia Medico-chymico-chirurgica, Frankfort, 1603, in 10 vols. 4to; and Geneva, 1658, in 3 vols. folio. 3.

The French editions : La Grand Chirurgerie de Paracelse, Lyons, 1593 and 1603, in 4to; and Montbeliard, 1608, in 8vo. See Adelung, Histoire de la Folie Humaine, tom. vii.; Biographie Universelle, article “Paracelse;” and Sprengel, Histoire Pragmatique de la Médecine, tom. iii.

“Akin to the school of the ancient Fire-Believers, and of the magnetists of a later period,” says the learned Dr. Ennemoser, in his History of Magic (most ably rendered into English by William Howitt), “of the same cast as these speculators and searchers into the mysteries of nature, drawing from the same well, are the Theosophists of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. These practised chemistry, by which they asserted that they could explore the profoundest secrets of nature. As they strove, above all earthly knowledge, after the divine, and sought the divine light and fire, through which all men can acquire the true wisdom, they were called the Fire-Philosophers (philosophi per ignem). The most distinguished of these are Theophrastus Paracelsus, Adam von Boden, Oswald Croll; and, later, Valentine Weigel, Robert Flood, or Fludd, Jacob Bohmen, Peter Poiret, &c.” Under this head we may also refer to the Medico-surgical Essays of Hemmann, published at Berlin in 1778; and Pfaff’s Astrology.

As a great general principle, the Theosophists called the soul a fire, taken from the eternal ocean of light.

In regard to the supernatural—using the word in its widest sense it may be said that “all the difficulty in admitting the strange things told us lies in the non-admission of an internal causal world as absolutely real: it is said, in intellectually admitting, because the influence of the arts proves that men’s feelings always have admitted, and do still admit, this reality.”

The Platonic philosophy of vision is, that it is the view of objects really existing in interior light, which assume form, not according to arbitrary laws, but according to the state of mind. This interior light, if we understand Plato, unites with exterior light in the eye, and is thus drawn into a sensual or imaginative activity; but when the outward light is separated, it reposes in its own serene atmosphere. It is, then, in this state of interior repose, that the usual class of religious, or what are called inspired, visions occur. It is the same light of eternity so frequently alluded to in books that treat of mysterious subjects; the light revealed to Pimander, Zoroaster, and all the sages of the East, as the emanation of the spiritual sun. Bohmen writes of it in his Divine Vision or Contemplation, and Molinos in his Spiritual Guide,—whose work is the ground of Quietism: Quietism being the foundation of the religion of the people called Friends or Quakers, as also of the other mystic or meditative sects. We enlarge from a very learned, candid, and instructive book upon the Occult Sciences.

Regard Fire, then, with other eyes than with those soulless, incurious ones, with which thou hast looked upon it as the most ordinary thing. Thou hast forgotten what it is— or rather thou hast never known. Chemists are silent about it; or, may we not say that it is too loud for them?

Therefore shall they speak fearfully of it in whispers. Philosophers talk of it as anatomists discourse of the constituents (or the parts) of the human body—as a piece of mechanism, wondrous though it be. Such the wheels of the clock, say they in their ingenious expounding of the “whys” and the “wherefores” (and the mechanics and the mathematics) of this mysterious thing, with a supernatural soul in it, called world. Such is the chain, such are the balances, such the larger and the smaller mechanical forces; such the “Time-blood,” as it were, that is sent circulating through it; such is the striking, with an infinity of bells.

It is made for man, this world, and it is greatly like him that is mean, they would add. And they do think it, if they dare add their thinkings. But is this all? Is this the sum of that casketed lamp of the human body?—thine own body, thou unthinking world's machin —thou Man! Or, in the fabric of this clay lamp (lacquered in thy man’s Imperial splendours), burneth there not a Light? Describe that, ye Doctors of Physics! Unwind the starry limbs of that phenomenon, ye heavy-browed, doctorial wielders of the scalpel!—useful, however, as ye be, in that “upholstery warehouse” of nature to which bodies and their make be referred by the materialists as the godless origin of everything.

Touch at its heart, ye dissectors of fibres and of valves; of sinews and of leaves (hands, perchance); of the vein-work, of the muscles, as bark-integument; of the trunk!

Split and pare, as with steel tools and wedge, this portent —this “Tree” (human though it be),—round which ye cluster to examine, about which ye gather, with your “persuasions,” to wind into the innermost secret of. Cyclops— one-eyed and savage-break into meaning this portent, Man, on your science-wheels!

Note the goings of the Fire, as he creepeth, serpentineth, riseth, slinketh, broadeneth. Note him reddening, glowing, whitening. Tremble at his face, dilating; at the meaning that is growing into it, to you. See that spark from the blacksmith's anvil!—struck, as an insect, out of a sky containing a whole cloud of such. Rare locusts, of which Pharaoh and the Cities of the Plain read of old the secret!

One, two, three sparks;—dozens come:—faster and faster the fiery squadrons follow, until, in a short while, a whole possible army of that hungry thing for battle, for food for it —Fire—glances up; but is soon warned in again!—lest acres should glow in the growing advance. Think that this thing is bound as in matter-chains. Think that He is outside of all things, and deep in the inside of all things ; and that thou and thy world are only the thing between: and that outside and inside are both identical, couldst thou understand the supernatural truths! Reverence Fire (for its meaning), and tremble at it; though in the Earth it be chained, and the foot of the Archangel Michael—like upon the Dragon—be upon it! Avert the face from it, as the Magi turned, dreading, and (as the Symbol) before it bowed askance. So much for this great thing—Fire !

Observe the multiform shapes of fire; the name-wreaths, the spires, the stars, the spots, the cascades, and the mighty falls of it; where the roar, when it grows high in Imperial masterdom, is as that of Niagara. Think what it can do, what it is. Watch the trail of sparks, struck, as in that spouting arch, from the metal shoes of the trampling horse.

It is as a letter of the great alphabet. The familiar London streets, even, can give thee the Persian’s God: though in thy pleasures, and in thy commerce-operations, thou so oft forgettest thine own God.

Whence liberated are those sparks?—as stars, afar off, of a whole sky of flame;—sparks, deep down in possibility, though close to us —great in their meaning, though, small in their show;—as distant single ships of whole fiery fleets;—animate children of, in thy human conception, a dreadful, but, in reality, a great world, of which thou knowest nothing. They fall, foodless, on the rejecting, barren, and (on the outside) the coldest stone.

But in each stone, flinty and chilly as the outside is, is a heart of fire, to strike at which is to bid gush forth the waters, as it were, of very Fire, like waters of the rock!

Truly, out of sparks can be displayed a whole acreage of fireworks. Forests can be conceived of flame-palaces of the fire; grandest things—soul-things—last things—all things!

Wonder no longer, then, if, rejected so long as an idolatry, the ancient Persians, and their masters the Magi,—concluding that they saw “All” in this supernaturally magnificent element,—fell down and worshipped it; making of it the visible representation of the very truest; but yet, in man’s speculation, and in his philosophies,—nay, in his commonest reason,—impossible God: God being everywhere, and in us, and, indeed, us, in the God-lighted man; and impossible to be contemplated or known outside,—being All!

Lights and flames, and the torches, as it were, of fire (all fire in this world, the last background on which all things are painted), may be considered as “lancets” of another world—the last world: circles, enclosed by the thick walls (which, however, by the fire are kept from closing) of this world. As fire waves and brandishes, will the walls of this world wave, and, as it were, undulate from about it. In smoke and disruption, or combustion of matter, we witness a phenomenon of the burning as of the edges of the matterrings of this world, in which world is fire, like a spot: that dense and hard thing, matter, holding it in. Oxygen, which is the finest of air, and is the means of the quickest burning out, or the supernatural (in this world) exhilaration of animal life, or extenuation of the Solid; and, above all, the heightening of the capacity of the Human, as being the quintessence of matter: this oxygen is the thing which feeds fire the most overwhelming. Nor would the specks and spots and stars of fire stop in this dense world-medium,—in this tissue or sea of things,—could it farther and farther fasten upon and devour the solids: eating, as it were, through them. But as this thick world is a thing the thickest, it presses out, thrusts, or gravitates upon, and stifles, in its too great weight; and conquers not only that liveliest, subtlest, thinnest element of the solids, the finest air, by whatever chemical name—oxygen, azote, azone, or what not—it may be called; which, in fact, is merely the nomenclature of its composition, the naming of the ingredients which make the thing (but not the thing). The denseness of the world not only conquers this, we repeat; but, so to figure it, matter stamps upon, effaces, and treads out fire: which, else, would burn on, back, as in the beginning of things, or into itself, —consuming, as in its great revenge of any thing being created other than it, all the mighty worlds which, in Creation, were permitted out of it. This is the teaching of the ancient Fire-Philosophers (reestablished and restored, to the days of comprehension of them, in the conclusions of the Rosicrucians, or llluminati, of later times), who claimed to have discovered the Eternal Fire, or to have found out “God” in the “Immortal Light.”

There are all grades or gradations of the density of matter; but it all coheres by the one law of gravitation.

Now, this gravitation is mistaken for a force of itself, when it is nothing but the sympathy, or the taking, away of the supposed thing between two other things. It is sympathy (or appetite) seeking its food, or as the closing together of two like things. It is not because one mass of matter is more ponderable or attracting than another (out of our senses, and in reality), but that they are the same, with different amounts of affection, and that like seeks like, not recognising or knowing that between. Now, this thing which is, as it were, slipped between, and which we strike into show of itself, or into fire-surprised and driven out of its ambush—is Fire. It is as the letter by which matter spells itself out—so to speak.

Now, matter is only to be finally forced asunder by heat; flame being the bright, subtle something which comes last, and is the expansion, fruit, crown, or glory of heat: it is the vivid and visible soul, essence, and spirit of heat—the last evolvement before rending, and before the forcible closing again of all the centre speeding weights, or desires, of matter. Flame is as the expanding out (or even exploding) flower to this growing thing, heat: it is as the bubble of it—the fruit (to which before we have likened it), or seed, in the outside Hand upon it. Given the supernatural Flora, heat is as the gorgeous plant, and flame the glorying flower; and as growth is greater out of the greater matrix, or matter of growing, so the thicker the material of fire (as we may roughly figure it, though we hope we shall be understood), so the stronger shall the fire be, and of necessity the fiercer will it be perceived to be—result being according to power.

Thus we get more of fire—that is, heat—out of the hard things: there being more of the thing Fire in them.

Trituration, mechanical division, multiplication, cutting up, precipitating, or compounding, are states into which the forces outside can place matter, without searching into and securing its bond, and gathering up (into hand off it) its chains, and mastering it. These changes can be wrought in matter, and, as it were, it can be taken in pieces; and all this dissolution of it may be effected without our getting as at the fire-blood of our subject.

But Fire disjoints, as it were, all the hinges of the house —laps out the coherence of it—sets ablaze the dense thing, matter—makes the dark metals run like waters of light— conjures the black devils out of the minerals, and, to our astonishment, shows them much libelled, blinding, angel white!

By Fire we can lay our hand upon the solids, part them, powder them, melt them, fine them, drive them out to more and more delicate and impalpable texture—firing their invisible molecules, or imponderables, into cloud, into mist, into gas: out of touch, into hearing; out of hearing, into seeing; out of seeing, into smelling; out of smelling, into nothing—into real NOTHING—not even into the last blue sky. These are the potent operations of Fire—the crucible into which we can cast all the worlds, and find them, in their last evolution, not even smoke. These are physical and scientific facts which there can be no gainsaying— which were seen and found out long ago, ages ago, in the reveries first, and then in the practice, of the great Magnetists, and those who were called the Fire-Philosophers, of whom we have spoken before.

What is that mysterious and inscrutable operation, the striking fire from flint? Familiar as it is, who remarks it?

Where, in that hardest, closest pressing together of matter —where the granulation compresses, shining even in its hardness, into the solidest lamince. of cold, darkest blue, and streaky, core-like, agate resembling white—lie the seeds of fire, spiritual flame-seeds to the so stony fruit? In what folds of the flint, in the block of it-in what invisible recess —speckled and spotted in what tissue—crouch the fire sparks?— to issue, in showers, on the stroke of iron—on the so sudden clattering (as of the crowbars of man) on its stony doors: Stone caving the thing Fire, unseen, as its sepulchre; Stroke warning the magical thing forth. Whence comes that trail of fire from the cold bosom of the hard, secret, unexploding flint?—children as from what hard, rocky breast; yet hiding its so sacred, sudden fire birth!

Who —and what science-philosopher —can explain this wondrous darting forth of the hidden something, which he shall try in vain to arrest, but which, like a spirit, escapes him? If we ask what fire is, of the men of science, they are at fault. They will tell us that it is a phenomenon, that their vocabularies can give no further account of it. They will explain to us that all that can be said of it is, that it is a last affection of matter, to the results of which (in the world of man) they can only testify, but of whose coming and of whose going—of the place from which it comes, and the whereabout to which it goeth—they are entirely ignorant, —and would give a world to know!

The foregoing—however feebly expressed—are the views of the famous Rosicrucians* respecting the nature of this supposed familiar, but yet puzzling, thing—Fire.

We will proceed to some of their further mystic reveries.

They are very singular.

But the consideration of these is exceedingly abstract and difficult. The whole subject is abstruse in the highest

degree.

* In regard to the singular name of the Rosicrucians, it may be here

stated that the Chemists, according to their arcana, derive the Dew

from the Latin Ros, and in the figure of a cross (+) they trace the

three letters which compose the word Lux, Light. Mosheim is positive as to the accuracy of his information."

The Rosicrucians Their Rites and Mysteries

by Hargrave Jennings

https://dn790005.ca.archive.org/0/items/rosicruciansthei00jenn/rosicruciansthei00jenn.pdf

Inferno (Italian: [iɱˈfɛrno]; Italian for 'Hell') is the first part of Italian writer Dante Alighieri's 14th-century narrative poem The Divine Comedy, followed by Purgatorio and Paradiso. The Inferno describes the journey of a fictionalised version of Dante himself through Hell, guided by the ancient Roman poet Virgil. In the poem, Hell is depicted as nine concentric circles of torment located within the Earth; it is the "realm [...] of those who have rejected spiritual values by yielding to bestial appetites or violence, or by perverting their human intellect to fraud or malice against their fellowmen".[1] As an allegory, the Divine Comedy represents the journey of the soul toward God, with the Inferno describing the recognition and rejection of sin.[2]

Prelude to Hell

Canto I

Gustave Doré's engravings illustrated the Divine Comedy (1861–1868). Here, Dante is lost at the start of Canto I of the Inferno.

The poem begins on the night of Maundy Thursday on March 24 (or April 7), 1300, shortly before the dawn of Good Friday.[3][4] The narrator, Dante himself, is 35 years old, and thus "midway in the journey of our life" (Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita)[5] – half of the biblical lifespan of 70 (Psalm 89:10 in the Vulgate; numbered as Psalm 90:10 in the King James Bible). The poet finds himself lost in a dark wood (selva oscura),[6] astray from the "straight way" (diritta via,[7] also translatable as 'right way') of salvation. He sets out to climb directly up a small mountain, but his way is blocked by three beasts he cannot evade: a lonza[8] (usually rendered as 'leopard' or 'leopon'),[9] a leone[10] (lion), and a lupa[11] (she-wolf). The three beasts, taken from Jeremiah 5:6,[12] are thought to symbolize the three kinds of sin that bring the unrepentant soul into one of the three major divisions of Hell. According to John Ciardi, these are incontinence (the she-wolf); violence and bestiality (the lion); and fraud and malice (the leopard).[13]

It is now dawn of Good Friday, April 8, with the sun rising in Aries. The beasts drive him back despairing into the darkness of error, a "lower place" (basso loco)[14] where the sun is silent (l sol tace).[15] However, Dante is rescued by a figure who announces that he was born sub Iulio[16] (i.e., in the time of Julius Caesar) and lived under Augustus: it is the shade of the Roman poet Virgil, author of the Aeneid, a Latin epic which also featured a journey through the underworld.

Canto II

On the evening of Good Friday, Dante hesitates as he follows Virgil; Virgil explains that he has been sent by Beatrice, the symbol of Divine Love. Beatrice had been moved to aid Dante by the Virgin Mary (symbolic of compassion) and Saint Lucia (symbolic of illuminating Grace). Rachel, symbolic of the contemplative life, also appears in the heavenly scene recounted by Virgil. The two of them then begin their journey to the underworld. Feeling uncertain of his worthiness for the journey, Dante reflects on the paths of Aeneas and Paul, who were granted access to the realms of the afterlife, and doubts his own capability to undertake such a passage (Inf. 2.10-36).

Canto III: Vestibule of Hell

Dante passes through the gate of Hell, which bears an inscription ending with the phrase "Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate",[17] most frequently translated as "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here".[nb 1] Dante and his guide hear the anguished screams of the Uncommitted. These are the souls of people who in life took no sides; the opportunists who were for neither good nor evil, but instead were merely concerned with themselves. Among these Dante recognises a figure who made the "great refusal", implied to be Pope Celestine V, whose "cowardice (in selfish terror for his own welfare) served as the door through which so much evil entered the Church".[18] Mixed with them are outcasts who took no side in the Rebellion of Angels. These souls are forever unclassified; they are neither in Hell nor out of it, but reside on the shores of the Acheron. Naked and futile, they race around through the mist in eternal pursuit of an elusive, wavering banner (symbolic of their pursuit of ever-shifting self-interest) while relentlessly chased by swarms of wasps and hornets, who continually sting them.[19] Loathsome maggots and worms at the sinners' feet drink the putrid mixture of blood, pus, and tears that flows down their bodies, symbolising the sting of their guilty conscience and the repugnance of sin. This may also be seen as a reflection of the spiritual stagnation in which they lived.

Gustave Doré's illustration of Canto III: Arrival of Charon

After passing through the vestibule, Dante and Virgil reach the ferry that will take them across the river Acheron and to Hell proper. The ferry is piloted by Charon, who does not want to let Dante enter, for he is a living being. Virgil forces Charon to take him by declaring, Vuolsi così colà dove si puote / ciò che si vuole ("It is so willed there where is power to do / That which is willed"),[20] referring to the fact that Dante is on his journey on divine grounds. The wailing and blasphemy of the damned souls entering Charon's boat contrast with the joyful singing of the blessed souls arriving by ferry in the Purgatorio. The passage across the Acheron, however, is undescribed, since Dante faints and does not awaken until they reach the other side.

Nine circles of Hell

Overview

Virgil proceeds to guide Dante through the nine circles of Hell. The circles are concentric, representing a gradual increase in wickedness, and culminating at the centre of the earth, where Satan is held in bondage. The sinners of each circle are punished for eternity in a fashion fitting their crimes: each punishment is a contrapasso, a symbolic instance of poetic justice. For example, later in the poem, Dante and Virgil encounter fortune-tellers who must walk forward with their heads on backward, unable to see what is ahead, because they tried to see the future through forbidden means. Such a contrapasso "functions not merely as a form of divine revenge, but rather as the fulfilment of a destiny freely chosen by each soul during his or her life".[21] People who sinned, but prayed for forgiveness before their deaths are found not in Hell but in Purgatory, where they labour to become free of their sins. Those in Hell are people who tried to justify their sins and are unrepentant.

The Map of Hell painting by Sandro Botticelli, among the extant ninety-two drawings originally included in his illustrated manuscript of the poem

Dante's Hell is structurally based on the ideas of Aristotle, but with "certain Christian symbolisms, exceptions, and misconstructions of Aristotle's text",[22] and a further supplement from Cicero's De Officiis.[23] Virgil reminds Dante (the character) of "Those pages where the Ethics tells of three / Conditions contrary to Heaven's will and rule / Incontinence, vice, and brute bestiality".[24] Cicero, for his part, had divided sins between violence and fraud.[25] By conflating Cicero's violence with Aristotle's bestiality, and his fraud with malice or vice, Dante the poet obtained three major categories of sin, as symbolized by the three beasts that Dante encounters in Canto I: these are Incontinence, Violence/Bestiality, and Fraud/Malice.[22][26] Sinners punished for incontinence (also known as wantonness) – the lustful, the gluttonous, the hoarders and wasters, and the wrathful and sullen – all demonstrated weakness in controlling their appetites, desires, and natural urges; according to Aristotle's Ethics, incontinence is less condemnable than malice or bestiality, and therefore these sinners are located in four circles of Upper Hell (Circles 2–5). These sinners endure lesser torments than do those consigned to Lower Hell, located within the walls of the City of Dis, for committing acts of violence and fraud – the latter of which involves, as Dorothy L. Sayers writes, "abuse of the specifically human faculty of reason".[26] The deeper levels are organised into one circle for violence (Circle 7) and two circles for fraud (Circles 8 and 9). As a Christian, Dante adds Circle 1 (Limbo) to Upper Hell and Circle 6 (Heresy) to Lower Hell, making 9 Circles in total; incorporating the Vestibule of the Futile, this leads to Hell containing 10 main divisions.[26] This "9+1=10" structure is also found within the Purgatorio and Paradiso. Lower Hell is further subdivided: Circle 7 (Violence) is divided into three rings, Circle 8 (Fraud) is divided into ten bolge, and Circle 9 (Treachery) is divided into four regions. Thus, Hell contains 24 divisions in total.

First Circle (Limbo)

Main article: First circle of hell

The Harrowing of Hell, in a 14th-century illuminated manuscript, the Petites Heures de Jean de Berry

Canto IV

Dante awakens to find that he has crossed the Acheron, and Virgil leads him to the first circle of the abyss, Limbo, where Virgil himself resides. The first circle contains the unbaptised and the virtuous pagans, who, although not sinful enough to warrant damnation, did not accept Christ. Dorothy L. Sayers writes, "After those who refused choice come those without opportunity of choice. They could not, that is, choose Christ; they could, and did, choose human virtue, and for that they have their reward."[27] Limbo shares many characteristics with the Asphodel Meadows, and thus, the guiltless damned are punished by living in a deficient form of Heaven. Without baptism ("the portal of the faith that you embrace")[28] they lacked the hope for something greater than rational minds can conceive. When Dante asked if anyone has ever left Limbo, Virgil states that he saw Jesus ("a Mighty One") descend into Limbo and take Adam, Abel, Noah, Moses, Abraham, David, Rachel, and others (see Limbo of the Patriarchs) into his all-forgiving arms and transport them to Heaven as the first human souls to be saved. The event, known as the Harrowing of Hell, supposedly occurred around AD 33 or 34.

Dante encounters the poets Homer, Horace, Ovid, and Lucan, who include him in their number and make him "sixth in that high company".[29] They reach the base of a great Castle – the dwelling place of the wisest men of antiquity – surrounded by seven gates, and a flowing brook. After passing through the seven gates, the group comes to an exquisite green meadow and Dante encounters the inhabitants of the Citadel. These include figures associated with the Trojans and their descendants (the Romans): Electra (mother of Troy's founder Dardanus), Hector, Aeneas, Julius Caesar in his role as Roman general ("in his armor, falcon-eyed"),[30] Camilla, Penthesilea (Queen of the Amazons), King Latinus and his daughter, Lavinia, Lucius Junius Brutus (who overthrew Tarquin to found the Roman Republic), Lucretia, Julia, Marcia, and Cornelia Africana. Dante also sees Saladin, a Muslim military leader known for his battle against the Crusaders, as well as his generous, chivalrous, and merciful conduct.

Dante next encounters a group of philosophers, including Aristotle with Socrates and Plato at his side, as well as Democritus, "Diogenes" (either Diogenes the Cynic or Diogenes of Apollonia), Anaxagoras, Thales, Empedocles, Heraclitus, and "Zeno" (either Zeno of Elea or Zeno of Citium). He sees the scientist Dioscorides, the mythical Greek poets Orpheus and Linus, and Roman statesmen Marcus Tullius Cicero and Seneca. Dante sees the Alexandrian geometer Euclid and Ptolemy, the Alexandrian astronomer and geographer, as well as the physicians Hippocrates and Galen. He also encounters Avicenna, a Persian polymath, and Averroes, a medieval Andalusian polymath known for his commentaries on Aristotle's works. Dante and Virgil depart from the four other poets and continue their journey.

Although Dante implies that all virtuous non-Christians find themselves here, he later encounters two (Cato of Utica and Statius) in Purgatory and two (Trajan and Ripheus) in Heaven. In Purgatorio XXII, Virgil names several additional inhabitants of Limbo who were not mentioned in the Inferno.[31]

Second Circle (Lust)

Main article: Second circle of hell

Gustave Doré's depiction of Minos judging sinners at the start of Canto V

Canto V

Dante and Virgil leave Limbo and enter the Second Circle – the first of the circles of Incontinence – where the punishments of Hell proper begin. It is described as "a part where no thing gleams".[32] They find their way hindered by the serpentine Minos, who judges all of those condemned for active, deliberately willed sin to one of the lower circles. At this point in Inferno, every soul is required to confess all of their sins to Minos, after which Minos sentences each soul to its torment by wrapping his tail around himself a number of times corresponding to the circle of Hell to which the soul must go. The role of Minos here is a combination of his classical role as condemner and unjust judge of the underworld and the role of classical Rhadamanthus, interrogator and confessor of the underworld.[33] This mandatory confession makes it so every soul verbalises and sanctions their own ranking amongst the condemned since these confessions are the sole grounds for their placement in hell.[34] Dante is not forced to make this confession; instead, Virgil rebukes Minos, and he and Dante continue on.

In the second circle of Hell are those overcome by lust. These "carnal malefactors"[35] are condemned for allowing their appetites to sway their reason. These souls are buffeted back and forth by the terrible winds of a violent storm, without rest. This symbolises the power of lust to blow needlessly and aimlessly: "as the lovers drifted into self-indulgence and were carried away by their passions, so now they drift for ever. The bright, voluptuous sin is now seen as it is – a howling darkness of helpless discomfort."[36] Since lust involves mutual indulgence and is not, therefore, completely self-centred, Dante deems it the least heinous of the sins and its punishment is the most benign within Hell proper.[36][37] The "ruined slope"[38] in this circle is thought to be a reference to the earthquake that occurred after the death of Christ.[39]

Gianciotto Discovers Paolo and Francesca by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres

In this circle, Dante sees Semiramis, Dido, Cleopatra, Helen of Troy, Paris, Achilles, Tristan, and many others who were overcome by sexual love during their life. Due to the presence of so many rulers among the lustful, the fifth Canto of Inferno has been called the "canto of the queens".[40] Dante comes across Francesca da Rimini, who married the deformed Giovanni Malatesta (also known as "Gianciotto") for political purposes but fell in love with his younger brother Paolo Malatesta; the two began to carry on an adulterous affair. Sometime between 1283 and 1286, Giovanni surprised them together in Francesca's bedroom and violently stabbed them both to death. Francesca explains:

Love, which in gentlest hearts will soonest bloom

seized my lover with passion for that sweet body

from which I was torn unshriven to my doom.

Love, which permits no loved one not to love,

took me so strongly with delight in him

that we are one in Hell, as we were above.

Love led us to one death. In the depths of Hell

Caïna waits for him who took our lives."

This was the piteous tale they stopped to tell.[41]

Francesca further reports that she and Paolo yielded to their love when reading the story of the adultery between Lancelot and Guinevere in the Old French romance Lancelot du Lac. Francesca says, "Galeotto fu 'l libro e chi lo scrisse".[42] The word Galeotto means 'pander', but is also the Italian term for Gallehaut, who acted as an intermediary between Lancelot and Guinevere, encouraging them on to love. John Ciardi renders line 137 as "That book, and he who wrote it, was a pander."[43] Inspired by Dante, author Giovanni Boccaccio invoked the name Prencipe Galeotto in the alternative title to The Decameron, a 14th-century collection of novellas. Ultimately, Francesca never makes a full confession to Dante. Rather than admit to her and Paolo's sins, the very reasons they reside in this circle of hell, she consistently takes an erroneously passive role in the adulterous affair. The English poet John Keats, in his sonnet "On a Dream", imagines what Dante does not write, the point of view of Paolo:

... But to that second circle of sad hell,

Where 'mid the gust, the whirlwind, and the flaw

Of rain and hail-stones, lovers need not tell

Their sorrows. Pale were the sweet lips I saw,

Pale were the lips I kiss'd, and fair the form

I floated with, about that melancholy storm.[44]

As he did at the end of Canto III, Dante – overcome by pity and anguish – describes his swoon: "I fainted, as if I had met my death. / And then I fell as a dead body falls".[45]

Third Circle (Gluttony)

Main article: Third circle of hell

Cerberus as illustrated by Gustave Doré

Canto VI

In the third circle, the gluttonous wallow in a vile, putrid slush produced by a ceaseless, foul, icy rain – "a great storm of putrefaction"[46] – as punishment for subjecting their reason to a voracious appetite. Cerberus (described as il gran vermo, literally 'the great worm', line 22), the monstrous three-headed beast of Hell, ravenously guards the gluttons lying in the freezing mire, mauling and flaying them with his claws as they howl like dogs. Virgil obtains safe passage past the monster by filling its three mouths with mud.

Dorothy L. Sayers writes that "the surrender to sin which began with mutual indulgence leads by an imperceptible degradation to solitary self-indulgence".[47] The gluttons grovel in the mud by themselves, sightless and heedless of their neighbors, symbolising the cold, selfish, and empty sensuality of their lives.[47] Just as lust has revealed its true nature in the winds of the previous circle, here the slush reveals the true nature of sensuality – which includes not only overindulgence in food and drink, but also other kinds of addiction.[48]

In this circle, Dante converses with a Florentine contemporary identified as Ciacco, which means 'hog'.[49] A character with the same nickname later appears in The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio, where his gluttonous behaviour is clearly portrayed.[50] Ciacco speaks to Dante regarding strife in Florence between the "White" and "Black" Guelphs, which developed after the Guelph/Ghibelline strife ended with the complete defeat of the Ghibellines. In the first of several political prophecies in the Inferno, Ciacco "predicts" the expulsion of the White Guelphs (Dante's party) from Florence by the Black Guelphs, aided by Pope Boniface VIII, which marked the start of Dante's long exile from the city. These events occurred in 1302, prior to when the poem was written but in the future at Easter time of 1300, the time in which the poem is set.[49]

Fourth Circle (Greed)

In Gustave Doré's illustrations for the fourth circle, the weights are huge money bags

Canto VII

The Fourth Circle is guarded by a figure Dante names as Pluto: this is Plutus, the deity of wealth in classical mythology. Although the two are often conflated, he is a distinct figure from Pluto (Dis), the classical ruler of the underworld.[nb 2] At the start of Canto VII, he menaces Virgil and Dante with the cryptic phrase Pape Satàn, pape Satàn aleppe, but Virgil protects Dante from him.

Those whose attitude toward material goods deviated from the appropriate mean are punished in the fourth circle. They include the avaricious or miserly (including many "clergymen, and popes and cardinals"),[51] who hoarded possessions, and the prodigal, who squandered them. The hoarders and spendthrifts joust, using great weights as weapons that they push with their chests:

Here, too, I saw a nation of lost souls,

far more than were above: they strained their chests

against enormous weights, and with mad howls

rolled them at one another. Then in haste

they rolled them back, one party shouting out:

"Why do you hoard?" and the other: "Why do you waste?"[52]

Relating this sin of incontinence to the two that preceded it (lust and gluttony), Dorothy L. Sayers writes, "Mutual indulgence has already declined into selfish appetite; now, that appetite becomes aware of the incompatible and equally selfish appetites of other people. Indifference becomes mutual antagonism, imaged here by the antagonism between hoarding and squandering."[53] The contrast between these two groups leads Virgil to discourse on the nature of Fortune, who raises nations to greatness and later plunges them into poverty, as she shifts, "those empty goods from nation unto nation, clan to clan".[54] This speech fills what would otherwise be a gap in the poem, since both groups are so absorbed in their activity that Virgil tells Dante that it would be pointless to try to speak to them – indeed, they have lost their individuality and been rendered "unrecognizable".[55]

Fifth Circle (Wrath)

The fifth circle, illustrated by Stradanus

The Barque of Dante by Eugène Delacroix

In the swampy, stinking waters of the river Styx – the Fifth Circle – the actively wrathful fight each other viciously on the surface of the slime, while the sullen (the passively wrathful) lie beneath the water, withdrawn, "into a black sulkiness which can find no joy in God or man or the universe".[53] At the surface of the foul Stygian marsh, Dorothy L. Sayers writes, "the active hatreds rend and snarl at one another; at the bottom, the sullen hatreds lie gurgling, unable even to express themselves for the rage that chokes them".[53] As the last circle of Incontinence, the "savage self-frustration" of the Fifth Circle marks the end of "that which had its tender and romantic beginnings in the dalliance of indulged passion".[53]

Canto VIII

Phlegyas reluctantly transports Dante and Virgil across the Styx in his skiff. On the way they are accosted by Filippo Argenti, a Black Guelph from the prominent Adimari family. Little is known about Argenti, although Giovanni Boccaccio describes an incident in which he lost his temper; early commentators state that Argenti's brother seized some of Dante's property after his exile from Florence.[56] Just as Argenti enabled the seizing of Dante's property, he himself is "seized" by all the other wrathful souls.

When Dante responds "In weeping and in grieving, accursed spirit, may you long remain,"[57] Virgil blesses him with words used to describe Christ himself (Luke 11:27).[58] In a literal sense, this reflects the fact that souls in Hell are eternally fixed in the state they have chosen, but allegorically, it reflects Dante's beginning awareness of his own sin.[59]

Entrance to Dis

In the distance, Dante perceives high towers that resemble fiery red mosques. Virgil informs him that they are approaching the City of Dis. Dis, itself surrounded by the Stygian marsh, contains Lower Hell within its walls.[60] Dis is one of the names of Pluto, the classical king of the underworld, in addition to being the name of the realm. The walls of Dis are guarded by fallen angels. Virgil is unable to convince them to let Dante and him enter.

Canto IX

Dante is threatened by the Furies (consisting of Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone) and Medusa. An angel sent from Heaven secures entry for the poets, opening the gate by touching it with a wand, and rebukes those who opposed Dante. Allegorically, this reveals the fact that the poem is beginning to deal with sins that philosophy and humanism cannot fully understand. Virgil also mentions to Dante how Erichtho sent him to the lowest circle of Hell to bring back a spirit from there.[59]

Lower Hell, inside the walls of Dis, in an illustration by Stradanus; there is a drop from the sixth circle to the three rings of the seventh circle, then again to the ten rings of the eighth circle, and, at the bottom, to the icy ninth circle

Sixth Circle (Heresy)

Canto X

In the sixth circle, heretics, such as Epicurus and his followers (who say "the soul dies with the body")[61] are trapped in flaming tombs. Dante holds discourse with a pair of Epicurian Florentines in one of the tombs: Farinata degli Uberti, a famous Ghibelline leader (following the Battle of Montaperti in September 1260, Farinata strongly protested the proposed destruction of Florence at the meeting of the victorious Ghibellines; he died in 1264 and was posthumously condemned for heresy in 1283); and Cavalcante de' Cavalcanti, a Guelph who was the father of Dante's friend and fellow poet, Guido Cavalcanti. The political affiliation of these two men allows for a further discussion of Florentine politics. In response to a question from Dante about the "prophecy" he has received, Farinata explains that what the souls in Hell know of life on earth comes from seeing the future, not from any observation of the present. Consequently, when "the portal of the future has been shut",[62] it will no longer be possible for them to know anything. Farinata explains that also crammed within the tomb are Emperor Frederick II, commonly reputed to be an Epicurean, and Ottaviano degli Ubaldini, whom Dante refers to as il Cardinale.

Canto XI

Dante reads an inscription on one of the tombs indicating it belongs to Pope Anastasius II – although some modern scholars hold that Dante erred in the verse mentioning Anastasius ("Anastasio papa guardo, / lo qual trasse Fotin de la via dritta", lines 8–9), confusing the pope with the Byzantine emperor of the time, Anastasius I.[63][64][65][66] Pausing for a moment before the steep descent to the foul-smelling seventh circle, Virgil explains the geography and rationale of Lower Hell, in which the sins of violence (or bestiality) and fraud (or malice) are punished. In his explanation, Virgil refers to the Nicomachean Ethics and the Physics of Aristotle, with medieval interpretations. Virgil asserts that there are only two legitimate sources of wealth: natural resources ("Nature") and human labour and activity ("Art"). Usury, to be punished in the next circle, is therefore an offence against both; it is a kind of blasphemy, since it is an act of violence against Art, which is the child of Nature, and Nature derives from God.[67]

Virgil then indicates the time through his unexplained awareness of the stars' positions. The "Wain", the Great Bear, now lies in the northwest over Caurus (the northwest wind). The constellation Pisces (the Fish) is just appearing over the horizon: it is the zodiacal sign preceding Aries (the Ram). Canto I notes that the sun is in Aries, and since the twelve zodiac signs rise at two-hour intervals, it must now be about two hours prior to sunrise: 4:00 a.m. on Holy Saturday, April 9.[67][68]

Seventh Circle (Violence)

Cantos XII–XIV

The Seventh Circle, divided into three rings, houses the Violent. Dante and Virgil descend a jumble of rocks that had once formed a cliff to reach the Seventh Circle from the Sixth Circle, having first to evade the Minotaur (L'infamia di Creti, "the infamy of Crete", line 12); at the sight of them, the Minotaur gnaws his flesh. Virgil assures the monster that Dante is not its hated enemy, Theseus. This causes the Minotaur to charge them as Dante and Virgil swiftly enter the seventh circle. Virgil explains the presence of shattered stones around them: they resulted from the great earthquake that shook the earth at the moment of Christ's death (Matthew 27:51),[69] at the time of the Harrowing of Hell. Ruins resulting from the same shock were previously seen at the beginning of Upper Hell (the entrance of the Second Circle, Canto V).

"Along the brink of the vermilion boiling, / Wherein the boiled were uttering loud laments. / People I saw within up to the eyebrows ..."[70]

Harpies in the wood of the suicides, from Inferno Canto XIII, by Gustave Doré, 1861

Brunetto Latini speaks with Dante in Canto XV, an engraving by Gustave Doré

Ring 1: Against Neighbors

In the first round of the seventh circle, the murderers, war-makers, plunderers, and tyrants are immersed in Phlegethon, a river of boiling blood and fire. Ciardi writes, "as they wallowed in blood during their lives, so they are immersed in the boiling blood forever, each according to the degree of his guilt".[71] The Centaurs, commanded by Chiron and Pholus, patrol the ring, shooting arrows into any sinners who emerge higher out of the boiling blood than each is allowed. The centaur Nessus guides the poets along Phlegethon and points out Alexander the Great (disputed), "Dionysius" (either Dionysius I or Dionysius II, or both; they were bloodthirsty, unpopular tyrants of Sicily), Ezzelino III da Romano (the cruelest of the Ghibelline tyrants), Obizzo d'Este, and Guy de Montfort. The river grows shallower until it reaches a ford, after which it comes full circle back to the deeper part where Dante and Virgil first approached it; immersed here are tyrants including Attila, King of the Huns (flagello in terra, "scourge on earth", line 134), "Pyrrhus" (either the bloodthirsty son of Achilles or King Pyrrhus of Epirus), Sextus, Rinier da Corneto, and Rinier Pazzo. After bringing Dante and Virgil to the shallow ford, Nessus leaves them to return to his post. This passage may have been influenced by the early medieval Visio Karoli Grossi.[nb 3]

Ring 2: Against Self

The second round of the seventh circle is the Wood of the Suicides, in which the souls of the people who attempted or died by suicide are transformed into gnarled, thorny trees and then fed upon by Harpies, hideous clawed birds with the faces of women; the trees are only permitted to speak when broken and bleeding. Dante breaks a twig off one of the trees and from the bleeding trunk hears the tale of Pietro della Vigna, a powerful minister of Emperor Frederick II until he fell out of favour and was imprisoned and blinded. He subsequently committed suicide; his presence here, rather than in the Ninth Circle, indicates that Dante believes that the accusations made against him were false.[72] The Harpies and the characteristics of the bleeding bushes are based on Book 3 of the Aeneid. According to Dorothy L. Sayers, Dante presents the sin of suicide as an "insult to the body; so, here, the shades are deprived of even the semblance of the human form. As they refused life, they remain fixed in a dead and withered sterility. They are the image of the self-hatred which dries up the very sap of energy and makes all life infertile."[72] The trees have also been interpreted as a metaphor for the state of mind in which suicide is committed.[73]

Dante learns that these suicides, unique among the dead, will not be corporally resurrected after the Final Judgement since they threw their bodies away; instead, they will maintain their bushy form, with their own corpses hanging from the thorny limbs. After Pietro della Vigna finishes his story, Dante notices two shades (Lano da Siena and Jacopo Sant' Andrea) race through the wood, chased and savagely mauled by ferocious bitches – this is the punishment of the violently profligate who, "possessed by a depraved passion [...] dissipated their goods for the sheer wanton lust of wreckage and disorder".[72] The destruction wrought upon the wood by the profligates' flight and punishment as they crash through the undergrowth causes further suffering to the suicides, who cannot move out of the way.

Ring 3: Against God, Art, and Nature

The third round of the seventh circle is a great Plain of Burning Sand scorched by great flakes of flame falling slowly down from the sky, an image derived from the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24).[74] The Blasphemers (the Violent against God) are stretched supine upon the burning sand, the Sodomites (the Violent against Nature) run in circles, while the Usurers (the Violent against Art, which is the Grandchild of God, as explained in Canto XI) crouch huddled and weeping. Ciardi writes, "Blasphemy, sodomy, and usury are all unnatural and sterile actions: thus the unbearing desert is the eternity of these sinners; and thus the rain, which in nature should be fertile and cool, descends as fire".[75] Dante finds Capaneus stretched out on the sands; for blasphemy against Jove, he was struck down with a thunderbolt during the war of the Seven against Thebes and is still scorning Jove in the afterlife. The overflow of Phlegethon, the river of blood from the first ring, flows boiling through the Wood of the Suicides (the second ring) and crosses the Burning Plain. Virgil explains the origin of the rivers of Hell, which includes references to the Old Man of Crete.

Canto XV

Protected by the powers of the boiling rivulet, Dante and Virgil progress across the burning plain. They pass a roving group of Sodomites, and Dante, to his surprise, recognizes Brunetto Latini. Dante addresses Brunetto with deep and sorrowful affection, "paying him the highest tribute offered to any sinner in the Inferno",[76] thus refuting suggestions that Dante only placed his enemies in Hell.[77] Dante has great respect for Brunetto and feels spiritual indebtedness to him and his works ("you taught me how man makes himself eternal; / and while I live, my gratitude for that / must always be apparent in my words");[78] Brunetto prophesies Dante's bad treatment by the Florentines. He also identifies other sodomites, including Priscian, Francesco d'Accorso, and Bishop Andrea de' Mozzi.

A Gustave Doré wood engraving of Geryon, Canto XVII

Canto XVI

The Poets begin to hear the waterfall that plunges over the Great Cliff into the Eighth Circle when three shades break from their company and greet them. They are Iacopo Rusticucci, Guido Guerra, and Tegghiaio Aldobrandi – all Florentines much admired by Dante. Rusticucci blames his "savage wife" for his torments. The sinners ask for news of Florence, and Dante laments the current state of the city. At the top of the falls, at Virgil's order, Dante removes a cord from about his waist and Virgil drops it over the edge; as if in answer, a large, distorted shape swims up through the filthy air of the abyss.

Canto XVII

The creature is Geryon, the Monster of Fraud; Virgil announces that they must fly down from the cliff on the monster's back. Dante goes alone to examine the Usurers: he does not recognize them, but each has a heraldic device emblazoned on a leather purse around his neck ("On these their streaming eyes appeared to feast").[79] The coats of arms indicate that they came from prominent Florentine families; they indicate the presence of Catello di Rosso Gianfigliazzi, Ciappo Ubriachi, the Paduan Reginaldo degli Scrovegni (who predicts that his fellow Paduan Vitaliano di Iacopo Vitaliani will join him here), and Giovanni di Buiamonte. Dante then rejoins Virgil and, both mounted atop Geryon's back, the two begin their descent from the great cliff in the Eighth Circle: the Hell of the Fraudulent and Malicious.

Geryon, the winged monster who allows Dante and Virgil to descend a vast cliff to reach the Eighth Circle, was traditionally represented as a giant with three heads and three conjoined bodies.[80] Dante's Geryon, meanwhile, is an image of fraud,[81] combining human, bestial, and reptilian elements: Geryon is a "monster with the general shape of a wyvern but with the tail of a scorpion, hairy arms, a gaudily-marked reptilian body, and the face of a just and honest man".[82] The pleasant human face on this grotesque body evokes the insincere fraudster whose intentions "behind the face" are all monstrous, cold-blooded, and stinging with poison.

Eighth Circle (Fraud)

Main article: Malebolge

Cantos XVIII–XXI

Dante now finds himself in the Eighth Circle, called Malebolge ("Evil ditches"): the upper half of the Hell of the Fraudulent and Malicious. The Eighth Circle is a large funnel of stone shaped like an amphitheatre around which run a series of ten deep, narrow, concentric ditches or trenches called bolge (singular: bolgia). Within these ditches are punished those guilty of Simple Fraud. From the foot of the Great Cliff to the Well (which forms the neck of the funnel) are large spurs of rock, like umbrella ribs or spokes, which serve as bridges over the ten ditches. Dorothy L. Sayers writes that the Malebolge is "the image of the City in corruption: the progressive disintegration of every social relationship, personal and public. Sexuality, ecclesiastical and civil office, language, ownership, counsel, authority, psychic influence, and material interdependence – all the media of the community's interchange are perverted and falsified".[83]

Illustration by Sandro Botticelli: Dante and Virgil visit the first two bolge of the Eighth Circle

Punishment of sorcerers and diviners in the Fourth Bolgia, Canto XX, illustrated by Stradanus

Dante's guide rebuffs Malacoda and his fiends between Bolge V and VI, Canto XXI

Bolgia 1 – Panderers and seducers: These sinners make two files, one along either bank of the ditch, and march quickly in opposite directions while being whipped by horned demons for eternity. They "deliberately exploited the passions of others and so drove them to serve their own interests, are themselves driven and scourged".[83] Dante makes reference to a recent traffic rule developed for the Jubilee year of 1300 in Rome.[83] In the group of panderers, the poets notice Venedico Caccianemico, a Bolognese Black Guelph who sold his own sister Ghisola to the Marchese d'Este. In the group of seducers, Virgil points out Jason, the Greek hero who led the Argonauts to fetch the Golden Fleece from Aeëtes, King of Colchis. He gained the help of the king's daughter, Medea, by seducing and marrying her only to later desert her for Creusa.[83] Jason had previously seduced Hypsipyle when the Argonauts landed at Lemnos on their way to Colchis, but "abandoned her, alone and pregnant".[84]

Bolgia 2 – Flatterers: These also exploited other people, this time abusing and corrupting language to play upon others' desires and fears. They are steeped in excrement (representative of the false flatteries they told on earth) as they howl and fight amongst themselves. Alessio Interminei of Lucca and Thaïs are seen here.[83]

Bolgia 3 – Simoniacs: Dante now forcefully expresses his condemnation of those who committed simony, or the sale of ecclesiastic favours and offices, and therefore made money for themselves out of what belongs to God: "Rapacious ones, who take the things of God, / that ought to be the brides of Righteousness, / and make them fornicate for gold and silver! / The time has come to let the trumpet sound / for you".[85] The sinners are placed head-downwards in round, tube-like holes within the rock (debased mockeries of baptismal fonts), with flames burning the soles of their feet. The heat of the fire is proportioned to their guilt. The simile of baptismal fonts gives Dante an incidental opportunity to clear his name of an accusation of malicious damage to the font at the Baptistery of San Giovanni.[86] Simon Magus, who offered gold in exchange for holy power to Saint Peter and after whom the sin is named, is mentioned here (although Dante does not encounter him). One of the sinners, Pope Nicholas III, must serve in the hellish baptism by fire from his death in 1280 until 1303 – the arrival in Hell of Pope Boniface VIII, who will take his predecessor's place in the stone tube until 1314, when he will in turn be replaced by Pope Clement V, a puppet of King Philip IV of France who moved the Holy See to Avignon, ushering in the Avignon Papacy (1309–1377). Dante delivers a denunciation of simoniacal corruption of the Church.

Bolgia 4 – Sorcerers: In the middle of the bridge of the Fourth Bolgia, Dante looks down at the souls of fortune tellers, diviners, astrologers, and other false prophets. The punishment of those who attempted to "usurp God's prerogative by prying into the future",[87] is to have their heads twisted around on their bodies; in this horrible contortion of the human form, these sinners are compelled to walk backwards for eternity, blinded by their own tears. John Ciardi writes, "Thus, those who sought to penetrate the future cannot even see in front of themselves; they attempted to move themselves forward in time, so must they go backwards through all eternity; and as the arts of sorcery are a distortion of God's law, so are their bodies distorted in Hell."[88] While referring primarily to attempts to see into the future by forbidden means, this also symbolises the twisted nature of magic in general.[87] Dante weeps in pity, and Virgil rebukes him, saying, "Here pity only lives when it is dead; / for who can be more impious than he / who links God's judgment to passivity?"[89] Virgil gives a lengthy explanation of the founding of his native city of Mantua. Among the sinners in this circle are King Amphiaraus (one of the Seven against Thebes; foreseeing his death in the war, he sought to avert it by hiding from battle but died in an earthquake caused by Zeus' thunderbolt when trying to flee) and two Theban soothsayers: Tiresias (in Ovid's Metamorphoses III, 324–331, Tiresias was transformed into a woman upon striking two coupling serpents with his rod; seven years later, he was changed back to a man in an identical encounter) and his daughter Manto. Also in this bolgia are Aruns (an Etruscan soothsayer who predicted the Caesar's victory in the Roman civil war in Lucan's Pharsalia I, 585–638), the Greek augur Eurypylus, astrologers Michael Scot (served at Frederick II's court at Palermo) and Guido Bonatti (served the court of Guido da Montefeltro), and Asdente (a shoemaker and soothsayer from Parma). Virgil implies that the moon is now setting over the Pillars of Hercules in the West: the time is just after 6:00 a.m., the dawn of Holy Saturday.

Bolgia 5 – Barrators: Corrupt politicians, who made money by trafficking in public offices (the political analogue of the simoniacs), are immersed in a lake of boiling pitch, which represents the sticky fingers and dark secrets of their corrupt deals.[90] They are guarded by demons called the Malebranche ("Evil Claws"), who tear them to pieces with claws and grappling hooks if they catch them above the surface of the pitch. The Poets observe a demon arrive with a grafting Senator of Lucca and throw him into the pitch where the demons set upon him. Virgil secures safe-conduct from the leader of the Malebranche, named Malacoda ("Evil Tail"). He informs them that the bridge across the Sixth Bolgia has collapsed (as a result of the earthquake that shook Hell at the death of Christ in 34 AD) but that there is another path further on. He sends a squad of demons led by Barbariccia to escort them safely. Based on details in this Canto (and if Christ's death is taken to have occurred at exactly noon), the time is now 7:00 a.m. of Holy Saturday.[91][nb 4] The demons provide some satirical black comedy – in the last line of Canto XXI, the sign for their march is provided by a fart: "and he had made a trumpet of his ass".[93]

Canto XXII

One of the grafters, an unidentified Navarrese (identified by early commentators as Ciampolo), is seized by the demons, and Virgil questions him. The sinner speaks of his fellow grafters, Friar Gomita (a corrupt friar in Gallura eventually hanged by Nino Visconti – see Purgatorio VIII – for accepting bribes to let prisoners escape) and Michele Zanche (a corrupt Vicar of Logodoro under King Enzo of Sardinia). He offers to lure some of his fellow sufferers into the hands of the demons, and when his plan is accepted he escapes back into the pitch. Alichino and Calcabrina start a brawl in mid-air and fall into the pitch themselves, and Barbariccia organizes a rescue party. Dante and Virgil take advantage of the confusion to slip away.

Cantos XXIII–XXIV

The Thieves tortured by Serpents: engraving by Gustave Doré illustrating Canto XXIV of the Inferno

Bolgia 6 – Hypocrites: The Poets escape the pursuing Malebranche by sliding down the sloping bank of the next pit. Here they find the hypocrites listlessly walking around a narrow track for eternity, weighted down by leaden robes. The robes are brilliantly gilded on the outside and are shaped like a monk's habit – the hypocrite's "outward appearance shines brightly and passes for holiness, but under that show lies the terrible weight of his deceit",[94] a falsity that weighs them down and makes spiritual progress impossible for them.[95] Dante speaks with Catalano dei Malavolti and Loderingo degli Andalò, two Bolognese brothers of the Jovial Friars, an order that had acquired a reputation for not living up to its vows and was eventually disbanded by Papal decree.[95] Friar Catalano points out Caiaphas, the High Priest of Israel under Pontius Pilate, who counseled the Pharisees to crucify Jesus for the public good (John 11:49–50).[96] He himself is crucified to the floor of Hell by three large stakes, and in such a position that every passing sinner must walk upon him: he "must suffer upon his body the weight of all the world's hypocrisy".[94] The Jovial Friars explain to Virgil how he may climb from the pit; Virgil discovers that Malacoda lied to him about the bridges over the sixth bolgia.

Bolgia 7 – Thieves: Dante and Virgil leave the bolgia of the Hypocrites by climbing the ruined rocks of a bridge destroyed by the great earthquake, after which they cross the bridge of the seventh bolgia to the far side to observe the next chasm. The pit is filled with monstrous reptiles: the shades of thieves are pursued and bitten by snakes and lizards, who curl themselves about the sinners and bind their hands behind their backs. The full horror of the thieves' punishment is revealed gradually: just as they stole other people's substance in life, their very identity becomes subject to theft here.[97] One sinner, who reluctantly identifies himself as Vanni Fucci, is bitten by a serpent at the jugular vein, bursts into flames, and is re-formed from the ashes like a phoenix. Vanni tells a dark prophecy against Dante.

Canto XXV

Vanni hurls an obscenity at God and the serpents swarm over him. The centaur Cacus arrives to punish him; he has a fire-breathing dragon on his shoulders and snakes covering his equine back. (In Roman mythology, Cacus, the monstrous, fire-breathing son of Vulcan, was killed by Hercules for raiding the hero's cattle; in Aeneid VIII, 193–267, Virgil did not describe him as a centaur). Dante then meets five noble thieves of Florence and observes their various transformations. Agnello Brunelleschi, in human form, is merged with the six-legged serpent that is Cianfa Donati. A figure named Buoso (perhaps either Buoso degli Abati or Buoso Donati, the latter of whom is mentioned in Inferno XXX.44) first appears as a man, but exchanges forms with Francesco de' Cavalcanti, who bites Buoso in the form of a four-footed serpent. Puccio Sciancato remains unchanged for the time being.

Dante and Virgil observe the false counsellors, Canto XXVI

Canto XXVI

Bolgia 8 – Counsellors of Fraud: Dante addresses a passionate lament to Florence before turning to the next bolgia. Here, fraudulent advisers or evil counsellors move about, hidden from view inside individual flames. These are not people who gave false advice, but people who used their position to advise others to engage in fraud. Ulysses and Diomedes are punished together within a great double-headed flame; they are condemned for the stratagem of the Trojan Horse (resulting in the Fall of Troy), for persuading Achilles to sail for Troy (causing Deidamia to die of grief), and for the theft of the sacred statue of Pallas, the Palladium (upon which, it was believed, the fate of Troy depended). Ulysses, the figure in the larger horn of the flame, narrates the tale of his last voyage and death, a creation of Dante's that illustrates the extent of his own pride despite his condemnation of this principal vice throughout the Divine Comedy.[98] Ulysses tells how, after his detainment by Circe, his love for neither his son, his father, nor his wife could overpower his desire to set out on the open sea to "gain experience of the world / and of the vices and the worth of men". As they approach the Pillars of Hercules, Ulysses urges his crew:

Consider well the seed that gave you birth:

you were not made to live your lives as brutes,

but to be followers of worth and knowledge.[99]

This passage exemplifies the danger of using rhetoric without proper wisdom, a failing condemned by several of Dante's most prominent philosophical influences.[98] Although Ulysses successfully convinces his crew to venture into the unknown, he lacks the wisdom to understand the danger this entails, leading to their death in a shipwreck after sighting Mount Purgatory in the Southern Hemisphere.

Canto XXVII

Dante is approached by Guido da Montefeltro, head of the Ghibellines of Romagna, asking for news of his country. Dante replies with a tragic summary of the current state of the cities of Romagna. Guido then recounts his life: he advised Pope Boniface VIII to offer a false amnesty to the Colonna family, who, in 1297, had walled themselves inside the castle of Palestrina in the Lateran. When the Colonna accepted the terms and left the castle, the Pope razed it to the ground and left them without a refuge. Guido describes how St. Francis, founder of the Franciscan order, came to take his soul to Heaven, only to have a demon assert prior claim. Although Boniface had absolved Guido in advance for his evil advice, the demon points out the invalidity: absolution requires contrition, and a man cannot be contrite for a sin at the same time that he is intending to commit it.[100]

Canto XXVIII

Bolgia 9 – Sowers of Discord: In the ninth bolgia, the Sowers of Discord are hacked and mutilated for all eternity by a large demon wielding a bloody sword; their bodies are divided as, in life, their sin was to tear apart what God had intended to be united;[101] these are the sinners who are "ready to rip up the whole fabric of society to gratify a sectional egotism".[102] The souls must drag their ruined bodies around the ditch, their wounds healing in the course of the circuit, only to have the demon tear them apart anew. These are divided into three categories:

Religious schism and discord: Chief among this category is Muhammad, the founder of Islam: his body is ripped from groin to chin, with his entrails hanging out. Dante apparently saw Muhammad as causing a schism within Christianity when he and his followers splintered off.[102][103] Dante also condemns Muhammad's son-in-law, Ali, for schism between Sunni and Shiite: his face is cleft from top to bottom. Muhammad tells Dante to warn the schismatic and heretic Fra Dolcino.

Civil strife and political discord: In this category are Pier da Medicina (his throat slit, nose slashed off as far as the eyebrows, a wound where one of his ears had been), the Roman tribune Gaius Scribonius Curio (who advised Caesar to cross the Rubicon and thus begin the Civil War; his tongue is cut off), and Mosca dei Lamberti (who incited the Amidei family to kill Buondelmonte dei Buondelmonti, resulting in conflict between Guelphs and Ghibellines; his arms are hacked off).

Family disunion, or discord between kinsmen: Finally, in the third category of sinner, Dante sees Bertran de Born (1140–1215). The knight carries his severed head by its own hair, swinging it like a lantern. Bertran is said to have caused a quarrel between Henry II of England and his son Prince Henry the Young King; his punishment in Hell is decapitation, since dividing father and son is like severing the head from the body.[102]

Canto XXIX

Dante et Virgile by William-Adolphe Bouguereau: Capocchio, an alchemist who was burned as a heretic, is attacked by Gianni Schicchi, who impersonated the dead Buoso Donati to claim his inheritance, Canto XXX

Bolgia 10 – Falsifiers: The final bolgia of the Eighth Circle is home to various sorts of falsifiers. A "disease" on society, they are themselves afflicted with different types of afflictions:[104] horrible diseases, stench, thirst, filth, darkness, and screaming. Some lie prostrate while others run hungering through the pit, tearing others to pieces. Shortly before their arrival in this pit, Virgil indicates that it is approximately noon of Holy Saturday, and he and Dante discuss one of Dante's kinsmen (Geri de Bello) among the Sowers of Discord in the previous ditch. The first category of falsifiers Dante encounters are the Alchemists (Falsifiers of Things). He speaks with two spirits viciously scrubbing and clawing at their leprous scabs: Griffolino d'Arezzo (an alchemist who extracted money from the foolish Alberto da Siena on the promise of teaching him to fly; Alberto's reputed father the Bishop of Siena had Griffolino burned at the stake) and Capocchio (burned at the stake at Siena in 1293 for practicing alchemy).

Canto XXX

Suddenly, two spirits – Gianni Schicchi de' Cavalcanti and Myrrha, both punished as Imposters (Falsifiers of Persons) – run rabid through the pit. Schicchi sinks his teeth into the neck of an alchemist, Capocchio, and drags him away like prey. Griffolino explains how Myrrha disguised herself to commit incest with her father King Cinyras, while Schicchi impersonated the dead Buoso Donati to dictate a will giving himself several profitable bequests. Dante then encounters Master Adam of Brescia, one of the Counterfeiters (Falsifiers of Money): for manufacturing Florentine florins of 21 (rather than 24) carat gold, he was burned at the stake in 1281. He is punished by a loathsome dropsy-like disease, which gives him a bloated stomach, prevents him from moving, and an eternal, unbearable thirst. Master Adam points out two sinners of the fourth class, the Perjurers (Falsifiers of Words). These are Potiphar's wife (punished for her false accusation of Joseph in Genesis 39:7–19[105]) and Sinon, the Achaean spy who lied to the Trojans to convince them to take the Trojan Horse into their city (Aeneid II, 57–194); Sinon is here rather than in Bolgia 8 because his advice was false as well as evil. Both suffer from a burning fever. Master Adam and Sinon exchange abuse, which Dante watches until he is rebuked by Virgil. As a result of his shame and repentance, Dante is forgiven by his guide. Sayers remarks that the descent through Malebolge "began with the sale of the sexual relationship, and went on to the sale of Church and State; now, the very money is itself corrupted, every affirmation has become perjury, and every identity a lie"[104] so that every aspect of social interaction has been progressively destroyed.

Central Well of Malebolge

Titans and Giants, including Ephialtes on the left, in Doré's illustrations

Canto XXXI

Dante and Virgil approach the Central Well, at the bottom of which lies the Ninth and final Circle of Hell. The classical and biblical Giants – who perhaps symbolise pride and other spiritual flaws lying behind acts of treachery[106] – stand perpetual guard inside the well-pit, their legs embedded in the banks of the Ninth Circle while their upper halves rise above the rim and are visible from the Malebolge.[107] Dante initially mistakes them for great towers of a city. Among the Giants, Virgil identifies Nimrod (who tried to build the Tower of Babel; he shouts out the unintelligible Raphèl mai amècche zabì almi); Ephialtes (who with his brother Otus tried to storm Olympus during the Gigantomachy; he has his arms chained up) and Briareus (who Dante claimed had challenged the gods); and Tityos and Typhon, who insulted Jupiter. Also here is Antaeus, who did not join in the rebellion against the Olympian gods and therefore is not chained. At Virgil's persuasion, Antaeus takes the poets in his palm and lowers them gently to the final level of Hell.

Ninth Circle (Treachery)

Dante speaks to the traitors in the ice, Canto XXXII

Cantos XXXII–XXXIV

Ugolino and His Sons by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (Metropolitan Museum of Art) depicts Ugolino della Gherardesca's story from Canto XXXIII. Imprisoned for treachery, Ugolino starves to death with his children, who, before dying, beg him to eat their bodies.

At the base of the well, Dante finds himself within a large frozen lake: Cocytus, the Ninth Circle of Hell. Trapped in the ice, each according to his guilt, are punished sinners guilty of treachery against those with whom they had special relationships. The lake of ice is divided into four concentric rings (or "rounds") of traitors corresponding, in order of seriousness, to betrayal of family ties, betrayal of community ties, betrayal of guests, and betrayal of lords. This is in contrast to the popular image of Hell as fiery; as Ciardi writes, "The treacheries of these souls were denials of love (which is God) and of all human warmth. Only the remorseless dead centre of the ice will serve to express their natures. As they denied God's love, so are they furthest removed from the light and warmth of His Sun. As they denied all human ties, so are they bound only by the unyielding ice."[108] This final, deepest level of hell is reserved for traitors, betrayers and oathbreakers (its most famous inmate is Judas Iscariot).

Round 1 – Caina: this round is named after Cain, who killed his own brother in the first act of murder (Genesis 4:8).[109] This round houses the Traitors to their Kindred: they have their necks and heads out of the ice and are allowed to bow their heads, allowing some protection from the freezing wind. Here Dante sees the brothers Alessandro and Napoleone degli Alberti, who killed each other over their inheritance and their politics some time between 1282 and 1286. Camiscion de' Pazzi, a Ghibelline who murdered his kinsman Ubertino, identifies several other sinners: Mordred (traitorous son of King Arthur); Vanni de' Cancellieri, nicknamed Focaccia (a White Guelph of Pistoia who killed his cousin, Detto de' Cancellieri); and Sassol Mascheroni of the noble Toschi family of Florence (murdered a relative). Camiscion is aware that, in July 1302, his relative Carlino de' Pazzi would accept a bribe to surrender the Castle of Piantravigne to the Blacks, betraying the Whites. As a traitor to his party, Carlino belongs in Antenora, the next circle down – his greater sin will make Camiscion look virtuous by comparison.[107]

Round 2 – Antenora: the second round is named after Antenor, a Trojan soldier who betrayed his city to the Greeks. Here lie the Traitors to their Country: those who committed treason against political entities (parties, cities, or countries) have their heads above the ice, but they cannot bend their necks. Dante accidentally kicks the head of Bocca degli Abati, a traitorous Guelph of Florence, and then proceeds to treat him more savagely than any other soul he has thus far met. Also punished in this level are Buoso da Duera (Ghibelline leader bribed by the French to betray Manfred, King of Naples), Tesauro dei Beccheria (a Ghibelline of Pavia; beheaded by the Florentine Guelphs for treason in 1258), Gianni de' Soldanieri (noble Florentine Ghibelline who joined with the Guelphs after Manfred's death in 1266), Ganelon (betrayed the rear guard of Charlemagne to the Muslims at Roncesvalles, according to the French epic poem The Song of Roland), and Tebaldello de' Zambrasi of Faenza (a Ghibelline who turned his city over to the Bolognese Guelphs on Nov. 13, 1280). The Poets then see two heads frozen in one hole, one gnawing the nape of the other's neck.

The gnawing sinner tells his story: he is Count Ugolino, and the head he gnaws belongs to Archbishop Ruggieri. In "the most pathetic and dramatic passage of the Inferno",[110] Ugolino describes how he conspired with Ruggieri in 1288 to oust his nephew, Nino Visconti, and take control over the Guelphs of Pisa. However, as soon as Nino was gone, the Archbishop, sensing the Guelphs' weakened position, turned on Ugolino and imprisoned him with his sons and grandsons in the Torre dei Gualandi. In March 1289, the Archbishop condemned the prisoners to death by starvation in the tower.

Round 3 – Ptolomaea: the third region of Cocytus is named after Ptolemy, who invited his father-in-law Simon Maccabaeus and his sons to a banquet and then killed them (1 Maccabees 16).[111][112] Traitors to their Guests lie supine in the ice while their tears freeze in their eye sockets, sealing them with small visors of crystal – even the comfort of weeping is denied to them. Dante encounters Fra Alberigo, one of the Jovial Friars and a native of Faenza, who asks Dante to remove the visor of ice from his eyes. In 1285, Alberigo invited his opponents, Manfred (his brother) and Alberghetto (Manfred's son), to a banquet at which his men murdered the dinner guests. He explains that often a living person's soul falls to Ptolomea before he dies ("before dark Atropos has cut their thread").[113] Then, on earth, a demon inhabits the body until the body's natural death. Fra Alberigo's sin is identical in kind to that of Branca d'Oria, a Genoese Ghibelline who, in 1275, invited his father-in-law, Michele Zanche (seen in the Eighth Circle, Bolgia 5), and had him cut to pieces. Branca (that is, his earthly body) did not die until 1325, but his soul, together with that of his nephew who assisted in his treachery, fell to Ptolomaea before Zanche's soul arrived at the bolgia of the Barrators. Dante leaves without keeping his promise to clear Fra Alberigo's eyes of ice ("And yet I did not open them for him; / and it was courtesy to show him rudeness").[114]

Round 4 – Judecca: the fourth division of Cocytus, named for Judas Iscariot, contains the Traitors to their Lords and benefactors. Upon entry into this round, Virgil says "Vexilla regis prodeunt inferni" ("The banners of the King of Hell draw closer").[115] Judecca is completely silent: all of the sinners are fully encapsulated in ice, distorted and twisted in every conceivable position. The sinners present an image of utter immobility: it is impossible to talk with any of them, so Dante and Virgil quickly move on to the centre of Hell.

Centre of Hell