In
that hour when the heat of day, defeated by Earth and, sometimes, Saturn,
can no longer warm up the moon-sent cold, when geomancers can, in the east,
see their Fortuna major rising before the dawn along a path that will be
darkened for it only briefly- a
stammering woman came to me in dream: her eyes askew, and crooked on
her feet, her hands were crippled, her complexion sallow.
I looked at her; and just
as sun revives cold limbs that night made numb, so did my gaze loosen her
tongue and then, in little time, set her contorted limbs in perfect order;
and, with the coloring that love prefers, my eyes transformed the wanness
of her features. And when her speech had been set free, then she began
to sing so, that it would have been most difficult for me to turn aside.
"I am," she sang, "I am the pleasing siren, who in midsea leads mariners
astray- there is so much delight in hearing me. I turned aside Ulysses,
although he had longed to journey; who grows used to me seldom departs-I
satisfy him so."
Her lips were not yet
done when, there beside me, a woman showed herself, alert and saintly,
to cast the siren into much confusion. "O Virgil, Virgil, tell me:
who is this?" she asked most scornfully; and he came forward, his eyes
intent upon that honest one. He seized the other, baring her in front,
tearing her clothes, and showing me her belly; the stench that came from
there awakened me. I moved my eyes, and my good master cried: "At least
three times I've called you. Rise and come: let's find the opening where
you may enter."
More
on The Sirens
Continue
to the Opening Where You May Enter
The
Fifth Terrace
Avarice
Continue Your Journey
The
Fifth Terrace
When I was in the clearing, the fifth
level, my eyes discovered people there who wept, lying upon the ground,
all turned face down.
"Adhaesit pavimento anima mea," I heard
them say with sighs so deep that it was hard to comprehend the words they
spoke.
"O God's elect, whose sufferings both
hope and justice make less difficult, direct us to the stairway meant for
our ascent."
"If you come here but do not need to
be prostrate, and you would find the path most quickly, then keep your
right hand always to the outside."
Help Finding the Path...
So go onward timorous
and thoughtful.
Want
to go back to Hell?
The
Fifth Terrace
Gloria
in excelsis Deo!
The
Fifth Terrace
You notice the famed Roman poet, Statius,
is on the terrace.
The famed pagan Roman poet, Statius.
The famed pagan Roman poet, Statius,
who is most known for works on Oedipus and Achilles.
The famed pagan Roman poet, Statius,
for whom there is no reason to think he was Christian.
The famed pagan Roman poet, Statius,
who not being a Christian really has no right to be in Purgatory, but rather,
should have been found with the virtuous pagans, like Virgil.
The famed pagan Roman poet, Statius,
who was well esteemed in the middle ages by Christian writers who liked
to pretend he was somehow a redeemed Pagan.
Yes, that Statius.
Oddly enough, he wants to you know what
you
are doing here.
So what are you doing
here?
The
Fifth Terrace
And said my Teacher: "If thou note the
marks which this one bears,and which the Angel traces well shalt thou see
he with the good must reign. But because she who spinneth day and
night for him had not yet drawn the distaff off, which Clotho lays for
each one and compacts, His soul, which is thy sister and my own, in coming
upwards could not come alone, by reason that it sees not in our fashion.
Whence I was drawn from out the ample throat of Hell to be his guide,and
I shall guide him as far on as my school has power to lead. But tell us,
if thou knowest, why such a shudder erewhile the mountain gave, and why
together all seemed to cry, as far as its moist feet?"
Statius replies:
"It trembles here, whenever any soul
feels itself pure, so that it soars,
or moves
to mount aloft, and such a cry attends
it."
So that's why the mountain quakes.
Nothing to do with avarice. Just general geography stuff.
Oh, yes. Avarice.
The
Fifth Terrace
So have you found your way to the next
terrace? Are you ready to continue your journey?
The angel will lead the way, and erase
one mark from your face.
But, are you ready? Have
you viewed all that this page suggests for learning the wrongs of your
ways?
If you have seen it all, you will know
which mark the angel should erase.
