#henosis

The similarities between henosis and theosis make for interesting theological discussions about human nature and the soul. Several Christian writers were influenced by Neoplatonist ideas in late antiquity, and many Christian beliefs borrow heavily from Platonism in general.

— Porphyry of Tyre, Sententiae XXV

Thank you! I was playing with perspective there -- an artist's perception of his own success, a reader's perception of what constitutes honoring an artist, society's perception of an artist's value before vs after they die, etc. So it sounds entirely appropriate to compare against Scheherazade's tales and the song of Achilles -- both are stories that shift wildly depending on what storyteller gets centered. Hope it was a fun discussion!Glad to know that one's got some fans!

I was on the down with cis bus

Porphyry of Tyre, On the Life of Plotinus and the Arrangement of his Work

At the beginning of my path of occult study, I, like many of my peers removing the shackles of the constantipolitan creed shunned anything which I deemed religious. However, maturity has informed me that religion, in it’s truest since, deserves the utmost respect. The distortion of the meaning of religion has come in large from New Age material. Contrary to misinformation, it does not intrinsically entail dogmatism, moralism, or superstition, though the misinterpretation of many religious doctrines has led to such. I’ve found that the so called occultists who shun religion are more often than not unprincipled in character, and non-committed in practice. They study tarot, practice astrology, and even cast spells, but these activities alone do not lift the soul from fragmented to whole. For that, a genuine spiritual discipline is needed. The modern connotation of religion gives the impression that the believer is basically an idiot. But if that was true, so many brilliant sciences too many to mention would not have been uncovered and improved, for example, by the Moslems during the Islamic golden era. In fact, Islam encourages moslems to develop intelligence by study of the arts and sciences. Originally, religion meant, “a strict adherence to a set of principles and practices”, with an implied purpose of experiencing both material and spiritual benefit. Jupiter is present by encouraging maturity through assimilation of wisdom, as is Saturn by setting boundaries to prevent distraction. Essentially, religion is an organization of metaphysical ideas with corresponding practices that one is wholeheartedly committed to. As you can see, this is no different than any number of esoteric paths. Actually, “path” is merely an esoteric replacement word for religion. When you study broadly, you begin to notice that some esoteric doctrines have dogmas just as narrow and superstitious as those of exoteric religion. Crowleys A.A. system has an appropriate motto: “The method of science, the aim of religion”, which means that one sticks to that which produces results. So, it would serve many to become acquainted with a more rational, rather than emotional interpretation of language:::

Deification of the soul is a concept shared by the Hellenic pagan philosophical tradition and Orthodox Christianity. In the ancient Greek language, the concept is denoted by two separate terms. For the pagan Neoplatonists, such as Iamblichus, the deification of the human being was described as henōsis, or unity with God. For Christian theologians of the Greek tradition, the term was theōsis, meaning a divine mode of existence. The difference resides in the ontological and metaphysical presuppositions informing these two philosophical and theological approaches.

Pania: Oh… this is where I give you advice and pretend you’re going to listen to it?