Super long post explaining my thoughts on how each of the 12 tormentors found in the Corpus Hermeticum affect people.
My personal idea of sin below:
- Sin is found in the imprisonment of matter, where you are trapped by worldly desires and bodily sensations rather than nurturing the divine mind within.
Okay now here are the 12 tormentors:
To purposely lack awareness and not seek out information. For ignorance to be an obstacle in your growth, it is deliberate and damaging. If you simply don’t know something, that is naivety, which shouldn’t be confused.
Sadness affects your interpretation of reality. Whether it is a temporary state or chemical imbalance, it is necessary to understand that you are not your thoughts or environment. When we are sad, we know things are beautiful, we just can’t see the beauty. To be caught in sorrow is to believe that this is a permanent state. To be caught in sorrow causes you to struggle, and also blocks good opportunities since you are too stuck in your head to acknowledge them. It’s not sadness or the chemical imbalance itself that is bad, it is the negative ideas that you have built yourself around.
Impulsivity, succumbing to the material struggles of addiction. We know this is bad. Again, similar to sadness, in order to recover we must not associate with our impulsivities. To recognize and control them is extremely powerful, especially since in many cases- bad things have happened that lead up to this cause. It does not make you a bad person to struggle with addiction, but addiction can make you do bad things. Relying on material substances to cope is not the way to live, no matter how good it feels. It affects you, your body, and those you love.
To place one’s conciousness and desires fully on only the body of another. To use somebody solely for their body. Rape and sexual assault is one of the most mentally damaging things you could do to another person. To rape is to blatantly reject someone’s free will, to view them in a dehumanizing manner, and to prioritize your ignorance and immediate temporary satisfaction over someone’s else’s livelihood.
Excessive consumption of explicit materials or lustful thoughts that interfere with daily functioning can be damaging to oneself and future partners. Refer to Intemperance above.
To reinforce inequalities in order to serve one’s material desires. People often get away with injustice when in positions of power because they do not see themselves as touchable. To fail to love is to fail to be human and godlike. By associating yourself with the the hatred and rejection of minorities, or any fellow human or thing for that matter, and to reinforce systemic punishment is to stray from God as every individual has a spark and to reject that spark is to reject God. Injustice torments the will of those around you due to perceived feelings of superiority. This feeling of superiority is nothing but a perceptive flaw. At the end of the day, you are as breakable as the people you break.
To insatiably desire or obsess over wealth and material possessions. This is the most obvious form of material torment, you let money and belongings control you. To desire money or materials is not bad in itself, but to hoard money, spend it in excessive amounts, and be ignorant about it will torment you. Especially if you own fortunes without working for it, or not using it. It’s important to notice when you are becoming fixated on your next investment and practice patience. If you find that money or objects rule your life and do not give you meaning, you should reconsider your spending habits.
To intentionally lie, mislead, or manipulate someone else in order to gain an advantage. Often for a material or superficial advantage. This deceit betrays the trust of others, and messes with their free will if they do not know or are tricked by the extent of your actions. You will find that suffering occurs when you cannot trust yourself either.
To resent someone for their qualities, advantages, or looks. Often to place oneself into the body of another due to feelings of unworthiness and misfortune in their own life. Excessive envy is damaging to yourself and those you love. It is important to embrace your body, mind and what it does for you even if it is different. Wishing to be someone else will never give you peace. But if you recognize the characteristics you are envious of, and work towards improving yourself out of self love and not hate, you can slowly begin to accept yourself. Growing closer to God.
Treachery takes someone’s trust in you and abuses it for your own self interest. This is damaging for others and you long term. Prioritizing self interest is an immediate satisfaction and a long term damage. It also causes you to be shallowly caught up in life as a game rather than an experience.
To harbour excessive rage at someone else which may lead to violent thoughts or actions. When your thoughts revolve around the actions of another person, you become less of yourself and hold grudges. Of course, anger directly correlates to violence. It is okay to have anger, but holding it causes you to suffer, and releasing it on others interrupts their will.
To have a disregard for the consequences of one’s actions. This is a difficult place to be since there are risks involved, but many don’t actually learn the consequences until it catches up to them. Recklessness is the result of ignorance, avoidance, and malice.
The intention to hurt someone. dwelling on feelings of malice desensitizes a person to violent acts. One’s perspective changes to seeing a person as a target, Which alters their worldly perceptions. When you have a violent thought, you are not thinking about the person or thing you want to hurt, you are thinking about hurting it. As in an object.
Malice can also stem from self hatred and the urge to hurt oneself. Viewing one’s body as an obstacle to be overcome in order to feel better. Again, this is a material urge. It is important to ground oneself and address feelings of sorrow and addiction mentioned above.
