WELCOME TO HELL
The word hell derives from the Latin infĕrnus or infĕrnum translated in dictionaries as "which is below". The word Inferno is formed from “in” which indicates an immersion in space or time with the meaning “inside”, “Fer” from the Latin verb “fĕro” which means to carry and “nus” meaning “If”. One thing that is interesting is that the term "Fernus" derives from the ancient Greek "τραυμα", which means "wound". Same common Germanic root as Traum to indicate "dream". By analogy the word hell would mean "inside the wound of the Self" or "Inside a Dream", "Inside a Trauma of the Self" or "Carrying a wound inside the heart". The term Nou derives from Ancient Greek “νόος” it is found for the first time in Homer, where it indicates the organ responsible for the representation of clear ideas, therefore "comprehension", a capacity possessed by the gods. According to the same author, thinking, the nous, is identified with speaking, whose seat is in bodily organs that go from the chest to the mouth: «It has its seat in the chest, identified with the heart.» The “nous” it also has the meaning of "intelligence" or "intellect" but unlike these it is evidently not material and therefore cannot be injured by weapons. For some philosophers the Nous represents "the order of all things" or "The Divine Order".
The deadly sins and their history
As a grouping and classification, the capital sins arise as an opposition to the seven heavenly virtues. The concept of sin is of Judeo-Christian origin. The ancient Greeks and Romans did not know the feeling and the term sin. However, they considered the negativity of wicked behaviors, which gave rise to vices, which the philosopher Aristotle described as "habits of evil".
Based on the Aristotelian conception, the first Christians gave shape to the list we know today. It is said that the Egyptian monk Evagrius Ponticus identified seven or eight evil thoughts or spirits to overcome. From Egypt, the list reached Europe where it became central to Christian doctrine.
Asmodeus and Lust
The etymology of the name Asmodeus is controversial but it seems that it derives from the Persian ashma daeva, perhaps spirit of judgement, or from Aeshma-daeva, spirit of fury or from the ancient Aramaic As'medi which means "spirit that destroys". Asmodeus first appears in the book of Tobit. The spirit “Asmodeo” falls madly in love with Sara, Raguele's daughter. The name Sara derives from the Hebrew שָׂרָה (Sarah), meaning "lady" or "princess", whose name was changed by God, originally called שָׂרָי Saray or Sarai, meaning "quarrelsome", from the Greek amphisbetikós meaning ' separately, made of two parts'. Same root as "Shrew" which represents a character with an inclination to argue, to grumble, to constantly reiterate. The story told in the Bible talks about how Sarah had already married seven men, but all of them had died before achieving a true union. Hopelessly disconsolate over the loss, Sara promises herself in marriage to Tobias. In the spirit of “Asmodeo” is associated the archangel Raphael who manages to free himself from him, using a stratagem. Raphael is a Hebrew name, Rĕphā'el, with the etymological meaning "God healed". In the Biblical texts it is told how Raphael suggests Tobit take a fish, tear out the heart, kidneys and liver and throw them into the embers. Asmodeus who cannot bear the vapors released by the smoke, he flees to Egypt, where he is finally chained. Asmodeo is the symbol of disagreement between spouses. In the Testament of Solomon the demon appears with the appearance of a horse between an angel and a man with the aim of sowing discord and compromising the harmony between couples and destroying beauty. The term luxuria derives from the Latin luxus which means "luxury", "excess", "unbridledness", with probably the inability to discern, distinguish between oneself and the other, lack of moderation. One of the tests that Psyche had to overcome to find Love again was to take and bring to Aphrodite some wool belonging to some golden fleece sheep, a cloak of very fine wool endowed with a sacred power. Psyche initially rushed towards the sheep, but was stopped by a reed growing there. This revealed to her that those sheep were actually ferocious beasts and that they would have torn her body apart. He advised her to wait until it got dark and shake the bushes and then collect all the wool that was caught in them. Psyche listened to the cane's advice and thus passed that test too. Aphrodite taught Psyche to be patient and to “think”. The highest and most qualifying human activity which derives from the Latin term "pensum" which indicated the quantity of wool weighed and attributed to the spinners.
ALCHEMY: VENUS - COPPER - GREEN
Greed and Mammon
The term Mammon derives from the Aramaic language, usually of uncertain etymology, translated as the "buried treasure". The term appears in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves neither break in nor steal. Because where your treasure is, your heart will also be. No one can serve two masters: either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will prefer the one and despise the other: you cannot serve God and Mammon." The heart organ and its treasures, which cannot be subjected to the constant action of erosion, have been associated with avarice. Scholars derive this term from the Phoenician word "mommon", meaning "to benefit". “No one lights a lamp and covers it with a vase or puts it under a bed, but places it on a lampstand, so that whoever enters may see the light. There is nothing secret that is not manifested, nothing hidden that is not known and comes into full light. So be careful how you listen; because to him who has, it will be given, but to him who does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away." The term Mammon was most likely identified in Greek mythology with Hades. Deity of the dead whose name Hàdēs (Άιδης), meaning "he who hides". Hades, god of the Underworld, expresses its gloomy aspect, symbolized by the serpent and the dog Kéberos. In ancient times also defined as "voracious guardian" or "bare ground" or "wolf of the gods" since everything buried seemed to be devoured in a short time. In the fairy tale of Cupid and Psyche, the heroine Psyche is forced to make a journey to the underworld and must face, at the entrance and exit, Cerberus, who is described as enormous, with a triple, gigantic and terrible, who with thundering jaws it barks at the dead, to whom, moreover, it cannot do any harm; trying to terrorize them for no reason, and always staying between the threshold and the dark rooms of Proserpina. The great poet Dante describes him as a dog that greedily desires something by barking, and calms down only after having bitten into the food, since it is completely intent on devouring it. Greed turns into craving, "screaming and roaring", ardently wanting and protecting something. Thirst to acquire much more, abandoning less. In simple words, an immense desire to satisfy any desire for possession. The choice between the instincts of profit and the logic of sharing. The miser is the one who, rather than admitting having made a mistake, lashes out at his opponent, wounding him to death. Avarice is crucial to condoning the wrongs suffered. The word Avarice derives from the term Avarus, composed of Alfa privativa which means "Without" and Varus indicating non-uniform, different, mottled. The term describes not knowing how to accept what is different, but specifically not knowing how to forgive and not accept other people. Not being able to establish a close bond with others. The miser does not forgive the wrongs suffered and drags the gold (esteem) with him, burying it and putting respect for others in captivity.
ALCHEMY: MARS - IRON - RED
Beelzebub and Gluttony
The word Beelzebub means 'Master or Lord of the Flies', with Ba'al meaning lord, of Akkadian derivation, and zĕbūb or z'bhubh, meaning fly. This term was used by the Jews to mock the worshipers of Ba'Al. He appeared full of flies, with a swollen face, black and menacing horns, hair and bat-like wings. It is linked to excessive appetite for eating and drinking. It appears often in the New Testament in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. If you take a good tree, its fruit will also be good; if you take a bad tree, its fruit will also be bad: for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you say good things, you who are evil? For the mouth speaks from the fullness of the heart. The good man brings good things from his good treasure, while the bad man brings bad things from his bad treasure. The good man brings out the good from the good treasure of his heart; the bad man brings out evil from his bad treasure: in fact his mouth expresses what the heart abounds. The spirit of Gula it is closely connected to speech and the things that come out of the mouth. It has nothing to do with eating, but rather how words are expertly used or as garbage, figuratively a poor quality product. Just as the continuous, annoying and incessant buzzing of the flies represents an interminable echo of the non-existent flapping of the wings. We could compare the spirit of Gluttony to the chirping of cicadas, which incessantly call for attention with the sole purpose of reproducing. For the ancient Greeks it was the representation of the God Kronos considered the youngest son of Uranus (the Sky) and Gaia (the Earth). For mythology, therefore, Kronos not only became the symbol of the devourer of children but, just as time is the devourer of all events. The spirit of gluttony instigates not to stop, to the point of letting every instinctive drive, fears, beliefs, ideologies flow, devouring even children and loves. In ancient Greece his figure is certainly associated with the divinity Eris, goddess of discord. Eris in ancient Greek: Eρις, «challenge, conflict, quarrel, contention» It represents a sort of fire that increasingly blazes. It starts with a small spark until it reaches blazes of fire that even set the sky on fire. The most significant episode to which the goddess is linked is that of the apple of discord, told in the Cyprian Songs: furious at the exclusion of Peleus and Thetis from the wedding banquet, Eris even contemplated the idea of throwing the Titans against the others Olympians, who had all been invited, and dethrone Zeus. Then, however, he chose a more subtle way to take his revenge. Arriving at the place where the banquet was being held, she rolled a golden apple, according to some taken from the garden of the Hesperides, declaring that it was destined "for the most beautiful" among the divine ones. The dispute that arose between Hera, Athena and Aphrodite over the assignment of the fruit and the related title led to the judgment of Paris and subsequently to the rape of Helen which gave rise to the Trojan War. Initially the choice was Zeus's, but he did not want to choose, because he would have unleashed the wrath of the "loser" goddesses forever. He therefore decided to entrust the task to a mortal. He chose Paris, because, as past events had witnessed, the young man was skilled and just in judging. Athena promised him unbeatability, It was wealth, while Aphrodite the most beautiful woman, who at that time was Helen, wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta. Paris chose Aphrodite. Homer offers an illuminating portrait of it, describing it as "a small thing, at the beginning" that grows until it "strides across the earth, with its head hitting the heavens", sowing hatred among men and worsening their suffering. . Perhaps for this reason the poet also gives her the epithet "lady of pain". A similar representation is also found in Quintus Smyrnaeus: while Eris grows out of all proportion, the earth trembles under her feet, her spear wounds the sky, frightening flames emanate from her mouth, while her thundering voice ignites the souls of men. The same theme is taken up again in one of Aesop's fables: Heracles is crossing a narrow passage when he notices an apple lying on the ground. He hits it repeatedly with his club, but with each blow the apple doubles in size, until it completely blocks the hero's path. Athena, realizing this, then explains to Heracles how that apple is actually Aporia and Eris: if left to itself, it remains small, but fighting it only makes it bigger. However, Hesiod recalls how the goddess has, in addition to her violent one, also another nature, which if understood can be of help to mortals: when she presents herself in the form of competition, Eris is a stimulus to men, pushing them to overcome their own limits and allowing them to achieve results that their innate laziness would otherwise make unattainable. Of human nature shared with her husband, she is considered protector of humanity, in fact she allows every being a battle to save themselves after death. Worshiped and venerated by all the gods, she is honored as a protector from the final destruction of the universe. The term aporia from Greek ἀπορία, impassable passage, dead-end street, in Greek philosophy ancient indicated the impossibility of giving a precise answer to a problem, since one was faced with two solutions which, although opposite, both seemed valid.
ALCHEMY: SATURN - LEAD - GRAY
Belphagor and Akedia
Belphagor is connected to a biblical deity. It is an Assyrian god, Baal-Peor, whom the Moabites worshiped on Mount Fagor. They called him the Baal of Mount Fagor or Lord of Mount Peor. Sloth is associated with him, a term that derives from the ancient Greek akēdía meaning 'negligence', derived from the verb kêdos 'care' and alpha privative with the literal meaning of 'Without Care'. The spirit of acedia represents laziness, aversion to working, mixed with boredom and indifference. Sloth is also described as sadness and melancholy, the evil of memory. Melancholy or melancholia, from the Greek melankholía, composed of mélas 'black' and kholḗ 'bile' with the meaning of "black bile". Francesco Petrarca talks about it in his work, Secretum, describing it as "A fatal disease of the soul". Melancholy is used as a synonym for boredom and a depressed life which indicates discouragement, dejection and tiredness, which represents the sense of disgust for love and life. Belphagor is represented sitting on an angular and square chair, with a long beard, horizontal horns and large Elf ears. With the hand left holds its tail which it hides behind its back. At its side a coin or a wheel with a hole in the center. Belphagor is associated with the idea of coining. Beat coins or medals by making an impression with the die or wedge. More than a tool, the wedge is almost a principle, with the idea of the wedge being the basis of every separation by pressing. A sharp edge of the wedge is driven into the point where you want to create the crack. That is, an instrument whose purpose is not to split or divide but to leave a mark. Sloth is referenced in the Gospel text of Luke. At that time, Jesus said to the disciples: «If one of you has a friend and goes to him at midnight and says: “Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend has come to me from a journey and I have nothing to offer him”, and if the one inside replies: "Don't bother me, the door is already closed, my children and I are in bed, I can't get up to give you the loaves", I tell you that, even if he doesn't get up to give them to him because he is his friend, at least because of his intrusiveness he will get up to give him as many as he needs. Well, I say to you: ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you. For whoever asks receives and whoever seeks finds and whoever knocks it will be opened.
ALCHEMY: MOON - WHITE - SILVER
Amon and Wrath
Ammon is described as a wolf with a serpent's tail that throws fire, a man with a raven's head and barnacles, or simply a man with a raven's head. There is no direct allusion to him in the Bible, although his name may be linked to the Egyptian god Amon or Ben-Ami. Amon, whose name means "the hidden", "the mysterious", "the unknowable", was an ancient god of air and wind. Precisely for this reason it was linked to the blue sky, where the wind and air have their home, and it was "hidden" and "mysterious" since these two entities are invisible. His name was Amenemhet, a name meaning "Amon is the first". Connected to anger, to feelings that are neither ordered nor controlled. He is linked to the denial of truth, and his great works are discrimination. Ancient texts tell of the relationship Ammon had with his mother. According to this version, the god Amon fell in love with his mother, and taking the form of his father spent a night of love with her: "Then Amon, master of the throne of the dual country, transformed himself and took on the appearance of his majesty. The queen's husband. He found her while she was sleeping in her splendid palace. The smell of the god awakened her, and she smiled at his majesty. He immediately approached her and his heart burned with ardor for her. He made sure that she could see him in his divine aspect. After approaching her closely, and she became ecstatic contemplating his virility, Amon's love penetrated her body. The palace was filled with the perfume of the god." The god Amon was a warrior and belligerent god, and for this reason he was called "lord of victory" and "lord of strength". “The mountains tremble beneath him in his anger, the earth shakes when he utters a cry.” Ammon is represented with an erect penis, as the god of male sexual power. In ancient Greece it was Priam, who was represented as a small bearded man with an enormous phallus. According to the Romans he was born from the illegitimate love between Aphrodite and Zeus and was transformed into an obscene character by Hera, jealous wife of the king of Olympus. The spirit of anger represents the carnal love and unconscious rejection that the child experiences towards the parent of the same sex, resulting in uncontrolled anger. Anger brings with it a baggage of frustrations stored over the years, like a river in flood, the most insignificant events make it overflow. The raven is a sacred symbol of Odin, god of the Vikings. A warrior and powerful deity, Odin has two ravens, Huginn and Muninn, whom he releases at sunrise to fly around the world. They return in the evening and lean on his shoulders, whispering the secrets they have stolen. Their names: Huginn means “thought” and Muninn meaning “memory”.
ALCHEMY: MERCURY - BROWN - QUICKSILVER
Leviathan and Envy
The Leviathan לִוְיָתָ, Līvəyāṯān, appears in ancient texts as meaning "twisted, coiled" and is a creature with the shape of a sea serpent. It is mentioned in several books of the Hebrew Bible, including the Psalms, the Book of Job, the Book of Isaiah, and the Book of Amos, and in the Book of Enoch. Leviathan is an embodiment of chaos in dragon form who often threatens to eat the damned. It appears in the book of Job: “Can you fish Leviathan with a hook and hold his tongue with a rope?”. Leviathan is related to sea monsters and was created on the fifth day of creation. In literature it has been used as a name for many monsters, and has been assimilated to envy. The etymology invidia derives from invidere, composed of “in” negative and “videre” to look, literally means “not to see” or “to look obliquely”. Envy is a feeling arising from dissatisfaction with oneself and with one's life. It comes from an insecurity, from the lack of self-confidence that it generates frustration and chaos. The very idea that envy generates itself like a twisted screw without ever being able to get to the bottom of it. Related to water it is a sort of vortex, a tumultuous agitation of feelings, which grabs and overwhelms and forces us to remain trapped in it. In Greek mythology this feeling was represented by the three Gorgons: Medusa, Steno and Euryale. Daughters of the sea god Phorcus and Ceto, the Gorgons, were three monstrous sisters, with golden wings, wild boar tusks, forked tongues, and instead of hair, snakes capable of petrifying anyone who looked at them.
ALCHEMY: JUPITER - TIN - ORANGE
Lucifer and Pride
Lucifer is certainly the best known of all demons. Tradition describes him as an angel much loved by God. But due to an excess of pride he rebelled against the Divine will, therefore hating human beings, considering them unworthy of God's love. This is why his name appears on many occasions in the Bible . “How come you fell from heaven, Lucifer, son of the dawn? How come you were laid on the ground, lord of peoples? Yet you thought: I will ascend to heaven, on the stars of God I will raise the throne, I will dwell on the mountain of the assembly, in the most remote parts of the north. I will ascend to the upper regions of the clouds, I will make myself equal to the Most High." The word Lucifer derives from the Latin lucĭfer composed of “lux” 'light' and ferre 'to bring, which literally means 'bearer of light'. Ezekiel “You were a model of perfection, full of wisdom, perfect in beauty; in Eden, garden of God, you were covered with every precious stone." The term Superbia derives from the Greek superbus, composed of "super" meaning above and bus, everything or everyone, literally "Above all". Personality that shows enormous self-esteem, haughty, contemptuous; magnificent, beautiful, excellent. The biblical verses tell of the clash between the archangel Michael and Lucifer. Michael derives from the Hebrew name מִיכָאֵל Mikha'el and is composed of the terms mi ("who"), kha ("as") and El "God", which form the phrase "Who is like God?". Lucifer and Michael represent the two twin spirits. On one side the Righteous, the one who follows the rules and on the other the Rebel, the intolerant of all authority, rebellious, revolutionary, subversive. The spirit of Pride therefore represents a continuous internal struggle, a split. Lucifer is moved by intuition. Michael, on the other hand, represents the balance of advice, which is the result of an awareness and experience of the things of the world. One cannot exist without the other. Michael represents the light of day, Lucifer the bearer of light in the night. The saint and the demon, good and evil, light and darkness both proceeding in the knowledge of the spirit. The separation between a fallen being, confined in the frozen earth and a spiritual being. The great poet Dante describes Lucifer as an enormous and hideous creature, with three faces on a single head and three pairs of bat wings. Lucifer is stuck from the waist down in the ice of Cocytus, so only the upper side emerges. The three heads are of different colors: the one in the center is red, the one on the right is between white and yellow, the one on the left is black. The monster flaps its wings, producing a cold wind that freezes the waters of Lake Cocytus, where the traitors are fighting. The same image that we find at the very beginning of the journey that Dante he accomplishes, and which sees him having to face the three wild beasts, the loin, the she-wolf and the lion which hinder his journey into knowledge. Lucifer therefore represents the inherent fear of every being to take the first steps towards knowing their own wound. Lucifer is the one who lights the fuse, but then stops and does not continue further. He is the Prometheus, who steals fire to give it to men, but the fire belongs to Vulcan. Prometheus does not know the properties of fire, he only steals a spark. A fire without wood is nothing.
ALCHEMY - SUN - GOLD - YELLOW
HADES
In the Greek language and culture, hell takes the name of Hades, like the divinity who administers it; Hades in Greek and Pluto in Latin. The term “Hades” derives from the ancient Greek “α-ιδης”(“a-ides”), where “α” has a privative value and where “ιδης” means image, representation, vision, drawing. The word had suggests a lack of ideas. In turn, the latter derives from the root “ιδ-” of the Greek verb “oραω”, which means to see, observe. In addition to these meanings, “oραω” can also mean to know (only in the perfect indicative, which corresponds to our immediate past). Therefore when someone says they know something, it means that they have experienced that thing, that specific fact, that event, that they have seen it. We can therefore reassemble our puzzle: Hades represents everything that cannot be seen, everything that cannot be touched or felt, therefore everything that is not known. In Latin, however, the words inferno and inferi are used, both with the same meaning. “Inferno” derives from the Latin “inferior” (inferior, comparative of the adverb “infra” whose superlative is “infimus” or “imus” (infimo), inferi derives from the verb “infero ", i.e. "in-fero", which means to bring inside, to bring down, underneath. Therefore, while in Greek this concept takes on an abstract value, linked to knowledge and knowledge, to the lack of ideas, in Latin it takes on a representative value, where in fact hell is often depicted underground, in the depths, lower than the ground.
The bride of Hades was Prosepina or Greek goddess Persephone or Kore from the ancient Greek κόρη, girl. The name could derive from the Latin word proserpere which means "something that must emerge" or "something that must grow" to mean the wheat growth.