Paradiso 21

This year, 2021, marks the 700th anniversary of the death of Dante, author of the great Divine Comedy. I invite you to experience the odyssey, by accompanying me as I discuss each canto.

(My book, Dante’s Divine Comedy: A Guide For The Spiritual Journey, is published by Angelico Press for the 700th anniversary of Dante’s death on 13th September 2021.)

Dante begins his journey by waking up in a dark wood. The air tastes bitter. He becomes fearful. Truth is out of reach. But his crisis is a turning point.

Many today, too, are waking up to something that's gone wrong. The air tastes bitter, people are fearful, truth is out of reach. We’re in a spiritual crisis. We must see the world afresh and understand. I believe Dante can help us discover how.

Canto 21 opens with Dante and Beatrice having arrived in the heaven of Saturn. He is now able to perceive a further level of reality, though Beatrice doesn't smile at first. The glory around him must be gradually revealed, which is the first lesson of Saturn. Trying to run before you can walk in these higher realms is disastrous. We'd say now it leads to ego inflation, conspiracy theories, the blasting of the soul not its elevation. Peter Damian, the contemplative, appears to explain how the human soul can become a fuller receptacle of divine light, though the canto ends with a loud clap of thunder. Remember Lucifer. There is danger the higher you go.

There is an MP3 version of the talk, a sign up to the podcast version and receive notifications, and more at www.markvernon.com/dantes-divine-comedy.

If you wanted to discuss the Comedy with others, a Discord-based gathering is currently running here - https://discord.gg/nuzPzn5.

I recommend the translation by Mark Musa in the Penguin Classics edition, both for its accessibility and notes.

The images that accompany my discussion are by Gustav Doré (in black and white), William Blake (in colour), Sandro Botticelli (the drawings), Giovanni de Paolo (illustrations) and assorted manuscripts.

Видео Paradiso 21 канала Mark Vernon