-Index-
Presentation
Alexander Fidora and Jordi Pardo Pastor
Articles
Bringing the Divine down into Man: the building-up of the yoga path
Edrisi Fernandes
Original title: Trazendo o Divino para Dentro do Homem: a Construção do Sistema do Yoga
Keywords: Atharvaveda, Purusha, Rigveda, Upanishads., Yoga.
The author analizes the evolution of Yoga as an ascetic discipline, since the time of the absorption of the local inhabitants by the Aryan tribes, that settled in India in protohistoric times. Austerity vows, magical practices, breath control exercises and ascetic attitudes of the locals were incorporated in Vedic metaphysics and religion, and also in preclassical Yoga. The discovery of the power of ascetic/meditational practices gave rise to a progressive distantiation of the yogis from external religious practices such as sacrifices, intended to propitiate the gods, and to a parallel advance of the view of yoga as a kind of sacrifice in itself, grounded on the association - thought as a binding or [re]union - between the Self/the living Soul (âtman; jivâtman) of man and the eternal norm (sanatana dharma), the “Lord of Creatures” (Prajâpati), the Supreme Being (Parameshtin; Brahman; Shiva of Shaivism; Vishnu of Vaishnavism), or the force or power (Shakti of Shaktism [Tantrism]) that makes life possible and maintains the cosmos. Through a review of the Purusha (Sanskrit for “person; man”, but also for “Universal man; man-god”) theme in some classical Indian literary references - encompassing the Rigveda, the Atharvaveda, many Upanishads, relevant portions of the Mahâbhârata (particularly of the Bhagavad-Gîtâ, and of the Mokshadharma and other sections of the Shânti Parva), the Yoga-Sûtra of Patañjali (the founding text of classical yoga), the Bhâgavata-Purâna, the Yoga-Vâsishtha attributed to Vâlmîki, and the Kulârnava-Tantra (an essential text to tantra-yoga), among others -, an articulation that consolidates human autonomy and superior status in the universe is perceived, giving way to the idea that one can be “enlighted”, and the God-in-man status can be achieved, both through knowledge (jñâna) and through yoga - the way of enlightment associated with bodily and mental control and stability, and with the achievement of trans-rational conciousness. Purely “transcendental” meditation and concentration practices progressively [re]turn to a situation where the body is valued as a kind of “temple”, that must be appropriately constructed and cared for in order to allow and to favour the final encounter and assimilation between man and the Divine.
Memory and Rhapsody: The Divine Song in Archadia
Ciléa Dourado
Original title: Memória e Rapsódia: o canto divino na Arcádia
Keywords: Poetry, Power., tradition, truth.
The poetic activity of the Greek Golden Age, better known as Archadia, grew inside a pre-literate culture which was characterized, above all, by a mythological symbolism. The Archadian poetry points to the notion of the fantastic, of the sublime and of the divine in its purest form. The archaic Poet was endowed with the power directly by the gods, and such a power was non-negotiable and non-transferable. The lineage and succession of a rhapsodist was often brought out by Arete, the choice of the nobler.
The Relationship between Divinity and Secular Power on Laconian Black-Figure Vases in the 6th Century B.C.
José Francisco de Moura
Original title: Vínculos entre divindade e poder secular nos vasos de figuras negras da Lacônia no século VI a.C.
Keywords: Gods, Kings, Politic, Sparta, power.
This article wants to examine the divine images on Laconian black-figure vases with regard to the iconography in other types of Laconian materials, thus hoping to understand their politico-social function in the context of the Spartan society of the 6th century b.C.
Superstition and Religiousness in the Res publica: Areas of Power?
Luís Filipe Silvério Lima
Original title: Superstições e Religiosidade na Res Publica: Espaços de Poder?
Keywords: Livy., Prophecy, Religion, power.
This paper deals with the links between religion and prophecy as forms of power in Livy.
The Quotidianity of an Image: the Face of the Christ
Ofelia Manzi
Original title: La Cotidianeidad de una imagen: el rostro de Cristo
Keywords: Early Christian Art, Face of Christ, Iconography, Late Antiquity Art, Portrait, Roman Emperors.
After the third century, a widespread repertoire of Christian images is created. Recognition of the characters of Biblical history was made by their assimilation to motifs of Roman art. The study of origin, development and modifications that modified the face of Christ offers the possibility of analyzing the multiple sources for this image as well as establishing the changes of its meaning, that run parallel to the history of the Church.
Fear and Ecstatic Reaction to the Miracle Stories in the Synoptic Gospels
Paulo Augusto de Souza Nogueira
Original title: Maravilhamento e êxtase religioso como reação aos milagres nos Evangelhos Sinóticos
Keywords: Ecstatic, Jesus, Miracles, Synoptic Gospels..
The Synoptic Miracle Stories have been interpreted with suspicion by modern exegetes. If compared to Jesus’ preaching and to the death and resurrection account they never received a true religious appreciation. In fact, the insertion of the Miracle Stories in the Synoptic Gospels has been considered as a kind of concession by the evangelists: they narrate them, but they show also that the popular reaction to the miracles, even if positive, is dominated by misunderstanding.
Mysticism, Language and Silence in Plotinus's Philosophy
Maria Simone Cabral Marinho
Original title: Mística, Linguagem e Silêncio na Filosofia de Plotino
Keywords: Language, Mysticism, Plotinus, Silence.
This article tries to highlight some important aspects of mystical experience in Plotinus, pointing out, above all, the problem of language that appears in the Plotinian Philosophy as a mediating term between the need to communicate the One and the impossibility of doing so.
A Polemical Iconography: the Magi from Orient
Patricia Grau-Dieckmann
Original title: Una Iconografía polémica: los Magos de Oriente
Keywords: Art, Epiphany, Iconography, Magic, Three Wise Men, Worship.
"… there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem" briefly informs Mathews Gospel about these illustrious visitors that - following a star - arrive from the east to worship Baby Jesus. He further tells that they fell on their knees and "presented him with gifts - gold, incense and myrrh". Later apocryphal tales and popular narratives beautify and adorn the legends about these mysterious characters. Very early does art reflect the iconography of the worship of the magi, known as "Epiphany". This scene will mutate through time and will develop into the sumptuous representation of the royal characters that became the Three Wise Men. Early Christian art may offer a key to the understanding of whom they were, what were they looking for and what were the reasons that justify the importance of the scene of the Epiphany within the frame of this new religion - Christianism - that tried to expand among the gentiles.
Brotherhoods as an Expression of Popular Devotion and the Way to God and Paradise
Klaus Militzer
Original title: Bruderschaften als Ausdruck der Volksfrömmigkeit und des Wegs zu Gott und in das Paradies
Keywords: Council of Trent, Fellowships, Legos in the Middle Ages.
This paper analyzes the calls and fellowships development thirteenth to the sixteenth century. Focusing on Köln and Neuss examples the author one side highlights the relationship between the growth of these communities prosperous and secular progressive urbanization of society, commerce, as well as the spiritual crisis triggered by repeated pests. On the other hand, addresses the criticisms of the confraternities that multiply especially since the reformation, although Reformers were not the first to advance reviews in relation to lifestyle prodigal of the members of these communities and their political influence within Church. These criticisms, ultimately, lead to a reform of the confraternities.
Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179): the Exceptional Way of a Medieval Visionary Woman
Carmen Lícia Palazzo
Original title: Hildegard de Bingen: o excepcional percurso de uma visionária medieval
Keywords: Church, Hildegard of Bingen, Middle Ages, visionary woman.
The goal of this article is to present a few aspects of the extensive body of work by the visionary nun Hildegard of Bingen, relating her acceptance with the 12th century context and suggesting certain research possibilities. The debate among monks of Cister and Cluny and the severe criticism to Abelard’s teachings by Bernard of Clairvaux constitute, in my opinion, an essential elements to be considered in order to explain the direct support by the Church to Hildegard’s texts and Hildegard as a person. However, it was certainly the quality of her work and her prodigious intelligence that consolidated her achievements not only as a visionary but also as composer, counsellor and therapist.
God Can not be Understood. God's Incomprehensibility in the Liber XXIV philosophorum (Chapters XVI & XVII) and its Roots in the Western Philosophical Tradition
Jan G. J. ter Reegen
Original title: Deus não pode ser conhecido. A incognoscibilidade divina no Livro dos XXIV Filósofos (XVI e XVII) e suas raízes na tradição filosófica ocidental
Keywords: Being beyond being, First cause, First principle, Ineffability.
The Liber XXIV Philosophorum in its XVIth e XVIIth thesis tells us about the ineffability of God as a consequence of His excellence and also in view of the fact that God can only think Himself. In this paper we will try to examine the base and dimensions of this statement, studying it as a part of a long tradition in ancient and medieval philosophy, i.e. Neoplatonism, and especially in the Liber de Causis.
Heaven versus Hell: The vision Tnugdal and the voyage of the soul in search of salvation (12th century)
Adriana Zierer
Original title: Paraíso versus Inferno: a Visão de Túndalo e a Viagem Medieval em Busca da Salvação da Alma (séc. XII)
Keywords: Heaven, Hell, Seven deadly sins, Tnugdal.
The Salvation in Middle Ages was connected to the idea of voyage. The medieval man saw himself as a voyager (homo viator), a walker between two worlds: the ephemerous earth, place of tentations and the Heaven, the kingdom of God and of celestials beings. If the individual suceeded in maintain his body pure, he would obtain the salvation, but if he failed his soul would be condemned with eternal chastiments in Hell or provisorial in the Purgatory. It was a medieval paradox the fact that the soul could only be saved by the body. Because this sentiment of guilt, broght by the Original Sin, the population usually searched for salvation by means of a voyage, for example the peregrinations to achieve the Saint Earth (Jerusalem). These displacements were insecures (bad trails, menace of robbery and of diseases) and seen as a form of salvation since the pilgrim never knew for sure if he would come back or not. He wanted to experience in his flesh what Christ and other martyrs had suffered. Another means of salvation was the isolation from the rest of society in search of a life connected to God, such as the hermits and monks did. Because of their despite for terrestrial pleasures and their lives consacrated in prayers and fastings to God, they were considered the purest in terrestrial society. The benedictine monks dedicated themselves to write Visions with the purpose of presenting the chastiments and pleasures of the souls in beyond. Their intention was to show to the people the correct rules of behavior to obtain the salvation. The exempla, such as the Vision of Tundalo, present the types of chastiments based on the seven capital sins, and the actions that should be performed to reach the Paradise: to give alms, to go to mass, to give riches to the Church and to avoid lust. Un common element from the Visions is the emphasis in the sensations of the five senses. For example, stink in Hell and perfume in Heaven. Tortures are explained by the use of darkness, screams and sorrows, in opposition to clarity, singing and happiness. In Iconography, with the Seven Deadly Sins, by Bosch, and The Final Jugdement, by Fra Angelico, the structure of the Visions is confirmed. The topos of the beyond, in the case of the Heaven, are characterized by an edenic landscape represented by gardens, chants, fountains, angels and leafy trees. Once in Hell, the geography presuppose some obstacles such as ways with narrow brigdes, boiling rivers, mountains, lakes of ice and monsters. Thus, the individual in Middle Ages wanted the salvation more for the fear of Hell than from the glories of the Heaven, and the human soul debated herself between the desire for the pleasures and the dread of the infernal abyss.
The Mystical Transformation of Medieval Lyrical Topoi in Ramon Llull's (1232-1316) Llibre d'amic e Amat
Jordi Pardo Pastor
Original title: La transformació mística dels tòpics lírics medievals dins del Llibre d’amic e Amat de Ramon Llull
The simbolical representations of the Devil in Ramon Llull and Dante Alighieri (13th & 14th centuries)
Klítia Loureiro and Ziza Scaramussa
Original title: O Diabo e suas representações simbólicas em Ramon Llull e Dante Alighieri (séculos XIII e XIV)
Keywords: Dante Alighieri, Devil, Hell, Midle Ages, Ramon Llull.
This article intents to recover the fundamentals elements of the conception of Devil and Hell in the medieval culture, particulary in the 13th and 14th century. We have analized the vision of the Devil and Hell discrived by Ramon Llull (1232-1316) in no Livro das Maravilhas (1288-1289), Doutrina para Crianças (1274-1276) and Livro dos Anjos (1274?-1283?), briefly comparing his conception with Dante Alighieri and his Divina Comédia (1307-1321).
Pletho's Nomoi - A Case of Polytheism in the Latebizantinian Era and its Reception in the Islamic World
Anna Akasoy
Original title: Ein Beitrag zum Polytheismus in spätbyzantinischer Zeit und seiner Rezeptionìn der islamischen Welt
Keywords: Byzantinian Philosophy, George Gemistos Pletho, Islam.
During his stay in Italy as a member of the Greek delegation at the Council of Union in Ferrara/Florence in 1438/9 George Gemistos Pletho criticized the intellectuals of the Latin West heavily for their overestimation of Aristotle and their disregard of Plato. Meanwhile he blamed the Arabic commentators of the Aristotelian corpus Avicenna and Averroes for this misinterpretation, Islam is used as a positive example in Plethos historical writings. On the other hand Pletho s works were received in the Islamic world as well through the Arabic translation of his Nomoi done at the court of Mehmet II. This article offers a short overview of the different aspects of the relation between Pletho and Islam and the transliteration and translation of the Arabic translation of his Compendium Zoroastreorum.
Visio et amor Dei: Nicholas of Cusa (d. 1464) and John of the Cross (1542-1591)
Prof. Dr. Raúl Gutiérrez
Original title: Visio et Amor dei - Nicolás de Cusa y Juan de la Cruz
Keywords: John of the Cross, Knowledge of God, Modes of knowledge, Nicholas of Cusa, Self-Knowledge.
In the light of Nicholas of Cusa s idea that the diverse finite modes of understanding God are founded in the Absolute itself, and thus constitute modes by which the Absolute sees itself, the author interprets the distinction between the beginners , the advanced and the perfect as diverse modes of understanding oneself, God and the world, thus confirming that John of the Cross has a clear awareness of the mediating and constitutive function which the subject has with respect to reality.
A Different Expression of the Divine: Jewish Knowledge on Geography Spaces in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance
Márcia Siqueira de Carvalho
Original title: Uma outra expressão do Divino: O Conhecimento do Espaço Geográfico pelos judeus na Idade Média e no Renascimento
Keywords: Geographical Knowledge, Jews, Voyages.
Voyages, since Antiquity, are important sources for topographical descriptions. Thus, religious persecutions, pilgrimages and commercial routes played a major role for geographical knowledge. This article focuses Jewish geographical knowledge in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
