Κεφ. ΝΔ'
Discerning the Soul's Afflictions in Dreams
Evagrius explains how demonic activity in dreams reveals specific weaknesses in the desiring and spirited parts of the soul, requiring targeted spiritual remedies.
When, in dreams, the demons attack the desiring part of the soul by showing us encounters with acquaintances, feasts with relatives, groups of women, and other such sources of pleasure—and we run toward them—we are sick in this part of the soul, and the passion is strong.1 But when they instead disturb the spirited part of the soul, forcing us to travel along precipitous roads and bringing armed men, venomous creatures, and flesh-eating beasts upon us—and we are terrified by the roads and flee when the beasts and men pursue us—we should care for this part of the soul, call upon Christ during our vigils, and use the remedies mentioned above.23
Read the original Latin
Ὅταν ἐν ταῖς καθ’ ὕπνον φαντασίαις τῷ ἐπιθυμητικῷ μέρει πολεμοῦντες οἱ δαίμονες αὐτοὶ μὲν δεικνύωσιν, ἡμεῖς δὲ προστρέχωμεν, συντυχίας γνωρίμων καὶ συμπόσια συγγενῶν καὶ χοροὺς γυναικῶν καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα τοιαῦτα ἡδονῶν ἀποτελεστικά, ἐν τούτῳ τῷ μέρει νοσοῦμεν καὶ τὸ πάθος ἰσχύει. Ὅταν δὲ πάλιν τὸ θυμικὸν ἐκταράσσωσιν, ὁδοὺς κρημνώδεις ὁδεύειν καταναγκάζοντες, καὶ ἐνόπλους ἄνδρας ἐπάγοντες καὶ ἰοβόλα καὶ σαρκοβόρα θηρία, ἡμεῖς δὲ πρὸς μὲν τὰς ὁδοὺς ἐκδειματούμεθα, ὑπὸ δὲ τῶν θηρίων καὶ τῶν ἀνδρῶν διωκόμενοι φεύγωμεν, τοῦ θυμικοῦ μέρους ποιησώμεθα πρόνοιαν, καὶ τὸν Χριστὸν ἐν ἀγρυπνίαις ἐπικαλούμενοι, τοῖς προειρημένοις φαρμάκοις χρησώμεθα.
Notes
The Praktikos companion
A daily portion of stillness
Chosen Portion delivers one short contemplative reading and a guided moment of silence each day — the ascent, one step at a time.
Chosen Portion is the paced doorway into this collection: it portions the dense mystical treatises into one daily reading plus guided silence, exactly as the 14-day plan teaches.
- Daily bite-sized excerpts from the contemplative classics, never a wall of text
- A built-in timed stillness practice that grows from 2 minutes to 10
- Gentle progression through the tradition — the app remembers where you are on the ascent