Joining Dante and Lewis on a Journey through the Heavens
"You must go out on a starry night and walk about for half an hour trying to see the sky in terms of the old cosmology."
C.S. Lewis exhorts his students that if they want to understand the medieval literature they are reading, they must understand the medieval world. And so he tasks them with spending time looking at the night sky, trying to believe that the planets have an influence on the course of events on earth, that the earth itself is the only sphere of sin and change and therefore sits at the bottom of the universe. Longtime readers will know that I have an obsession with the medieval cosmology. Lewis certainly believed that aspects of it, especially the character of each planet, was still important in his own day. And I believe they are still important today.
This is why, for the past 5 years or more, I have been working on a book called Reclaiming the Discarded Image. In it, I will take the 7 planets and look to their characters. That is, their temperaments or personalities. What is the joviality of Jupiter? And, just as important, what effect does it have on me? This book is currently under contract with the Cascade Imprint of Wipf and Stock publishers.
In my obsession with the medieval cosmos, however, I have also become a deep reader of Dante’s Divine Comedy. Nearly 2 years ago, I decided to embark on a poetic journey with Dante as my guide. I wanted to write a poem responding to all 100 cantos of Dante’s epic. What’s more, I wanted to write them in terza rima, Dante’s own rhyme scheme, though only 10 lines per poem, as opposed to the roughly 130 or more per canto. Well, I am very pleased to say that I have finally finished that project. I have titled it, The Love that Moves the Sun and Other Stars, based on the last line of the last canto of the Divine Comedy. This book is currently in search of a publisher. Which brings me to my next point.
I love writing. Next to teaching, it is one of the highest callings in my professional life. But writing, even you get payed for it, isn’t a cheap practice. Between purchasing the books and resources needed for these projects, the time it takes to actually write them, the cost of publishing in this age, and the desire to produce more content for free here on the website and elsewhere (I’d love to return to podcasting and even making youtube videos), it just costs more than it brings in.
A level headed person would likely say at this point, “Then don’t do it.” Sadly, my head is either less than level or more so. I won’t stop writing altogether just because I can’t afford it, but I may have to pull back dramatically (more than I have already). So I’m turning to you, my gentle readers, to ask for your support. Once upon a time, writers and artists would find wealthy patrons to pay for their artistic endeavors. We no longer live in those days, but we do live in an age where common people like me can help support our authors and artists, not just through purchasing their works, but by donating to them so they can keep working.
If you’ve enjoyed my work here on the website, on my old blog at Patheos Catholic, the articles I’ve written for Inland Catholic or other digital and print publications, or even my books, please consider donating. Your donations will help make sure I can maintain web addresses, have the extra time to write, and even help me get my books published. So please consider making a donation. And please, keep me in your prayers.
I want to leave you with this, it is the final poem in my newly finished collection, The Love that Moves the Sun and Other Stars.
Paradiso Canto 33
With the prayers of my Queen and Mother,
My eyes look up to the only existent One,
Who through himself made me son and brother.
This Light is Love and brighter than any sun.
It wheels so smoothly I can see that there are three,
And yet these three are bound, an eternal One.
And in one Light, I see our human nature,
One Light, divine and human, bearing scars,
In Him I see the last, our final adventure,
The Love that moves the sun and other stars.
