In Dahl's dictionary
and. which deceives in the highest degree; seduction, charm; | mana, trouble, deception, temptation, seduction from an evil spirit; | old cunning, cunning, deceit, deceit, deception; | beauty, beauty, bass, comeliness and comeliness, grace; what captivates and flatters the senses, or conquers the mind and will. The delights of social life. The black robe does not save you from charms. And Mikhail, having created a charm on Danil and many Galicians, deceived him. This is wonderful, what a job! Not a beauty, but a delight! After such a delight as this fish, you just have to lick your fingers! Charming, seductive, in every sense. Lovely necklace! Lovely woman. Delightful temptations of Satan. A charming friend is a treacherous friend! A charming offer, crafty, deceptive. Lovely weather, amazing. She dances beautifully. Charming, -nitsa, seducing, seducing with oneself, seducer, seducer; red tape; yoke; a woman of ill repute. To charm, to flirt. Charming, coquetry. To seduce, to seduce someone with something, or with oneself, to captivate, to attract, to entice, to charm, to seduce, to irritate feelings, passions and to conquer, to seduce. I'm fascinated by his stroller! She seduces with her voice. Money seduces everyone. She seduced him and seemed to bypass him! captivated, he is in love. The prince of this world seduces with charms. The demon seduced him, confused him, confused him, seduced him. The shine seduces and blinds. -sya, they suffer. and return within the meaning of. A person is seduced by worldly vanity, it seduces and seduces him. Who is not seduced by the splendor of the nobility! He was deceived by his mind. The moth was seduced by the light of the fire - and died! Seduction, action according to verb. A seducer, a person who seduces with himself or herself with something. -ny, seductive, attractive, captivating, enchanting, seductive.
Meaning
Consulting a dictionary is, as always, fruitful. He offers us the following options:
- What attracts, attracts attention, seduces. “The beauty of this venture was that it promised great profit without any apparent risk.”
- That which enchants, seduces, captivates. Usually they say this about beautiful women. “It’s a miracle, how good she is. She's just lovely!"
- Deception, temptation, seduction. In the 19th century, in church language the word had a clearly negative character.
- The most complete manifestation of the true qualities of man and nature. “In the severe frosts, winter showed itself in all its glory.”
The meaning will be preserved if we replace “charm” (we are getting a little ahead of ourselves) with the word “beauty”.
When the meaning is disenchanted, then you should not stop there. Let's move on, the next stop is synonyms.
In Ozhegov's dictionary
PRECIOUS, -i, f. 1. Charm, charisma, attractiveness. P. a child's smile. P. novelty. The severity of the north has its own 2nd plural. Pleasant, captivating phenomena, impressions. The delights of rural life. I learned all the delights of forced life (ironically: about its hardships). 3. About someone. charming, enchanting. What a mess all around! What a p. is this girl! P. you are mine!4. pl. External features of female beauty: the female body (obsolete and ironic). Fading delights. * What a beauty! (colloquial) - about something. lovely, wonderful.
The case of Gollum and the insidiousness of “Prelest”
Of course, it is unlikely that Tolkien, when creating Gollum, thought about the super-meaning invested in this character, especially in Russian. Indeed, from this image one can draw many interesting conclusions about the nature of charm as a quality. It is clear that the One Ring is evil incarnate. If anyone doesn’t believe it, they can ask the former hobbit. Here the unexpected meaning of the word “beauty” is revealed; its meaning in this case is two-dimensional: for Gollum the Ring is embodied beauty, the goal of all aspirations, but in fact it is pure darkness, and one for which it is immediately impossible to find an equivalent.
Of course, the Christian meaning of the character and his “Charms” is revealed without difficulty: idolatry does not lead to good. But the case of an unfortunate creature makes you think about whether the beauty of a person, nature or some phenomenon is so simple. Is there something hidden behind the shiny façade that will later terrify you? Beauty can serve as bait to lure a person into a trap, for example, about nature. When a person looks at the calm sea on a sunny day, he may well exclaim: “Lovely!” But as soon as the sun goes behind the clouds, or the weather turns bad, the elements will show their true face, their charm, it will be a completely different story.
In the dictionary D.N. Ushakova
PRECIOUS, charming, female. (original deception, seduction). 1. units only Charm, enchantment from someone, something beautiful, pleasant, attractive (book). The beauty of the face. The beauty of the soul, the mind. “Who wouldn’t trust… their (eyes’) ethereal charm?” Baratynsky. How much charm there is in this child! All her movements are full of charm. “All this often adds great charm to the conversation.” Pushkin. 2. what. That quality of the environment, object or phenomenon that makes it pleasant, attractive, gives pleasure (colloquial, often ironic, especially in the plural). Village life has its own charm. “But soon afterwards, neither alive nor dead, I learned the charm of the cart.” Nekrasov. 3. only units. About who (or what) excites admiration, captivates, enchants; something lovely (colloquial). I yearned in front of the paintings... and hypocritically repeated after others: “What a beauty! How much air!” *****
Replacement of the word "lovely"
Despite its simplicity, the object of our study is not so easy to replace. Of course, we are talking about charm. However, we will try. Some of the synonyms will seem a little awkward, but this only reflects the difficulty of the task. So here is a list of possible replacements, with comments following:
- Charming.
- Charming.
- Gorgeous.
- Beauty.
- Beauty.
- Darling.
- Miracle.
- Dream.
- Charm.
- Attractiveness.
- Extra class.
- Above all praise.
- Temptation.
- Deception.
Probably enough. You can replace the word “charm” in different ways; the synonyms will depend on the specific language situation. For example, if you need to express admiration for the beauty of a woman, then the first three definitions will do. If you need to praise the beautiful character of a girl, you can use a word that refers us to one of A.P.’s stories. Chekhov - “Darling”.
Do you need to comment on any opportunity that has arisen that offers bright prospects? Use definitions 7, 8. To evaluate some result of work or thing - number 11, 12. If something dangerous or evil is ahead, then words numbered 13, 14 are suitable. It all depends on the language situation and what exactly one wants to say speaker, replacing the definition of “charming”. Synonyms should always be chosen very carefully.
The meaning of this word is something that you have been seduced by on the spiritual path
Charm is something that seduces you. What is flattery anyway? This is a kind of boasting, instilling a false sense of pride in a person. Pride itself is bad, and if it is not based on anything, it is generally a nightmare.
That is, charm is a person’s delusion, his incorrect idea of himself.
It is understood that charm is not someone’s action towards a person, but his flattery to himself. That is, self-deception, excessive conceit - that’s what charm is.
How to get rid of pride
New in blogs
Further aggravation of passions leads to a variety of negative spiritual and mental states, which are united in the patristic tradition into one general group, called “charms” (from “to be deceived” - to be deceived, to make a mistake), Greek. πλανη from πλαναω - to lead astray, to make one wander. It is interesting that the word planet comes from here, πλανητα αστρα, which literally means “wandering star” / Christian: Barnabas (Belyaev). T. 2. 1997, p. 401/, since the planets moved in the sky not in uniform circles, like all other stars, but in spirals, resulting from the addition of the planets’ own motion relative to the Sun with the effect of rotation of the Earth itself. The image of these strange wandering stars is used by the ap. Jude, among other metaphors to describe the false teachers who appeared at that time: “they are waterless clouds carried by the wind; autumn trees, barren, twice dead, uprooted; fierce sea waves, foaming with their shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved darkness of darkness forever” (Jude 1:12-13).
Through the works of Gregory Sinaite, Callistus and Ignatius Xanthopoula, Blessed. Diadochos, Maximus Kapsokalivit, Simeon the New Theologian and other saints. Fathers, the Christian teaching about delusion is described completely holistically and completely. Here are some general patristic sayings on this topic:
– “The great opponent of truth and the leader of men into destruction is now delusion, through which the darkness of ignorance has reigned in the souls of the careless, alienating them from God” / Christian: Gregory of Sinaite. 1900, p.215/;
– “When the mind begins to feel the gracious consolation of the Holy Spirit, then Satan also puts his consolation into the soul in a seemingly sweet feeling, during night tranquility, at the moment of the most subtle kind of sleep (or falling asleep)” / Christian: Diadochos. 1900, p.23/;
“They say that beauty appears in two forms, or better yet, finds itself - in the form of dreams and influences... The first is the beginning of the second, and the second is the beginning of the third - in the form of frenzy. The beginning of the imaginary contemplation of the fantastic is an opinion (claiming to be omniscient), which teaches one to dreamily imagine the Divine in some figurative form, followed by delusion, misleading with dreams...” / Christian: Gregory of Sinaite. 1900, p.214/. “The second image of delusion in the form of influences is this: it begins in voluptuousness, born from natural lust... Inflaming the whole nature and darkening the mind by combination with dreamy idols, it leads him into a frenzy of intoxication from its scorching effect... In this state, the seduced one undertakes to prophesy , gives false predictions, claims to see certain saints, and conveys words as if they had spoken to him...” / ibid./;
- “In some of their writings, our glorious fathers indicate signs of unpretentious and charming enlightenment, as did the blessed Paul of Latre, when he asked his disciple about this and said: “The light of the enemy’s power is fiery, smoky and like sensual fire; and when the soul, having curbed passions and cleansed itself of them, sees him, treats him with unpleasantness and abhors him; the light of the good Spirit is good, joyful and pure, and as it approaches it sanctifies with light, fills the soul with joy and tranquility, and makes it meek and humane” / Christian: Callistus and Ignatius Xanthopoulos. 1900, p.382/;
– “There are other signs of delusion and others of grace. When the evil spirit of delusion approaches a person, it disturbs his mind and makes him wild, hardens and darkens his heart, instills fear and fear and pride, perverts his eyes, disturbs his brain, makes his whole body tremble, shows a ghostly light before his eyes that is not bright and pure, and a reddish one makes the mind frantic and possessed” / Christian: From the life of Maxim Kapsokalivit. 1900, p.475-476/.
Particular attention is paid to the doctrine of prelest in the Russian Orthodox Church (as opposed to Catholicism and Protestantism). The most authoritative pre-revolutionary writer on this topic was St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov): “Bishop Ignatius, probably like none of the other holy fathers, explores in particularly detailed and precise detail the nature of delusion in its various types, he uses the entire experience of ancient monasticism to reveal the many subtle demonic intrigues, to warn against them...” / Lazarus Archimandrite. 1997, p.138/. Ep. Ignatius writes about delusion in many of his works; he dwells on it in particular detail in a special chapter “On delusion” in the work “On the Jesus Prayer” / Christian: Ignatius (Brianchaninov). T. 1. 1993, pp. 228-256/. There he writes: “Prelest is the damage to human nature by lies. Delusion is the state of all people, without exception, produced by the fall of our forefathers. We are all in delight. Knowing this is the greatest protection against delusion. The greatest charm is to recognize oneself as free from delusion” /ibid., p.228/. From another of his works, “The Vision of Christ”: “The way out of self-delusion is difficult. There are guards at the door; the doors are locked with heavy, strong locks and bolts; the seal of the hellish abyss is attached to them. Locks and shutters are the pride of the self-deluded... An indestructible seal is the recognition of actions of self-delusion as actions of grace” /ibid., p.104/.
And further: “When beauty approaches a person, whether with a thought, or a dream, or a subtle opinion, or some phenomenon visible with sensual eyes, or a voice from heaven heard by sensual ears, it always approaches not as an unlimited ruler, but as a seductress, looking for consent in a person, accepting power over him from his consent. Its action, whether it is inside or outside a person, is always an action from the outside; a person may reject it. Delight is always met initially by some doubt of the heart; those whom she decisively prevailed do not doubt about her” / Christian: Ignatius (Brianchaninov). T. 2. 1993, p. 319/.
That's how holy he is. Ignatius describes a person in a state of delusion and self-delusion: “He does not eat, does not drink, does not sleep, in winter he walks in one cassock, wears chains, sees visions, teaches and denounces everyone with impudent impudence, without any correctness, without sense or meaning, with a bloody , material, passionate fervor... Holy, and that’s all!” / ibid., vol. 2, 1993, p. 241/. Regarding the heat of the saint. Ignatius warned: “Make no mistake! Do not consider human fervor to be the action of Divine fire. Many made mistakes and fell into harmful self-delusion. From the heated state, countless delusions arose..." / ibid., vol. 4, 1993, p. 506/.
A modern Orthodox pastor identifies the following signs of delusion: an obsessive desire for “holy and divine” feelings, openness and readiness to be “enraptured” by some spirit, a search not for God but for “spiritual consolations,” self-intoxication, which is mistaken for a “state of grace,” incredible the ease with which a person becomes a “contemplator” or a “mystic”, “mystical revelations” and pseudo-spiritual states / Christian: Lazarus archim. 1997, p.65/. True Christian spirituality has the qualities of unobtrusiveness and even inconspicuousness, because it specifically tries to be like that.
A special type of charm is “opinion”. As the saint wrote about him. Ignatius (Brianchaninov): “This kind of delusion is terrible... He who is obsessed with this delusion thinks of himself, has created an “opinion” about himself that he has many virtues and virtues, even that he is abounding in the gifts of the Holy Spirit” /Christ.: Ignatius (Brianchaninov ). T. 2. 1993, p.245/; “He who ascribes to himself spiritual works, virtues, virtues, gifts of grace, flatters himself and honors himself with “opinion”, with this “opinion” blocks the entrance into himself of spiritual works, and Christian virtues and Divine grace, - opens wide the entrance to sinful infection and demons.” /ibid., p.246/; “Opinions infected with charm are very common. Anyone who does not have a contrite spirit, who recognizes any merits and merits in himself, anyone who does not strictly adhere to the teachings of the Orthodox Church, but who argues about some dogma or tradition arbitrarily, at his own discretion, or according to heterodox teaching, is in this charm” /ibid., p.247/. The opposite of “opinion” is the state of poverty of spirit: “From God we have both being and re-being, and all natural properties, all abilities, both spiritual and physical. We are debtors to God! Our debt is unpayable! From such a view of ourselves, a state is formed by itself for our spirit, the opposite of “opinion,” a state that the Lord called poverty of spirit, which He commanded us to have...” /ibid., p.248/.
The extreme degree of delusional opinion is heresy, which “can be periodically renewed as a typologically stable captivity of the mind” / Gavryushin. 1997, p.25/. Heresy combines many negative spiritual and mental states: opinion, self-delusion, pride, self-will, etc.
States of delusion, self-delusion, opinion and heresy lead to the spiritual and physical degradation of a person: “Prelest acts initially on the way of thinking; Having been accepted and perverting the way of thinking, it is immediately communicated to the heart, perverting the heart’s sensations; Having mastered the essence of a person, it spills over all his activities, poisoning the body, as if it is inextricably linked by the Creator with the soul” / Christian: Ignatius (Brianchaninov). T. 2. 1993, pp. 229-230/. In these states, various abnormal psychophysiological phenomena often manifest themselves: depersonalization, special sensations of the body - lightness, weightlessness, flight, etc. Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) gives several similar examples:
- the elder, in delusion, cut off his own hand, believing by this to fulfill the gospel commandment, and told anyone who wanted to listen to him that “the cut off hand became holy relics, that it is kept and honored splendidly in the Moscow Simonov Monastery, that he , the elder, being in the Ploshchanskaya Hermitage, five hundred versts from Simonov, feels when Simonov’s archimandrite and his brethren touch their hands” / ibid., p. 237/;
- a young monk, in delusion, lived in the desert far from the monastery, beyond the bay; one evening, in the autumn, he visited the elders of the monastery; when he said goodbye to the elders, they warned: “don’t even try to walk on the ice, the ice has just risen and is very thin”; the monk answered in a quiet voice, with outward modesty: “I have already become light” / ibid., pp. 251-252/; but he became light only due to the peculiar sensations of his body; he nevertheless walked on the ice, fell through and drowned;
- an Athonite monk who fell into delusion told the bishop. Ignatius: “How many times, when I stood in prayer, did the vivid thought come to me that the angels would take me away and place me on Mount Athos!” /ibid., p.239/; spiritual experience is holy. Ignatius allowed him to predict a similar state of the monk; The above frank statement of the monk occurred after the following dialogue with the bishop. Ignatius with him: “As the conversation continued, I told him: “Look, elder! If you live in St. Petersburg, don’t live on the top floor; Be sure to stay in the lower apartment.” Why is this so? Afonets objected. “Because,” I answered, “if the angels decide to suddenly take you away from St. Petersburg to Athos, and they carry you from the top floor and drop you, you will be killed to death; if they carry it from the bottom and drop it, you will only hurt yourself” / ibid., p. 239/.
A similar phenomenon is known from the own description of the founder of the Old Believers, Archpriest Avvakum: “In the nights of the second week, against the heel, my tongue spread and became very large, then my teeth were large, and my arms and legs were large, then I was all wide and expansive under heaven, spread throughout the whole earth, and then God included in me both heaven and earth and all creation” /add.: Habakkuk. 1960, p.200/.
The main internal causes of delusion are wrong actions of the mind, or wrong actions of the heart / Christian: Ignatius (Brianchaninov). T. 2. 1993, p. 255/. In addition, the action of the passions of the body (flesh) and the negative pretexts of dark spiritual forces can play an important role in this.
But in the fight against delusion, as in any difficult matter, God helps a person with his grace. So, in the opinion of St. Theophan the Recluse, the significance of delusion should not be overly exaggerated: “There is nothing to be afraid of delusion. It happens to those who are proud... who begin to think that once the warmth has gone into the heart, this is already the end of perfection. But this is just the beginning, and perhaps not a lasting one. For both warmth and tranquility of the heart are natural, the fruit of concentration of attention. But we must work and work, wait and wait until the natural is replaced by grace” / Christian: Theophan the Recluse. Vol. 2. 1994, pp. 195-196/.
Based on all that has been said, states that, if not identical, then at least quite close to the states of delusion, include various “altered states of consciousness”: psychedelic states, narcotic and mystical ecstasies (frenzies), “revelations”, enlightenment , communication with “voices”, “cosmic intelligence”, aliens, etc.
Both modern and pre-revolutionary Christian authors and authoritative ancient Christian ascetics have written and continue to write about the need to be careful in relation to “unusual” spiritual and psychological states:
– “The evil spirits dress all their intrigues, nets, and traps in the most colorful and attractive clothes. Therefore, we Christians try to be very distrustful of all “sweet,” “pleasant,” “special” mental states of ours; we do not accept any “revelations,” “visions,” “enlightenments,” “appearances,” “blesseds” without careful checks. states”, etc. unusual things” / Christian: Archimandrite Lazarus. 1997, p.49-50/;
- “The spiritual matter is not about ecstasy: its best manifestation is “a broken spirit, a contrite and humble heart”” / Christian: Theophan the Recluse. Vol. 5. 1994, p.181/;
“There are actions from the blood that seem to the inexperienced to be an action of grace, but it is not good, and not spiritual - it is from our fallen nature, and is known because it is impulsive, ardent, and disrupts the peace in ourselves and our neighbors. Spiritual action is born from the world and gives birth to peace... Every heated feeling is bloody! Do not consider it zeal, zeal for piety, love for God and neighbors. No - this is a movement of the soul produced in it by nerves and blood. And the blood is set in motion by spiritual passions, which are the tools and chains of the ruler of the world...” / Christian: Ignatius (Brianchaninov). T. 7. 1993, pp. 86-87/. He: “Holy truth informs the heart with silence, calm, clarity, peace, a disposition to repentance, to deepen oneself...” / ibid., vol. 4, 1993, p. 453/;
– “He who loves God and keeps His commandments is clothed from above with the descending power of the Holy Spirit, Who does not appear sensually, in the form of fire, and does not come with great noise and stormy breathing (this happened only on the Apostles - for unbelievers), but can be seen intelligently, as intelligent light, and comes with quietness, bringing joy, which is the reflection of the first eternal light, and the reflection of unceasing bliss” / Christian: Simeon the New Theologian. T. 1. 1993, p. 174/;
– “Every thought that is not preceded by the silence of humility does not come from God, but clearly from the left side. Our Lord comes with quietness; everything of the enemy comes with confusion and rebellion” /Christ.: Barsanuphius the Great, John. 1995, p.16/.
And according to the biblical word, God appears in a quiet breeze: “The Lord will pass by, and a great and strong wind will tear apart the mountains and break in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord will not be in the wind; after the wind there is an earthquake, but the Lord is not in the earthquake; after the earthquake there is fire, but the Lord is not in the fire; after the fire comes a quiet wind” (1 Kings 19:11-12).
Altered states of consciousness also include the “psychedelic experience” that is fashionable in the West today, widespread primarily in transpersonal psychology. Here is what the latter writes about him: “The psychedelic experience is a journey into new areas of consciousness. The scope and content of this experience are limitless, and its distinctive feature is the exit (transcendence) beyond the limits of verbal concepts and space-time dimensions, beyond the boundaries of the ego, or personality” / ps.: Leary, Metzner, Alpert. 1998, p.13/. And further: “This kind of experience of expanded consciousness can be achieved in different ways: through sensory deprivation, yoga exercises or systematic meditation; this experience can take place in moments of religious or aesthetic ecstasy, and can also arise spontaneously” / ibid., p. 13/. Thus, these are still not completely new areas of consciousness. And the point of these lengthy discussions is to lead readers to the identification of religious and psychedelic experience. But at the same time, the latter, in their opinion, has a significant advantage: “Recently, this experience has become available to anyone thanks to the discovery of psychedelic drugs such as LSD, psilocybin, mescaline, DMT, and so on” / ibid., p. 13/. Thus, it is clear where the authors are going: if religious and psychedelic experiences are close, then, of course, it is better to prefer the latter - because of the ease of achieving it. And so that there is no concern about the need to use drugs, we can call black white: “psychedelic drugs are not drugs in the usual sense of the word” / ibid., p. 162/. In addition, in order to isolate yourself from scientific criticism, you can try to discredit all European science and Europe in general by moving to the East: “the philosophy and psychology of the East - with their characteristic poetry, based on experience, turned inward, smoothly evolving, open to development - is more natural adapt to the discoveries of modern science than Western psychology, built on logical principles, with its strict certainty, experimental nature and desire to put everything into a concrete form” /ibid., p.37/. At the same time, such authors forget, or simply do not want to notice, the anti-personal and anti-psychic nature of Eastern religious and philosophical teachings. This only once again confirms the groundlessness and untruth of their “psychedelic experience.”
Everything that has been said about delusion and altered states of consciousness also applies to such a state as frenzy or ecstasy.
The Greek word “ecstasis” (εκστασις) means “losing oneself,” “frenzy.” The Greeks used this word when they wanted to describe that special state when a person lost his will and consciousness, completely surrendering to the mercy of his demon or some deity who from that moment controlled him - making him half-mad, like Ajax killing sheep instead of the warriors Sophocles /anth.: Dorofeev. 2004, p.79/.
It is clear that from a Christian point of view such conditions should be assessed quite negatively:
“Many ascetics, mistaking natural love for Divine love, heated up their blood and inflamed their dreaminess. The state of excitement very easily turns into a state of frenzy. Many considered those in heat and frenzy to be filled with grace and holiness, and they are unfortunate victims of self-delusion” / Christian: Ignatius (Brianchaninov). T. 1. 1993, p. 129/; “The heated state of blood is by no means visible in the Holy Fathers of the Eastern Church. They never become enthusiastic..." / ibid., vol. 4, 1993, p. 510/;
- “Some say that they prophesied in a frenzy, so that the human mind was darkened by the Spirit. But it is contrary to the promise of the inspiration of God to make one astonished, so that when he fulfills Divine instructions, he goes out of his natural mind and, when he benefits others, he himself does not receive any benefit from his own words. And in general, is it in any way consistent with reason that the Spirit of wisdom should make a person like one devoid of intelligence and the Spirit of knowledge should destroy rationality in him? /christ: Basil the Great. 2002, p.8/; “The prophets did not speak in a frenzy” / Christian: Basil the Great. 2002, p.338/;
- “When you see your mind externally or upwardly drawn by some invisible force, do not believe it and do not allow your mind to be attracted...” / Christian: Gregory of Sinaite. 1900, p.233/;
- “to withdraw the mind not from bodily thoughts, but from the body itself, outside of which it supposedly receives mental contemplations, is the worst Hellenic seduction, the root and source of all evil teaching, a demonic invention, a science generated by madness and generated by bewilderment” / Christian: Gregory Palamas. 1995, p.45/.
This rather categorical position of Gregory Palamas is a fundamental position arising from the patristic opposition of extroversion and introversion (direction outward and inward): the first comes from the desire for the temptations of the external world (which appeared after the fall of our ancestors in paradise), and, conversely, introversion is a person’s turning inward yourself, to the kingdom of God located there (Luke 17:21), and therefore to God.
Therefore, it is not surprising that in Orthodoxy the attitude towards ecstasy is very critical. Many fathers of the first centuries of the church spoke out against ecstasy: Irenaeus of Lyons (2nd century), Tertullian (3rd century), John Chrysostom (IV - early 5th century), Gregory of Nyssa (IV century), Evagrius of Pontus (IV century). ) etc. The latter, for example, fundamentally did not even use the term “ecstasy” itself, although it was widely used in his time in everyday language, philosophical teachings, etc. Even with such a freedom-loving thinker as Origen, the word “ecstasy” is almost always has a negative meaning: it is madness, loss of mental balance /see: Christian: Lossky V. 1995, p.42/. And blessedly For Augustine, turning inward is extremely important, and ecstasy occurs only “outwardly” / Christian: Augustine. T. 2. 1998, pp. 526-527/.
Conversely, many near-Christian sects and anti-Christian teachings have a pronounced ecstatic orientation. Thus, for example, Montanism, in its search for charismatic ecstasies, was ready to accuse the Church of betraying the apostolic line. The Church allegedly left the path on which it lived in the apostolic age, that the forces that once acted in it dried up in the Church, that the fire of prophecy went out in it / Christian: Cyprian (Kern). 1996, p.172/. From an Orthodox point of view, ecstasies, visions and revelations are not something self-sufficient in themselves: what is important is their content and how they occur. All these sectarian “revelations” occur outside and against the church: the Montanists claimed that in all previous times there was no fullness of Divine revelation, which they alone bring.
Ecstatic experiences represent the main source of magical and religious powers in many archaic (pre-Christian) beliefs /add.: Eliade. 1998, p.254/.
In the same case, when the term “ecstasy” (“frenzy”) is sometimes used in Orthodoxy, it must be borne in mind that it has at least two meanings. The first is absolutely negative: ecstasy-frenzy as loss of reason, insanity, madness caused by various reasons, especially sins and demons / Christian: Hilarion (Alfeev). 1998, p.391/. The second meaning of this term has a more positive meaning: as “amazement”, “admiration” or “surprise” / ibid., p. 392/. But at the same time, this term has a completely different understanding than in paganism, for it is not associated with leaving the body: “This is not a frenzy of the soul from the body, but the removal of the mind from the mind and the surrounding world and turning it into the heart. In this case, the action of the mental and thinking abilities of the ascetic is not suspended, but bodily activity (sleep, eating, etc.) is restrained” / Christian: Hierotheus (Vlachos). 1999, p.133/. This state has nothing in common with pagan ecstasy-frenzy, which must be kept in mind when reading the lives of the saints, which contain many descriptions of various special states.
On the other hand, in the patristic tradition one can also find an opinion according to which there are two stages of ecstasy: the impulsive, enthusiastic ecstasy of beginners and the constant ecstasy of perfect ones. The latter is the contemplation of the Divine light without the actual “ecstatic” signs - loss of self-consciousness, leaving the body, etc. The first type of ecstasy, as a person progresses on the path of asceticism, must give way to the second / Christian: Hilarion (Alfeev). 1998, p.402-403/.
This is how the great Christian mystic Simeon the New Theologian wrote about this: “Hearing that when such and such a saint came into the contemplation of God, his mind was delighted, and he spent so many days and nights, completely not remembering anything earthly, but together with He forgot his own body to everyone else, being nailed to the contemplation of it with all his soul and all his feelings - hearing, I say, about this, they believe that something similar will happen in another life in the kingdom of heaven, completely not understanding divine and spiritual things ... They do not know that such admiration of the mind occurs not among the perfect, but among beginners” / Christian: T. 1. 1993, p. 414/. Such contemplation is “the contemplation of beginners who have recently embarked on the feat of virtue” / ibid., p. 417/. “But when a person remains for a long time in such contemplation of this light, without returning back to the world, then the sky opens to him, or the eye of his heart, that is, the mind... and this light enters into his soul, a bright and wonderful light, and enlightens him in proportion to how much his human nature can accommodate, or how much he deserves it” / ibid., p. 417/. “Being in this light, or, better to say, with this light, he is not in a frenzy, but sees himself and what is around him, that is, he sees what state he is in, and in what others are in a state” / ibid., p. 417/. That is, in fact, special states of grace only seem to the novice ascetic to be ecstasy-frenzy, but in fact they are not.
Sometimes they quote the following quote from Simeon the New Theologian about “frenzy”: “I go into a frenzy and am completely alienated from everything that is on earth” / Christian: Simeon the New Theologian. T. 3. 1993, p. 107/. But in such a frenzy there is no loss of personality, which is observed in ecstasy. Let us continue the quotation from Simeon the New Theologian. He writes immediately after the previous one: “... praising You with incessant voices, my God, and noticing in myself an extraordinary change and an (extraordinary) way of intervening the almighty hand” / ibid. /. And here is how he describes what happened to him in this “frenzy”: “Having drawn me away first from corruption and death and freed me all with the feeling and knowledge [of that], He - most amazing of all - showed me a new heaven and (Himself) “The Creator of everything has taken possession of me…” /ibid., p.109/. Thus, although Symeon the New Theologian uses the term frenzy, he puts a completely different meaning into it. At the same time, he needed the very metaphor of frenzy only to emphasize the importance and unusualness of this state, and the essence of the state itself lies not in an outward orientation (as in ecstasy), but in an inward orientation.
To what extent is the personal experience of Simeon the New Theologian indicative of Christianity in general? For example, there is the following point of view: “Simeon’s mystical experience was exceptional even in comparison with other great representatives of the Eastern Christian tradition. What Paul mentions as an event fourteen years ago and which he “boasts” about fourteen years later (cf. 2 Cor. 12:2-4), Simeon experienced repeatedly, not to say regularly. And the achievements of the great saints, which aroused the surprise of hagiographers, Simeon considered to be characteristic of beginners” / Christian: Hilarion (Alfeev). 1998, p.403/. If we know almost nothing about the mystical experiences of other saints. fathers, this is not because he did not exist, but because this is the secret of the inner life of ascetics. And here, by the way, you need to be very careful in comparing the inner experience of saints. Here is the Gospel description of the mystical experience of the apostle mentioned by the author. Paul: “I know a man in Christ, who fourteen years ago (whether in the body - I don’t know, or out of the body - I don’t know: God knows) was caught up to the third heaven. And I know about such a person (I just don’t know - in the body or outside the body: God knows) that he was caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable words that a person cannot tell” (2 Cor. 12: 2-4). Do these words testify to the uniqueness (one-time occurrence) of this phenomenon in St. Pavel? Not at all. In this case, we are talking about the very fact of such an event, and the quantitative-biographical aspect (“such and such appeared to me so many times”) is simply not needed here. By the way, elsewhere. Paul writes: “And so that I would not become exalted by the extraordinaryness of the revelations, a thorn was given to me in the flesh, an angel of Satan, to buffet me, so that I would not become exalted” (2 Cor. 12:7). An analysis of this passage can speak volumes: firstly, about the number of apostolic revelations (in the plural), and secondly, about their quality - their “extraordinaryness”.
And vice versa, is it possible, based on the writings of Simeon the New Theologian, to assert that he was “regularly” taken to heaven and heard ineffable words that cannot be retold by a person? Most likely not, especially since he himself does not pretend to be. And, it seems to us, this is very important. On the one hand, Simeon the New Theologian constantly emphasizes the reality of the spiritual, and hence the “tangibility” of spiritual gifts. But, on the other hand, in the patristic tradition there is a rule not to strive for special mystical states, which is an indicator of spiritual immaturity. And spiritual maturity, therefore, lies in increasing spiritual sobriety and caution, and not in increasing the number of “revelations” and “visions.” The latter were characteristic of Simeon the New Theologian in his youth, but he himself moved away from them in his mature years. Therefore, it seems to us, it is completely wrong to imagine the spiritual path of Simeon the New Theologian in the form of a transition “from dramatic and rare ecstasies in youth to more frequent, but perhaps less emotionally charged visions and revelations in maturity” / Christian: Hilarion (Alfeev) . 1998, p.403/. Most likely, there was a departure from ecstasies and frenzies as such, and a transition to internal self-deepening, which is also very unusual in relation to the usual state, but is not ecstasy (losing oneself) in the proper sense, but introversion and introontia (going inside oneself and staying there).
Finally, let's look at the biblical understanding of ecstasy. In the text of the New Testament, this word appears several times and denotes, firstly, unusual emotions - “amazement”, “horror”:
“And the girl immediately stood up and began to walk, for she was about twelve years old. Those who saw it were in great amazement (εκστασει)” (Mark 5:42);
- “And going out, they ran from the tomb; they were seized with trembling and horror (εκστασις), and they did not say anything to anyone, because they were afraid” (Mark 16:8);
- “And horror (εκστασις) seized everyone, and they glorified God and, being filled with fear, said: “We have seen wonderful things today” (Luke 5:26);
- “and they recognized him that it was the one who sat at the Red Doors of the Temple for alms; and they were filled with horror and amazement (εκστασεως) at what had happened to him” (Acts 3:10).
Secondly, this word is used to denote a kind of “frenzy”:
“And he felt hungry and wanted to eat. While they were preparing, he went into a frenzy (εκστασις) and sees the sky open and a certain vessel descending towards it, like a large sheet, tied at the four corners and lowered to the ground” (Acts 10:10-11);
- “in the city of Joppa I was praying, and in a frenzy (εκστασει) I saw a vision: a certain vessel came down, like a large sheet, lowered from heaven by four corners, and came down to me” (Acts 11:5);
- “When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I went into a frenzy (εκστασει) and saw Him, and He said to me: hasten and leave Jerusalem quickly, because here they will not accept your testimony about Me” (Acts 22 :17).
But for the apostles Peter and Paul in these cases there was nothing strictly “ecstatic” - a loss of consciousness and one’s personality, a frenzy of mind or involuntary submission to someone else’s will. On the contrary, the consciousness of the apostles becomes clearer, the natural psychic powers are elevated and enlightened, so that they become refined and receptive to divine revelations and visions. Such states are called ecstasy only in the sense of their elevation above the ordinary order and natural state /Christ.: Zarin. 1996, p.466/.
As for the Old Testament, the special states of the prophets described there during divine revelation also have little in common with ancient Greek ecstasy, but rather are its opposite in a number of parameters: consciousness, moral responsibility, freedom of choice, etc. / Vladimirsky. 1902, No. 13, p.62/.
Sometimes it is currently proposed to use the term ecstasy in cases where it is supposedly more suitable in context than other concepts - for example, when translating certain Old Testament passages. This stems primarily from the fact that in the earliest and most authoritative translation of the Old Testament into Greek (the so-called translation of the seventy interpreters), in some cases the term “ecstasy” was used. How legitimate was the use of this particular concept? What the LXX renders as ecstasy (Greek εκστασις) is the Hebrew word hmdrt, “tardema.” This word is used 7 times in the Old Testament. In six cases (Gen. 2, 21; Gen. 15, 12; 1 Kings 26, 12; Isa. 29, 10; Job 4, 12; Job 33, 14), it denotes a special state - a kind of sleep, which comes not from ordinary fatigue, but from God / Ch. 1: Kuraev. 1996, p.281/. In Russian these passages are translated as follows: “And the Lord God brought a deep sleep upon the man; and when he fell asleep, he took one of his ribs and covered that place with flesh” (Gen. 2:21); “When the sun went down, a deep sleep fell on Abram, and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him” (Gen. 15:12); “And David took a spear and a vessel of water from Saul’s head, and they went to themselves; and no one saw, and no one knew, and no one woke up, but everyone slept, for a dream from the Lord fell on them” (1 Sam. 26:12); “The Lord has brought upon you a spirit of slumber, and has closed your eyes, O prophets, and covered your heads, O seers” (Isa. 29:10); “In the midst of thinking about night visions, when sleep comes over people, horror and trembling seized me and shook all my bones. And the spirit passed over me; my hair stood on end” (Job 4:13-15); “God speaks... in a dream, in a vision of the night” (Job 33, 14-15).
Therefore, it is obvious that in the biblical context the concept of “tardems” does not have an ecstatic, outward-directed character, but just the opposite, an introverted, inward-directed character. From this point of view, it seems to us that the Russian version of the translation of tardema as “sound sleep”, “sleep from the Lord” and “spirit of sleep”, although it does not sufficiently reflect the diversity of its meanings, is still much more successful and correct than the Greek European translation through the term "ecstasy".
Maniac Buffalo Bill and his dog Precious
I would like to enhance the impression, so let’s remember one more interesting detail. The study leads us from literature to cinema. There is such an epoch-making film “The Silence of the Lambs”, but it’s not about Hannibal Lecter or Clarice Starling, but about who they caught together. That's right, about Buffalo Bill. Now few people will remember that the ruthless sadist and murderer had a small poodle named Prelest. It seems that it was no coincidence that the filmmakers placed such a wonderful creature next to Bill. The function of the dog is quite simple - to expose the inherent sentimentality of a maniac, characteristic of many criminals. Charm is the form of beauty that the main anti-hero of the film is still able to perceive. And at the same time, people for him are things for which it is difficult to feel something.
Why are these examples needed here? The answer is quite easy to formulate. So that the reader knows: it is not so difficult to find synonyms for the word “charm” as to distinguish evil from good. And since human memory works associatively, vivid images will help you remember the material better.
Prelest is a sin, because it entails other terrible sins
Not only does delusion lead us down the wrong path, but it also gradually draws more and more sins into a person’s life.
St. Gregory (Sinaite) tells how this happens:
“For with pride comes delusion (from dreams), after delusion - blasphemy, after blasphemy - insurance, after insurance - trembling, after trembling - madness from the mind.
Inflaming the whole nature and darkening the mind by combination with dreamed idols, she drives him into a frenzy of intoxication from her scorching effect and makes him mad.”
Gregory (Sinaite)
Orthodox saint
In order not to have to fight with charm, it is useful to know its nature:
“It is appropriate to know that delusion has three main reasons for which it occurs: pride, the envy of demons, and punitive tolerance. These are the same reasons: pride - vain frivolity (or vanity), envy - prosperity, punitive indulgence - sinful life. — The delusion of envy and proud conceit is more likely to be healed, especially if someone humbles himself. But punitive delusion—handing over to Satan for sin—is often tolerated by God through abandonment even to death. It happens that innocent people are given over to torment (by demons) in order to be saved. It should be known that the very spirit of proud conceit sometimes makes predictions in those who do not carefully listen to their hearts.
If anyone, with arrogance based on conceit, dreams of achieving high states of prayer, and has acquired not true, but satanic zeal, the devil conveniently entangles him with his nets, like his servant.”
Inexperienced Christians are especially vulnerable to delusion:
“The free will of man conveniently bows to communication with our opponents, especially the will of the inexperienced, new to the feat, as if still possessed by demons. Demons are nearby and surround beginners and self-starters, spreading networks of thoughts and harmful dreams, creating abysses of falls. The city of the novices - the entire being of each of them - is still in the possession of the barbarians... Do not quickly give in to what appears to you out of frivolity, but remain hard, holding back the good with much consideration, and rejecting the evil... Know that the actions of grace are clear; the demon cannot teach them; he cannot teach meekness, quietness, humility, or hatred of the world; it does not tame passions and voluptuousness, as grace does.”
