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Secret Longing
The thought of the heart is the thought of images. The heart is the seat of imagination. Imagination is the authentic voice of the heart. So that if we speak from the heart, we must speak imaginatively. — This power of the heart is what is specifically designated by the word ‘himma’, a word whose content is best suggested by The Greek word énthymesis’, which signifies the act of meditating, conceiving, imagining, projecting, ardently desiring — in other words in having something present in the ‘thymos’, which is vital force, soul, heart, intention, thought, desire.
James Hillman
talking about Henry Corbin and his study of Ibn Arabi
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“Now, the energies of nature are present in the outer world, but also inside ourselves, because we are particles of nature. So when you are meditating on a deity, you are meditating on powers of your own spirit and psyche, and on powers that are also out there. One finds in practically all the religious traditions of the world (with a few excep- tions) that the aim is for the individual to put himself into accord with nature, with his nature, and that’s both physical and psychological health.” — Joseph Campbell, Goddesses: Mysteries of the Sacred Feminine
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“In the very end, civilizations perish because they listen to their politicians and not to their poets.”
