Marco Lombardo tells us that we can’t blame the stars for human evil. He also says that the church and state must return to their rightful places. As Dante and Virgil continue on, Marco explains that he is not ready to escape the cloudy veil of the Terrace of Wrath.

Dante and Virgil leave the terrace of the envious to enter the terrace of wrath where they are blinded by peculiar angles of light. An Angel of Mercy guides them on a more gentle path. En route they see visions of Mary and Jesus in the temple, Pisistratus’ angry wife, and St. Stephen getting stoned to death.

Dante and Virgil meet Guido del Duca and Rinieri da Calboli talk the degeneracy of Tuscany and compare the Arno to Hell. The problem is simple - people are fixated on things they can’t share.

This week’s coffee talk is a big long catch up about the passing of Pope Francis on Easter Monday which coincided with Michael’s surgery and Dexter’s birthday.

Dante and Virgil meet the envious repenting. Envy is a sin of vision. Their eyes are sewn shut with wire to prevent further temptation.

Dante continues the climb with Virgil. They trample on depictions of Pride punished in biblical and mythological contexts: The Fall of Lucifer, Arachne turned into a spider, The Death of Briareus.. and more! An angel removes the mark of Pride from the pilgrim’s forehead, freeing him to reach the next level.

This coffee talk we ramble through our shared collective subconscious and discover the Importance of Oscar Wilde. One f-slur can change the course of history! Salome vs the Divine Comedy, the multi-dimensional existence of Geri Halliwell, keeping up with White Lotus and normies, avoiding nostalgia to embrace the lucid dream of a illogical world. If you get it you get it. If you don’t, get your chores done until you do.

The Pilgrim learns a lesson about bowing to the greatness of others and not being taken by one’s own acclaim. He prays the Our Father with souls burdened by their own Pride in the form of boulders as they ascend Mount Purgatory.

After praying the Our Father, the Pilgrims consider humility as portrayed in the art at Purgatory’s Gates.

Canto 9 was published twice last week- our apologies!

Dante dreams of being Ganymede snatched by an eagle into the burning heavens, only to discover that he’s actually been carried like a sleeping infant to the Gates of Purgatory by Saint Lucy. What looks like violence is sometimes love.