THE POWER OF LOVE.

Love is a feeling of warm and tender personal attachment or deep affection and an inner and freely quality that is expressed outwardly as a commitment to seek the well-being of the people around us  through concrete acts. True love is the unmerited acceptance of people regardless who or what they are. 

Love is a central concept and the essential defining characteristic of the relationship between God and humans. The evidence that God is Love is abundant. This can be seen in the physical creation itself. With what remarkable care it has been made for the health, pleasure, and welfare of man.

The Scripture speaks of the True Love guided by principle, as love for righteousness or even love for one's enemies, for whom a person may not have affection. This expression of love is an unselfish devotion to righteousness and a sincere concern for the lasting welfare of others.

The entire narrative of the calling, election, covenant and promises made to the His chosen people is hereby declared to be the story of God's unmerited love, bestowed on the condition of the human heart. We as humans are easily drawn away from a commitment to God and stubbornly we resists God's Will.

God being the very personification of Love teaches us the levels in which His Love is denoted in the foregoing senses, through the context of the narratives in the Scripture determining the sense and degree of what His Love meant.

Love can be known only from the action it prompts. God reveals Himself as a 'Person', and figuratively speaks of His eyes, hands, heart, soul, and so forth. The nature and dominant quality of God's Love is seen in the gift of His Son and His Plan of Divine Salvation. Only by embracing the unity in His love that His Plan of Salvation requires, then we will be able to respond to Him with a true whole-hearted love. Moreover, God has the capacity to hate, the very oppose quality of love. His love for righteousness requires His hatred of wickedness.

Love is power and comes from God alone and nothing in the whole creation can separate the reconciled ones from His Powerful Love. The whole Law of the universe is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as you love yourself," meaning a kindly affection properly expressed to one another. A wrong kind of love could be guided by bad principles. For example, if you love those that love you only, of what credit is it to you? The principle upon which such type of love operate is: "Do good to me and I will do good to you." Other type of wrong love is the one based in the principle that the love for the things of the world will bring material benefit to the one who follows it. 

Love is the bond of mutual devotion and commitment expressed in a close friendship. Love also is the bond between parent and child. Parental love always seek the best for the child.
God's Love toward mankind is that of a Father toward His children. God displayed His Love in making  man in His image and likeness, with the capacity of love, and in the revelation of Himself to man through His Word and His Holy Spirit.

Physical and sexual attractions are the manifestation of powerful inner forces. They are strong and passionate and constitutes the emotional ingredient that comes with a conjugal union.

THE 7 ABOMINATIONS OF THE HEART.

Probervs 6:16-19 "There are 6 things the Lord hates and 7 things the Lord detest: Haughty Eyes, a Lying Tongue, Hands that Kill the innocent, a Heart that Plots evil, Feet that Race to do wrong, a False Witness who pours lies, a person who Sow Discord in a family.
- Haughty eyes (Attitude) is the main factor which drives the individual to act erratically. When the attitude is wounded then the following 6 conditions inside the heart follows. It is the most subtle of sins because it can infiltrate into our best behavior and defile it. But if the spirit behind the attitude finds a gentle and quiet disposition residing already in the deepest place of our heart then it run away.
- Lying (Speech) is the opposite of Truth and contrary to everything that is profitable to the human heart. But lying, unfortunately, has been part of the human kind from the beginning of time. At the creation of man, the haughty eyes of the woman led her to believe the lying tongue of the serpent about the reason of God's commandment 'not to eat from the forbidden tree'. This in turn led to the downfall of mankind.
- Hands that kill the innocent (Action) often is presented as a consequence of a proud heart that often resorts to lying to protect his image, and when it is uncovered, he will do away with that situation by murdering the person responsible for the act of truth. The person murdered is innocent but his blood is shed because of his standing in the way of the Truth, frustrating its way but not for long.
- Heart that plots evil (Thought) make the individuals degrade themselves in their minds thinking that the only way they can obtain pleasure is by doing evil. They make themselves feel good by seeing others suffer. This vice is placed in the middle of the list of the abominations because it is the fountain at the midst of all. We need to fill our heart with the knowledge of the right way to live, leaving no room for any vices.
- Feet that race (Action) to do wrong is referring to the wantonness of pleasure that comes from the mind of the person with the improper motivation making the individual feel no content with the right way of life. It is very well expressed by the verb 'racing' due to the the path in which the mind is settled and the feet moving along that path because of the powerful and wicked motivation.
- False witness who pours lies (Speech) is referring to keep a guard on our tongue and be very careful what we say. To falsely slander the character of another is to bear false witness against the individual.
- Person who sow discord in a family (Influence) is one of the most poisonous of the vices that eats the life of it, like a canker or gangrene does to the physical body. The person responsible for such division just feed its own nature by smooth words and flattering speech deceiving the hearts of the ones who give ear to it.
Our thoughts, our speech, our actions and how we influence others, are the things we need to monitor -as these are areas where we fall down if we are not careful.

ARISTOTLE AND THE WORK OF HIS HEART.

Aristotle is one of the greatest thinkers in the history of Western world, making contributions to science, philosophy, logic, metaphysics, mathematics, physics, biology, botany, ethics, politics, agriculture, medicine, dance and theatre. He was a student of Plato, who in turn studied under Socrates.
He was the first to devise a 'formal system for reasoning', whereby the 'validity of an argument' is determined by its 'structure' rather than its content.
Aristotle was the founder of the Lyceum, the first universal institute, based in Athens, Greece. Along with his teacher Plato, he was one of the strongest advocates of a liberal education, which stresses the education of 'the whole person' including one's moral character, rather than merely learning a set of skills. According to his view, this type of education was necessary if we wanted to produce a 'society of happy as well as productive individuals.'
Aristotle believed that 'knowledge could be obtained through interacting with physical objects.' He concluded that 'objects were made up of a potential' that circumstances then manipulated to determine the object's outcome. He also recognized that 'human interpretation' and 'personal associations' played a role in 'our understanding of those objects.'
Aristotle's research included a study of biology. He attempted to classify animals into genera based on their similar characteristics of their kind. He further classified animals into species based on those that had 'red blood' and those that did not. The animals with red blood were mostly vertebrates, while the 'bloodless' animals were labeled 'cephalopods.' Aristotle's classification was regarded as the standard system for hundreds of years.
In Marine biology, an area of fascination for Aristotle, through dissection, he closely examined the anatomy of the water creatures. His observations of marine life were expressed in his books with considerably accuracy.
 In 'Meteorology', Aristotle did not simply mean the study of weather. His more expansive definition of meteorology included 'all the affectations we may call common to 'air' and 'water', and the kinds and parts of 'earth' and the affectations of its parts. Aristotle identified the 'water cycle' and discussed topics ranging from 'natural disasters' to 'astrological events.'
One of the areas of Aristotle's philosophy focuses in the systematic concept of logic. Aristotle's objective was 'to come up with an universal process of reasoning' that would allow 'man' to learn every conceivable thing about 'reality.' The initial process involved 'describing' objects based on their characteristics, states of being, and actions.
Aristotle also discussed 'how' man might next obtain information about objects through deduction and inference. A deduction was a reasonable argument in which "when certain things are laid down, something else follows 'out of necessity' in virtue of their being so." His theory of deduction is the basis of what philosophers now call a 'syllogism', a logical argument where the conclusion is inferred from two or more other premises of a 'certain form.' For example, consider the following syllogism, 'all men are mortal; Socrates is a man; therefore Socrates is mortal.' Aristotle explains 'syllogism' as a 'discourse in which, certain things having been supposed, something different from the things supposed 'results of necessity' because these things are so.' Aristotle defined the 'main components of reasoning' in terms of 'inclusive and exclusive' relationships.
Aristotle's philosophy not only provided man with 'a system of reasoning', but also touched upon ethics. One of his most influential works is the 'Nicho'Machean Ethics', where he presents a theory of happiness that is still relevant today over 2,300 years later. The key question Aristotle seek to answer is "What is the ultimate purpose of human existence? What is that end or goal for which we should direct all of our activities?" Aristotle claimed that nearly everyone would agree that happiness is the end which meets all at the ends. Happiness is the final end or goal that encompasses the totality of one's life. It is not something that can be gained or lost in a few hours, like pleasurable sensations.
Happiness is more like the ultimate value of your life as lived up to this moment, measuring how well you have lived up to your full potential as a human being. For this reason, one cannot really make a pronouncements about whether one has lived a 'happy life' until it is over, just as we would not say of a football game that it was a 'great game' at half-time of it. For the same reason we cannot say that children are happy, any more than we can say that an acorn is a tree, for the potential for a flourishing human life has not yet been realized. Aristotle said, "for as it is not one swallow or one fine day that makes a spring, so it is not one day or a short time that makes a man blessed and happy."
The main trouble with this assertion, now in our time, is that happiness, in our modern world, is often conceived of 'as a subjective state of mind', as when one says 'one is happy when one is enjoying a cool beer on a hot day, or is out having fun with one's friends.
In order to explain human happiness, Aristotle drew on 'a view of nature' he derived from his biological investigations. He said, "if we look at nature, we notice that there are 4 different kinds of things that exist in the world that surround us, each one defined by a different purpose:
- Minerals like rocks, metals, and other things have only one common goal, what they seek is to come to a rest, and they do not possess a soul.
-Vegetative plants and other wildlife are a different kind of thing that emerge from the ground, and possess life. Because they seek nourishment, and growth, they have souls and can be even said to be satisfied when they attain these goals.
- Animals that we study as belonging to the animal kingdom. Here in this kingdom we see a higher level of life emerging from the earth. Animals seek pleasure and reproduction, and we can talk, for example, about a happy dog or sad dog, to the extent that they healthy and lead a pleasant life.
- Humans, what is it that makes human beings different from the rest of the animal kingdom? Reason.
Only humans are capable of acting according to principles, and in so doing taking responsibility for their choices. For example, we can blame Johnny for stealing something since he knows the action is wrong, but wouldn't blame an animal since it does not know any better.
By reasoning things out we attain our ends, solve our problems, and hence live a life that is qualitatively different in kind from plants or animals. The good for a human is different from the good for an animal because we have different capacities or potentialities.
He then prescribed 'a moral code of conduct' for what he called it, 'a good living.'
He asserted that 'good living' to some degree defied the more restrictive 'laws of logic', since the 'real world poses circumstances' that can present 'a conflict of personal values'. That said, it was up to the individual 'to reason cautiously' while developing his/her own judgment.
Aritotle's work also discusses the topics of 'matter and form'. In his book 'Metaphysics', he clarified the distinction between the two. To Aristotle, 'matter' was the 'physical substance' of things, while 'form' was the 'unique nature' of a thing that gave it 'its identity'. Aristotle's writings about 'how people perceive the world' continue to underlie many principles of modern psychology.
In 322BC, just a year after he fled to Chalcis to escape prosecution under charges of impiety, Aristotle contracted a disease of the digestive organs and died. In the century following his passing, his works fell out of use, but were revived during the first century. Over time, they came to 'lay the foundation of more than 7 centuries of philosophy. Solely regarding his influence on philosophy, Aristotle's work influenced ideas from late antiquity all the way through the Renaissance.
More than any thinker prior to the modern era, Aristotle enshrines 'happiness' as a central purpose of human life and a goal in itself.  Happiness, he said, depends on the 'cultivation of individual virtue.' Aristotle was convinced that a genuinely happy life required the fulfillment of a 'broad range of conditions', including physical as well as mental well-being. Virtue is a method of achieving and maintaining the 'balance between two excesses.'
Aristotle's doctrine of 'balance' differs from Buddha's 'middle path' in the way of achieving it. For Aristotle the 'balance was a 'method of achieving virtue,' but for Buddha the 'balance' referred to a peaceful way of life which negotiated the extremes of harsh asceticism and sensual pleasure seeking.
The 'middle path' was a minimal requirement for the meditative life, and not the source of virtue itself.
Thus Aristotle gave us his definition of 'happiness': "... the function of man is to live a certain kind of life, and this activity implies a 'rational principle', and the function of a 'good man' is the good and noble performance of these, and if 'any action is well performed' it is performed in accord with the appropriate excellence: if this is the case, then happiness turns out to be 'an activity of the soul in accordance with virtue'."

THE UNDERSTANDING OF INSTINCT.

Instinct is an innate behavior, thinking, or feeling, repeated by an individual without noticing it. Natural desire or tendency that makes you act in a particular way, also is considered under the definition of natural instinct. It is something that a human being cannot override.
There are two kinds of basic instinct: life instinct, or death instinct.
There is no transitions between instinctive and experience-based behavior components. The differences usually lie on how they emphasize biological and/or environmental forces.
Behavioral patterns come into sequences of innate and learned behavior components. Only the innate components qualify as instinctive behavior. They are rigid and do not get modified or become more flexible due to experience.
Flexible or intelligent behavior does not evolve from instinctive behavior.
In the Scriptures, in the 2nd Epistle of Peter, warns against the instinct of the false teachers who will try to substitute human words, that leads to spiritual death, for the 'Divine Word' that leads to life bringing a new heaven and a new earth. It says:
  "We do not follow cleverly devised myths ... You must understand this, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the 'impulse' of man, but men moved by the 'Holy Spirit speaking to them from God.' But false prophets also arose among the followers of the Truth, just a s there will be 'false teachers' among you, who will secretly bring in 'destructive heresies', even denying the "Master" who "bought them", bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their licentiousness, and because of them 'The Way of Truth' will be reviled. And in 'their greed' they will exploit you with 'false words'; their condemnation has not been idle, and their destruction has not been asleep ... These, like irrational animals, creatures of 'instinct', born to be caught and killed, reviling in matters of which they are ignorant, will be destroyed ... They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their dissipation, carousing with you. They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice 'unsteady souls.' They have 'hearts trained in greed'... These are waterless springs and mists driven by storm; for them the nether gloom of darkness has been reserved."
One of the major risks for people who are on the path of a renewed natural and spiritual awareness, is to misunderstand the concept of 'instinct and 'intuition. To rely blindly on instinct, thinking that is the best tool to follow nature, is the greatest danger.
Many people who have embraced the natural spirituality believe that the mind (the ability of thinking) is an obstacle to the connection with the forces of nature, and therefore do not avail a training; they simply think that even the study and cultural deepening are tools that could pollute the purity of their natural soul. They rely exclusively to the personal improvisation, without understanding that the pursuing of knowledge of Truth, based on laws, regulations, ordinances, etc,  will get them more in tune with the forces of nature.
Every aborigine knows that instinct is not only to be dominated, but also to be driven, and that we must learn from the elderly (ancient laws). What would happen with one of these improvised learners if they encounter a wild bear in the forest? For sure this person will follow his basic instinct of conservation of life, he/she will run away. Well, this individual will be torn apart. But if someone had previously explained what is best to do in that situation, he/she would have saved his/her life.
The paths are personal, individual, and tailored to the needs of the individual. But taking the easy and simple way of thinking that consist in doing the minimum in the pursuit of "truth" is unfortunately limited.
We need a common ground shared by all, that its own aim should be to structure a good body of shared knowledge, "the knowledge of "truth." The study of nature and its real symbolic manifestations in heaven and earth. Only with this basis we can expect to make a qualitative leap that will take us to lead the 'instinct' through intuition.
Intuition is defined as an attitude that is learned, trained and nourished by 'theory' (study) and 'practice' (experience).
A perfect example is when an individual learn how to drive a vehicle, regardless the size. Learning the theoretical part (rules) and absolutely unnatural movements like pushing on a pedal to brake or accelerate makes you to coordinate the understanding of moving in space with a gigantic mass and follow the rules given for that purpose. After a short period of time practicing these movements and rules together, they are not only being assimilated, but internalized so deeply that they become automatic. After we have internalized the experience the intuition springs, and this new way of 'take rational decisions without thinking' is a state of mind in balance between the domain of the instinct and the domain of the mind.
It is the intuition which makes us put a feet on the brake before a pedestrian appears on the sidewalk, and this is simply the result of the interaction between the driver's past experiences and the unconscious calculation of the possibilities to avoid an accident.
The thinking that 'theoretical information can ruin our natural purity and the ability to connect with the divine' is a childish attitude. Indeed there is no spiritual path anywhere in history of the world that does not include an apprenticeship, which serves to bend the ego strength which always tries to make us believe that 'just as we are' we are perfect.
It is very beautiful to look at the sunset, but even more beautiful is to comprehend it. We confuse very often learning with knowledge, experience with wisdom, saying with doing, and this confusion leads many people to individual paths, that have value in itself, but only to understand our own limitations, and not longing for the divine.
The 'Divine' is the force of 'Love' that unites everything. It is the manifestation in the whole reality of the eternal symbols, and only knowing the deep meaning of such symbols we can expect to enjoy improvement in the life we share all together here in this world.

THE ORIGIN OF HYPNOTISM.

If we look back into ancient history, we will find that the trance like state that we call 'hypnosis' has been used for thousands of years.
From the study of ancient religions and its healing ceremonies we can see that there exists the elements essential to place people into a hypnotic state. By the use of secret rituals, rhythmic chanting, repetitive drum beats, together with strained fixations of the eyes, priests were able to induce catalepsy of the body. This was a kind of knowledge for therapeutic purposes that the priests knew from ancient time.
They were part priest, part physician, and part shaman. In the interpretation of dreams they had supernatural skills and very knowledgeable in the use of medicinal herbs.
The people looking for cure or an insight to their problems in their own universes were called Seekers.
A Seeker had something on their mind, an ailment, an issue, and an inner quest to discover themselves.
They came to seek an insight into their problems, to get a new vision or reason that would heal, guide, or provide comfort.
Hypnosis, suggestion therapy can be traced back over 4000 years to ancient Egypt. They used places known as 'healing sanctuaries' called 'Sleep or Dream Temples.' The path to the Temple was lined with huge steles made of marble, on which were carved inscriptions, describing all the cures, and healing powers of the divine dreams that had taken place in the temple.
People with all sorts of problems, both physical and mental (psychological), were put into a trance like sleep under the influence of herbs and energies from plants known to them. Then priests and priestesses interpreted the person's dream to gain knowledge about the cause of the illnesses and to find a cure for them. Special words were pronounced together with the performance of religious rituals, in order to prepare the patients in the psychological aspects of their minds. Then a suggestion therapy was applied when they entered into a 'hypnotic state.' Before falling asleep they were influenced with these suggestions, in the hope of provoking dreams which were able to reveal the inner connection of the illnesses affecting the individual's life journey in the living world. The priests appeared to be able to cast out the negative energies affecting the mind and body of the person looking for help.
The tradition dates from the time of Im'Hotep. The ancient Egyptians worshiped the priest Im'Hotep and he had many temples dedicated to him.
Im'Hotep was the physician vizier, architect and priest, to the Pharaoh Zoser (2650-2590 BC). He built the step pyramid, which is the 1st pyramid.
In Greece, Sleep Temples of Healing Dreams were renowned as places of great healing and were dedicated to the healing god Asclepius. He took over the role of Im'Hotep. At the height of the cults power, there were 420 temples, spread across the ancient Greek empire.
Asclepius was a healer, and his mythical roots goes back in to the 2nd millennium BC, when he became a semi-god. Over time he evolved into a temple god in his own right.  Greek's sleep therapy survived the most in the 5th and 4th centuries BC.
Healing took place while the patient was in a deep trance like sleep. The provoked trance came about by the power of the priests who used special recitations and chanting to open up the gate to the inner world of the patient's mind. This process was known as incubation (Latin: to lie down). The person was kept in this state for up to 3 days, during which time the priests using suggestions tried to enter in the patient's inner mind, through their dreams. The purpose was to obtain the root or cause of sickness or the entity in charge, by name, that brought the negative energy affecting the mental or physical health of the individual. The method used by the priests or healers helped the patients to obtain the cure for their illnesses. The temples were a place of spirits, and mysterious powers, a place to find mental and physical healing, since each individual was induced to open up its own spiritual universe and the priests were just the drivers of the healing energy able to restore either physical or mental health of the seeker.
Asclepius' daughters were Hy'Gea and Pan'Acea. A Kline was a special place or a sacred skin set out around the temple where the sick person reclined to enter the dream state. From these names we have derived the words, Panacea, Hygiene, and Clinic.

WHAT IS TEMPTATION ?

Temptation is a desire to engage in short-term urges for enjoyment, that threatens long-term goals in the context of self-control and ego depletion.
Self-control is the ability to control self emotions and behavior in the face of temptations and impulses in order to achieve goals. It is a mental muscle that become both strengthened and fatigued. In the short term, overuse of self-control will lead to depletion. However, in the long term, the use of self-control can strengthen and improve over time. Self-control plays a valuable role in the functioning of the self on both individualistic and interpersonal levels.
Ego depletion refers to the idea  that self-control or will-power draw upon a pool of mental resources that can be used up. When the energy for mental activity is low, self-control is typically impaired, generating a state of ego depletion, impairing the ability to control oneself.
Temptation is also described as coaxing or inducing a person into committing such an act in many diverse contexts or situations, by manipulation or otherwise of curiosity, desire or fear of loss.
The role of glucose as a specific form of energy needed for self-control has been explored. Several recent experiments have found that the depletion effects can be reversed by simply tasting any sweet fruit, because of its psycho-physiological signaling effects.
The underlying neural processes associated with self-control failure have been recently examined using neuro-physiological techniques. According to cognitive and neurons' behavior, a conflict-monitoring / error-detection system identifies 'discrepancies' between 'intended goals' and 'actual behaviors.'
Error-related negativity signals are an electrical activity, in a wave form, of the brain generated in the anterior cortex and measured through electro-encephalograms and time-locked to an external event (visual stimulus) or a response (error). A robust wave frequency were observed after knowledgeable errors had been committed during various choice tasks, even when the participant was not explicit aware of making an error, however, in this case scenario the wave lengths were weaker.
These findings demonstrated evidence that depletion experienced after exerting short-term self-control, can weaken neural mechanisms responsible for conflict monitoring.
Younger people are more susceptible to the effects of ego depletion, given that the areas of the brain involved in self-control continue to develop until the mid 20s.
Ego depletion has also been implicating in guilt and pro-social behavior. The feeling of guilt is necessary in order to facilitate adaptive human interactions. It is dependent on the individual's ability to reflect on past actions and behaviors. Ego depletion has been shown to hinder the ability to engage in such reflection, thereby making it difficult to experience guilt. Since guilt leads to pro-social behavior, ego depletion will therefore reduce the good deeds that result from a guilty conscience.
In a society where a state of ego depletion exists in its young generation, the individuals are impaired of the ability to self-regulate their own emotions, making them vulnerable to a wide range of undesirable and mal-adaptive behaviors, such as acts of aggression. Knowledge and strategies to counteract it would therefore, be highly beneficial in various real-life situations.
In the world of consumerism, individuals are faced with decisions and choices that require the use of valuable energy resources in order to make the right and useful purchases while resisting temptation of impulsive or unnecessary ones.
The complexity of consumer decisions, with advertisement telling consumers how they deserve and must have a product, can generate in itself an ego depletion. Having many options consumers feel overwhelmed, causing mental fatigue and frustration. Fatigue and frustration stem from deals with specific requirements on ways to purchase a product, along with spending effort on deciding which store has the best deal or trying to get to the store. People then be led to buy the high priced or cheapest product. As soon as the consumers get low self-control they become more susceptible to buy products of high status, being now in the frequency of motivation and persistence, even to the point of pay more for a branded product. This will lead these consumers to have a sense of empowerment, the feeling to be in control, feeling that the brand name of the product is more beneficial and secure, and in this sense mistakingly overcoming their ego depleted states.
In a recent experiment, it was shown that inducing a positive mood can buffer the impairing effects of ego depletion, in the same way that the taste of a fruit can boost the neural mechanisms of it. Positive mood is generated by getting individuals with joyful energies capable of switch on the individual sense of humor. It seemed to allow people to recover faster from ego-depletion and furthermore, improved their ability to self-regulate. The existence of a spare reservoir of mental energy ultimately explains why these motivators can buffer the effects of mild or moderate ego depletion.
Self-control can be replenish and thus the immediate effects of an individual's depleted self-control can be overcome, and that an individual must be able to identify the presence of temptation (short term desire) before self-control may be affected by the outcome.

THE 9 CIRCLES OF HELL OF DANTE IN HIS DIVINE COMEDY.

Hell, the 1st part of Dante's Divine Comedy describes the poet's vision of Hell. The story begins with the narrator, who is the poet himself, being lost in a dark wood where he is attacked by 3 beasts which he cannot escape. He is rescued by the Roman poet Virgil who is sent by Beatrice (Dante's ideal woman). Together, they begin the journey into the underworld or the 9 Circles of Hell.
- 1st Circle (Limbo) is resided by virtuous non-Christian and unbaptized individuals who are punished with eternity in an inferior form of Heaven. They live in a castle with 7 gates which symbolize the 7 virtues.
- 2nd Circle (Lust), Dante and Virgil find people who were overcome by lust. They are punished by being blown violently back and forth by strong winds, preventing them to find peace. Strong winds symbolize the restlessness of a person who is led by desire for fleshy pleasures.
- 3rd Circle (Gluttony), Dante and Virgil find souls of gluttons who are overlooked by a worm-monster  Cerberus. Sinners are punished by being forced to lie in a vile slush that is produced by a never ending icy rain. The vile slush symbolizes personal degradation of one who overindulges in food, drink and other worldly pleasures, while the inability to see others lying nearby represents the gluttons' selfishness and coldness.
- 4th Circle (Greed), Dante and Virgil see the souls of people who are punished fro greed. They are divided into 2 groups -those who hoarded possessions and those who lavishly spent it -jousting. They use great weights as a weapon, pushing it with their chests which symbolizes their selfish drive for fortune during their lifetime. The two groups that are guarded by a character called Pluto are so occupied with their activity that the two poets don't even try to speak to them.
- 5th Circle (Anger) is where the wrathful and sullen are punished for their sins. Transported on a boat by Phlegyas, Dante and Virgil see the wrathful fighting each other on the surface of the River Styx and the sullen gurgling beneath the surface of the water. The punishment reflect the type of sin committed during lifetime.
- 6th Circle (Heresy), Dante and Virgil see heretics who are condemned to eternity in flaming tombs.
- 7th Circle (Violence) is divided into 3 rings. The outer ring houses murderers and others who were violent to other people and property. In the middle ring, the poet sees suicides who have been turned into trees and bushes which are fed upon by harpies. But he also sees here profligates, chased and torn to pieces by dogs. In the inner ring are blasphemers and sodomites, resident in a desert of burning sand and burning rain falling from the sky.
- 8th Circle (Fraudulent) is resided by the fraudulent. Dante and Virgil reach it on the back of Geryon, a flying monster with different natures, just like the fraudulent. This circle is divided into 10 Bolgias or stony ditches with bridges between them. In the 1st Bolgia, Dante sees panderers and seducer. In the 2nd Bolgia he finds flatterers. After crossing the bridge to the 3rd Bolgia, he and Virgil see those who are guilty of simony. After crossing another bridge between the ditches to the 4th Bolgia, they find sorcerers and false prophets. In the 5h Bolgia are housed corrupt politicians. In the 6th Bolgia are the hypocrites, and in the remaining 4 ditches, Dante finds thieves (7th), evil counselors and advisers (8th), divisive individuals  (9th) and various falsifiers such as alchemists, perjurers, and counterfeits (10th).
- 9th Circle is divided into 4 rounds according to the seriousness of the sin though all residents are frozen in an icy Lake. Those who committed more severe sin are deeper within the ice. Each of the 4 rounds is named after an individual who personifies the sin. Thus the 1st round is named Caina after Cain who killed his brother Abel. The 2nd round is named Antenora after Anthenor of Troy who was Priam's counselor during the Trojan War. The 3rd round is named Ptolomaea after Ptolemy, son of Abulus. The 4th round is named Judecca after Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Jesus with a kiss.