The Symposium

Dear Gabriela,
It is important to remember that Socrates was not his name, but rather his title or life’s work. His given name was Myron and he learned the art of sculpture from his father and practiced this in his younger years. It was when he recognized his calling to “Stand up against the sophisticates” that he took on the title Socrates. The Ionians were masters of the word. They were a minority of the Greeks and lived side-by-side with the dorians (pagan Greeks), so their language was full of symbolism and even code. This would allow them to talk about their deep spiritual and moral beliefs in a way that was not threatening to the dorians. We can see this when we take a real close look at Aesop’s fables today. You will be able to see the symbolism used here to teach both moral behavior and deep spiritual law that even is non-threatening to a child.

The dorian aristocrats and the Spartan elite learned the gift of rhetoric, but not wisdom. This is what Socrates gave us and what Plato preserved for the world. Socrates shows us how to differentiate between that what might sound nice versus what is logical and true, thus wise. We have to use his example to uncover what is beautiful and true, thus putting aside what servers only man.

I hope this is some help to you, but as you know, this level of thinking is not common in philosophy today. I hope that you are strong enough to stand up for the Love of Wisdom today. (Don’t forget who the Wisdom of God is, for that is what Socrates saw in the word Philosophy!)

Love Shawn

Dear Gabriela,
Plato called his teacher Hephast, a son of Zeus. The Greeks also called the husband of Aphrodite Hephast, one of the first born of the Charitinnen. (Odyssey 8,364) The poet Euripides called him the Muse Nightingale and the Hailer of Wisdom. These names all point to Socrates being the incarnation of the Archangel Gabriel who lost his dual in the Fall. Therefore, he was very excited to celebrate that Aphrodite had been washed ashore, out of the bitter sea (hell) and onto land (earth).

I know this is all very difficult for you, but I am very confident that you have the power and guidance to bring some of this light into modern philosophy.

I have attached my presentation on Socrates because of the picture mainly. On the note pages you will see some references that you may want to look up yourself. I only have the German text and will start to translate into English. I hope it helps some as it is. (the pictures on the first slide help to show the real problem. On the left is what he looked like, wise and intelligent. The picture on the left is what people like Aristophanes and Aristotle made him into: a drunken idiot.

Love Shawn

Dear Gabriela,
The difficulty in I see that I have is that you are most likely reading an English translation which has completely lost the idea of Eros as a God and replaced it a thing called love. So now I see how difficult it is to understand my comments.

I have attempted to translate from the German a small part of the end of Eryximachus talk. Below is the English I got from the web and below that is my translation of the German. (He was probable looking at Socrates when he said this.)

Wherefore the business of divination is to see to these loves and to heal them, and divination is the peacemaker of gods and men, working by a knowledge of the religious or irreligious tendencies which exist in human loves. Such is the great and mighty, or rather omnipotent force of love in general. And the love, more especially, which is concerned with the good, and which is perfected in company with temperance and justice, whether among gods or men, has the greatest power, and is the source of all our happiness and harmony, and makes us friends with the gods who are above us, and with one another.

Between the forces of the Olympian and the Hadean Eros to differentiate and to actually receive healing, one must really be spiritually talented. Such people are the founders of [the renewed] friendship with the Gods of Olympia. Thanks to them people are capable [again] to realize which endearing changes will lead to an honest and god-fearing life. So broadly diverse and great is the force of Olympian Eros. Yes, to say it shortly, he participates in the power of God Himself. When one with an honest and endearing life demonstrates he is devoted to the true goodness [like Socrates has], he receives the highest respect by both we Ionians and by the Gods of Olympia. Such a person has created [for him and indirectly also for] others the path to perfect happiness; since his example gives us courage to live in peace with our neighbors. Thus we also win the friendship of Gods of Olympia.

I have added a few clarifications in [] so that it makes it easier to see what they were really talking about. The Ionians who were listening had more knowledge than we do today about the subject of the gods.

I also have been wanting to say something about Aristotle. You know that it wasn’t until 700 years after he died that anyone really took interest in his work. It was the Roman church who took up Aristotle to help explain the dogma they had created. They could not use Plato to do this as Origenes had been declared a heretic and Origenes had built the bridge between Plato and Jesus. (But this bridge was now heresy.)

Aristotle said that “What one thinks and what one says has nothing to do with each other.” This was the perfect philosophy for the politicians and rulers of Rome!

I hope this helps you some.
Love Shawn