/lit/ - Literature

Made this chart a while back because I like Williams and Arthur stuff is cool.
Honestly, there's nothing comfier to me as a Christian than:
>A River Runs Through It, Norman Maclean
>The Gift of Good Land, Wendell Berry
>The Orthodox Way, Bishop Ware
I've reread these books multiple times, always a lot to chew on with good prose! Not necessarily 100% theological in nature, but they've informed my worldview more than any other pieces of literature.

>>21686959
Along the lines of other orthodox British authors (Bishop Ware's Orthodox Christianity, Philip Sherrard's romantic theology Charles Williams' Coinherence theology) I personally side with Chesterton. Not only do romantic love, the sexual relationship, marriage, and plain jane family life offer the "majestic obedience of submission" Kierkegaard is talking about, but they have their own mystical beauty all together.
Small list of ecommended reads:
Descent into Hell, Charles Williams
Outlines of a Romantic Theology, Williams
Until We Have Faces, C.S. Lewis
Christianity and Eros, Philip Sherrard
The Orthodox Way, Ware
On Marriage and Family Life, St. John Chrysostom

>>20452163
I made these two and am rather proud of them

>>20434303
yes, romantic love as it is traditionally understood just lost out to "the taboo". The munich cosmic circle (klagesian eros) wasn't as prominent acephale (bataille's eroticism) and didn't get the same traction come postmodernism. This is largely why we associate eros with sexus (and the focus on taboo) instead of themes of impermanence and mortality (i.e. the romantic) today.
In my opinion the metaphysics of romantic love and "eros" boils down to a Christian vs pagan worldview, and you can read all about it with ludwig klages, knut hamsun, goethe, charles williams, cs lewis, and primarily medieval texts (specifically dante and the arthurian corpus)

>blocks your path

There are a lot of orthobros who will shill fr rose. This isn't unjustified, as he was influential in popularizing orthodoxy to america, but his fixation on niche theology and his major works are only good if you want to revel in fear mongering (which is the same reason I never recommend fr bailey and all the other pop ortho-vloggers).
Here's my list, as an orthodox christian interested in the esoteric, that'll be a better jumping off point into the "fringe" in orthodoxy and orthodoxy in general:
>easy/intro tier
the way of the ascetics, colliander
the way of the pilgrim, rm french (translator)
NT with apocryphal texts (just read scripture, it's mystical enough as it is lmao)
sayings of the desert fathers
the four loves, lewis
the fiction of charles williams
>the step up tier
till we have faces, lewis
the sacrament of love, evdokimov
the
variation on the song of songs, yannaras
mystical theology, lossky
>the ask your priest before reading tier
philokalia
christianity and eros, sherrard
person and eros, yannaras
the theology of charles williams
the rest of philip sherrard's works (he's the real "fringe perrenialist" of orthodoxy that everyone overlooks and is much preferable imo to fr rose)
ecology of the transfiguration is also great if you want orthodox views on ecology
This is the direction I went with my readings into orthodoxy post-guenon and I much prefer it!

>>19645893
Unironically read a bunch of borges. His stories bring up a lot a mystical writings and persons and it's a great way to find a lot of things that may be off the beaten path while getting some kick ass reads. The only problem is finding out which are real and which are imagined, but if you're getting into esotericism you'll be in for a lot of that anyways so it's good practice.
Afterwards, the only magical authorities I vouch for are charles williams and ludwig klages. Although they use two separate symbol sets (one christian and one pagan) they arrive at some very similar conclusions and their descriptions of ecstatic experiences and eros are second to none in my opinion. Outside of that, williams' fiction is a great jumping off point to get deep into an understanding of a lot of mystical subjects: platonic cosmology, arthurian legend, eros, divination (williams was friends with waite of the rider waite tarot deck), and theology. Klages, then can fill in some of the more metaphysical ideas (in clear and powerful writing) that williams borders on.
Goethean science is also a great resource for understanding occult philosophy in a more material and tangible way through his theory of colors. Here's a good video on it as a sampler:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtMvYHq2-uI
What you have to realize at some point is that perpetually seeking knowledge and experience can lead you away from being observant of the opportunities that life and the supernatural naturally present to you, so reading mystical texts and forming good practice/ritual must come at the balance of being receptive to life and content that some mysteries will always be mysterious. That said ritual is essential to living a balanced life, knowledge without practice can cause you to lose your center, although I'm biased as a christian and religious person. I have a priest I can talk with about my experiences, we read together, and he is whole other pool of lived experience that I can always go to for guidance. That's not to say that every spiritual guide is YOUR guide (because not everyone who wants to be your friend is your friend rule #1) you have to follow your intuition and what is good (and in the service of God).
Read your scripture, fast, pray, give alms, and go to your place of worship. Those are the best practices in my opinion, although dabbling in the mystical is always fun it's important to lead a good life too!