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| Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) |
Dante was born 32
years before the first game of golf was played in Loenen san de Vecht, in the
Netherlands (see Post #16), but there is no written record that he ever knew
about the game. He is best known for his
great work, Divine Comedy, which
represents an allegorical journey through Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. Although he is praised for propagating an
Italian literary style that was aimed at communicating with both the common
people as well as with the upper classes, his less known fame lies in his
personal intellectual battles with the "Gloominati", a clandestine group of
nihilist fanatics that some say were the antecedent society that later became
known as the "Obscuranti" in Machiavelli’s time.
The Obscuranti influence may be seen today is such organizations as the
Heritage Foundation, the American Enterprise Institute and Americans for
Prosperity (See future posts on Machiavelli and the Obscuranti). Whereas, the Obscuranti purposely
obscured the truth to achieve selfish goals or to thwart inquiry into the
affairs of the moneyed interests of the day, such as the Medici in
Machiavelli’s day, the Gloominati merely focused on making peoples' lives
miserable through threats and intimidation.
In many respects, the impulse to write the Divine Comedy was a direct response to the Gloominati, who are rather
vividly described in the 9 Circles of Inferno.
The Inferno section established the basis of the modern PDM, or
Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual (Machiavelli is also honored in the modern
manual with a special disorder bearing his name that lies between Narcissism
and Psychopathy).
Emeriti Allies
The local Emeriti
in Florence and Ravenna worked with Dante during the writing of the Divine
Comedy as evidenced by the coded scientific references contained in Purgatorio
relating to the spherical Earth, time zones, gravity, and northern and southern
hemispheres. As a member of the Florence
Physicians and Apothecaries Guild, Dante had access to equipment and compounds
required for Emeriti Alchemy experimentation.
In addition, the Emeriti helped to break the Gloominati Code:
GLOOMINATI ITANIMOOLG ITANI MOOLG
Wherein: Itani is Hindi for "So Many," and Moolg is clearly an anagram for "Gloom," hence, "So Much Gloom." With Emeriti assistance, Dante was able to literally beat the Gloominati to the punch.
Sources: Emeritipedia, Wikipedia, and The Emeriti Dante Chronicles, EPI ©1956
Product of the Brotherhood of the Emeriti ©2013
