Bembo's Ascent

Stage I

The first stage (at which most people experience love and beauty) makes use of sense, the mental faculty that we share with other animals. That is, at this stage love is the desire of beauty through sense. The focus is on the particular beauty of an individual body, that of the beloved. Even here the lover must keep in mind that the body is not the source of beauty, but only an imperfect reflection of the beauty of the soul, which ultimately comes from God, the source of all beauty. Therefore the lover must learn to look beyond superficial beauty.

There are two substages to Stage I:

Substage A

The lover feeds his (her) soul with the sight and hearing of his beloved, for these are the least material of the senses. Because the lovers' intentions are spiritual, their physical loving may proceed so far as kissing, for the mouth expresses the soul, and by kissing the lovers may unite their souls as well as their bodies. When the soul advances to the lips it takes the first step toward separation from the body.

Substage B

In the second substage the lover internalizes the image of the beloved in his imagination, so he may have it with him always. In this way her beauty is separated from matter, which can reflect only imperfectly her true beauty. The beloved's immaterial beauty is kept safe in the lover's heart; that is, she is assimilated into his soul.

Stage II

In the second stage the distinctly human faculty of reason is exercised to abstract from the particular beauty of individuals the concept of universal beauty. In Stage I beauty was apprehended by the vision of the eyes (or by visual imagination); in this stage it is apprehended by the vision of reason. That is, love is beauty desired through reason. In this way the philosopher has ascended from the level of material bodies to the level of human souls.

Stage III

In the third stage the philosopher uses his reason to direct his power of choice upward to the level of the angelic intelligences. By the study of philosophy and by devotion to spiritual matters the faculty of understanding (characteristic of angelic intelligence) is awakened in the lover; he apprehends Beauty by means of his particular understanding. The eye of his soul turns inward and she perceives her own substance, which is a shining light emanating from angelic beauty. As the soul is ravished and inflamed by this light, she becomes drunk and longs to unite with it.

Stage IV

In the fourth stage the soul advances from her particular understanding, which cannot completely comprehend heavenly Beauty, to universal understanding, which comes from union with divine Beauty. The lover's soul offers herself as a burnt sacrifice to Love. As common fire refines gold, so the holy fire of divine Beauty refines the soul, burning away her grosser elements. As the mortal parts are consumed and the immortal parts purified, she becomes capable of uniting with divine Beauty so that, in the end, lover and Beloved become one. The soul is made divine and immortal, for she enjoys a feast of nectar and ambrosia with the gods. Heavenly Beauty is unveiled and the soul experiences the supreme ecstasy. This is the endpoint of desire, the remedy for all pain, sickness and misery, and the refuge from all troubles; here is bliss. However, this union is imperfect and temporary, for true union cannot be achieved before death.

Comparison