CONCERNING THINGS THAT HAPPEN DURING SLEEP

54-56 Περὶ τῶν ἐν τοῖς ὕπνοις συμβαινόντων

54. WHEN the demons, attacking the desiring part of the soul (epithumetikon) through dreams, show us things like meetings with friends, family feasts, women dancing and other such things which produce pleasure, and we run to meet them, then we are sick in the [desiring] part of [our soul] and passion prevails.

νδ' Ὅταν ἐν ταῖς καθ΄ ὕπνον φαντασίαις τῷ ἐπιθυμητικῷ μέρει πολεμοῦντες οἱ δαίμονες αὐτοὶ μὲν δεικνύωσιν͵ ἡμεῖς δὲ προστρέχωμεν͵ συντυχίας γνωρίμων καὶ συμπόσια συγγενῶν καὶ χοροὺς γυναικῶν καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα τοιαῦτα ἡδονῶν ἀποτελεστικά͵ ἐν τούτῳ τῷ μέρει νοσοῦμεν καὶ τὸ πάθος ἰσχύει.

55. IF during sleep the natural movements of the body occur without [any mental] images, they show that the soul is to some extent healthy: [however,] the formation of images is a symptom of illness. [You should] thus regard vague images as signifying an old passion, while defined images [indicate] a fresh wound.

νε' Αἱ ἀνείδωλοι ἐν τοῖς ὕπνοις τοῦ σώματος φυσικαὶ κινήσεις ὑγιαίνειν ποσῶς μηνύουσι τὴν ψυχήν· πῆξις δὲ εἰδώλων ἀρρωστίας γνώρισμα· καὶ τὰ μὲν ἀόριστα πρόσωπα τοῦ παλαιοῦ πάθους͵ τὰ δὲ ὡρισμένα τῆς παραυτίκα πληγῆς σύμβολον νόμιζε.

56. WE shall recognise the signs of passionlessness through our [tempting-] thoughts (logismoi) during the day and through our dreams at night And passionlessness is what we shall call the soul’s health, and the soul’s food is knowledge, which is the only means by which we shall ordinarily be united with the holy powers, seeing that the natural basis for our union with incorporeal beings is the similarity of our disposition to theirs

νς' Τὰ τῆς ἀπαθείας τεκμήρια͵ μεθ΄ ἡμέραν μὲν διὰ τῶν λογισμῶν͵ νύκτωρ δὲ διὰ τῶν ἐνυπνίων ἐπιγνωσόμεθα· καὶ τὴν μὲν ἀπάθειαν ὑγείαν ἐροῦμεν εἶναι ψυχῆς͵ τροφὴν δὲ τὴν γνῶσιν͵ ἥτις μόνη συνάπτειν ἡμᾶς ταῖς ἁγίαις δυνάμεσιν εἴωθεν· εἴπερ ἡ τῶν ἀσωμάτων συνάφεια ἐκ τῆς ὁμοίας διαθέσεως γίνεσθαι πέφυκεν.