Silence

In this blog I have often cited "silence" as critical element within the Traditional Roman Religion both as subject in specific spiritual exercises and in its deeper symbolic role also when adopted in given invocation modalities. I have mentioned that invocations can be performed aloud, whispering (murmur), in an absolute silence: these different modalities refer to different types of creating a Divine Contact. Similarly I have mentioned silence related to Mens and Vox.

In a common and profane meaning, silence corresponds to an idea of "concealing" or "stop talking". Silence in this way is likely to be opposed only to Vox or the verbal articulation and communication of thoughts.

The Traditional Roman Religion provides us with a deeper and more complex perspective to understand the real value, role, sense and meaning of silence. As profane silence implies a stop talking, sacred silence implies the capability to "stop thinking" or blocking Mens in a condition of pure calm and spiritual rest. It involves the achievement of a status of spiritual otium. As profane silence is used to stop the instictive and chaotic speaking, similarly sacred silence is used to stop the chaotic sequence of thoughts: this is the "inner silence" or "pax profunda".

The possibilities to achieve such condition of profound silence depends on the individual capability of concentration: this form of concentration has nothing in common with the common idea of concentration. I will describe in the future this idea in a next post.