Stoic philosophy: the love of wisdom. Rational thought is truly rational only when it becomes aware of itself.

Stoicism is not academic knowledge and wisdom is not elitist. Cultivation happens in the imagination, with intention, not inertia.

Hello dear readers,

While I Sisyphus myself into finishing Part Two on Tarot, Astrology, Mythology, and Dreams, perhaps the largest post I’ve ever glued together and given language to, Part I: Exploring the Unconscious Through 'Active Imagination': Alchemy,
I wanted to send something out into the world and show up with an available seed, long planted, long rooted in the classic concept of human reason, a life philosophy we can all universally access:

Stoicism.

“The things you think about determine the quality of your mind.”
Marcus Aurelius

Illustration by ©Struvictory Art. Image Licensed by the Author

What is Stoicism, and how can we turn to philosophy in times of chaos?

The role of philosophy has a deeper function, and that is to awaken rationality to its own importance and value, because we have an innate capacity to reason.

The role of philosophy truly manifests when rationality becomes conscious of itself.

In Ancient Greece philosophers like Socrates (470 BCE – 399 BCE), Plato (427 BCE – 347 BCE), and Aristotle (384 BCE – 322 BCE), were among the first to explore reason systematically, as there was already a sense of cultural and political regression in Greek society.
Aristotle, especially, formalized logic as a discipline, studying how valid reasoning works.
Plato recognized that the corruption of the city signals the corruption of the soul.

The kind of person a city produces is an indicator of how corrupt both the system and the soul have become.*2

The idea of “reason” is a guiding principle (Logos) is central in Stoicism and earlier Heraclitus.

“Listening not to me but to the Logos, it is wise to agree that all things are one.”
Heraclitus

Much like every concept or idea, if we return to the original, we can see how much has been changed, borrowed, adopted, chopped, or revived. Stoicism had its periods of flourishing, becoming widespread as a guiding practice. It thrived in Roman culture through minds like Cicero and continued its story through Byzantium, Islam, African traditions, and across the world, in Kabbalah, in Spain and Portugal, where it was fruitful and respected.*2

Then in 1492 came huge shifts and turns: the Alhambra Decree (Expulsion of the Jews), the Fall of Granada (End of Muslim Rule in Spain), Christopher Columbus’s first voyage, the Rise of the Spanish inquisition, and later a return during the Renaissance, a time of renewed remembering of Roman and Greek thought.*2

An interesting dilution of Stoic philosophy occurred after the Renaissance, when parts of Stoicism took on a shadow form in Puritanism. Puritanism feared wildness; Christianity, too, often sought to suppress our relationship with logos, with the natural world.
It approved only of rational control and was suspicious of emotion.
The affective world became dangerous, and bodily impulses were seen as sinful.*2

But when we lose our relationship with our senses, we lose the most primary connection we all share in our DNA: our relationship with nature.
We are sensual beings; we belong to the land, we are part of the natural world.

"The wise man harmonizes with the laws of nature, not resisting them."
Cicero

Stoicism is not academic knowledge and wisdom is not elitist.

Stoicism a universal philosophy (“love of wisdom”), literally means “of the Stoa”, it is referring to the place where the philosophy was taught, the place where Zeno of Citium, the founder of Stoicism around 300 BCE, taught his philosophy.

The idea of Stoicism is simple, that we should live in harmony with nature and reason (Logos), accepting what we cannot change and focusing on our own thoughts and actions.

Stoicism broke this Western-conditioned idea that virtue depends on education and
social class, that only through culture we can become moral, virtuous beings.

Virtue is not a good habit, it is a conscious practice of living well.
It involves making deliberate, conscious choices aligned with ethical values. To be truly virtuous, you must know what you're doing, why you're doing it, and how it aligns with truth/ justice, or the greater good.

A virtue (Latin: virtus) is a trait of excellence, including traits that may be moral, social, or intellectual. The cultivation and refinement of virtue is held to be the "good of humanity" and thus is valued as an end purpose of life or a foundational principle of being.

And I’ve never liked the word excellence because, in my mind, it pushes toward perfection. But in the context of its original Stoic meaning, it’s about putting in consistent effort to live with purpose, to integrate the unconscious, work through inner conflicts, projections, and attachments, and transform them into action.

It is our capacity to cultivate a philosophy of meaning-making, perspective-building, and the development of an internal compass to guide ourselves through a disordered world or challenging situations.

“Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.”
Marcus Aurelius

Presence, discipline, honesty, and the courage to look inward grow like mental muscles. They help us learn to pause, before we can create a world outward.

First in our imagination, as we are alchemists, and then we externalize ourselves in trends, in shifts, in eras, in civilizations, in new cultures.

We become the culture. History. Past, present, future.
Like moving pions on a grand-scale table, like river stones subtly redirecting the current, we individually and collectively give the river a new course, one we often can’t see while caught in our daily routines, our existential disputes, and while we live through the history of our own time.

If we seek a higher point of view, a better vision, a new perspective, we can see the future.
By looking back (to learn, not to live there) at history, we gain insight into how our present actions can impact the world, how our lives are being lived, created, and what we leave behind.
We are granted access here and now to a higher peak only when we are willing to understand and act with conscious thought.

Illustration by ©Struvictory Art. Image Licensed by the Author

True rational thought requires conscious engagement, without it, we are just reacting, not reasoning.

The essence of the human experience:

Consciousness moves into awareness, into reason, into rationality, all flowing through logos. This movement creates an emotional regulation system, but one that can’t fully function without active imagination.
Imagination alone doesn’t become real unless it’s grounded in the feeling function, connected to the story of our lives, our narrative, our purpose, the creative potential we are all born with.

We are creative, sexual beings, made to express, to bring something into form. But before we can shape the world outside, we have to meet and adapt to the world within. That’s where it begins.

Without inner connection, adaptation to society only disconnects us more if we don’t curate, if we do not go inside and check, breath into our own spirit.
When we learn to regulate from the inside, when imagination links with feeling, with meaning, then we create from a deeper place.
That’s what makes it reality happened.

We are here to become the story, not copy/paste a story we see on the screens.
One that already feels like home.

Language shapes the unknown into the known, opens new doors, and this is what I like doing most, language life, explore words, ideas, translate them to stories.
Feel free to add to my post or to just play, explore the terms that I am trying to catch by the tail, let yourself be inspired by how we can become reality, inner and outer.

Awareness is the beginning of authorship.
Consciousness: The state of being aware of one’s own existence, sensations, thoughts, and surroundings. Without consciousness, there is no ability to reflect, judge, or regulate behavior.
Reason: The capacity or ability to draw valid conclusions from information, using logic and evidence to reach justification.
Rational: Describes thought or behavior aligned with reason. It requires consistency, coherence, and awareness of consequences.
Logos: The (Kosmos) source and origin of truth and structure, is the principle that governs all being. It has many meanings.

“The two basic themes of the concept of Logos
“the unity and interrelationship of all phenomena” and
“the intrinsically dynamic nature of the universe” can be found to a great degree in Eastern wisdom as well as in modern physics.
Despite of differences amongst the various schools of Eastern mysticism, they all emphasize the basic unity of the universe, which is the central feature of their teachings.
All believe in the cosmos as one inseparable reality forever in motion, alive, organic, spiritual and material at the same time.”*1

Emotional regulation isn't separate from reason, it is what true rationality requires.

Emotional regulation is also resilience and steadiness, it is conscious awareness and reason guiding your responses. It connects deeply with rational thought.

The values that guide us through life are not imposed, they are brought to consciousness by aligning ourselves with the truth of the Logos.

Consciousness isn’t an add-on, it is what makes reason alive.
It is what gives us peace when we choose the right path, keeps us aligned with ourselves and the world, and creates a mood of contemplation and gratitude.

We know we have a good moral compass to guide ourselves through life when, with every choice we make, in health, in love, in creation, and in our body, we feel more connected: with ourselves, with others, and with nature.

That is self-care. Forward looking psyche.
Carl Jung refers to as the process of “individuation”.

“Individuation means becoming an ‘individual,’ and, insofar as ‘individuality’ embraces our innermost, last, and incomparable uniqueness, it also implies becoming one’s own self. We could therefore translate individuation as ‘coming to selfhood’ or ‘self-realization.’”
C.G. Jung, “Two Essays on Analytical Psychology”

Self-realization can happen though understanding the totality of your psyche is not only reason, or only feeling function, is about all things that can expand you, finding your voice, your place in the universe, about understanding the nature of things.

The more we understand the cosmos, the more we understand ourselves.

Plato’s “illumination theory” is about inner awakening, as he suggests that true knowledge is not something we gain from the outside world, but something we remember, already inside of us. It is an a priori understanding, rooted in what we ultimately feel as real. A clarity of knowing that feels aligned, rooted, and not based on sensory experience, a deeper dive.

Illustration by ©Struvictory Art. Image Licensed by the Author

Active Imagination: Cultivation, Potential and Adaptation

Active imagination is a process of consciously dialoguing with the contents of the unconscious, images, emotions, symbols, or inner figures, through creative expression such as writing, drawing, movement, or visualization.
It is a bridge between the conscious and unconscious mind, allowing a person to explore inner material without rational control or censorship.

Imagination is, in fact, the place where the spark of growth happens.

Imagination is a psychological function that creates new ways to find inner truths, a neural process that simulates and reshapes experience, and a transformative tool for healing, creation, and growth.
Involves regions of medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, and hippocampus, we time travel mentally everyday.

"Every act of perception is to some degree an act of creation, and every act of memory is to some degree an act of imagination."
Oliver Sacks, Musicophilia

Cultivation happens in the imagination, in the images we create, the ones we long for, and the stories we tell ourselves.
That’s why introspection helps us discern between borrowing stories and creating our own, between coping and truly crafting something original, the story of our unique life, where our potential take space as we cultivate and grow more deeply into ourselves.

We become what we repeatedly feed, through imagination, thought, and action

“Become who you are by learning who you are.”
Pindar

Cultivation is not about perfection or overachievement.
It’s about labor of walking our own path.

Cultivating the intellect is a part of a holistic picture, integrating intellectual virtues, instincts, affective life, and a sense of purpose.

The goal of all inner work I feel is to expand inward, to learn how we function as individuals, observe how we function as civilization, to gain enough adaptation to the sociaty without losing contact with the deeper self, and that is positive adaptation.

We all have automatic responses. As we grow, we can develop the skill to pause between stimulus and response, change the automatical responses, gain more autonomy over our reactions.

The narrative, the meaningful story about what kind of human we want to be, is about knowing that our energy is limited, that potential is unlimited, and that at the same time, we can’t become everything.
We can choose what we want to experience, as our energy is limited, and Stoicism teaches us to approach life in this manner: with respect for harnessing our potential, taking daily steps, having a greater purpose, and defining what life is for us.
Let yourself have a story.

"People think that stories are shaped by people. In fact, it’s the other way around."
Terry Pratchett

And that narrative? It comes from your imagination. Active.
Let your imagination shape your life, not the screen’s version of what life should look like. Active imagination isn’t about fantasy, it’s the self-reflective capacity to envision possibility.

We live in an era of “passive” imagination, in a sense that we absorb and grab anything without filtering, everything that looks a certain way without truly feeling the reality behind it.
We may find ourselves chase the trending stories and end up feeling like we don’t belong in our own lives, because we’re not seeking the original meaning.
We may chase something we can never fully feel into, because it was never ours to live.

Imagination without the feeling function, the inner knowing that it’s already within you could be just a beautiful projection, an illusion we play out at the expense of our energy, our years, and the lives around us.

Life always calls us to independence.

To growth.
Overprotecting ourselves from discomfort is a way to underestimates our power.
We can overcome far more than we think.
In the end, the unlived life does not disappear.
It waits for us, under the noise, until we are clear enough to return and claim it.

Even the laws of physics remind us: cause and effect are real, they are fact-based.

In physics, the "law of cause and effect" essentially means that every action has a reaction, and events are interconnected through cause-and-effect relationships. This principle is exemplified by Newton's third law, which states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

What we word out into the world is our doing, it is within our control. What we feed ourselves, in thoughts and in life, becomes the reality we all live in.
*3

Thank you for being here, in the heart of the year, summer’s golden middle, my birthday month.
Thank you for taking the time to read.
With warmth and gratitude,
Katerina

“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive, to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations *3

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You’re not just supporting a writer, you’re helping someone continue the work that feels most true. And you receive something real in return.

Thank you for reading, for arriving, for being here. That, too, matters more than you know.

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Resources

1* About philosophy
2* Stoicism Podcast
3*Meditations: The Philosophy Classic