# Question: What are *logismoi* and how does it affect our daily lives? As I was writing about my system, one section really could do with the usage of this Greek term: [[Logismoi]]. It is an ancient concept that is underrepresented, if at all, in Western thought and the Western Christian worldview. **Warning:** this post is going to bring up ideas and concepts that are likely unfamiliar to you. Some of which will blow your mind, others will make you think I'm a crazy person, and still others may make you concerned for your own mental health. ## Detailed Answer & Discussion I just finished writing a whole article on [[Passion|the Passions]] after writing [[How much is too much?]], and yet find myself right this moment being all but required to explain some nuance. I don't know how this article is going to go, it falls very much into the warning on the home page "some stuff may be wrong." I am fixing to start reading a book that goes deeper into this so it may get a rework in the near future. I think before I can explain the concept of *logismoi* I have to explain the concept of the *nous*. To avoid writing a theological dissertation, let's start with a very basic understanding. I'll do my best to expand on these things as I get better at regular writing times. If we agree that our humanity is made of at least two parts, physical and spiritual, and the physical can regularly interact with the physical world around us then we must also, at some level, assert that our spiritual side can interact with the spiritual reality around us. We see this every time we pray for example. We're communicating with God, or the saints, with our own spirit. Thus it is reasonable to state that our spirit can interact on some level with the spiritual reality. The *nous* is best defined as the organ of spiritual perception. Much like our eyes, ears, nose, etc. perceives the world always around us, the *nous* is doing the same spiritually. As you're reading this page, your eyes also see the the monitor logo, or the floor past your phone, or the table your laptop is sitting on. But the difference is that you're focusing on these words. Your eyes are always seeing, your nose is always smelling, your ears are always hearing. The *nous* is always feeling the spiritual movement. So, I'm going to leave it there. It's far deeper and more complex, but this isn't the time. We're supposed to be examining *logismoi*. From my perspective, the *logismoi* are spiritual attacks, darts and arrows hurled by the demons. They often take the form of random thoughts. We've all heard of intrusive thoughts, those thoughts of "what if I just smack her cup out of her hand?" But these are far more damaging for they start as the most basic of things. Have you ever been sitting and reading or writing and out of nowhere an untoward image pops into your mind? Or perhaps we're driving and suddenly remember a conversation or scenario that upset us years ago? These are potentially *logismoi*. The question becomes "what do we do to prevent it?" Well, sadly, nothing. We can only act upon the thought when we receive it. If we take that image in our mind and think about it, and we keep going back to it, and we desire more of it then we're participating with the thought. Ultimately, the goal of the *logismoi* is to stir the passion of [[lust]] and if that passion is stirred enough then we wind up acting on it in some way. That conversation? The passion of [[anger]] perhaps? [[Sadness]]? Again the goal is to simply touch on one of the [[Passion|passions]] as the driver toward sins. Most often a *logismoi* seems so benign that we allow ourselves to think on that thing. But what we find, if we admit to ourselves, is that the simplest of thoughts leads to some of the worst feelings or moments in our days. For the last few days I've kept a journal of *logismoi* in my own life. It's incredible how many tally marks I have on various passions, but it's also incredible to see how few I have on others. This little "experiment" for just a week, really cemented for me that *logismoi* is a thing. Whether from the outside or not doesn't change the fact that many, many times this week I've had a thought that if allowed to flourish had clear direction toward one of the passions. I am not saying that I avoided the passions all week, far from it. But I would say that the more I was aware of what was happening the easier it was to identify and cut off at the start rather than allowing it to stoke those fires. ## Closing Thoughts The second half of my question, "how do they affect our lives" is one that only you can answer. I've shown, however briefly, some ways that they affect us. Most commonly by stirring one, or more, of the passions. If we allow the passions to be stirred and stoked, their fires burn within us to the point that we ultimately commit sin. I think this is a good bit of nuance, that will lead to future questions, but the thoughts that attack us are not sins themselves. Rather they are a precursor to sin that if dwelt on eventually become acted on which is sin. --- Canonical Link: <a href="" rel="canonical">What are logismoi and how do they affect our daily lives</a>