39: The Genius of the Heart

Today, it's an examination of a single aphorism: Beyond Good & Evil, 295, "The Genius of the Heart":

"...the genius of the heart,
who silences all that is loud and self-satisfied,
teaching it to listen;
who smooths rough souls and lets them taste a new desire -
to lie still as a mirror, that the deep sky may mirror itself in them -..."

In this passage - essentially a prose poem by Nietzsche - he expresses praise for Dionysus, and describes himself as his last initiate and disciple. The poem encapsulates the spiritual message of Nietzsche's mature philosophy: the spiritualization of human feelings, the longing for something greater, and the demand for the absolute love of life.

Episode Art: John Collier - The Priestess of Bacchus (Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)