Chapter 14: The Heavenly Bodies
The heavenly bodies, i.e., star, moon, sun, play a prominent role in the Commedia. The heavenly spheres form the underlying structure of the Paradisio. The Paradisio is the third major section of the epic journey to God. Dante travels up through the heavenly spheres with Beatrice as his guide. In many illustrations all three of the Tarot's heavenly bodies, i.e., star, moon, and sun, appear together. This is the case in the late 14th century illustration shown in Figure 37. In another 14th century illustration (Figure 38), the three symbols appear together at the bottom of the figure. In other cases, such as Figure 39 (mid-14th century), the moon and sun appear in the same illustration. Here, Beatrice, looking much like the Empress, directs Dante's attention upward, to the heavenly spheres through which they will soon travel.
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The heavens also appear throughout the Commedia as markers of the passage of time, as symbols of enlightenment, and as symbols of sanctified souls. This multiple use of the symbols is another indicator of their importance in the work. It is noteworthy, for example, that all three of the major sections of the Commedia end with the word 'star'. The heavenly bodies are arranged in the Paradisio according to the Ptolemaic cosmological order, i.e., by distance from the earth. Therefore, the Moon appears as the first of the heavenly spheres (Paradisio 3-5). Figure 40 (~1445) shows Dante and Beatrice flying upward to the Moon. In the sphere of the Moon, Beatrice serves as Dante's instructor, explaining the heavens and the radiant appearance of the sanctified souls. |
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The Sun appears (Paradisio 10-14) as the fourth sphere of heaven. Figure 41 (~1445) shows the pair approaching the sun. The fourth sphere is the place where Dante converses with the wisest of the saints. Dante's interest in philosophy and theology become clear in these discussions.
The Sun appears in many illustrations of the conversations between Dante and souls residing in the fourth sphere, e.g., Figure 42 from the late 14th century. In Figure 43 (~1400) we see Dante conversing with the Franciscan theologian, Saint Bonaventure (Paradisio 12) who praises the Dominicans. Earlier (Paradisio 11), Dante has conversed with Saint Thomas Aquinas who praised the Franciscans. Figure 44 (late 14th century) illustrates a conversation with Solomon.
 
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In the Commedia, the Sun was also an important symbol for the passage of time. At the literal level of interpretation, the journey of Dante is occurring in real time and there are frequent references to the sun as marking morning and evening. This use of the symbol is illustrated in Figure 45 (14th century) as Virgil and Dante discuss the time of day.
After passing through the sphere of the Moon (first level of heaven) and the sphere of the Sun (fourth level of heaven), Beatrice and Dante arrive at the sphere of fixed stars is the 8th sphere of heaven (Paradisio 26-27). In the poem and the illustrations, the stars are represented as the bright flames of heavenly souls. This is a concept taken from Plato who believed that human souls originated as stars and once again became stars at death. Figure 46 (14th century) shows Virgil and Dante looking upward at the sphere of the stars.
Although the proper place for the stars is in the eighth sphere, the illustrators also used a star to represent Venus. Therefore, one also finds images such as Figure 47 (~1445) which shows Beatrice and Dante flying up to Venus, the third sphere of heaven (Paradisio 8-10).
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In closing our discussion of the symbols of the heavenly bodies, we should note their position in Dante's work and in the Tarot.The ordering of the three symbols is different. Dante uses a Ptolemaic cosmology and discusses the symbols in the order of their distance from the earth. The Tarot orders the three heavenly bodies as symbols of increasing light, i.e., in an order of enlightenment. However, in both symbolic systems, the heavens bodies occur in a high position. In both cases they are the last symbols preceding the "Last Things".
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