From the book
Centuries of Meditations
Thomas Traherne · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordA devil is an evil spiritual being, contrasted with an angel and associated with opposition to divine love.
- In TraherneTraherne does not build an elaborate demonic geography.
- In this editionDo not turn the brief contrast of angel and devil into a claim that moral evil is merely a place or atmosphere.
- A place to beginAn angel would be happy anywhere and a devil miserable because their principles differ.
Meaning
A devil is an evil spiritual being, contrasted with an angel and associated with opposition to divine love. The word has few appearances but sharp argumentative uses.
Use in the book
Traherne does not build an elaborate demonic geography. The devil demonstrates that changing location cannot make a badly ordered spirit happy: misery follows evil principles. Conversely, the list of hostile powers at the end of the Second Century emphasises the security of participation in divine love. Devils are real adversaries within the argument, but they do not supply its chief explanation of ordinary blindness, which more often rests on custom and mistaken valuation.
Places to read
In this edition
Do not turn the brief contrast of angel and devil into a claim that moral evil is merely a place or atmosphere. The point concerns the active principles of a spirit.