In The Hands of the Refiner

A passion is a spiritual disease that dominates the soul. When one repeatedly falls into a certain sin, it becomes second nature – a passion – for him to keep falling into this sin. Thus, one who misuses the God-given powers of the soul of desire and anger, or one who continually succumbs to temptations of lust, hate, malice, or jealousy, or one who succumbs to pride and vainglory, acquires those passions. It is primarily through repentance, faith, obedience to God, submission to His will, and dying daily to self is one healed of the passions.

The passions are:

harshness, trickery, malice, perversity, mindlessness, licentiousness, enticement,

dullness, lack of understanding, idleness, sluggishness, stupidity, flattery, silliness,

idiocy, madness, derangement, coarseness, rashness, cowardice, lethargy, dearth of

good actions, moral errors, greed, over-frugality, ignorance, folly, spurious knowledge,

forgetfulness, lack of discrimination, obduracy, injustice, evil intention, a conscienceless

soul, slothfulness, idle chatter, breaking of faith, wrongdoing, sinfulness, lawlessness,

criminality, passion, seduction, assent to evil, mindless coupling, demonic provocation,

dallying, bodily comfort beyond what is required, vice, stumbling, sickness of soul,

enervation, weakness of intellect, negligence, laziness, a reprehensible despondency,

disdain of God, aberration, transgression, unbelief, lack of faith, wrong belief, poverty of

faith, heresy, fellowship in heresy, polytheism, idolatry, ignorance of God, impiety,

magic, astrology, divination, sorcery, denial of God, the love of idols, dissipation,

profligacy, loquacity, indolence, self-love, inattentiveness, lack of progress, deceit,

delusion, audacity, witchcraft, defilement, the eating of unclean food, soft living,

dissoluteness, voracity, unchastity, avarice, anger, dejection, listlessness, self-esteem,

pride, presumption, self-elation, boastfulness, infatuation, foulness, satiety, doltishness,

torpor, sensuality, over-eating, gluttony, insatiability, secret eating, hoggishness, solitary

eating, indifference, fickleness, self-will, thoughtlessness, self-satisfaction, love of

popularity, ignorance of beauty, uncouthness, gaucherie, light-mindedness,

boorishness, rudeness, contentiousness, quarrelsomeness, abusiveness, shouting,

brawling, fighting, rage, mindless desire, gall, exasperation, giving offence, enmity,

meddlesomeness, chicanery, asperity, slander, censure, calumny, condemnation,

accusation, hatred, railing, insolence, dishonor, ferocity, frenzy, severity,

aggressiveness, forswearing oneself, oath taking, lack of compassion, hatred of one’s

brothers, partiality, patricide, matricide, breaking fasts, laxity, acceptance of bribes,

theft, rapine, jealousy, strife, envy, indecency, jesting, vilification, mockery, derision,

exploitation, oppression, disdain of one’s neighbor, flogging, making sport of others,

hanging, throttling, heartlessness, implacability, covenant-breaking, bewitchment,

harshness, shamelessness, impudence, obfuscation of thoughts, obtuseness, mental

blindness, attraction to what is fleeting, impassionedness, frivolity, disobedience,

dullwittedness, drowsiness of soul, excessive sleep, fantasy, heavy drinking,

drunkenness, uselessness, slackness, mindless enjoyment, self-indulgence, venery,

using foul language, effeminacy, unbridled desire, burning lust, masturbation, pimping,

adultery, sodomy, bestiality, defilement, wantonness, a stained soul, incest,

uncleanliness, pollution, sordidness, feigned affection, laughter, jokes, immodest

dancing, clapping, improper songs, revelry, fluteplaying, license of tongue, excessive

love of order, insubordination, disorderliness, reprehensible collusion, conspiracy,

warfare, killing, brigandry, sacrilege, illicit gains, usury, wiliness, grave-robbing,

hardness of heart, obloquy, complaining, blasphemy, fault-finding, ingratitude,

malevolence, contemptuousness, pettiness, confusion, lying, verbosity, empty words,

mindless joy, daydreaming, mindless friendship, bad habits, nonsensicality, silly talk,

garrulity, niggardliness, depravity, intolerance, irritability, affluence, rancour, misuse, illtemper,

clinging to life, ostentation, affectation, pusillanimity, satanic love, curiosity,

contumely, lack of the fear of God, unteachability, senselessness, haughtiness, selfvaunting,

self-inflation, scorn for one’s neighbor, mercilessness, insensitivity,

hopelessness, spiritual paralysis, hatred of God, despair, suicide, a falling away from

God in all things, utter destruction –

Altogether 298 passions……….

These, then, are the passions which have been found named in the Holy Scriptures.

St. John Climakos states: “If you seek understanding in wicked men, you will not find it.”

For all that the demons produce is disorderly. In common with the godless and the unjust, the demons have but one purpose: to destroy the souls of those who accept their evil counsel. Yet sometimes they actually help men to attain holiness. In such instances they are conquered by the patience and faith of those who put their trust in the Lord, and who through their good actions and resistance to evil thoughts counteract the demons and bring down curses upon them.

From A LIST OF THE PASSIONS, Saint Peter of Damaskos The Philokalia; The Complete Text compiled by St. Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain and St. Makarios of Corinth Volume Three Translated from the Greek and edited by G.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherard, Kallistos Ware faber and faber, 1984