I thought I would brainstorm a bit about deadly sins. The opposite could be called “noble virtues” but instead I think “life-ly virtues” sounds more truly opposite. (Conjugating life into life-ly instead of lively.) If you search around online you might find a list of 7 Heavenly Virtues or 7 Contrary Virtues. In this edited article, I posit there are actually 8 deadly sins and 8 heavenly virtues!

In a previous article, I found that the deadly sins had actual Abrahamic (Judaic) demons associated with them. I would think that it’s possible that the opposite – life-ly virtues – would have Abrahamic (Christian) angels or saints associated with them, but so far I have not found any. Perhaps Christians just take the Maslow’s Hammer approach and prescribe Jesus Christ as the antidote to all demons, whether they’re the 7 (or 8) deadly sin demons or something else. Some of the search results I found for antonyms to the deadly sins didn’t make sense to me. For example, “liberality” being the opposite of “greed” sounds way too communist – which is a deadly sin in itself. And “kindness” being the opposite of “envy” doesn’t line up with common sense. Imho, being kind to somebody you’re envious of doesn’t liberate you from envy one iota. So I figured I’d take the liberty to do some editing. Whether Jesus Christ is the true antidote to these sins or not, I find it intriguing that some of my recommended antidotes could be viewed as Buddhist.

Lucifer – Pride ……….. Humility.
While humility is an opposite, it seems retarded. I recommend “Indifference.” More Buddhist, less Christian. If you accomplish something great, don’t bother to counter-balance it. Be honest about it, accept it for what it is, and don’t worry about it.
Prometheus the light bringer is the ‘theoretical’ Greek origin.
(Conjugation: Luciferian. “Your gay pride is too Luciferian.”)

Mammon – Wealth & Greed … Modesty.
Liberality and charity was the original Christian opposite against greed, which, while opposite, seems ineffective. Liberality and charity, imho, are more Judaic than Christian. Modesty is much more sober. If anything, liberality and charity are anachronistic. Relics from the Middle Ages where hierarchy in the Christian world was much more rigid than it is today.
Plutus, the Greek God of wealth, doesn’t appear to be an origin or parallel of Mammon.
(Conjugation: Mammonistic. “Your interest in the stock market is too Mammonistic.”)

Asmodeus – Lust ……….. Chastity.
Lust is somewhat up-in-the-air, simply of how Christians define it. I think what they are probably more concerned about is infidelity. The opposite of which would be fidelity. It is simply unfair and unreasonable to heterosexual normality to be unattracted or indifferent to the physical appearance of your heterosexual partner. Not to mention if your partner is built like a refrigerator, you’re genuinely lying to them if you say you find them attractive. Lying is not virtuous.
Eros, the Greek God of love and sex does not appear to be an origin or parallel.
However, Pan seems to be the God that Judeo-Christians have projected enough energy into to where he has usurped Asmodeus in popularity. Interestingly, the half-goat is literally scapegoated, ergo, blamed, for lust.
Aphrodite is also associated with lust, but she isn’t scapegoated for it nearly to the degree Pan is.
(Conjugation: Asmodeusian. “These strip clubs in my neighborhood are promoting Asmodeusianism.”)

Leviathan – Envy ………. Contentedness.
Like I said, the original Christian opposite was “kindness.” Being “kind” to your neighbor who owns a bitchin’ sports car only looks like you just want to bum free rides in his car all the time. Kindness is going to ricochet. Contentedness is more Buddhist.
Cetus is a Greek sea monster, but does not appear to be an origin or parallel.
(Conjugation: Leviathanaic, Leviathanist. “You’re so green with envy, you look Leviathanaic.”)

Beelzebub – Gluttony …… Abstinence.
Abstinence is at least a true opposite. However, in the long run I would recommend modesty. Abstinence could lead to eating disorders! If you have a teenage daughter you’re probably already concerned about abstinence. Abstinence could also lead to asceticism. While I respect ascetics, an easy criticism of asceticism is they are haters of God’s creation and therefore likely see the Creator as something of a demiurge. This is kind of a theological rabbit-hole on the basic question of “who is God.”
Adephagia is a Greek Goddess that is the personification of gluttony. Doesn’t appear to be an origin.
(Conjugation: Beelzebubbish. “I don’t need to eat today. Last night I went to a Beelzebubbish smorgasbord.”)

Satan – Wrath …………. Patience.
Patience is at least a true opposite. However, in the long run I would recommend a libertarian ethic of common sense boundaries. Patience is both Christian and Buddhist, but it is also unrealistic in the long run. Infinity patience could broadcast yourself as a doormat to be used and abused.
Ares is the Greek God of war. Not an origin or parallel.
Hades might be a parallel, but not really. I would presume Christian fear of death and a hope for an “ascension” into heaven could conflate Hades with Satan, simply because if you go downward instead of upward after death, it could be viewed as a “wrathful” punishment. But this is a conflation more than a parallel.
(Conjugation: Satanic. “A one-hundred year prison sentence for the crime of stealing a candy bar is Satanic.”)

Belphagor – Sloth ……… Diligence.
This is a happy medium and not a true opposite. But it’s actually a happy medium I’m happy with, lol. The true opposite would be “industrious.” I think it is easy to see how industriousness could lead to sloth, that is basically what technocracy is all about – getting ahead so you can sit around and do nothing. Whereas diligence is metered and gives you less time for messing around.
Aergia is a Greek Goddess that is the personification of sloth. Doesn’t appear to be an origin.
(Conjugation: Belphagoric, Belphagorist. “Call me Belphagorist, but I’m not doing anything today.”)

NUMBER 8! (The one they forgot about!)
Belial – Worthlessness & Wickedness …… Value & Virtue.
If Venom hadn’t included Belial on their Welcome to Hell album cover with “קַ” (the first Hebrew letter for “Earth”) maybe I wouldn’t be including it here. But they did, so I learned about Belial. “Worthlessness” was apparently of big enough concern to ancient Judaism to where they recognized a demon associated with it. And let’s not forget that Jesus killed off a Belialian fig tree that wasn’t adding value enough to do even its most basic job of providing figs.
In any major city across Western Civilization, you don’t have to look hard to find people 100% disinterested in adding value to anything. The level beyond “worthlessnessism” would be “parasitism,” wherein a person actively engages in the pursuit of being a liability to civilization. We’re talking about people that range from being at zero and anywhere below, and there is no ground floor.
If you have a sales job, you might have a manager that encourages his team to “add value” in their salesmanship. And he probably has no idea he’s talking about a heavenly virtue. I can’t think of any other example where anyone anywhere is talking about the virtue of adding value. Pickup-artistry is sort of a cousin of salesmanship, so maybe PUA gurus are talking about it.
I speculate Christian Mammonophobia might have inadvertently excluded Belialism from the list of deadly sins. How else does one explain the 1960’s hippie movement without including Mammonophobia? An awareness of Belialism could have been the counter-weight that could have balanced the movement.
So far as I can see, there doesn’t seem to be a Greek parallel.
(Conjugation: Belialic, Belialian, Belialist. “My job is so boring I feel Belialic.”)

I’m posting this here because I think anyone can do some self-analysis with this kind of knowledge and recalibrate. For example, if you’re not getting the results you want in your dating life, you might want to question whether or not any of the 8 deadly sins are interfering, or whether or not your ideas of the 8 contrary virtues are botched.

I find it interesting in terms of archetypes. “Archetype” is a word usually associated with Greco-Roman Gods as being the “first models.” However, it would appear in terms of sins and virtues, Abrahamists have their own sets of archetypes that have very little overlap with Greek archetypes. It shows that the two cultures had some significant differences in what they were spiritually concerned about. Ancient Greece seems as though it was a land of plenty. As far as I can tell, only 2 out of the 8 sins and virtues were something that impacted the Greeks: Lust & Fidelity and Wrath & Patience. The other 6 sins and virtues don’t appear to be on their radar as much, which kind of makes ancient Greece look like a land-of-plenty with enough for everybody. Who knows? I wasn’t there, but that’s what it looks like. By contrast, the Abrahamists appear to come from a land-of-little and had many concerns. Jewish people say they have 613 commandments to follow. You don’t see anything near that kind of concern with ancient Greeks.

(Originally Published on: Jan 9, 2022 at 16:49)