“Yes, I cried while leaning against a spur of the rock, so that my escort said: “Are you still stupid like the others? » Here piety lives when pity is quite dead. Who is more impious than he who thinks that God brings passion into his judgment?'” In Dante's thirty-fifth year, he finds himself in a dark wood of confusion and incomprehension, enveloped in the light of God. His vision is clouded by the temptations of worldliness, so that he cannot see the true path to Heaven. He emerges from the misty woods and comes across three symbolic “beasts of worldliness”: the Leopard, symbolizing wickedness and fraud, the Lion, symbol of violence and ambition, and the She-Wolf of incontinence. He is physically pushed back into the mysterious wood by these beasts and is hindered in his spiritual journey by the sins they represent. To aid him on his journey, Virgil appears in Cantos I to serve as Dante's guide and source of human reason as they journey toward the gates of Hell. Virgil helps Dante escape the dark woods of error to achieve wisdom through unity with God. To be without mind is to be without reason or understanding. Rational thinkers use logic and reason to overcome emotions to achieve a better understanding of God's will. Even in its highest form, human reason is self-limiting. This is demonstrated in Canto IV, when Virgil and Dante travel through the first circle of Hell: Limbo. The inhabitants of this middle ground were born before the time of Jesus and therefore cannot be saved; they have neither sinned nor deserve to spend eternity in the light of Heaven. Within this first layer is the Citadel of Human Reason, in which the masters of pagan wisdom rest in a glow of philosophical awareness...... middle of paper ... movement rather than movement reason can never be wise. Virgil must remind Dante that God's judgment is the zenith of wisdom and that he works to reach that pinnacle. Every living person must undertake their own personal journey through hell. The first step towards Enlightenment and unity with God is the recognition of sin in the world. In order to accept God's judgment or progress toward Enlightenment, one must play the role of the spiritual pilgrim. The path to greater Self-understanding and a closer relationship with God is universal in all religions. Dante seeks to discover that God's reason triumphs over all things. He must now venture to Purgatory and Heaven to complete his spiritual journey. As Dante leaves Hell on Easter Sunday, he emerges under the cover of stars, emblems of God's brilliant reason..