Spiritual Life & Practices
The Eight Passions (Logismoi)
Evagrius Ponticus identified eight principal tempting thoughts: gluttony, lust, avarice, sadness, anger, acedia (listlessness), vainglory, and pride. St. John Cassian transmitted this schema to the West (where it became the 'Seven Deadly Sins'). Orthodox asceticism provides specific remedies for each passion.
Sources
- St. John Cassian, Institutes V-XII (on the eight principal faults) NPNF
- St. John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent archive.org
- St. Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain, Exomologetarion (on the passions)