[582] _Par._ xxiii. 112-117. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ He gives the order of the eight heavens as in Ptolemy, and adds the ninth, which is only perceived by the diurnal movement of which it is the cause; and it is called by many the Crystalline, that is, the diaphanous or completely transparent Heaven.[583] The order of these spheres has been discovered by observation and reasoning, with the use of the principles of Perspective, Arithmetic, and Geometry. Dante gives as an instance the experience of Aristotle, who with his own eyes saw the moon pass below Mars, and so hide it for some time; and he mentions also how in eclipses it is evident that the moon is below the sun (_i.e._ nearer to us).[584] To these nine spheres of the astronomers, the Catholic Church, “which cannot lie,” adds a tenth, the Empyrean Heaven, which means the heaven of flame or light, and is the abode of the blessed spirits and of God Himself.[585] And here Dante is able to give himself the pleasure of adding that Aristotle seems to have been of this opinion also; “Ed anco Aristotile pare ciò sentire, a chi bene lo intende, nel primo _Di Cielo e Mondo_.”[586] He is no doubt alluding to what Aristotle says about the existence beyond the finite universe.[587] The whole passage is thus translated in the “Temple” Dante:[588] “Nor is there any change of any of those things which are ranged above the outmost rotation, but they are unchangeable and passionless, enjoying the superlative existence, and passing in absolute self-sufficiency their eternal life.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [586] “And Aristotle also, to one who rightly understands him, seems to mean the same thing, in his first book of _The Heaven and the Earth_.” _Conv._ II. iv. 32-34. [583] _Conv._ II. iv. 1-13. [584] _Conv._ II. iii. 52-65. [585] _Conv._ II. iv. 13-16, 30-32. See also _Ep._ x. 448-452. [587] See p. 97. [588] _The Convivio of Dante_, “Temple” Edition, note on II. iv. ------------------------------------------------------------------------