Della Porta:

1532–1602, Italian architect & sculptor, born at Porlezza, Lombardy; worked on many important buildings in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica.  Influenced by & collaborated with Michelangelo, & da Vignola (his teacher of architecture), he became an important architect in the Renaissance.  After 1563 he carried out Michelangelo's plans for the rebuilding of the Campidoglio (Capitoline Hill's open spaces) & completed the façade & steps of Palazzo Senatorio and the Cordonata (the ramped steps) to the Piazza del Campidoglio.  After Vignola’s death in 1573, he continued building Il Gesù & in 1584 modified its façade after his own designs.  In 1573 he took over the continuing construction of St. Peter's & with Domenico Fontana, completed Michelangelo's dome (1588-1590).  He also worked on the construction of Palazzo Albertoni Spinola creating, through the orthogonality of the entrance gallery & the entrance hall of the Palace, a unique prospective visual effect.

 

Loyola:

1491-1556, Spanish Basque Catholic priest & theologian, co-founder of the Jesuits, first Superior General of the Order 1541.  The order served the Pope as missionaries, bound by a vow of special obedience to the pope in regard to the missions.  They emerged as an important force during the time of the Counter-Reformation.

and see Chapter IV page141, 148

 

Order (invisible operations, unlimited range):

reference to Jesuits & their invisible operations (not ONLY the priestly powers of transubstantiation) and their unlimited range (not JUST to Paradise).  The order had NO official habit (in contrast to traditional orders); their dress only need avoid ostentation & conform to the country they inhabited.  They did not proceed as normal parish priests or monks, but for all outward appearances & behaviour, could pass for lay.  During Elizabeth I’s reign they engaged in undercover (invisible, secret operations) in England.  The Jesuits were not limited to sacerdotal roles but engaged in a wide range of fields & employment, as academics & educators, scientists, writers & Confessors or Advisors to great political leaders, kings & queens.  They were not tied to a local parish but had unlimited range of travel & exploration across the globe, onto the fringes of the known world.  Their missionary work carried them to China, Mexico, S. America & beyond.

 

dynamics:

branch of mechanics that dealing with the effect of outside forces on something. (eg how the moon affects the ocean waves)

 

capacity & intensity:

Linear dynamics relates to objects moving in a line and involves such quantities as force, mass/inertia, displacement (in units of distance), velocity (distance per unit time), acceleration (distance per unit of time squared) and momentum (mass times unit of velocity).  Spengler (or the translator) are probably using capacity as synonymous with displacement and intensity as synonymous with force.

 

volitionless:

this word means without will (as volition is the act of willing, choosing, or resolving; an exercise of willing)

 

somatic:

of the body; bodily; physical.

 

material:

that which is apprehensible (that which we can see, hear, tactile, taste/smell, having volume); {versus non-material, like movement, a Faustian characteristic of their prime symbol: Infinite Space}

 

form:

shape, visual appearance or configuration of an object; the Apollonian Culture was completely dedication to the human form {versus formless, which is a Faustian characteristic, e.g. radio waves, software, music, space itself, as well as space travel, flight}

 

ipso facto:

Latin, by the fact itself; by the very nature of the deed

 

plastic-static:

plastic means having the power of shaping formless or yielding material; static is characterized by a fixed or stationary condition, showing little or no change, without vitality.  Spengler here refers to characteristics of the Apollonian Culture.

 

vectorial: * see EndNote<>

in maths & physics, an element of a vector space; introduced in geometry & physics (in mechanics) before the formalization of the concept of vector space.  Reference to a vector does not specify the vector space to which they belong.  In a Euclidean space, we see spatial vectors (or Euclidean vectors) representing quantities having both magnitude & direction; they may be added & scaled (multiplied by a real number) to form a vector space.