"Man must overcome the seven planets and transmute them into soul powers. Their negative forces are the seven deadly sins, which are overcome by a symbolic struggle with demons and dragons and, in turn, are transmuted into seven cardinal virtues. This is the key to alchemy, for from the seven base metals, first spiritualized and brought together as a secret compound, is produced the philosophers stone, the purified soul." ― Manly P. Hall - The Secret Teachings of All Ages
- Pride — Humility
- Greed — Generosity
- Lust — Chastity
- Envy — Kindness
- Gluttony — Temperance
- Wrath — Patience
- Sloth — Diligence
The framework of “seven deadly sins” developed in late antique Christian monastic teaching. It did not appear fully formed at once. It evolved from earlier attempts to classify the main patterns of destructive human behavior.
The earliest organized version comes from Evagrius Ponticus (4th century). He listed eight logismoi, or “evil thoughts,” as the root distortions of the soul. His list was gluttony, lust, avarice, sadness, anger, acedia (spiritual listlessness), vainglory, and pride. These were not “sins” in the later sense but fundamental psychic tendencies that disrupt the mind in the process of prayer.
John Cassian later transmitted Evagrius’s system to the Latin West. His writings were influential in monastic communities and helped establish the idea of a fixed set of core inner struggles.
Gregory the Great (6th century) modified the Evagrian list. He reduced the eight to seven by combining vainglory into pride and folding sadness into acedia. He also shifted the emphasis from internal thoughts to morally significant behaviors. Gregory’s list—pride, envy, wrath, sloth, avarice, gluttony, and lust—became the standard in medieval theology.
The number seven matched existing symbolic structures in Christian teaching. The tradition already emphasized seven virtues, seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, and seven sacraments. Organizing moral teaching into a structure of seven allowed symmetry with other doctrinal frameworks. Medieval writers often treated the seven sins as distortions of the seven virtues.
The particular items on the list reflect practical monastic psychology. These were the tendencies most consistently observed to disturb concentration, foster harmful passions, and disrupt communal life. Pride was placed at the head because it was considered the root from which the others arise.