Theurgy
THEURGY (operation of the gods)
describes the practice of rituals, sometimes seen as magical in nature, performed with the intention of invoking the action or evoking the presence of one or more gods, especially with the goal of achieving henosis (uniting with the divine) and perfecting oneself.
- Proclus (c. 480): theurgy is “a power higher than all human wisdom embracing the blessings of divination, the purifying powers of initiation and in a word all the operations of divine possession”[1]
- Keith Thomas: “Spiritual magic or theurgy was based on the idea that one could reach God in an ascent up the scale of creation made possible by a rigorous course of prayer, fasting and devotional preparation.”[2]
- Pierre A. Riffard: “Theurgy is a type of magic. It consists of a set of magical practices performed to evoke beneficent spirits in order to see them or know them or in order to influence them, for instance by forcing them to animate a statue, to inhabit a human being (such as a medium), or to disclose mysteries.”[3]
Theurgy means “divine-working”. The first recorded use of the term is found in the mid-second-century neo-Platonist work the Chaldean Oracles (Fragment 153 des Places (Paris, 1971): ‘For the theourgoí do not fall under the fate-governed herd’).[4] The source of Western theurgy can be found in the philosophy of late Neoplatonists, especially Iamblichus of Chalcis. In late Neoplatonism, the spiritual Universe is regarded as a series of emanations from the One. From the One emanated the Divine Mind (Nous) and in turn from the Divine Mind emanated the World Soul (Psyche). Neoplatonists insisted that the One is absolutely transcendent and in the emanations nothing of the higher was lost or transmitted to the lower, which remained unchanged by the lower emanations. Although the Neoplatonists are considered polytheists, they embraced a form of monism.
For Plotinus, and Iamblichus’ teachers Anatolius and Porphyry, the emanations are as follows:
- To Hen (τό ἕν), The One: Deity without quality, sometimes called The Good.
- Nous (Νοῦς), Mind: The Universal consciousness, from which proceeds
- Psychē (Ψυχή), Soul: Including both individual and world soul, leading finally to
- Physis (Φύσις), Nature.
Plotinus urged contemplations for those who wished to perform theurgy, the goal of which was to reunite with The Divine (called henosis).
Therefore, his school resembles a school of meditation or contemplation. Iamblichus of Chalcis, a student of Porphyry (who himself was a student of Plotinus) taught a more ritualized method of theurgy that involved invocation and religious, as well as magical, ritual.[5] Iamblichus believed theurgy was an imitation of the gods, and in his major work, On the Egyptian Mysteries, he described theurgic observance as “ritualized cosmogony” that endowed embodied souls with the divine responsibility of creating and preserving the cosmos.
Iamblichus’ analysis was that the transcendent cannot be grasped with mental contemplation because the transcendent is supra-rational. Theurgy is a series of rituals and operations aimed at recovering the transcendent essence by retracing the divine ‘signatures’ through the layers of being.[6] Education is important for comprehending the scheme of things as presented by Aristotle, Plato and Pythagoras. The theurgist works ‘like with like’: at the material level, with physical symbols; at the higher level, with mental and purely spiritual practices. Starting with correspondences of the divine in matter, the theurgist eventually reaches the level where the soul’s inner divinity unites with The Divine.[7]
The Emperor Julian (332-363) embraced Neoplatonic philosophy and worked to replace Christianity with a version of Neoplatonic paganism. Because of his untimely death and the hold mainstream Christianity had over the empire at the time, this was ultimately unsuccessful, but he did produce several works of philosophy and theology, including a popular hymn to the sun. In his theology, Helios, the sun, was the ideal example of the perfection of the gods and light, a symbol of divine emanation. He also held the mother goddess Cybele in high esteem.
Julian favored ritual theurgy, with an emphasis on sacrifice and prayer. He was heavily influenced by Iamblichus‘ ideas.
Theurgy, in the esoteric tradition, uses this knowledge to heighten one’s own spiritual nature.[8] It is the practice of trying to gain the knowledge and conversation of one’s Higher Self, or Inner God, to teach one spiritual truths and wisdom from God that one couldn’t learn from man (see Alchemy, Kabbalah, and Theosophy).[citation needed] Some esoteric branches hold that if an adept, Rosicrucian or Theosophist practices it, he or she could potentially rise to the degree of Magus or Adept after a certain level of spiritual attainment. In a traditional and magical sense, theurgy is seen as the opposite of Goetia, even though many argue that they overlap.[9]
Some organizations, such as The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn claim to teach a type of theurgy that would help one ascend spiritually as well
as understand the true nature of the self and its relation to the Divine and the Universe. The Golden Dawn has a somewhat significant historical following and influence;[10] while it is held that many theurgists are usually solitary practitioners and seek the divine light alone through ritual and inner spiritual and psychological equilibration. Theurgy in this hermetic sense stresses the need for the individual to separate and analyze the individual components that constitute everyday consciousness and reunite them in a way that changes one’s personal awareness into a state that understands and partakes in spiritual grace.[11]
Following a pattern very similar to the Neoplatonists[citation needed], the Medieval Jewish mystical tradition of Kabbalah developed the concept that the Universe is regarded as a series of emanations from the Godhead, namely, the 10 sephirot. It is said that God created the world using the sephirot, pouring Divinity into creation through these “vessels,” which also have personality traits. The highest sephirah, Kether, holds the most divine light and is the least accessible to humanity. The lowest sephirah, Malkuth, is still higher than matter itself, so the parallel with
Neoplatonism is not complete, but Malkuth is considered that aspect of God that can be perceived in the material world. It is also known as the Shekhinah.
For the Kabbalist, God is a single oneness, not separate “gods”. The teaching avoids polytheism by insisting that the sephirot are not to be prayed to, but rather, to be meditated on and experienced as manifestations of how God acts in the world. They are envisioned as arranged in three columns, in a pattern called the Tree of Life. By meditating on the sephirot and praying for their unification, Kabbalists seek the theurgic goal of healing a shattered world.
For Kabbalists, the sephirot are as follows: Kether (Crown); Chokmah (Wisdom); Binah (Understanding); Chesed (Loving kindness); Geburah (Strength); Tiphareth (Beauty); Netzach (Endurance); Hod(Glory); Yesod (Foundation); and Malkuth (Kingdom or Sovereignty).
