Entry tags:
Origen: Nous, Reincarnation, and Apokatastasis
An interesting read on Origen's thought, for those who are into such things.
Entry tags:
The Divine Economy
The natural economy is one of give and take: what is gain for one is often a loss for another. That which brings life to one may bring death to others. The pendulum swings ceaselessly in this sublunar realm of generation and decay.
In the divine economy, Love only grows. It is not diminished by loving, but rides upon the swells of the deep, ever rising. Love, which is of the Good and Being, is therefore super-natural.
In the divine economy, Love only grows. It is not diminished by loving, but rides upon the swells of the deep, ever rising. Love, which is of the Good and Being, is therefore super-natural.
Entry tags:
Idols
Idolatry, then, is the mistaking of a proximate, finite good for the transcendent Good.
It is a sin insofar as it is like any other sin—namely, anything that distracts us from paying attention to The Divine.
It is a sin insofar as it is like any other sin—namely, anything that distracts us from paying attention to The Divine.
Entry tags:
Pseudo-Dionysius and Iamblichus
"The embodied soul, Iamblichus says, becomes a stranger to itself, and once exiled its own immortality, the soul must receive assistance from the gods to recover its lost divinity." — Gregory Shaw, 'Neoplatonic Theurgy and Dionysius the Areopagite'
"It is not possible for the human intellect to be lifted up to the immaterial mimesis and contemplation of the heavenly hierarchies unless it makes use of the material guide proper to it." — Pseudo-Dionysius, Ecclesiastical Hiearchy
"Is Dionysian theurgy, then, a specifically Christian expression of Iamblichean theurgy?" Very good read from Gregory Shaw, author of Theurgy and the Soul: The Neoplatonism of Iamblichus, for those who are into that kind of thing.
Entry tags:
On symbols
In Neoplatonism, the divine symbols have a transformative and elevating power, like the noetic rays, because they are regarded as the things demiurgically woven into the very fabric of being and therefore directly attached to, and united with, the gods themselves, the principles of being. One should not be deceived by the Greek term sumbolon, which has so many different meanings, sometimes far removed from the realm of metaphysics. What is important is the underlying theological and cosmological conception of the divine principles and powers that appear and become visible through certain images, objects, numbers, sounds, omens, or other traces of presence. —Algis Uždavinys, Philosophy and Theurgy in Late Antiquity
If the cosmos is the manifestation of the hidden thoughts of the Divine, then it would make sense for there to be inherent resonance between material objects and their immaterial antecedents, trace remains of the divine origins of all things.
Entry tags:
Divine Eros
The erotic impulsion of the Good, that pre-exists in the Good, is simple and self-moving; it proceeds from the Good, and returns again to the Good, since it is without end or beginning. This is why we always desire the divine and union with the divine. For loving union with God surpasses and excels all other unions. —Saint Maximus the Confessor, Fifth Century of Various Texts
Entry tags:
Love and Death: Orfico-Christian parallels
Much has been written about Eleusis and its mysteries. It's not my intent to rehash any of the scholarly points, a task to which I am inadequate. Suffice it to say that we no longer have access to these mysteries (although the Homeric hymn to Demeter is highly suggestive). They are the Moon to the Sun of the Christian mystery...the latter being the only one we have direct access to these days in the West, and to which, I would argue, there are some intriguing lines of symmetry that warrant scrutiny.Love and death. Both of these mysteries involve a descent to—and a return from—Hades. In one case, a Father loses a Son. In the other, a Mother loses a Daughter. Critically, both of these traditions celebrate the potential for regeneration—whether of the terrestrial world, as season gives way to season, or in the supercelestial world beyond time's end.
A 'silent' spouse: Though the crux of the relationships are the above, both entail an opposite number whose role is crucial to the mystery. The Blessed Mother, as Mater, is the vessel whereby the eternal Word becomes incarnate—literally making the will of Heaven manifest on Earth, on the material plane. As above, so below.
Conversely, it is Father Jove who both consents to the marital abduction of his daughter, a union of the divinities of Heaven and the Netherworld, and ultimately also commands her release, sending word by way of his trusted Messenger.
The wheel of seasons: The main feasts of the Christian mystery cluster around Christmas and Easter, the winter solstice and the spring equinox, the Lesser and Greater mysteries, with sparse representation through the rest of the year. The Eleusinian mysteries are thought to have been conducted roughly around the springtime (the Lesser) and then autumn (the Greater). It is not too much of a stretch, I would suggest, to imagine these as complementing each other—the return of Persephone, roughly at the same time of the resurrection of Christ, as a prelude to summer, after which her capture and return to Hades, culminating in the delivery of Zeus's message to his brother at the winter solstice, and thence her return once again.
What of Orpheus, then? For that acolyte of Apollo's own descent into Hades, and his charming of the rulers thereof, and his almost-successful return with his beloved, hint at a theme made explicit in the Christian mystery—that of those two human constants, love and death, procession and return, and the ultimate triumph of Love over all.
Entry tags:
The many and the mirror
God reveals Himself to each person according to each person's mode of conceiving Him. To those whose aspiration transcends the complex structure of matter, and whose psychic powers are fully integrated in a single unceasing gyration around God, He reveals Himself as Unity and Trinity. In this way He both shows forth His own existence and mystically makes known the mode in which that existence subsists. To those whose aspiration is limited to the complex structure of matter, and whose psychic powers are not integrated, He reveals Himself not as He is but as they are, showing that they are completely caught in the material dualism whereby the physical world is conceived as composed of matter and form. —St. Maximus the Confessor, "Various Texts on Theology, the Divine Economy, and Virtue and Vice"
Emphases mine. The latter point brings to mind the "mirror" concept
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sdi shared, I believe, from Taoism.Entry tags:
Being and The One
Good recent discussion with Dr. Eric Perl on mysticism, Being, The One, and more (from a good channel).
Entry tags:
On the quality of the Divine Light
The Divine Light does not dominate, coerce, manipulate, or control. It illuminates, and this may be the way to discriminate between delusions and the Divine Light.
I begin to understand somewhat why some of the writers in the Philokalia deprecate the imaginative faculty. It's not necessarily that these imaginings are inherently evil or delusions, it's that practitioners in the early stages may not be able to discriminate between them. This recalls Iamblichus's discussion in De Mysteriis when he makes distinctions between the qualities of the presence of the gods and those of the various other spirits.
I begin to understand somewhat why some of the writers in the Philokalia deprecate the imaginative faculty. It's not necessarily that these imaginings are inherently evil or delusions, it's that practitioners in the early stages may not be able to discriminate between them. This recalls Iamblichus's discussion in De Mysteriis when he makes distinctions between the qualities of the presence of the gods and those of the various other spirits.
Entry tags:
Pseudo-Dionysius on participation
Wherefore all things share in that Providence which streams forth from the superessential Deific Source of all; for they would not be unless they had come into existence through participation in the Essential Principle of all things. —Pseudo-Dionysius, The Celestial Hierarchy (emphasis mine)
A loaded quotation with Pseudo-Dionysius at perhaps his most (Neo)Platonic: captures the idea of participation, the distinction between what we might call The One and everything else, and admits of it as a principle, indeed THE principle that delimits Being (essence) itself.
Overall the writings attributed to him are comparatively short but so crammed with nuance that they make for slow going (and much fruitful distillation).
Entry tags:
Pseudo-Dionysius on representations of the Divine Powers
"For it might be said that the reason for attributing shapes to that which is above shape, and forms to that which is beyond form, is not only the feebleness of our intellectual power which is unable to rise at once to spiritual contemplation, and which needs to be encouraged by the natural and suitable support and upliftment which offers us forms perceptible to us of formless and supernatural contemplations, but it is also because it is most fitting that the secret doctrines, through ineffable and holy enigmas, should veil and render difficult of access for the multitude the sublime and profound truth of the supernatural Intelligences. " —Pseudo-Dionysius, The Celestial Hierarchy
Entry tags:
Ma tempio farò il cielo, altar le stelle.
"Natura, da Signor guidata, fece nel spazio la comedia universale, dove ogni stella, ogni uomo, ogni animale, ogni composto ottien la propria vece." —Tommaso Campanella, "Sonetto 15"
Entry tags:
Regarding trees falling in woods, etc.
There once was a man who said "God
Must think it exceedingly odd
If he finds that this tree
Continues to be
When there's no one about in the Quad."
Dear Sir,
Your astonishment's odd.
I am always about in the Quad.
And that's why the tree
Will continue to be
Since observed by
Yours faithfully,
God
—Ronald Knox
Must think it exceedingly odd
If he finds that this tree
Continues to be
When there's no one about in the Quad."
Dear Sir,
Your astonishment's odd.
I am always about in the Quad.
And that's why the tree
Will continue to be
Since observed by
Yours faithfully,
God
—Ronald Knox
Entry tags:
On the Divine Light and the Divine Shadow
“To God all things are fair, good and just, but men suppose some things are unjust, some just...”—Heraclitus
"Some are Born to sweet delight
Some are Born to Endless Night" —William Blake, "Auguries of Innocence"
"Some are Born to sweet delight
Some are Born to Endless Night" —William Blake, "Auguries of Innocence"
Entry tags:
On the Good and the less good
"And even he that desires the basest life, yet in so far as he feels desire at all and feels desire for life, and intends what he thinks is the best kind of life, so far participates in the Good." —Dionysius the Areopagite, The Divine Names, translated by C.E. Rolt
Entry tags:
A definition, according to my own opinion
Magic is the study of correspondences between the material and immaterial realms.
Entry tags:
Three Scripture passages that suggest divine union
I wrote previously about a potential view of Christianity's "original sin" as referring to estrangement from The Divine. Alternately, there are some passages in the Gospels that suggests Christ was suggesting the possibility of divine union through participation in his cultus.
1. Matthew 16:28: "Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till the see the Son of man coming in his kingdom."
This is sometimes interpreted as Jesus believing that his reign as the Messiah of Israel--that is, his physical kingdom in the real world--was imminent, and the expectation by some of his disciples that they would live (or at least some of them would) to partake in that new kingdom. This expectation, of course, was turned on its head by the death of Jesus. Thus, then, this prophecy was unfulfilled.
Alternately, we could conceivably eke out an esoteric meaning to this passage: namely that it is possible for followers of the cultus (even those today) to obtain a glimpse into the divine kingdom, even prior to their physical death. That is, they will witness "the Son of man coming in his kingdom."
But what is this kingdom, then, if it is not physical? Consider Jesus's reply to Pilate, when asked if he is a king. "My kingdom is not of this world."
2. Luke 17:21. "Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you."
This passage comes from one of Jesus's responses to the Pharisees, who question when the kingdom of God should arrive. Perhaps they were trying to bait him into confessing his designs on being the Messiah. This same expectation, however, is woven throughout Christianity, as if Jesus was anticipating the Harold Campings of the world, namely those sects that would make precise predictions about the end days.
Don't buy this jive, Jesus seems to say. Because the kingdom is not a physical place. It is not in spacetime. Rather, it is state of being. Couple with the saying above, this implies that divine union is both achievable, at least partially, in this life, and that this state, "the kingdom," is within the soul.
3. John 1:12. "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name."
That's a bold claim. Followers of the cultus, then, are to become sons of God. But isn't it only Jesus that is the son of God, according to some doctrines? I'm not clear as to the exact original words in this passage (Greek), but it calls to mind the "Bene Elohim," or other divine or semi-divine beings that are arrayed around the most high. Angels, maybe? Is this the same convocation found meeting in the book of Job of the Old Testament, where the Enemy busts in on the party? At any rate, there's support for this passage can be found in Luke 20:36, where followers of the cultus are "equal to the angels." Either way, a powerful claim, namely that they are transformed into a semi-divine status.
None of this is to say for certain that these esoteric interpretations were what Jesus or his followers had in mind, but rather that there are some interesting passages hinting at divine union not entirely unlike that found in the later Neoplatonists such as Iamblichus.
All references KJV.
1. Matthew 16:28: "Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till the see the Son of man coming in his kingdom."
This is sometimes interpreted as Jesus believing that his reign as the Messiah of Israel--that is, his physical kingdom in the real world--was imminent, and the expectation by some of his disciples that they would live (or at least some of them would) to partake in that new kingdom. This expectation, of course, was turned on its head by the death of Jesus. Thus, then, this prophecy was unfulfilled.
Alternately, we could conceivably eke out an esoteric meaning to this passage: namely that it is possible for followers of the cultus (even those today) to obtain a glimpse into the divine kingdom, even prior to their physical death. That is, they will witness "the Son of man coming in his kingdom."
But what is this kingdom, then, if it is not physical? Consider Jesus's reply to Pilate, when asked if he is a king. "My kingdom is not of this world."
2. Luke 17:21. "Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you."
This passage comes from one of Jesus's responses to the Pharisees, who question when the kingdom of God should arrive. Perhaps they were trying to bait him into confessing his designs on being the Messiah. This same expectation, however, is woven throughout Christianity, as if Jesus was anticipating the Harold Campings of the world, namely those sects that would make precise predictions about the end days.
Don't buy this jive, Jesus seems to say. Because the kingdom is not a physical place. It is not in spacetime. Rather, it is state of being. Couple with the saying above, this implies that divine union is both achievable, at least partially, in this life, and that this state, "the kingdom," is within the soul.
3. John 1:12. "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name."
That's a bold claim. Followers of the cultus, then, are to become sons of God. But isn't it only Jesus that is the son of God, according to some doctrines? I'm not clear as to the exact original words in this passage (Greek), but it calls to mind the "Bene Elohim," or other divine or semi-divine beings that are arrayed around the most high. Angels, maybe? Is this the same convocation found meeting in the book of Job of the Old Testament, where the Enemy busts in on the party? At any rate, there's support for this passage can be found in Luke 20:36, where followers of the cultus are "equal to the angels." Either way, a powerful claim, namely that they are transformed into a semi-divine status.
None of this is to say for certain that these esoteric interpretations were what Jesus or his followers had in mind, but rather that there are some interesting passages hinting at divine union not entirely unlike that found in the later Neoplatonists such as Iamblichus.
All references KJV.