Theurgy

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Theurgy (from Latin: theurgia, Greek: theourgeia) describes the practice of rituals, sometimes seen as magical in nature, performed with the intention of invoking the action of God (or other personified supernatural power), especially with the goal of uniting with the divine, achieving theosis, and perfecting oneself.

Contents

1 Neoplatonism
2 Emperor Julian
3 Kabbalah
4 Christian theurgy
5 See also
6 External links

Neoplatonism

Theurgy means 'divine-working'. The source of Western theurgy can be found in the philosophy of late Neoplatonists, especially Iamblichus. In late Neoplatonism, the universe is regarded as a series of emanations from the Godhead. Matter itself is merely the lowest of these emanations, and therefore not in essence different from the Divine. Although the number and qualities of these emanations differ, most Neoplatonists insisted that God was both singular and good. Although Neoplatonists were technically polytheists, they also embraced a form of monism: reality was varied, with varied gods, but they all represented aspects of the one reality.

For Plotinus, and Iamblichus' teachers Anatolius and Porphyry, the emanations are as follows:

To En (τό ἕν), the One: Deity without quality, sometimes called The Good.
Nous (Νοῦς), Mind: The Universal consciousness, from which proceeds
Psychè (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 God. Therefore, his school resembles a school of meditation or contemplation. His student, Iamblichus of Syria, taught a more ritualized method of theurgy, that involved invocation and religious, as well as magical ritual. 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. Education is important for comprehending the scheme of things as presented by Aristotle, Plato and Pythagoras but also by the Chaldaean Oracles. The theurgist works 'like with like': at the material level, with physical symbols and 'magic'; 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 God.

Emperor Julian

The Emperor Julian the Apostate (332-363), embraced Neoplatonic philosophy and worked to replace Christianity with his own version of Neoplatonic paganism. Due to his short reign and the strength of mainstream Christianity at the time, this was ultimately unsuccessful, but he did produce several works of philosophy and theology, including a hymn to the sun. In his theology, Helios, the Sun, was the perfect example of God's perfection 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 the ideas of Iamblichus.

Kabbalah

A system of Jewish mysticism known as the Kabbalah displays many Neoplatonic elements, and some writers, such as Kieron Barry, have argued that the Kabbalah has an ultimately Greek origin. In the Kabbalah, God creates the universe through ten sephiroth, or vessels. These are, in order:

Kether, Crown
Khokmah, Wisdom
Binah, Understanding
Khesed, Mercy
Givurah, Strength
Tifareth, Beauty
Netzakh, Victory
Hod, Glory
Yesod, Foundation
Malkuth, Kingdom

These ten sephiroth are linked by twenty-two paths, corresponding to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

Many of the similarities are cosmetic: for example, in the Kabbalah there is a strong sense that the emanations are trinary in nature, each pair producing the next in a process of synthesis. In Greek Neoplatonism, this is not the case: usually, emanations are linear, each leading to the next. Also, in the Kabbalah, the letters of the Hebrew alphabet are, themselves, regarded as having some divine power. Although there is some evidence for similar attitudes in Greek theurgy, there they are not as developed.

Christian theurgy

One may regard the Roman Catholic mass as a form of theurgy, in which the power of Christ is called down into the host and hence into its consumer. The practice of the Novena could also be interpreted as theurgy, although it borders more on practical folk magic. Similarly, contemplative Christian practices, such as constant recitation of the Jesus Prayer, are theurgic in goal and — at least from the perspective of Plotinus — method.

In Greek Orthodox Christianity, many of the services, including even baptism may contain theurgy (as Vladimir Lossky refers to Christian theurgy).

Christian magical practices, such as those practiced by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, borrow heavily from Neoplatonic and Cabalistic sources. The ultimate goal of such practices is not practical, worldly power, but uniting with God through ritual and contemplation.

External links

http://www.theurgia.org - Site primarily devoted to the late antique hieratic praxis of Theurgy.