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Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names · 5 of 39 · tr. C.E. Rolt

Chapter 4, Section 1e

260 260 The light permeates water but it does not permeate a stone. It passes over the stone and permeates the water beyond it. Yea, and it contributes to the birth of material bodies and brings them unto life, and nourishes them that they may grow, and perfects and purifies and renews them. And the light is the measure and the numerical principle of seasons and of days and of all our earthly Time; for ‘tis the selfsame light (though then without a form) which, Moses the Divine declares, marked even that first period of three days which was at the beginning of time. And like as Goodness draweth all things to Itself, and is the great Attractive Power which unite things that are sundered 261 261 ἀρχισυνάγωγος ἐστι τῶν ἐσκεδασμένων. (being as It is: the Godhead and the Supreme Fount and Producer of Unity); 93 and like as all things desire It as their beginning, their cohesive power and end; and like as ‘tis the Good (as saith the Scripture) from which all things were made and are (having been brought into existence thence as from a Perfect Cause); and like as in the Good all things subsist, being kept and controlled in an almighty Receptacle; 262 262 ὡς ἐν παντοκρατορικῷ πυθμένι. and like as unto the Good all things are turned (as unto the proper End of each) ; and like as after the Good all things do yearn—those that have mind and reason seeking It by knowledge, those that have perception seeking It by perception, those that have no perception seeking It by the natural movement of their vital instinct, and those that are without life and have mere existence seeking It by their aptitude for that bare participation whence this mere existence is theirs 263 263 (1) Man, (2) Animal, (3) Vegetable, (4) Matter. —even so doth the light (being as it were Its visible image) draw together all things and attract them unto Itself: those that can see, those that have motion, those that receive Its light and warmth, those that are merely held in being by Its rays; 264 264 This seems to imply that matter itself could not exist without the influence of the light. Perhaps this belief rests on Gen. i. 1, 2 . whence the sun is so called because it summeth 265 265 ἥλιος ὅτι πάντα ἀολλῆ ποιεῖ. With the naïf etymology cf. iv. 5. all things and uniteth the scattered elements of the world. All material things desire the sun, for they desire either to see or to move and to receive light and warmth and to be maintained in existence by the light. I say not (as was feigned by the ancient myth) that the sun is the God and Creator of this Universe, and therefore takes the visible world under his special care; but I say that the “invisible things of God from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things 94 that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead.” 266 266 Rom. i. 20 . The sun is not personal or supra-personal. But its impersonal activity is an emblem, as it were, of God’s supra-personal activity. 5.
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Themes
Apophatic Theologytheology

Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.

The light is described as being 'without a form' when it marks the beginning of time.

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Body As Obstacleanthropology

The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return.

The text contrasts permeating water with impermeable stone, implying material limitation.

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Correspondencecosmology

The Hermetic axiom that the structure of the cosmos is reflected at every scale — 'as above, so below; as within, so without' — making each level a legible map of the others.

The sun's impersonal activity is presented as an emblem of God's supra-personal activity.

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Divine Hiddennesstheology

The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father.

The light is described as 'invisible' and the Good as 'invisible things' that are understood by created things.

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Divine Lighttheology

The uncreated luminous quality of the divine, sometimes experienced directly in mystical states; illumination as revelation.

The passage centrally describes light as the measure of time, the source of life and growth, and the visible image of God.

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Divine Providencetheology

Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity.

The text states that all things are turned toward the Good as their proper End.

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Emanation Hierarchycosmology

A chain of divine beings or principles flowing downward from a single transcendent source (the One or the Father), each level less perfect than the one above.

The passage mentions 'Goodness' and 'the Good' as a source from which all things were made.

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Evil As Privationtheology

Augustinian and Plotinian doctrine that evil has no positive being of its own but is a lack, distortion, or absence of the good — denying ontological dualism while preserving moral seriousness.

The text describes matter as seeking the Good by its aptitude for bare participation rather than positive being.

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Gnosis Direct Knowledgesoteriology

Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.

Those that have mind and reason seek God by knowledge, implying salvation through direct intellectual pursuit.

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Hidden Sayingssoteriology

Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.

The text notes that 'invisible things of God' are clearly seen through understanding created things.

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Living Godtheology

The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.

God is described as actively drawing all things to itself and being the source of life.

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Numerical Mysticismtheology

Numbers, proportions, and mathematical relationships as the underlying structure of divine reality.

The text explicitly states that the light is the 'measure and the numerical principle of seasons and of days'.

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Return To Sourcesoteriology

The soul's journey back to its divine origin, reversing the fall into matter through stages of purification or illumination.

The light draws all things together and attracts them unto itself as their beginning.

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Separation From Sourcesoteriology

The felt condition of exile from one's divine origin — Rumi's reed flute torn from its bed, Plotinus's 'we have forgotten,' the Gnostic forgetfulness; the affective wound that complements return_to_source and gives the return its motive.

The text notes that things are 'sundered' and desire the Good from which they were made.

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Spiritual Ascentpraxis

A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source.

The text describes a movement of all things toward the Good as their proper End.

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Unity Of Beingtheology

The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.

The text emphasizes that all things are drawn to the Good and are kept in an almighty Receptacle.

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Related passages · 11 parallels
neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 85 (part 1)
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Shared concept: Evil As Privation — Augustinian and Plotinian doctrine that evil has no positive being of its own but is a lack, distortion, or absence of the good — denying ontological dualism while preserving moral seriousness. (derived)
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“But why am I prolix about these particulars? For I have abundantly shown, in what has been before said, the transcendency of divine above human divination. It is better, therefore, in compliance with your request, “ to point out to you the…”
Shared concept: Emanation Hierarchy — A chain of divine beings or principles flowing downward from a single transcendent source (the One or the Father), each level less perfect than the one above. (derived)
theosophy|The Secret Doctrine|Page 19 (part 1)
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Shared concept: Unity Of Being — The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim. (derived)
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“CHAPTER VIII PLANES OF CORRESPONDENCE "As above, so below; as below, so above."--The Kybalion. The great Second Hermetic Principle embodies the truth that there is a harmony, agreement, and correspondence between the several planes of Mani…”
Shared concept: Correspondence — The Hermetic axiom that the structure of the cosmos is reflected at every scale — 'as above, so below; as within, so without' — making each level a legible map of the others. (derived)
western_esoteric|Transcendental Magic I: The Doctrine (Éliphas Lévi)|3. The Triangle Of Solomon-c
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Shared concept: Body As Obstacle — The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return. (derived)
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“Omitting, therefore, these things, we may reasonably adduce a second cause, assigned by you, of the above mentioned particulars: viz. “ that the soul says and imagines these things, and that they are the passions of it, excited from small i…”
Shared concept: Gnosis Direct Knowledge — Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone. (derived)
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“Then the understanding of such a man receives from the Holy Spirit the highest and hidden mysteries which according to the divine Paul, neither the human eye can understand nor the human reason comprehend unaided. (Ii Corinthians ii, 9).…”
Shared concept: Divine Light — The uncreated luminous quality of the divine, sometimes experienced directly in mystical states; illumination as revelation. (derived)
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“Section 5 5. Still more unreasonably: There are men, bound to human bodies and subject to desire, grief, anger, who think so generously of their own faculty that they declare themselves in contact with the Intelligible World, but deny that…”
Shared concept: Divine Providence — Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity. (derived)
renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori)|First Dialogue-m
“Thus everything has an impetus towards its beginning retrogressively, and progressively towards its end and perfection, as Empedocles well said, and from which sentence I think may be inferred that which the Nolan said in this octave: The s…”
Shared concept: Spiritual Ascent — A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source. (derived)
theosophy|The Secret Doctrine|Page 18 (part 6)
“Starting from this, it becomes easy to understand how nature herself could have taught primeval mankind, even without the help of its divine instructors, the first principles of a numerical and geometrical symbol language.* Hence one finds…”
Shared concept: Numerical Mysticism — Numbers, proportions, and mathematical relationships as the underlying structure of divine reality. (derived)
western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XIX (part 7)
“In the reduction of your soul to its simplest self, its divine essence, you realize this union—this identity. But this sublime condition is not of permanent duration. It is only now and then that we can enjoy this elevation above the limi…”
Shared concept: Separation From Source — The felt condition of exile from one's divine origin — Rumi's reed flute torn from its bed, Plotinus's 'we have forgotten,' the Gnostic forgetfulness; the affective wound that complements return_to_source and gives the return its motive. (derived)