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Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names · 15 of 39 · tr. C.E. Rolt

Chapter 4, Section 1o

And herein the Divine Yearning showeth especially its beginningless and endless nature, revolving in a perpetual circle for the Good, from the Good, in the Good, and to the Good, with unerring revolution, never varying its centre or direction, perpetually advancing and remaining and returning to Itself. This by Divine inspiration our renowned Initiator hath declared in his Hymns of Yearning, which it will not be amiss to quote and thus to bring unto a holy consummation our Discourse concerning this matter. 15. Words of the most holy Hierotheus from the Hymns of Yearning. “Yearning (be it in God or Angel, or Spirit, or Animal Life, or Nature) must be 108 conceived of as an uniting and commingling power which moveth the higher things to a care for those below them, moveth co-equals to a mutual communion, and finally moveth the inferiors to turn towards their superiors in virtue and position.” 16. Words of the same, from the same Hymns of Yearning. “Forasmuch as we have set down in order the manifold yearnings springing from the One, and have duly explained what are the powers of knowledge and of action belonging to the yearnings springing from the One, and have duly explained what are the powers of knowledge and of action proper to the Yearnings within 319 319 i. e. The social instinct in men and animals, and the impulse of mutual attraction in the inanimate world. the world and above 320 320 The manifold yearnings of the spirit for Truth, Beauty, Spiritual Love, etc. it (wherein, as hath been already explained, the higher place belongeth unto those ranks and orders of Yearning which are spiritually felt and perceived, and highest amongst these are the Divine Yearnings in the very core of the Spirit towards those Beauties which have their veritable Being Yonder), 321 321 i.e. Of the two classes just alluded to the second is the higher; and of those yearnings which belong to this class the most transcendent are the highest. Religion is higher than secular life, and the highest element in Religion is other-worldly. The received text reads— “The Divine Yearnings in the very core,” etc., οἱ αὐτονόητοι καὶ θεῖοι τῶν ὄντως ἐκεῖ καλῶς ἐρώτων . I have ventured to amend ἐρώτων to ἔρωτες . If the MS. from which the received text is derived belonged to a family having seventeen or eighteen letters to a line then this word would probably come at the end of a line (since there are 260 letters to the end of it, from the beginning of the section), and would have the ὀν- of ὄντως just above it and the -ον- of αὐτονόητοι just above that, and ἐρώτων at the end of the line next but one above that. This would make the corruption of ἔρωτες into ἐρώτων very natural.
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Themes
Apophatic Theologytheology

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

The text describes God's nature by negation ('never varying its centre or direction'), emphasizing transcendence over spatial concepts.

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Cosmic Sympathycosmology

The Stoic and Plotinian doctrine that all parts of the cosmos are bound by hidden affinities, so that a movement in one part resonates through the whole; the metaphysical basis for astrology, magic, and divination.

The passage describes a 'uniting and commingling power' that moves higher things to care for those below them.

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Divine Hiddennesstheology

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

The text refers to the 'very core of the Spirit' where the highest yearnings reside, implying a concealed divine depth.

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Divine Lighttheology

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

The passage explicitly mentions 'those Beauties which have their veritable Being Yonder,' linking divine yearning to luminous qualities of truth and beauty.

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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 text describes a downward flow of yearnings from the One to the world and above, establishing a structured hierarchy of 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.

The passage emphasizes 'powers of knowledge' proper to spiritual yearnings as essential for understanding divine nature.

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Hidden Sayingssoteriology

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

The text mentions bringing the Discourse to a 'holy consummation' through quoting esoteric Hymns of Yearning.

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Infinite Cosmoscosmology

The doctrine of the universe as boundless and without center or circumference, populated by innumerable worlds — Bruno's rejection of the closed Aristotelian sphere; the divine and the cosmos as ontologically infinite.

The Divine Yearning is described as having a 'beginless and endless nature' revolving in a perpetual circle.

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Living Godtheology

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

The Divine Yearning is depicted as an active, dynamic force that moves higher things to care for those below them.

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Monadcosmology

The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.

The passage repeatedly references 'the One' as the singular source from which all manifold yearnings spring.

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Mystical Unionsoteriology

The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity.

The text describes a movement toward union with the Good and the Divine Yearnings in the core of the Spirit.

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Paradox As Teachingethics

Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight.

The text presents the paradox that the Divine Yearning 'perpetually advancing and remaining and returning to Itself'.

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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 passage explicitly states the yearning is directed 'to the Good, from the Good, in the Good, and to the Good' with a perpetual return.

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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 describes the movement of higher things to care for those below them, implying an inherent distance that yearning seeks to close.

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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 passage details a 'perpetually advancing' motion from the One toward the Good and Yonder.

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