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Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names · 32 of 39 · tr. C.E. Rolt

Chapter 4, Section 1af

277 ἑνώσεις, διακρίσεις, ταὐτότητες, ἑτερότητες. 278 Hence parts are united into wholes and wholes articulated into parts, and hence each thing is identical with itself and distinct from everything else. 279 e.g. Moisture interpenetrates the solid earth. 280 e.g. In a piece of wet ground the water is water and the earth is earth. 281 αἱ πρόνοιαι τῶν ὑπερτέρων. Lit. “the providences,” etc., e.g. the influence of the light without which, D. holds, the material world could not exist. Or this and the following may refer to different ranks of angels, or to angels and men. 282 αἱ ἐπιστροφαί τῶν καταδεεστέρων. Lit. “the conversions,” etc. e.g. Matter (according to his theory) responds to the influence of the light. And men are influenced by angels, and the lower angels by the higher. 283 The point of this section is that besides the particular and partial harmonies already mentioned, there is a universal harmony uniting the whole world in one system. 284 In the two following sections the difference between angelic and human activity is that the angels confer spiritual enlightenment and men receive it. Angels are in a state of attainment and men are passing through a process of attainment. 285 Vide supra on Introversion (p. 88, n. 1). 286 They are united to God in the centre of their being, by ceaselessly entering into themselves. They help us by going forth, as it were, from themselves. 287 Their true self-identity is rooted in God. See Intr., pp. 31 f. 288 ἡ εἰς ἑαυτὴν εἴσοδος. 289 In souls being unified and simplified. See Intr., p. 25. 290 Cf. St. Aug. ”ascendat per se supra se.“ 291 i. e. To the Angels and the perfected Saints. There is a somewhat similar thought in Wordsworth’s Prelude: “To hold fit converse with the spiritual world / and with the generations of mankind / spread over time past, present, and to come / age after age till time shall be no more.” This thought in Wordsworth and in D. is an experience and not a speculation. 292 This spiritual unity was by later Mystical writers called the apex of the soul, or the ground, or the spark. Another name is synteresis or synderesis. 293 There is an element of intuition in all discursive reasoning because all argument is based on certain axioms which are beyond proof (e. g. the law of universal causation). In fact the validity of our laws of thought is an axiom and therefore perceived by intuition. In the present passage D. means something deeper. He means that formal Dogmatic Theology advances round a central core of spiritual experience by which it must constantly be verified, Pectus facit theologum. Whenever theology even attempts to be purely deductive it goes wrong (e. g. Calvinism). If it is not rooted in intuition it will be rooted in fancies. 294 In D.‘s classification Introversion and Sensation are both unmixed movements, for each leads to a kind of perception. Discursive reasoning is a mixed movement because it does not lead to a direct perception and yet it must contain an element of perception. 295 i.e.
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Themes
Active Contemplationpraxis

A form of meditation that uses imagery, imagination, or symbolic thought rather than purely empty stillness.

The text describes angels helping humans by going forth from themselves to confer enlightenment.

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Apophatic Theologytheology

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

The passage emphasizes that theology must be rooted in spiritual experience beyond pure deduction.

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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 explicitly describes moisture interpenetrating earth and matter responding to light, illustrating resonant affinities between parts of the cosmos.

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Divine Lighttheology

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

The text repeatedly references the influence of light as a necessary condition for existence and the medium through which matter responds.

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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 influences flowing from higher angels to lower ones and the necessity of light for existence.

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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 text contrasts formal theology with an axiomatic spiritual experience that validates reasoning.

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Inner Lightanthropology

The divine spark or luminous quality residing within the human person, potentially recognisable through introspection.

The text states that angels are united to God in the center of their being by ceaselessly entering into themselves.

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Kingdom Withinanthropology

The claim that the divine realm is present inside the individual, accessible without external mediation.

Angels are described as being united to God in the center of their being.

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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 sustaining existence through light and providence.

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Mystical Unionsoteriology

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

The text describes angels being united to God in the center of their being by ceaselessly entering into themselves.

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Opposites Transcendedanthropology

The dissolution of binary oppositions (male/female, inner/outer, above/below) as a mark of spiritual completion.

The text notes that each thing is identical with itself and distinct from everything else simultaneously.

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Paradox As Teachingethics

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

The passage presents the paradoxical statement that things are both identical and distinct.

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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.

Angels help humans by going forth from themselves, implying a movement toward their origin.

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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 contrasts the state of angels with men who are passing through a process of attainment.

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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 distinction between angels and men implies a higher state of being for the former.

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Theosis Deificationsoteriology

The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy.

Angels are described as in a state of attainment and helping humans pass through a process of attainment.

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