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Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names · 3 of 5 · tr. C.E. Rolt

Chapter 9, Section 1c

For just as, supposing we were in thought to represent the soul itself in bodily shape, and represent this indivisible substance as surrounded by bodily parts, we should, in such a case, give the surrounding parts a different meaning suited to the indivisible nature of the soul, and should interpret the head to mean the Intellect, the neck Opinion (as being betwixt reason and irrationality), the breast to mean Passion, the belly Animal Desire, and the legs and feet to mean the Vital Nature: thus using the names of bodily parts as symbols of immaterial faculties; even so (and with much greater reason) must we, when speaking of Him that is beyond all things, purge from false elements by sacred heavenly and mystical explanations the Difference of the Forms and Shapes ascribed to God. And, if thou wilt attribute unto the intangible and unimaged God, the imagery of our threefold bodily dimensions, the Divine Breadth is God’s exceeding wide Emanation over all things, His Length is His Power exceeding the Universe, His Depth the Unknown Mystery which no creature can comprehend. Only we must have a care lest, in expounding these different forms and figures we unwittingly confound the incorporeal meaning of the Divine Names with the terms of the sensible symbols. 448 448 i. e. We must not take metaphorical titles literally (much bad philosophy and much sentimentality and also brutality in Religion, has come from taking anthropomorphic titles of God literally). This matter I have dealt with in my Symbolical Divinity: the point I now wish to 166 make clear is this: we must not suppose that Difference in God means any variation of His utterly unchanging Sameness. It means, instead, a multiplicity of acts wherein His unity is undisturbed, and His all-creative fertility while passing into Emanations retains its uniformity in them. 6. And if God be called Similar (even as He is called “Same,” to signify that He is wholly and altogether like unto Himself in an indivisible Permanence) this appellation of “Similar” we must not repudiate. But the Sacred Writers tell us that the All-Transcendent God is in Himself unlike any being, but that He nevertheless bestows a Divine Similitude upon those that turn to Him and strive to imitate those qualities which are beyond all definition and understanding. And ‘tis the power of the Divine Similitude that turneth all created things towards their Cause. These things, then, must be considered similar to God by virtue of the Divine Image and Process of Similitude working in them; and yet we must not say that God resembles them any more than we should say a man resembles his own portrait. For things which are co-ordinate may resemble one another, and the term “similarity” may be applied indifferently to either member of the pair; they can both be similar to one another through a superior principle of Similarity which is common to them both. But in the case of the Cause and Its effects we cannot admit this interchange. For It doth not bestow the state of similarity only on these objects and on those; but God is the Cause of this condition unto all that have the quality of Similarity, 449 449 If anything derived this quality from some other source than God, that thing, instead of standing towards God in the relation of effect to Cause, would be co-ordinate with Him. But as it is, all things stand towards God in the relation of effect to Cause. and is the Fount of Very Similarity; 450 450 Vide supra on Very Existence, Very Life, Very Wisdom, etc. and all the Similarity in the world 167 possesses its quality through having a trace of the Divine Similarity and thus accomplishes the Unification of the creatures. 7. But what need is there to labour this point?
Themes
◆Anthropomorphismtheology

Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.

The passage explicitly warns against taking anthropomorphic titles of God literally and discusses using bodily parts as symbols for immaterial faculties.

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◆Apophatic Theologytheology

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

The text centrally argues that God is intangible and unimaged, and that we must purge false elements by using heavenly explanations rather than literal interpretation.

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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 passage outlines a symbolic mapping of bodily parts (head, neck, breast) to immaterial faculties (Intellect, Opinion, Passion), reflecting cosmic structure.

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◆Divine Hiddennesstheology

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

The text emphasizes that God is beyond all things and that His Depth is an Unknown Mystery which no creature can comprehend.

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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 discusses God's Emanation over all things and His Power exceeding the Universe, implying a downward flow from the transcendent source.

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◆Hidden Sayingssoteriology

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

The passage advocates for 'sacred heavenly and mystical explanations' to interpret Divine Names and avoid literal misunderstanding.

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◆Monadcosmology

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

The text refers to God as the 'All-Transcendent God' and emphasizes His indivisible Permanence and unity.

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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 God is both 'Same' and 'Similar,' using contradiction to describe His nature.

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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 mentions that God bestows a Divine Similitude upon those who strive to imitate qualities beyond understanding.

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◆Sacred Namestheology

Divine names or formulas that carry ontological power, used in prayer, liturgy, or magical practice.

The passage centrally focuses on the interpretation and purification of 'Divine Names' and warns against confounding them with bodily symbols.

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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 creatures as standing towards God in the relation of effect to Cause rather than co-ordination.

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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 encourages striving to imitate divine qualities and turn towards their Cause through Divine Similitude.

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Related passages · 9 parallels
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 7
“Section 3 3. We may treat of the Soul as in the body- whether it be set above it or actually within it- since the association of the two constitutes the one thing called the living organism, the Animate. Now from this relation, from the Sou…”
Both passages explore the relationship between the soul (or Soul) and the body, discussing the nature of their interaction and the implications of their connection. They both delve into metaphysical and philosophical concepts to explain how the soul interacts with the physical realm without being contaminated by its experiences.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 134
“Section 12 12. It is the corporeal, then, that demands magnitude: the Ideal-Forms of body are Ideas installed in Mass. But these Ideas enter, not into Magnitude itself but into some subject that has been brought to Magnitude. For to suppose…”
Both passages explore the relationship between the material and immaterial realms, discussing the nature of form, matter, and the divine. They both delve into the concept of unity and multiplicity in relation to the divine and the material world, though from different philosophical and religious perspectives.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 152
“Section 3 3. We have thus covered our main ground, but since corporeity has been mentioned, we must consider its nature: is it the conjunction of all the qualities or is it an Idea, or Reason-Principle, whose presence in Matter constitutes…”
Both passages explore the relationship between the immaterial and material realms, discussing the nature of principles that govern or constitute physical reality. They both delve into the concept of an immaterial principle that interacts with or encircles matter, highlighting the distinction between the corporeal and incorporeal.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 290
“Section 3 3. Is it a question of part in the sense that, taking one living being, the soul in a finger might be called a part of the soul entire? This would carry the alternative that either there is no soul outside of body, or that- no sou…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the divine and the soul, emphasizing the unity and indivisibility of these concepts. They explore how the divine or the soul manifests in different forms and functions without being divided, highlighting the idea of a single, unified principle that underlies all manifestations.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 307 (part 1)
“Section 20 20. Here a question rises to which we must find an answer: whether these and the other powers which we call "parts" of the Soul are situated, all, in place; or whether some have place and standpoint, others not; or whether again…”
Both passages explore the relationship between the soul (or divine) and the body (or material world), emphasizing the non-physical nature of the soul and its distinct existence from the body. They both use metaphorical language to describe abstract concepts, though from different philosophical and religious traditions.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 338
“Section 18 18. There remains the question whether the body possesses any force of its own- so that, with the incoming of the soul, it lives in some individuality- or whether all it has is this Nature we have been speaking of, the superior p…”
Both passages explore the relationship between the divine and the material, emphasizing the need to interpret divine attributes metaphorically rather than literally. They also discuss the nature of similarity and unity in the context of the divine and the created world.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 577 (part 1)
“Section 16 16. When each of the entities bound up with the pseudo-substance is taken apart from the rest, the name of Quality is given to that one among them, by which without pointing to essence or quantity or motion we signify the distin…”
Both passages explore the relationship between the sensible and intellectual realms, discussing how qualities and virtues manifest in different spheres. They both delve into the nature of beauty and other qualities, distinguishing between their appearances in the material and immaterial worlds.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 618
“Section 11 11. But how can the unextended reach over the defined extension of the corporeal? How can it, so, maintain itself as a unity, an identity? This is a problem often raised and reason calls vehemently for a solution of the difficult…”
Both passages discuss the nature of a transcendent, immaterial principle and its relationship to the material world. They explore the idea of an eternal, unchanging source that is beyond time and space, and how it manifests in the created order.
◆western_esoteric|Transcendental Magic I: The Doctrine (Éliphas Lévi)|1. The Candidatee
“Every figure is a character, every character derives from and returns into a word. For this reason the ancient sages, of whom Trismegistus is the organ, formulated their sole dogma in these terms: “That which is above is like unto that whi…”
Both passages explore the relationship between the divine and the material world through the use of symbolic and metaphorical language. They discuss the idea of divine attributes being reflected in the created world, and the importance of understanding these symbols without taking them literally.