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Pseudo-Dionysius: The Mystical Theology · 8 of 11 · tr. C.E. Rolt

Chapter Va

That He Who is the Pre-eminent Cause of everything intelligibly perceived is not Himself any one of the things intelligibly perceived. Once more, ascending yet higher we maintain 537 537 It is not (1) a Thinking Subject; nor (2) an Act or Faculty of Thought; nor (3) an Object of Thought. that It is not soul, or mind, or endowed with the faculty of imagination, conjecture, reason, or understanding; nor is It any act of reason or understanding; nor can It be described by the reason or perceived by the understanding, since It is not number, or order, or greatness, or littleness, or equality, or inequality, and since It is not immovable nor in motion, or at rest, and has no power, and is not power or light, and does not live, and is not life; nor is It personal essence, or eternity, or time; nor can It be grasped by the understanding since It is not knowledge or truth; nor is It kingship or wisdom; nor is It one, nor is It unity, nor is It Godhead 538 538 Divine Names, II. 7. Godhead is regarded as the property of Deified men, and so belongs to relativity. or Goodness; nor is It a Spirit, as we understand the term, since It is not Sonship or Fatherhood; nor is It any other thing such as we or any other being can have knowledge of; nor does It belong to the category of non-existence or to that of existence; nor do existent beings know It as it actually is, nor does It know them as they actually are; 539 539 It knows only Itself, and there knows all things in their Super-Essence—sub specie aeternitatis. nor can the reason attain to It to name It or to know It; nor is it darkness, nor is It light, or error, or truth; 540 540 Truth is an Object of Thought. Therefore, being beyond objectivity, the ultimate Reality is not Truth. But still less is It Error. 201 nor can any affirmation or negation 541 541 Cf. p. 199, n. 2. apply to it; for while applying affirmations or negations to those orders of being that come next to It, we apply not unto It either affirmation or negation, inasmuch as It transcends all affirmation by being the perfect and unique Cause of all things, and transcends all negation by the pre-eminence of Its simple and absolute nature-free from every limitation and beyond them all. 542 542 It is (1) richer than all concrete forms of positive existence; (2) more simple than the barest abstraction. (Cf. p. 196, n. i.) 514 Lit. “Super-Essential, Supra-Divine, Super-Excellent.” 515 Lit. “Oracles” i. e. to the most exalted and mystical teaching of Holy Scripture. 516 Gk. ἀγνώστως refers to a transcendent or spiritual Unknowing (as disinguished from mere ignorance). 517 “The Super-Essential Ray of Divine Darkness.” 518 i. e. Philosophers and unmystical theologians. 519 i. e. Those who accept “popular theology.” The first stage of theistic Religion is anthropomorphic, and God is thought of (like Jehovah) as a magnified man of changing moods. Popular religion seldom rises above this level, and even gifted theologians often sink to it. But it is, D. tells us, the lowest stage. Then comes a metaphysical stage. God is now thought of as a timeless Being and therefore changeless, but the conception of a magnified man has been refined rather than abolished.
Themes
◆Apophatic Theologytheology

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

The passage extensively uses negation to describe the divine nature, stating it is not soul, mind, light, life, or any positive category.

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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 the divine with existent beings and material forms that are deficient and unable to know the ultimate Reality.

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◆Cosmic Dualismtheology

Ontological opposition between two primal principles (light/darkness, truth/lie, spirit/matter) as the fundamental structure of reality.

The text establishes a fundamental opposition between the transcendent divine and the existent beings that know it imperfectly.

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◆Divine Hiddennesstheology

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

The ultimate Reality is described as beyond objectivity and existence, concealed from ordinary knowledge and perception.

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◆Divine Simplicitytheology

The doctrine that God has no parts, divisions, or composite attributes; pure undivided being.

The divine is characterized as simple and absolute nature-free from every limitation and beyond them all.

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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 mentions ascending higher levels of being toward the divine source, implying a hierarchical structure.

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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.

Existence is contrasted with non-existence, and evil is defined as a lack of the good 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.

The text emphasizes that the ultimate Reality cannot be known by reason or understanding but is known only through direct self-knowledge.

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◆Hidden Sayingssoteriology

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

The text references Oracles as mystical teaching reserved for those ready to receive them.

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◆Kingdom Withinanthropology

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

It states that Godhead belongs to relativity and is not outside the human person but within them.

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◆Monadcosmology

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

The text describes the Pre-eminent Cause as a single, undivided principle from which all things flow.

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◆Mystical Unionsoteriology

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

The text suggests that Godhead belongs to relativity and is part of the human person's nature.

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◆Opposites Transcendedanthropology

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

The divine transcends all binary oppositions such as existence/non-existence and affirmation/negation.

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◆Paradox As Teachingethics

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

The text employs paradoxical statements like the divine being richer than positive existence yet more simple than abstraction.

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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 instruction to ascend higher implies a journey back toward the divine origin.

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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 explicitly instructs the reader to 'ascending yet higher' toward the divine source.

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Related passages · 9 parallels · 1 contrast
◆greek_mystery|The Golden Verses of Pythagoras|Section 10 (part 3)
“Speak not of God to every man. 79. It is dangerous and the danger is not small, to speak of God even things which are true. 80. A true assertion respecting God is an assertion of God. p. 61 81. You should not dare to speak of God to…”
Both passages emphasize the ineffability and transcendence of the divine, asserting that God cannot be fully comprehended or described through human language or concepts. They share a mystical approach to understanding the divine, which is beyond human categories and understanding.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 423 (part 1)
“Section 7 7. We must be more explicit: The Intellectual-Principle stands as the image of The One, firstly because there is a certain necessity that the first should have its offspring, carrying onward much of its quality, in other words th…”
Both passages explore the nature of the divine as beyond human comprehension and categorization. Pseudo-Dionysius emphasizes the transcendence of the divine beyond all attributes and concepts, while Plotinus describes the Intellectual-Principle as an image of The One, which is also beyond being an Intellectual-Principle itself.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 444 (part 2)
“The entire intellectual order may be figured as a kind of light with the One in repose at its summit as its King: but this manifestation is not cast out from it: we may think, rather, of the One as a light before the light, an eternal irrad…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the ultimate reality or the One, emphasizing its transcendence beyond intellect, knowing, and all other attributes. They both explore the idea that the ultimate reality is beyond definition and description, though they use different terminology and contexts.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 445
“Section 13 13. Thus The One is in truth beyond all statement: any affirmation is of a thing; but the all-transcending, resting above even the most august divine Mind, possesses alone of all true being, and is not a thing among things; we ca…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the ultimate reality or divine principle as being beyond human comprehension, language, and categorization. They emphasize the transcendence and simplicity of the divine, which cannot be known or described in human terms.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 676
“Section 37 37. Those ascribing Intellection to the First have not supposed him to know the lesser, the emanant- though, indeed, some have thought it impossible that he should not know everything. But those denying his knowing of the lesser…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the ultimate reality or the First Cause, emphasizing that it is beyond intellect and cannot be fully comprehended through human concepts or attributes. They both argue for a simplicity and transcendence of the divine that is not subject to the limitations of human understanding.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 677
“Section 38 38. And yet this "He Is" does not truly apply: the Supreme has no need of Being: even "He is good" does not apply since it indicates Being: the "is" should not suggest something predicated of another thing; it is to state identit…”
Both passages discuss the ineffable nature of the Supreme or Ultimate Reality, emphasizing that it cannot be described or known in conventional terms. They both reject the application of attributes and affirmations to the Supreme, highlighting its transcendence beyond being and knowing.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 678
“Section 39 39. Since the Supreme has no interval, no self-differentiation what can have this intuitional approach to it but itself? Therefore it quite naturally assumes difference at the point where Intellectual-Principle and Being are diff…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the Supreme or Ultimate Reality as transcending intellectual activity and being beyond description or comprehension. They both emphasize the simplicity and repose of the Supreme, which is beyond the dualities of thought and existence.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 708
“Section 4 4. The main part of the difficulty is that awareness of this Principle comes neither by knowing nor by the Intellection that discovers the Intellectual Beings but by a presence overpassing all knowledge. In knowing, soul or mind a…”
Both passages discuss the ineffable nature of the divine, emphasizing that it transcends human understanding and cannot be grasped through ordinary knowledge or thought. They both highlight the limitations of human concepts and language in describing the ultimate reality.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XXII (part 12)
“"The cause of all things is neither soul nor intellect; nor has it imagination, opinion, or reason, or intelligence; nor is it reason or intelligence; nor is it spoken or thought. It is neither number, nor order, nor magnitude, nor littlen…”
Both passages describe the ultimate reality as transcending all categories of thought and being, emphasizing the ineffable nature of the divine. They use similar negations to convey the idea that the divine is beyond human comprehension and description.
◆western_esoteric|Transcendental Magic I: The Doctrine (Éliphas Lévi)|1. The CandidatefCONTRASTS
“There is only one dogma in Magic, and it is this: The visible is the manifestation of the invisible, or, in other terms, the perfect word, in things appreciable and visible, bears an exact proportion to the things which are inappreciable by…”
Both passages explore the ineffable nature of the divine, emphasizing that the ultimate reality transcends human understanding and categorization. Pseudo-Dionysius negates all attributes, while The Candidate asserts the unity and universality of reason and the word, both pointing to a transcendent truth beyond ordinary comprehension.