Inner Light

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter II

“We shall, therefore, deliver to you the peculiar dogmas of the Assyrians; and also clearly develop to you our own opinions; collecting some things from the infinite writings of the ancients, but others from those particulars which were comp…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter III

“In the first place, therefore, you say, “ it must be granted that there are Gods .” Thus to speak, however, is not right on this subject. For an innate knowledge of the Gods is coexistent with our very essence; and this knowledge is superio…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter V-a

“In the next place, let us direct our attention to the solution of your inquiries. There is, therefore, the good itself which is beyond essence, and there is that good which subsists according to essence; I mean the essence which is most an…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XIII

“Moreover, “ the pacifications of anger ” will become manifest, if we understand what the anger of the Gods is. This, therefore, is not, as it appears to be to some, a certain ancient and inveterate rage, but an abandonment of the beneficent…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XV-a

“After this, you pass on to another division into contraries, viz. the division of Gods with reference to dæmons. For you say, “ that the Gods are pure intellects ;” but you propose this opinion as an hypothesis, or you narrate it as a dog…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XXI

“The division, however, of the passive from the impassive , which you adopt, may perhaps be rejected by some one, as not adapted to either of the more excellent genera, through the causes which we have before enumerated; and it also deserves…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter II

“It follows, therefore, that in the next place we should define the energies of them. And those of dæmons, indeed, must be surveyed as occupied about the world, and more widely extended in their effects; but those of heroes as less extended,…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter III-a

“Let us, however, now proceed to the appearances of the Gods and their perpetual attendants, and show what the difference is in their appearance. For you inquire, “ by what indication the presence of a God, or an angel, or an archangel, or…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter IV-b

“And, with respect to archons, the light of those that have the government of the world is more pure; but of those that preside over matter, exhibits itself mingled from things of a dissimilar and contrary nature. And the light of souls man…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter V

“Moreover, that which purifies souls is perfect in the Gods; but in archangels it is anagogic. Angels alone dissolve the bond of generation. Dæmons draw souls down into nature; but heroes lead them to a providential attention to sensible wor…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VII

“Moreover, in the manifestations there is an indication of the order which the powers that are seen possess. For the Gods are surrounded by either Gods or angels; but archangels have angels either preceding or coarranged with them, or follow…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter X-a

“What you introduce, however, for the purpose of obtaining a knowledge of these things, whether it be your own opinion, or whether you have heard it from others, is neither true nor rightly asserted. For you say, “ that to speak 104 boastin…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XI-a

“In what follows, in which you think that ignorance and deception about these things are impiety and impurity, and in which you exhort us to the true developement of these particulars, is not, indeed, attended with any ambiguity, but is ackn…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter II

“Concerning the divination, therefore, which takes place in sleep, you say as follows: “ We frequently obtain through dreams, when we are asleep, a knowledge of future events, not being in an ecstasy, through which we are much agitated, for…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter III

“The wise, therefore, speak as follows: The soul having a twofold life, one being in conjunction with body, but the other being separate from all body; when we are awake we employ, for the most part, the life which is common with the body, e…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter V

“There are, therefore, many species of divine possession, and divine inspiration is multifariously excited; whence, also, the signs of it are many and different. For either the Gods are different, by whom we are inspired, and thus produce a…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VI

“That, however, which is the greatest thing is this, that he who [appears to] draw down a certain divinity, sees a spirit descending and entering into some one, recognizes its magnitude and quality, and is also mystically persuaded and gover…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VII

“It is not, however, sufficient to learn these things alone, nor will he who only knows these become perfect in divine science. But it is requisite also to know what enthusiasm is, and how it is produced. It is falsely, therefore, supposed t…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII

“If, therefore, true divination was a solution of the divine part of the soul from the other parts of it, or if it was a separation of intellect, or a certain extension of it; or if it was a vehemence 128 and extension of energy or passion,…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter IX

“What you afterwards say is as follows: “ That some of those who suffer a mental alienation, energize enthusiastically on hearing cymbals or drums, or a certain modulated sound, such as those who are Corybantically inspired, those who are po…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XI-a

“Another species of divine divination which is much celebrated, most manifest and manifold, is that of oracles, about which you say as follows: “ There are some who drink water, as the priest of Clarius, in Colophon; but others are seated at…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XI-b

“But when she places herself on the seat of the God, she becomes coadapted to his stable prophetic power: and from both these preparatory operations she becomes wholly possessed by the God. And then, indeed, he is present with and illuminat…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XIV

“Concerning another kind of divination, also, you say as follows: “ Others who are conscious what they are doing in other respects, are divinely inspired according to the phantastic part, some indeed receiving darkness for a cooperator, othe…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XVIII

“Another contest, however, awaits us, not less than that in which we have been before engaged, and which you immediately announce, concerning the causes of divination, “ whether a God, an angel, or a dæmon, or some other power, is present in…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XX

“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…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XXI

“Is, therefore, what you add in the third place more true; viz. “ that there is a certain mixed form of hypostasis, consisting of our soul and divine inspiration externally derived ?” Consider this then more accurately, lest we should be dec…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XXIII

“The animadversions which are after this adduced, at first, indeed, doubt about the mode of divination, but as they proceed, endeavour entirely to subvert it. We shall, therefore, discuss both these. And, in the first place, we shall begin t…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XXIV

“In what follows, while you endeavour to unfold divination, you entirely subvert it. For if a passion of the soul is admitted to be the cause of it, what wise man will attribute to an unstable and stupid thing orderly and stable foreknowledg…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XXV

“That which follows in the next place, descends from a divine alienation of mind to an ecstasy of the reasoning power which leads it to a worse condition, and absurdly says, “ that the cause of divination is the mania which happens in diseas…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XXVII-a

“Moreover, neither is it sufficient to assert, “ that nature, art, and the sympathy of things in the universe, as if they were the parts of one animal, contain premanifestations of certain 188 things with reference to each other; nor that bo…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XXXI-b

“Hence this genus of divination is undefiled and sacerdotal, and is truly divine. This, also, does not, as you say it does, require me, or any other as an arbiter, in order that I may prefer it to a multitude of other things; but it is itse…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter II

“The hostile opposition, therefore, in the things that are now proposed, may be easily dissolved by demonstrating the dignity of wholes with 226 respect to parts, and by recalling to your recollection the exempt transcendency of the Gods abo…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XI

“It appears to me, also, that the present question errs in another respect. For it is ignorant that the offering of sacrifices through fire has the power of consuming and destroying the matter of them in a greater degree; that it assimilates…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XV

“Let us then, in the next place, direct our attention to that which accords with what has been before said, and with our twofold condition of being. For there is a time when we become wholly soul, are out of the body, and sublimely revolve o…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XVIII

“According to another division, therefore, the numerous herd [or the great mass] of men is arranged under nature, is governed by physical powers, looks downward to the works of nature, gives completion to the administration of Fate, and to t…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XXII

“What then [it may be said], does not the summit of the sacrific art recur to the most principal one of the whole multitude of Gods, and at one and the same time worship the many essences and principles that are [rooted and concentred] in it…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XXIII

“The various mode, therefore, of sanctity in sacred operations partly purifies and partly perfects some one of the things that are in us or about us. And some things, indeed, it restores to symmetry and order; but others it liberates from mo…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XXVI-a

“Since, however, prayers are not the smallest [but on the contrary a very great] part of sacrifices, especially give completion to them, and through these the whole operation of them is corroborated and effected; and since, besides 271 this,…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter IV

“It is necessary, however, to think that the soul which uses divination of this kind, not only becomes an auditor of the prediction, but also contributes in no small degree from itself to the consummation of it, and of what pertains to its o…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter II

“Hear, therefore, the intellectual interpretation of symbols, according to the conceptions of the Egyptians; at the same time removing from your imagination and your ears the image of things symbolical, but elevating yourself to intellectual…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter IV

“But the inquiries which follow in the next place, require a more abundant doctrine, in order to their elucidation. At the same time, however, it is necessary to discuss the truth concerning them with brevity. For you inquire “ what efficacy…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter III

“According to another order, however, he arranges the God Emeph prior to, and as the leader of, the celestial Gods. And he says that this God is an intellect, itself intellectually perceiving itself, and converting intellections to itself. B…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VI

“You say, therefore, “ that according to many of the Egyptians, that which is in our power depends on the motion of the stars .” What the truth, however, is respecting this, it is necessary to unfold to you from the Hermaic conceptions. For…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VII

“Hence that of which you are dubious is not true, “ that all things are bound with the indissoluble bonds of Necessity ,” which we call Fate. For the soul has a proper principle of circumduction to the intelligible, and of a separation from…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII

“What then, is it not possible for a man to liberate himself [from fate] through the Gods that revolve in the heavens, and to consider the same as the leaders of fate, and yet as 311 those that bind our lives with indissoluble bonds? Perhaps…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VI

“If, however, it be requisite to unfold to you the truth concerning the peculiar dæmon, we must say that he is not distributed to us from one part of the heavens, or from some one of the visible elements; but that from the whole world, the a…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter I

“It now remains, in the last place, that we should speak concerning felicity, about which you make various inquiries, first of all proposing objections, afterwards doubting, and then interrogating. Adducing, therefore, all that is said by yo…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter III

“I wish, in the next place, to reply to such assertions as calumniate divine prediction. For you compare with it “ certain other methods which are conversant with the prediction of future events .” To me, however, it does not appear to be an…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter IV

“Divine divination, therefore, which is conjoined with the Gods, alone truly imparts to us a divine life; since it participates of [divine] foreknowledge, and divine intellections, and renders us in reality divine. It likewise causes us to b…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter V

“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…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VI

“Moreover, after it has conjoined the soul to the several parts of the universe, and to the total divine powers which pass through it; then it leads the soul to, and deposits it in, the whole Demiurgus, and causes it to be independent of all…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VII

“With respect to the good , likewise, they conceive that one kind is divine, and this is the God who is prior to the intelligible; but that the other is human, and is a union with the former. And these two kinds of good Bitys has unfolded fr…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-a

“And thus we have answered, to the utmost of our ability, your inquiries concerning divination and theurgy. It remains, therefore, at the end of this discussion, that I should beseech the Gods to afford me an immutable guard of true concept…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-f

“Thus they recognised things supreme in such as are subordinate, and the subordinate in the supreme: in the celestial regions, terrene properties subsisting in a causal and celestial manner; and in earth celestial properties, but according t…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-g

“So that all things are full of divine natures; terrestrial natures receiving the plenitude of such as are celestial, but celestial of supercelestial essences; while every order of things proceeds gradually, in a beautiful descent, from the…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-i

“This, however, our philanthropic lord and father Jupiter understanding, that we might not be entirely deprived of communion with the Gods, has given us observation through sacred arts , by which we have at hand sufficient assistance.” For t…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-k

“the musical, the telestic, the prophetic, and the amatory, previous to the discussion of each, we must first speak about enthusiasm, and show to what part of the soul the enthusiastic energy pertains; whether each part of it possesses this…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-l

“Opinion, likewise, and the phantasy, are said thus to energize when they discover arts, and accomplish admirable works, such, for instance, as Phidias effected in the formation of statues, and another in another art, as also Homer says of h…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-m

“Thus, for instance, if the allotment of the soul was as far as to philosophy, the soul would be able, though it should not choose a philosophic but some other life, to energize in that life somewhat philosophically. There are also said to…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-p

“It causes us, therefore, to pass through life in an irreprehensible manner; just as the internal prophetic mania contracts and elevates all the multiplied and many powers and lives of the soul to the one , in order that it may in a greater…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-q

“On the contrary, divinely-inspired poets, as Hermeas well observes, knock, as it were, at the gates of the Muses, and thus being filled from thence exclaim, Εσπετε νυν μοι Μουσαι And, Μηνιν αειδε θεα— And, Ανδρα μοι εννεπε Μουσα . For bein…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-r

“But there are a certain few who by employing a certain supernatural power of intellect, are removed from nature , &c. The class to which these few belong is beautifully unfolded, as follows, by Plotinus, in the beginning of his Treatise on…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-v

“Hence some of them preside over men, others over lions or other animals, and others over plants; and still more partially, some are the inspective guardians of the eye, others of the heart, and others of the liver.” He adds, “all things, ho…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-w

“Cathartic virtue, therefore, alone must be called the salvation of souls; since this cuts off, and vehemently obliterates, material natures, and the passions which adhere to us from generation; separates the soul and leads it to intellect;…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-ab

“Between souls that always abide on high with purity, such as the souls of essential heroes, and those that descend into the regions of mortality, and are defiled with vice, such as the souls of the greater part of mankind, the class of unde…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-ae

“Ταις ενεργειαις της μελῳδιας συμπασχειν ημων αντικρυς τας ψυχας, την συγγενειαν ωσπερ επιγινωσκουσας ——et, ποτε μεν εις ησυχιαν και κατασολην τρεπεσθαι, ποτε δε εις οἱσρον και ενθυσιασμον. And, in the last place, see Plato in his Io, and A…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-ai

“with evil dæmons], which are hurled forth before the Gods, but on entering the interior parts of the temple, unmoved, and guarded by the mystic rites, they genuinely receive in their bosom divine illumination, and divested of their garments…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-aj

“407; the Introduction to my translation of Aristotle on the Soul; and the long extract from Synesius on Dreams, in vol. ii. of my Proclus on Euclid. 70 . i. e. The discursive energy of reason. 71 . Proclus in Plat. Polit. having o…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-al

“For these conceptions and these works teach us, that in reality we, through sacred operations, approach to divinity, but that divinity does not draw near to us. Hence Proclus in Alcibiad. εν ταις κλησεσι, και εν ταις αυτοψιαις προσιεναι π…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-aq

“και αετοι μεν, και δρακοντες, βιωσιμοι αυτοις προς υγειαν υποθεσις´ αιλουροι δε και κυνες, και κορακες αγρυπνητικα συμβολα. κηρος δε και πηλος εις τας των μοριων συμπλασεις παραλαμβανονται. φανταζει δε πολλακις, και πυρος ουρανιου εδοσεις…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-at

“But the Egyptians honoured the asp, the weasel, and the beetle, in consequence of observing in them certain dark resemblances of the power of the Gods, like that of the sun in drops of water. For at present, many believe and assert that th…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-av

“It is well observed by Ficinus, in lib. i. Eunead. ii. Plotin. “that the fire which is enkindled by us is more similar to the heavens than other terrestrial substances. Hence it participates of light, which is something incorporeal, i…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 8

“Section 4 4. Let us consider, then, the hypothesis of a coalescence. Now if there is a coalescence, the lower is ennobled, the nobler degraded; the body is raised in the scale of being as made participant in life; the Soul, as associated wi…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 11

“Section 7 7. The truth lies in the Consideration that the Couplement subsists by virtue of the Soul's presence. This, however, is not to say that the Soul gives itself as it is in itself to form either the Couplement or the body. No; from t…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 12

“Section 8 8. And towards the Intellectual-Principle what is our relation? By this I mean, not that faculty in the soul which is one of the emanations from the Intellectual-Principle, but The Intellectual-Principle itself [Divine-Mind]. This…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 14

“Section 10 10. It will be objected, that if the Soul constitutes the We [the personality] and We are subject to these states then the Soul must be subject to them, and similarly that what We do must be done by the Soul. But it has been obse…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 15

“Section 11 11. In childhood the main activity is in the Couplement and there is but little irradiation from the higher principles of our being: but when these higher principles act but feebly or rarely upon us their action is directed towar…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 19 (part 1)

“Section 1 1. Since Evil is here, "haunting this world by necessary law," and it is the Soul's design to escape from Evil, we must escape hence. But what is this escape? "In attaining Likeness to God," we read. And this is explained as "…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 27

“Section 1 1. What art is there, what method, what discipline to bring us there where we must go? The Term at which we must arrive we may take as agreed: we have established elsewhere, by many considerations, that our journey is to the Good,…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 37

“Section 4 4. If, then, the perfect life is within human reach, the man attaining it attains happiness: if not, happiness must be made over to the gods, for the perfect life is for them alone. But since we hold that happiness is for human be…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 41

“Section 8 8. As for violent personal sufferings, he will carry them off as well as he can; if they overpass his endurance they will carry him off. And so in all his pain he asks no pity: there is always the radiance in the inner soul of the…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 46

“Section 13 13. The characteristic activities are not hindered by outer events but merely adapt themselves, remaining always fine, and perhaps all the finer for dealing with the actual. When he has to handle particular cases and things, he m…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 60

“Section 10 10. But, it may be said, length of time produces an abundance of good actions missed by the man whose attainment of the happy state is recent- if indeed we can think at all of a state of happiness where good actions have been few…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 65

“Section 4 4. But there are earlier and loftier beauties than these. In the sense-bound life we are no longer granted to know them, but the soul, taking no help from the organs, sees and proclaims them. To the vision of these we must mount,…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 66 (part 1)

“Section 5 5. These Lovers, then, lovers of the beauty outside of sense, must be made to declare themselves. What do you feel in presence of the grace you discern in actions, in manners, in sound morality, in all the works and fruits of vi…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 67

“Section 6 6. For, as the ancient teaching was, moral-discipline and courage and every virtue, not even excepting Wisdom itself, all is purification. Hence the Mysteries with good reason adumbrate the immersion of the unpurified in filth, ev…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 70

“Section 9 9. And this inner vision, what is its operation? Newly awakened it is all too feeble to bear the ultimate splendour. Therefore the Soul must be trained- to the habit of remarking, first, all noble pursuits, then the works of beaut…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 85 (part 2)

“We teach that Virtue is not the Absolute Good and Beauty, because we know that These are earlier than Virtue and transcend it, and that it is good and beautiful by some participation in them. Now as, going upward from virtue, we come to th…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 115

“Section 12 12. All that thus proceeds from the supernal combines into a unity and every existing entity takes something from this blended infusion so that the result is the thing itself plus some quality. The effluence does not make the hor…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 116

“Section 13 13. Of phenomena of this sphere some derive from the Kosmic Circuit and some not: we must take them singly and mark them off, assigning to each its origin. The gist of the whole matter lies in the consideration that Soul governs…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 117

“Section 14 14. What of poverty and riches, glory and power? In the case of inherited fortune, the stars merely announce a rich man, exactly as they announce the high social standing of the child born to a distinguished house. Wealth may be…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 165 (part 1)

“Section 9 9. Wealth and poverty, and all inequalities of that order, are made ground of complaint. But this is to ignore that the Sage demands no equality in such matters: he cannot think that to own many things is to be richer or that th…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 188

“Section 1 1. To make the existence and coherent structure of this Universe depend upon automatic activity and upon chance is against all good sense. Such a notion could be entertained only where there is neither intelligence nor even ordina…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 211 (part 1)

“Section 5 5. There is, then a Providence, which permeates the Kosmos from first to last, not everywhere equal, as in a numerical distribution, but proportioned, differing, according to the grades of place- just as in some one animal, linke…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 215

“Section 1 1. Some Existents [Absolute Unity and Intellectual-Principle] remain at rest while their Hypostases, or Expressed-Idea, come into being; but, in our view, the Soul generates by its motion, to which is due the sensitive faculty- th…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 224

“Section 3 3. That Love is a Hypostasis [a "Person"] a Real-Being sprung from a Real-Being- lower than the parent but authentically existent- is beyond doubt. For the parent-Soul was a Real-Being sprung directly from the Act of the Hypostasi…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 227 (part 1)

“Section 6 6. What then, in sum, is to be thought of Love and of his "birth" as we are told of it? Clearly we have to establish the significance, here, of Poverty and Possession, and show in what way the parentage is appropriate: we have a…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 230

“Section 9 9. This Poros, Possession, then, is the Reason-Principle of all that exists in the Intellectual Realm and in the supreme Intellect; but being more diffused, kneaded out as it were, it must touch Soul, be in Soul, [as the next lowe…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 238 (part 2)

“It is lifeless objects that deal the severest blows; they hit hardest and hurt most; where there is life- that is to say participation in Being- there is beneficence towards the environment, all the greater as the measure of Being is fuller…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 258 (part 2)

“But the conception of Eternity demands something which is in its nature complete without sequence; it is not satisfied by something measured out to any remoter time or even by something limitless, but, in its limitless reach, still having t…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 272

“Section 6 6. Action, thus, is set towards contemplation and an object of contemplation, so that even those whose life is in doing have seeing as their object; what they have not been able to achieve by the direct path, they hope to come at…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 274 (part 2)

“The Intellectual-Principle on the other hand was never merely the Principle of an inviolable unity; it was a universal as well and, being so, was the Intellectual-Principle of all things. Being, thus, all things and the Principle of all, i…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 295 (part 2)

“This means that it is no external limit that defines the individual being or the extension of souls any more than of God; on the contrary each in right of its own power is all that it chooses to be: and we are not to think of it as going fo…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 304

“Section 17 17. Various considerations explain why the Souls going forth from the Intellectual proceed first to the heavenly regions. The heavens, as the noblest portion of sensible space, would border with the least exalted of the Intellect…”

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…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 307 (part 2)

“Because the soul is not seen and the body is: we perceive the body, and by its movement and sensation we understand that it is ensouled, and we say that it possesses a soul; to speak of residence is a natural sequence. If the soul were vis…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 312

“Section 25 25. Now comes the question, equally calling for an answer, whether those souls that have quitted the places of earth retain memory of their lives- all souls or some, of all things, or of some things, and, again, for ever or merel…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 313 (part 1)

“Section 26 26. Now if sensations of the active order depend upon the Couplement of soul and body, sensation must be of that double nature. Hence it is classed as one of the shared acts: the soul, in the feeling, may be compared to the wor…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 327

“Section 7 7. Well but can they not tell themselves that yesterday, or last year, they moved round the earth, that they lived yesterday or at any given moment in their lives? Their living is eternal, and eternity is an unchanging unity. To i…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 351 (part 1)

“Section 31 31. Our problem embraces all act and all experience throughout the entire kosmos- whether due to nature, in the current phrase, or effected by art. The natural proceeds, we must hold, from the All towards its members and from t…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 376

“Section 1 1. Perceptions are no imprints, we have said, are not to be thought of as seal-impressions on soul or mind: accepting this statement, there is one theory of memory which must be definitely rejected. Memory is not to be explained a…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 377

“Section 2 2. But if perception does not go by impression, what is the process? The mind affirms something not contained within it: this is precisely the characteristic of a power- not to accept impression but, within its allotted sphere, to…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 381

“Section 2 2. But of what nature is this sovereign principle? If material, then definitely it must fall apart; for every material entity, at least, is something put together. If it is not material but belongs to some other Kind, that new sub…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 382

“Section 3 3. Anyone who rejects this view, and holds that either atoms or some entities void of part coming together produce soul, is refuted by the very unity of soul and by the prevailing sympathy as much as by the very coherence of the c…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 385

“Section 6 6. It is easy to show that if the Soul were a corporeal entity, there could be no sense-perception, no mental act, no knowledge, no moral excellence, nothing of all that is noble. There can be no perception without a unitary perci…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 401

“Section 1 1. Many times it has happened: Lifted out of the body into myself; becoming external to all other things and self-encentered; beholding a marvellous beauty; then, more than ever, assured of community with the loftiest order; enact…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 406

“Section 6 6. Something besides a unity there must be or all would be indiscernibly buried, shapeless within that unbroken whole: none of the real beings [of the Intellectual Kosmos] would exist if that unity remained at halt within itself:…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 410

“Section 1 1. That the Soul of every individual is one thing we deduce from the fact that it is present entire at every point of the body- the sign of veritable unity- not some part of it here and another part there. In all sensitive beings…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 423 (part 2)

“Now, even in the Divine the engendered could not be the very highest; it must be a lesser, an image; it will be undetermined, as the Divine is, but will receive determination, and, so to speak, its shaping idea, from the progenitor. Yet an…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 424

“Section 8 8. This is the explanation of Plato's Triplicity, in the passage where he names as the Primals the Beings gathered about the King of All, and establishes a Secondary containing the Secondaries, and a Third containing the Tertiarie…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 433

“Section 1 1. Are we to think that a being knowing itself must contain diversity, that self-knowledge can be affirmed only when some one phase of the self perceives other phases, and that therefore an absolutely simplex entity would be equal…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 435

“Section 3 3. Sense sees a man and transmits the impression to the understanding. What does the understanding say? It has nothing to say as yet; it accepts and waits; unless, rather, it questions within itself "Who is this?"- someone it has…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 440 (part 1)

“Section 8 8. Now comes the question what sort of thing does the Intellectual-Principle see in seeing the Intellectual Realm and what in seeing itself? We are not to look for an Intellectual realm reminding us of the colour or shape to be…”

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…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 452 (part 1)

“Section 2 2. If the Intellectual-Principle were the engendering Source, then the engendered secondary, while less perfect than the Intellectual-Principle, would be close to it and similar to it: but since the engendering Source is above th…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 460

“Section 7 7. Consider the act of ocular vision: There are two elements here; there is the form perceptible to the sense and there is the medium by which the eye sees that form. This medium is itself perceptible to the eye, distinct from the…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 468

“Section 1 1. There is a principle having intellection of the external and another having self-intellection and thus further removed from duality. Even the first mentioned is not without an effort towards the pure unity of which it is not so…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 475

“Section 1 1. We have to examine the question whether there exists an ideal archetype of individuals, in other words whether I and every other human being go back to the Intellectual, every [living] thing having origin and principle There. I…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 488

“Section 10 10. This is why Zeus, although the oldest of the gods and their sovereign, advances first [in the Phaidros myth] towards that vision, followed by gods and demigods and such souls as are of strength to see. That Being appears befo…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 490

“Section 12 12. We have told how this vision is to be procured, whether by the mode of separation or in identity: now, seen in either way, what does it give to report? The vision has been of God in travail of a beautiful offspring, God engen…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 496

“Section 4 4. But, soul reached, why need we look higher; why not make this The First? A main reason is that the Intellectual-Principle is at once something other and something more powerful than Soul and that the more powerful is in the nat…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 499

“Section 7 7. Knowledge in the reasoning soul is on the one side concerned with objects of sense, though indeed this can scarcely be called knowledge and is better indicated as opinion or surface-knowing; it is of later origin than the objec…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 506

“Section 14 14. There is, thus, a Nature comprehending in the Intellectual all that exists, and this Principle must be the source of all. But how, seeing that the veritable source must be a unity, simplex utterly? The mode by which from the…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 512 (part 1)

“Section 4 4. We are told that number is Quantity in the primary sense, number together with all continuous magnitude, space and time: these are the standards to which all else that is considered as Quantity is referred, including motion wh…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 552

“Section 14 14. Why is Quality, again, not included among the Primaries? Because like Quantity it is a posterior, subsequent to Substance. Primary Substance must necessarily contain Quantity and Quality as its consequents; it cannot owe its…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 564

“Section 3 3. How then do we go to work? Let us begin by distinguishing Matter, Form, the Mixture of both, and the Attributes of the Mixture. The Attributes may be subdivided into those which are mere predicates, and those serving also as ac…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 569

“Section 8 8. The division into elements must, in short, be abandoned, especially in regard to Sensible Substance, known necessarily by sense rather than by reason. We must no longer look for help in constituent parts, since such parts will…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 585

“Section 24 24. With regard to locomotion: if ascending is to be held contrary to descending, and circular motion different [in kind] from motion in a straight line, we may ask how this difference is to be defined- the difference, for exampl…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 609

“Section 2 2. Now the reasoning faculty which undertakes this problem is not a unity but a thing of parts; it brings the bodily nature into the enquiry, borrowing its principles from the corporeal: thus it thinks of the Essential Existence a…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 614

“Section 7 7. To Real Being we go back, all that we have and are; to that we return as from that we came. Of what is There we have direct knowledge, not images or even impressions; and to know without image is to be; by our part in true know…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 615

“Section 8 8. For my part I am satisfied that anyone considering the mode in which Matter participates in the Ideas will be ready enough to accept this tenet of omnipresence in identity, no longer rejecting it as incredible or even difficult…”

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…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 624

“Section 4 4. We have to enquire into the existence of the Numbers in the Intellectual. Are they Ideas added to the other Ideas? Or are they no more than necessary concomitants to the Ideas? In the latter case, Being, as the first [in the In…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 636 (part 2)

“When you enumerate two things- say, animal and beauty- each of these remains one thing; the number is your production; it lay within yourself; it is you that elaborate quantity, here the dyad. But when you declare virtue to be a Tetrad, yo…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 640 (part 1)

“Section 1 1. God, or some one of the gods, in sending the souls to their birth, placed eyes in the face to catch the light and allotted to each sense the appropriate organ, providing thus for the safety which comes by seeing and hearing in…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 640 (part 2)

“If then the future is present, it must be present as having been foreconceived for later coming to be; at that divine stage therefore it lacks nothing and therefore can never lack; all existed, eternally and in such a way that at the later…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 646

“Section 7 7. But if it is by becoming evil and inferior that the soul produces the animal nature, the making of ox or horse was not at the outset in its character; the reason-principle of the animal, and the animal itself, must lie outside…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 653

“Section 14 14. On the nature of the Intellectual-Principle we get light from its manifestations; they show that it demands such diversity as is compatible with its being a monad. Take what principle you will, that of plant or animal: if thi…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 658

“Section 19 19. Are we to rest all on pursuit and on the soul? Is it enough to put faith in the soul's choice and call that good which the soul pursues, never asking ourselves the motive of its choice? We marshal demonstration as to the natu…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 663

“Section 24 24. But ourselves- how does it touch us? We may recall what we have said of the nature of the light shining from it into Intellectual-Principle and so by participation into the soul. But for the moment let us leave that aside and…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 670

“Section 31 31. But since Thence come the beauty and light in all, it is Thence that Intellectual-Principle took the brilliance of the Intellectual Energy which flashed Nature into being; Thence soul took power towards life, in virtue of tha…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 673

“Section 34 34. No longer can we wonder that the principle evoking such longing should be utterly free from shape. The very soul, once it has conceived the straining love towards this, lays aside all the shape it has taken, even to the Intel…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 695 (part 1)

“Section 13 13. Our enquiry obliges us to use terms not strictly applicable: we insist, once more, that not even for the purpose of forming the concept of the Supreme may we make it a duality; if now we do, it is merely for the sake of conv…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 696

“Section 14 14. Another approach: Everything to which existence may be attributed is either one with its essence or distinct from it. Thus any given man is distinct from essential man though belonging to the order Man: a soul and a soul's es…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 706

“Section 2 2. It may be suggested that, while in the unities of the partial order the essence and the unity are distinct, yet in collective existence, in Real Being, they are identical, so that when we have grasped Being we hold unity; Real…”

Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 10, Section 1b

“For where Scripture speaks of things as “eternal” it doth not always mean things that are absolutely Uncreated or verily Everlasting, Incorruptible, 171 Immortal, Invariable, and Immutable ( e.g. “Be ye lift up, ye eternal doors,” 461 461…”

Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 10, Section 1c

“It is spoken of by ail the Christian Mystics as the root of our being, or as the spark, or the Synteresis, etc. Our perfection consists in this ultimate reality, which is each man’s self, shining through his whole being and transforming it…”

Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 10, Section 1d

“If Time be thought of as an infinite series of finite numbers Eternity is the sum of that series and not its process. But the name may be applied loosely to the process, though this is generally to be avoided. According to St. Thomas, Et…”

Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 1, Section 1d

“And we press upwards to those beams which in the Holy Scripture shine upon us; wherefrom we gain the light which leads us unto 55 the Divine praises 64 64 πρὸς τοὺς θεαρχικοὺς ὕμνους. Either (1) “leads us to declare the Divine praises”; or…”

Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 1, Section 1e

“These mysteries we learn from the Divine Scriptures, and thou wilt find that in well-nigh all the utterances of the Sacred Writers the Divine Names refer in a Symbolical Revelation 72 72 ἐκφαντορικῶς καὶ ὑμνητικῶς. to Its beneficent Emanat…”

Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 1, Section 1l

“The formless essence (ἀμορφία) of a thing is simple and imageless—a Platonic idea—perceived by the mind; things which have bodily form are, as it were, types and symbols perceived by the senses. 54 Or “indeterminate.” 55 Thus the three gra…”

Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 1, Section 1m

“65 In the whole of this passage God is spoken of as at the same time Efficient, Formal and Final Cause of the soul’s activity. D. teaches that God is present in all things, but not equally in all. Cf. Intr., p. 14 66 Gen. i. 67 Three…”

Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 3, Section 1c

“It would be an impiety to do so, for he is almost equal to the Scriptural Writers, as he showed when he met with them to view the body of the B. V. M. even among our inspired Hierarchs (when, as thou knowest, we with him and many of our…”

The Secret Writing According to John (Apocryphon of John), Codex II, 1 | The Archons Conspire Against Adam

“When they gazed down, they realized that his intellect surpassed (their own), and they convened in counsel together with the group of archons and all angels. They took fire and earth [II, 21] and water, and combined them with each other to…”

The Secret Writing According to John (Apocryphon of John), Codex II, 1 | The Chief Archon Pollutes Eve

“I appeared in the shape of an eagle on the tree of knowledge, which is Reflection of Providence of Pure Light, so that I could instruct them and rouse them out of their deep sleep, because both of them were in a fallen condition, and they w…”

Gospel of Philip | Section 1c

“And Jesus said, “Whoever will not eat my flesh and drink my blood has no life within him.” What does he mean? His flesh is the word and blood the holy spirit. Who has received these has food and drink and clothing. I condemn those who sa…”

Gospel of Philip | Section 1d

“When the child is grown, however, then the father turns over all he possesses. THE LOST Those who have gone astray are those born of the spirit. And they are usually lost because of the spirit. So from one single breath of spirit the fir…”

Gospel of Philip | Section 1e

“If you say, “I am a Roman,” no one will be upset. If you say, “I am Greek, a barbarian, a slave, a freeman,” no one will be troubled. But if you say, “I am a Christian,” they will tremble. I wish I had that title. The world will not end…”

Gospel of Philip | Section 1f

“When wanton women see a man sitting alone, the man is overcome. They fondle him and pollute him. When wanton men see a beautiful woman sitting alone, they overcome her, and she is violated and polluted. But when spirits see a man and his…”

Gospel of Philip | Section 1j

“In the world these are the true people. They are the attendants of the bridal chamber. POWER AND WEAKNESS In this world, power and weakness mingle when man and woman have sex. Joining is different in the eternal realm, though we use the…”

Gospel of Philip | Section 1k

“If you become light, light will share you. If you are of those from above, one of those from above will rest in you. If you become a horse or a donkey or bull or dog or sheep or another animal that is wild or tame, then neither a person n…”

The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite) | Page 5 (part 4)

“Blessed and Holy are those who receive the experience of God in the dilucid contemplation, but sanctity and benediction and all in all is that state wherein contemplation is ineffably unified, by a super-eminent leap over of love, with that…”

The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite) | Page 5 (part 5)

“The technicalities of the occult sciences may seem hard to the beginner, and they are actually hard like the wilderness, because they are barren wastes, but they are in words of one syllable if compared with the little catechisms of eternal…”

The Kybalion (Three Initiates) | Chapter VII (part 2)

“Man, like Micawber, may exclaim: "The Spirit of my Creator is inherent within me-- and yet I am not HE!" How different this from the shocking half-truth so vociferously announced by certain of the half-wise, who fill the air with their rauc…”

The Kybalion (Three Initiates) | Chapter VII (part 4)

“And just as THE ALL arouses itself from the meditation upon the Universe, so does Man (in time) cease from manifesting upon the Material Plane, and withdraws himself more and more into the Indwelling Spirit, which is indeed "The Divine Ego.…”

The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Life and Teachings of Thoth Hermes Trismegistus-f

“It is doubtful that the deity called Thoth by the Egyptians was originally Hermes, but the two personalities were blended together and it is now impossible to separate them. Thoth was called "The Lord of the Divine Books" and "Scribe of th…”

The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Life and Teachings of Thoth Hermes Trismegistus-h

“He neither slumbers nor sleeps, and is governed by a Father also both male and female, and ever watchful. Such is the mystery kept hidden to this day, for Nature, being mingled in marriage with the Sky Man, brought forth a wonder most wond…”

The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Isis, the Virgin of the World-j

“They understood hypnotism, mesmerism, and similar practices long before the modem world dreamed of their existence. Plutarch describes the requisites of a follower of Isis in this manner: "For as 'tis not the length of the beard, or the co…”

The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Sun, A Universal Deity-g

“According to the mystics, there are three suns in each solar system, analogous to the three centers of life in each individual constitution. These are called three lights: the spiritual sun, the intellectual or soular sun, and the material…”

Agrippa: The Philosophy of Natural Magic, Chapter XLIX — Of Light, Colors, Candles and Lamps, and to What Stars, Houses and Elements Several Colors Are Ascribed | Chapter XLIX, Section 1a

“CHAPTER XLIX. Of Light, Colors, Candles and Lamps, and to What Stars, Houses and Elements Several Colors Are Ascribed . Light also is a quality that partakes much of form, and is a simple act, and also a representation of the understandin…”

Agrippa: The Philosophy of Natural Magic, Chapter LV — How Auspicias Are Verified by the Light of Natural Instinct, and of Some Rules of Finding It Out | Chapter LV, Section 1a

“CHAPTER LV. How Auspicias Are Verified by the Light of Natural Instinct, and of Some Rules of Finding It Out . AUSPICIA and Auguria, which foretell things to come by animals and birds, Orpheus, the divine, himself, as we read, did teach a…”

The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | INTRODUCTION-h

“The primal idea of Pythagoras, which Bruno worked out to a more distinct development is this: numbers are the beginning of things; in other words numbers are the cause of the existence of material things; they are not final, but are always…”

The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | INTRODUCTION-i

“The life of man is more than an experience or trial; it is an effort, a struggle to reproduce and represent upon earth some of that goodness, beauty, and truth which are diffused over the universe and constitute its harmony. Long, slow, an…”

The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | INTRODUCTION-j

“The body is in the soul, the soul is in the mind, the mind is in God. The life of the soul is the true life of the man. Of all his various faculties, that which rules all, that which exalts our nature, is Thought. By means of it we rise…”

The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | First Dialogue-b

“They do not consider that those rules serve principally as a frame for the Homeric poetry, and for other similar to it, and they set up one as a great poet, high as Homer, and disallow those of other vein, and art, and enthusiasm, who in th…”

The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | First Dialogue-c

“Hence he cries: "O mountain of Parnassus, where I abide! Muses, with whom I converse! Fountain of Helicon, where I am nourished. Mountain, that affordest me a quiet dwelling-place! Muses, that inspire me with pro found doctrines. Fount…”

The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | First Dialogue-d

“Some are called in vain to put in a ready appearance, and are chiefly those which proceed from the lower instincts, and which obey the reason either not at all, or very little; and forcing himself to prevent their actions and condemn those…”

Plato: Phaedo | Section 1g

“And he attains to the knowledge of them in their highest purity who goes to each of them with the mind alone, not allowing when in the act of thought the intrusion or introduction of sight or any other sense in the company of reason, but wi…”

Plato: Phaedo | Section 1h

“And now that the hour of departure is appointed to me, this is the hope with which I depart, and not I only, but every man who believes that he has his mind purified. Certainly, replied Simmias. And what is purification but the separation…”

Plato: Phaedo | Section 1s

“The lovers of knowledge are conscious that their souls, when philosophy receives them, are simply fastened and glued to their bodies: the soul is only able to view existence through the bars of a prison, and not in her own nature; she is wa…”

Plato: Phaedo | Section 1aa

“For example, when the body is hot and thirsty, does not the soul incline us against drinking? and when the body is hungry, against eating? And this is only one instance out of ten thousand of the opposition of the soul to the things of th…”

Plato: Phaedo | Section 1ad

“I might compare him to a person who began by maintaining generally that mind is the cause of the actions of Socrates, but who, when he endeavored to explain the causes of my several actions in detail, went on to show that I sit here because…”

Plato: Phaedo | Section 1ao

“Those again who have committed crimes, which, although great, are not unpardonable-who in a moment of anger, for example, have done violence to a father or mother, and have repented for the remainder of their lives, or who have taken the li…”

Plato: Phaedrus | Section 1k

“I thought that you were only halfway and were going to make a similar speech about all the advantages of accepting the non-lover. Why do you not proceed? Soc. Does not your simplicity observe that I have got out of dithyrambics into hero…”

Plato: Phaedrus | Section 1n

“The beginning of our proof is as follows:- The soul through all her being is immortal, for that which is ever in motion is immortal; but that which moves another and is moved by another, in ceasing to move ceases also to live. Only the sel…”

The Bhagavad Gita | Chapter III, Section 1b

“For should I at any time not engage without sloth in action, men would follow in my path from all sides, O son of P ri thâ! If I did not perform actions, these worlds would be destroyed, I should be the cause of caste interminglings; and I…”

The Bhagavad Gita | Chapter V, Section 1a

“CHAPTER V. Ar g una said: O K ri sh n a! you praise renunciation of actions and also the pursuit (of them). Tell me determinately which one of these two is superior. The Deity said: Renunciation and pursuit of action are both instrument…”

The Bhagavad Gita | Chapter V, Section 1b

“For the enjoyments born of contact (between senses and their objects) are, indeed, sources of misery; they have a beginning as well as an end . O son of Kuntî! a wise man feels no pleasure in them. He who even in this world, before his r…”

The Bhagavad Gita | Chapter X, Section 1a

“CHAPTER X. Yet again, O you of mighty arms! listen to my excellent words, which, out of a wish for your welfare, I speak to you who are delighted (with them). Not the multitudes of gods, nor the great sages know my source; for I am in ev…”

The Bhagavad Gita | Chapter XIII, Section 1a

“CHAPTER XIII. The Deity said: This body, O son of Kuntî! is called Kshetra , and the learned call him who knows it the Kshetra g ña. . And know me also, O descendant of Bharata! to be the Kshetra g ña in all Kshetras. The knowledge of…”

The Bhagavad Gita | Chapter XIII, Section 1b

“The supreme spirit in this body is called supervisor, adviser , supporter, enjoyer, the great lord, and the supreme self also. He who thus knows nature and spirit, together with the qualities, is not born again, however living . Some by c…”

The Bhagavad Gita | Chapter XV, Section 1

“CHAPTER XV. The Deity said: They say the inexhaustible A s vattha has (its) roots above, (its) branches below; the Kh andas are its leaves. He who knows it knows the Vedas. Upwards and downwards extend its branches, which are enlarged by th…”

Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book I | Sutra 3

“Then the Seer comes to consciousness in his proper nature. Egotism is but the perversion of spiritual being. Ambition is the inversion of spiritual power. Passion is the distortion of love. The mortal is the limitation of the immortal. When…”

Corpus Hermeticum 1: Poimandres | Section 1b

“But when He raised His head, I see in Mind the Light, [but] now in Powers no man could number, and Cosmos grown beyond all bounds, and that the Fire was compassed round about by a most mighty Power, and [now] subdued had come unto a stand.…”

Corpus Hermeticum 1: Poimandres | Section 1c

“And when she saw that Form of beauty which can never satiate, and him who [now] possessed within himself each single energy of [all seven] Rulers as well as God's own Form, she smiled with love; for 'twas as though she'd seen the image of M…”

Corpus Hermeticum 1: Poimandres | Section 1d

“Thou seem'st, He said, O thou, not to have given heed to what thou heardest. Did I not bid thee think? Yea do I think, and I remember, and therefore give Thee thanks. If thou didst think [thereon], [said He], tell me: Why do they merit d…”

Corpus Hermeticum 1: Poimandres | Section 1f

“All this befell me from my Mind, that is Man-Shepherd, Word (Logos) of all masterhood, by whom being God-inspired I came unto the Plain of Truth. Wherefore with all my soul and strength thanksgiving give I unto Father-God. 31. Holy art T…”

Corpus Hermeticum 5: The Discourse of Hermes to Asclepius | Section 1a

“Though Unmanifest God Is Most Manifest 1. I will recount to thee this sermon (logos) too, O Tat, that thou may'st cease to be without the mysteries of the God beyond all name. And mark thou well how that which to the many seems unmanifest…”

Corpus Hermeticum 7: The Seven Powers | Section 1

“The Greatest Ill Among Men is Ignorance of God 1. Whither stumble ye, sots, who have sopped up the wine of ignorance and can so far not carry it that ye already even spew it forth? Stay ye, be sober, gaze upwards with the [true] eyes of the…”

Corpus Hermeticum 8: The Eight Sphere | Section 1b

“Now the third life - Man, after the image of the Cosmos made, [and] having mind, after the Father's will, beyond all earthly lives - not only doth have feeling with the second God <i.e., the Cosmos>, but also hath conception of the first; f…”

Corpus Hermeticum 9: The Decalogue | Section 1a

“On Thought and Sense <This somewhat diffuse essay covers a series of topics, starting with (and to some extent from) the concept that the set of perceptions we call "thoughts" and the set we call "sensory perceptions" are not significantly…”

Orphic Hymns | Hymn LXVI. ESCULAPIUS

“LXVI. TO ESCULAPIUS. The FUMIGATION from MANNA. GREAT Esculapius, skill'd to heal mankind,, All-ruling Pæan, and physician kind; Whose arts medic'nal, can alone assuage Diseases dire, and stop their dreadful rage: Strong lenient God, regard…”

Orphic Hymns | Hymn LXXV. THE MUSES

“LXXV. TO THE MUSES. The FUMIGATION from FRANKINCENSE. Daughters of Jove, dire-sounding and divine, 1 Renown'd Pierian, sweetly speaking Nine; p. 206 To those whose breasts your sacred furies fire Much-form'd, the objects of supreme desire:…”

Orphic Hymns | Hymn LXXVI. MNEMOSYNE, or the GODDESS of MEMORY

“LXXVI. To MNEMOSYNE, or the GODDESS of MEMORY * . The FUMIGATION from FRANKINCENSE. THE consort I invoke of Jove divine, Source of the holy, sweetly-speaking Nine; p. 215 Free from th' oblivion of the fallen mind, By whom the soul with inte…”

Orphic Hymns | Hymn LXXVII. AURORA

“LXXVII. TO AURORA. The FUMIGATION from MANNA. HEAR me, O Goddess! whose emerging ray Leads on the broad refulgence of the day; Blushing Aurora, whose celestial light Beams on the world with red'ning splendours bright: Angel of Titan, whom w…”

The Golden Verses of Pythagoras | Section 5 (part 3)

“"Thou shalt not hope what thou ought'st not to hope," knowing the nature of all things, and what is possible. 55. The Gods near at hand are virtue and truth. p. 17 59, 60. The fatal strife is caused by our inclination "madly to run cou…”

The Golden Verses of Pythagoras | Section 7 (part 2)

“Understand that no dissimulation can be long concealed. 24. The unjust man suffers greater evil while his soul is tormented with a consciousness of guilt, than when his body is scourged with whips. 25. It is by no means safe to discours…”

The Golden Verses of Pythagoras | Section 8 (part 1)

“p. 37 THE SIMILITUDES OF DEMOPHILUS 1. Flattery is like painted armour, because it affords delight, but is of no use. 2. Learning is similar to a golden crown; for it is both honourable and advantageous. 3. Flighty men, like empty ves…”

The Golden Verses of Pythagoras | Section 10 (part 2)

“It is not proper to despise those things of which we shall be in want after the dissolution of the body. 36. You should not ask of divinity that which, when you have obtained, you will not perpetually possess. 37. Accustom your soul aft…”

The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | PROLOGUE-a

“HEARKEN to the reed-flute, how it complains, Lamenting its banishment from its home: "Ever since they tore me from my osier bed, My plaintive notes have moved men and women to tears. I burst my breast, striving to give vent to sighs, And t…”

The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | PROLOGUE-b

“Knowest thou why thy mirror reflects not? Because the rust has not been scoured from its face. If it were purified from all rust and defilement, It would reflect the shining of the SUN Of GOD.6 O friends, ye have now heard this tale, Whic…”

The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY I-a

“The Prince and the Handmaid. A prince, while engaged on a hunting excursion, espied a fair maiden, and by promises of gold induced her to accompany him. After a time she fell sick, and the prince had her tended by divers physicians. As,…”

The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY III-a

“The Jewish King, his Vazir, and the Christians. A certain Jewish king used to persecute the Christians, desiring to exterminate their faith. His Vazir persuaded him to try a stratagem, namely, to mutilate the Vazir himself, and expel him…”

The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY V-c

“The skill taught by God to the silkworm Is a learning beyond the reach of the elephant. The earthly Adam was taught of God names, 4 So that his glory reached the seventh heaven. He laid low the name and fame of the angels, 5 Yet blind ind…”

The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY V-d

“But the light that lights the heart is the Light of God, Which is distinct from the light of reason and sense. At night there is no light, and colors are not seen; Hence we know what light is by its opposite, darkness. At night no colors…”

The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY V-e

“"In yourselves are signs; will ye not behold them?" (Koran li, 21). 12. See Gulshan i Raz, I. 92. Mr. Mansel (Bampton Lectures, p. 49) says: "A thing can be known as that which it is only by being distinguished from that which it is n…”

The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY VI-b

“They possess freewill and compulsion besides, 4 As in oyster-shells raindrops are pearls. Outside the shell they are raindrops, great and small; Inside they are precious pearls, big and little. These men also resemble the musk deer's bag;…”

Tao Te Ching | Chapter 22

“The partial becomes complete; the crooked, straight; the empty, full; the worn out, new. He whose (desires) are few gets them; he whose (desires) are many goes astray. Therefore the sage holds in his embrace the one thing (of humility), and…”

Tao Te Ching | Chapter 47

“Without going outside his door, one understands (all that takes place) under the sky; without looking out from his window, one sees the Tao of Heaven. The farther that one goes out (from himself), the less he knows. Therefore the sages got…”

Tao Te Ching | Chapter 52

“(The Tao) which originated all under the sky is to be considered as the mother of them all. When the mother is found, we know what her children should be. When one knows that he is his mother's child, and proceeds to guard (the qualities of…”

Tao Te Ching | Chapter 70

“My words are very easy to know, and very easy to practise; but there is no one in the world who is able to know and able to practise them. There is an originating and all-comprehending (principle) in my words, and an authoritative law for t…”

The Writings of Chuang Tzu (Inner Chapters) | Book II (part 5)

“A third class held that there was such recognition, but there had not begun to be any expression of different opinions about it. p. 186 It was through the definite expression of different opinions about it that there ensued injury to (the…”

The Writings of Chuang Tzu (Inner Chapters) | Book II (part 10)

“Of the sounds of Man very little is said, but they form the subject of the next paragraph. Nothing is said in answer to the disciple's inquiry about the notes of Heaven. It is intimated, however, that there is no necessity to introduce an…”

The Writings of Chuang Tzu (Inner Chapters) | Book IV (part 4)

“I have heard of the knowledge of the wise; I have not heard of the knowledge of the unwise. Look at that aperture (left in the wall);--the empty apartment is filled with light through it. Felicitous influences rest (in the mind thus emble…”

The Writings of Chuang Tzu (Inner Chapters) | Book V (part 2)

“'As a verification of the (power of) the original endowment, when it has been preserved, take the result of fearlessness,-how the heroic spirit of a single brave soldier has been thrown into an army of nine hosts 4 . If a man only seeking…”

The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 6 (part 9)

“supported by a passage in the XCIInd Chapter of the Book of the Dead, where it is said:-- em xena ba-a sauti xaibit-a un uat Let not be shut in my soul, let not be fettered my shadow, let be opened the way en ba-d en xaibit-a maa-f neter aa…”

The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 20 (part 1)

“PLATES XI. AND XII. Vignette I. : Ani and his wife Thuthu approaching the first Arit, the cornice of which is ornamented with ### i.e. , emblems of power, life, and stability. At the entrance sit three gods, the first having the head o…”

The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 32 (part 1)

“PLATE XXV. Vignette: A swallow perched on a conical object painted red and green. Text [CHAPTER LXXXVI.]: (I) HERE BEGIN THE CHAPTERS OF MAKING TRANSFORMATIONS. THE CHANGING INTO A SWALLOW. (2) Saith Osiris Ani, triumphant: "I am the sw…”

The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 33 (part 2)

“I shall behold sacred things which are hidden, there shall be done unto me holy (37) hidden rites, I shall see what is there; my words shall make full the majesty of Shu, and they shall drive away evil hap. (38) I, even I, am Horus who dwe…”

The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 39 (part 3)

“8258, mottled glass buckle having the loop inlaid with blue composition; No. 8259, red faïence double buckle, pierced lengthwise for threading in a necklace.] deceased] he shall be among those who follow Osiris Un-nefer, triumphant. The g…”

The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 43 (part 51)

“i-nek sexem-k am xu Cometh to thee thy sekhem among the khu's. [1. I.e. , Horus. 2 Recueil de Travaux , t. v., p. 19 (l. 174). 3. Recueil de Travaux , t. v., p. 41 (l. 289). 4. See below, p. 117. 5. See below, p. 115. 6.…”

The Secret Doctrine | Page 4 (part 4)

“I T IS THEY WHO ARE THOU, ME, HIM, OH L ANOO. T HEY, WHO WATCH OVER THEE, AND THY MOTHER EARTH. [[Vol. 1, Page]] 34 THE SECRET DOCTRINE. 2. T HE ONE RAY MULTIPLIES THE SMALLER RAYS. L IFE PRECEDES FORM, AND LIFE SURVIVES THE LAST ATOM…”

The Secret Doctrine | Page 7 (part 7)

“( c ) The ancients represented it by a serpent, for "Fohat hisses as he glides hither and thither" (in zigzags). The Kabala figures it with the Hebrew letter Teth , whose symbol is the serpent which played such a prominent part in the Myst…”

The Secret Doctrine | Page 13 (part 9)

“." It was called into being, a ready and perfect vehicle for the incarnating denizens of higher spheres, who took forthwith their abodes in these forms born of Spiritual WILL and the natural divine power in man. It was a child of pure Spir…”

The Secret Doctrine | Page 14 (part 11)

“But there is still as little cause to regard them as devils, and this is precisely what the Roman Catholics maintain against all reason and logic. ( b ) The concluding sentence of this sloka shows how archaic is the belief and the doctrine…”

The Secret Doctrine | Page 81 (part 4)

“It is mankind which has become the "Serpent of Genesis," and thus causes daily and hourly the Fall and sin of the "Celestial Virgin" -- which thus becomes the Mother of gods and devils at one and the same time; for she is the ever-loving, b…”

The Book of Concealed Mystery (Siphra Dtzenioutha) | 1h

“35: "Ye shall not do iniquity in judgment, in dimension, in weight, and in measure." (Where these four are mystically intimated.) 37. (There is one) rigorous judgment (of severity),another that is not rigorous (that is, of the kingdom). T…”

The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) | Chapter XLIX

“XLIX. The Power and Wisdom of the Elect One . CHAPTER XLIX. l. For wisdom is poured out like water, And glory faileth not before him for evermore. 2. For he is mighty in all the secrets of righteousness, And unrighteousness shall disappear…”

The Kabbalah Unveiled | Introduction, Section 1b

“[But the first idea of equilibrium is the Ancient One (the first Sephira, or Crown Kether), because it is the first potential limitation of the boundless light which proceeds from the Limitless One. That is, the central point of Kether is…”

The Kabbalah Unveiled | Introduction, Section 1o

“And the mother is illuminated (that is, in the second part of the ordinary averse Tetragrammaton, which consists of the letters IH, to the letter I, Yod , which hath the signification of the father, is added the letter H, He , which is the…”

The Mabinogion | Tale TALIESIN-b

“And just as she was about to stoop upon him, and he was in fear of death, he espied a heap of winnowed wheat on the floor of a barn, and he dropped among the wheat, and turned himself into one of the grains. Then she transformed herself in…”

The Mabinogion | Tale TALIESIN-c

“Elphin of notable qualities, Be not displeased at thy misfortune; Although reclined thus weak in my bag, There lies a virtue in my tongue. While I continue thy protector Thou hast not much to fear; Remembering the names of the Trinity, Non…”

Gnostic John the Baptizer — Some Typical Extracts | Section 13

“The Treasury am I, Life's Treasury. A crown I became for Life's Gnosis. He bestowed on me the rulership over the treasures and the shekīnahs which are there [yonder]. The Treasury am I, Life's Treasury. Of the light-worlds was I the enligh…”

Gnostic John the Baptizer — Some Typical Extracts | Section 15

“"Who will come, who tell me what was before this? When the heaven was not yet outspread and stars were not yet in it figured, when the earth was not yet condensed and into the water no condensation had fallen, when sun and moon came not as…”

The Soul of the Indian | Chapter I-a

“THE GREAT MYSTERY Solitary Worship. The Savage Philosopher. The Dual Mind. Spiritual Gifts versus Material Progress. The Paradox of “Christian Civilization.” The original attitude of the American Indian toward the Eternal, the “Great My…”

The Soul of the Indian | Chapter V-a

“THE UNWRITTEN SCRIPTURES A Living Book. The Sioux Story of Creation. The First Battle. Another Version of the Flood. Our Animal Ancestry. A missionary once undertook to instruct a group of Indians in the truths of his holy religion. H…”

Avesta (Gathas) | Ahunavaiti Gatha, Yasna XXXII, Section 1c

“(And) this entire 3 (reward of the righteous) is from that Best One who teaches 4 in the wide (mental) light of the pious 5 , ruling (as supreme), O Mazda Ahura 6 ! whose are my woes and my p. 67 doubtings 1 (yea, they lie in His power to…”

Avesta (Gathas) | Ahunavaiti Gatha, Yasna XXXIV, Section 1a

“1. As to those (three gifts of blessings), Immortality, the Righteous Order, and the (established) Kingdom of Welfare, which Thou, O Mazda! hast given through (holy) deeds, words, and the sacrifice unto these (Thy servants here in my sigh…”

The Gospel According to John (American Standard Version, 1901) | 10:25-11:10

“[10:25] Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believe not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, these bear witness of me. [10:26] But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep. [10:27] My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, a…”