← Home
theology

Living God

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

1,658 passages · 20 traditions
egyptian: 222 passagesegyptian222neoplatonism: 207 passagesneoplatonism207christian_mysticism: 204 passageschristian_mysticism204finnic: 191 passagesfinnic191gnosticism: 170 passagesgnosticism170greek_mystery: 157 passagesgreek_mystery157celtic: 80 passagesceltic80jewish_mysticism: 73 passagesjewish_mysticism73western_esoteric: 67 passageswestern_esoteric67platonism: 52 passagesplatonism52mesopotamian: 48 passagesmesopotamian48zoroastrianism: 39 passageszoroastrianism39hermeticism: 36 passageshermeticism36renaissance_hermeticism: 31 passagesrenaissance_hermeticism31mandaean: 30 passagesmandaean30norse: 26 passagesnorse26sufism: 17 passagessufism17taoism: 6 passagestaoism6buddhism: 1 passagebuddhism1upanishads: 1 passageupanishads1
egyptian222
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 4 (part 26)
The Chapter of not going in to the divine block a second time. Vignette: A man standing with his back to the block.[1] Chapter LI. The Chapter of not walking upside down in the underworld. Vignette: A man standing. Chapter LII.* The Cha…”
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 6 (part 1)
THE DOCTRINE OF ETERNAL LIFE. Egyptian belief in a future life. The doctrine of eternal life in the VIth dynasty. The ideas and beliefs which the Egyptians held in reference to a future existence are not readily to be defined, owing to t…”
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 6 (part 12)
Every khu and every god stretcheth out his hand unto this Pepi when he cometh forth into heaven by the Ladder of God . . . . that which he seeth and that which he heareth make him wise, and serve as food for him when he cometh forth int…”
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 6 (part 13)
222) 8. Ibid. , t. viii., p. 88 (l. 565 ff.). 9. Ibid. , t. iii., p. 214 (l. 268).] {p. lxxiii} Further, this identification of the deceased with the God of Heaven places him in the position of supreme ruler. For example, we ha…”
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 6 (part 15)
The Egyptians called them " per kheru ," that is to say, " the things which the word or the demand made to appear ," or " per hru kheru ," that is to say, " the things which presented themselves at the word " or " at the demand " of the dec…”
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 6 (part 18)
It reapeth the wheat, it cutteth the barley, and it giveth it unto thee. Now, therefore, O Pepi, he that hath given unto thee life and all power and eternity and the power of speech and thy body is Ra. Thou hast endued thyself with the fo…”
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 8 (part 1)
THE LEGEND OF RA AND ISIS. Now Isis was a woman who possessed words of power; her heart was wearied with the millions of men, and she chose the millions of the gods, but she esteemed more highly the millions of the khu's . And she meditat…”
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 9 (part 3)
5. Lanzone, Domicile des Esprits , p. 1; Dizionario , p. 1292. 6. Maspero, La Mythologie Égyptienne ( Études , I. ii., p. 207); Jéquier, Le Livre , p. 3 The eastern mountain peak was called Bakhatet, and the western Manu. 7. I.e.…”
Show all 222 →
neoplatonism207
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter I
Hermes, the God who presides over language, was formerly very properly considered as common to all priests; and the power who presides over the true science concerning the Gods 18 is one and the same in the whole of things. Hence our ancest…”
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 IVb
This, therefore, subsists contrarily to what you suppose, for the purpose of discovering the peculiarity which you now investigate. In short, whether you think that there is one genus of the Gods, one of dæmons, and in a similar manner of…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter Va
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 Vb
Again, however, according to another mode of considering the subject, it is necessary to ascribe to the Gods the whole of that which is united, of whatever kind it may be; that which is firmly established in itself, and which is the cause o…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIIIb
Hence, through these things such a corporeal-formed division as you introduce, is demonstrated to be false. It is, indeed, especially necessary not to propose any thing of this kind; but if this should appear to you to be requisite, yet yo…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter IXa
I consider you, therefore, as asking, for it is your inquiry, “ Why, since the Gods dwell in the heavens alone, there are invocations by theurgists of terrestrial and subterranean Gods? ” For 45 what you assert in the beginning is not true…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter Xa
After these things, you again subjoin another division for yourself, “ in which you separate the essences of the more excellent genera by the difference of passive and impassive .” But neither do I admit this division. For no one of the mo…”
Show all 207 →
christian_mysticism204
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 10, Section 1a
CHAPTER X Concerning ” Omnipotent ,” ” Ancient of Days “; and also concerning ” Eternity “ and ” Time .” 1. Now ‘tis time that our Discourse should celebrate God (Whose Names are many) as “Omnipotent” and “Ancient of Days.” The former titl…”
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 1, Section 1b
For even as things which are intellectually discerned 52 52 i. e. The Transcendent Truths which are beyond ordinary knowledge. νοητά . The word νοῦς = Mind in the sense not merely of abstract intellect but of the spiritual personality.…”
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 1h
that which makes an individual thing to be one thing); (2) Mental or Spiritual intercourse; (3) Physical intercourse; (4) Sense perception. Here it = either (1) or (2), probably (1). limit, infinity, everything that exists. And yet since…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 1, Section 1i
1 . as “God of Gods” and “Lord of Lords”, 108 108 Ps. cxxxvi. 2, 3 . and “Holy of Holies,” 109 109 Isa. vi. 3 . as “Eternal,” 110 110 Deut. xxxiii. 27 . as “Existent” 111 111 Ex. iii. 14 . and as “Creator of Ages,” 112 112 Gen.…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 1, Section 1j
143 143 God is above Time. For the Nameless Goodness is not only the cause of cohesion or life or perfection in such wise as to derive Its Name from this or that providential activity alone; nay, rather does It contain all things beforehan…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 1, Section 1k
) with our hearts predisposed unto the vision of God, and let us bring holy ears to the exposition of God’s holy Names, implanting holy Truths in holy instruments according to the Divine command, and withholding these things from the mocker…”
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 1, Section 1n
82 ἐν θειοτέρᾳ μιμήσει τῶν ὑπερουρανίων νοῶν—i. e. the angels. 83 Luke xx. 36 84 Meditation leads on to Contemplation; and the higher kind of Contemplation is performed by the Via Negativa. 85 i.e. The Angels. I have throughout trans…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 11, Section 1a
CHAPTER XI Concerning ” Peace “ and what is meant by ” Very Being “ Itself , ” Very Life ,” ” Very Power ,” and similar phrases . 1. Now let us praise with reverent hymns of peace the Divine Peace which is the Source of all mutual attract…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 11, Section 1b
Plotinus says the Godhead is indivisibly divided. doth not leave Its own Unity, but, even in the act of going forth to all things, remains entirely within Itself through the excess of that all-transcendent Unity: concerning these things ‘t…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 11, Section 1c
And the perfect Peace guards each several individuality unalloyed by Its providential gift of peace, keeping all things without internal or mutual discord or confusion, and establishing all things, in the power of unswerving stability, so a…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 11, Section 1e
Hence the Good God is called the Fount, first, of the Very Primaries: then, of those creatures which share completely therein; then, of those which share partially therein. 484 484 Migne’s text here is corrupt, I have emended it. (1) The…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 11, Section 1f
472 Contemplation, Act of Contemplation, and Object Contemplated are all united together, and so imply a fundamental Unity which exists ultimately in God. 473 Cf. p. 174, n. 3. 474 D.‘s paradox is the paradox of sanity. We must hold a…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 12, Section 1a
181 CHAPTER XII Concerning ” Holy of holies ,” ” King of kings ,” ” Lord of lords ,” ” God of gods .” 1. Forasmuch as the things which needed to be said concerning this matter have been brought, I think, to a proper ending, we must praise…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 12, Section 1b
Which meaneth that just as things that have no substantial Being 490 490 i. e. The material things (cf. Myst. Theol. I.). This is the ordinary meaning of the phrase in D. are transcended by things that have such Being, together with…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 13, Section 1b
abundant and inexhaustible supple, whereby It perfects all perfect 498 498 “Perfect,” a term taken from the Mysteries expressing the final state of the initiated. things and fills them with Its own Perfection. 2. And the title “One” impl…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 13, Section 1c
Emily Brontë: “Every existence would exist in Thee.”) And if all things be conceived as being ultimately unified with each other, then all things taken as a whole are One. 507 507 All things possess the same Super-Essence, and that is why…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 13, Section 1f
Thus in the form “1 x 1” the first figure represents the unity underlying all numbers, the second figure represents unity as a particular number among other numbers. The first figure may thus be taken as a symbol of the Godhead, the second…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 2, Section 1a
65 CHAPTER II Concerning the Undifferencing and the Differentiation in Divinity, and the Nature of Divine Unification and Differentiation. 166 166 περὶ ἡνωμένης καὶ διακεκριμένης θεολογίας καὶ τίς ἡ θεία ἕνωσις καὶ διάκρισις. I. ’ Tis th…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 2, Section 1b
And if they deny that the whole Godhead is Life, how can that Sacred Word be true Which declared “As the Father raiseth the dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom He will,” 175 175 John v. 21 . and also, “It is the Spir…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 2, Section 1e
even as the lights of lamps (to use visible and homely similes) being in one house and wholly interpenetrating one another, severally possess a clear and absolute distinction each from each, and are by their distinctions united into one, an…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 2, Section 1f
Yea, ‘tis a common and undifferenced activity of the whole Godhead that It is wholly and entirely communicated unto each of them that share It and unto none merely in part; 197 197 D. here touches on the fundamental difference between spir…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 2, Section 1g
Their ultimate nature, which they possess in their own original being, is beyond Mind and beyond all Being and Knowledge. 203 203 Even the Differentiations finally lead us up into the Undifferenced Godhead Where they transcend themselves.…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 2, Section 1i
The Godhead is not a Whole because it is indivisible, nor a Part because there is nothing, on the ultimate plane, outside It. Yet It is a Whole because It includes the true existence of all things, and is Partitive because It contains the…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 2, Section 1k
Indeed, He is not an unity in this sense, and doth not participate in unity nor possess it; 224 224 These two phrases well express the meaning of the title “Beyond things and supernally infusing Unity” (ὑπερηνωμένη), which I have generally…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 2, Section 1l
166 περὶ ἡνωμένης καὶ διακεκριμένης θεολογίας καὶ τίς ἡ θεία ἕνωσις καὶ διάκρισις. 167 The point of this section is that God’s Nature is not a sum total of separate Attributes. Therefore when we say that the Scriptural titles of God are o…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 2, Section 1m
καὶ τῆς εἰρημένης ἑνώσεως ἴδια καὶ αὖθις τῆς διακρίσεως εἶνάι τινας ἰδικὰς καὶ ἱνώσεις καὶ διακρίσεις. This, as it stands, must be translated: “They say that certain qualities belong to the said Undifference, and that to Differentiation, o…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 2, Section 1n
200 Redemption is a work performed by the whole Trinity through the Second Person. (So, too, is Creation. Cf. p. 65, n. 2). 201 i. e. We strive to distinguish the two planes of Being in God. Cf. Athan. Creed: “Neither confounding…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 2, Section 1o
Yet It is a Whole because It includes the true existence of all things, and is Partitive because It contains the principle of separate Individuality whereby Christ possesses a Human Soul distinct from all other human souls, and whereby, too…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 3, Section 1a
CHAPTER III What is the power of Prayer? Also concerning the Blessed Hierotheus and concerning Reverence and the Writing of Divinity. 1. And first of all, if it like thee, let us consider the highest Name, even “Goodness,” by which all t…”
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…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 3, Section 1d
233 Cf p. 77, n. 1. 234 This is profound. Spatial metaphors are always dangerous, though unavoidable, in Theology. In space if A is touching B then B must be touching A. In the spiritual world this is not so. God is near me (or rathe…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 4, Section 1a
CHAPTER IV Concerning ” Good ,” ” Light ,” ” Beautiful ,” “ Desire ,” ” Ecstasy ,” “ Jealousy .” Also that Evil is neither existent nor Sprung from anything existent nor inherent in existent things . 1. Now let us consider the name of “Go…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 4, Section 1b
Hence have they their celestial orders, their self-unities, their mutual indwellings, their distinct Differences, the faculties which raise the lower unto the higher ranks, the providences of the higher for those beneath them; their preserv…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 4, Section 1d
Nay, even the foundation and the boundaries of the heavens (as we forgot to say while 91 thinking of other matters) owe their origin to the Good. Such is this universe, which lessens not nor grows, and such the noiseless movements (if nois…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 4, Section 1e
260 260 The light permeates water but it does not permeate a stone. It passes over the stone and permeates the water beyond it. Yea, and it contributes to the birth of material bodies and brings them unto life, and nourishes them that the…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 4, Section 1f
But these things are dealt with in the “Symbolic Divinity.” Here I desire to declare what is the spiritual meaning of the name “Light” as belonging to the Good. 267 267 Two worlds: (1) Nature, (2) Grace. God is revealed in both; the forme…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 4, Section 1g
and because It is the Cause of the harmony and splendour in all things, flashing forth upon them all, like light, the beautifying communications of Its originating ray; and because It summons all things to fare unto Itself (from whence It h…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 4, Section 1h
Hence comes the bare existence of all things, and hence their unions, 277 277 ἑνώσεις, διακρίσεις, ταὐτότητες, ἑτερότητες. their differentiations, their identities, their differences, 278 278 Hence parts are united into wholes and wholes a…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 4, Section 1j
For from It and through It are all Being and life of spirit and of soul; and hence in the realm of nature magnitudes both small, co-equal and great; hence all the measured order and the proportions of things, which, by their different harmo…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 4, Section 1k
and all things are moved by a longing for the Beautiful and Good, to accomplish every outward work and form every act of will. And true reasoning will also dare to affirm that even the Creator of all things Himself yearneth after all thing…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 4, Section 1m
See also the translator’s note on ἔρως . Ed .] And in the “Introductions’ of Scripture 310 310 ἐν ταῖς προεισαγωγαῖς τῶν λογίων. Apparently this was a title of the books ascribed to Solomon. The present reference is Wisdom viii. 2 . th…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 4, Section 1n
And the Divine Yearning brings ecstasy, not allowing them that are touched thereby to belong unto themselves but only to the objects of their affection. This principle is shown by superior things 106 through their providential care for the…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 4, Section 1o
And herein the Divine Yearning showeth especially its beginningless and endless nature, revolving in a perpetual circle for the Good, from the Good, in the Good, and to the Good, with unerring revolution, never varying its centre or directi…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 4, Section 1p
let us now yet further resume and compact them all together into the one and concentrated Yearning which is the Father of them all, and let us collect together into two kinds their general desiderative 109 powers, over which the entire mast…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 4, Section 1r
Now we will bid the questioner look towards the truth of things, and in the first place we will venture thus to answer: “Evil cometh not of the Good; and if it cometh therefrom it is not evil. For even as fire cannot cool us, so Good canno…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 4, Section 1s
And if any one says that it is productive, and that by the destruction of one thing it giveth birth to somewhat else, the true answer is that it doth not so qua destructive. Qua destructive and evil it only destroys and debases; but it tak…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 4, Section 1t
For in the case of other qualities, such as heat or cold, the things which have been warmed have their being even when they lose their warmth, and many of the creatures there are which have no life or mind; and in like manner God transcende…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 4, Section 1u
For things of the same kind cannot 333 333 Exuberant vitality is per se a good thing and the more exuberant the better, though, like all good things, it is dangerous, and unless properly directed is disastrous. be wholly contradictory to o…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 4, Section 1v
cannot be free from pain, nor without a feeling of ill, since there would be something causing Him trouble, yea, all things must in that case be in a state of disorder and perpetual strife; whereas the Good imparts a principle of harmony to…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 4, Section 1{
127 There remains but one alternative: Evil is a weakness and deficiency of Good. 31. Good things have all one cause. If evil is opposed to the Good, then hath evil many causes. The efficient causes of evil results, however, are not any…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 4, Section 1|
Wherefore Its Providential character is shown herein: that It preserves the nature of each individual, and, in making provision for the free and independent, it hath respect unto their state, providing, both in general and in 129 particular…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 4, Section 1}
In this present treatise we have, to the best of our abilities, celebrated the Good as truly Admirable, as the Beginning and the End of all things, as the Power that embraces them, as That Which gives form to non-existent things, as That wh…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 4, Section 1~
And such was the Incarnate Life of Christ and such is the Life of God in eternity. So too the wisdom of Christ is, from a worldly point of view, foolishness. For worldly wisdom = self-seeking, but the Wisdom of Christ = self-abandonment.…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 4, Section 1
Intr., p. 5. 259 Here we get once more the Aristotelian classification of causes. The Good is:— (i) Formal Cause (1) immanent in the world (Order— τάξις ); (2) containing the world (Embracing Power— περιοχή ). (ii) Efficient Cause (Caus…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 4, Section 1€
277 ἑνώσεις, διακρίσεις, ταὐτότητες, ἑτερότητες. 278 Hence parts are united into wholes and wholes articulated into parts, and hence each thing is identical with itself and distinct from everything else. 279 e.g. Moisture interpenetrates…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 4, Section 1
The types of things existent in the permanent spiritual world before the things were created in this transitory material world; the Platonic Ideas. There was also a Jewish belief in such a pre-existence of things. Cf. Rev. iv. 11 (R.…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 4, Section 1‚
Aug., Transcende mundum et sape animum, transcende animum et sape Deum. 307 This shows that the Via Negativa starts from something positive. It is a transcendence, not a mere negation. 308 Prov. iv. 6, 8 . 309 ὁ ἐμὸς Ἔρως ἐσταύρωται&g…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 4, Section 1…
In the one case we get Immanence without Transcendence: in the other Transcendence without Immanence. D. holds a Transcendent Immanence (cf. Bradley, Appearance and Reality, rebutting charge of Pantheism). 328 e. g. The cruelty of Nat…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 4, Section 1†
also “I have said, Ye are Gods.” 344 i. e. If totally and essentially by very nature evil with respect to themselves. In so far as they continue to exist they are good with respect to themselves. 345 Evil is the contrary of the Good. H…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 5, Section 1b
367 367 Sense-perception is a direct apprehension of that which we actually touch, see, hear, taste, or smell; Reason or Inference is an indirect apprehension of that which we do not actually touch, see, etc. Intuition is a direct apprehen…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 5, Section 1c
You would have expected those which participate in God’s greater gifts to be the higher, and to surpass the rest.” Now if intelligent beings were defined as having no 134 Existence or Life, the argument would be sound; but since the divine…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 5, Section 1f
And the highest measure of existence He bestows upon the more exalted Beings, which the Scripture calls eternal; 380 380 2 Cor. iv. 18 but also the mere existence of the world as a whole is perpetual; and its very existence comes from the…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 5, Section 1g
as an Unity, produce the essences of things: laws which are called in Divine Science 141 “Preordinations” or Divine and beneficent Volitions, laws which ordain things and create them, laws whereby the Super-Essential preordained and brought…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 5, Section 1h
is attacking the irreligious attitude in science, philosophy, and life. We must seek for all things (including our own personalities) not in themselves but in God. The great defect of Natural Science in the nineteenth century was its fail…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 5, Section 1k
Hence the soul possessing God is in a state of “having nothing and yet possessing all things.” Cf. Dante, cio che per l’universa si squaderna, etc. 382 Cf. Section 5. 383 i. e. The Platonic ideas of things—their ultimate essences. Bu…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 5, Section 1l
This apparent hair-splitting is really of the utmost practical importance. D. is attacking the irreligious attitude in science, philosophy, and life. We must seek for all things (including our own personalities) not in themselves but in…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 6, Section 1a
144 CHAPTER VI Concerning ” Life .” 1. Now must we celebrate Eternal Life as that whence cometh very Life and all life, 392 392 The Godhead, though called Eternal Life, is really supra-vital, because life implies differentiations, and the…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 6, Section 1b
And wherever (under the form of intelligence, reason, sensation, nutrition, growth, or any mode whatsoever) you find life or the 146 Principle of life or the Essence of life, there you find that which lives and imparts life from the Life tr…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 7, Section 1a
CHAPTER VII Concerning “Wisdom,” “Mind,” “Reason,” “Truth,” “Faith.” 1. Now, if it like thee, let us consider the Good and Eternal Life as Wise and as Very Wisdom, or rather as the Fount of all wisdom and as Transcending all wisdom and und…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 7, Section 1b
(2) Wisdom as a whole = Wisdom embodied in the universe as a whole. (3) Wisdom in each individual instance = Wisdom as shown in the structure of some particular plant or animal, or part of a plant or animal. (1) Is an Emanation; (2) and (…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 7, Section 1c
And in the same way we attribute lack of Reason to Him that is above Reason, and Imperfectibility to Him that is above and before Perfection; and Intangible and Invisible Darkness we attribute to that Light which is Unapproachable because I…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 7, Section 1e
i and more especially because the Divine Reason is more simple than all simplicity, and, in the transcendence of Its Super-Essential Being, is independent of all things. 419 419 God is called Reason: (1) because He is the Giver of reason;…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 8, Section 1a
CHAPTER VIII Concerning ” Power ,” ” Righteousness ,” ” Salvation ,” ” Redemption “; and also concerning ” Inequality .” 1. Now since the Sacred Writers speak of the Divine Truthfulness and Supra-Sapient Wisdom as Power, and as Righteousne…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 8, Section 1b
From this Source come the Godlike Powers of the Angelic Orders; from this Source they immutably possess their being and all the ceaseless and immortal motions of their spiritual life; and their very stability and unfailing desire for the Go…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 8, Section 1c
The wise Elymas, forsooth, did not perceive this; and so is like an unskilled athlete, who (as often happens), thinking his adversary to be weak, through judging by his own estimation, misses him each time and manfully strikes at his shadow…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 8, Section 1d
Thus, ‘tis true to say that it is more in accordance with Divine Righteousness not to lull into its destruction the manliness of the noblest characters through bestowing material goods upon them, nor to leave them without the aid of Divine…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 9, Section 1a
162 CHAPTER IX Concerning ” Great ,” ” Small ,” ” Same ,” ” Different ,” ” Like ,” “ Unlike ,” ” Standing ,” ” Motion ,” ” Equality .” 1. Now , since Greatness and Smallness are ascribed to the Universal Cause, and Sameness and Difference,…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 9, Section 1b
Dante passes outwards through the concentric spheres of space to the Empyrean which is beyond space and encloses it. There he sees the Empyrean as a point and his whole journey from sphere to sphere as a journey inwards instead of outwards…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 9, Section 1d
Scripture itself declares 451 451 Cf. e. g. Ps. lxxxvi. 8 . that God is Dissimilar to the world, and not to be compared therewith. It says that He is different from all things, and (what is yet more strange) that there is nothing eve…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 9, Section 1e
power bestowed upon all according to their worth; and because all Equality (perceived or exercised by the intellect, or possessed in the sphere of 169 reason, sensation, essence, nature, or will) is transcendently contained beforehand as an…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Mystical Theology | Chapter Ib
They are useful and necessary up to a point, but the Truth lies beyond them and is to be apprehended to a supernatural manner by what later writers call “infused” contemplation. The sum of the whole matter is that God is incomprehensible.…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Mystical Theology | Chapter IIIa
What are the affirmative expressions respecting God, and what are the negative. Now I have in my Outlines of Divinity set forth those conceptions which are most proper to the affirmative method, and have shown in what sense God’s holy natu…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Mystical Theology | Chapter IV
That He Who is the Pre-eminent Cause of everything sensibly perceived is not Himself any one of the things sensibly perceived. We therefore maintain 536 536 Being about to explain, in these two last chapters, that no material or mental qual…”
Meister Eckhart's Sermons (Field translation) | IIc
No man desires anything so eagerly as God desires to bring men to the knowledge of Himself. God is always ready, but we are very unready. God is near us, but we are far from Him. God is within, and we are without. God is friendly; we ar…”
Meister Eckhart's Sermons (Field translation) | IIIa
THE ANGEL’S GREETING St Luke i. 28 .—“Hail, thou that art highly favoured among women, the Lord is with thee.” Here there are three things to understand: the first, the modesty of the angel; the second, that he thought himself unworthy to…”
Meister Eckhart's Sermons (Field translation) | IIIb
The earth cannot flee from heaven: whether it flee up or down, the heaven rains its influence upon it, and stamps its impress upon it, and makes it fruitful, whether it be willing or not. Thus doth God with men: whoever thinketh to escape…”
Meister Eckhart's Sermons (Field translation) | IVa
TRUE HEARING Ecclesiasticus xxiv. 30 .—“Whoso heareth Me shall not be confounded.” The everlasting and paternal wisdom saith, “Whoso heareth Me is not ashamed.” If he is ashamed of anything he is ashamed of being ashamed. Whoso worketh in…”
Meister Eckhart's Sermons (Field translation) | Va
THE SELF-COMMUNICATION OF GOD St John xiv. 23 .—“If a man love me, he will keep my words; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” We read in the Gospels that Our Lord fed many people with five…”
Meister Eckhart's Sermons (Field translation) | Vb
It is necessary, therefore, for all the creatures which issued forth from God to co-operate earnestly with all their powers to form a Man who may again attain that union with God which Adam enjoyed before he fell, and who may again restore…”
Meister Eckhart's Sermons (Field translation) | Vc
Thus happens it to the noble soul which goes to God to school, and learns there what God is in His essence, and what He is in the Trinity, and what He is in man, and what is most acceptable to Him. St Augustine saith that the righteousness…”
Meister Eckhart's Sermons (Field translation) | VIc
Here some one may make the objection: “Are then all good works and prayers thrown away, since God is unmoved by them, and at the same time we are told to pray to Him for everything?” In answer to this I say that God from all eternity saw ev…”
Meister Eckhart's Sermons (Field translation) | VIe
Therefore sanctification is the best of all things, for it cleanses the soul, and illuminates the conscience, and kindles the heart, and wakens the spirit, and girds up the loins, and glorifies virtue and separates us from creatures, and un…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 1 (part 2)
"Natural man knows nothing about the mystery of the kingdom of God, because he is outside and not within the state of divinity, as is daily proved by the action of the philosophisers who are disputing about the attributes and the will of Go…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 1 (part 3)
7.) "I do not wish to divert men from the Word as it is written and taught; but my writings are intended to lead them from a merely historical belief to a living faith, even to Jesus Christ (the Light and Truth) Himself. All preaching and…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 1 (part 4)
Let them, therefore, again go out with their will from their wilful ignorance or malignity and enter again into the will of God." ( Menschwerdung , 3, 5.) All this goes to show that it is useless and vain to seek for divine wisdom, meaning…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 1 (part 5)
' Not that a person should run away from his home, and desert his wife, child, or relatives, commit suicide, or throw away his property, so that he may not be therein corporeally; but he should kill and annihilate his self-will, the will th…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 1 (part 6)
The human selfhood will then follow in its perceptions the Spirit of God, tremblingly and in the joy of humility, and become able to see what is contained in time and in eternity. Everything is near to a soul in that state, for the soul is…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 1 (part 7)
It is well known that the light of the sun does .not shine upon the earth because we desire it to shine, neither can we attract the sunlight to us. All we do is to step out of the darkness, or climb to the top of. the mountain which rises…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 1 (part 8)
1 "When my spirit, full of sorrow, earnestly, and as if moving in a great storm, arose in God, carrying with it my whole heart and mind, with all my thoughts and with the whole of my will, and when I would not cease to wrestle with the love…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 1 (part 10)
It is itself the most secret thing, which can be known by no one except by him who has experienced it; neither do those that live entirely within the realm of animality, or within that of the speculating intellect, believe that such a state…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 1 (part 12)
56 Neither is such a state attained without a hard fight against the powers of darkness. "If any one desires to follow me, let him not be intoxicated by terrestrial thoughts and desires, but girded with the sword of the Spirit, because he…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 1 (part 13)
A man knowing nothing of God, and having no faith in the power of anything divine, which may become revealed in him, cannot be in possession of divine self-knowledge; but if man, by being obedient to the law, enters into a state of harmony…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 2 (part 1)
p. 58 CHAPTER II. THE UNITY OF THE ALL. "We are all one body in Christ, and have all the Spirit of Christ within our reach. If, then, we enter into the Christ, we may see and know everything by the power of His Spirit." ( Forty Question…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 2 (part 3)
This other will is the sensitivity and conceivability of the primordial will, by means of which that which is nothing finds itself to be something. By so doing the inconceivable causeless will issues by means of that which it has eternally…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 2 (part 5)
The will beholding itself in the mirror of wisdom causes its own image to appear within the groundlessness, and thus it creates a foundation in its own imagination." ( Menschwerdung , ii. 1.) "Wisdom, the eternal virgin, the playmate of Go…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 2 (part 6)
2.) "If there is to be a light, there must be a fire. The fire produces the light, and the light renders the fire manifest; it receives the nature of the fire within itself and resides in the fire." ( Mysterium , xl. 2.) "Joy enters the s…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 2 (part 7)
The light of God has also the quality of the fire, but in it the wrath is changed into love; hate and bitter pain into mild beneficence and sweet desire or satisfaction." ( Menschwerdung , i. 5–16.) "The fountain of love is a clasping and…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 3 (part 3)
The seven spirits are in the centre of the Father—that is to say, in the power of the Word. The Word changes the wrathfulness into sweet joy and shapes it into a crystalline ocean; therein the seven spirits appear in a burning form, like s…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 3 (part 4)
The will cannot attain this light, and the more it desires for freedom the greater will be the attraction caused by the desire." ( Six Theosophical Points , i, 38.) "There must be au opposition, for the will desires not to be dark, and this…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 3 (part 6)
49.) Thus the light conquers the darkness, but does not destroy it; it merely becomes victorious over it and consumes it in a manner comparable to that of the assimilation of food by the organism which conquers and consumes that food by mea…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 3 (part 7)
171.) When the power of the light becomes revealed it manifests its activity first of all in the Fifth Quality , which is evolved by means of the preceding four as sweet love, or a luminous water-spirit. "The first three principles are mer…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 3 (part 8)
Without it the form of the spirit would not be knowable; it is the corporeity of the spirit. To be sure, it is not a bodily, tangible substance, like the bodies of men, but has nevertheless substantial and visible qualities which the spiri…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 3 (part 9)
"The eternal will, the Father, conducts His heart, His eternal Son, by means of the fire into great triumph, into His kingdom of joy." ( Grace , ii. 21.) "When the Father speaks His Word—that is to say, when He generates His Son—which is d…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 4 (part 1)
p. 89 CHAPTER IV. CREATION. Everything we see in nature is manifested truth; only we are not able to recognise it as such, unless the truth is manifest within ourselves. God is the supreme, fundamental, universal, self-existent eternal…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 4 (part 3)
7.) "We cannot reasonably suppose any formation or differentiation to have existed in the eternal One from which, or according to which (formation) something could have been made; for if such a form, or predisposition to making a form, had…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 4 (part 6)
"The created world was before the mysterium magnum, for all things were then in a spiritual condition in wisdom, as in a continual play or wrestle of love. The one only Will conceived this spiritual form into the Word, and permitted the in…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 4 (part 7)
25.) "Whether or not God will create something more out of His will after the end of this time is not perceptible to my spirit, for it does not penetrate deeper than within its own centre wherein it lives, and therein is the paradise and th…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 5 (part 1)
p. 101 CHAPTER V. THE ANGELS. "If you wish to hear the Holy Ghost speak out of the mouth of another you must first enter yourself with your will into the spirit of holiness."— Jacob Boehme . IT is perfectly useless to attempt to enter i…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 5 (part 2)
It ought to be kept in mind that "myths" are not "fables." Myths are representations of actualities clothed in a fabulous form. Their kernel is true, even if the shell in which it is clothed is an illusion. "There are seven principal qual…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 5 (part 3)
105 "From all eternity the light of God was lovely, sweet, and clear; but when God moved to create, the matrix (the foundation), with its fiery, dark, acrid and bitter qualities, became manifest; for the angels have been created out of that…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 5 (part 5)
109 the spirit of holiness cannot enter unless unholiness is chased away. In this battle against evil the angels are always ready to assist man in an invisible manner against the temptations of the "devils," provided that he is willing to…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 5 (part 6)
"In the lightning flash, the fourth form of nature, is the origin of life, and it attains perfection in the constancy of the fire. Here, in the object of division, is the p. 111 spirit born, and this spirit can either go backwards and ent…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 5 (part 9)
1.) "Lucifer having left the harmony of God, the holy name of God separated from him and remained in its own unity; but Lucifer remained in the qualities of the central fire which he had awakened within himself." ( Theosophical Questions ,…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 5 (part 11)
Man must know evil for the purpose of becoming able to realise the good, after which he returns to the latter; but as everything seeks for its own corresponding principle, he in whom evil has become paramount will remain in evil. p. 121 "…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 6 (part 2)
"When the eternal Word moved, because of the malice of Lucifer, and for the purpose of expelling this evil guest from his residence into eternal darkness, the essence was rendered compact (coagulated). God was not willing to leave the mani…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 6 (part 3)
123.) "The day's works refer to the seven qualities, six of them belonging to the actual regiment, but the seventh, or the essentiality, is that wherein the others are resting; for these qualities have been spoken out by God and rendered vi…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 6 (part 4)
Then in the spirit of external nature there originated a male and a female kind—namely, in the fiery Mercury the male, and in the watery the female one." ( Clavis , 86.) "On the third day the fiery and the watery Mercury have again entered…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 6 (part 5)
But when this took place the love in the light of God broke through that heaven of division and ignited the heat." ( Aurora , xxv. 68.) "God, the eternal light and the eternal will, shines within the darkness, and the darkness has captured…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 6 (part 7)
That which Sol (the sun) is spiritually becomes corporeal in Luna (the moon)." ( Signature , ix. 24.) After the world of stars had begun to exist, the sidereal life appeared by the power of the former—that is to say, that living organisms…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 6 (part 9)
Thus he was in possession of divine and terrestrial essentiality; but the terrestrial one was in the divine one like consumed or impotent (latent). The substance or the matter from which the body was made or created contained itself also t…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 6 (part 11)
Only he in whom is light can see the light; only the element of love can feel love; only the divinity in man can know God in and through man. 138:1 Therefore Theophrastus Paracelsus says: "Natural man is made out of the world, and not the…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 7 (part 1)
p. 140 CHAPTER VII. MAN. "God created man in His own image. Male and female ( in one ) created He them." Man in his cosmic aspect is a being very superior to that which is commonly looked upon as a "man," and which is described in books…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 7 (part 2)
36.) "In Paradise there is perfect life without disturbance, and a perpetual day, and the paradisiacal man is clear like transparent glass, and he is fully penetrated by the light of the divine sun." 1 ( Signature , xi. 5 1.) His body like…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 7 (part 3)
2.) "The inner man stood in heaven; his essences were the Paradise; his body was indestructible. He knew the language of God and the angels, and the language of nature, as may be seen by Adam giving names to all creatures, to each accordin…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 7 (part 8)
15.) The forthcoming of the tree of temptation is not to be wondered at, because Adam was endowed with great powers, and an earthly form as a protection to him against the powers of hell. 1 "Reason (man's reasoning) says, 'Why did God perm…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 7 (part 13)
154:1 This is the difference between life in the terrestrial and life in the celestial states of nature, that the former is differentiated into forms, each of which loves to live in the consciousness of its own illusive self— i.e. , in a s…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 8 (part 2)
31.) "This terrestrial world is based upon the world of darkness, and if the good bad not been also embodied therein, there would be in it no other doing than that of the world of darkness; but this is prevented by the divine power and by t…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 8 (part 6)
1.) "The terrestrial consciousness corrupted the celestial one, and the former became the Turba of the latter. Likewise, the Fiat made the earth and stones out of the eternal essentiality." ( Menschwerdung , i. 9.) "But in the earth we fi…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 8 (part 10)
177:2 The spiritual being is the one that is not subject to the dissolution of the physical form, but "reincarnates" periodically; that is to say, it creates for itself again other forms in which it may find to a certain extent an outward e…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 9 (part 1)
p. 180 CHAPTER IX. GENERATION. "Let every Brahman, with fixed attention, consider all nature, both visible and invisible, as existing in the Divine Spirit. For when he contemplates the boundless universe in the Divine Spirit, he cannot…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 9 (part 3)
2.) "Many a soul in her malignity would become a devil within one hour if the external life did not prevent it, so that her complete ignition cannot take place." ( Forty Questions , xvi. 12.) "In examining our own selves we find that, on t…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 9 (part 9)
183:1 If man's imagination were not excited by the pictorial representations which the objects of the surrounding world call forth in his mind by means of his external senses, but if his mental activity were restricted to forming images by…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 10 (part 2)
8. 1.) "The name Jesus was incorporated into the image of eternity as a future Christ, that it may become a redeemer of men, and out of the dying in the wrath regenerate them again into the pure being of divine and paradisiacal power." ( S…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 10 (part 3)
It was she in whom the voice of God promised again to introduce the living, holy substance from heaven, and to generate anew and in divine power the faded image of God that was contained therein." 1 ( Grace , vii. 18.) This, however, did n…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 10 (part 4)
Therefore the Word and the bruiser of the head of the serpent did not enter into form within their souls; but it stood within the mind to oppose the devils and the kingdom of hell with those that were willing to surrender themselves to it."…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 10 (part 5)
The wrath must kill and consume the external image that has grown in the wrath, but from its death springs forth the eternal life." ( Mysterium , xxviii. 14.) "Abel, representing an antitype of Christ, who was to suffer death for humanity,…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 10 (part 8)
9.) "In those heathen that were highly intellectual in the light of nature the interior holy realm was mirrored, and although the true divine intelligence was closed to them, and although they beheld merely an external reflection, neverthel…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 11 (part 1)
p. 224 CHAPTER XI. INCARNATION—THE CELESTIAL VIRGIN. The doctrine of the incarnation of Christ, or, to express it in other words, of the awakening of the germ of divine self-knowledge in man, is so grand, that it is impossible to form a…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 11 (part 5)
If, then, the soul of the child is in the Holy Trinity, do you then not think that its glorious light beautifully illuminates the mother, and does not that mother rightfully put her feet upon the Moon, 1 as being exalted above all that is o…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 11 (part 6)
90.) "The living Word that dwelt within the eternal virgin attracted to itself the flesh of Mary—that is to say, the essences from the corporeal body of Mary—and thus there grew in nine months a complete human being with soul, spirit, and f…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 11 (part 8)
Neither is God measurable, and there has no place of residence been discovered in Him, unless He should establish for Himself such a dwelling in one of His creatures; but even then He remains a whole apart from and beyond such a created bei…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 11 (part 10)
"Human reason can understand nothing about the kingdom of Christ, nor about His person or office, because the testament of Christ is celestial, and human reasoning is terrestrial; the latter seeks Christ in time, while He can only be found…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 12 (part 3)
He willingly surrendered Himself to the wrath (to the suffering caused by the lower principles that had been awakened to consciousness in consequence of the sin), and He extinguished it by His love. He came from God into this world and too…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 12 (part 4)
There was then no earthly food or drink, and the soul of Christ knew very well that she was in God, and that she could make terrestrial bread out of stones, as there was no other bread there. But she did not desire to eat with her celestia…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 13 (part 1)
p. 263 CHAPTER XIII. REGENERATION. "Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not of those things?" — John iii. 10. "Whoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me."— Luke ix. 23. No man c…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 13 (part 2)
265 To form a correct conception of the regeneration of man, and of what kind of a being it is which is to be brought to life in us, we must learn to know what is eternity and time, light and darkness, good and evil, and especially the orig…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 13 (part 4)
will enter the kingdom of heaven, but those who do the will of My Father in heaven." It would seem self-evident that no being inferior to the Father in heaven can possibly do the will of the Father, because no one can do the will of God unl…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 13 (part 5)
First, by the severe wrath of God, the abyss and dark world, which is the centre of the created life of the soul, whose innermost root is desire. The second chain is the fiery longing of the devil for the soul, in consequence of which he t…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 13 (part 6)
Often she is deluded with sin, and everything seems to be against her. You must continually battle against the devil. Then will the pearl-tree grow like grass in storm and rain; but when it becomes big and brings forth flowers, you may th…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 13 (part 8)
A sprout grows from the earth, and thus the substance of which it is formed flies from the earth and is attracted towards the sunlight until it becomes a plant or a tree. So does the divine Sun draw the human lily, i.e. , the new man in h…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 13 (part 11)
27.) No Christian should contemplate his own holiness, or fancy himself to be better than others; but he should rather realise his own unworthiness, and regret the perverted state of himself and of humanity as a whole. "No one should want…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 13 (part 14)
It would then be easy for us to grant our own desires, if in that divine state there could be room for personal desires of any kind. 268:1 True prayer is the bringing of will, thought, and word into one Δ by the power of the Spirit of God.…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 13 (part 15)
If he then, in his imagination, sinks himself into the abyss, he is then already there, and in this abyss is his pearl (the celestial jewel)." ( Grace , ii. 43.) 279:1 This may be expressed in other words by saying that desire gives rise t…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 14 (part 1)
p. 289 CHAPTER XIV. DEATH AND ETERNAL LIFE. "The mystic death is the beginning of eternal life." Man is a product of three worlds His spirit is of God, his soul from the constellation of the astral elements, his body from the elements of…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 14 (part 2)
2.) During his terrestrial existence man can remain consciously in the three worlds, and by the power of the will with which he is endowed penetrate into either one or the other; but after the separation of the soul from the body has taken…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 14 (part 8)
, in the heavenly essentiality (Devachan)—cannot be disturbed by anybody, unless they should wish it themselves, in case that they were very favourably inclined towards some particular soul in harmony with their own. They do not trouble th…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 14 (part 11)
309 As a matter of course, no dead soul can be made alive by prayer, neither can mere lip-prayer or any empty ceremony aid the soul in freeing herself from the bonds of matter, but the living may aid the "dead," and especially the dying, by…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 2 (part 4)
She is passive, but the Spirit of God is active, like the soul in the body." ( Clavis , v. 18.) This eternal Trinity is inconceivable in its aspect as a spiritual potentiality, in the same sense as a fire is inconceivable if it does not bu…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 4 (part 2)
91 "Christ never said, 'I, in my human selfhood, am the voice of God, I am speaking as God, in or with God,' &c.; but He said, 'The words which I speak are the Father's, who lives in me '—that is to say, who lives in my human or natural sel…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 4 (part 4)
We may say that the world, as we know it, is constituted entirely of forms of heat, or of motion, or of electric conditions, or light, &c., &c. All this is true in so far as it refers to the relations which it bears towards ourselves. All…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 4 (part 5)
90.) These "angels" (good or evil) are living and conscious powers existing in nature. Neither the power of God nor any angel, or devil or creature of any kind, can have any existence outside of Nature, i.e. , outside of the dark fire-gro…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 6 (part 6)
Not that he contains their essences, but their life arose from his centre in the beginning." ( Threefold Life , iv. 27.) "The sun is the heart of all the powers in this world, and is configurated from the powers of all the stars, while, on…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 6 (part 10)
126:1 The six "days" are the activities of the seven forms of eternal nature, the seventh is their centre or rest, or the "temperature." In the seventh, "God" appears as the "Christ." (See Grace , iii. 39.) 128:1 Three is the number of for…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 7 (part 4)
28.) "In Paradise the substance of the divine world penetrated the substance belonging to time, comparable to the power of the sun penetrating a fruit growing on a tree, and endowing it with such qualities as render it lovely to the sight a…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 7 (part 5)
13.) Man can attain real similarity to God and perfect beatitude only by decisively willing to put his will into the Son, as the Heart or Light of the Father. "God has the eternal and unchangeable will to generate His Heart and his Son, an…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 7 (part 7)
The heart of God wanted to have him in Paradise and to reside in him, for it said, 'He is my image and likeness.' The kingdom of wrath wanted him, for it said, 'He is mine; for he has issued out of my fountain, out of the eternal mind of th…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 8 (part 1)
p. 164 CHAPTER VIII. NATURE, OR THE THIRD PRINCIPLE. "The godless seeks for God outside of his own self, and the Christless sectarians seek for a personal Christ in history; but the man of God and the true Christian know God and Christ w…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 8 (part 3)
Thereby it receives the form of the latter as a light and power, without, however, being able to grasp the interior spirit itself; for the spirit does not dwell in the exterior, but has possession of its own self in its own interior state."…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 8 (part 5)
Thus the earth is filled with hunger after the stars and after the spiritus mundi , so that they have no peace." ( Clavis , 110.) "The earth is turning around because she has both fires, the hot and the cold fire, and that which is below al…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 8 (part 8)
For the internal being is continually labouring to manifest itself outwardly. Thus everything has its own mouth for the purpose of revealing itself, and therein is based the language of nature, by means of which each thing speaks out of it…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 8 (part 9)
Little would it benefit the blind to know of the light merely from hearsay. Little would it profit the "Christian" if he knew of a historical Christ, and could not perceive the glory and majesty of the Atma Buddhi within his own soul. Boe…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 10 (part 1)
p. 198 CHAPTER X. THE CHRIST. "The inner element which holds the whole body of this world has become the eternal body of Christ; for the whole of Divinity in the word and heart of God has entered therein in eternity; and the same Divinit…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 10 (part 9)
"All sacrificing without faith and divine desire is an p. 219 abomination before God, and does not reach the gate of divine glory; but if man enters therein with the power of faith, he surrenders to it his free will, and desires by that me…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 10 (part 10)
Thus the desire of God in the Word perceived the desire of man through the fire; for in the (divine) fire was consumed the animal vanity in the will of man, by means of the wrath, and then the purified human will, with the incorporated para…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 10 (part 11)
At the same time it made one fire out of the combination of the human life-fire and the divine love-fire, and therewith was constituted a true sacrifice of sin and restitution, because the sin was sacrificed to the fire of divine wrath, to…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 10 (part 14)
50.) 207:3 It should be remembered that these allegorical names do not refer to individual men, but to states of the universal mind. 208:1 " Seth " is a ray of love-light escaping from the fiery will. ( Mysterium Magnum , xxix. 24.) 209:…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 10 (part 15)
"The Spirit of Christ in His children is not bound to a certain form, so that He could say nothing but what is found in the writings of the apostles; but as the Spirit was free in the apostles, and as they did not all use the same expressio…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 10 (part 16)
21.) "If there were even a thousand persons well taught by God and regenerated in the Spirit of Christ assembled together, and if each of them had his own particular gift and self-knowledge in God, nevertheless they would all be one in the…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 11 (part 4)
"The Word of promise, which was before the Jews as an antitype, or as an image in a mirror, wherein the wrathful Father imagined and wherewith He extinguished His wrath, began to move essentially, as it had not moved from eternity; for when…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 11 (part 9)
225:1 All disputes about the nature of Christ only prove that the disputants are not Christians, because if they were true followers of the Christ they would have the living Christ within themselves, and know His true nature. The misunders…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 12 (part 1)
p. 242 CHAPTER XII. REDEMPTION. "God lives also in man. Therefore if we are but seeking and loving our own (true) self, we then love God. That which we do to each other we are doing to God. He who seeks and finds his brother and siste…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 12 (part 2)
1 "It was the will of God to transmute humanity, after it had become earthly, again into the celestial quality, to turn the human earth (material element) into heaven, to make out of the four elements only one, and to transform the wrath of…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 12 (part 6)
253 and shedding of blood. Adam's body died on the Cross, and Christ, born of Jesus and the sanctified seed of the woman, tinctured (blessed) him with His dear blood of love." ( Stiefel , ii. 494.) "The inner man Christ took our sins upon…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 12 (part 7)
All this He gave up entirely into the Father's hands as being the end of nature, the great mystery of the Father; but not so that it should be dead, but so that the Spirit of God should be therein all its life, and the divine regimen exist…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 12 (part 9)
8.) "When the earth received the blood of Christ she trembled and shook, for the wrath of God was now conquered in her, and there entered into her the living blood which had come from heaven out of the substantiality of God." ( Menschwerdun…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 13 (part 3)
To accomplish this he must rise by the aid of the divine Spirit within himself above the inferior elements within his own nature, and thus surrender his whole self-will to God, an act which is expressed in the original meaning of the word "…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 13 (part 12)
In the place which formerly was the seat of self-will there is now nothing, and wherever there is nothing there the love of God is solely active." ( Supernatural Life , xxviii.) "A true Christian knows himself to be a servant of God, whose…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 13 (part 13)
Nevertheless he has nothing (objectively), because that which is before Him is nothing in His comprehension, for it does not comprehend Him. Likewise will this be the state of a person according to his submitted will if he entirely surrend…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 14 (part 7)
This light moderates the action of the fiery will still active in them, the blessings of their good deeds surround them, the hope for still greater glorification is their life, and from the trouble and persecution which they have suffered t…”
← Collapse
finnic191
The Kalevala | Rune Ia
OF WAINAMOINEN. In primeval times, a maiden, Beauteous Daughter of the Ether, Passed for ages her existence In the great expanse of heaven, O'er the prairies yet enfolded. Wearisome the maiden growing, Her existence sad and hopeless, Thus…”
The Kalevala | Rune Ib
Surely would the winds destroy it, Far away the waves would wash it." Then the daughter of the Ether, Now the hapless water-mother, Raised her shoulders out of water, Raised her knees above the ocean, That the duck might build her dwelling,…”
The Kalevala | Rune Ic
Wainamoinen, old and trusty, Lingering within his dungeon Thirty summers altogether, And of winters, also thirty, Peaceful on the waste of waters, On the broad-sea's yielding bosom, Well reflected, long considered, How unborn to live and fl…”
The Kalevala | Rune IIa
'S SOWING. Then arose old Wainamoinen, With his feet upon the island, On the island washed by ocean, Broad expanse devoid of verdure; There remained be many summers, There he lived as many winters, On the island vast and vacant, well consi…”
The Kalevala | Rune IIb
Wainamoinen, old and trusty, Thought awhile, and well considered, How to kill the mighty oak-tree, First created for his pleasure, How to fell the tree majestic, How to lop its hundred branches. Sad the lives of man and hero, Sad the homes…”
The Kalevala | Rune IIc
Straightway to the oak-tree turning, Thither stalks the mighty giant, In his raiment long and roomy, Flapping in the winds of heaven; With his second step he totters On the land of darker color; With his third stop firmly planted, Reaches h…”
The Kalevala | Rune IId
Down from heaven came the eagle, Through the air be came a-flying, That he might this thing consider; And he spake the words that follow: "Wherefore, ancient Wainamoinen, Hast thou left the slender birch-tree, Left the birch-tree only stand…”
The Kalevala | Rune IIIa
AND YOUKAHAINEN. Wainamoinen, ancient minstrel, Passed his years in full contentment, On the meadows of Wainola, On the plains of Kalevala, Singing ever wondrous legends, Songs of ancient wit and wisdom, Chanting one day, then a second, Si…”
Show all 191 →
gnosticism170
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 1i
His seed was Jesus, and the plant was the cross.” The tree of life in the middle of that garden of paradise is an olive tree, and from the olive tree comes chrism, and from that oil comes the resurrection. THE WORLD EATS BODIES The world e…”
Gospel of Thomas | Logion 2
Jesus said, "Let him who seeks continue seeking until he finds. When he finds, he will become troubled. When he becomes troubled, he will be astonished, and he will rule over the All."…”
Gospel of Thomas | Logion 9
Jesus said, "Now the sower went out, took a handful (of seeds), and scattered them. Some fell on the road; the birds came and gathered them up. Others fell on the rock, did not take root in the soil, and did not produce ears. And others fel…”
Gospel of Thomas | Logion 10
Jesus said, "I have cast fire upon the world, and see, I am guarding it until it blazes."…”
Gospel of Thomas | Logion 11
Jesus said, "This heaven will pass away, and the one above it will pass away. The dead are not alive, and the living will not die. In the days when you consumed what is dead, you made it what is alive. When you come to dwell in the light, w…”
Gospel of Thomas | Logion 13
Jesus said to his disciples, "Compare me to someone and tell me whom I am like." Simon Peter said to him, "You are like a righteous angel." Matthew said to him, "You are like a wise philosopher." Thomas said to him, "Master, my mouth is who…”
Gospel of Thomas | Logion 40
Jesus said, "A grapevine has been planted outside of the father, but being unsound, it will be pulled up by its roots and destroyed."…”
Show all 170 →
greek_mystery157
Orphic Hymns | Front Matter, p. 4 (part 1)
SECT. II. LET us now proceed to his theology; exchanging the obscurity of conjecture for the light of clear evidence; and the intricate labyrinths of fable for the delightful though solitary paths of truth. p. 13 And here I must acquain…”
Orphic Hymns | Front Matter, p. 4 (part 2)
For a self-motive being, is the cause of motion to those, which are moved by another, in the same manner as that which is immovable, inserts in all beings the power of moving. And again, that which is moved only, must depend on those natur…”
Orphic Hymns | Front Matter, p. 4 (part 5)
And in the same place, Proclus has preserved to us another copy of Orphic verses, which are also found in the writer (de Mundo); previous to which he observes, that the demiurgus, or artificer of the world, being full of ideas, comprehended…”
Orphic Hymns | Front Matter, p. 4 (part 9)
For we preserve as sacred to those divinities, a perpetual fire in our temples; since this element is most similar to their lucid frames. But with respect to fumigations from herbs produced by the earth, they called the censer or pan, in w…”
Orphic Hymns | Front Matter, p. 4 (part 11)
As the husbandman, therefore, performs sacred rites, by presenting handfuls of pulse and fruits, so ought we to sacrifice our purest thoughts, and other goods of the soul, thanking the divinities for the sublime contemplations they afford u…”
Orphic Hymns | Front Matter, p. 4 (part 12)
But to the other Gods, to the world, and to the erratic and fixed stars, composed from body and soul, and to the visible divinities, testimonials of gratitude are to be offered by sacrificing with inanimate substances. After these there re…”
Orphic Hymns | Front Matter, p. 6 (part 1)
THE INITIATIONS OF ORPHEUS . p. 109 TO MUSÆUS * ATTEND Musæus to my sacred song, And learn what rites to sacrifice belong. Jove I invoke, the earth, and solar light, The moon's pure splendor, and the stars of night; p. 110 Thee Neptune,…”
Orphic Hymns | Hymn XI. HERCULES (part 1)
XI. TO HERCULES. The FUMIGATION from FRANKINCENSE. HEAR, pow'rful, Hercules untam'd and strong, To whom vast hands, and mighty works belong, Almighty Titan, prudent and benign, Of various forms, eternal and divine, Father of Time, the th…”
Show all 157 →
celtic80
The Mabinogion | Tale THE LADY OF THE FOUNTAINc
The man looked upon me, and he smiled and said, ‘If I did not fear to distress thee too much, I would show thee that which thou seekest.’ Upon this I became anxious and sorrowful, and when the man perceived it, he said, ‘If thou wouldest ra…”
The Mabinogion | Tale THE LADY OF THE FOUNTAINd
Under this tree is a fountain, and by the side of the fountain a marble slab, and on the marble slab a silver bowl, attached by a chain of silver, so that it may not be carried away. Take the bowl and throw a bowlful of water upon the slab…”
The Mabinogion | Tale THE LADY OF THE FOUNTAINe
So I returned along the road by which I had come. And when I reached the glade where the black man was, I confess to thee, Kai, it is a marvel that I did not melt down into a liquid pool, through the shame that I felt at the black man’s de…”
The Mabinogion | Tale THE LADY OF THE FOUNTAINf
And Owain made it known to him, and said, “I am in quest of the Knight who guards the fountain.” Upon this the yellow man smiled, and said that he was as loth to point out that adventure to Owain as he had been to Kynon. However, he descri…”
The Mabinogion | Tale THE LADY OF THE FOUNTAINn
And when they came near to the Earl’s army, they could see neither its extent nor its extremity. And Owain asked the pages in which troop the Earl was. “In yonder troop,” said they, “in which are four yellow standards. Two of them are be…”
The Mabinogion | Tale THE LADY OF THE FOUNTAINp
And the lion fought with the giant much more fiercely than Owain did. “Truly,” said the giant, “I should find no difficulty in fighting with thee, were it not for the animal that is with thee.” Upon that Owain took the lion back to the Cas…”
The Mabinogion | Tale PEREDUR THE SON OF EVRAWCi
“My sister,” said Peredur, “I will share out the food and the liquor.” “Not so, my soul,” said she. “By my faith but I will.” So Peredur took the bread, and he gave an equal portion of it to each alike, as well as a cup full of the liquor.…”
The Mabinogion | Tale PEREDUR THE SON OF EVRAWCk
“Behold,” said he, “I am the knight through whom thou art in trouble, and he shall repent it, who has treated thee thus.” Thereupon, behold a knight rode up, and he inquired of Peredur, if he had seen a knight such as he was seeking. “Hold…”
Show all 80 →
jewish_mysticism73
The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) | Page 3 (part 8)
Of special interest here is the mention of the Garden of Righteousness, and the Tree of Wisdom (xxviii.-xxxvi.). Much that is written in these chapters may appear p. xxi pointless and uninspiring; but we must bear in mind the purpose that…”
The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) | Chapter I
p. 31 BOOK OF ENOCH I-XXXVI I-V. Parable of Enoch on the Future Lot of the Wicked and the Righteous CHAPTER I. 1. The words of the blessing of Enoch, wherewith he blessed the elect ⌈⌈ and ⌉⌉ righteous, who will be living in the day of tribu…”
The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) | Chapter II
CHAPTER II. 1. Observe ye everything that takes place in the heaven, how they do not change their orbits, ⌈ and ⌉ the luminaries which are in the heaven, how they all rise and set in order each in its season, and transgress not against thei…”
The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) | Chapter V
CHAPTER V. 1. Observe ⌈⌈ ye ⌉⌉ how the trees cover themselves with green leaves and bear fruit: wherefore give ye heed ⌈ and know ⌉ with regard to all ⌈ His works ⌉ , and recognize how He that liveth for ever hath made them so. 2. And ⌈ all…”
The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) | Chapter IX
CHAPTER IX. 1. And then Michael, Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel looked down from heaven and saw much blood being shed upon the earth, and all lawlessness being wrought upon the earth. 2. And they said one to another: 'The earth made †without i…”
The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) | Chapter X (part 1)
CHAPTER X. 1. Then said the Most High, the Holy and Great One spake, and sent Uriel to the son of Lamech, and said to him: 2. ' 〈 Go to Noah 〉 and tell him in my name "Hide thyself!" and reveal to him the end that is approaching: that th…”
The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) | Chapter X (part 2)
And all desirable trees shall be planted on it, and they shall plant vines on it: and the vine which they plant thereon shall yield wine in abundance, and as for all the seed which is sown thereon each measure (of it) shall bear a thousand,…”
The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) | Chapter XI
CHAPTER XI. 1. And in those days I will open the store chambers of blessing which are in the heaven, so as to send them down ⌈ upon the earth ⌉ over the work and labour of the children of men. 2. And truth and peace shall be associated toge…”
Show all 73 →
western_esoteric67
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Life and Teachings of Thoth Hermes Trismegistusf
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) | Ceremonial Magic and Sorceryf
The words about the circle are the names of the invisible intelligences, and the small crosses mark points at which certain prayers and invocations are recited. The small circle outside is prepared for the spirit to be invoked, and while i…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Ceremonial Magic and Sorceryg
"I intreat thee, Pabiel , by the whole Spirit of Heaven, Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominations, Witnesses, Powers, Principalities, Archangels, and Angels, by the holy, great, and glorious Angels Orphaniel Tetra-Dagiel Salamla Acimoy past…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Qabbalah, the Secret Doctrine of Israeld
The third volume used as a reference was the Sepher Yetzirah , by the late Win. Wynn Westcott, Magus of the Rosicrucian Society of England. The fourth was the Sepher Yetzirah , or The Book of Creation, according to the translation in the…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Qabbalah, the Secret Doctrine of Israele
Concerning the number (10) of the spheres of existence (Sephiroth) out of Nothing, seal up your lips and guard your heart as you consider them, and if your month opens for utterance and your heart turns towards thought, control them, return…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Qabbalah, the Secret Doctrine of Israelj
He caused the letter ס(S) to predominate in sleep, crowned it, combined it with the others, and fashioned by them Sagittarius (the Archer) in the universe, the month Kislev in the year, and the stomach in the human body (male and female).…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Qabbalah, the Secret Doctrine of Israelk
God is One above three, three are above seven, seven are above twelve, yet all are linked together. 9. There are twenty-two letters by which the I AM (YAH), the Lord of Hosts, Almighty and Eternal, designed and created by three Sepharim (…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Qabbalistic Keys to the Creation of Manj
Many of the early Church Fathers sought to establish a direct relationship between Adam and Christ, thereby obviously discounting the extremely sinful nature of man's common ancestor, since it is quite certain that when St. Augustine liken…”
Show all 67 →
platonism52
Plato: Phaedo | Section 1c
They are two, and yet they grow together out of one head or stem; and I cannot help thinking that if Aesop had noticed them, he would have made a fable about God trying to reconcile their strife, and when he could not, he fastened their hea…”
Plato: Phaedo | Section 1d
Socrates replied: And have you, Cebes and Simmias, who are acquainted with Philolaus, never heard him speak of this? I never understood him, Socrates. My words, too, are only an echo; but I am very willing to say what I have heard: and in…”
Plato: Phaedo | Section 1e
And I rather imagine that Cebes is referring to you; he thinks that you are too ready to leave us, and too ready to leave the gods who, as you acknowledge, are our good rulers. Yes, replied Socrates; there is reason in that. And this indi…”
Plato: Phaedo | Section 1i
They are temperate because they are intemperate-which may seem to be a contradiction, but is nevertheless the sort of thing which happens with this foolish temperance. For there are pleasures which they must have, and are afraid of losing;…”
Plato: Phaedo | Section 1t
When Socrates had done speaking, for a considerable time there was silence; he himself and most of us appeared to be meditating on what had been said; only Cebes and Simmias spoke a few words to one another. And Socrates observing this ask…”
Plato: Phaedo | Section 1„
No other proof is needed, he said; for if the immortal, being eternal, is liable to perish, then nothing is imperishable. Yes, replied Socrates, all men will agree that God, and the essential form of life, and the immortal in general, will…”
Plato: Phaedo | Section 1‡
And upon the earth are animals and men, some in a middle region, others dwelling about the air as we dwell about the sea; others in islands which the air flows round, near the continent: and in a word, the air is used by them as the water a…”
Plato: Phaedo | Section 1Œ
He was beginning to grow cold about the groin, when he uncovered his face, for he had covered himself up, and said (they were his last words)-he said: Crito, I owe a cock to Asclepius; will you remember to pay the debt? The debt shall be p…”
Show all 52 →
mesopotamian48
Adapa and the Food of Life | Section 1a
ADAPA AND THE FOOD OF LIFE . TABLET NO.1 He possessed intelligence . . . , His command like the command of Anu ... He (Ea) granted him a wide ear to reveal the destiny of the land, He granted him wisdom, but he did not grant him eterna…”
Adapa and the Food of Life | Section 1b
Adapa, For whom art thou clad in a mourning garment?" In the country two gods have vanished; therefore am I clad In mourning garments." "Who are the two gods, who have vanished from the land?" "Tammuz and Gishzida." They looked at one anoth…”
The Descent of the Goddess Ishtar into the Lower World | Section 1a
Return to Ancient Near East index Return to Main Index DESCENT OF THE GODDESS ISHTAR INTO THE LOWER WORLD [From The Civilization of Babylonia and Assyria, M. Jastrow, 1915] To the land of no return, the land of darkness, Ishtar, the daught…”
The Descent of the Goddess Ishtar into the Lower World | Section 1c
Sprinkle Ishtar with the waters of life and take her out of my presence. Namtar went, knocked at the strong palace, Tapped on the threshold of precious stones. He brought out the Anunnaki and placed them on golden thrones, He sprinkled Is…”
Epic of Gilgamesh: Tablet I — The Tyranny of Gilgamish and the Creation of Enkidu | Tablet I, Section 1a
THE EPIC OF GILGAMISH. THE FIRST TABLET OF THE TYRANNY OF GILGAMISH, AND THE CREATION OF ENKIDU. . He who (the heart of) all matters hath proven let him [teach] the nation, [He who all] knowledge possesseth, therein shall he [school] all…”
Epic of Gilgamesh: Tablet I — The Tyranny of Gilgamish and the Creation of Enkidu | Tablet I, Section 1b
Gilgamish leaveth no son to his father, [his arrogance swelling] (Each) day and night; aye, he is the shepherd of Erech, [the high-wall’d], 25. He is their shepherd . . . masterful, dominant, subtle . . . Gilgamish leaveth no maid to…”
Epic of Gilgamesh: Tablet I — The Tyranny of Gilgamish and the Creation of Enkidu | Tablet I, Section 1c
"Gilgamish [dwelleth] in Erech, [my son, whom no one] hath vanquish’d, [(Nay, but) ’tis his strength is greatest (the length and breadth) of the country] [Like to a double of Anu's own self], his strength is [enormous], [Go, set] thy face […”
Epic of Gilgamesh: Tablet I — The Tyranny of Gilgamish and the Creation of Enkidu | Tablet I, Section 1d
Drank he his fill , with the beasts did his heart delight at the water, So beheld him the courtesan-girl, the lusty great fellow, (O but) a monster (all) savage from out of the depths of the desert! "’Tis he, O girl! O, discover thy beaut…”
Show all 48 →
zoroastrianism39
Avesta (Gathas) | Ahunavaiti Gatha, Yasna XXVIII, Section 1a
1. (A strengthening blessing 1 is the thought, a blessing is the word, a blessing is the deed of the righteous Zarathu s tra. May the Bountiful Immortals 2 accept and help on 3 the chants. Homage to you, O sacred Gâthas 4 !) 2. With ven…”
Avesta (Gathas) | Ahunavaiti Gatha, Yasna XXVIII, Section 1b
(And) do thou, O (Divine) Righteousness, bestow (upon me) that sacred blessing which is constituted by the attainments of the Good Mind (within my soul) 3 ; and do thou also, O Piety! grant unto p. 22 [paragraph continues] Vî s tâspa and…”
Avesta (Gathas) | Ahunavaiti Gatha, Yasna XXIX, Section 1a
(Homage to you, O Sacred Gâthas!) 1. Unto you (O Ahura and Asha!) the Soul of the Kine (our sacred herds and folk) cried aloud: For whom did ye create me, and by 1 whom did ye fashion me? On me comes the assault of wrath, and of violent p…”
Avesta (Gathas) | Ahunavaiti Gatha, Yasna XXIX, Section 1b
Ahura. 8. This man is found for me here who alone 4 has p. 11 hearkened to our enunciations, Zarathu s tra Spitama! Our mighty and completed acts of grace he desires to enounce for us, for (Me), the Great Creator and for Righteousness;…”
Avesta (Gathas) | Ahunavaiti Gatha, Yasna XXX, Section 1a
1. And now I will proclaim, O ye who are drawing near and seeking 1 to be taught! those animadversions 2 which appertain to Him who knows (all things) whatsoever; the praises which are for Ahura, and the sacrifices (which spring) from the…”
Avesta (Gathas) | Ahunavaiti Gatha, Yasna XXX, Section 1b
And may we be such as those who bring on p. 34 this great renovation, and make this world progressive, (till its perfection shall have been reached). (As) the Ahuras of Mazda 1 (even) may we be; (yea, like Thyself), in helpful readiness t…”
Avesta (Gathas) | Ahunavaiti Gatha, Yasna XXXI, Section 1a
1. These doctrines (therefore) we are earnestly declaring to You as we recite them forth from memory, words (till now) unheard 1 (with faith) by those who by means of the doctrinal vows 2 of the harmful Lie are delivering the settlements o…”
Avesta (Gathas) | Ahunavaiti Gatha, Yasna XXXI, Section 1b
as the one to be adored with the mind in the creation, as the Father of the Good Mind within us, when I beheld Thee 7 with my (enlightened) eyes as the veritable maker of our Righteousness, as the Lord of the actions of life 8 ! 9. Thine,…”
Show all 39 →
hermeticism36
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 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 3: The Sacred Sermon | Section 1
The Sacred Sermon 1. The Glory of all things is God, Godhead and Godly Nature. Source of the things that are is God, who is both Mind and Nature - yea Matter, the Wisdom that reveals all things. Source [too] is Godhead - yea Nature, Energy,…”
Corpus Hermeticum 5: The Discourse of Hermes to Asclepius | Section 1c
And for this cause hath He all names, in that they are one Father's. And for this cause hath He Himself no nome, in that He's Father of [them] all. Who, then, may sing Thee praise of Thee, or [praise] to Thee? Whither, again, am I to tur…”
Corpus Hermeticum 8: The Eight Sphere | Section 1a
That No One of Existing Things doth Perish, but Men in Error Speak of Their Changes as Destructions and as Deaths <The idea of cyclic change central to CH III, "The Sacred Sermon", also takes center stage here. A current of ancient specula…”
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…”
Show all 36 →
renaissance_hermeticism31
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | INTRODUCTIONh
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) | INTRODUCTIONl
There he passed the first day of that imprisonment which was to last for eight years. The next day he went over the lagoon in a gondola, in the company of his jailors, who took him to the prison of the Holy Office, and left him there. Lev…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | First Dialoguec
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) | Third Dialogued
In this disposition, I believe, was the Nolano when he said: 14. Woe's me! my fury forces me To union with the bad within, And makes it seem a love supreme and good. Wearied, my soul cares nought That I opposing counsels entertain, And w…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Third Dialoguef
Fitly, therefore, this rapture of heroic enthusiasm feeds on such "high emprise." For the object is infinite, and in action most simple, and our intellectual power cannot apprehend the infinite except in speech or in a certain manner of spe…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Fifth Dialoguea
. I. Cic . Now show me how I may be able for myself to consider the conditions of these enthusiasts, through that which appears in the order of the warfare here described. Tans . Behold how they carry the ensign of their affections or…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Fifth Dialogueh
That legend contains all the meaning of the thing in so far as it can be explained, for it means that he turns and is turned, that is to say movement present and accomplished. Cic. Excellent! And therefore those circles which so ill expl…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Fifth Dialoguei
It seems to me, that it means that his particular intelligence is to the universal intelligence ever the same—that is to say, the one is ever illuminated by the other, over the whole hemisphere; notwithstanding that to the inferior powers,…”
Show all 31 →
mandaean30
Gnostic John the Baptizer — Portents at John's Birth | Section 4
Yahyā proclaims in the nights, Yōhānā on the Night's evenings. 4 YAHYĀ proclaims in the nights and says: "Through my Father's discourses I give light and through the praise of the Man, my creator, I have freed my soul from the world and fr…”
Gnostic John the Baptizer — Portents at John's Birth | Section 5
The Sun opened his mouth and spake unto Yahyā: 2 "Thou hast three [head-] bands [and] a crown which equals in worth the whole world. Thou hast a ship of mashklil , 3 which sails about here on the Jordan. Thou hast a great vessel which sails…”
Gnostic John the Baptizer — Portents at John's Birth | Section 8
[What follows is presumably the beginning of the Letter.] Gnosis of Life 8 who is far from the height [writes]: "I have come unto thee, O Soul, whom Life has sent into this world. In robes of the Eight 9 went I into the world. I went in t…”
Gnostic John the Baptizer — Portents at John's Birth | Section 9
JOHN AND THE BAPTISM OF JESUS (§ 30). Yahyā proclaims in the nights, Yōhānā on the Night's evenings. YAHYĀ proclaims in the nights.—Glory rises over the worlds. Who told Yeshu (Eshu)? Who told Yeshu Messiah, son of Miryam, who told Yeshu…”
Gnostic John the Baptizer — Portents at John's Birth | Section 10
"A blind man who writes a letter: a villain who has become virtuous. He abandoned wantonness and abandoned theft and reached unto faith in almighty Life. "A desolate house who ascends again to the height: one of position who has become hum…”
Gnostic John the Baptizer — Portents at John's Birth | Section 11
[? Gnosis of Life speaks (cp. § 29):] "Let me warn you, my brothers, let me warn you, my beloved! Let me warn you, my brothers, against the . . . who are like unto the cross. They lay it on the walls; then stand there and bow down to the b…”
Gnostic John the Baptizer — Portents at John's Birth | Section 12
Thereon they 3 fashioned for Yahyā a wife out of thee, thou Region of the Faithful. 4 From the first conception were Handan and Sharrath born. From the middle conception were Birhām and R'himath-Haiyē born. From the last conception were Nṣa…”
Gnostic John the Baptizer — Portents at John's Birth | Section 14
When Enishbai heard this, she cried out and she said: "Of all these names which you name, will I not give him one; but the name Yahyā-Yōhānā will I give him, [the name] which Life's self has given unto him." When the Jews heard this, they…”
Show all 30 →
norse26
The Poetic Edda: Hovamol | Section 1b
Hail to the giver! | a guest has come; Where shall the stranger sit? Swift shall he be who, | with swords shall try The proof of his might to make. [1. This stanza is quoted by Snorri, the second line being omitted in most of the Prose…”
The Poetic Edda: Hovamol | Section 1c
Gunnloth : the daughter of the giant Suttung, from whom Othin won the mead of poetry. For this episode see stanzas 104-110. 14. Fjalar : apparently another name for Suttung. This stanza, and probably 13, seem to have been inserted as il…”
The Poetic Edda: Hovamol | Section 1d
Forth shall one go, | nor stay as a guest In a single spot forever; p. 36 Love becomes loathing | if long one sits By the hearth in another's home. 36. Better a house, | though a hut it be, A man is master at home; A pair of goats | and…”
The Poetic Edda: Hovamol | Section 1f
Fire for men | is the fairest gift, And power to see the sun; Health as well, | if a man may have it, And a life not stained with sin. 69. All wretched is no man, | though never so sick; Some from their sons have joy, Some win it from kin…”
The Poetic Edda: Hovamol | Section 1g
The stanza-form is so irregular as to show either that something has been lost or that there have been interpolations. The manuscript indicates no lacuna; Gering fills out the assumed gap as follows: "Certain is that which is sought from r…”
The Poetic Edda: Hovamol | Section 1h
In a brother's slayer, | if thou meet him abroad, In a half-burned house, | in a horse full swift-- One leg is hurt | and the horse is useless-- None had ever such faith | as to trust in them all. 89. Hope not too surely | for early harve…”
The Poetic Edda: Hovamol | Section 1j
On his ring swore Othin | the oath, methinks; Who now his troth shall trust? Suttung's betrayal | he sought with drink, And Gunnloth to grief he left. * * * 111. It is time to chant | from the chanter's stool; By the wells of Urth I was,…”
The Poetic Edda: Hovamol | Section 1k
I saw a man | who was wounded sore By an evil woman's word; A lying tongue | his death-blow launched, And no word of truth there was. 119. I rede thee, Loddfafnir! | and hear thou my rede,-- Profit thou hast if thou hearest, Great thy ga…”
Show all 26 →
sufism17
The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | PROLOGUEa
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) | PROLOGUEb
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 Ia
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 IIIa
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 IV
Another Tyrannical Jewish King. A certain Jewish king, the same who is referred to in the Sura "Signs of the Zodiac," I made up his mind to utterly exterminate the Christian faith, and with that view he set up a huge idol, and issued comman…”
The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY Va
The Lion and the Beasts. In the book of Kalila and Damna a story is told of a lion who held all the beasts of the neighborhood in subjection, and was in the habit of making constant raids upon them, to take and kill such of them as he requ…”
The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY Vc
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 VIa
Omar and the Ambassador. The hare, having delivered his companions from the tyranny of the lion, in the manner just described, proceeds to improve the occasion by exhorting them to engage in a greater and more arduous warfare, viz., the st…”
Show all 17 →
taoism6
Tao Te Ching | Chapter 67
All the world says that, while my Tao is great, it yet appears to be inferior (to other systems of teaching). Now it is just its greatness that makes it seem to be inferior. If it were like any other (system), for long would its smallness h…”
Tao Te Ching | Chapter 79
When a reconciliation is effected (between two parties) after a great animosity, there is sure to be a grudge remaining (in the mind of the one who was wrong). And how can this be beneficial (to the other)? Therefore (to guard against this)…”
The Writings of Chuang Tzu (Inner Chapters) | Book 128 (part 5)
Dze-sze 1 , Dze-yü 1 , Dze-1î 1 , and Dze-lâi 1 , these four men, were talking together, when some one said, 'Who can suppose the head to be made from nothing, the spine from life, and the rump-bone from death? Who knows how death and birt…”
Tao Te Ching | Chapter 6
The valley spirit dies not, aye the same; The female mystery thus do we name. Its gate, from which at first they issued forth, Is called the root from which grew heaven and earth. Long and unbroken does its power remain, Used gently, and wi…”
Tao Te Ching | Chapter 39
The things which from of old have got the One (the Tao) are-- Heaven which by it is bright and pure; Earth rendered thereby firm and sure; Spirits with powers by it supplied; Valleys kept full throughout their void All creatures which throu…”
Tao Te Ching | Chapter 51
All things are produced by the Tao, and nourished by its outflowing operation. They receive their forms according to the nature of each, and are completed according to the circumstances of their condition. Therefore all things without excep…”
buddhism1
The Dhammapada | Chapter XIV, Section 1c
But that is not a safe refuge, that is not the best refuge; a man is not delivered from all pains after having gone to that refuge. 190. He who takes refuge with Buddha, the Law, [188-192. These verses occur in Sanskrit in the Prâtihârya…”
upanishads1
Îsâ-Upanishad | Îsâ, Section 1b
Remember thy deeds 5 ! 18. Agni, lead us on to wealth (beatitude) by a good path, thou, O God, who knowest all things! p. 314 [paragraph continues] Keep far from us crooked evil, and we shall offer thee the fullest praise! (Rv. I, 189…”