Paradox As Teaching

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 IV-a

“With respect to your inquiry, “ what the peculiarities are in each of the more excellent genera, by which they are separated from each other? ” if you understand by peculiarities the specific differences under the same genus, which are dis…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter IV-b

“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 V-b

“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 VI

“What, therefore, shall we say concerning the media? I think, indeed, that from what has been before said, they will be manifest to every one; for these give completion to the indivisible connexion of the extremes. Nevertheless, it is necess…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VII

“Of the extremes, therefore, one is supreme, transcendent, and perfect; but the other is last in dignity, deficient, and more imperfect. And the former, indeed, is capable of accomplishing all things at once, uniformly in an instant; but the…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-a

“But neither must we admit that cause of the distinction of these genera which you subjoin, viz. “ that it is an arrangement with reference to different bodies; as, for instance, 39 of Gods to etherial bodies, but of dæmons to aerial bodies…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-b

“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 IX-a

“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 X-a

“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…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XV-a

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

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XVI

“The difference which separates “ Gods from dæmons by the corporeal and incorporeal ,” is the next thing that follows in what you have written; this being much more common than the former difference, and yet it is so far from expressing the…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XVII

“We will exchange, therefore, this division for the doubt which may be adduced by you against the present opinion. “ For ,” it may be said by you, “ how, conformably to what we assert, can the sun and moon, and the visible natures in the hea…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XVIII-a

“Your next inquiry doubts, “ how some of the Gods are beneficent, but others malefic .” This opinion, therefore, is assumed from the predictors of nativities. It is, however, entirely remote from the truth. For all the Gods are good, and i…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XIX-a

“In the next place, therefore, we shall answer your question, “ What it is which conjoins the Gods that have a body in the heavens with the incorporeal Gods. ” What this is, therefore, is evident from what has been before said. For 72 if t…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XIX-b

“And secondary genera, indeed, remain with invariable sameness in the one of such as are primary; but the primary impart from themselves union to the secondary genera, and all of them possess in each other the communion of an indissoluble co…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XX

“After this, you again resume the same inquiries, of which what has been already said may be considered as a sufficient solution. Since, however, it is necessary, according to the proverb, frequently to speak of and consider things that are…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XXI

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

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter IV-a

“Proceeding, therefore, to other peculiarities of them, we say, that with the Gods, indeed, there is acuteness and rapidity in the energies, which shine forth with greater celerity than those of intellect itself, though in themselves they ar…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter X-a

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

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter X-b

“For if these are not true, but other things are so which have a real existence, thus also in the appearances of spirits, they seem to be such as things which are true beings; at the same time they participate of falsehood and deception, in…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XI-a

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

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XI-b

“Those assertions, also, of yours pertain to the same thing, in which you say, “ that the science of the Gods is sacred and useful, and call the ignorance of things honourable and beautiful darkness, but the knowledge of them light; and also…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter I

“In the first place, therefore, you ask me to explain to you distinctly, “ what that is which is effected in the foreknowledge of future events? ” Immediately, however, that which you endeavour to learn is impossible. For, according to the m…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter V

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

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XVII-a

“In the next place you inquire “ concerning the mode of divination, what it is, and what the quality is by which it is distinguished ,” which we have already explained, both generally and particularly. But you, in the first place, represent…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XVII-b

“For, as he sometimes makes some stupid man to speak wisely, through which it becomes manifest to every one, that this is not a certain human but a divine work; thus, also, he reveals through things which are deprived of knowledge, conceptio…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XVIII

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

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XIX

“But neither does the cause [of the energies] of more excellent natures subsist as a certain middle instrument, nor does he who invokes operate through him who prophesies; for to assert these things is impious. And it is much more true to sa…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XXI

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

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XXII

“You say, therefore, “ that the soul generates the power which has an imaginative perception of futurity, through motions of this kind, or 177 that the things which are adduced from matter constitute dæmons through the powers that are inhere…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XXIV

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

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XXV

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

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XXVI

“There are many other contentious innovations also, which may be the subject of wonder. But some one may justly be astonished at the contrariety of opinions produced by admitting either that the truth of divination is with enchanters, the wh…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XXVII-a

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

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XXVIII-a

“You adduce, however, as a thing by no means to be despised, “ the artificers of efficacious images .” But I should wonder if these were admitted by any one of the theurgists who survey the true forms of the Gods. For why should any one exc…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XXIX

“Why, therefore, does the maker of images, who effects these things, desert himself, though he is better than these images, and consists of 195 things of a more excellent nature, and confide in inanimate idols, which are inspired with the re…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XXX

“You say, however, “ that the makers of images observe the motion of the celestial bodies, and can tell from the concurrence of what star, with a certain star or stars, predictions will be true or false; and also whether the things that are…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter I

“Let us then, in the next place, consider the opposing arguments, what they are, and what reason they possess. And if we should discuss some things a little more abundantly, in consequence of speaking freely and at leisure, it is requisite t…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter III

“Dissolving, however, the doubts in a way still more true, we think it requisite, in invoking superior natures, to take away the evocations 208 which appear to be directed to them as to men, and also the mandates in the performance of works,…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VII

“Moreover, it is necessary to add the causes whence evils sometimes arise, and to show how many and of what kind they are. For the form of them is not simple; but, being various, is the leader of the generation of various evils. For if what…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter X

“We shall collect, therefore, what happens from these conclusions. For if certain invocators employ the physical or corporeal powers of the universe, an involuntary gift of energy [from these powers], and which is without vice, takes place.…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XII

“It is, necessary, however, to discuss these things particularly, and to show how they subsist, and what reason they possess. It is requisite, therefore, to understand that the universe is one animal; and that the parts in it are, indeed, se…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XIII

“Consider, therefore, also another genus of causes; how a stone or a herb frequently possess from themselves a nature corruptive, or again collective of generated natures. For this is not only the case with these, but this physical power is…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter II

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

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter IV-b

“For how, in short, can that which is not possess in itself a certain contest [with any thing]? You in vain, therefore, suspect things of this kind to be absurd, and you adduce doubts unworthy of the Gods, since they cannot be reasonably ap…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter V

“Your next inquiry is of greater consequence, and is concerning things of a greater nature. How, therefore, shall I be able, briefly and sufficiently, to give you an answer to a question which is extremely difficult, and requires a long expl…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter X-a

“We, however, admit all these assertions; physical essences, indeed, being coexcited as in one animal, according to aptitude or sympathy, as in another respect being subjects, and following and being subservient to the cause of the efficacy…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter X-b

“If, therefore, it is impossible that we should be the primordial causes of dæmons, it is, for the same reason, impossible that we should be the causes of their nutriment. 245…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XI

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

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XV

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

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter I

“It is now, however, time for me to pass on to the next doubt which you propose, viz. “ Why it is requisite that the inspector [who presides over sacred rites] ought not to touch a dead body, though most sacred operations are performed throu…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter IV

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

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter II

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

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter III

“Since, however, every part of the heavens, every sign of the zodiac, all the motion of the heavens, every period of time according to which the world is moved, and all things contained in the wholes of the universe, receive the powers which…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VII

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

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII

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

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter X

“And this order is adapted to dæmons; one part of it being allied to those that are invoked; another being derived from more ancient causes; and the third part effecting a common completion from both the others. Do not, therefore, assimilate…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter II

“Hence you in vain doubt, “ that it is not proper to look to human opinions .” For what leisure can he have whose intellect is directed to the Gods to look downward to the praises of men? Nor do you rightly doubt in what follows, viz. “ that…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter III

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

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-b

“Or we say that the good which subsists in us may be considered as a habit, in consequence of subsisting in a subject; the next to this ranks as essence, and a part of essence, I mean the good which ranks among forms; and the good which is b…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-e

““The divine Iamblichus, however, doubts how the Gods are said to be allotted certain places according to definite times, as, by Plato in the Timæus, Minerva is said to have been first allotted the guardianship of Athens, and afterwards of S…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-g

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

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-i

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

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-j

“the connective, perfective, demiurgic, assimilative, and such others as are celebrated posterior to these; so that all are in all, and yet each is at the same time separate and distinct. “Indeed we obtain this knowledge of their union and…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-l

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

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-p

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

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-s

“Hence the Emperor Julian, in the fragments of his treatise against the Christians, preserved by Ciryl, says, speaking of the Christians, “If any one wishes to consider the truth respecting you, he will find that your impiety consists of the…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-u

“ελευθεροι δε οντες υπερανω παντων, ωσπερ φυλακες και επισκοποι ακριβεις του παντος, περιεχονται τῳ νυχθημερῳ το παν.——εχουσι προς ημας την μεγιστην δυναμιν. i. e. “We say, O son, that the body [of the universe] is comprehensive of all th…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-x

“κᾳν επι του ωκεανου ελθῃς τας ηϊονας, κᾳκει θεοι, τοις μεν ανισχοντες αγχου μαλα, τοις δε καταδυομενοι. Dissert. i. Edit. Princ. 4 . “Diogenes Laertius says of Pythagoras, that he charged his disciples not to give equal degrees of hon…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-y

“Lond. 1676. p. 211. 7 . Arrian. de Exped. Alex. l. iv. et Curt. lib. viii. 8 . Vit. Artaxerx. Ælian. Var. Hist. lib. i. c. 21. 9 . Justin. lib. vi. 10 . Panegyr. 11 . Lib. vii. 12 . Lib. vi. cap. iii. 13…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-aa

“The following testimony of an anonymous Greek writer, prefixed to the manuscript of this treatise, which Gale published, proves that this work was written by Iamblichus: Ιστεον οτι ο φιλοσοφος Προκλος υπομνηματιζων τας του μεγαλου Πλωτινου…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-ac

“The nature of the one , as it is all-receptive , and all-productive ( πανδεχης και παντοφυης ) exhibits in itself a certain representation and indication of multitude; for it is all things prior to all. 40 . For the Gods are essentialized…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-ag

“Moreover, if it should happen that the whole race of some one successively use land which had originally been plundered, in this case, the injury in the first place becomes immanifest, and on this account is more difficult to be cured; and,…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-al

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

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-aq

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

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-au

“The Pythagoreans, likewise, adorned numbers and figures with the appellations of the Gods. For they called the equilateral triangle, Minerva Coryphagenes, or begotten from the summit, and Tritogeneia because it is divided by three perpendi…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-ax

““This is spoken after the manner of the pontiffs, by whom, according to ancient rites, in all sacrifices, after the appropriate Gods whom it was necessary to invoke to the sacrifice, all the divinities were invoked in general.” And in his A…”

Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-bc

“De Abstinentia, “to be a lover of truth, an accurate writer, and very conversant with the Stoic philosophy.” Τοιαυτα μεν τα κατ’ Αιγυπτιους υπ’ ανδρος φιλαληθους τε και ακριβους, εντε τοις Στωϊκοις πραγματικωτατα φιλοσοφησαντος μεμαρτυρημεν…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 16

“Section 12 12. But if Soul is sinless, how come the expiations? Here surely is a contradiction; on the one side the Soul is above all guilt; on the other, we hear of its sin, its purification, its expiation; it is doomed to the lower world,…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 19 (part 2)

“So with us: it is from the Supreme that we derive order and distribution and harmony, which are virtues in this sphere: the Existences There, having no need of harmony, order or distribution, have nothing to do with virtue; and, none the le…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 20

“Section 2 2. First, then, let us examine those good qualities by which we hold Likeness comes, and seek to establish what is this thing which, as we possess it, in transcription, is virtue but as the Supreme possesses it, is in the nature o…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 44

“Section 11 11. We shall perhaps be told that in such a state the man is no longer alive: we answer that these people show themselves equally unable to understand his inner life and his happiness. If this does not satisfy them, we must ask t…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 48

“Section 15 15. But suppose two wise men, one of them possessing all that is supposed to be naturally welcome, while the other meets only with the very reverse: do we assert that they have an equal happiness? We do, if they are equally wise.…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 81 (part 1)

“Section 6 6. If this be so, how do we explain the teaching that evils can never pass away but "exist of necessity," that "while evil has no place in the divine order, it haunts mortal nature and this place for ever"? Does this mean that h…”

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

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

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 101

“Section 2 2. And what of lower things? [Why have they not this motion?] [Their case is very different]: the single thing here is not an all but a part and limited to a given segment of space; that other realm is all, is space, so to speak,…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 116

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

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 123

“Section 1 1. By common agreement of all that have arrived at the conception of such a Kind, what is known as Matter is understood to be a certain base, a recipient of Form-Ideas. Thus far all go the same way. But departure begins with the a…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 128

“Section 6 6. We are led thus to the question of receptivity in things of body. An additional proof that bodies must have some substratum different from themselves is found in the changing of the basic-constituents into one another. Notice t…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 140

“Section 1 1. A distinction is made between things existing actually and things existing potentially; a certain Actuality, also, is spoken of as a really existent entity. We must consider what content there is in these terms. Can we distingu…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 144

“Section 5 5. How can we talk of it? How can it be the Matter of real things? It is talked of, and it serves, precisely, as a Potentiality. And, as being a Potentiality, it is not of the order of the thing it is to become: its existence is n…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 146 (part 1)

“Section 1 1. Are not Being and Reality (to on and he ousia) distinct; must we not envisage Being as the substance stripped of all else, while Reality is this same thing, Being, accompanied by the others- Movement, Rest, Identity, Differenc…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 161

“Section 5 5. Still more unreasonably: There are men, bound to human bodies and subject to desire, grief, anger, who think so generously of their own faculty that they declare themselves in contact with the Intelligible World, but deny that…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 169

“Section 13 13. Those, then, that censure the constitution of the Kosmos do not understand what they are doing or where this audacity leads them. They do not understand that there is a successive order of Primals, Secondaries, Tertiaries and…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 181 (part 2)

“And notice further that physical likeness to the parents- the Astrologers hold- is of purely domestic origin: this implies that ugliness and beauty are so caused and not by astral movements. Again, there must at one and the same time be a…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 194

“Section 7 7. A preliminary observation: in looking for excellence in this thing of mixture, the Kosmos, we cannot require all that is implied in the excellence of the unmingled; it is folly to ask for Firsts in the Secondary, and since this…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 195 (part 1)

“Section 8 8. Thus we come to our enquiry as to the degree of excellence found in things of this Sphere, and how far they belong to an ordered system or in what degree they are, at least, not evil. Now in every living being the upper parts…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 200

“Section 13 13. And we must not despise the familiar observation that there is something more to be considered than the present. There are the periods of the past and, again, those in the future; and these have everything to do with fixing w…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 203 (part 2)

“That one Reason-Principle, then, must be the unification of conflicting Reason-Principles whose very opposition is the support of its coherence and, almost, of its Being. And indeed, if it were not multiple, it could not be a Universal Pri…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 204 (part 1)

“Section 17 17. The nature of the Reason-Principle is adequately expressed in its Act and, therefore, the wider its extension the nearer will its productions approach to full contrariety: hence the world of sense is less a unity than is its…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 204 (part 2)

“But these actors, Souls, hold a peculiar dignity: they act in a vaster place than any stage: the Author has made them masters of all this world; they have a wide choice of place; they themselves determine the honour or discredit in which th…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 207

“Section 1 1. What is our answer? All events and things, good and evil alike, are included under the Universal Reason-Principle of which they are parts- strictly "included" for this Universal Idea does not engender them but encompasses them.…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 213

“Section 7 7. And since the higher exists, there must be the lower as well. The Universe is a thing of variety, and how could there be an inferior without a superior or a superior without an inferior? We cannot complain about the lower in th…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 225

“Section 4 4. Does each individual Soul, then, contain within itself such a Love in essence and substantial reality? Since not only the pure All-Soul but also that of the Universe contain such a Love, it would be difficult to explain why our…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 228 (part 1)

“Section 7 7. This is the significance of Plato's account of the birth of Love. The drunkenness of the father Poros or Possession is caused by Nectar, "wine yet not existing"; Love is born before the realm of sense has come into being: Pen…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 238 (part 1)

“Section 6 6. the Intellectual Essence, wholly of the order of Ideal-form, must be taken as impassive has been already established. But Matter also is an incorporeal, though after a mode of its own; we must examine, therefore, how this sta…”

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

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

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 240

“Section 8 8. It is a general principle that, to be modified, an object must be opposed in faculty, and in quality to the forces that enter and act upon it. Thus where heat is present, the change comes by something that chills, where damp by…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 246

“Section 14 14. But would this mean that if there were no Matter nothing would exist? Precisely as in the absence of a mirror, or something of similar power, there would be no reflection. A thing whose very nature is to be lodged in somethin…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 248

“Section 16 16. An Ideal-Principle approaches and leads Matter towards some desired dimension, investing this non-existent underlie with a magnitude from itself which never becomes incorporate- for Matter, if it really incorporated magnitude…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 256

“Section 4 4. We must, however, avoid thinking of it as an accidental from outside grafted upon that Nature: it is native to it, integral to it. It is discerned as present essentially in that Nature like everything else that we can predicate…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 257

“Section 5 5. This Ever-Being is realized when upon examination of an object I am able to say- or rather, to know- that in its very Nature it is incapable of increment or change; anything that fails by that test is no Ever-Existent or, at le…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 264 (part 1)

“Section 12 12. We are brought thus to the conception of a Natural-Principle- Time- a certain expanse [a quantitative phase] of the Life of the Soul, a principle moving forward by smooth and uniform changes following silently upon each othe…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 272

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

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 275 (part 1)

“Section 9 9. Clearly a Being of this nature is not the primal existent; there must exist that which transcends it, that Being [the Absolute], to which all our discussion has been leading. In the first place, Plurality is later than Unity.…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 283

“Section 1 1. In the Intellectual Kosmos dwells Authentic Essence, with the Intellectual-Principle [Divine Mind] as the noblest of its content, but containing also souls, since every soul in this lower sphere has come thence: that is the wor…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 285 (part 2)

“The magnitude present in any mass is definitely one thing, yet its identity from part to part does not imply any such community as would entail common experience; within that identity there is diversity, for it is a condition only, not the…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 288

“Section 1 1. The soul: what dubious questions concerning it admit of solution, or where we must abide our doubt- with, at least, the gain of recognizing the problem that confronts us- this is matter well worth attention. On what subject can…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 293

“Section 6 6. But how comes it that while the All-Soul has produced a kosmos, the soul of the particular has not, though it is of the one ideal Kind and contains, it too, all things in itself? We have indicated that a thing may enter and dwe…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 294

“Section 7 7. So far, so good: but what of the passage in the Philebus taken to imply that the other souls are parts of the All-Soul? The statement there made does not bear the meaning read into it; it expresses only, what the author was the…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 295 (part 1)

“Section 8 8. These considerations, amounting to the settlement of the question, are not countered by the phenomenon of sympathy; the response between soul and soul is due to the mere fact that all spring from that self-same soul [the next…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 296 (part 2)

“The universe spreads as broad as the presence of soul; the bound of its expansion is the point at which, in its downward egression from the Supreme, it still has soul to bind it in one: it is a shadow as broad as the Reason-Principle procee…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 303

“Section 16 16. The punishment justly overtaking the wicked must therefore be ascribed to the kosmic order which leads all in accordance with the right. But what of chastisements, poverty, illness, falling upon the good outside of all justic…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 306

“Section 19 19. Are we to think of the indivisible phase of the soul and the divided as making one thing in a coalescence; or is the indivisible in a place of its own and under conditions of its own, the divisible being a sequent upon it, a…”

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

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

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 312

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

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 313 (part 2)

“This being admitted, aspiration will belong to soul, and so, as a consequence, will that memory of the aspiration and of its attainment or frustration, without which the soul's nature would fall into the category of the unstable [that is to…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 327

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

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 328 (part 2)

“And if it is in eternal perfection, it has no points of time and place at which it will achieve perfection; it will, therefore, have no concern about attaining to any such points: it will, therefore, make no measurements of time or place; i…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 351 (part 2)

“It is not to be thought that such beings engage themselves in human affairs in the sense of making men thieves, slave-dealers, burglars, temple-strippers, or debased effeminates practising and lending themselves to disgusting actions: that…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 355 (part 2)

“Why else do certain groupments, in contradistinction to others, terrify at sight though there has been no previous experience of evil from them? If some men are alarmed by a particular groupment and others by quite a different one, the rea…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 411

“Section 2 2. Now to begin with, the unity of soul, mine and another's, is not enough to make the two totals of soul and body identical. An identical thing in different recipients will have different experiences; the identity Man, in me as I…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 419

“Section 3 3. The Soul once seen to be thus precious, thus divine, you may hold the faith that by its possession you are already nearing God: in the strength of this power make upwards towards Him: at no great distance you must attain: there…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 420

“Section 4 4. But there is yet another way to this knowledge: Admiring the world of sense as we look out upon its vastness and beauty and the order of its eternal march, thinking of the gods within it, seen and hidden, and the celestial spir…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 437 (part 1)

“Section 5 5. Does it all come down, then, to one phase of the self knowing another phase? That would be a case of knower distinguished from known, and would not be self-knowing. What, then, if the total combination were supposed to be of…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 445

“Section 13 13. Thus The One is in truth beyond all statement: any affirmation is of a thing; but the all-transcending, resting above even the most august divine Mind, possesses alone of all true being, and is not a thing among things; we ca…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 451

“Section 1 1. Anything existing after The First must necessarily arise from that First, whether immediately or as tracing back to it through intervenients; there must be an order of secondaries and tertiaries, in which any second is to be re…”

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

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

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 452 (part 2)

“And again, if that secondary is all things, and if above its multiplicity there is a unity not ranking among those things, once more this unity transcends Real Being and therefore transcends the Intellectual-Principle as well. There is thu…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 454 (part 2)

“How does the Intellectual-Principle come to meet with them as it travels round; what keeps each true to its character; what gives them enduring identity; what conceivable shape or character can they have? They are being presented to us as…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 464

“Section 11 11. It is infinite also by right of being a pure unity with nothing towards which to direct any partial content. Absolutely One, it has never known measure and stands outside of number, and so is under no limit either in regard t…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 466

“Section 13 13. The Supreme, as the Absolute Good and not merely a good being or thing, can contain nothing, since there is nothing that could be its good. Anything it could contain must be either good to it or not good; but in the supremely…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 468

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

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 469

“Section 2 2. Thus there is the primally intellective and there is that in which intellection has taken another mode; but this indicates that what transcends the primarily intellective has no intellection; for, to have intellection, it must…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 470

“Section 3 3. We may be told that nothing prevents an identity being thus multiple. But there must be a unity underlying the aggregate: a manifold is impossible without a unity for its source or ground, or at least, failing some unity, relat…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 471

“Section 4 4. Another consideration is that if The Good [and First] is simplex and without need, it can neither need the intellective act nor possess what it does not need: it will therefore not have intellection. (Interpolation or corruptio…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 473

“Section 6 6. If this reasoning is valid, The Good has no scope whatever for intellection which demands something attractive from outside. The Good, then, is without Act. What Act indeed, could be vested in Activity's self? No activity has y…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 475

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

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 512 (part 2)

“True, greatness and smallness are not claimed to be quantities, but relations: but it is by their apparent possession of quantity that they are thought of as relations. All this, however, needs more careful examination. In sum, we hold th…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 521

“Section 14 14. The Academy and the Lyceum are places, and parts of Place, just as "above," "below," "here" are species or parts of Place; the difference is of minuter delimitation. If then "above," "below," "the middle" are places- Delphi,…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 547 (part 1)

“Section 9 9. The above considerations- to which others, doubtless, might be added- suffice to show that these five are primary genera. But that they are the only primary genera, that there are no others, how can we be confident of this?…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 549 (part 1)

“Section 11 11. We are bound however to enquire under what mode unity is contained in Being. How is what is termed the "dividing" effected- especially the dividing of the genera Being and unity? Is it the same division, or is it different…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 551

“Section 13 13. We turn to ask why Quantity is not included among the primary genera, and Quality also. Quantity is not among the primaries, because these are permanently associated with Being. Motion is bound up with Actual Being [Being-in-…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 554

“Section 16 16. As for Relation, manifestly an offshoot, how can it be included among primaries? Relation is of thing ranged against thing; it is not self-pivoted, but looks outward. Place and Date are still more remote from Being. Place den…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 555

“Section 17 17. Why are not beauty, goodness and the virtues, together with knowledge and intelligence, included among the primary genera? If by goodness we mean The First- what we call the Principle of Goodness, the Principle of which we ca…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 556

“Section 18 18. To pass to the consideration of beauty: If by beauty we mean the primary Beauty, the same or similar arguments will apply here as to goodness: and if the beauty in the Ideal-Form is, as it were, an effulgence [from that prima…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 566

“Section 5 5. These are incontrovertible facts in regard to the pseudo-substance of the Sensible realm: if they apply also in some degree to the True Substance of the Intellectual, the coincidence is, doubtless, to be attributed to analogy a…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 567

“Section 6 6. Granted, it may be urged, that these observations upon the nature of Substance are sound, we have not yet arrived at a statement of its essence. Our critic doubtless expects to see this "Sensible": but its essence, its characte…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 576

“Section 15 15. How far is it true that equality and inequality are characteristic of Quantity? Triangles, it is significant, are said to be similar rather than equal. But we also refer to magnitudes as similar, and the accepted connotation…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 601

“Section 11 11. Still, this integral omnipresence admitted, why do not all things participate in the Intellectual Order in its entirety? Why has it a first participant, a second, and so on? We can but see that presence is determined by the f…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 604

“Section 14 14. But, admitting this one soul at every point, how is there a particular soul of the individual and how the good soul and the bad? The one soul reaches to the individual but nonetheless contains all souls and all intelligences;…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 611

“Section 4 4. Then consider this god [in man] whom we cannot think to be absent at some point and present at another. All that have insight into the nature of the divine beings hold the omnipresence of this god and of all the gods, and reaso…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 613

“Section 6 6. The Intellectual Beings, thus, are multiple and one; in virtue of their infinite nature their unity is a multiplicity, many in one and one over many, a unit-plurality. They act as entire upon entire; even upon the partial thing…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 614

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

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 622

“Section 2 2. What, then, of the "Number of the Infinite"? To begin with, how is Number consistent with infinity? Objects of sense are not unlimited and therefore the Number applying to them cannot be so. Nor is an enumerator able to number…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 623

“Section 3 3. And there is the question How can the infinite have existence and remain unlimited: whatever is in actual existence is by that very fact determined numerically. But, first, if multiplicity holds a true place among Beings, how c…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 626

“Section 6 6. Granted, then, that there exist, apart from things, a unity absolute and a decad absolute in other words, that the Intellectual beings, together with their characteristic essence have also their order, Henads, Dyads, Triads, wh…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 627

“Section 7 7. It is inevitably necessary to think of all as contained within one nature; one nature must hold and encompass all; there cannot be as in the realm of sense thing apart from thing, here a sun and elsewhere something else; all mu…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 628

“Section 8 8. As then there is a Life-Form primal- which therefore is the Life-Form Absolute- and there is Intellectual-Principle or Being, Authentic Being, these, we affirm, contain all living things and all Number, and Absolute Justice and…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 629

“Section 9 9. It remains then to consider whether Being by its distinction produced Number or Number produced that distinction. It is certain that either Number was the cause of Being, movement, rest, identity and difference, or these the ca…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 632

“Section 12 12. We may be told that unity and monad have no real existence, that the only unity is some definite object that is one thing, so that all comes to an attitude of the mind towards things considered singly. But, to begin with, why…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 649

“Section 10 10. But failure There? What can defensive horns serve to There? To sufficiency as living form, to completeness. That principle must be complete as living form, complete as Intellect, complete as life, so that if it is not to be o…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 658

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

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 660

“Section 21 21. Now what in all these objects of desire is the fundamental making them good? We must be bold: Intellectual-Principle and that life are of the order of good and hold their desirability, even they, in virtue of belonging to tha…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 661

“Section 22 22. That light known, then indeed we are stirred towards those Beings in longing and rejoicing over the radiance about them, just as earthly love is not for the material form but for the Beauty manifested upon it. Every one of th…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 665

“Section 26 26. Any conscious being, if the good come to him, will know the good and affirm his possession of it. But what if one be deceived? In that case there must be some resemblance to account for the error: the good will be the origina…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 680

“Section 41 41. Intellection seems to have been given as an aid to the diviner but weaker beings, an eye to the blind. But the eye itself need not see Being since it is itself the light; what must take the light through the eye needs the lig…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 681

“Section 42 42. Faced by the difficulty of placing these powers, you must in reason allocate to the secondaries what you count august: secondaries must not be foisted upon the First, or tertiaries upon the secondaries. Secondaries are to be…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 686

“Section 4 4. It will be asked how act rising from desire can be voluntary, since desire pulls outward and implies need; to desire is still to be drawn, even though towards the good. Intellectual-Principle itself comes under the doubt; havin…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 699

“Section 17 17. Or consider it another way: We hold the universe, with its content entire, to be as all would be if the design of the maker had so willed it, elaborating it with purpose and prevision by reasonings amounting to a Providence.…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 700 (part 1)

“Section 18 18. Seeking Him, seek nothing of Him outside; within is to be sought what follows upon Him; Himself do not attempt. He is, Himself, that outer, He the encompassment and measure of all things; or rather He is within, at the inne…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 703

“Section 21 21. Could He then have made Himself otherwise than as He did? If He could we must deny Him the power to produce goodness for He certainly cannot produce evil. Power, There, is no producer of the inapt; it is that steadfast consta…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 708

“Section 4 4. The main part of the difficulty is that awareness of this Principle comes neither by knowing nor by the Intellection that discovers the Intellectual Beings but by a presence overpassing all knowledge. In knowing, soul or mind a…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 710 (part 2)

“Unity, self-present, it has no need of self-intellection: indeed this "self-presence" were better left out, the more surely to preserve the unity; we must eliminate all knowing and all association, all intellection whether internal or exter…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 711

“Section 7 7. If the mind reels before something thus alien to all we know, we must take our stand on the things of this realm and strive thence to see. But, in the looking, beware of throwing outward; this Principle does not lie away somewh…”

Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 714

“Section 10 10. But how comes the soul not to keep that ground? Because it has not yet escaped wholly: but there will be the time of vision unbroken, the self hindered no longer by any hindrance of body. Not that those hindrances beset that…”

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 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 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…”

The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite) | Page 6 (part 1)

“PART I THE LITERATURE OF CEREMONIAL MAGIC Click to view THE SERPENT OF THE GARDEN OF THE HESPERIDES. From a Greek Vase Painting. CHAPTER I The antiquity of Magical Rituals § 1. The Importance of Ceremonial Magic THE ordinary fields of ps…”

The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite) | Page 9 (part 4)

“The sources of occult wisdom, it proceeds, are, firstly, in God; secondly, in spiritual essences--that is to say, the Angelical Hierarchy; thirdly, in corporeal creatures, the reference being probably to the signatura rerum of Paracelsus; f…”

The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite) | Page 38 (part 2)

“The attempt to propitiate the Deity by means of prayers, sacrifices and abstinence, and thus to obtain the Divine assistance for the successful consummation of hideous offences and preposterous or impossible undertakings, is, of course, mad…”

The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite) | Page 74 (part 3)

“Éliphas Lévi observes that the directions recall the history of the bell of Rodilard, but the criticism is scarcely commensurate, for the material is certainly obtainable, nor would it be necessary to catch one's own hyena. The point which…”

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

“The ancient Hermetists considered this Principle as one of the most important mental instruments by which man was able to pry aside the obstacles which hid from view the Unknown. Its use even tore aside the Veil of Isis to the extent that…”

The Kybalion (Three Initiates) | Chapter IV (part 3)

“It must be Infinite in Space--it must be Everywhere, for there is no place outside of THE ALL--it cannot be otherwise than continuous in Space, without break, cessation, separation, or interruption, for there is nothing to break, separate,…”

The Kybalion (Three Initiates) | Chapter VII (part 1)

“CHAPTER VII "THE ALL" IN ALL "While All is in THE ALL, it is equally true that THE ALL is in ALL. To him who truly understands this truth hath come great knowledge."--The Kybalion. How often have the majority of people heard repeated the…”

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

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

Gospel of Judas | The Disciples' Vision

“Another day Jesus came up to them. They said to him, "Master, we've seen you in a dream, because we had great [dreams last] night." But Jesus said, "Why […] hidden yourselves?" 38 And they [said, "We saw] a great [house, with a great] altar…”

Gospel of Judas | The Betrayal

“Jesus said, "Truly I say [to you], this baptism 56 [which they've received in] my name […] will destroy the whole generation of the earthly Adam. Tomorrow they'll torture the one who bears me. Truly I [say] to you, no hand of a mortal human…”

Gospel of Philip | Section 1a

“(Above image of the Gospel of Thomas courtesy of the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity, Claremont Graduate University) Visit the Bookstore for a complete selection of translations and books about The Nag Hammadi Library The Nag Hamma…”

Gospel of Philip | Section 1b

“TRUTH MADE NAMES Truth made names in the world, and without them we can’t think. Truth is one and is many, teaching one thing through the many. RULERS The rulers wanted to fool us, since they saw we were connected with the good. They too…”

Gospel of Philip | Section 1c

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

Gospel of Philip | Section 1d

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

Gospel of Philip | Section 1e

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

Gospel of Philip | Section 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…”

Plato: Phaedo | Section 1b

“I thought that in going to the other world he could not be without a divine call, and that he would be happy, if any man ever was, when he arrived there, and therefore I did not pity him as might seem natural at such a time. But neither co…”

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 1h

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

Plato: Phaedo | Section 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 1j

“I reckon, said Socrates, that no one who heard me now, not even if he were one of my old enemies, the comic poets, could accuse me of idle talking about matters in which I have no concern. Let us, then, if you please, proceed with the inqu…”

Plato: Phaedo | Section 1k

“That is clear, he replied. Then the inference is, that our souls are in the world below? That is true. And one of the two processes or generations is visible-for surely the act of dying is visible? Surely, he said. And may not the othe…”

Tao Te Ching | Chapter 1

“The Tao that can be trodden is not the enduring and unchanging Tao. The name that can be named is not the enduring and unchanging name. (Conceived of as) having no name, it is the Originator of heaven and earth; (conceived of as) having a n…”

Tao Te Ching | Chapter 2

“All in the world know the beauty of the beautiful, and in doing this they have (the idea of) what ugliness is; they all know the skill of the skilful, and in doing this they have (the idea of) what the want of skill is. So it is that existe…”

Tao Te Ching | Chapter 3

“Not to value and employ men of superior ability is the way to keep the people from rivalry among themselves; not to prize articles which are difficult to procure is the way to keep them from becoming thieves; not to show them what is likely…”

Tao Te Ching | Chapter 4

“The Tao is (like) the emptiness of a vessel; and in our employment of it we must be on our guard against all fulness. How deep and unfathomable it is, as if it were the Honoured Ancestor of all things! We should blunt our sharp points, and…”

Tao Te Ching | Chapter 5

“Heaven and earth do not act from (the impulse of) any wish to be benevolent; they deal with all things as the dogs of grass are dealt with. The sages do not act from (any wish to be) benevolent; they deal with the people as the dogs of gras…”

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 7

“Heaven is long-enduring and earth continues long. The reason why heaven and earth are able to endure and continue thus long is because they do not live of, or for, themselves. This is how they are able to continue and endure. Therefore the…”

Tao Te Ching | Chapter 8

“The highest excellence is like (that of) water. The excellence of water appears in its benefiting all things, and in its occupying, without striving (to the contrary), the low place which all men dislike. Hence (its way) is near to (that of…”

The Dhammapada | Chapter I, Section 1b

“70-75.' I do not deny that this may have been the traditional interpretation, at all events since the days of Buddhaghosa, but the very legend quoted by Buddhaghosa in illustration of this verse shows that its simpler and purely moral inter…”

The Dhammapada | Chapter I, Section 1c

“The play on the words anikkasâvo kâsâvam, or in Sanskrit anishkashâya h kâshâyam, cannot be rendered in English. Kashâya means 'impurity,' nish-kashâya, 'free from impurity,' anish-kashâya, 'not free from impurity,' while kâshâya is the na…”

The Dhammapada | Chapter I, Section 1d

“He suffers when he thinks of the evil he has done; he suffers more when going on the evil path. 18. The virtuous man is happy in this world, and he is happy in the next; he is happy in both. He is happy when he thinks of the good he has…”

The Dhammapada | Chapter II, Section 1a

“p. 9 CHAPTER II. ON EARNESTNESS . 21. Earnestness is the path of immortality (Nirvâ n a), thoughtlessness the path of death. Those who are in earnest do not die, those who are thoughtless are as if dead already. 22. Those who are adv…”

The Dhammapada | Chapter II, Section 1b

“A Bhikshu (mendicant) who delights in earnestness, who looks with fear on thoughtlessness, [25. Childers explains this island again as the state of an Arhat (arahatta-phalam). 28. Cf. Childers, Dictionary, Preface, p. xiv. See Vinaya,…”

The Dhammapada | Chapter III, Section 1b

“That s ru means 'to run,' and is in fact a merely dialectic variety of sru, has been proved by Burnouf, while Boehtlingk thinks the substitution of s for s is a mistake. Â s rava therefore, or âsrava, meant originally 'the running out towa…”

The Dhammapada | Chapter III, Section 1c

“I translate it therefore in a more general sense, let him not return or turn away from the battle, let him watch Mâra, even after he is vanquished, let him keep up a constant fight against the adversary, without being attached to anything o…”

The Dhammapada | Chapter IV, Section 1a

“p. 16 CHAPTER IV. FLOWERS . 44. Who shall overcome this earth, and the world of Yama (the lord of the departed), and the world of the gods? Who shall find out the plainly shown path of virtue, as a clever man finds out the (right) flow…”

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

“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 Dialogue-b

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

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

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

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

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

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

“What power or spell of herb or magic art Can tear thee from the centre of my heart, Since he, who with an ever-growing zest, Tormenting most, yet most does make me blest? How can I of this weight unburdened be, If pain the cure, and joy th…”

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

“One thing is certain, that he who loves wisely in youth will in age not go astray. But derision is for those of mature age, into whose hands Love puts the alphabet. Cic. Tell me now why Fate is called blind and bad. Tans. Again, blind…”

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

“"Steals it from me," he says of Jealousy, not simply in order that it may not be present to me; removing it from my eyesight, but in order that good may not be good, but an acute evil; sweet, not sweet, but an agonized longing; while the he…”

The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Second Dialogue-a

“. Tansillo. Now begins the enthusiast to display the affections and uncover the wounds which are for a sign in his body, and in substance or essence in his soul, and he says thus: 9. Of Love the standard-bearer I; My hopes are ice, and g…”

Corpus Hermeticum 1: Poimandres | Section 1b

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

Corpus Hermeticum 1: Poimandres | Section 1c

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

Corpus Hermeticum 1: Poimandres | Section 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 2: The Serapeum | Section 1a

“To Asclepius <This dialogue sets forth the difference between the physical and metaphysical worlds in the context of Greek natural philosophy. Some of the language is fairly technical: the "errant spheres" of sections 6 and 7 are the celes…”

Corpus Hermeticum 2: The Serapeum | Section 1b

“A: How is it, then, that things down here, Thrice-greatest one, are moved with those that are [already] moved? For thou hast said the errant spheres were moved by the inerrant one. H: This is not, O Asclepius, a moving with, but one again…”

Corpus Hermeticum 2: The Serapeum | Section 1c

“H: Alack, Asclepius, for thy far-wandering from the truth! Think'st thou that things most full and most replete are void? 11. A: How meanest thou, Thrice-greatest one? H: Is not air body? A: It is. H: And doth this body not pervade al…”

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 4: The Epistles | Section 1b

“And having raised themselves so far they sight the Good; and having sighted it, they look upon their sojourn here as a mischance; and in disdain of all, both things in body and the bodiless, they speed their way unto that One and Only One.…”

The Secret Doctrine | Page 3 (part 1)

“The Secret Doctrine by H. P. Blavatsky -- Vol. 1 [[Vol. 1, Page 1]] PROEM ------- PAGES FROM A PRE-HISTORIC PERIOD. A N Archaic Manuscript -- a collection of palm leaves made impermeable to water, fire, and air, by some specific unknow…”

The Secret Doctrine | Page 3 (part 3)

“The esoteric symbol of Kali Yuga is the five-pointed star reversed, thus -- the sign of human sorcery, with its two points (horns) turned heavenward, a position every [[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- * See t…”

The Secret Doctrine | Page 3 (part 5)

“But this view does not prevent him from believing in its existence so long as it lasts, to wit, for one Mahamanvantara; nor from applying Akasa, the radiation of Mulaprakriti,* to practical purposes, connected as the World-Soul is with all…”

The Secret Doctrine | Page 4 (part 1)

“The Secret Doctrine by H. P. Blavatsky -- Vol. 1 [[Vol. 1, Page 25]] PART I . COSMIC EVOLUTION. --------------------- SEVEN STANZAS TRANSLATED WITH COMMENTARIES FROM THE SECRET BOOK OF DZYAN. [[Vol. 1, Page 26]] Nor Aught nor Nought…”

The Secret Doctrine | Page 4 (part 4)

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

The Secret Doctrine | Page 5 (part 3)

“D ARKNESS ALONE FILLED THE BOUNDLESS ALL ( a ), FOR FATHER, MOTHER AND SON WERE ONCE MORE ONE, AND THE SON HAD NOT AWAKENED YET FOR THE NEW WHEEL* AND HIS PILGRIMAGE THEREON ( b ). ( a ) "Darkness is Father-Mother: light their son," says a…”

The Secret Doctrine | Page 5 (part 4)

“1, Page]] 43 MOTIONS, THE "GREAT BREATH." sense, for it must give room to still further absolute perfection, according to a higher standard of excellence in the following period of activity -- just as a perfect flower must cease to be a per…”

The Secret Doctrine | Page 5 (part 6)

“(See Weber, Max Muller, etc.) We labour under the impression that Colebrooke, "the highest authority" in such matters, had long ago settled the question by showing, that "the Hindus were in this instance the teachers, not the learners." [[V…”

Orphic Hymns | Hymn I. THE GODDESS PROTHYRÆA

“I. TO THE GODDESS PROTHYRÆA * . The FUMIGATION from STORAX. O venerable goddess, hear my pray'r, For labour pains are thy peculiar care; in thee, when stretch'd upon the bed of grief, The sex as in a mirror view relief. Guard of the race, e…”

Orphic Hymns | Hymn IV. FIRE

“IV. TO FIRE. The FUMIGATION from SAFFRON. O Ever untam'd Fire, who reign'st on high In Jove's dominions ruler of the sky; The glorious sun with dazzling lustre bright, And moon and stars from thee derive their light; All taming pow'r, æther…”

Orphic Hymns | Hymn V. PROTOGONUS, Or the FIRST-BORN

“V. TO PROTOGONUS, Or the FIRST-BORN. The FUMIGATION from MYRRH. O Mighty first-begotten, hear my pray'r, 1 Two-fold, egg-born, and wand'ring thro' the air, p. 119 Bull-roarer, glorying in thy golden wings, 3 From whom the race of Gods and m…”

Orphic Hymns | Hymn X

“X. TO PAN * The FUMIGATION from VARIOUS ODORS I Call strong Pan, the substance of the whole, Etherial, marine, earthly, general soul, Immortal fire; for all the world is thine, And all are parts of thee, O pow'r divine. p. 131 Come, blessed…”

Orphic Hymns | Hymn XIV. JUPITER

“XIV. TO JUPITER. The FUMIGATION from STORAX. O Jove much-honor'd, Jove supremely great, To thee our holy rites we consecrate, p. 140 Our pray'rs and expiations, king divine, For all things round thy head exalted shine. The earth is thine, a…”

Orphic Hymns | Hymn XXV

“XXV. TO THE EARTH * The FUMIGATION from every kind of SEED, except BEANS and AROMATICS. O Goddess, Earth, of Gods and men the source, Endu'd with fertile, all destroying force; All-parent, bounding, whose prolific pow'rs, Produce a store of…”

Orphic Hymns | Hymn XXVIII. PROSERPINE

“XXVIII. TO PROSERPINE. A HYMN DAUGHTER of Jove, almighty and divine, Come, blessed queen, and to these rites incline: Only-begotten, Pluto's honor'd wife, 3 O venerable Goddess, source of life: 'Tis thine in earth's profundities to dwell, 5…”

Orphic Hymns | Hymn XLI. MISES

“XLI. TO MISES. The FUMIGATION from STORAX. Call Thesmophorus * , spermatic God, Of various names, who bears the leafy rod: Mises, ineffable, pure, sacred queen, Two-fold Iacchus, male and female seen: Illustr'ous, whether to rejoice is thin…”

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

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

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

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

The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY II

“The Oilman and his Parrot. An oilman possessed a parrot which used to amuse him with its agreeable prattle, and to watch his shop when he went out. One day, when the parrot was alone in the shop, a cat upset one of the oil-jars. When the oi…”

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 V-a

“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 V-c

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

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

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

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

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

The Gospel According to John (American Standard Version, 1901) | 2:2-3:1

“[2:2] and Jesus also was bidden, and his disciples, to the marriage. [2:3] And when the wine failed, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. [2:4] And Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is n…”

The Gospel According to John (American Standard Version, 1901) | 3:2-3:25

“[3:2] the same came unto him by night, and said to him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that thou doest, except God be with him. [3:3] Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I…”

The Gospel According to John (American Standard Version, 1901) | 6:41-6:67

“[6:41] The Jews therefore murmured concerning him, because he said, I am the bread which came down out of heaven. [6:42] And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how doth he now say, I am come d…”

The Gospel According to John (American Standard Version, 1901) | 7:25-7:51

“[7:25] Some therefore of them of Jerusalem said, Is not this he whom they seek to kill? [7:26] And lo, he speaketh openly, and they say nothing unto him. Can it be that the rulers indeed know that this is the Christ? [7:27] Howbeit we kno…”

The Gospel According to John (American Standard Version, 1901) | 7:52-8:23

“[7:52] They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and see that out of Galilee ariseth no prophet. [7:53] [And they went every man unto his own house: [8:1] but Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. [8:2] And early…”

The Gospel According to John (American Standard Version, 1901) | 8:48-9:14

“[8:48] The Jews answered and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a demon? [8:49] Jesus answered, I have not a demon; but I honor my Father, and ye dishonor me. [8:50] But I seek not mine own glory: there is…”

The Gospel According to John (American Standard Version, 1901) | 9:15-9:39

“[9:15] Again therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he received his sight. And he said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and I see. [9:16] Some therefore of the Pharisees said, This man is not from God, because he ke…”

The Gospel According to John (American Standard Version, 1901) | 9:40-10:24

“[9:40] Those of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things, and said unto him, Are we also blind? [9:41] Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye would have no sin: but now ye say, We see: your sin remaineth. [10:1] Verily, veri…”

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).] Further, this identification of the deceased with the God of Heaven places him in the position of supreme ruler. For example, we have the prayer…”

The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 6 (part 19)

“The whole passage reads:-- "(496) The heavens drop water, the stars throb, (497) the archers go round about, the (498) bones of Akeru tremble, and those who are in bondage to them take to flight when they see (499) Unas rise up as a soul, i…”

The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 8 (part 2)

“Verily it shall be cast forth by my healing words of power, and I will drive it away from before the sight of thy sunbeams." The holy god opened his mouth and said, "I was passing along my path, and I was going through the two regions of my…”

The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 14 (part 7)

“Thou hast knit (10) together the mountains, thou has made mankind and the beasts of the field, thou hast created the heavens and the earth. Worshipped be thou whom the goddess Maat embraceth at morn and at eve. Thou dost travel across the…”

The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 19 (part 4)

“The draught-board of the ancient Egyptians is often a rectangular wooden box, the top divided into squares, containing a drawer in which the men are kept (British Museum, No. 21,576). Draught-boards were also made of blue glazed faïence ,…”

The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 19 (part 9)

“, the "house of cloth," was a district belonging to the temple of Suten-henen or Heracleopolis in Upper Egypt.] Ubes-hra-per-em-khet khet,[l] and Maa (106) -em-qerh-an-nef-em-hru. The chief of the holy ones (107) who minister in his chamber…”

The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 19 (part 12)

“He to whom saffron cakes have been brought in (127) Tanenet is Osiris; or (as others say), The saffron cakes (128) in Tanenet are heaven and earth, or (as others say), They are Shu, strengthener of the two lands in (129) Suten-henen. The s…”

The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 43 (part 44)

“The preservation of the corruptible body too was in some way connected with the life in the world to come, and its preservation was necessary to ensure eternal life; otherwise the prayers recited to this end would have been futile, and the…”

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

“CHAPTER V. 1. (It is written) Isa. i. 4: "Woe unto the sinful nation, unto the people heavy with iniquity, unto the seed of evildoers, &c." (Here the author of the "Siphra Dtzenioutha" reasoneth concerning the small word HVI, "woe," whi…”

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

“If the reader turn to the introduction, to the Table showing the Sephiroth arranged in three pillars, he will see that Malkuth is, as it were, the antithesis of Kether; and hence it is said that "Malkuth is Kether after another manner." And…”

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

“The four wheels are their correlatives under the second Sephira, on their four sides--namely, the four elements of the air, fire, water, and earth, which are the abodes of the spirits of the elements, the sylphs, salamanders, undines, and g…”

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

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

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

“And IVBL, Yobel , "jubilee," is H, He (the first He of the Tetragrammaton); and He is the spirit rushing forth over all (because the mother is the world to come, when in the resurrection all things will receive the spirit); and all things s…”

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

“XLII. The Dwelling-places of Wisdom and of Unrighteousness . CHAPTER XLII. 1. Wisdom found no place where she might dwell; Then a dwelling-place was assigned her in the heavens. 2 Wisdom went forth to make her dwelling among the children of…”

The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) | Page 107

“CII. Terrors of the Day of Judgement: the adverse Fortunes of the Righteous on the Earth . Chapter CII. 1. In those days when He hath brought a grievous fire upon you, Whither will ye flee, and where will ye find deliverance? And when He la…”

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

“CIII. Different Destinies of the Righteous and the Sinners: fresh Objections of the Sinners . CHAPTER CIII. 1. Now, therefore, I swear to you, the righteous, by the glory of the Great and Honoured and 2 Mighty One in dominion, and by His gr…”

The Bhagavad Gita | Chapter II, Section 1a

“CHAPTER II. Sañ g aya said: To him, who was thus overcome with pity, and dejected, and whose eyes were full of tears and turbid, the destroyer of Madhu spoke these words. The Deity said: How (comes it that) this delusion, O Ar g una! whi…”

The Bhagavad Gita | Chapter II, Section 1d

“For his mind is steady whose senses are under his control. The man who ponders over objects of sense forms an attachment to them; from (that) attachment is produced desire; and from desire anger is produced ; from anger results want of dis…”

The Bhagavad Gita | Chapter III, Section 1a

“CHAPTER III. Ar g una said: If, O Ganârdana! devotion is deemed by you to be superior to action, then why, O Kesava! do you prompt me to (this) fearful action? You seem, indeed, to confuse my mind by equivocal words. Therefore, declare…”

The Bhagavad Gita | Chapter IV, Section 1a

“CHAPTER IV. The Deity said: This everlasting (system of) devotion I declared to the sun, the sun declared it to Manu , and Manu communicated it to Ikshvâku. Coming thus by steps, it became known to royal sages. But, O terror of (your) fo…”

The Bhagavad Gita | Chapter IX, Section 1a

“CHAPTER IX. Now I will speak to you, who are not given to carping, of that most mysterious knowledge, accompanied by experience, by knowing which you will be released from evil. It is the chief among the sciences, the chief among the myst…”

Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book II | Sutra 39

“Where there is firm conquest of covetousness, he who has conquered it awakes to the how and why of life. So it is said that, before we can understand the laws of Karma, we must free ourselves from Karma. The conquest of covetousness brings…”

Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book IV | Sutra 10

“The series of dynamic mind-images is beginningless, because Desire is everlasting. The whole series of dynamic mind-images, which make up the entire history of the personal man, is a part of the mechanism which the Self employs, to mirror i…”

Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book IV | Sutra 12

“The difference between that which is past and that which is not yet come, according to their natures, depends on the difference of phase of their properties. Here we come to a high and difficult matter, which has always been held to be of g…”

The Mabinogion | Tale TALIESIN-b

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

The Mabinogion | Tale TALIESIN-c

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

The Mabinogion | Tale TALIESIN-g

“And so, when the bards and the heralds came to cry largess, and to proclaim the power of the king and his strength, at the moment that they passed by the corner wherein he was crouching, Taliesin pouted out his lips after them, and played “…”

The Mabinogion | Tale TALIESIN-h

“I have been with my Lord in the manger of the ass: I strengthened Moses through the water of Jordan; I have been in the firmament with Mary Magdalene; I have obtained the muse from the cauldron of Caridwen; I have been bard of the harp to L…”

The Mabinogion | Tale TALIESIN-i

“The names of the three springs From the midst of the ocean; One generated brine Which is from the Corina, To replenish the flood Over seas disappearing; The second, without injury It will fall on us, When there is rain abroad, Through the w…”

The Mabinogion | Tale TALIESIN-j

“And the king caused them to fetch Elphin in haste from his dungeon, and placed him before Taliesin. And it is said, that immediately he sang a verse, so that the chains opened from about his feet. “I adore the Supreme, Lord of all animati…”

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 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 13

“"If thou knowest," he makes answer unto her, "that this does never happen, why dost thou press me with asking: When dost thou return? I go hence and return not. Happy the day when thou dost still see me. If there were a going-away and retur…”

The Kalevala | Rune VIII-b

“Come, sweet maiden, to my snow-sledge, I am not despised as hero, Not the meanest of magicians; Come with me and I will make thee Wife and queen in Kalevala." Thus the Maid of Beauty answered— "Would consider thee a hero, Mighty hero, I wou…”

The Kalevala | Rune XX-f

“"Osmotar, the beer-preparer, Kapo, brewer of the barley, Spake these words in saddened accents: 'Woe is me, my life hard-fated, Badly have I brewed the liquor, Have not brewed the beer in wisdom, Will not live within its vessels, Overflows…”

The Kalevala | Rune XXII-d

“Not to sleep art thou conducted, Not to happiness, nor joyance, Wakefulness, thy night-companion, And thy day-attendant, trouble; Often thou wilt drink of sorrow, Often long for vanished pleasures. "When at home thou hadst no head-gear, Th…”

The Poetic Edda: Hovamol | Section 1m

“I ween that I hung | on the windy tree, Hung there for nights full nine; With the spear I was wounded, | and offered I was To Othin, myself to myself, On the tree that none | may ever know What root beneath it runs. [138. In the manuscrip…”

Îsâ-Upanishad | Îsâ, Section 1a

“p. 308 p. 309 VÂ G ASANEYI-SA M HITÂ-UPANISHAD, SOMETIMES CALLED Î S ÂVÂSYA OR Î S Â-UPANISHAD p. 310 p. 311 VÂ G ASANEYI-SA M HITÂ-UPANISHAD. 1. ALL this, whatsoever moves on earth, is to be hidden in the Lord (the Self). When thou…”