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Orphic Hymns · 26 of 86 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Hymn XXVI. THE MOTHER OF THE GODS

XXVI. TO THE MOTHER OF THE GODS. The FUMIGATION from a Variety of ODORIFEROUS SUBSTANCES. Mother of Gods, great nurse of all, draw near, Divinely honor'd, and regard my pray'r: Thron'd on a car, by lions drawn along, By bull-destroying lions, swift and strong, Thou sway'st the sceptre of the pole divine, 5 5 And the world's middle seat, much-fam'd, is thine. Hence earth is thine, and needy mortals share Their constant food, from thy protecting care: From thee at first both Gods and men arose; From thee, the sea and ev'ry river flows. 10 Vesta, and source of good, thy name we find To mortal men rejoicing to be kind; For ev'ry good to give, thy soul delights; Come, mighty pow'r, propitious to our rites, All-taming, blessed, Phrygian saviour, come, 15 Saturn's great queen, rejoicing in the drum. p. 152 Celestial, ancient, life-supporting maid, Fanatic Goddess, give thy suppliant aid; With joyful aspect on our incense shine, And, pleas'd, accept the sacrifice divine.
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Themes
Anthropomorphismtheology

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

[auto] The text personifies Earth as a Goddess with human attributes like a womb, bosom, and the capacity to be pleased.

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Divine Intoxicationpraxis

Ecstatic, non-rational receptivity to the divine figured as drunkenness — Plato's symposium wine, Rumi's sukr, Eckhart's 'sober drunkenness'; the passive/receptive metaphor for divine encounter, distinct from divine_madness's active possessing rapture.

The term 'Fanatic' suggests an ecstatic or intoxicated state associated with the goddess's nature.

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Divine Madnesssoteriology

Ecstatic irrational rapture — Plato's mania, Bruno's furore — by which the soul transcends ordinary reason and attains direct contact with divine reality; madness reframed as higher knowledge.

The epithet 'Fanatic Goddess' explicitly links the deity to ecstatic or manic states associated with her worship.

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Divine Providencetheology

Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity.

The goddess is praised for her 'protecting care' and providing 'constant food' to mortals, indicating active governance of human welfare.

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Living Godtheology

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

[auto] The hymn addresses Earth as a responsive deity who listens to prayers and hears supplicants with a propitious mind.

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Monadcosmology

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

The goddess is presented as the singular origin from whom 'Gods and men arose' and rivers flow.

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Prayerpraxis

Direct address to the divine, whether petitionary, contemplative, or liturgical; speech and silence offered upward.

[auto] The text is explicitly structured as a petitionary invocation asking the goddess to 'regard my pray'r' and 'accept the sacrifice'.

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Ritual Firepraxis

Fire as medium of divine presence.

[auto] The prescribed fumigation involves burning seeds, using fire or smoke as a medium to convey the offering to the Goddess.

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Ritual Puritypraxis

The maintenance of a state of cleanliness—physical, moral, or spiritual—required for encounter with the divine.

[auto] Specific instructions regarding fumigation materials (excluding beans and aromatics) indicate ritual rules required for the divine encounter.

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Sacred Namestheology

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

The invocation uses specific epithets and titles such as All-parent and All-various maid to address the deity.

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Theurgypraxis

Iamblichean ritual practice that engages the gods directly through consecrated material symbols and actions, on the premise that divine power descends into properly prepared matter — distinct from philosophical contemplation alone.

The passage describes a ritual practice using material symbols like incense and sacrifice to engage the gods directly.

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Related passages · 9 parallels
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Shared concept: Sacred Names — Divine names or formulas that carry ontological power, used in prayer, liturgy, or magical practice. (derived)
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I think, therefore, that all who are lovers of the contemplation of theurgic truth will acknowledge this, that the piety which pertains to divine natures ought not to be exercised towards them partially or imperfectly. Hence, since prior to…”
Shared concept: Theurgy — Iamblichean ritual practice that engages the gods directly through consecrated material symbols and actions, on the premise that divine power descends into properly prepared matter — distinct from philosophical contemplation alone. (derived)
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In the reduction of your soul to its simplest self, its divine essence, you realize this union—this identity. But this sublime condition is not of permanent duration. It is only now and then that we can enjoy this elevation above the limi…”
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Shared concept: Ritual Fire — Fire as medium of divine presence. (derived)
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Shared concept: Living God — The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality. (derived)
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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…”
Shared concept: Divine Providence — Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity. (derived)
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Shared concept: Prayer — Direct address to the divine, whether petitionary, contemplative, or liturgical; speech and silence offered upward. (derived)
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But he whose initiation is recent, and who has been the spectator of many glories in the other world, is amazed when he sees any one having a godlike face or form, which is the expression of divine beauty; and at first a shudder runs throug…”
Shared concept: Anthropomorphism — Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery. (derived)
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. Tansillo . There are several varieties of enthusiasts, which may all be reduced to two kinds. While some only display blindness, stupidity, and irrational impetuosity, which tend towards savage madness, others by divine abstraction bec…”
Shared concept: Divine Intoxication — Ecstatic, non-rational receptivity to the divine figured as drunkenness — Plato's symposium wine, Rumi's sukr, Eckhart's 'sober drunkenness'; the passive/receptive metaphor for divine encounter, distinct from divine_madness's active possessing rapture. (derived)