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Orphic Hymns · 62 of 86 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Hymn LXII. EQUITY

LXII. TO EQUITY. The FUMIGATION from FRANKINCENSE. O Blessed Equity, mankind's delight, Th' eternal friend of conduct just and right: Abundant, venerable, honor'd maid, To judgments pure, dispensing constant aid, p. 195 A stable conscience, and an upright mind; For men unjust, by thee are undermin'd, Whose souls perverse thy bondage ne'er desire, But more untam'd decline thy scourges dire: Harmonious, friendly power, averse to strife, In peace rejoicing, and a stable life; 10 Lovely, loquacious, of a gentle mind, Hating excess, to equal deeds inclin'd: Wisdom, and virtue of whate'er degree, Receive their proper bound alone in thee. Hear, Goddess Equity, the deeds destroy 15 Of evil men, which human life annoy; That all may yield to thee of mortal birth, Whether supported by the fruits of earth, Or in her kindly fertile bosom found, or in the depths of Marine Jove profound. 20
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Themes
Anthropomorphismtheology

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

[auto] Justice is attributed human characteristics such as an eye, a throne, and the capacity to hear supplicants.

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Asha Cosmic Ordercosmology

Truth as the fundamental structure of reality.

[auto] The hymn describes Justice as combining dissimilars from the 'equality of truth,' aligning with truth as a fundamental cosmic structure.

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Cosmic Dualismtheology

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

[auto] The text establishes a clear opposition between the good and evil mind, with Justice inclined to one and hostile to the other.

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Divine Lighttheology

The uncreated luminous quality of the divine, sometimes experienced directly in mystical states; illumination as revelation.

[auto] Justice is described as having a 'piercing eye... bright,' associating the divine attribute with luminous perception.

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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.

Equity is depicted as dispensing constant aid and maintaining pure judgments over human conduct.

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Evil As Privationtheology

Augustinian and Plotinian doctrine that evil has no positive being of its own but is a lack, distortion, or absence of the good — denying ontological dualism while preserving moral seriousness.

Evil is characterized as 'unjust' and 'perverse,' implying a deviation or lack of the divine order of Equity.

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Funerary Navigationpraxis

Texts and rituals guiding the soul through death.

[auto] The supplicant asks to be heard 'When Fate's predestin'd, final hour draws near,' indicating a ritual focus on the moment of death.

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Hidden Sayingssoteriology

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

[auto] The footnote explicitly references 'most holy initiations' (teletai), indicating the text belongs to an esoteric tradition reserved for initiates.

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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 deity is addressed directly as active and responsive ('Come... hear'), portraying a personal divine reality.

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Maat Cosmic Ordercosmology

The Egyptian principle of truth, balance, and right order underlying both the cosmos and human conduct; the parallel to Zoroastrian asha and Greek dike.

The hymn personifies Equity (Dike), which the concept definition explicitly parallels with Egyptian Maat and Greek cosmic order.

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Opposites Transcendedanthropology

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

[auto] Justice is credited with the power to 'join dissimilars' and combine them from the equality of truth.

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Prayerpraxis

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

[auto] The passage is structured as a direct liturgical invocation and petition to the Goddess Equity.

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Ritual Firepraxis

Fire as medium of divine presence.

[auto] The prescribed fumigation of frankincense necessitates the use of fire as a medium for the offering.

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Ritual Puritypraxis

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

[auto] The heading specifies 'FUMIGATION from FRANKINCENSE,' a ritual practice intended to purify the space or practitioner for divine encounter.

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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 text specifies fumigation with frankincense as a ritual means to engage the divine power of Equity.

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Related passages · 6 parallels
neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 85 (part 1)
Section 10 10. But if Matter is devoid of quality how can it be evil? It is described as being devoid of quality in the sense only that it does not essentially possess any of the qualities which it admits and which enter into it as into a…”
Shared concept: Evil As Privation — Augustinian and Plotinian doctrine that evil has no positive being of its own but is a lack, distortion, or absence of the good — denying ontological dualism while preserving moral seriousness. (derived)
neoplatonism|Iamblichus: On the Mysteries|Chapter XXI
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)
neoplatonism|Iamblichus: On the Mysteries|Chapter III
According to another order, however, he arranges the God Emeph prior to, and as the leader of, the celestial Gods. And he says that this God is an intellect, itself intellectually perceiving itself, and converting intellections to itself. B…”
Shared concept: Maat Cosmic Order — The Egyptian principle of truth, balance, and right order underlying both the cosmos and human conduct; the parallel to Zoroastrian asha and Greek dike. (derived)
egyptian|The Egyptian Heaven and Hell|Chapter 2 (part 1)
p. vi PREFACE THE present work is the outcome of two lectures on the Books of the Tuat, i.e., the Egyptian Underworld, or "Other World," which I had the honour to deliver at the Royal Institution in the spring of 1904, and it has been prep…”
Shared concept: Funerary Navigation — Texts and rituals guiding the soul through death. (derived)
egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 8 (part 4)
No man knoweth how to know Him--His name remaineth hidden; His name is a mystery unto His children. His names are innumerable, they are manifold and none knoweth their number--God is truth and He liveth by truth and He feedeth thereon. He…”
Shared concept: Asha Cosmic Order — Truth as the fundamental structure of reality. (derived)
egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 43 (part 111)
See Brugsch, Aegyptologie , p. 223. 3. In the list of the high officers of the priesthood given by Brugsch ( Aegyptologie , p. 218), we meet with an official whose title is ###, "the scribe set over the sacred property of the gods"; Ani…”
Shared concept: Maat Cosmic Order — The Egyptian principle of truth, balance, and right order underlying both the cosmos and human conduct; the parallel to Zoroastrian asha and Greek dike. (derived)