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The Golden Verses of Pythagoras · 25 of 122 · tr. Florence M. Firth

Section 12 (part 2)

At the same time, however, we perfectly fall short of the gods, and neither possess the same power with them, nor equal virtue, This Symbol, therefore, in a particular manner introduces the knowledge of the gods, as beings who are able to effect all things. On this account it exhorts us to disbelieve nothing concerning the gods. It also adds, nor about divine dogmas, that is to say, these belonging to the Pythagoric philosophy. For these being secured by discipline and scientific theory, are alone true and free from falsehood, being corroborated by all various demonstration accompanied with necessity. The same Symbol also is capable of exhorting us to the science concerning the gods; for it urges us to acquire a science of that kind through which we shall be in no respect deficient in things asserted about the gods. It is also able to exhort the same things concerning divine dogmas. and a disciplinative progression, For disciplines alone give eyes to and produce p. 72 light about all things in him who intends to consider and survey them. For from the participation of disciplines, one thing before all others is effected, that is to say, a belief in the nature, essence, and power of the gods, and also in those Pythagoric dogmas which appear to be prodigious to such as have not been introduced to, and are uninitiated in, disciplines. So that the precept disbelieve not is equivalent to participate , and acquire , those things through which you will not disbelieve; that is to say, acquire disciplines and scientific demonstrations. SYMBOL 5. Declining from the public ways, walk in unfrequented paths. Explanation .--I think that this Symbol also contributes to the same thing as the preceding. For this exhorts us to abandon a popular and merely human life; but thinks fit that we should pursue a separate and divine life. It also signifies that it is necessary to look above common opinions; but very much to esteem such as are private and arcane; and that we should despise merely human delight; but ardently p. 73 pursue that felicitous mode of conduct which adheres to the divine will. It likewise exhorts us to dismiss human manners as popular, and to exchange for these the religious cultivation of the gods, transcending a popular life. SYMBOL 6. Abstain from Melanurus 1 ; for it belongs to the terrestrial gods. Explanation .--This Symbol also is allied to the preceding. Other particulars therefore pertaining to it we shall speak of in our discourse about the Symbols. 2 So far then as it pertains to exhortation it admonishes us to embrace the celestial journey, to conjoin ourselves to the intellectual gods, to become separated from a material nature, and to be led, as it were in a circular progression to an immaterial and pure life. It further exhorts us to adopt the most excellent worship of the gods, and p. 74 especially that which pertains to the primary gods. 3 Such, therefore, are the exhortations to the knowledge and worship of Divinity. The following Symbols exhort to wisdom. SYMBOL 7. Govern your tongue before all other things, following the gods. Explanation .--For it is the first work of wisdom to convert reason to itself and to accustom it not to proceed externally, but to be perfected in itself and in a conversion to itself. But the second work consists in following the gods. For nothing so perfects the intellect as, when being converted Into Itself, it at the same time follows Divinity. SYMBOL 8. The wind is blowing, adore the wind. Explanation .--This Symbol also is a token of divine wisdom. For it obscurely signifies that we ought to love the similitude of the divine essences and powers, and when their p.
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Themes
Apophatic Theologytheology

Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.

The text explicitly instructs not to estimate divine power from human judgment or corporeal limitations.

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Body As Obstacleanthropology

The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return.

[auto] The text contrasts 'divine actions' with the 'instability of human manners,' treating worldly concerns as impediments to sacred worship.

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Detachment Gelassenheitpraxis

Eckhart's Abgeschiedenheit/Gelassenheit — radical letting-go of will, image, and grasping that opens the soul to God; distinct from inner_silence (quietness) and from material renunciation, and adjacent to Sufi tark and Buddhist non-grasping as a practice rather than a metaphysical claim.

The text exhorts freedom from bonds, passions, and the instability of human manners to prepare for the divine.

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Divine Simplicitytheology

The doctrine that God has no parts, divisions, or composite attributes; pure undivided being.

Divinity is described as 'pure and undefiled,' suggesting an undivided and simple nature free from human mixture.

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Gnosis Direct Knowledgesoteriology

Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.

Divine science and knowledge of the gods are emphasized as necessary alongside ritual worship.

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Hidden Sayingssoteriology

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

The text presents 'Symbols' with accompanying 'Explanations,' indicating an esoteric layer of meaning beyond the literal instruction.

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Inner Silencepraxis

The practice of stilling the mind and speech to open receptivity to divine knowledge or presence.

[auto] The instruction to 'neither say nor do any thing... pertaining to the common affairs of life' during temple worship advocates for mental and verbal restraint.

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Prayerpraxis

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

The text repeatedly references adoration, worship, and sacrifice as direct address to the divine.

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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 passage explicitly focuses on preserving a 'pure and undefiled' divine nature by excluding human affairs from worship.

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Spiritual Ascentpraxis

A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source.

The soul's energies are to be liberated from bonds and passions to ascend toward participation in the gods.

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Theosis Deificationsoteriology

The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy.

The goal is described as preserving a divine nature and achieving participation in the gods.

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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.

Ritual actions like sacrifice and adoration are prescribed to engage the soul's energies for divine participation.

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Unity Of Beingtheology

The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.

The principle that 'the pure is wont to be conjoined to the pure' suggests an ontological affinity.

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