Iamblichus: On the Mysteries · 64 of 218 · tr. Thomas Taylor
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, conceptions which precede all knowledge.
And, at the same time, he declares to men that the signs which are exhibited are worthy of belief, and that they are superior to nature, from which he is exempt.
Thus he makes things to be known which are naturally unknown, and things which are without knowledge gnostic.
Through them, also, he inserts in us wisdom, and through every thing which is in the world excites our intellect to the truth of real beings, of things which are in generation, and of future events.
From these things, therefore, I think it is manifest, that the mode of divination is perfectly contrary to what you suspected it to be.
For it is of a ruling and primordial nature, of an unrestrained power, and transcendent nature, comprehending in itself all things, but not being comprehended by any thing, nor enclosed by its participants.
For it ascends into, and rules over, all things simultaneously, and without circumscription, and collectively signifies future events.
Hence, from what has 163 been said, you may easily dissolve these vulgar doubts, which disturb most men, and may in a becoming manner elevate yourself to the intellectual, divine, and irreprehensible presignification of the Gods from all things.
Through this, therefore, we have evinced, that divinity is not drawn down to the signs employed by divination.
§ Ask Guru about this passage →Themes
Apophatic Theologytheology
Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.
The text describes the divine nature as not being comprehended by any thing nor enclosed by its participants.
All passages →Cosmic Sympathycosmology
The Stoic and Plotinian doctrine that all parts of the cosmos are bound by hidden affinities, so that a movement in one part resonates through the whole; the metaphysical basis for astrology, magic, and divination.
It states that the mode of divination ascends into and rules over all things simultaneously.
All passages →Divine Hiddennesstheology
The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father.
The passage emphasizes that divine conceptions precede knowledge and are superior to nature.
All passages →Gnosis Direct Knowledgesoteriology
Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.
The text explicitly states that wisdom is inserted into us through signs deprived of knowledge and that things without knowledge become gnostic.
All passages →Hidden Sayingssoteriology
Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.
The passage describes revealing conceptions which precede all knowledge through signs deprived of knowledge.
All passages →Living Godtheology
The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.
The divine presignification is described as active and ruling over all things simultaneously.
All passages →Paradox As Teachingethics
Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight.
It presents the paradox that things deprived of knowledge become gnostic.
All passages →Return To Sourcesoteriology
The soul's journey back to its divine origin, reversing the fall into matter through stages of purification or illumination.
The goal is to elevate oneself to the divine presignification from all things.
All passages →Spiritual Ascentpraxis
A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source.
The passage calls for elevating oneself to the intellectual and divine presignification of the Gods.
All passages →Related passages · 11 parallels
christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Mystical Theology|Chapter III-b
“Now in the former treatises the course of the argument, as it came down from the highest to the lowest categories, embraced an ever-widening number of conceptions which increased at each stage of the descent, but in the present treatise it…”
Shared concept: Apophatic Theology — Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa. (derived)
christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 4, Section 1l
“Need is there to understand that in proper truth we do but use the elements and syllables and phrases and written terms and words as an aid to our senses; inasmuch as when our soul is moved by spiritual energies unto spiritual things, our s…”
Shared concept: Apophatic Theology — Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa. (derived)
christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 1, Section 1d
“And we press upwards to those beams which in the Holy Scripture shine upon us; wherefrom we gain the light which leads us unto 55 the Divine praises 64 64 πρὸς τοὺς θεαρχικοὺς ὕμνους.
Either (1) “leads us to declare the Divine praises”; or…”
Shared concept: Return To Source — The soul's journey back to its divine origin, reversing the fall into matter through stages of purification or illumination. (derived)
western_esoteric|The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall)|Qabbalistic Keys to the Creation of Man-a
“HENRIE STEPHEN, in A World of Wonders , published in 1607, mentions a monk of St.
Anthony who declared that while in Jerusalem the patriarch of that city had shown him not only one of the ribs of the Word made flesh and some rays from the…”
Shared concept: Hidden Sayings — Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth. (derived)
theosophy|The Secret Doctrine|Page 2 (part 1)
“The Secret Doctrine by H.
P.
Blavatsky -- Vol.
1 [[Vol.
1, Page xvii]] INTRODUCTORY.
------- "Gently to hear, kindly to judge." -- S HAKESPEARE.
S INCE the appearance of Theosophical literature in England, it has become customary to c…”
Shared concept: Hidden Sayings — Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth. (derived)
christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Mystical Theology|Chapter I-b
“They are useful and necessary up to a point, but the Truth lies beyond them and is to be apprehended to a supernatural manner by what later writers call “infused” contemplation.
The sum of the whole matter is that God is incomprehensible.…”
Shared concept: Return To Source — The soul's journey back to its divine origin, reversing the fall into matter through stages of purification or illumination. (derived)
christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 2 (part 3)
“This other will is the sensitivity and conceivability of the primordial will, by means of which that which is nothing finds itself to be something.
By so doing the inconceivable causeless will issues by means of that which it has eternally…”
Shared concept: Living God — The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality. (derived)
egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 43 (part 69)
“unity of a supreme and self-existent being, his eternity, his almightiness, and external reproduction thereby as God; the attributing of the creation of the world and of all living beings to this supreme God; the immortality of the soul, co…”
Shared concept: Divine Hiddenness — The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father. (derived)
western_esoteric|The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall)|The Mysteries and Their Emissaries-a
“DID that divine knowledge which constituted the supreme possession of the pagan priestcrafts survive the destruction of their temples?
Is it yet accessible to mankind, or does it lie buried beneath the rubbish of ages, entombed within the…”
Shared concept: Gnosis Direct Knowledge — Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone. (derived)
renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori)|First Dialogue-m
“Thus everything has an impetus towards its beginning retrogressively, and progressively towards its end and perfection, as Empedocles well said, and from which sentence I think may be inferred that which the Nolan said in this octave: The s…”
Shared concept: Spiritual Ascent — A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source. (derived)
western_esoteric|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…”
Shared concept: Paradox As Teaching — Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight. (derived)
Contrasts · where traditions diverge
western_esoteric|Transcendental Magic II: The Ritual (Éliphas Lévi)|4. The Conjuration Of The Four-f
“But we live in a century when no one has the courage to confess the wonders that he has witnessed, and did anyone say: “I have myself beheld or performed the things which I am describing,” he would be answered: “You are diverting yourself a…”
Both passages discuss the nature and practice of divination, emphasizing its supernatural and transcendent aspects. They share the concept of divination as a means to access higher knowledge or truth, though expressed in different terms and contexts.
western_esoteric|Transcendental Magic II: The Ritual (Éliphas Lévi)|5. The Blazing Pentagram-b
“In the case of a spirit of darkness, the opposite course is pursued, but then the operator must be careful to set the end of the rod or the point of the sword upon the head of the Pentagram.
We have said that signs are the active voice of…”
Both passages discuss the power of symbols and signs in magical and divine contexts, emphasizing their role in conveying divine will and knowledge. They share the concept of the divine using signs to communicate and influence the world, though they come from different traditions.
western_esoteric|Transcendental Magic II: The Ritual (Éliphas Lévi)|5. The Blazing Pentagram-c
“Need anyone be surprised therefore that every Magus believes in the real influence exercised by this sign over spirits of all hierarchies?
Those who set at naught the Sign of the Cross tremble before the Star of the Microcosm.
On the cont…”
Both passages discuss the power of symbols and their influence over spiritual hierarchies and the divine. They share the concept of intellectual or divine omnipotence gained through the proper understanding and use of symbolic tools, though they come from different traditions and use different vocabulary.
western_esoteric|Transcendental Magic II: The Ritual (Éliphas Lévi)|14. Transmutations-c
“It should bear on the inner side the occult characters of the planets and on the outer their known signs, duplicated and in kabalistic opposition to each other; that is, five on the right and five on the left; the signs of the sun and moon…”
Both passages discuss the power of the mind or divine will to alter perception and reality. Passage A focuses on the magical power of the will to make oneself invisible and transform reality through the use of specific words and symbols, while Passage B discusses the divine nature of signs and the power of divination to reveal truths and future events. Both emphasize the transcendent power of certain words or actions to effect change.
western_esoteric|Transcendental Magic II: The Ritual (Éliphas Lévi)|16. Witchcraft And Spells-e
“Thomas, that daring innovator who first substituted the absolute law of reason for arbitrary divinity, by formulating an axiom which we cannot repeat too often, since it comes from such a master: “A thing is not just because God wills it, b…”
Both passages discuss the concept of divine or supernatural influence acting through intermediaries. Passage A describes the projection of the will of the Magus into another body, while Passage B discusses divine influence revealing knowledge through things deprived of knowledge, both illustrating the idea of higher powers manifesting through lesser entities.