Iamblichus: On the Mysteries · 97 of 218 · tr. Thomas Taylor
Chapter III
Here, therefore, the same reasoning is likewise sufficient. For with us the enjoyment of bodies which once were united to soul, impresses in us heaviness and defilement, ingenerates in us voluptuousness, and produces many other diseases in the soul. But with the Gods, and with mundane and total causes, this is by 228 no means the case. For the exhalation which ascends after a divine manner from animals that are sacrificed, as it is comprehended by, and does not comprehend, the Gods, and as it is also connected with the universe, but does not conjoin wholes and the Gods to itself, is in consequence of this coadapted to superior beings and to total causes, but does not restrain them and coadapt them to itself.
§ Ask Guru about this passage →Themes
Body As Obstacleanthropology
The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return.
The passage explicitly states that the enjoyment of bodies once united to soul impresses heaviness and defilement upon the soul.
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.
The text describes how exhalations from animals are coadapted to superior beings and total causes without being restrained by them.
All passages →Divine Hiddennesstheology
The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father.
The Gods are described as not comprehending the exhalation that ascends from sacrificed animals.
All passages →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.
Heaviness and defilement are presented as negative states resulting from the union of soul with bodies rather than positive divine attributes.
All passages →Ritual Puritypraxis
The maintenance of a state of cleanliness—physical, moral, or spiritual—required for encounter with the divine.
The passage contrasts the defilement caused by bodily unions with the purity associated with the Gods and total causes.
All passages →Related passages · 11 parallels
christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 5, Section 1i
“364 The ultimate Godhead is reached only by the Negative Path, and known only by Unknowing.
The Affirmative Path of philosophical knowledge leads only to the differentiated manifestations of the Godhead: e.g.
the Trinity, in Its creative…”
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)
christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 4, Section 1u
“For things of the same kind cannot 333 333 Exuberant vitality is per se a good thing and the more exuberant the better, though, like all good things, it is dangerous, and unless properly directed is disastrous.
be wholly contradictory to o…”
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)
western_esoteric|Transcendental Magic I: The Doctrine (Éliphas Lévi)|3. The Triangle Of Solomon-c
“These shells, envelopes petrified or carnified, were such an expression possible, are the source of errors or of evil, which connects with the heaviness and hardness of animal envelopes.
In the book Zohar , and in that of the Revolution of…”
Shared concept: Body As Obstacle — The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return. (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)
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: Divine Hiddenness — The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father. (derived)
renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori)|First Dialogue-j
“So that the continual movement of one part supposes and carries with it the movement of the whole, in such a way that the attraction of the posterior parts is consequent upon the repulsion of the anterior parts; thus the movement of the sup…”
Shared concept: Cosmic Sympathy — 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. (derived)
christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 12 (part 12)
“255:1 However gratifying it may be for the curious seeker in history to know whether or when such an event has actually occurred in the history of the Jewish nation, such a historical belief would be of little benefit to him if he could not…”
Shared concept: Body As Obstacle — The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return. (derived)
western_esoteric|The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall)|The Human Body in Symbolism-e
“And as in the most holy of the mysteries, they say, that the mystics at first meet with the multi form, and many-shaped genera, which are hurled forth before the gods, but on entering the temple, unmoved, and guarded by the mystic rites, th…”
Shared concept: Body As Obstacle — The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return. (derived)
christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Mystical Theology|Chapter IV
“That He Who is the Pre-eminent Cause of everything sensibly perceived is not Himself any one of the things sensibly perceived. We therefore maintain 536 536 Being about to explain, in these two last chapters, that no material or mental qual…”
Shared concept: Body As Obstacle — The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return. (derived)
western_esoteric|The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite)|Page 38 (part 1)
“Click to view DEVIL FROM HEARNE'S PRINT OF THE "DESCENT INTO HELL." Engraved by Michael Burghers , c.
1676.
CHAPTER I The Preparation of the Operator § 1.
Concerning the Love of God THE rites of so-called Transcendental Magic are, ex hyp…”
Shared concept: Ritual Purity — The maintenance of a state of cleanliness—physical, moral, or spiritual—required for encounter with the divine. (derived)
greek_mystery|The Golden Verses of Pythagoras|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 e…”
Shared concept: Ritual Purity — The maintenance of a state of cleanliness—physical, moral, or spiritual—required for encounter with the divine. (derived)