Iamblichus: On the Mysteries · 110 of 218 · tr. Thomas Taylor
Chapter XIV
We shall begin, however, the elucidation of this subject in the best possible manner, if we demonstrate that the sacred law of sacrifices is connected with the order of the Gods. In the first place, therefore, we say, that of the Gods some are material, but others immaterial. And the material, indeed, are those that comprehend matter in themselves, and adorn it; but the immaterial are those that are perfectly exempt from, and transcend, matter. But, according to the sacrific art, it is requisite to begin sacred operations from the material Gods for the ascent to the immaterial Gods will not otherwise be effected. The material Gods, therefore, have a certain communion with matter, so far as they preside over it. Hence they have dominion over things which happen about matter, such as the division, percussion, repercussion, mutation, generation, and corruption of all material bodies. He, therefore, who wishes to worship these theurgically, in a manner adapted to them, and to the dominion which they are allotted, should, as they are material, employ a material mode of worship. For thus we shall be wholly led to a familiarity with them, and worship them in an allied and 250 appropriate manner. Dead bodies, therefore, and things deprived of life, the slaying of animals, and the consumption of victims, and, in short, the mutation of the matter which is offered, pertain to these Gods, not by themselves, but on account of the matter over which they preside. For though they are in the most eminent degree separate from it, yet at the same time they are present with it. And though they comprehend matter in an immaterial power, yet they are coexistent with it. Things that are governed, also, are not foreign from their governors; and things which are subservient as instruments, are not unadapted to those that use them. Hence, it is foreign to the immaterial Gods, to offer matter to them through sacrifices, but this is most adapted to all the material Gods.
The Hermetic axiom that the structure of the cosmos is reflected at every scale — 'as above, so below; as within, so without' — making each level a legible map of the others.
The entire argument rests on the principle that the mode of worship must correspond to the nature of the deity: material gods require material sacrifice, immaterial gods are foreign to it, and 'things which are subservient as instruments are not unadapted to those that use them.'
A chain of divine beings or principles flowing downward from a single transcendent source (the One or the Father), each level less perfect than the one above.
The passage explicitly structures the gods into a hierarchy of material (lower) and immaterial (higher) beings, with the ascent from material to immaterial gods as the operative goal of theurgy.
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.
Corruption is listed among the phenomena governed by material Gods, aligning with the idea of evil as a lack or distortion.
A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source.
The passage explicitly frames the theurgical path as an ascent from material gods to immaterial gods, with the material rites serving as the necessary foundation for this upward movement.
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 becoming familiar with Gods through appropriate worship, implying a transformation into their likeness.
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 centrally defines theurgical worship as the appropriate mode for engaging material Gods and ascending to immaterial ones.