Iamblichus: On the Mysteries · 116 of 218 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Chapter XX

Being impelled, therefore, from another principle, viz. from the world and the mundane Gods, from the arrangement of the four elements in the world, and the association of the elements according to [appropriate] measures, and also 259 from the orderly circulation of bodies about centres, we shall have an easy ascent to the truth of the piety respecting sacrifices. For if we are in the world, are contained as parts in the universe, are primarily produced by it, and perfected by the total powers that are in it, and if we consist of its elements, and receive from it a certain portion of life and nature; if this be the case, it is not proper to pass beyond the world and the mundane orders. We must admit, therefore, that in each part of the world there is this visible body, and that there are also incorporeal powers, which are divided about bodies. Hence the law of religion distributes similars to similars, and thus extends from on high, through wholes, as far as to the last of things; assigning, indeed, incorporeals to incorporeals, but bodies to bodies, and this commensurately to the nature of each. If, however, some theurgist should participate of the supermundane Gods, which is the rarest of all things, he, indeed, in the worship of the Gods will transcend both bodies and matter; being united to the Gods by a supermundane power. But that which happens to one person with difficulty and late, and at the end of the sacerdotal office, ought not to be promulgated as common to all men; nor ought it to be made a thing common to those who are commencing 260 theurgic operations, nor to those who have made a middle proficiency in it. For these, after a manner, pay a corporeal-formed attention to sanctity.

Themes

◆Correspondencecosmology

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 text explicitly states that the law of religion extends from on high through wholes as far as to the last of things.

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◆Divine Hiddennesstheology

The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father.

The passage notes that the supermundane Gods are rare and not common knowledge.

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◆Hidden Sayingssoteriology

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

The text warns against promulgating rare experiences of theurgic participation as common to all men.

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◆Living Godtheology

The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.

The reference to mundane Gods and their powers implies an active divine presence.

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◆Numerical Mysticismtheology

Numbers, proportions, and mathematical relationships as the underlying structure of divine reality.

The passage references the arrangement of the four elements according to measures and orderly circulation about centres.

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◆Ritual Puritypraxis

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

The text discusses the law of religion distributing similars to similars as a requirement for worship.

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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 passage describes a rare state where a theurgist participates in supermundane Gods and is united to them by a supermundane power.

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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 passage centrally discusses theurgic operations, their stages, and the rare participation of a theurgist in supermundane Gods.

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Related passages · 2 parallels

◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Mystical Theology|Chapter Ib

“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.…”

Both passages discuss the transcendence of the divine and the limitations of human understanding and ritual in approaching the divine. They emphasize the need to go beyond ordinary means to achieve a higher, mystical union with the divine.

◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 11 (part 1)

“p. 224 CHAPTER XI. INCARNATION—THE CELESTIAL VIRGIN. The doctrine of the incarnation of Christ, or, to express it in other words, of the awakening of the germ of divine self-knowledge in man, is so grand, that it is impossible to form a…”

Both passages discuss the relationship between the divine and the material world, emphasizing the connection and interaction between higher spiritual realms and the physical realm. They both highlight the need for a mediator or incarnation to bridge these realms, though they do so within different religious contexts.