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Iamblichus: On the Mysteries · 123 of 218 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Chapter XXVI-b

And, in the third and last place, it may easily be conceived from hence how prayer and sacrifice mutually corroborate and confer on each other a sacred and perfect power in divine concerns. Hence, since it appears that there is a perfect conspiration and cooperation of the sacerdotal discipline with itself, and that the parts of it are more connascent than those of any animal, being entirely conjoined through one 274 connexion; this being the case, it is not by any means proper to neglect this concord, nor to admit some of its parts and reject others; but it is fit that all of them should be exercised in a similar manner, and that those should be perfected through all of them who wish to be genuinely conjoined to the Gods. These things therefore, cannot subsist otherwise. 275 SECTION VI.
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Themes
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 passage describes a 'perfect conspiracy and cooperation' of the sacerdotal discipline where parts are 'connascent' and entirely conjoined through one connexion.

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Divine Providencetheology

Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity.

The text implies divine ordering through the perfect conspiracy of ritual practices.

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Mystical Unionsoteriology

The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity.

The passage explicitly states that those who wish to be 'genuinely conjoined to the Gods' must exercise all parts of the discipline similarly.

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Prayerpraxis

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

The text discusses how prayer and sacrifice confer sacred power in divine concerns and are mutually corroborative.

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Ritual Puritypraxis

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

The passage emphasizes the necessity of not neglecting the 'concord' of the sacerdotal discipline for union with 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 described is being 'conjoined to the Gods,' implying a transformation into a divine state through ritual practice.

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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 the sacerdotal discipline and its parts as a means of achieving union with the Gods through proper exercise.

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