Iamblichus: On the Mysteries · 189 of 218 · tr. Thomas Taylor
Chapter VIII-ac
The nature of the one , as it is all-receptive , and all-productive ( πανδεχης και παντοφυης ) exhibits in itself a certain representation and indication of multitude; for it is all things prior to all.
40 .
For the Gods are essentialized in the one ; or, as Damascius observes, speaking Chaldaically, in the paternal peculiarity.
For in every God there is father, power, and intellect; father being the same as hyparxis and the one .
41 .
Viz.
According to the difference which there is between the invisibility of Gods and the invisibility of dæmons.
42 .
The cosmocrators , or governors of the world, are the planets .
See the fourth book of my translation of Proclus on the Timæus of Plato.
43 .
For πυριως in this place, I read εμπυριως .
For the empyrean world, according to the Chaldeans, is above the material worlds, and emits a supermundane fire or light.
44 .
For περιουσια here, it is necessary to read παρουσια .
45 .
These are terrestrial dæmons, to whom the Chaldean oracle alludes, which says, “The wild beasts of the earth shall inhabit thy vessel,” i.
e.
as Psellus explains it, the composite temperature of the soul.
46 .
For πεπλανημενην here, it seems requisite to read πεπλασμενην .
Gale also, in his version, in this place has fictum.
47 .
i.
e.
The inexplicable theurgic signs or symbols.
48 .
For υπνος here, it is necessary to read αυπνος .
For Iamblichus has before shown that divine dreams are not produced in sleep, but either when sleep leaves us, or between sleeping and waking, or when we are perfectly awake.
The necessity of this emendation is also evident from what Iamblichus shortly after adds, viz.
that we must take away from divine dreams the being asleep ; i.
e.
the being in a profound sleep.
49 .
In the original there is nothing more than λεγουσι δε ταδε in this place; but the sense requires that we should read λεγουσι δε οι σοφοι ταδε .
And this emendation is confirmed by the versions of Scutellius and Gale.
50 .
For κατα τα μεταξυ διαλαμβανομενα κ.
λ , I read μετα κ.
λ .
51 .
“Among the deeds of Pythagoras,” says Iamblichus, in his Life of that father of philosophy, (chap.
xxv.) “it is said, that once through the spondaic [ i.
e.
Doric] song of a piper he extinguished the rage of a Tauromenian lad, who had been feasting by night, and intended to burn the vestibule of his mistress, in consequence of seeing her coming from the house of his rival.
For the lad was inflamed and excited [to this rash attempt] by a Phrygian song; which, however, Pythagoras most rapidly suppressed.
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 discusses how terrestrial dæmons inhabit the soul's composite temperature and are affected by songs, indicating resonant affinities between cosmic levels.
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 text describes Gods as essentialized in the one and mentions cosmocrators (planets) governing the world below.
The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.
The passage centrally defines the 'nature of the one' as all-receptive and prior to all, establishing it as the first principle from which multiplicity flows.
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 explicitly discusses the extinguishing of rage through song and mentions inexplicable theurgic signs or symbols as central practices.