Select Works, Section 110

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.

[auto] The passage explicitly states that analogy renders every part a sign within the total, directly reflecting the axiom that cosmic structure is mirrored at every scale.

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.

In Plotinian thought, the analogical relationship where parts function as signs implies the hidden affinities binding all parts of the cosmos together.

The ritual practice of discerning hidden knowledge — future events, concealed causes, or the will of higher powers — through a structured technique applied to cards, lots, astrological configuration, entrails, oracle, or other sortilege, rather than through direct unmediated insight. Distinct from gnosis_direct_knowledge (unmediated inner apprehension of ultimate truth, not a technique applied to an external medium) and cosmic_sympathy (the underlying doctrine of hidden affinity that many divinatory techniques presuppose, rather than the practice of consulting it).

The passage is explicitly concerned with establishing the metaphysical basis for divination by stars, birds, and other animals, asking what explains the purposeful arrangement that makes signification possible.

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 passage concludes that 'there is nothing undesigned, nothing of chance, in all the process: all is one scheme of differentiation, starting from the Firsts,' which is a direct statement of pronoia.

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 describes 'one scheme of differentiation, starting from the Firsts and working itself out in a continuous progression of Kinds,' with each entity taking origin from one Principle and working within the whole.

The doctrine that the cosmos unfolds as a structured descent of spirit into matter — a directional process traced stage by stage from an unconditioned principle down through successive planes to full materialization — complemented by its own eventual return ('evolution'). Distinct from emanation_hierarchy (the static structure of the resulting levels of the cascade) and cosmogony (a single originating event rather than an ongoing staged process) in naming the directional cosmic PROCESS of descent itself, paired with its own complementary ascent.

The passage describes 'a continuous progression of Kinds' working itself out from the Firsts, with each entity taking origin from the Principle and executing its own function within the whole, depicting a directional unfolding process.

The human being as a small-scale image of the entire cosmos; the body, soul, and intellect mirroring the structure of the heavens and the divine — distinct from correspondence in that it makes the human the privileged mirror.

Plotinus explicitly draws the analogy: 'If these parts of us are members of a whole, so are we: in different ways the one law applies,' making the human body the privileged mirror of the cosmic whole.

The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.

The passage posits 'one principle constituting this unit of many forms of life and enclosing the several members within the unity,' describing the absolutely simple first principle from which all multiplicity flows.

The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.

[auto] The passage describes a relationship where every part signifies the whole, implying an underlying unified reality.