Select Works of Plotinus · 369 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor
Select Works, Section 350
Section 30 30. We have declared acts of memory unnecessary to the stars, but we allow them perceptions, hearing as well as seeing; for we said that prayers to them were heard- our supplications to the sun, and those, even, of certain other men to the stars. It has moreover been the belief that in answer to prayer they accomplish many human wishes, and this so lightheartedly that they become not merely helpers towards good but even accomplices in evil. Since this matter lies in our way, it must be considered, for it carries with it grave difficulties that very much trouble those who cannot think of divine beings as, thus, authors or auxiliaries in unseemliness even including the connections of loose carnality. In view of all this it is especially necessary to study the question with which we began, that of memory in the heavenly bodies. It is obvious that, if they act on our prayers and if this action is not immediate, but with delay and after long periods of time, they remember the prayers men address to them. This is something that our former argument did not concede; though it appeared plausible that, for their better service of mankind, they might have been endowed with such a memory as we ascribed to Demeter and Hestia- or to the latter alone if only the earth is to be thought of as beneficent to man. We have, then, to attempt to show: firstly, how acts implying memory in the heavenly bodies are to be reconciled with our system as distinguished from those others which allow them memory as a matter of course; secondly, what vindication of those gods of the heavenly spheres is possible in the matter of seemingly anomalous acts- a question which philosophy cannot ignore- then too, since the charge goes so far, we must ask whether credence is to be given to those who hold that the entire heavenly system can be put under spell by man's skill and audacity: our discussion will also deal with the spirit-beings and how they may be thought to minister to these ends- unless indeed the part played by the Celestials prove to be settled by the decision upon the first questions.
Themes
◆Divine Sparkscosmology
Fragments of divine light or spirit trapped inside material bodies, awaiting liberation and return to their source.
It mentions the 'soul-vestige' is con-substantial with the higher soul, implying a divine fragment affected by matter.
All passages →◆Return To Sourcesoteriology
The soul's journey back to its divine origin, reversing the fall into matter through stages of purification or illumination.
The advice to repudiate the body implies a movement away from material entanglement toward a higher state.
All passages →◆Unity Of Beingtheology
The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.
It states the soul-vestige is of 'one essence [con-substantial]' with the other phases.
All passages →◇Body As Obstacleanthropology
The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return.
[auto] The passage explicitly identifies the body and vegetal principle as the source of anger and states that repudiating the body reduces passion.
All passages →◇Cosmic Dualismtheology
Ontological opposition between two primal principles (light/darkness, truth/lie, spirit/matter) as the fundamental structure of reality.
[auto] The text contrasts the rational soul with the material body and vegetal life as opposing sources of conflict and passion.
All passages →◇Emanation Hierarchycosmology
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.
[auto] The passage describes a descending order of faculties from reason to imaging to vegetal life within the human organism.
All passages →Related passages · 8 parallels
◆christian_mysticism|Meister Eckhart's Sermons (Field translation)|VIc
“Here some one may make the objection: “Are then all good works and prayers thrown away, since God is unmoved by them, and at the same time we are told to pray to Him for everything?” In answer to this I say that God from all eternity saw ev…”
Both passages explore the relationship between divine beings and human actions, specifically prayers. They discuss the concept of divine immutability and how divine beings respond to human prayers, albeit from different religious and philosophical perspectives.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 13 (part 5)
“First, by the severe wrath of God, the abyss and dark world, which is the centre of the created life of the soul, whose innermost root is desire.
The second chain is the fiery longing of the devil for the soul, in consequence of which he t…”
Both passages explore the nature of anger and its origins within the human psyche, linking it to bodily functions and external influences. They also discuss the struggle between higher reasoning and lower, more primal instincts.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 14 (part 4)
“Each person feels that according to the quality of his Turba , one in one way and another in another.
The avaricious soul, for instance, suffers from cold; the angry soul from heat; the envious soul experiences bitterness; the conceited is…”
Both passages explore the concept of inner turmoil and the effects of negative emotions and actions on the soul or inner self. They discuss how these negative aspects manifest and affect the individual, showing a genuine conceptual parallel across different mystical traditions.
◆hermeticism|Corpus Hermeticum 12: The Prayer|Section 1c
“All things incorporeal when in a body are subject unto passion, and in the proper sense they are [themselves] all passions.
For every thing that moves itself is incorporeal; while every thing that's moved is body.
Incorporeals are further…”
Both passages explore the relationship between the mind, passions, and the body, discussing how the mind can be influenced by passions and how these elements interact within a person. They also touch on the idea of transcending the body to achieve a higher state of being.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter VIII (part 5)
“Reflex actions are simply responses by motion , reactions upon external irritations, taking place always in the same way, regardless p.
87 of their utility or futility, expediency or inexpediency in any given case.
Their origin and laws a…”
Both passages explore the concept of automatic, unconscious reactions in living organisms, with Passage A focusing on cellular irritability and reflex actions, and Passage B discussing the vegetal principle underlying anger and other emotional responses. Both highlight the idea of automatic responses to stimuli, though in different contexts.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter VIII (part 6)
“We may declare with entire assurance that instinct is a pleasure-pain which, like the positive and negative poles of an electro-magnet, repels and attracts the animal in this or that direction, compelling it to perform whole series of compl…”
Both passages explore the relationship between instinct, pleasure-pain, and rational actions, though from different perspectives. Ouspensky discusses instinct as a guide governed by pleasure-pain and its expediency, while Plotinus examines anger and its connection to the vegetal principle of pleasure and pain, highlighting the role of reason and sensation.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XVIII (part 6)
“Emotions apparently the same may be united with the very small I's and with the very great and lofty I's; and so the rôle and meaning of such emotions in life may be very different.
The continual shifting of emotions, each of which calls i…”
Both passages discuss the nature of emotions and their relationship to the self and consciousness. They explore how emotions can be liberating or binding, and the importance of transcending personal, ego-driven emotions to achieve a higher understanding or state of being.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XVIII (part 8)
“There can be pure sympathy, and there can be sympathy mixed with calculation to receive something for one's sympathy.
There can be pure love of knowledge, a thirst for knowledge for its own sake, and there can be an inclination to knowledg…”
Both passages discuss the nature of emotions and their impact on human understanding and behavior. They explore the distinction between pure and impure emotions, and the importance of purifying emotions for better knowledge and moral understanding.