Select Works, Section 569

The divine reason, word, or ordering principle through which the universe was created; mediates between the transcendent God and the material world.

The text references the 'Reason-Principle' which imposes powers and forms matter, functioning as the mediating ordering principle.

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

The passage discusses 'unity' from which plurality evolves, distinguishing it from numerical unity, aligning with the concept of a simple first principle.

The soul's journey back to its divine origin, reversing the fall into matter through stages of purification or illumination.

The text describes the 'activity upward is Intellect', implying a movement back toward the prior principle.

Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.

[auto] The passage defines the higher sphere by negation, stating it is 'no numerical unity' and 'no individual thing.'

The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return.

[auto] It notes that the sphere of Intellect is 'divorced from Matter,' implying matter is separate and inferior to true substance.

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 draws a direct analogy between the Intellectual realm and the Sensible world as 'portrait or reflection to the original'.

The doctrine that God has no parts, divisions, or composite attributes; pure undivided being.

[auto] It describes the intellect as 'no numerical unity, no individual thing,' emphasizing its undivided nature despite producing plurality.

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 explicitly outlines a descending chain where Soul is subsequent to Intellect, which originates in a prior unity, evolving plurality from oneness.

Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.

[auto] Clarity is achieved through perception ('perceives more clearly') rather than external ritual or faith.

The divine spark or luminous quality residing within the human person, potentially recognisable through introspection.

[auto] It asserts there is 'Intellect in our intellect,' indicating a divine principle residing within the human mind.

The claim that the divine realm is present inside the individual, accessible without external mediation.

[auto] By stating Intellect exists within our intellect, it suggests the divine realm is accessible internally without external mediation.

The recognition of one's own true divine nature as the primary path to liberation; 'know thyself' as soteriology.

[auto] The intellect perceives its own perception in the prior, highlighting self-awareness as a key function of higher reality.

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

[auto] The text characterizes the intellect as a 'plurality-in-unity' where substance originates from a single source before division.