Select Works, Section 636 (part 2)
◆Aeonscosmology
Divine archetypal beings or eternal attributes dwelling within the Pleroma, often arranged in male-female syzygies.
The text lists 'Absolute Man, Absolute Number, Absolute Justice' as distinct entities within the Intellectual-Principle.
All passages →◆Correspondencecosmology
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.
The text describes effects produced 'in the ratio of the contact, closely to the close, more remotely to the remote.'
All passages →◆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 production of effect by contact implies a resonance or affinity between levels of being.
All passages →◆Divine Simplicitytheology
The doctrine that God has no parts, divisions, or composite attributes; pure undivided being.
The Intellectual-Principle is described as 'power without magnitude' and 'self-existing', implying non-composite nature.
All passages →◆Living Godtheology
The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.
The text describes the Intellectual-Principle as a 'thing most living and intellective'.
All passages →◆Logoscosmology
The divine reason, word, or ordering principle through which the universe was created; mediates between the transcendent God and the material world.
The Intellectual-Principle functions as the ordering principle containing all forms and numbers.
All passages →◆Monadcosmology
The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.
The text references 'unity' existing before the Living-Form and Authentic Being as power self-existing.
All passages →◆Mystical Unionsoteriology
The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity.
Knowledge is described as occurring through 'contact' between the knower and the Intellectual-Principle.
All passages →◆Pleromacosmology
The divine fullness or totality of the highest realm, populated by aeons and divine attributes, contrasted with the deficient material world.
The Intellectual-Principle is described as containing all living things, Number, Justice, and Beauty, resembling the divine fullness.
All passages →◆Spiritual Ascentpraxis
A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source.
The passage suggests seeking 'Being at its intensest', implying a movement toward higher reality.
All passages →◆Unity Of Beingtheology
The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.
The text describes 'Authentic Being' as containing all living things and numbers, suggesting a unified source of existence.
All passages →◇Active Contemplationpraxis
A form of meditation that uses imagery, imagination, or symbolic thought rather than purely empty stillness.
[auto] The practice described involves reflecting within oneself on life and intellect as a form of meditation.
All passages →◇Apophatic Theologytheology
Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.
[auto] The passage commands to 'lay aside all sense-perception' and describes the divine as 'not in extension but as power without magnitude'.
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 instruction to 'lay aside all sense-perception' implies that sensory experience hinders the knowledge of Intellectual-Principle.
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 distinguishes between the 'Life-Form primal', 'Intellectual-Principle', and 'Authentic Being', outlining levels of reality.
All passages →◇Gnosis Direct Knowledgesoteriology
Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.
[auto] The text states 'by Intellectual-Principle we know Intellectual-Principle', emphasizing direct noetic knowledge over sensory perception.
All passages →◇Inner Lightanthropology
The divine spark or luminous quality residing within the human person, potentially recognisable through introspection.
[auto] The text suggests that life and intellect are found within the self ('reflect within ourselves'), indicating an internal divine presence.
All passages →◇Kingdom Withinanthropology
The claim that the divine realm is present inside the individual, accessible without external mediation.
[auto] The divine Intellect and Authentic Being are accessed by reflecting within oneself rather than looking outward.
All passages →◇Numerical Mysticismtheology
Numbers, proportions, and mathematical relationships as the underlying structure of divine reality.
[auto] The text explicitly mentions that the higher realm contains 'all Number' and ascribes existence to 'Absolute Number'.
All passages →◇Self Knowledgesoteriology
The recognition of one's own true divine nature as the primary path to liberation; 'know thyself' as soteriology.
[auto] The author instructs to 'reflect within ourselves there is life, there is intellect', linking self-reflection to divine knowledge.
All passages →