Theurgy describes the practice of rituals, sometimes seen as magical in
nature, performed with the intention of invoking the action or evoking the
presence of one or more gods, especially with the goal of uniting with the
divine, achieving henosis, and perfecting oneself.
Definitions Proclus: theurgy is "a power higher than
all human wisdom embracing the blessings of divination, the purifying powers of
initiation and in a word all the operations of divine possession"
Keith Thomas: "Spiritual magic or theurgy was based on the idea that one
could reach God in an ascent up the scale of creation made possible by a
rigorous course of prayer, fasting and devotional preparation."
Anne Sheppard: "Theurgy, the religious magic practised by the later
Neoplatonists, has been commonly regarded as the point at which
Neoplatonism degenerates into magic, superstition and irrationalism. A
superficial glance at the ancient lives of the Neoplatonists, and in particular
at Eunapius' Lives of the Sophists, reveals a group of people interested in
animating statues, favoured with visions of gods and demons, and skilled in
rain-making" Pierre A. Riffard: "Theurgy is a type of
magic. It consists of a set of magical practices performed to evoke beneficent
spirits in order to see them or know them or in order to influence them, for
instance by forcing them to animate a statue, to inhabit a human being, or to
disclose mysteries." Neoplatonism
Theurgy means "divine-working". The first recorded use of the term is found
in the mid-second-century neo-Platonist work the Chaldean Oracles: 'For the
theourgoí do not fall under the fate-governed herd'). The source of
Western theurgy can be found in the philosophy of late Neoplatonists,
especially Iamblichus. In late Neoplatonism, the spiritual Universe is
regarded as a series of emanations from the One. From the One emanated the
Divine Mind and in turn from the Divine Mind emanated the World Soul.
Neoplatonists insisted that the One is absolutely transcendent and in the
emanations nothing of the higher was lost or transmitted to the lower, which
remained unchanged by the lower emanations.
Although the Neoplatonists are considered polytheists, they embraced a
form of monism. For Plotinus, and Iamblichus' teachers
Anatolius and Porphyry, the emanations are as follows:
To Hen, The One: Deity without quality, sometimes called The Good.
Nous, Mind: The Universal consciousness, from which proceeds
Psychē, Soul: Including both individual and world soul, leading finally to
Physis, Nature. Plotinus urged contemplations for those
who wished to perform theurgy, the goal of which was to reunite with The Divine.
Therefore, his school resembles a school of meditation or contemplation.
Iamblichus of Calcis, a student of Porphyry taught a more ritualized method
of theurgy that involved invocation and religious, as well as magical, ritual.
Iamblichus believed theurgy was an imitation of the gods, and in his major
work, On the Egyptian Mysteries, he described theurgic observance as
"ritualized cosmogony" that endowed embodied souls with the divine
responsibility of creating and preserving the cosmos.
Iamblichus' analysis was that the transcendent cannot be grasped with
mental contemplation because the transcendent is supra-rational. Theurgy
is a series of rituals and operations aimed at recovering the transcendent
essence by retracing the divine 'signatures' through the layers of
being. Education is important for comprehending the scheme of things as
presented by Aristotle, Plato and Pythagoras but also by the Chaldaean
Oracles. The theurgist works 'like with like': at the material level, with
physical symbols; at the higher level, with mental and purely spiritual
practices. Starting with correspondences of the divine in matter, the theurgist
eventually reaches the level where the soul's inner divinity unites with The
Divine. Emperor Julian
The Emperor Julian the Apostate, embraced Neoplatonic philosophy and
worked to replace Christianity with a version of Neoplatonic paganism. Because
of his death and the hold mainstream Christianity had over the empire at the
time, this was ultimately unsuccessful, but he did produce several works of
philosophy and theology, including a popular hymn to the sun. In his
theology, Helios, the sun, was the ideal example of the perfection of the gods
and light, a symbol of divine emanation. He also held the mother goddess Cybele
in high esteem. Julian favored ritual theurgy, with an
emphasis on sacrifice and prayer. He was heavily influenced by the ideas of
Iamblichus. Esoteric Christian theurgy
Esoteric Christianity accepts theurgy as a tradition that could greatly benefit a
person. The main feat of Esoteric Christianity is to learn the mysteries
of God and to rise to higher consciousness in the understanding of
God's relationship relative to individual consciousness. Theurgy, in
the esoteric tradition, using this knowledge to heighten one's own
spiritual nature. In Esoteric Christianity, theurgy usually is the
practice of trying to gain the knowledge and conversation of one's Higher Self,
or Inner God, to teach one spiritual truths and wisdom from God that one
couldn't learn from man. Some branches of Esoteric Christianity hold that if an
Esoteric Christian, Rosicrucian, or Theosophist practices it, he or she
could potentially rise to the degree of Magus, or Adept after a certain level of
spiritual attainment. In a traditional and magical sense, Theurgy is seen as
the opposite of Goetia, even though many argue that they overlap each other. Some
organizations, such as The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn claim to teach
a type of theurgy that would help one ascend spiritually as well as understand
the true nature of the self and its relation to the Divine and the Universe.
The Golden Dawn has a somewhat significant historical following and
influence; while it is held that many theurgists are usually solitary
practitioners and seek the divine light alone through ritual and inner spiritual
and psychological equilibration. Theurgy in this hermetic sense stresses the need
for the individual to separate and analyze the individual components that
constitute everyday consciousness and reunite them in a way that changes one's
personal awareness into a state that understands and partakes in spiritual
grace. Jewish theurgy
Following a pattern very similar to the Neoplatonists, the Medieval Jewish
mystical tradition of Kabbalah developed the concept that the Universe is
regarded as a series of emanations from the Godhead, namely, the 10 sephirot. It
is said that God created the world using the sephirot, pouring Divinity into
creation through these "vessels," which also have personality traits. The
highest sephirah, Kether, holds the most divine light and is the least accessible
to humanity. The lowest sephirah, Malkuth, is still higher than matter
itself, so the parallel with Neoplatonism is not complete, but
Malkuth is considered that aspect of God that can be perceived in the material
world. It is also known as the Shekhinah.
For the Kabbalist, God is a single oneness, not separate "gods". The
teaching avoids polytheism by insisting that the sephirot are not to be prayed
to, but rather, to be meditated on and experienced as manifestations of how God
acts in the world. They are envisioned as arranged in three columns, in a
pattern called the Tree of Life. By meditating on the sephirot and praying
for their unification, Kabbalists seek the theurgic goal of healing a shattered
world. For Kabbalists, the sephirot are as
follows: Kether; Chokmah; Binah; Chesed; Geburah; Tiphareth; Netzach; Hod; Yesod;
and Malkuth. See also
Invocation Chaldean Oracles
Esoteric Christianity Deity Yoga
Henosis Iamblichus
Julian the Apostate Kabbalah
Magi Magician
Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite Tantra
Thaumaturgy Theosophy
References External links
Two Orations of the Emperor Julian Plotinus' Enneads
Iamblichus' Theurgia or On the Egyptian Mysteries
A Modern Theurgic School Ars-Theurgica.org A site devoted to
theurgy