The following paper was read at a conference on
The Future of Western Spirituality in
the New Millennium
that took place at Dartington Hall
Conference Centre
Friday 15 – Sun 17 October 1999.
Some of you gathered here today will know a great deal about Theurgy and some of you will know little, and, as I must address you all, I therefore ask for the indulgence of the more knowledgeable among you, as I engage with this most profound and important subject. It is profound because it deals with the deepest expression of the human spirit, and it is important, because it is a formal expression of humanity’s spiritual aspiration, and as such it is a vehicle that enables both the individual and group soul to participate in its own evolution under the protective mantle of divine providence.
It has a further significance, because, from a
spiritual perspective, we children of the Enlightenment seem to have lost our
way. Our ‘progress’ and ‘reason’ driven civilisation has, sadly, degraded the
spiritual life of the soul to that of an optional extra, a ‘leisure-time’
activity for life-enhancement. Many of us see it but choose to ignore it -
burying our heads in metaphysical sand. For example, how many people today know
what the word ‘simony’ means? Well, it
means “trading in spiritual things - making material profit out of spiritual
gifts”. It is the norm today to pay for spiritual things, but for millennia it was considered to be a crime
against all that is sacred, because through material greed we debase everything
we touch, and that includes traditional spiritual teachings and disciplines.
What is the result of this social disease? Ask
yourselves, why is it we allow the air we breathe the water we drink and the
food we eat to be poisoned by corporate enterprises – to be poisoned to the
degree that within the next decade or two it is expected that along with other serious
health problems, one out of two people in the western world are going to suffer
from cancer?[1] Is this
caused by spiritual idealism? No, it isn't. Are we protecting those companies who are plundering
the resources of this world out of desperation and necessity? I don’t think so!
The reality is we let these things happen out of spiritual apathy; which is an affliction of
the will - a condition that allows material greed, disguised as progress, to
thrive. In short we are rapidly becoming spiritual cowards dominated by the media. The demands of the
shareholder and the iniquitous ‘market forces’, which we know is out of control, take precedence over actions we
know in our heart to be right. Personal comfort and social status comes first,
everything else goes to the wall, particularly the spiritual values that
inhibit our insatiable appetites. We are in trouble because we have separated
those spiritual values from our mundane life, and, we are afraid to openly
admit it in case we are judged to be weird or difficult and thereby socially unacceptable.
This is why today theurgy is more important
than ever before. It is a very real and powerful means of renewing our
connection, both individually and collectively, with the divine, and thereby
re-establishing wholesome values that have nothing to do with materialism. It
is a subject that more than ever demands an awakening soul’s attention.
What then is ‘Theurgy’? Unfortunately I cannot
tell you, nobody can – although I can inform you about it, but regrettably words will never convey what it is, and that has been a problem
for a very long time. Many intellectuals, scholars and academics have tried to
define theurgy, but the reasoning powers of the human intellect just aren’t up
to it. It is rather like trying to climb Everest with a step-ladder. At best,
all one can do is explore historical, philosophical and perhaps psychological
aspects of something that can only be experienced, not defined.
If we focus upon recognised historical
viewpoints we will end up discussing a few theories favoured by those learned
in booklore, but we will have wasted a rare opportunity to touch something that
we all share in common, something that is exquisitely beautiful, and
furthermore, something that lies at the very core of our being. On the other
hand we do need some reference points to get us going, the question is how far
do we go? And the answer is I am not sure, but let us begin and find out.
The word ‘theurgy’ is based upon the Greek
words Theos (God) and Ergos (work), from which is derived the word theourgia –
which means ‘works of God’ or ‘divine workings’[2].
Lewis & Scott’s Latin Dictionary
informs us that the word ‘theurgia’ is Late Latin, derived from the Greek
Theourgia and means ‘sacramental rite or mystery’. The Oxford English Dictionary informs us that theurgy is “A system of
magic, originally practised by the Egyptian Platonists, to procure
communication with beneficent spirits, and by their aid produce miraculous
effects...” The Cambridge Dictionary of
Philosophy states that theurgy... is really just magic with philosophical
underpinnings. Francois Lenormant in his book Chaldean Magic and Sorcery states that Theurgy is: “the superstitious contortion of a philosophical
religion...” [3] In an
article entitled ‘Theurgy and its Relation to Neoplatonism’ reprinted as an
appendix[4] in
his book The Greeks and the Irrational,
in 1951, E.R. Dodds, states
that:
“The last half-century has seen
a remarkable advance in our knowledge of the magical beliefs and practices of
later antiquity. But in comparison with this general progress the special
branch of magic known as theurgy has been relatively neglected and is still
imperfectly understood”.
“As vulgar magic is
commonly the last resort of the personally desperate, of those whom man and God
have alike failed, so theurgy became the refuge of a despairing
intelligentsia...”[5]
Accepting Dodd’s premise that the subject of theurgy is relatively new to academics, but without accepting the Neoplatonic parameters implicit in his argument, I hope to demonstrate to you that the basic principles of theurgy have been understood and applied by countless generations of people, including our own. Bear this in mind as we continue, because the theurgy we have just been describing is a discipline many academics, scholars and theologians would have us believe emerged in the latter part of the third century under the influence of Porphyry and Iamblichus, under the pretention that it is possible to control cosmic powers and divine entities, and, acquire transcendental insight or experience through ceremonial magic, within the framework of Neoplatonic and Neopythagorean philosophy. Their main objective being either prognostication through the use of magical instruments or, the acquisition of oracles through the agency of a medium - what passes today under the heading of channelling. Its career, so it is thought, was short-lived, lasting not much longer than the Emperor Julian (361-363).
However, there is another theurgy, a theurgy concerned with the work of
spiritual evolution, that in every sense of the word is an ancient discipline,
revered and nurtured throughout history by those few who know it, yet, barely
acknowledged or understood by the many who do not. It is with this theurgic discipline
that this address is primarily concerned. Before we engage with it I shall briefly
outline the philosophical environment of Neoplatonism in which theurgy is
currently thought to have developed, and give a short biography of the key
figures involved.
The Oxford Classical Dictionary
defines Neoplatonism as, and I quote; “A new synthesis of Platonic, Pythagorean,
Aristotelian, and Stoic elements – which was the dominant philosophy of the
non-Christian world from the middle of the third century to the closing of the
pagan schools by Justinian in 529.” This synthesis is believed[6]
to have developed over several centuries, with the first, preparatory phase
commencing in the first century BC under the reforming influence of such people
as the great Stoic Posidonius; and lasting up until the middle of the third
century. The second, and more significant phase, begins in the middle of the
third century with Plotinus[7]
whose teachings, contained in the Enneads,
gave Neoplatonism its most recognisable philosophical form.
The third phase
commences with Plotinus’ student and successor Porphyry. It is thought by some that
through him Neoplatonism moved away from the pure philosophical disciplines of
Plotinus towards the theurgic art of ceremonial magic such as is described in
Iamblichus’ book De Mysteriis, a book
central to the majority of debates about theurgy. The fourth phase involved the
Syrian and Pergamene schools, which derived their teachings from Iamblichus and
his student Aedesius respectively. The final phase took place in the fifth and
sixth century schools of Athens and Alexandria, wherein Neoplatonism culminated.
The school in Athens was closed by Justinian in 529, and the school in
Alexandria was absorbed by Islam from the mid seventh century onwards.
Now the most singular and important influence
upon Neoplatonism was Plotinus, who was born in Egypt at the beginning of the
third century. For more than ten years he studied philosophy at Alexandria
under the guidance of his master Ammonius Saccas. He moved to Rome where he
quickly became the centre of an influential circle of spiritually-minded
people. He remained there for the duration of his life. He published nothing
and, as far as we know, wrote only the various essays and lecture notes that
constitute the substance of the Enneads.
These were edited and published posthumously by his student Porphyry.
The essence of Plotinus’ teaching proposes
three principle modes of being to which he applies the term Hypostases. The
first Hypostasis he defines as The ONE, which is the prime source and principle
of all being, the very ground of existence. The second is the DIVINE NOUS or
Mind, in which exist the archetypal Ideas and prototypes of all Creation. The
third, proceeding from the Divine Nous, is the WORLD SOUL, below which lies the
realm of Nature, which constitutes the outer life of the World Soul, and last of
all there is undifferentiated Matter - the last consequence of the outpouring
of the ONE; it forms the lowest stage of the universe, and is thus understood
to be the antithesis of the ONE.
Plotinus taught that the World Soul consisted of two
parts, first; a higher celestial part through which it contemplates the Divine
Nous and second; a lower terrestrial part, through which it generates the
material cosmos according to the archetypal model contained within the Divine
Nous.
Individual human souls proceed from the World
Soul,
and like the World Soul may also be subdivided into two or more parts,
for a human being, he taught, is a microcosm wherein the principles of the
Hypostases are reflected as Spirit, Soul and body.
Grace Turnbull, puts
it rather well in her book The Essence of
Plotinus where she writes: “We may discern
three phases of the World-Soul in us: 1, The Intuitive Soul 2, The Reasoning
Soul 3, The Unreasoning Soul, the principle of animal-life....”[1]
The latter being
that which is created through the soul’s conjunction with matter. Below the
sphere of the soul lies the material world, in which the soul’s conjunction
with matter and a material body takes place, and which Plotinus taught was a
fall or descent from a higher state of being, in the sense that the soul
chooses to attach itself to an inferior sphere of existence: thereby suffering
as a consequence all that mortality implies. It is from this fall or descent
that the soul seeks redemption, and, concerning which Plotinus devotes much of
his attention; and concerning which, many of the basic ideas underpinning
theurgy are believed to arise.
Porphyry (232-305 CE) is the best known
disciple of Plotinus. It was he who undertook the difficult task of editing the
lecture notes and essays of Plotinus, and publishing them under the title of
the Enneads, and for which we shall
ever be in his debt, particularly for Plotinus’ biographical details that he
thoughtfully included in the Introduction.
Porphyry was himself the author of seventy plus
books[2],
many of which were burnt during the latter part of the Fourth Century during
the reign of Theodosius I. The majority of these books are now lost, and of
those still extant, the most well-known are probably his remarkable book on
vegetarianism entitled On abstinence from
Animal Food, and his treatise On the
Homeric Cave of the Nymphs. He also composed some fifteen books against the
Christian religion that were considered highly dangerous in their day, earning
him the reputation of being the greatest enemy of the Christian religion. Thus
it comes as no surprise that few of his books survived the tempestuous fifth
and sixth centuries. Many of his books, particularly his polemical writings
against Christianity were publicly burnt[3] in
the middle of the fifth century, of which only fragments now remain.
Iamblichus was born in Syria in the middle of
the third century. He was a pupil of Porphyry and the author of several books,
most of which are now lost. Fortunately his book, De Mysteriis survived. It is an account of a lengthy explanation of
aspects of theurgy that is claimed to have been composed by the ‘Preceptor
Abammon’, an Egyptian High Priest, in reply to a letter from Porphyry to a
junior priest called Anebo.
Written at a time
when the ancient world was in a state of political, social and religious
turbulence, but before Christianity had acquired political dominance, it is
perhaps the most significant work concerning pre-Christian theurgic principles
and dynamics still in existence. It has, over the course of time, been the
focal point of a great deal of critical debate, both for and against.
Iamblichus was later to found his own school in Syria, and his main disciple,
Aedesius, was to found a further school in Pergamum. Iamblichus died circa 325;
not long after Constantine became master of the Roman Empire.
To recap, I have briefly described the
philosophical environment, and the principle influences, which many scholars
today believe, gave rise to a theurgy generally defined as a quasi-religious philosophy with
associated magical rites, that arose in the Greco-Roman world during the ember
days of the classical era. Attaining its perfection, so Lenormant believed, in
the Late Neoplatonic Schools of Alexandria, and, to all intents and purposes
beginning its decline with the death, in the year 363, of the Emperor Julian
and subsequent ascendancy of Christianity. This I believe is a prejudiced viewpoint that
is more the result of post-Darwinian attitudes than historical accuracy. It is
the opinion of individuals steeped in a way of thinking alien to that of our
ancestors, and whose philosophy presupposes that our ancestors’ beliefs were
rooted in ignorance and superstition; which is simply not true!
Now, on the other hand our second ‘theurgy’
requires a different viewpoint. It requires a viewpoint that;
a) spans a far greater period of time that is commonly
accepted today;
b) dispenses with Post-Darwinian attitudes concerning
evolution;
c) acknowledges that our ancestors were every bit as
intelligent as we like to think we are now;
d) Recognises that theurgy, rather than being a quasi-religious philosophy with
associated magical rites, is a sacred science of spiritual regeneration/evolution
that has been passed down through succeeding generations.
Consider for instance, the people of Ancient
Egypt, they may have been pragmatic but they were not mechanistic humanists. To
them life on this earth meant far more than mere survival, they recognised that
the end of a human life was but a beginning of another different life. This
much is obvious, even from a casual examination of the records they left for us
to find carved upon the walls of Pyramids. These records or ‘Pyramid texts’,
dating from the 3rd millennium BC constitute the oldest corpus of religious literature
available to us. They contain a vast amount of information concerning the
Egyptian understanding of the spiritual life that, among other things,
demonstrates an intimate understanding of the ‘principle’ of spiritual
regeneration. And what is more, outlines how this regeneration was accomplished
through what may legitimately be described as ‘rites of transformation’.
Consider the following quotations selected from these texts:
“...this king goes to
his double, to the sky. A ladder is set up for him that he may ascend on it in
its name of ‘Ascent to the sky’; its ferryboat is ferried across for him by the
staffs of the imperishable stars. The Bull of the sky has bent down his horns
that he may pass over thereby to the lakes of the netherworld.”[2]
The processes, to
which these quotations allude, are essentially theurgic, being concerned with
the creation of a spiritual body, a body of light drawn out of the physical, or
perhaps I should say psychical body. The rites and the teachings involved in
this metamorphic process were treated with the greatest reverence, and successfully
maintained in absolute secrecy for several thousand years. Few people were
privy to these mysteries, although it is on record that several non-Egyptians
were given access to them, Moses being one. St. Paul informs us[4]
that Moses was taught of all the secrets of Egypt and thereby
did the mysteries of ancient Egypt come into Israel. The same may be said of
ancient Greece. The Eleusinian Mysteries, already ancient some thousand years
BC, were, so it seems, reformed by the legendary Orpheus. And, although there
is no hard evidence to support the notion that he received instruction in the
Egyptian Mysteries, his teachings concerning the birth of the divine Eros echo
much that was essential to the ancient Egyptians, particularly as expressed in
the Pyramid texts. Consider the following Hymn, known as the Rhapsodic Theogony and attributed to
Orpheus by pre-Christian Greeks:
"Chaos[5]was
and Night[6]and
black Erebos[7]at
first and broad Tartaros[8],
but there was no earth nor yet air nor sky. Then in the infinite bosom of
Erebos first of all black-winged Night bore a wind-sown egg, from which in the
circling seasons came Eros[9] the
much desired, his back gleaming with twin golden wings, swift as the whirling
winds. He mingled in broad Tartaros with winged and gloomy Chaos hatched out
our race, and brought us first to see the light. Before that there was no race
of the Immortals, until Eros mingled all things together. Then from their
mingling with each other was born Heaven and Ocean and Earth and the deathless
race of the blessed gods. Thus are we far the oldest of the gods. . ."[10]
In substance this
hymn is very close to that of the Hermopolitan cosmogony, of Ancient Egypt,
which taught that the world originated in a cosmic egg that had been laid by an
Ibis - the bird sacred to the god Thoth. This cosmic egg that contained Ra, the
bird of light, who was to be the creator of the world; the connections are very
suggestive.
The followers of
Orpheus understood that humanity consisted of two distinct natures – a physical
mortal nature, derived from the Titans and a spiritual immortal nature derived
from Dionysus. From this principle they taught that the soul, if it is to
evolve, must free itself by sublimating the passionate titanic nature and
regenerate the divine Dionysian nature that lies within. In short, the body is
the tomb or prison of the soul and salvation may only be attained by overcoming
the demands of the mundane world and the restrictions of matter. A concept not
so far removed from the Egyptian rites of creating a spiritual body of light,
and which has ever been central to the theurgic work.
Pythagoras
furthered the spiritually edifying work of Orpheus throughout Greek
civilisation, as did Plato at the Academy, and his successors after him. Each
in their own way contributing immensely to the theurgic work and spiritual life
of the Mystery schools, particularly that of Eleusis, which was not a secret
society as we might understand it. It may have started out as such, but had
become over the course of centuries a civic institution that was venerated all
over the known world. Numerous Athenian citizens were initiated into the
Mysteries there, and inevitably many of those initiates were also students of
the Academy, which functioned, deliberately or not, as both a preparatory and
finishing school for initiates into the Eleusinian Mysteries, and,
subsequently, for a public life serving the State.
Now, although we
know little of what took place in the Mysteries of Eleusis, the same concern
with the philosophical death and subsequent regeneration as a spiritual or
divine being is suggested in the works of many contemporary writers, including
those of Plato. This is nowhere summed up more eloquently than in the words of
an inscription reported as being found at Eleusis, which reads as follows: ‘beautiful indeed is the Mystery given us by
the blessed gods: death is for mortals no longer an evil, but a blessing’[11].
If we can accept that from a religious
point of view our ancestors recognized that life here has one fundamental
imperative; to become! to evolve, to regenerate an original state of
perfection, that was in the beginning made in God’s image, then we are in with
a chance of understanding the essence of theurgy, and in doing so rediscover
the tradition of spiritual development that our ancestors knew and maintained. This
tradition consists of a teaching and method of spiritual transformation
achieved through a system of initiatic rites and ceremonies. Giving a formal
ceremonial expression to the axiom; “by
names and by images are all things awakened and re-awakened in the sphere of
sensation.” This dramatic expression of certain key principles in
ceremonial workings varies according to the era and the culture involved.
However, to those who have the eyes to see, the principle has always remained
the same - whatever the form.
The sacred rites of
spiritual transformation of the pre-Christian world were invariably based upon
a hierarchical model similar to Plotinus’ Hypostases. Or perhaps it would be
more appropriate to say that Plotinus’ model is based upon a hierarchical
structure widely recognized in the pre-Christian world. This model has been
described by different cultures in various ways. Regrettably, today we don’t
have the time to explore them all; however, the model of the cosmic hierarchy
given to us by Cicero in his Dream of
Scipio will serve us well. Written in the middle of the First century BC by
Marcus Tullius Cicero, a celebrated orator, philosopher and Roman Statesman, it
gives us an insight to the pre-Christian thought of the Graeco-Roman, and by
extension, the Egyptian, and Babylonian world.
Composed at the end
of a millennium that was also the twilight of another world, the Dream of Scipio unspoiled by modern
conceits, is a rare and important bridge connecting us to that ancient world.
The following passage is taken from the Collectanea
Hermetica edited by Wynn Westcott.
“...Africanus continuing said, “How long wilt thy mind
remain riveted to the Earth? Dost thou
not behold into how glorious a Temple thou art come? Now know that the Universe consists of nine
circles or rather Spheres, all connected together, one of which is celestial
and the furthest off[12],
embracing all the rest, the supreme Deity preserving and governing the
others. In this sphere are traced the
eternal revolutions of the Stars and to it are subject the seven spheres which
revolve backwards with a contrary motion to that of the Celestial Sphere. The first (of these Seven) Spheres is occupied[13] by
the Star which on Earth is called Saturn.
Next comes the sphere of that splendid Star, salutary and fortunate to
the human race, called Jupiter. Then
comes the Red Sphere, terrible to the Earth, which you call Mars. Following beneath these spheres, and in
almost the middle region, is placed the Sun, the Leader, Chief and Governor of
the other Lights, the mind[14] of
the World and the organising principle, - of such wondrous magnitude that it
illuminates and impregnates every part of the Universe with its Light. The Spheres of Venus and Mercury in their
respective courses follow the Sun as companions. In the lowest Sphere the Moon revolves
illumined by the rays of the Sun. Below
this in truth nothing exists which is not subject to death and decay, save
indeed the Souls, which by the gift of the Gods are bestowed upon the human
race. Above the Moon all things are
eternal, but the sphere of the Earth, which occupies a middle place and comes
ninth does not move: it is the lowest and to it all ponderable bodies are born
by their own gravity.”
This
is the ladder, the same ladder referred to by the Egyptians, by which souls
were understood to come down to earth, and, by which they ascend in the process
of regeneration. The incarnating soul descends to earth through the planetary
spheres, gradually taking on the component parts of mortal existence from the
different natures of the planets as it progressed downward. Concerning which
Franz Cumont writes;
“First receiving an ethereal garment of almost
immaterial purity; then imagination being added to reason, a solar fluid
surrounded it. Then a lunar integument made it subject to the passions and
finally a carnal body was the cause of its ignorance of Divine Truths and of
its blind foolishness. It successfully lost with these wrappings the inclinations
or faculties which were bound with them, when after death it went back again to
the place of its origin[1].”
Mr.
Cumont, however, omits to point out that finding one’s way back again is not so
easy. There are many obstacles that the soul must overcome before it may return
to its place of origin, and all of them lie within its own nature. Those
proficient in these mysteries, such as the Ancient Egyptians and Greeks were
well aware of this. Thus Porphyry writes:
“It is impossible that those who desire to be mindful
of their return should accomplish their journey home from this terrestrial
exile pleasantly and easily, as through some smooth plain. For no two things
can be more entirely opposed to one another than a life of pleasure and ease,
and the ascent to the gods.”[2]
For
most souls this is an almost impossible task without the assistance of a guide,
or psychopomp - which is an archaic title traditionally given to one who
conducts the soul to its posthumous destination. Such guides were the Egyptian Thoth
and the Greek Hermes, who were also acknowledged as the originators of the core
teachings of the mysteries of spiritual regeneration.
Often
the true nature of the psychopomp is disguised in mythological forms, for
instance Tiresias the blind Theban prophet who assisted Odysseus on his journey
home, is an interesting symbol. In the Paradisio, both Virgil and Beatrice, the
guides of Dante on his spiritual journey, are both revealing aspects of the
psychopomp. In the Book of Wisdom you
will find another wonderful example of the psychopomp, it is an example that
merits close inspection. Many early Christians believed that the Archangel
Michael was the guide who led the souls of the faithful into the kingdom of
heaven. Indeed, angels have often fulfilled the role of dependable guides in
the invisible world, one for example being the angel Antiel who led Enoch in
his ascent to heaven. Looked at in another way the role of the psychopomp is
more akin to that of a midwife assisting the soul in its process of spiritual
regeneration. However, we must be careful about bestowing such a sacred office
to every ‘friend’ we meet on the path, and that includes the interior as well
as the exterior path.
However,
returning to our purpose! All things come to an end, even civilisations. From
the time of Alexander in the fourth century BC the days of the Old World were
numbered. Greek civilisation was absorbed into the Roman Empire, as was the
Egyptian and the Judaic. Rome became a melting pot of ideas, both new and old. Cultural
reformations and developments were inevitable as different belief systems met
under the Roman Eagle. The philosophical reformation of Platonism, which began
in earnest during the first century BC, and which culminated in the philosophy
of Plotinus under the heading of Neoplatonism was the inevitable consequence of
the Greek schools adapting to the New Order.
It is my understanding that Plotinus sought
to purge and reform the Mysteries from decadent forms of both philosophy and
ritual practice. His teachings, evident in the Enneads, draw the student deeper and deeper into the interior life
of the soul, to a dependency upon the indwelling godhead and the indwelling
guide, rather than upon external affectations. This is consistent with core
theurgic practices. Philosophy, from Plotinus’ point of view was never simply
the philosophy taught in our universities today, where the distinction and
separation of the intellect from spiritual development would, I feel, have been
anathema to him.
Plotinus
was a deeply religious man, he was not a materialist, nor was he a humanist,
and the assertion that he was not a lover of ritual, and that he found little
use for magic in the training of a philosopher, I am sure would also have been
disagreeable to him. Such ideas are based upon the fact that his writings The Enneads contain almost no material
dealing with these subjects. But, we should be more cautious in our assumptions
about Plotinus. We should note that his writings were only his notes for his lectures on the subject of Philosophy, which was
never the full curriculum of his teaching. The lack of material dealing
with magical practices in a philosophy class is to be expected, whilst the
abundance of material dealing with the spiritual life supports the premise that
he was indeed a theurgist, that is, if you accept theurgy as ‘sacred rites of spiritual transformation’. When considered in this light, the evolution of theurgic forms
that we attribute to Iamblichus and Porphyry start to make sense. It serves us
badly, if indeed we seek the truth, to measure the quality of their thought by
our own misconceptions.
Finally, When
Constantine empowered the Christian Hierarchy in the early years of the fourth century;
he effectively ended one era, and, started another. Whatever had gone before
counted for little, evidently, because within a short period of time most of it
would be gone. Indeed, with the closing of the Academy and the Mystery Schools,
the fate of the old ways was sealed as traditional religious observances were
proscribed and temples converted to Christian use. Yet, whilst the Mystery
Schools slipped into obscurity to reform or die, the teachings of Spiritual
Regeneration did not fade away, in fact quite the opposite occurred. The sacred
rites were quietly and slowly integrated over the course of time into the
observances of the New Order. Despite modern prejudices to the contrary it is
still there to be seen and discovered by those with an open mind.
Looking back, one can see this integration
beginning long before Plotinus or Iamblichus. If one looks carefully one might
just see in the mists of the first century the subtle influence of St. Paul and
his students Hellenising
the new Christian Faith, preparing the way for what was to come. Nor were they alone;
Origen was another who prepared the way, as was Clement of Alexandria and St.
Augustine, through whom much of the religion of the ancients flowed into the
New Faith. Another great channel of the wisdom of the ancient world was the
Pseudo-Dionysius, a title given to the unknown author of the Mystical Theology. For centuries this
great work was attributed to Dionysius the Areopagite, and influenced Christian
mystical thought for a thousand years or more. It is now currently accepted to
be the work of some unknown cleric who lived in the 5th – 6th
century, hence the title Pseudo-Dionysius.
What is remarkable about this body of work is
that despite having a distinctly Neoplatonic flavour, it has not only survived
1500 or more turbulent years, but has also been a significant influence on the
formation of the character of Mystical Christianity. I think this is
extraordinary, and what is even more extraordinary is that whilst scholars and
theologians continue to look at the works of Dionysius with critical eyes, they
fail to recognise the obvious truth about nature of the Mystical Theology. For those who have the eyes to see recognise it
to be the core material of the Mystery School of Eleusis cast in a Christian
mould. In this form the
ancient tradition of spiritual regeneration, far from being lost, is still with
us, hidden from the gaze of those who would trivialize or misappropriate its
teachings.
I think it is now appropriate for us to look
at theurgy as a spiritual discipline of regeneration. This process leads the
soul out of the mundane world – out of the land of Egypt, out of the labyrinth,
out of the tomb or cave of the body – on a path of return to the heavens, an
ascent through the different planetary kingdoms back to its spiritual home – or
unity with God. One of the ladders of ascent and descent that our ancestors
worked with we have already briefly examined, which is that outlined by Cicero
in his Dream of Scipio. Another variation of
the Ladder, derived from the Pseudo-Dionysius Corpus is as follows. (see below) Many
variations of these 'spiritual hierarchies' were employed in the medieval world
by influential figures such as Ambrose, Pope Gregory, John of Damascus,
Alan of Lille, Thomas Aquinas, to name but a few.
The beginning of our journey takes place at
the foot of the ladder (above) whose feet are firmly established here in the mundane
world, and whose top is firmly placed in heaven. Another, more diagrammatic
form of this ladder, is the Tree of Life more commonly associated with the
Kabbalah. There are several ways of conceptualising the Tree of Life as a ladder. Here are a few
of them;
The first, top left, is an illustration of
the cosmos as our pre-Christian ancestors would have understood it. The oval
representing the cosmos as an egg with the spirit in the centre, and the concentric
ovals represents the rungs of the cosmic ladder by which the soul accesses that
centre. This may be compared with the circle to the right, where the outer
circle corresponds with the realm or world of Ain Soph Aur (Infinite Light) and
the centre with Malkuth. (The distinction
requires some reflection)
The pillar of circles (bottom right)
corresponds with the same concept but portrays a vertical scale descending from
Kether at the top into the world of Malkuth at the bottom. Each arrangement
demonstrates a variation of a theme, a theme that has, in one form or another
been the subject of human interest since time immemorial. Last of all is a
diagram of the Tree of Life (below) as it is commonly represented today.
As you may have already realised, all of the
preceding images illustrate the same concept: that there is a direct connection
between the Creator and the created; between the visible and the invisible
between heaven and earth; between the form and the formless; and what is more,
indicating the means of spiritual
regeneration and return. They constitute a veritable Ariadne’s Thread,
which you may recall was the means by which Theseus was able to find his way
out of the labyrinth. The labyrinth represents of course the confusing darkness
of our own ignorance whilst the Minator embodies the brutish nature of our
unregenerate ego. In Christian terms, this is achieved through adhering to the
teachings of Christ, the Divine Logos, who leads the soul through the process
of purification, elevation, sacrifice and consecration as exemplified by His Life
and Passion on earth some two-thousand years ago.
In contemplating this diagram (above) it is clear
that the theurgist begins to work, as must all, in the realm of Nature. Alas, although we are undoubtedly spiritual
beings, we are nonetheless subject to the forces that rule the material world.
By this I do not necessarily mean spiritual forces, although they clearly play
their part. In this instance I am referring to the laws of Nature that, in
obedience to divine law, govern this world of the senses: which
includes our physical bodies. We may not like it but the fact is that
ninety-five per cent, if not more, of our physical, emotional and mental
experience is defined by the chemistry of our body and the environment we live
in. Biology determines almost everything we do. And, if we don’t recognise this
fact we will struggle to make any progress in the Work.
Many of us are convinced that we
have the freedom to do whatever we choose, but that is a fallacy; just about
everything we do in this world is conditioned and influenced by our
environment. Yes, we do make choices, but they are conditioned choices. We are
conditioned from the very beginning of our lives by our families, by our
environment, by local and international politics, by climate, by social
etiquette, by our need to secure a living and raise a family, to establish our
place in the community, and so on…. Such conditioning is continually being
reinforced moment by moment, nanosecond by nanosecond, and only when we are
able to accept this fact will we be in a position to begin the work of
spiritual regeneration.
The work of spiritual regeneration begins with a
process of self-enquiry known by most people as Meditation. There are many facets
to this process but when all is said and done it is a method that allows the theurgist
to distinguish the essential ‘self’ from not-self. On this subject alone we
could spend days exploring the nuances of the human constitution, however, our
time is short and I will describe in the following terms. Paul, in his first
letter to the Corinthians informs us that:
[1 Corinthians 15:39-49]
Distinguishing between the ‘terrestrial’ and the ‘celestial’ is a
fundamental part of the work of the theurgist, for without that insight there
can be no understanding of the spiritual life that lies at the heart of the
work of the theurgist. The Tree of Life, in whatever form it takes, is a means
of enabling the soul to advance its understanding of the spiritual realities of
life beyond the rational mind and the material world of the senses.
I
was asked to consider the soul as a tree with its roots deep in the diversified
earth of coarse sensation, its trunk rising through the spheres of human
experience and its canopy high in the sublime atmosphere of the presence of the
Divine. With that metaphor in mind I ask you the question I was asked. Where
would you place your sense of self right now; in the roots or somewhere on the
trunk? By which I mean to say, somewhere on the field of human experience in
the mundane world. The truth is, I discovered, our awareness oscillates up and down the trunk
of the tree. Sometimes we are lost in a sea of pure sensation and occasionally
our awareness is high up the trunk in the realm of pure thought, but most of
the time our awareness is engaged with the things of the senses and the demands
of the mundane world.
However,
in the method of prayer we are discussing, the context of a prayer, that is to
say its meaning, its significance, draws the soul upwards, beyond the things of
the mundane world towards the canopy, as it were. The important point to
understand is that to regain that which we have lost we must rise above the
mundane world, and prayer and meditation are tried and tested methods of
achieving just that.
Indeed,
at the heart of the soul’s relationship with the Divine is the ability to
engage in prayer. Many people think of prayer as it applies to our earthly life: seeking
assistance from the Divine with our earthly problems. However, when viewed from
a theurgic perspective, prayer is both an art and a science. As an art it is
the secret language of the soul - a language which synthesizes thought, image
and emotion in a manner that is best described as an alchemical process,
enabling the soul to transcend the limitations of mundane existence. As a
science it defines the formulae and techniques of transcending that mundane
world, which is the world of the senses and all that such implies. This secret
language of the soul constitutes the essential work of Theurgy.
Unfortunately, as interesting as this subject is, we must leave it here, for time requires that this paper must now close. That which must necessarily follow is
properly the domain of Ritual and Ceremonial, which is in itself a life’s work and must be the subject of another discussion.
Thank you
#brothermarcusodp
[5] Originally this word meant the
‘yawning’ or Abyss.
[6] Nyx.
[7] Darkness.
[8] The darkest part of Hades, which eventually
came to be the place of torment and punishment for sinners.
[9] God of Love.
[14] Mens;
in ancient occult works, this
word is of far higher import than our word, mind. Compare the Chaldaic philosophy in Stanley’s History of Philosophy.
[1]
page 15.
[1]
Lecture by Prof. Hilary Thomas, at an all-party group conference entitled
BRITAIN AGAINST CANCER. Queen Elizabeth Conference Centre, 1999.
[4]
U.C.P. 1951. Appendix II, entitled ‘Theurgy’.
[7] (c 205–270);
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