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Theurgy (from Greek: θεουργία) describes the practice of rituals, sometimes seen as magical in nature, performed with the intention of invoking the action of one or more gods, especially with the goal of uniting with the divine, achieving henosis, and perfecting oneself. For other senses of this word, see ritual (disambiguation). ... Not to be confused with Magic (illusion). ... This article is about the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... Within the realm of Neoplatonic philosophy henosis is the divine work committed to by each individual toward the goal of union with the Monad, Source, or the One. ...

See also Invocation. An invocation (from the Latin verb invocare to call on, invoke) is: A supplication. ...

Neoplatonism

Theurgy means 'divine-working'. 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 (Nous) and in turn from the Divine Mind emanated the World Soul (Psyche). Neoplatonists insisted that the One is abslolutely transcendent and in the emanations nothing of the higher was lost or transmitted to the lower, which remained unchanged by the lower emanations. For this articles equivalent regarding the East, see Eastern culture. ... Neoplatonism (also Neo-Platonism) is the modern term for a school of religious and mystical philosophy that took shape in the 3rd century AD, founded by Plotinus and based on the teachings of Plato and earlier Platonists. ... Iamblichus (ca. ... For other uses, see Universe (disambiguation). ... Emanationism is a component in the cosmology of certain religious or philosophical belief systems that claim that the supreme god did not create the physical universe, but instead emanated lower spiritual beings who consequently carried out the actual work. ... One redirects here. ...

Although Neoplatonists were polytheists, they also embraced a form of monism. Polytheism is belief in or worship of multiple gods or deities. ... For other uses, see Monist (disambiguation). ...

For Plotinus, and Iamblichus' teachers Anatolius and Porphyry, the emanations are as follows: Plotinus (Greek: ) (ca. ... Iamblichus (ca. ... Anatolius was Patriarch of Constantinople (449 - 458). ... Porphyry of Tyre (Greek: , c. ...

• To En (τό ἕν), the One: Deity without quality, sometimes called The Good.
• Nous (Νοῦς), Mind: The Universal consciousness, from which proceeds
• Psychè (Ψυχή), Soul: Including both individual and world soul, leading finally to
• Physis (Φύσις), Nature.

Plotinus urged contemplations for those who wished to perform theurgy, the goal of which was to reunite with God. Therefore, his school resembles a school of meditation or contemplation. Iamblichus of Calcis (Syria), a student of Porphyry (who was himself a student of Plotinus) 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. Nous (Νους) is a Greek word (pronounced noose), that corresponds to the English words intelligence, intellect, or mind. ... Consciousness is a quality of the mind generally regarded to comprise qualities such as subjectivity, self-awareness, sentience, sapience, and the ability to perceive the relationship between oneself and ones environment. ... For other uses, see Soul (disambiguation). ... Beginning with Vedantic Hindu philosophy, the Ātman — Sanskrit (masculine nominative singular: Ātmā) is regarded as an underlying metaphysical self. ... This page is a candidate to be copied to Wiktionary using the Transwiki process. ... This article is about the physical universe. ... For other senses of this word, see Meditation (disambiguation). ... Contemplation comes from the latin root for temple, and means to enter an open or consecrated place. ... Iamblichus (ca. ... Porphyry of Tyre (Greek: , c. ... Plotinus (Greek: ) (ca. ... An invocation (from the Latin verb invocare to call on, invoke) is: A supplication. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

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 and 'magic'; 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 God.

Emperor Julian

The Emperor Julian the Apostate (332-363), 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. Flavius Claudius Iulianus (331–June 26, 363), was a Roman Emperor (361–363) of the Constantinian dynasty. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Relation to other religions Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Christianity Portal This box:      Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. ... Pagan and heathen redirect here. ... For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation). ... Theology finds its scholars pursuing the understanding of and providing reasoned discourse of religion, spirituality and God or the gods. ... For other uses, see Hymn (disambiguation). ... Sol redirects here. ... For other uses, see Helios (disambiguation). ... A Cucuteni culture statuette, 4th millennium BC. A mother goddess is a goddess, often portrayed as the Earth Mother, who serves as a general fertility deity, the bountiful embodiment of the earth. ... A fountain in Madrid depicting Cybele in her chariot drawn by lions, in the Plaza de Cibeles Originally a Phrygian goddess, Cybele (Greek: Κυβέλη) was a deification of the Earth Mother who was worshipped in Anatolia from Neolithic times. ...

Julian favored ritual theurgy, with an emphasis on sacrifice and prayer. He was heavily influenced by the ideas of Iamblichus. Marcus Aurelius and members of the Imperial family offer sacrifice in gratitude for success against Germanic tribes: contemporary bas-relief, Capitoline Museum, Rome For other uses, see Sacrifice (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Prayer (disambiguation). ... Two historical persons go by the name Iamblichus (Greek: Ιάμβλιχος) A Greek novelist; see Iamblichus (novelist) A neoplatonist philosopher; see Iamblichus (philosopher) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

Christian theurgy

Some regard the Roman Catholic mass as a form of theurgy, in which the being of Christ is called down into the Host and hence into the communicant. By a broader interpretation of the term, the mass could be considered theurgy in the sense that it contributes to the divinization of the participants. The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... For other uses of Mass, see Mass (disambiguation). ... This page is about the title, office or what is known in Christian theology as the Divine Person. ... Big and small host tongs for baking hosts detail of tongs for baking hosts jagger for making hosts A host is a thin, round wafer made from bread and used for Holy Communion in many Christian churches. ...

In Greek Orthodox Christianity, many of the services, including even baptism may contain theurgy (as Vladimir Lossky refers to Christian theurgy) in a thaumaturgical way, unlike magic, and not considered such within the tradition. Greek Orthodox Church can refer to any of several hierarchical churches within the larger group of mutually recognizing Eastern Orthodox churches: the Orthodox Church of Constantinople, headed by the Patriarch of Constantinople, who is also the first among equals of the Eastern Orthodox Communion. ... Vladimir N. Lossky (May 26, 1903–February 7, 1958) was a 20th century Greek or Eastern Orthodox theologian. ... This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling. ... The Sorceress by John William Waterhouse Magic and sorcery are the influencing of events, objects, people and physical phenomena by mystical, paranormal or supernatural means. ...

Jewish theurgy

Following a pattern very similar to (and some suggest derived from) 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, Keter, holds the most divine light and is the least accessible to humanity. The lowest sephirah, Malkhut, is still higher than matter itself, so the parallel with Neoplatonism is not complete, but Malkhut is considered that aspect of God that can be perceived in the material world. It is also known as the Shechinah. For other uses, see Universe (disambiguation). ... Emanationism is a component in the cosmology of certain religious or philosophical belief systems that claim that the supreme god did not create the physical universe, but instead emanated lower spiritual beings who consequently carried out the actual work. ... In Christianity, the Godhead is a unit consisting of God the Father, Jesus Christ (the Son), and the Holy Spirit. ... Category:Sephiroth      Sefirah redirects here. ... This article is about matter in physics and chemistry. ...

For the Kabbalist, God is both singular and divided, but not into 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 attributes of God's personality, and our own. 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. Polytheism is belief in or worship of multiple gods or deities. ...

For Kabbalists, the sephirot are as follows:

Keter (Crown); Chochma (Wisdom); Binah (Understanding); Chesed (Lovingkindness); Gevurah (Strength); Tiferet (Beauty); Netzach (Endurance); Hod (Glory); Yesod (Foundation); and Malkhut (Kingdom or Sovereignty) Keter, in Jewish mysticism, is the topmost of the Sephirot, or Tree of Life. ... // Chokhmah, also sometimes transliterated chochma or hokhmah (חכמה) is the Hebrew word for wisdom. The word chokhmah and others derived from it may connote one of several things: People A wise man is a chakham (feminine: chakhama). ... Binah is the third Sefirah on the tree of life. ... In Judaism Chesed is the forth Sefirah on the tree of life. ... In Judaism Gevurah Also known as Geburah, and Din is the fifth Sefirot of the Tree of life (Kabbalah), and is the second of the emotive attributes of the Sefirot. ... Tiphereth (Glory; תפארת) or Tifereth, Tipheret, Tiferet, or rahamin (mercy in Hebrew) in the Kabbalah of Judaism is the sixth Sephirah on the tree of life. ... Netzach (נצח) (victory) is the seventh Sephira in the Kabbalah, located beneath Chesed, at the base of the Pillar of Mercy. Netzach is Perpetualty, Victory. Non-Jewish Kabbalah Netzach is the first of the sephirah to be emanated from Tiphereth, beauty, and it is seen to represent formless energy, that energy... Hod is the eighth sephira of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. ... Yesod (foundation) is one of the important Kabbalistic sephirot. ... Malkuth (מלכות), or Shekhinah is the tenth of the sephirot in the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. ...

See also

• Thaumaturge
• Iamblichus
• Julian the Apostate
• Kabbalah

Thaumaturgy (from the Greek words thaumos meaning miracle and ergos meaning work) is the branch of magic (or magick, for Crowley fans) that is concerned with the production of real-world, objective effects, e. ... Two historical persons go by the name Iamblichus (Greek: Ιάμβλιχος) A Greek novelist; see Iamblichus (novelist) A neoplatonist philosopher; see Iamblichus (philosopher) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Flavius Claudius Iulianus (331–June 26, 363), was a Roman Emperor (361–363) of the Constantinian dynasty. ... This article is about traditional Jewish Kabbalah. ...

External links

• http://www.theurgia.org - Site primarily devoted to the late antique hieratic praxis of Theurgy.
• http://www.theandros.com/iamblichus.html Theurgy, Iamblichus and henosis.