In the Poimandres vision from the Corpus Hermeticum. Man is born as the divine child of the All-Father Mind—co-equal to God, beautiful beyond compare, given full authority over creation, essentially a divine prince or sovereign with godlike power.
He descends voluntarily, driven by love and desire to experience the lower realms. He sees his reflection in Nature, falls in love with it, and merges with matter—becoming trapped, forgetting his true immortal nature, and living as a slave to fate and the body despite being above it.
The return is through gnosis—self-knowledge. Realizing “thou art thyself of Life and Light” lets the soul ascend through the seven planetary spheres, shedding vices and passions at each level, until it reaches the Ogdoad (eighth realm) and reunites with God, becoming a power in the divine.
Neoplatonism and Platonism take a similar but more philosophical angle. The soul originates in the divine realm near the One or the realm of Forms—its true, noble home. It descends into the body and material world, often portrayed as a kind of forgetful exile or necessary mission, becoming distracted and identifying with the lower nature.
The journey back is one of purification, recollection (anamnesis), and philosophical ascent—turning inward, contemplating the Forms, and ultimately achieving union or likeness to the divine. Plotinus especially describes souls as having kingly or governing roles in the higher spheres, like administrators alongside the supreme ruler before they descend.