Iamblicus

"There exists a faculty in the human mind which is immeasurably superior to all those which are grafted or engendered in us. By it we can attain to union with superior intelligences, finding ourselves raised above the scenes of this earthly life, and partaking of the higher existence and superhuman powers of the inhabitants of the celestial spheres."

— Iamblicus (250-325 CE), The Egyptian Mysteries

• Iamblichus: Neoplatonic philosopher who formalized theurgic practices.

Cosmic Heirarchy

Iamblichus' Neoplatonic hierarchy

the Nous, the divine mind

1. The One
2. Noetic gods
3. Noeric Gods
4. Hypercosmic Gods
5. Cosmic Gods
6. Daimons
7. World Soul
8. Heroes/Demigods
9. Humans
10. Animals
11. Plants and Minerals

• First exists the One, the ultimate reality from which all things come.
• Next are the Noetic and Noeric gods, the first intelligible beings and emanations of the One.
• The hypercosmic gods function as legislators, steering the course of the universe.
• After comes the cosmic gods, who shape the physical world and directly influence our lives.
• Daimons serve as intermediaries, bridging the divine and the mortal realms, and aiding in the communication and influence between the two.
• The World Soul, a unifying entity, infuses the universe with life and manifests the divine principles in our physical reality.
• Heroes in the Iamblichian system are elevated humans who embody divine qualities, inspiring and guiding us.
• And finally, at the ground level, human beings, animals, plants, and matter anchor the spiritual experience in the tangible world.

Iamblichus

Iamblichus placed the Monad at the head of his system, from which emanates the Nous (intellect, or demiurge) and the psyche. Plotinus represented the Nous as three stages: objective being, subjective life, and realized intellect. Iamblichus divided them into two spheres: intelligible (the objects of thought) and intellective (the domain of thought).

Iamblichus multiplied the number of divine entities according to universal mathematical theorems. He conceived of gods, angels, demons and heroes: twelve heavenly gods (whose number increases to 36 or 360), 72 other gods proceeding from them, 21 chiefs and 42 nature-gods. His divine realm extends from the Monad to material nature, where the soul descends into matter and becomes embodied in human form. These superhuman beings influence natural events and communicate knowledge about the future, and are accessible with prayers and offerings. Iamblichus posited that numbers are independent, occupying a middle realm between the limited and unlimited. He believed that nature was bound by fate, differing from divine things which are not subject to fate and turn evil and imperfection to good ends; evil was generated accidentally in the conflict between the finite and the infinite.

Iamblichus, a student of Anatolius and Porphyry (the latter himself was a student of Plotinus), taught a more ritualized method of theurgy that involved invocation and religious, as well as magical, ritual.8 Iamblichus believed theurgy was an imitation of the gods, and in his major work, On the Mysteries of the Egyptians, Chaldeans, and Assyrians, 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.9 Education is important for comprehending the scheme of things as presented by Aristotle, Plato, and Pythagoras. 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 One.