Beyond thought and knowledge, Iamblicus insisted that achieving the Divine Life requires action--theurgy. The Greek word theourgia is a composite of "divine" and "work," thus a divinely oriented operation; a a formalized activity that unites the soul with the Divine, the soul changing its perceived ontological status from that of mortal to immortal, to divinity; a rite through which the embodied soul ascends to a point at which it becomes capable of engaging in a meaningful dialogue with spiritual beings, experiencing interchange instead of merely conceptualizing spiritual elements (persons, ideas, Forms, realms, events). Theurgy can be seen as dis-enchantment from the physical domain, allowing for entry into the realm of the spirit.

"It is through communicating with higher spiritual beings by means of Theurgical Dialectic that humans come to true realization of what they are in essence: eternal spiritual entities." Iamblicus, On the Mysteries

   Theurgy consists of ceremonial ⁴, sacramental ⁵, performatory ⁶ procedures bringing about the transmutation of the Soul and its progressive return to the Eternal World. The initiate, through performing these rituals achieves ascent from the conditions of worldly existence to realization of unity with the Divine One.

   Some Neo-Platonic philosophers, such as Plotinus and Porphyry, criticized theurgy as an attempt to force lower forces to perform as required by the theurgist. Iamblichus claimed that the theurgist, by his rites and prayers, does not coerce the Gods to descend or perform; instead Higher Beings themselves elevate the theurgist to their level by virtue of the power inherent in the rites, through the principle of similarity.

"The gods being gracious and propitious, give forth light abundantly to the Theurgists, both calling their souls upward into themselves, providing for them union to themselves in the Chorus, and accustoming them, while they are still in the body, to hold themselves aloof from corporeal things, and likewise to be led up to their own eternal and noetic First Cause."

Iamblicus, On the Mysteries

      Theurgy relates to the Greek word theagôgia which refers to a drawing in or drawing down of a divine Force. Theurgical dialectic is the drawing down of spiritual energy into the initiate in a divine influx. Ancient writings concerning theurgy refer to the spiritual power of Similarity (homoiotêtos): things similar to each other are attracted and form an attachment or unity.

The image used to explain this was of a lamp without a cover and a warmed wick. The warmth of the wick draws down the flame from the lamp even though the wick does not touch the flame.       The initiate must possess Similarity with the spiritual entity to draw this down into herself. The analogy depicts the placing of the warmed wick below the flame as corresponding to the theurgical placing of prepared initiates in

juxtaposition to the Divine Fire, the fire then being transmitted to those initiates who partake of its nature, resulting in the deification and illumination of the initiates and theurgists.

   Iamblicus believed that theurgical dialectic produced henosis, a creative partnership with the Divine, sharing in the Transcendent Activity of maintaining and developing the cosmic order.

   From a careful study of Plato's writings it's clear that he participated in and recommended both customary dialectic and theurgical dialectic, neither to the exclusion of the other. Theurgical dialectic can be as simple as repeating phrases while meditating, such as: "Thank you Lord God," or "I surrender my life to you, Oh Lord God," or keeping a statue of Plato on your desk, next to which you often place beautiful flowers.

   Serious, philosophical contemplation of God's gift to humans of eternal being produces in a sensitive person with genuine integrity and reverence a stupendous, overwhelming sense of profound awe and heart-felt gratitude. ⁷

   Theurgy, like all procedures, can become mere routinized clap-trap or mumbo-jumbo--a person mindlessly repeating a verbal or ceremonial action--unless the person works to retain genuine self-awareness and integrity of effort. The first two examples of theurgy above are deliberately crafted to involve the person speaking in the first person to divinity, to remind her that she is present in the action and is, by speaking to divinity, placing herself in the presence of the divine. The keynotes of authentic theurgy are self-awareness, genuineness, and integrity--Stay Awake!.

   When we achieve entry into the Divine Life, we come to understand human life from the perspective of the Divine:

• The physical world is itself a divulgence of the higher world of Forms (Ideal Archetypes).
  
  

• The Divine has the power to make use of all human actions, both positive and negative, to assist us in our personal and collective evolution.

• Who we are--at the highest level--is conduits of spiritual purposes which transcend any single person, group of persons, or any specific time period.

• The Divine manifests through everyone and everything.

• Each person receives exactly the experiences from which they can best learn what they need for their personal evolution--and at the same time for the evolution of all humankind.

• The Divine creates a Divine Life which provides precisely coordinated learning experiences transcendentally matched to our current needs and capabilities. Part of every person's Divine Life is exeriencing a Soul Mate relationship.

Manifesting Your Soul Mate

Notes:

¹ All quotations from Plato or Iamblicus are the author's translations from the original Greek.

² We use the word "existence" to refer to our mortal life, and "being" to refer to our eternal life in the supersensible realm.

³ In Plato, phronesis describes virtue which is dependent upon reason. A given act was viewed as the result of both an intellectual and a moral decision-making process. Phronesis is the virtue that results from wisdom.

⁴ Ceremony: An expression of shared feelings and attitudes through more or less formally ordered actions of an essentially symbolic nature performed on appropriate occasions. A ceremony involves stereotyped bodily movements, often in relation to objects (words, images, music) possessing symbolic meaning. For example, people bow or genuflect, tip hats, present arms, slaughter cattle, salute flags, and perform a myriad of other ceremonial actions. Ceremonies express, perpetuate, and transmit elements of the societal value and sentiment system and aim at preserving such values and sentiments from doubt and opposition; moreover, they intensify the solidarity of the participants. Ceremonies are found in all societies.

⁵ Sacrament: An outward sign of something sacred. In Christianity, a sacrament is commonly defined as having been instituted by Jesus and consisting of a visible sign of invisible grace. Christianity is divided as to the number and operation of sacraments. The traditional view held by Orthodox, Roman Catholics, and certain Anglicans counts the sacraments as seven--Eucharist, baptism, confirmation, penance, anointing of the sick, matrimony, and holy orders. These are held to produce grace in the soul of the recipient by the very performance of the sacramental act (ex opere operato); the recipient need only have the right intention. Most Protestant denominations recognize two sacraments--baptism and communion, or the Lord's Supper. Protestants hold generally that it is the faith of the participant, itself a gift of God, rather than the power of the sacramental act that produces grace.

⁶ Performatory: The act of making statements of the form "I hereby . . ." or "I pronounce . . ." in which the speaker is declaring that the utterance itself has accomplished the act it describes. "I now pronounce you man and wife." "I hereby sentence you to life in prison."

⁷ The words of the sentence, ending in the footnote, spoken to yourself in a meditative, reverent, venerative frame of mind, while viewing the animated image immediately below, can constitute an effective theurgical act.