Theurgy

Theurgy is ritual practice intended to invoke divine powers or achieve union with the divine. In ancient Neoplatonism, it was understood as a means of spiritual ascent beyond philosophical reasoning alone.

Theurgic rites: Ritual acts intended to invoke divine powers and prepare the soul for divine union. They were the practical means by which theurgy sought divine assistance.
Iamblichus: A Syrian Neoplatonist philosopher of the fourth century who defended theurgy as a path to divine union. He gave the fullest philosophical defense of theurgy against Plotinus’s reservations.
Chaldean Oracles: A collection of Greek hexameter oracles that shaped late antique Platonism and theurgy. These second-century oracles provided a key scriptural foundation for later theurgists.
Theōria: Contemplative intellectual activity directed toward understanding ultimate reality in ancient Greek philosophy. Plotinian theōria offers a contrasting route to ascent that relies on contemplation rather than ritual.
Soul in Neoplatonism: The soul is an incorporeal principle that derives from higher realities and can turn back toward them. Theurgy aimed to restore the soul’s orientation toward its divine source.
Plotinus: A third-century philosopher who founded the Neoplatonic tradition and emphasized the soul’s intellectual ascent. His account of ascent through contemplation contrasts with Iamblichus’s ritual emphasis.
Middle Platonism: A diverse movement of Platonist philosophy between the first century BCE and the third century CE. Theurgy inherited Platonic ideas that had developed before Plotinus and Iamblichus.
Theurgy and magic: The contested distinction between religious rites seeking divine union and practices labeled coercive or illicit magic. Ancient authors defended theurgy by distinguishing its divine purpose from manipulative magic.
The One: The ultimate, ineffable source of all reality in Plotinus’s Neoplatonic metaphysics. The soul’s ascent through theurgy ultimately points toward this transcendent source.
Porphyry: A third-century Neoplatonist philosopher, editor of Plotinus’s works, and author of On Abstinence. His questions to Iamblichus prompted a major defense of theurgy.

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