PART IL HEKATE AND THEURGY Chapter VI Theurgy and Magic discussed the philosophical and cosmological facets of dean system. This chapter will address the ways in individual man--the thenrgist--and how they were The previous chapters Hekate's role as Soul in the Chal which Hekate/Soul could aid the related to her cosmological duties. Before describing Hekate's role in Chaldean theurgy it is necessary to describe Chaldean theurgy itself. This, in turn, leads to defining the term "theurgy,” a task that has been problematic for ancient and modern scholars alike. In the context of this book, a thorough analysis of the controversy cannot be attempted, but a summary of the problems involved and the recent approaches to their solution is in order.! L 3 ‘Two good discussions of theurgy in general and of individ ists? i : found in Gregory Shaw, "Theurgy: Rituals of Unification in th hance Sah Frade XE (985) 1.28; aoe second bal ofA Si Pp Eee Neate Tradition (The Hague 1974). Some other helpful discussions of thea tie Meoptalinie ‘Prayer in Magic and Religious Ritual," in Magika Hera: Anct theurgy and magic are: Fritz Graf, Femme and D. Obi Oxford feBcaniag ieoty Ge ack ceteey ook Gorns EWE Neopltonism” in Religion, Seen, and Magic: In Concert and in Cooflics e2. 3 iene Een 8 ees and Fal VM, Hass (New York and Oxord B85) a 8525; Hane Dies » Ben. €d., The Greek Magical Papyri in Translatic i O86): Gath ee en Oe oa San oy Sie eae AER es Robert Philips, "The 6), 2677-2773; ©. Lack, Arcane Mundi eal .D, 284," ANRW 11.163 Berlin Aude a Thergy® C9 32 (900) 210-1 Mie ea al Re eee age et izes Mitac Winkeinaan, “Maple A ‘Theoresial Re- Diotima 8 1980), 31-24; na 1 (1982), 37.6; S. Breon,"Lhomme et! ns una coasts of Magic Arts," in The Conflict Beientaet Sepals a Bt ee Arnaldo Monigiane (Oxted oe oe ae and Christianity in the Fowth ee of Proclus (New York 1949) S. Eitrem, ), PP. 101 fF. Dodds, G&l; L. Rowan, The ae ae Magiques," Symb. Oslo, XXII (1943 ‘La Théurgie chez les Néoplatoniciens et dans ee nd I, 258-70. Books and articles on indivi 2), 49-79; Th. Hopfner, "Thevrgic” RE, Vil Soatonlehi Idean theurgy is treated throughout ayaa authors’ attitudes to theurgy are cited in nOles feclenleive der Chaldtischen Orakel, Beit Lewy, Kool and Des Places and 33 O- Geudinet, Die EW. Cromer, Die Chaldaischen Orakel und J ss, Philo, 35 (Meisenieim am Glan 197!) Qeicnicin am Gian 1969), Hereafter, all fanblich De Mysieris, Beitr. z. Kiass. Pld, by the same ec oeciton of Dodds, G&r a Colo will be cited by the authors Is are cited frequently in this eae (to distinguish these worksTHEURGY AND MAGIC 1 Much of the uncertainty concerning theurgy centers on the following interrelated issues: ‘how does theurgy compare with magic (i.e., yontei«) and, on the other hand, with philosophical or intellectual means of obtaining salvation? Should it be thought of, on one hand, as "white" or beneficent magic, or, on the other hand, as a method of causing the soul's ascension and unification with the divine through ritual rather than through spiritual contemplation? Could philosophic contemplation and ritualistic theurgy be practiced by the same man to complementary purposes? ‘And--a final question that underlies the rest--can lines even be drawn between religious ritual, philosophic contemplation, magic and theurgy, except in the mind of the practitioner himself or his critic?” Rosan was the first scholar to propose a two-fold division of theurgy: "lower" theurgy, he suggested, comprised the use of ritual objects and actions and ‘was appropriate to those men still bound by carthly appetites; "higher" theurgy was a more contemplative and theoretical exercise, somewhat akin to the theoria of Ploti- nus. Smith redefined Rosan's two-fold division of theurgy; his monograph strongly has influenced scholarly work on theurgy ever since. He replaced Rosan's "higher" theurgy with "vertical" theurgy, which linked men to gods through the power of philia; “lower" theurgy became "horizontal" theurgy, which acted upon the world of humans and daemones by means of sympatheia, much in the way that traditional magic did.3 Smith argued, against Rosan, that both forms of theurgy included Titualistic action; the important distinction lay in the direction in which the theurgy operated. Unfortunately, Rosan's model, even in Smith's revised form, inevitably seems to imply that the so-called lower theurgy was more ritualistic, more primitive and, thus, inferior to the contemplative "higher" theurgy. As a result, acceptance of 2on his last question see (most recently in along line of scholars who have addressed the question) Graf, Prayer, who shows that magic (and perhaps theurgy) by and large used the same rituals and the Samé form of prayer as did "traditional" religion, It is what the magician burns as an offering, for xample, not the way in which he bums it, that distinguishes him from the ordinary “religious Man. AS Graf suggests, the magician purposely sought isolation from his social group, in order ‘move into a sphere removed from his fellow men, where he will converse with she divinity Tee secondary works on the topic include DE. Aune, "Magic in Early Se 1979); yes2 Gerlin 1980) 1507-57; GER. Lloyd, Magic, Reason and Experience Ce ae IM.Hull, Hellenistic Magic and the Synoptic Tradition (London 1974); H. Geertz and ¥ Aer Ta Auttopology of Religion and Magic," Jnl. of Intedize, Hist. VU (1976) N02 NE Rondls Purity and Danger: An Analysis of the Concepts of Pollution and Tobe Coma Mute Magte ct Religion (Paris 1935); L. Deubnes, Magie und Religion (Freibyrg (1902) 1-140. and M. Mauss, "Esquisse d'une théorie général de la Magic,” Année Sociol. 7 one hd ices Hee includes fuer citations. Most ofthe works cited in the previous nol is0.8 sop see in particular the volume edited by Neusner, Frerichs and Flesher. ware and Lewy also Sheppard, who adds a third tier to Rosan's and Smith's structur’ Renae oe tnifeg 23 Similar two-fold division of Neoplatonic soteriological methods. Orr gic ritual. See Ned with te divine by means of either 1) philosophic contemplation oF 2) MEMES for criticism of this approach,CHAPTER VI 78 this model and its accompanying implication have led to much scholarly puzzle jn4 over the fact that apparently “spiritual” men, such as Tamblichus and even chag™ Frans " sal ti - for instance, could participate 10 the "material" rites mentioned at De Myse, Vis: 221,1-4: ould not be afraid to say this thing as well: that we frequent) ei to perform rituals on account of pressing bodily needs, to the gods and good daemones of the body. .s the mark of a “Jower" theurgist, modern scholars have asked? ly, Shaw's excellent study of Iamblichus and theurgy has clarified the picture by showing that not all ancient authors (if any) made the distinction that Rosan and Smith outline. If we immerse ourselves in the Neoplatonic "world. view," Shaw argues, and more closely examine statements that ancient authors-- particularly Jamblichus--make about theurgy, we discover not a two-fold distinction but Aren't such action: More recent different theurgies to match the different types of men, who, as Jamblichus said, have different cultic needs... What Jamblichus in fact was pointing out in his discussion of different sacrificial modes for different types of people was that the ritual performed should be suited to the person who performs it. (pp. 25-6) According to Shaw's reading of Iamblichus, intrinsically "there is nothing better about silent prayer than animal sacrifice” (p. 23). Iamblichus himself says, ina passage cited by Shaw, that: Each man performs his service to the Holy according to what he is, not according to what he is not; after all, the sacrifice must not surpass the proper measure of the worshipper. (De Myst. V.15; 220,6-9, Shaw's trans., p. 23) appropriately applied and correctly com- term) to link an individual nan to god. id be the specific sed, whether All forms of theurgical worship, wh pleted, work "vertically" (to retain Si ‘Theurgy's “horizontal” axis, according to Shaw's analysis, woul environment in which theurgy's vertical or unifying power was expres: that environment be spiritual or gross (p.22). Tamblichean theurgy, in short, Wes ™ ecumenical discipline, admitting many modes of worship, so long as the practionet was sincere and correctly focused in his attempts. The division of theurgy itself into types is only one pert of the problem: i scholar of theurgy also must confront the delineation of the difference between "theurgy" as a whole and "magic" in the more traditional sense qyontete). On = 4Eg., Smith, p, 89,