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Demon est Deus Inversus : Honoring the Daemonic in Iamblichean Theurgy

Demon est Deus Inversus : Honoring the Daemonic in Iamblichean Theurgy Iamblichus’s doctrine that the immortal soul becomes mortal is puzzling for Platonic scholars. According to Iamblichus, the embodied soul not only becomes mortal; as human, it also becomes “alienated” ( allotriōthen ) from divinity. Iamblichus maintains that the alienation and mortality of the soul are effected by daemons that channel the soul’s universal and immortal identity into a singular and mortal self. Yet, while daemons alienate the soul from divinity they also outline the path to recover it. Iamblichus maintains that daemons unfold the will of the Demiurge into material manifestation and thus reveal its divine signatures ( sunthēmata ) in nature. According to Iamblichus’s theurgical itinerary, the human soul—materialized, alienated, and mortal—must learn to embrace its alienated and mortal condition as a form of demiurgic activity. By ritually entering this demiurgy the soul transforms its alienation and mortality into theurgy . The embodied soul becomes an icon of divinity. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Gnosis: Journal of Gnostic Studies Brill

Demon est Deus Inversus : Honoring the Daemonic in Iamblichean Theurgy

Gnosis: Journal of Gnostic Studies , Volume 1 (1-2): 177 – Jul 11, 2016

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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
2451-8581
eISSN
2451-859X
DOI
10.1163/2451859X-12340010
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Iamblichus’s doctrine that the immortal soul becomes mortal is puzzling for Platonic scholars. According to Iamblichus, the embodied soul not only becomes mortal; as human, it also becomes “alienated” ( allotriōthen ) from divinity. Iamblichus maintains that the alienation and mortality of the soul are effected by daemons that channel the soul’s universal and immortal identity into a singular and mortal self. Yet, while daemons alienate the soul from divinity they also outline the path to recover it. Iamblichus maintains that daemons unfold the will of the Demiurge into material manifestation and thus reveal its divine signatures ( sunthēmata ) in nature. According to Iamblichus’s theurgical itinerary, the human soul—materialized, alienated, and mortal—must learn to embrace its alienated and mortal condition as a form of demiurgic activity. By ritually entering this demiurgy the soul transforms its alienation and mortality into theurgy . The embodied soul becomes an icon of divinity.

Journal

Gnosis: Journal of Gnostic StudiesBrill

Published: Jul 11, 2016

Keywords: theurgy; daemons; alienation; embodiment; Titans

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