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Theurgy in Antiquity
by J. Pedro Feliciano
Theurgy, or divine magic, is present in many different religious traditions, but its most famous form was developed and promulgated in the Mediterranean, Egypt, and Near East during the first centuries A.D., notably by certain Neoplatonic philosophers such as Iamblichus and Proclus. It is this theurgic stream that is the focus of the present text.
Origins of classical theurgy and its historical context
Classical theurgy is commonly held to have originated in the 2nd century A.D with the famous text we know as the Chaldæan Oracles, one of the earliest Middle Platonic works. The account of their origin that has come down to us can be resumed as follows. Somewhere in Syria or Mesopotamia during the late second century (150-190 A.D.), there were two philosophers, a certain Julian the Chaldæan and his son Julian the Theurgist. Reportedly, the father performed certain rituals to invoke the soul of the philosopher Plato into his son who acted as a medium. Julian the son is said to have become possessed by Plato’s soul, and then revealed the Chaldean Oracles. The story does not end there, as the younger Julian became famous as a powerful theurgist, and is said to have magically called down rain to save the Roman army during a drought. He purportedly wrote four books on theurgy.
The term “theurgy”, derived from the Greek theourgia, “god work”, has its origin in the Chaldean Oracles, wherein theourgoi, “theurgists” are mentioned several times. The Oracles themselves are a mixture of Neoplatonic philosophy with eastern (Persian) elements, and had tremendous influence on later Neoplatonism. The text begins by describing the highest aspects of God, how He emanates at the lower levels, His various manifestations and subordinate entities, and it later addresses philosophical and theurgical principles. The primary eastern influence in the Oracles is in the notion of fire as a symbol of God’s influence and energy; fire was sacred in the Zoroastrian religion, and it is because of this that the Oracles were later falsely attributed to the prophet Zoroaster.
The logic behind theurgy, and its direct association with Neoplatonism, is found in the concept of the embodied soul, and the problem of how it may be reunited with its source while in the body.[1] Among the classical Neoplatonists, the fall of the soul into matter is not necessarily viewed as a negative process. However, the imperfections of matter require individuals to rectify their fallen state, to awaken the soul to salvation, and ultimately to reunite with God – this is called henôsis (‘union’). Theurgy also allows the individual, while in the body, to better control his or her own destiny; according to the Oracles, “theurgists fall not so as to be ranked among the herd that are in subjection to Fate”[2], i.e., theurgists can eventually free themselves of the chains which enslave the ordinary man and transcend fate or chance.
Historically, not all Neoplatonists were fond of theurgy, and some even opposed it. The famous philosopher Plotinus (204-270 A.D.) argued that mental study and contemplation of higher truths was all that one needed to achieve enlightenment and henosis – he seems to have been unaware of or ignored the Chaldæan Oracles. His student Porphyry even more vehemently criticized theurgy. According to both of them, the human soul had not fully descended into matter, and therefore there was no need for ritual and practice to reawaken it (Ironically enough, both Plotinus and Porphyry also recognized that matter was evil.). For them, rational thought was sufficient to regain awareness of one’s divine origin. However, the grave deficiencies of this approach soon became apparent, and theurgy began to be seen increasingly as the right method to take on the path to enlightenment. The great turning point took place with the Syrian Neoplatonist Iamblichus (245-325 A.D.), who wrote a complex but brilliant text defending theurgy, called “The Reply of the Master Abamon to the Letter of Porphyry to Anebo” – Iamblichus was for a time a student of Porphyry, and eventually they had their disagreement over theurgy. Iamblichus’ text was a point by point reply to Porphyry’s objections. In the Renaissance, it was given its best known title De Mysteriis or On the Mysteries. Iamblichus successfully argued that union with the Gods could not be achieved by mere philosophical speculation, but only through sacred rites and theurgy:
For it is not the concept that unites the theurgic priests to the gods: else what is there to hinder those who pursue philosophic speculation contemplatively, from having the theurgic union to the gods? Now, however, in actual truth, this is not the case. On the other hand, it is the complete fulfilling of the arcane performances, the carrying of them through in a manner worthy of the gods and surpassing all conception, and likewise the power of the voiceless symbols which are perceived by the gods alone, that establish the Theurgic Union. Hence we do not effect these things by thinking.” [3]
Iamblichus’ work and approach revolutionized the world of religion and philosophy, and made a profound contribution to the Roman Empire’s spiritual golden age in the first centuries A.D.
Theory and types of theurgy
According to Neoplatonic theurgists, everything in the universe is bound together by invisible “cosmic chains”, and peopled with Gods, angels and spirits of various kinds in multiple hierarchies, many of whom played a part in theurgical practices. The Chaldæan Oracles provide one such scheme with the universe divided into Empyrean, Ethereal, and Material parts, and various deities mentioned after God and His initial triad. I will expound on some of these entities here
- Iynges (Gk: iunges). These entities, the highest subordinates of the Second Mind, are representative of the thoughts of God, and are a mediating force between the divine and the material. They are also a higher reflection of magical names and formulæ, which the theurgist utters in order to achieve contact with higher beings. Magically, the Iyinges were connected with the so-called Iynx or Strophalos, a magical tool used by certain theurgists to generate power, upon which we will comment more later in the article. The Iynges also play a role in maintaining the course of the planetary spheres.
- Synoches (Gk: sunokheis, “Connectors”). These entities are said to be the connecting forces of the universe, the cosmic chains which bind everything together through universal sympathy, and preserve the universe. They also help the theurgist’s soul to reconnect to the higher in the sacred rites. The very rays of the Sun were said to be “material connectors”, reflecting the divine Fire, helping the soul to transcend the material.
- eletarchs (Gk: teletárkhai “masters of initiation”) were said to preside over the 3 divisions of the universe, and were associated with the 3 virtues of Faith, Truth, and Love by which the theurgist can unite with God. It is the Teletarchs that are referred to in the Oracles as the “3 Supernals” in which all things exist, and by which all things are governed. They are the forces which purify the soul and guide it on its way back to its divine source.
- Besides these entities, the Oracles also mention archangels, angels, and daimons (i.e. spirits). The latter are regarded as evil, and they are said to be the main source of temptation for human souls, leading them away from the spiritual, “from the Cavities of the Earth leap forth the terrestrial Dog-faced demons, showing no true sign unto mortal man”.[4] Part of the work of the theurgist consists of banishing these daimons, liberating oneself from their influence.
The Greek Goddess Hekate is also mentioned in the Oracles, and is equated with Nature and the world Soul.
The hierarchical system of later Neoplatonism varies considerably. Iamblichus, for instance, posits the following:
- The ineffable first principles
- The Monad
- The Dyad, comprising limit and unlimited
- One-Being
- Intelligible Mind
- Intellectual Mind
- Hypercosmic Soul
- Encosmic (Cosmic) soul
- Souls in participation
- The realm of Nature, comprising All perfect souls and Gods, all the way down to humans, animals, and matter itself.[5]
Having expounded on Neoplatonic cosmology, we will now briefly address the different forms of theurgy. One of most basic and common kinds of theurgy consists of communicating with a God or Goddess through scrying to obtain revelations; countless examples of this technique may be found in the Magical Papyri, particularly the Demotic texts which are almost entirely dedicated to this method[6]. Another form is used to obtain more tangible effects and blessings from the Gods, and utilizes statues of the deities to achieve contact with them by invoking them into the statue, or specific consecrated magical objects to achieve magical effects. Still another theurgic technique consists of invoking the God or Goddess into the practitioners themselves as a sort of divine possession or channeling, whereby the Deity and the theurgist’s soul is conjoined for the duration of the rite; similar techniques had been used from time immemorial, from shamans in various cultures, up to classical times, when priestesses in Greek temples became possessed by deities and uttered oracles. Higher forms of theurgy aim to transcend the lower world and transform oneself by achieving contact with God Himself, or through forms of spiritual elevation and astral projection through the various levels of the universe up to the Gods, to achieve immortality for one’s soul. The highest form of theurgy aims at a complete union with God, henôsis.
Principles of theurgic practice
Before we deal with specific practical rituals and techniques, it is necessary to expound on the principles behind them. Proclus (412-485 A.D.), in his work On the Sacred Art,[7] teaches us about some of the core foundations of theurgy. One of the most important, and most familiar to western occult students, is the principle of correspondence or similarity, whereby everything in the Universe is connected: as above, so below. By this logic, if one wishes to invoke a certain God or Goddess, he will take certain sunthêmata, a Greek word meaning ‘tokens’ or ‘signatures,’ such as herbs, stones, etc, associated to the particular deity, and use them in the ritual at a specific time. As the Chaldean Oracles state: 'For this Paternal Intellect, which comprehendeth the Intelligibles and adorneth things ineffable, hath sowed symbols through the World.'[8] By association, those tangible symbols contain the invisible essence or signature of the Deity, and can thus be used to invoke it. According to Proclus, similarity is powerful enough to link separate beings to one another and ‘There are to be seen on the earth suns and moons in a terrestrial form, and in the heavens all the plants, stones and animals after a celestial manner, alive in a spiritual way’.[9] The theurgist thus combines tangible symbols, hymns and invocations, and magical names in order to successfully accomplish the work.
According to Iamblichus, the theurgist, by his rites and prayers, does not coerce the Gods to descend; rather, it is the Gods themselves who elevate the theurgist to their level by virtue of the power inherent in the invocations, and the principle of similarity:
By such a purpose, therefore, 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.[10]
Proclus held a similar view, which he explains in his commentary on Plato’s Timæus:
And prayer contributes enormously to this epistrophe by means of the ineffable symbols of the gods, which the Father of the souls has sown into them. It attracts the beneficence of the gods towards itself and it unifies those who pray to those to whom they pray, it links the intellect of the gods to the words of those who pray, it moves the will of those who contain all goods in a perfect way to bestow them without envy, it creates the persuasion of the divine, and it establishes all that we have in the gods.[11]
Another important pillar of theurgy is the practitioner’s lifestyle. In Antiquity, theurgists were urged to lead a virtuous existence, controlling the material passions, for 'things Divine are not attainable by mortals who understand the body alone, but only by those who stripped of their garments arrive at the summit.'[12] In his commentary on the Oracles, Proclus advises us to not merely restrain the material vices and impulses, but to purge them completely:
Now when we say ‘restraining the mind's tendency to the worse,’ or ‘not entirely extinguishing them,’ we do not mean a mere temporary repression; for passions, when merely cooped up, heat up their container. So instead of ‘restraining,’ which retains what is dammed up, let us eject the passions. That is the meaning of the Oracle: ‘Defile not the spirit through that which is hidden within.’[13]
The myths and legends of the Gods were also believed to aid in the manifestation of the Gods, by virtue of the symbols that those myths contain and their relation to the Gods themselves. This is why invocations to the Gods commonly reference the myths of the particular deity. The Neoplatonist philosopher Sallustius, in his work On the Gods and the World, commented on the importance of myths:
Now the myths represent the Gods themselves and the goodness of the Gods - subject always to the distinction of the speakable and the unspeakable, the revealed and the unrevealed, that which is clear and that which is hidden” [14]
Rituals and techniques
As there are various forms of theurgy, so too their respective rituals and practices are similarly varied. I will address each form individually. Some forms of theurgy are fairly well documented in surviving magical texts, while others are only vaguely alluded to. The main corpus of texts that contain theurgical material from Antiquity are the Greek and Demotic magical papyri (PGM, PDM).[153]
One of the techniques most used in classical theurgy involved the use of a statue of a God or Goddess to invoke that particular deity. Not much in terms of specific rites has come down to us concerning it, but the general idea involves taking the statue, rubbing it with herbs and ingredients related to the Deity (often the statue had a hole in it wherein one could place the ingredients), and then reciting a hymn or invocation. A fragment of the Chaldean Oracles (#224) gives part of the technique, reportedly revealed by the Goddess Hekate:
But execute my statue, purifying it as I shall instruct you. Make a form from wild rue and decorate it with small animals, such as lizards which live about the house. Rub a mixture of myrrh, gum, and frankincense with these animals, and out in the clear air under the waxing moon, complete this (statue) yourself offering the following prayer.[16]
Unfortunately the prayer was not preserved. Thankfully, many hymns to different Gods have come down to us, and these are the kind of invocations that were used in these rites. Among the most important are the seven hymns written by Proclus, which he used in his rites. According to the philosopher Damascius, Proclus decorated statues and recited hymns to them. Here is Proclus’ hymn to Aphrodite:
We hymn the many-named series of Aphrogeneia and the great royal source, from which all immortal winged Erotes have sprung up, of whom some shoot with noeric arrows at souls, in order that, having taken the upward-leading goads of desires, these long after seeing the fiery courts of their mother. Some, because of the evil averting wishes and providential acts of the Father, wishing to increase the infinite universe with birth, aroused in the souls a yearning for the earthly existence. Others again always supervise the multifarious courses of the wedding songs, so as to produce an immortal race of much-suffering men from mortal stock; and all care for the works of the love-producing Kythereia But, Goddess, for you have a far-hearing ear everywhere, whether you envelop the great heaven all around, where, as they say, you are the divine soul of the everlasting cosmos, or dwell in the aether above the rims of the seven orbits while pouring unyielding powers forward into your series, listen, and may you steer the toilsome course of my life, mistress, with your most righteous arrows, while putting an end to the chilly impulse of unholy desires.[17]
Other rituals with specific Gods involved a simpler approach, where the practitioner makes an offering while reciting a hymn or invocation. These are more akin to the exoteric rites of temples, but the invocations used are far more powerful and presumably will have more effective results. Several examples of this technique are found in the Magical Papyri, e.g., in PGM IV, 2785-2890, which is a long hymn to Selene, the Greek moon Goddess, followed by these instructions: 'For doing good, offer storax, myrrh, sage, frankincense, a fruit pit. But for doing harm, offer magical material of a dog and a dappled goat (or in a similar way, of a virgin untimely dead).'
A particular form of prayer or invocation used in many theurgic rites is the 'stele.' This term ordinarily refers to a slab of stone inscribed with text, but among Gnostics and Greco-Egyptian magicians it came to refer to a powerful prayer or invocation. The most famous examples of this are the Sethian Gnostic 'Steles of Seth',[18] as well as the well known Bornless Ritual, which is referred to as the 'Stele of Jeu the Hieroglyphist'[19]. A noteworthy example particularly relevant to our discussion is the so called Hidden Stele (PGM IV, 1115-66), a majestic adoration to God and the universe, replete with magical names, presumably used as a means of henosis or union with God, or for spiritual elevation. I present it here in its entirety:
Hail, entire system of the ærial spirit, PHÔGALÔA. Hail, spirit who extends from heaven to earth, ERDÊNEU, and from earth which is in the middle chamber of the universe unto the borders of the abyss, MEREMÔGGA. Hail, spirit who enters into me, convulses me, and leaves me kindly according to the will of God, IÔÊ ZANÔPHIE. Hail, beginning and end of the immovable nature, DÔRUGLAOPHÔN. Hail, revolution of untiring service by heavenly bodies, RÔGUEU ANAMI PELÊGEÔN ADARA EIÔPH. Hail, radiance of the universe subordinate to the solar ray, IEO UEO IAS AI EOU OEI. Hail, orb of the night-illuminating, unequally shining moon, AIÔ RÊMA RÔDOUÔPIA. Hail, all spirits of the ærial images RÔMIDOUÊ AGANASOU ÔTHAUA. Hail to those to whom the greeting is given with blessing, to brothers and sisters, to holy men and holy women. O great, greatest, round, incomprehensible figure of the universe, heavenly ENRÔKHESUÊL; in heaven, PELÊTHEU; of ether, IÔGARAA; in the ether, THÔPULEODARDU; watery, IÔÊDES; earthy, PERÊPHIA; fiery, APHTHALUA; windlike, IÔIE ÊÔ AUA; luminous, ALAPIE; dark-looking, IEPSERIA; shining with heavenly tight, ADAMALÔR; moist, fiery, and cold spirit. I glorify you, God of Gods, the one who brought order to the universe, AREÔ PIEUA; the one who gathered together the abyss at the invisible foundation of its position, PERÔMUSÊL Ô PENTÔNAX; the one who separated heaven and earth and covered the heaven with eternal, golden wings, RÔDÊRU OUÔA; the one who fixed the earth on eternal foundations, ALÊIOÔA; the one who hung up the ether high above the earth, AIE ÔÊ IOUA; the one who scattered the air with self-moving breezes, ÔIE OUÔ; the one who put the water roundabout, ÔRÊPÊLUA; the one who raises up hurricanes, ORISTHAUA; the one who thunders, THEPHIKHUÔNÊL; the one who hurls lightnings, OURÊNES; the one who rains, OSIÔRNIPHEUGALGA; the one who shakes, PERATÔNÊL; the one who produces living creatures, ARÊSIGULÔA; the God of the Aions; you are great, Lord, God, ruler of the All, ARKHIZÔNUON THÊNAR METHÔR PARU PHÊZÔR THAPSAMUDÔ MARÔMI KHÊLÔPSA.[20]
A theurgic technique of which we have dozens of examples is the oracular ritual, which involves invoking a God or Goddess for revelation, using a scrying device such as a bowl or even a lamp. This was used extensively among the Greco-Egyptian magicians. In some rituals, the magician was assisted by a child who acted as the seer; this method continued to be used well into the middle ages, most famously in the Sacred Magic of Abramelin. Here is an example of a typical scrying ritual invoking Aphrodite (PGM IV, 3209-54):
Having kept oneself pure for 7days, take a white saucer, fill it with water and olive oil, having previously written on its base with myrrh ink: ÊIOKH KHIPHA ELAMPSÊR ZÊL A E Ê I O U Ô (25 letters); and beneath the base, on the outside: TAKHIÊL KHTHONIÊ DRAXÔ (18 letters). Wax over with white wax. On the outside of the rim at the top: "IERMI PHILÔ ERIKÔMA DERKÔ MALÔK GAULÊ APHRIÊL, I ask" (say it 3 times). Let it rest on the floor and looking intently at it, say “I call upon you, the mother and mistressof nymphs ILAOUKH OBRIÊ LOUKH TLOR; [come] in, holy light, and give answer, showing your lovely shape.
Then look intently at the bowl. When you see her, welcome her and say, “Hail, very glorious goddess, ILARAOUKH. And if you give me a response, extend your hand." And when she extends it, expect answers to your inquiry. But if she does not listen say: "I call upon the ILAOUKH who has begotten Himeros, the lovely Horai and you Graces; I also call upon the Zeus-sprung Physis of all things, two-formed, indivisible, straight, foam-beautiful Aphrodite. Reveal to me your lovely light and your lovely face, O mistress ILAOUKH. I conjure you, giver of fire, [by] ELGINAL, and [by the] great names OBRIÊTUKH KERDUNOUKHILÊPSIN NIOU NAUNIN IOUTHOU THRIGX TATIOUTH GERTIATH GERGERIS GERGERIÊ THEITHI. I also ask you by the all wonderful names, OISIA EI EI AÔ ÊU AAÔ IÔIAIAIÔ ÔTHOU BERBROI AKTEROBORE GERIÊ IÊOUA; bring me light and your lovely face and the true saucer divination, you shining with fire, bearing fire all around, stirring the land from afar, IÔIÔ PHTHAIÊ THOUTHOI PHAEPHI. Do it.
Preparation: having kept yourself pure, as you learned, take a bronze drinking cup, and write with myrrh ink the previously inscribed stele which calls upon Aphrodite, and use the untouched olive oil and clean river water. Put the drinking cup on your knees and speak over it the stele mentioned above, and the goddess will appear to you and will reveal concerning what things you wish.[21]
Some theurgic rites involved a form of self initiation. The bulk of the 8th Book of Moses (PGM XIII), an impressive 4th century magical papyrus, is devoted to a long ritual whose objective is to create a link between the magician and an aspect of God. The magician is first instructed to remain pure for 41 then to burn specific kinds of incense and to sacrifice two white roosters. Then follow some invocations to God, andays and to set up a kind of oratory with an altar in his house. He isd instructions for the Initiation, such as: "And you will be in clean linens, crowned with an olive wreath. Prepare the canopy thus: taking a clean sheet, write on the border the names of the 365 gods, and make it a tent (tabernacle), under which you go to be initiated." The reader is also told to perform morning adorations to the sun God for seven days. After more instructions, and a final invocation, the author writes: "When the God comes in, look down and write the things he says and the Name which he gives you for himself. And do not go out from under your canopy until He tells you accurately, too, the things that concern you." The ‘Name’ is not found in the text; presumably it is a secret formula to be revealed to the Initiate alone.
Finally the author gives 24 spells and rituals in which the mysterious Name is actively employed. E.g.:
- ‘Resurrection of a dead body: “I invoke Thee, spirit coming in air, enter, inspire, empower, resurrect by the power of the Eternal God, this body; and let it walk about in this place, for I am he who acts with the power of Thoth, the holy God.” Say the Name.’
- ‘If you want to kill a snake: Say, “Stay, for you are Aphyphis.” And taking a green palm branch and holding its heart (i.e. the center of the triangular end of the branch), split it longways into two, saying the Name over it 7 times. At once the snake will be split or will break open.’
- ‘Invisibility: Also thus: “Come to me, Darkness, which appeared in the beginning, and hide me, NN, by the order of Him who is self-begotten in Heaven.” Say the Name.
Other techniques involved a form of visionary pathworking and\or astral projection to higher planes in order to attain knowledge and achieve self-transformation. Our primary surviving example of this method is a magnificent ritual from the magical papyri (PGM IV 475-829),[22] commonly referred to as the Mithras Liturgy. This ritual is too long to fully reproduce here, but it essentially consists of a visionary ascent for communion with the sun Gods Helios and Mithras. It is described both as a ritual for revelation, and as a technique for ‘immortal birth’ – presumably this refers to initiatic rebirth and immortalization of the soul. The rite begins with an invocation for ascent, part of which reads:
now if it be your will, METERTA PHÔTH IEREZATH, give me over to immortal birth and, following that, to my underlying nature, so that, after the present need which is pressing me exceedingly, I may gaze upon the immortal beginning with the immortal spirit, ANKHREPHRENESOU-PHIRIGKH, with the immortal water, ERONOUI PARAKOUNÊTH, with the most steadfast air, EIOAÊ PSENABÔTH; that I may be born again in thought, KRAOKHRAX ROIM ENARKHOMAI, and the sacred spirit may breathe in me…
Having recited this, we are then told to
Draw in breath from the rays, drawing up three times as much as you can, and you will see yourself being lifted up and ascending to the height, so that you seem to be in mid-air. You will hear nothing either of man or of any other living thing, nor in that hour will you see anything of mortal affairs on earth, but rather you will see all immortal things. For in that day and hour you will see the divine order of the skies: the presiding Gods rising into heaven, and others setting.
Soon after, we are instructed to recite an adoration to different aspects of the sun God, using various magical names, after which we behold the God Helios, the seven Fates of Heaven, described as 7 serpent-faced virgins wielding golden wands, and the seven Lords of the heavenly Pole, described as black bulls. Then follow adorations to be recited to them, and finally the climax of the ritual, where we encounter a mysterious supreme God, who is probably an aspect of God Himself, but depicted as Mithras. Although the whole ritual appears at first to refer to a rising in the planes\astral projection, it seems from the instructions that the whole vision takes place while we are in the body – we are told to use certain herbs for the ritual, and to create protective talismans for it, which must be held and kissed at certain points in the ritual.
As we have seen thus far, a core component of many, if not most, theurgical rites was the use of magical words, the famous ‘barbarous names’, which are the secret names of the Gods. Of the formulas that are recognizable, about half of them are derived from Egyptian Divine names or epithets, many from Greek, and quite a few from Gnostic, Jewish, Phoenician, and even Babylonian sources. The remainder, however, are barbarous names of unknown origin. Many are doubtless Egyptian and Greek words corrupted beyond recognition. The strange and mysterious nature of many of these formulae, according to Iamblichus, is itself a powerful element:
For the names do not exactly preserve the same meaning when they are translated; rather, there are certain idioms in every nation that are impossible to express in the language of another. Moreover, even if one were to translate them, this would not preserve their same power. For the barbarian names possess weightiness and great precision, participating in less ambiguity, variability and multiplicity of expression. For all these reasons, then, they are adapted to the superior beings.[23]
Alongside the use of magical names, ancient theurgists made extensive usage of the seven Greek vowels: a e ê i o u ô (Alpha, Epsilon, Êta, Iota, Omikron, Upsilon, Ômega). These vowels were believed to represent the harmony of the planetary spheres, and were correlated to the musical notes. One Gnostic school correlated them to the seven heavens (1st-A, 2nd – E, etc). They were symbolic of the energy that animates the universe, the eternal vibration, and in many texts are said to be the secret name of God. Some texts provide specific techniques for using the 7 vowels. The 8th Book of Moses gives the following exercise:
Speaking to the rising sun, stretching out your hands to the left, say A. To the North, putting forward you right fist, say E; then to the West, extending both hands before you, say ÊI. To the Earth, bending over, touching the ends of your toes, say O. Looking into the air, having your hand on your heart, say U. Looking into the sky, having both hands on your head, say Ô.
The same text also contains a large invocation to God where He is invoked with different permutations of the vowels:
I call on you as by the voice of the male Gods, IÊÔ OUE ÔÊI UE AÔ EI ÔU AOÊ OUÊ EÔA UÊI ÔEA OÊÔ IEOU AÔ. I call on you, as by the voice of the Goddesses, IAÊ EÔO IOU EÊI ÔA EÊ IÊ AI UO ÊIAU EÔO OUÊE IAÔ ÔAI EOUÊ UÔÊI IÔA. I call on you, as the winds call you. I call on you, as the dawn,” (looking towards the East, say, A EE ÊÊÊ IIII OOOOO UUUUUU ÔÔÔÔÔÔÔ, and then to the other corners:) “I call you as the South, I OO UUU ÔÔÔÔ AAAAA EEEEEE ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ. (etc….)[24]
Certain breathing techniques are also described in the surviving magical papyri, usually involving breathing in and out deeply (possibly hyperventilating).
Just as in medieval and modern magic, magical tools were used by some theurgists. Worth mentioning here is the so-called iynx or strophalos, a magical wheel reportedly used by Julian the son, and later Proclus as well. According to surviving descriptions, the iunx consisted of a golden sphere in which a sapphire was embedded. It had magical sigils engraved on it, and had a leather strap attached to it. By swinging the sphere by the strap, the theurgists would magically attract the influence of the Iynges by imitating the motions of the heavenly spheres. The iunx was also said to be effective to bring rain; according to his biographer, Proclus ended a drought in Attica by using iunxes to call down rain. Julian the son was also said to have accomplished similar feats centuries before, causing a rainstorm during a drought while he was serving in the Roman army, and thereby saving his army division.
Conclusion
Classical theurgy changed the world of western esotericism forever. Its influence and legacy have extended well into modern occultism. The theory of correspondences, the importance of prayer, the emphasis on purity and virtue prior to performing magical rites, and many other elements can be traced back to the great men of late Antiquity who revolutionized the world of religion and esotericism. It is my hope that this article will foster more interest in this noble tradition among its readers.
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