Iamblichus of Chalcis (c. 245–325 AD) was a philosopher, mystic, and a pivotal innovator of the later Plotinian tradition, one of the most influential figures in the Neoplatonist era of Greek philosophy. Renowned during his lifetime as a miracle worker and sage, he was born in Chalcis (modern Qinnasrin) in northern Syria. Iamblichus expanded and reconciled the ideas of Plotinus with the older mystery traditions of the ancient world. Iamblichus recognized that Plato’s tradition was in danger of losing its more ancient spiritual aspects.
Who Was Iamblichus? His Life, Teachings, and Philosophical Legacy
Iamblichus emphasized divine rituals, the role of the gods, and the soul’s ascent through older spiritual practices as being of equal importance to contemplation, study and the rational faculties. His contribution to Plato’s tradition was to ensure that its true origins as a spiritual discipline didn’t become lost to future generations of philosophers. His writings were so influential that he was dubbed “the Divine Iamblichus” by the Roman Emperor Julian, who believed they had the potential to bring Rome into a new golden age.
The Early Influences That Shaped Iamblichus’ Philosophy
Iamblichus was born into a wealthy and influential family in Chalcis, a city in Syria with a rich Hellenistic, Babylonian, Assyrian and Perian heritage. His aristocratic background gave him access to the best education available in the Roman Empire. He was born into the Emesene Dynasty, a family of ancient Syrian priest-kings who practiced ancient rites from Mesopotamia, primarily venerating the solar deity El-Gabal (also known as Elagabal).
The Persian and Babylonian Mystical Traditions in Iamblichus’ Thought
The second Persian empire, the Parthians, ruled a vast region stretching from the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, modern Iraq and Syria, in the west all the way to the edges of China and India in the east. This was the period of Persian history famed for orders of astrologer-magicians, collectively called Magi, who practiced something different than orthodox Zoroastrianism, called Mithraism.
The Parthian rulers recognized the prophet Zoroaster as an important part of Persian history, but their ways were much more akin to the the astral theology of the Babylonians. The Parthian tribe, originating from the Caspian Sea, overthrew the Greek aristocracy who ruled after Alexander the Great’s conquest but retained Greek as their official language.
The Parthian Empire was a superpower that rivaled Rome for centuries. The rites of Mithras had its own secret mystery religion spread to all corners of the Roman Empire, counting high-ranking military officers and Roman aristocrats among its ranks. One of the main attributes of Mithras was his fiery solar nature.
The Chaldean Oracles: How They Inspired Iamblichus’ Thought
The cult of Mithras is believed to have been part of the origin of the equally mysterious and influential Chaldean Oracles of Zoroaster. This is an occult poem that was highly revered by the Neoplatonists of the Roman period, including Iamblichus. The famous lunar goddess of the crossroads, Hecate, was a central figure of the Oracles. Chaldean was the classical Greek term for the Babylonians and also a synonym for a Mesopotamian practitioner of mysterious rites.
The Chaldean Oracles didn’t survive in their entirety but many fragments have been pieced together. Part of its appeal may have been its universalist cosmology that ultimately structured existence as a unified trinity, reconciling Greek spiritual ideas with that of the Babylonians and Persians.
Iamblichus and Neoplatonism: His Role in the Evolution of the Tradition
Iamblichus strongly implies in his writings—primarily through indirect references rather than explicit passages—that he was highly educated and experienced in the Mithraic tradition, or something very similar to it, from an early age. His family was called “priests of the Sun” by Roman historians and practiced ancient rites in a temple dedicated to the Sun. At some point in his life Iamblichus traveled to Rome to learn Plato’s philosophical tradition, and this is where he met Porphyry, the disciple of Plotinus.
After centuries of widespread religious upheaval in the Greco-Roman world, the philosopher Plotinus rose to prominence in Plato’s tradition of philosophy. Plotinus felt that the tradition had become needlessly complicated over five centuries—through the proliferation of varying commentaries, sects, and debates that blurred Plato’s central doctrines— and would one day lost sight of its most important doctrines.
He reinterpreted the writings of Plato, Aristotle and the other foundational figures into a simpler and more cohesive doctrine. Plotinus was so influential that later scholars deemed his work the founding of “Neoplatonism,” helped in part by Porphyry’s arrangement of his teachings into the Enneads. Some regard this as a significantly different era of philosophy. Others maintain that it was a faithful adaptation of Plato’s doctrines, simply made more accessible after the Academy had existed for half of a millennium.
Henosis in Neoplatonism: Plotinus’ Path to Divine Unity
Plotinus developed a spiritual system of deep contemplation that could lead the philosopher to achieve henosis (meaning ‘unity with the One’), developing the mind and soul to its original uncorrupted form. His teachings were recorded by his student Porphyry and titled the Enneads.
Plotinus developed a universal, simple yet elegant cosmology that has since been studied and loved by theologians and mystics of every religion and creed. He simplifies all of existence as the One, which is an all-pervading source of all. The One creates by emanation through Intelligence and Soul. This trinity of principles creates infinite combinations and divisions while maintaining an ultimate unity, the One and the Many.
According to Plotinus, our true nature is concealed by attachment to the physical body and senses. This can be overcome by purifying the intellect and progressively weakening the soul’s imprisonment in the world of matter. This was not a simple dogma or a point of view, it was a life’s work that transformed the philosopher in every way.
In one of Egypt’s oldest theological works, the Instruction of Ptah-hotep (2300 BC), Osiris judged the souls of the dead on a scale with the Feather of Ma’at. Coveting and craving material things with no regard for others added tremendous weight to the heart and carried over into the afterlife.
To reach the most desirable part of paradise, the soul needed to be free of the body’s senseless cravings. The goal of the philosophers was the same, and Plotinus was reinterpreting these principles in a way that was better suited for his time.
Why Iamblichus Rejected Plotinus’ View the Soul
Plotinus held all physical things in very low regard. His methods and writings are in many ways a total rejection of the physical and this is where Iamblichus differed. His background in the rites of ancient Syria convinced him that there was more value in integrating the intellect and the physical.
Iamblichus excelled as a philosopher and Pythagorean thinker but diverged from Porphyry’s approach. He felt it was too narrow and limited by prioritizing intellect alone. The key to understanding everything was balance; a total rejection of the world of matter was unbalanced in its foundations. Having extensive experience in the ancient Syrian rites and excelling in Greek philosophy, Iamblichus traveled to Egypt to learn its mysteries.
Iamblichus traveled widely and studied the teachings of Plotinus with Porphyry in Rome. After this, he left to study the mysteries of the Egyptians. While Iamblichus held the teachings of Plotinus in high regard, he made his best-known contribution to philosophy by his work to defend the sacred rites of the ancient world, what would today be called occult or magic practices. Iamblichus called it theurgy and wrote a book called De Mysteriis, also known as “On the Mysteries” or “On the Mysteries of the Egyptians, Chaldeans and Assyrians”.
What is Theurgy? Iamblichus’ Path to Divine Ascent
Theurgy means “divine work” or “god working”. Theurgy is the practice of invoking divine forces through rituals, prayers, and sacred rites to achieve spiritual ascent and unity with the divine. Iamblichus provided one of the most detailed explanations of theurgy, emphasizing its role in connecting the physical world with higher realms.
Iamblichus was also a highly accomplished Pythagorean and wrote a treatise, “On the Theology of Arithmetic,” some fragments of which still survive today through later Neoplatonic references.
De Mysteriis Explained: Iamblichus’ Defense of Ancient Rites and Theurgy
During his lifetime, the ancient rites were quickly reaching their most decadent point. His fellow philosopher Porphyry had criticisms of them—particularly regarding whether theurgy attempted to coerce the gods and whether ritual practice overshadowed pure philosophical contemplation—and De Mysteriis was an answer to those critiques. Iamblichus framed the narrative of the book as a letter from Porphyry and an Egyptian priest named “Abammon” who addresses the criticisms and questions in the letter.
Some have interpreted this as a bitter feud but its just as likely that the two were engaging in philosophical debate in the same way that Plato and the older philosophers did. Rather than believe something on blind faith, they sought deeper understanding by raising objections. This forced deeper thought on the subject and often led to better realizations.
The ancient rites had become so widely misunderstood, misinterpreted and abused that it was becoming an object of scorn for many. Some of the Platonic philosophers may have been tempted to shed their own traditional rites in the hopes of appealing to the masses. In the time Plotinus and Iamblichus lived, turmoil constantly erupted in the Roman empire because of religious divisions. Plotinus provided a universal interpretation of Plato’s tradition that was free of any specific creed and was approachable for all.
The Sacred Power of Language in Theurgy and Spiritual Rituals
The approach of Plotinus focused purely on internal development of the mind and soul. Iamblichus believed that most people, even accomplished philosophers like Porphyry, couldn’t understand theurgy because they were using the wrong frame of mind. Philosophers had become too accustomed to reasoning, and more importantly, the ancient mysteries couldn’t be fully understood only with the Greek and Latin languages.
Since the gods have shown that the entire dialect of the sacred peoples, such as the Assyrians and the Egyptians, is appropriate for religious ceremonies, we must understand that our communication with the gods should be in an appropriate tongue. Such a mode of speech is the first and most ancient.
– De Mysteriis VII: 4
The Egyptian and Semitic languages had sacred properties because they had developed in a time when people were in closer, direct contact with the gods. This ability had been lost over the ages and was one of the root causes of existential suffering, the very thing that philosophy hoped to address.
He was adamant that the sacred words themselves were capable of bringing the theurgist into direct contact with gods if properly applied. Besides the Egyptian language, Iamblichus put the Mesopotamian tongues (Akkadian, Babylonian, Aramaic, Hebrew, Phoenician, Arabic) in this category. Simply put, these older languages are what the gods naturally use to communicate with.
Since the Egyptians were the first to be granted participation with the gods, the rejoice when invoked in the rites of the Egyptians…And it is necessary that the prayers of the ancients, like sacred places of sanctuary, are preserved ever the same and in the same manner, with nothing of alternative origin either removed from or added to them. For this is the reason why all these things in place at the present time have lost their power, both the names and the prayers. They are endlessly altered according to the inventiveness of the Hellenes. The Hellenes are experimental by nature, and eagerly led in all directions, having no strong foundation in them. They preserve nothing which they have received from anyone else, they quickly abandon and change it all according to their unreliable linguistic innovation.
– De Mysteriis, VII: 5
The Cosmic and Astrological Wisdom of Iamblichus
According to Iamblichus, the ancient priesthoods had possessed wisdom of the highest magnitude. He doesn’t specify a specific point in history but he is strongly implying the first dynasties of Egypt almost five thousand years ago. Historical facts validate his opinion to some extent. The time period in which dynastic Egypt suddenly appeared under the rule of divine kings remains unparalleled and unequaled.
Greek Philosophers and Ancient Wisdom
The Greek thinkers made no secret of the fact that they had a voracious thirst for all knowledge from the distant past. All the philosophers believed that the human race had devolved and degenerated in numerous ways, and one of the broader goals of the philosophers was an attempt to recover and adapt important knowledge that created the Bronze Age kingdoms.
Written records and legends leave much of it open to speculation and interpretation, but one common thread is always found: gods had interacted closely with mortals. These interactions were based on religious rites that imitates a divine order found in all of existence.
Over the passage of time, those rites had become misunderstood, incorrectly applied and often ceased to work as a result. Iamblichus wholeheartedly embraced the methods of Plotinus for developing the internal faculties but maintained that the inclusion of matter, in the form of ancient rites, brought the philosopher to a complete experience of enlightenment.
The Great Chain of Being: The One, the Many, and the Cosmos
The use of sacred images and ritual procedures were intended to give tangible form to universal principles on a small scale. If the rites were performed correctly, they formed a complete link between the One and the Many.
Theurgy required exercising all the faculties of the mind and soul simultaneously and was the highest experience a human being could achieve. Everything, from the purest part of the soul to the body and its functions, originated in the divine. Plotinus understood that everything was ultimately one thing. Iamblichus wanted to draw attention to the fact that the world of matter was also part of that unified One.
It didn’t need to be totally shunned but understood. Henosis, or enlightenment, was achieved by deeply understanding and applying the subtle connections between all of it. The theurgist who had achieved henosis was in the physical world but not enslaved to it.
The world of matter was the physical body of the gods and Iamblichus maintained that theurgy was the means for the philosopher to experience it directly. Light is the creative principle of all that exists. Its primordial form can’t be experienced by the physical, but the Sun is a living embodiment of light. It can be seen, felt and observed, allowing the philosopher to contemplate the principles of light that brought it to existence.
The principles of both light and the Sun can be replicated on a small scale with fire. The flame is not the Sun itself, but it shares the same properties and its presence brings the theurgist even closer to the principle of light. A stone that shines with a golden color embodies that principle further, by absorbing light and producing a distinct glow. The philosopher recognizing all of these links through the senses and intellect kindles the principle of light within their own soul, completing a small link in the Great Chain of Being.
Plotinus and the Great Chain of Being
Plotinus defined this Great Chain of Being as Intelligence, Soul, and Matter, all existing as emanations of the One in a threefold unity. Plotinus was explaining a universal principle at the core of the philosophical tradition, from Pythagoras, Socrates and Plato and down through the ages. Their teachings showed the underlying order in sacred lore that was becoming more and more incomprehensible and divided with the passing of time.
The One emanated existence through endless chains of intermediaries. Plotinus placed little importance on the intermediaries, believing them to be yet another veil that concealed truth. Iamblichus agreed with Plotinus in principle, but felt that it could be interpreted too literally and lead to unnecessary confusion. He believed that by understanding the intermediate levels of spirit, the higher reality could be grasped more naturally and easily.
Iamblichus adamantly maintained that astrology, visions, divination, rituals and sacred images were not “magic” but were actually methods for engaging the body, mind and soul to experience the divine directly. Seemingly miraculous effects that often followed were a natural byproduct of the theurgist aligning with the will of the divine.
The cause of suffering was not just the soul’s afflictions from its enslavement to the senses—an idea paralleling Plato’s view of the soul’s entrapment in the material realm—but also living a life completely ignorant of the divine order. Iamblichus had a deep reverence for the ancient Egyptian sages who he believed had been closer to the gods than anyone who ever lived. The rampant superstitions popular among the public, claiming to be Egyptian or Chaldean magic, were pointless activities.
Iamblichus believed that, at best, they were misinterpreted and futile efforts to manipulate the gods to satisfy base desires. He firmly believed that the gods could not be manipulated and practicing the ancient rites only for material satisfaction was doomed to fail. Theurgy, when understood and performed correctly, linked the divine aspects of matter and spirit in the practitioner and the world around them.
It may seem as if Iamblichus was rejecting the methods and teachings of Plotinus, but he was strongly advocating for it. He believed that the contemplative approach of Plotinus, when applied to the ancient rites, made them effective again after they’d fallen out of favor for many.
Divination as a Divine Thought Process
For Iamblichus, the value of divination was not in making predictions but to help the theurgist replicate a divine thought process. According to the philosophers, the divine creates through patterns of pure thought. Performing divination allows the theurgist to directly observe and experience a replica of that process.
All of creation was the act of divine will and was interlinked by certain patterns and order. The stars and nature were all reflections of that ultimate reality, and by studying these reflections the unknowable could be known.
Plotinus emphasized the Theory of Forms above all else, elevating it beyond Plato’s foundational concepts or other earlier treatments by making it central to achieving union with the One. This was the ultimate reality according to Plato and Socrates, who were expressing the teachings of Pythagoras without an emphasis on number.
The Theory of Forms is that everything which can be perceived or even imagined is a distorted reflection of something pure that exists only as a divine idea. The Forms are a divine blueprint for everything. Forms exist only as pure intellect and can only be understood as such. Because the human mind is accustomed to thinking only in terms of what it can sense (sight, touch, etc.) it loses touch with it’s pure intellect.
By understanding the intangible relationships between things that the mind can perceive, it can exercise the pure intuitive faculties of the soul. The stars, planets and earth are all emanations of the One and by contemplating the patterns in their movements, the patterns of all that exist can be grasped. The patterns themselves are the Forms and the celestial movements embody them.
Iamblichus held the science of the stars in high regard. For him, they embodied the cosmic order and the grip of fate. Plotinus emphasized the threefold nature of existence and simplicity while Iamblichus wholeheartedly embraced the paradoxical unity and multiplicity. He saw in the visible gods that revolved in the heavens the simultaneous rulers of destiny, binding soul to matter, while also offering a means for release.
The visible gods were ensouled by principles that could be understood and in doing so, the observer’s intellect could perceive beyond the cosmic into the supercosmic where the liberation of the soul could be achieved.
The Decline of Ancient Egypt
During the third century of the common era, ancient Egypt was breathing its last breaths. The Pharaohs had ruled for over three thousand years and its last dynasty, the Ptolemies, ended with Cleopatra in 30 BC. Egypt had survived the Bronze Age Collapse (ca. 1200 BC) that ended the empires of the Hittites, Minoans, and many other Mediterranean kingdoms and lasted for another thousand years.
During Iamblichus’s lifetime, Hellenized Egyptians were adapting their ancient theology into a form that could be understood in Greek terms in the form of Hermes Trismegistus, or Hermes the Thrice Great.
The Greek language and system of thought had been eagerly adopted by a large portion of the ancient world, reaching across Egypt, Syria, and Asia Minor, extending from Europe to Central Asia. If an older tradition hoped to survive, it required a Greek adaptation.
The Rosetta Stone is a perfect example of the Greek language being used as a common reference point for future generations. Because the older forms of Egyptian were written with a Greek equivalent, and Coptic Egyptian continuing among Egypt’s Christians, it was possible to translate the Pyramid Texts and hieroglyphic writing from nearly five thousand years ago.
Iamblichus seems to contradict himself by insisting that the old languages were sacred while also defending the Greek adaptations. For Egypt’s priesthood, it was a matter of survival for their tradition. If they refused to adapt to the new Hellenized world their theology would be lost in translation permanently.
To further illustrate this point, Iamblichus mentions as an example the Egyptian priest and Stoic philosopher Chaeremon of Alexandria, who lived in the first century. Chaeremon belonged to the higher ranks of the Egyptian priesthood and was a manager of the Library of Alexandria. He was chosen to tutor the Roman emperor’s young nephew, Nero, for several years. Simply put, if a person was accomplished in Greek philosophy they could wield enormous influence on society.
Chaeremon wrote works on Egyptian mythology in Greek terms so that its meaning wouldn’t be totally lost. Egyptian priests that were fluent in Plato’s tradition chose to adapt Thoth into the Hellenistic form of Hermes and record Thoth’s doctrines in Greek terms.
Thoth and Hermes: A Cultural Fusion
The Egyptian Thoth was characterized as an incarnation of the Greek god Hermes, and Iamblichus held their teachings in high regard. Some at the time criticized the Hermetica as a purely Greek invention but Iamblichus maintained that Hermetic doctrines were written by Egyptians well-versed in Greek.
Those documents, after all, which circulate under the name of Hermes contain Hermetic doctrines, even if they often employ the terminology of the philosophers; they were translated from the Egyptian tongue by men learned in philosophy.
– De Mysteriis, Book VIII, 5
The Hermetic books that have survived the passage of two millennium echo Iamblichus. They speak of the physical world as a divine creation that hypnotizes the soul through the senses and emotions. The soul originates with the source of everything, beyond the stars, and descends through the cosmos until it becomes enclosed in matter. The senses, appetites and pains of the physical are strong enough that the soul becomes thoroughly engrossed in them and loses all memory of its origins.
A small spark remains, as a desire to escape or attempting to control its surroundings, but it can only be truly satisfied by liberating itself from its self-imposed chains. The means to do so are found by directly studying and participating in the divine order through sacred rites and visionary experiences. By doing the rites successfully, the learning process itself makes clear the path for the soul’s liberation.
Iamblichus on Matter and the Divine
Iamblichus takes this approach. Rather than shunning the word of matter, he advocates for understanding the divine nature of it and participating in it. Plotinus could be interpreted as declaring all of matter as inherently evil, but Iamblichus reasons that matter and the cosmos are emanations of the One and they cannot be totally evil.
He doesn’t deny that pain and terror are real; rather, as he explains in De Mysteriis (I.12), they reflect a state of disorder that calls for the reestablishment of divine harmony. The cosmos was created by applying order to chaos. Even chaos in its raw form wasn’t evil in and of itself; it served a greater purpose that gave order the motivation and opportunity to grow.
Just as the deep contemplation of natural materials used in temple rites revealed their subtle connection the greater whole, such as a flame and the Sun, the study of the heavens offered a map for the soul. Much of the Hermetic writings are dialogs that explain the philosophical basis of theurgy and also offer hints for achieving visionary experiences that transforms the mind and soul.
Iamblichus explains these experiences as altered states of consciousness: dreams and trance visions. Some visions were experienced as a result of participating in rituals.
Astrology, Divination, and Theurgy: Iamblichus’ View on Cosmic Order
Theurgy as a Path to the Divine
In most Hermetic books, Hermes provides examples of what the initiate will behold in these visions as they ascend and what their meaning is. The soul and cosmos are formed by the same blueprint. The highest part of the human soul is a tiny replica of the stars.
The physical body is a microcosmic replica of the earth’s elements, and in between these two are layers of astral light, which makes the astral body. By turning attention deeply inwards, these can be observed by the mind’s eye and will be experienced as ascending through the heavens.
The astral light of the Moon, Sun and Planets are the most difficult to pass because according to Hermetic tradition, their astral light is the substance of imagination, emotions, and awareness of the physical body.
Because the soul and the cosmos are of the same substance, Iamblichus says it is possible for a human being to gain accurate knowledge outside the limits of time and space. This is what we now call extrasensory perception.
Through cultivating the mind and soul, the theurgist is able to perceive gods or divine causes to the extent that their imagination can comprehend. Iamblichus says that these experiences are often a mixture of accurate and inaccurate perceptions, the inaccuracy is most often the result of phantasma or phantoms. These are illusions stirred up by the physical body that interferes with the soul’s perception. All forms of divination, whether it is astrological or something else, are ultimately an attempt to utilize the soul.
Egyptian Mastery of Astrology and Timekeeping
Iamblichus says that the Egyptians had mastered the science of the stars and timekeeping to an incredible extent. By carefully choosing the correct time with astrological factors, they were able to experience things not of this world, without the aid of rituals or anything other than observing the time.
The information contained in the astrological almanacs comprises only a very small part of the Hermetic system; and doctrine on the heliacal risings and settings of the stars, or the waxing and waning of the moon occupies the lowest place in the Egyptian account of the causes of things…..but they [the Egyptians] recommend that we ascend through the practice of sacred theurgy to the regions that are higher, more universal and superior to fate, towards the god who is the creator, without the aid of matter or anything other than the observation of the critical time for action.
– De Mysteriis, Book VIII, 4
“Choosing the critical time for action” is the definition of electional astrology. This is significant because Iamblichus goes to great lengths to explain and defend the value of symbols, ceremonies, ritual objects and the like. The Egyptians had knowledge of the cycles of time that allowed them to access something beyond the realm of fate.
Egyptian Rituals and Astrological Timing
He doesn’t elaborate on the specifics but the underlying theory is the same as much of the ritual material in Picatrix that was first compiled over seven hundred years later from older sources. Collectively called “petitions” these are ritual operations that take place under highly specific astrological conditions. Many of them involve the participants entering an altered state of consciousness and perceiving the gods that are being petitioned.
Iamblichus had apparently witnessed Egyptians performing something similar but had developed it to a much higher degree.
The Decline of Pagan Philosophy and Iamblichus’ Enduring Impact
Iamblichus lived at a crucial turning point in history, shortly before the Western Roman Empire crumbled and its remains were put in the hands of the Nicene Christians. In the fifth century the Vatican had effectively become the Roman government and the kings of western Europe vassals for over a thousand years.
The social turmoil caused by the spread of countless religious cults—many spanning vast regions of the Empire and attracting diverse followings—had a detrimental effect on Rome to the point that it contributed to a societal collapse. The ancient religions bore the brunt of the crackdown to restore order and the result was a final end to Egypt’s priesthood which had existed for at least three thousand years.
The Greek pagans in the Eastern Roman Empire fared little better. Around the same time their western counterparts were being suppressed in the fifth century, the Emperor Justinian effectively outlawed the philosophers in Athens in 529 AD, effectively closing the Neoplatonic Academy. The Persian king extended them an invitation to live and study within his borders. Simplicius and other successors of Proclus took their scrolls and books with them.
Many went to Harran and founded a small continuation of the Academy in the ancient city. The Persians had been Hellenized for centuries and Greek thinkers found a new home. This proved to be an immense blessing for the early Muslim Caliphs a few centuries later. The Abbasids recognized the value of Greek thought and sponsored what quickly became an Arabic revival of philosophy in the Islamic Golden Age.
The life and work of Iamblichus was in many ways a crossroads of the ancient world and the beginnings of the modern era. It represents a finished product thousands of years in the making, in many ways the best of both worlds. He was not a credulous and superstitious fanatic, far from it.
In De Mysteriis, for example, he systematically addressed Porphyry’s objections with logical argumentation, illustrating his rational methodology alongside his defense of spiritual practices. Iamblichus devoted a large portion of his life to the study of logic and rational thought itself.
Iamblichus’ Legacy: Balancing Rational Thought and Mysticism in the Modern World
Reconciling Rational Thought and Mysticism
He was deeply aware of the peculiarities of human nature and its tendency to give into the irrational. Throughout his entire life he was immersed in the mysteries of the ancient world, starting with his family’s Mesopotamian priesthood, Greek philosophy, and finally the Egyptians. His writings are particularly valuable because this period of history has left scarce records of firsthand experiences. Few others provide the level of detail that Iamblichus does.
His approach was a perfect balance of intuition and reason. The Bronze Age, for all its incredible accomplishments, was largely the product of deep intuition. The Hellenistic Age was an attempt to reconcile the emergence of rational, analytical thinking with the remains of the Bronze Age. Too much of one at the expense of the other is imbalanced and goes against the rest of nature.
The Bronze Age with its unparalleled intuition gave the world megalithic architecture (e.g., Stonehenge or the Great Pyramids) and religious mysteries that haven’t been surpassed. The rational thinking of Aristotle laid the foundations for discoveries like germ theory, modern machinery and digital communications.
The Enlightenment ushered in a new era of science, but arguably at the expense of the soul and bringing with it a widespread sense of alienation and mental disturbance.
Why Iamblichus Matters Today: Lessons for the Modern Spiritual Seeker
Maybe the philosophers of the early common era still have something valuable to offer, showing us how to exercise both faculties of our minds. They found something deeper in the world around them.
Now I think ordinary men derive benefit enough from the irrational myth which instructs them through symbols alone. But those who are more highly endowed with wisdom will find the truth about the gods helpful; though only on condition that such a man examine and discover and comprehend it under the leadership of the gods, and if by such riddles as these he is reminded that he must search out their meaning, and so attains to the goal and summit of his quest through his own researches; he must not be modest and put faith in the opinions of others rather than in his own mental powers.
– Julian the Emperor, Hymn to the Mother of the Gods
FAQ: Iamblichus and the Path of Divine Ascent
What was Iamblichus’ main contribution to philosophy?
Iamblichus expanded Neoplatonism by integrating theurgy, and ritual practices aimed at uniting the soul with the divine. He argued that philosophy alone was insufficient for spiritual ascent and that sacred rites were essential.
How did Iamblichus differ from Plotinus?
Plotinus emphasized pure contemplation to transcend the material world, while Iamblichus believed matter and ritual had a sacred role in connecting with the divine.
What is theurgy, and why did Iamblichus emphasize it?
Theurgy means “divine work.” It involves rituals, prayers, and invocations to align the soul with higher realities. Iamblichus saw it as the most effective path to enlightenment.
Did Iamblichus believe in astrology and divination?
Yes, but not for fortune-telling. He saw astrology as a reflection of cosmic order and divination as a means to understand divine will. He warned against using them for personal gain.
Why did Iamblichus value ancient languages in rituals?
He believed that older languages, such as Egyptian and Babylonian, preserved sacred vibrations that enabled direct communication with the gods, unlike Greek, which he saw as prone to intellectual distortion.
How does Iamblichus’ philosophy apply today?
His work offers a balance between rational thought and mystical experience, suggesting that true wisdom requires both intellectual discipline and spiritual practice.
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