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endymions_bower"Philosophy declares that the forgetfulness of eternal logoi is the cause of departure from the Gods and recollection [anamnêsis] the cause of reversion [epistrophê] to them; the Oracles, however, the paternal signs [sunthêmata] . But these two are in accord; for the soul is constituted from holy logoi and from divine symbols, of which the former come from the intellective forms and the latter from the divine henads. We are on the one hand images [eikones] of the intellective essences, and also idols [agalmata] of the uncognizable [agnôstos] signs." (Proclus, Eclogae de philosophia Chaldaica V, trans. mine)
A key text of Proclus' for the doctrine of two kinds of reversion, intellective (or, as it were, philosophical) reversion upon logoi and forms, on the one hand, and theurgic (esp. ritual) reversion upon symbols and other supra-intellective tokens, on the other, both of which leading us back to the Gods Themselves. Note the dual status of the soul here as participant of forms, and hence a "what", and as idol, a unique "who". A corollary of this is that formal reversion is step-by-step, up the chain of ontic hypostases from more particular to more universal forms and principles, while theurgic reversion is, at least potentially, immediate, because we can revert upon supra-essential Gods who directly illuminate our plane of Being. On "paternal", see the Appendix to my recent article on Plotinus. This technical term refers to the most primal level of activity of any God—including Goddesses. These are where the most effective synthêmata come from, which come from individual Gods and are existentially individuating for mortals.
"The soul's mode of ascent is two-fold: one occurs by ascension to Being and by purification from the realm of generation—and this is the mode provided by the bonds of Ploutôn after death. The other is achieved by elevation prior [to death] through the purification of Hades and by the soul's abiding by the life there and traversing thoughts [tôn noêseôn peripolein]—and this is the way perfected by the bonds of Kronos through the connection of Zeus. Having left a trace [ichnos], as it were, in the intelligible realm, the soul there passes through the extent of the intelligible realm and observes there blessed sights, as Socrates teaches in the Phaedrus (247d)," (Proclus, In Cratylum §162, trans. Duvick, mod.).
A very interesting text. First, we see the rather inferior status of "ascension to Being"—it is what happens in any event. Second, there is the role of devotion to Hades during life, which is a way of life and of thought, and works together with Zeus and Kronos. Finally, there is the notion of the soul leaving a "trace" in the intelligible. We encounter this term ichnos occasionally in Proclus, where it seems to have the sense of a trace of the supra-essential in Being. This is perhaps something intelligible about the self grasped through theurgic reversion (see the passage I posted earlier from Proclus' commentary on the Chaldean Oracles), a kind of partial formalization of the psyche, somewhat akin to what happens to heroic souls, though in a weaker sense.
"The soul's mode of ascent is two-fold: one occurs by ascension to Being and by purification from the realm of generation—and this is the mode provided by the bonds of Ploutôn after death. The other is achieved by elevation prior [to death] through the purification of Hades and by the soul's abiding by the life there and traversing thoughts [tôn noêseôn peripolein]—and this is the way perfected by the bonds of Kronos through the connection of Zeus. Having left a trace [ichnos], as it were, in the intelligible realm, the soul there passes through the extent of the intelligible realm and observes there blessed sights, as Socrates teaches in the Phaedrus (247d)," (Proclus, In Cratylum §162, trans. Duvick, mod.).
A very interesting text. First, we see the rather inferior status of "ascension to Being"—it is what happens in any event. Second, there is the role of devotion to Hades during life, which is a way of life and of thought, and works together with Zeus and Kronos. Finally, there is the notion of the soul leaving a "trace" in the intelligible. We encounter this term ichnos occasionally in Proclus, where it seems to have the sense of a trace of the supra-essential in Being. This is perhaps something intelligible about the self grasped through theurgic reversion (see the passage I posted earlier from Proclus' commentary on the Chaldean Oracles), a kind of partial formalization of the psyche, somewhat akin to what happens to heroic souls, though in a weaker sense.
