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1terial and unflinching mental * eyes, the gift of Light, primal and super-primal, of the supremely Di- vine Father, which manifests to us the most blessed Hierarchies of the Angels in types and symbols, let us then, from it, be elevated to its simple splendour?. For it never loses its own unique inwardness, but 'multiplied and going forth, as becomes its goodness, for an elevating and unifying blending of ihe objects of its care, remains firmly and solitarily centred within itself in its unmoved sameness ; and raises, accord- ing to their capacity, those who lawfully aspire to it, and makes them one, after the example of its own unifying Oneness. For it is not possible that the supremely Divine Ray should otherwise illuminate us, except so far as it is enveloped, for the purpose of instruction, in variegated sacred veils, and arranged naturally and appropriately, for such as we are, by paternal forethought. Section III. Wherefore, the Divine Institution of sacred Rites, having deemed it worthy of the supermundane imi- • Rom. V. 2. ^ Syr. Doc. p. 6i, Clark. «r Plato Rep. 6, 7— II, 121 — 126. Read Allegory of Cave. on the Heavenly Hierarchy. 3 tation of the Heavenly Hierarchies, and having de- picted the aforesaid immaterial Hierarchies in ma- terial figures and bodily compositions, in order that we might be borne, as far as our capacity permits, from the most sacred pictures to the instructions and similitudes without symbol and without type, transmitted to us our most Holy Hierarchy. For it is not possible for our mind to be raised to that immaterial representation and contemplation of the Heavenly Hierarchies, without using the material guidance suitable to itself, accounting the visible ^' beauties as reflections of the invisible comeliness ; and the sweet ^ odours of the senses as emblems of the spiritual distribution ; and the material ^ lights as a likeness of the gift of the immaterial enlighten- ment ; and the detailed sacred instructions ^, of the feast of contemplation within the mind ; and the ranks °^ of the orders here, of the harmonious and regulated habit, with regard to Divine things ; and the reception of the most Divine Eucharist, of the partaking'^ of Jesus, and whatever other things were transmitted to Heavenly Beings supermundanely, but to us symbolically.
2he orders here, of the harmonious and regulated habit, with regard to Divine things ; and the reception of the most Divine Eucharist, of the partaking'^ of Jesus, and whatever other things were transmitted to Heavenly Beings supermundanely, but to us symbolically. =^ For the sake, then, of this our proportioned deifi- cation, the philanthropic Source of sacred mysteries, by manifesting the Heavenly Hierarchies to us, and constituting our Hierarchy as fellow-ministers with them, through our imitation of their Godlike •" Ps. xix. ' Num. XV. 3. '' Luke ii. 9. • John vii. 14. ° Rom. xiii. 1,2. " i Cor. x. 16. 4 Dio7iysius the Areopagite priestlinP^'^ °, sn far nq in nq 1ipg^pc;rxiJ^^^-,nnrlpr _sensiblelikeness the supercelestial Minds, in the inspired compositions ol the Uracles, iri order~that It might lead us through the sensible to the intel- ligible p, and from inspired symbols to the simple sublimities of the Heavenly Hierarchies. CAPUT n. That Divine and Heavenly things are appropriately revealed^ even through dissimilar symbols. Section I. It is necessary then, as I think, first to set forth what we think is the purpose of every Hierarchy, and what benefit each one confers upon its followers; and next to celebrate the Heavenly Hierarchies ac- cording to their revelation in the Oracles ; then fol- lowing these Oracles, to say in what sacred forms the holy writings of the Oracles depict the celestial orders, and to what sort of simplicity we must be carried through the representations ; in order that we also may not, like the vulgar, irreverently think that the heavenly and Godlike minds are certain many- footed 'i and many-faced^ creatures, or moulded to the brutishness of oxen% or the savage form of fions*, and fashioned like the hooked beaks of eagles °, or the feathery down of birds ^, and should imagine that there are certain wheels^ of fire above the heaven, " I Pet ii. 9. ^ v6r}Ta. "J Ezek. i. 7. ^ Ibid. i. 6. » Ibid. i. 10. ' Ibid. " Ibid. * Ibid. i. 6—8. y Dan. vii. 9. on the Heavenly Hierarchy. 5 or material thrones ^ upon which the Godhead may recline, or certain many-coloured ^ horses, and spear- bearing leaders of the host ^, and whatever else was transmitted by the Oracles to us under multifarious symbols of sacred imagery. And indeed, the Word of God *= artlessly makes use of poetic representations of sacred things, re- specting the shapeless minds, out of regard to our intelligence, so to speak, consulting a mode of edu- cation proper and natural to it, and moulding the inspired writings for it. Section II.
3*= artlessly makes use of poetic representations of sacred things, re- specting the shapeless minds, out of regard to our intelligence, so to speak, consulting a mode of edu- cation proper and natural to it, and moulding the inspired writings for it. Section II. But if any one think well to accept the sacred com- positions as of things simple and unknown in their own nature, and beyond our contemplation, but thinks the imagery of the holy minds in the Oracles is incongruous, and that all this is, so to speak, a rude scenic representation of the angelic names ; and further says that the theologians ought, when they have come to the bodily representation of crea- tures altogether without body, to represent and dis- play them by appropriate and, as far as possible, cognate figures, taken, at any rate, from our most honoured and immaterial and exalted beings, and ought not to clothe the heavenly and-^ Godlike simple essences with the many forms of the lowest creatures to be found on the earth (for the one would perhaps be more adapted to our instruction,, and would not « Dan. vii. 9. ? Zech. i. 8. ** Joshua v. 13, 14; 2 Mace. iii. 25. "^ 0eoAo7io. 6 Dionysius the Areopagite degrade the celestial explanations to incongi'uous dissimilitudes; but the other both does violence without authority to the Divine powers, and likewise leads astray our minds, through dwelling upon these irreverent descriptions) ; and perhaps he will also think that the super-heavenly places are filled with certain herds of lions, and troops of horses, and bel- lowing songs of praise, and flocks of birds, and other living creatures, and material and less honourable things, and whatever else the similitudes of the Oracles, in every respect dissimilar, describe, for a so-called explanation, but which verge towards the absurd, and pernicious, and impassioned; now, in my opinion, the investigation of the truth demonstrates the most sacred wisdom of the Oracles, in the de- scriptions of the Heavenly Minds, taking forethought, as that wisdom does, wholly for each, so as neither, as one may say, to do violence to the Divine Powers, nor at the same time to enthral us in the grovelling passions of the debased imagery. P'or any one might say that the cause why forms are naturally attributed to the formless, and shapes to the shapeless, is not alone our capacity which is unable immediately to elevate itself to the intelligible contemplations, and that it needs appropriate and cognate instructions which present images, suitable to us, of the formless and supernatural objects of contemplation ; but fur- ther, that
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
1terial and unflinching mental * eyes, the gift of Light, primal and super-primal, of the supremely Di- vine Father, which manifests to us the most blessed Hierarchies of the Angels in types and symbols, let us then, from it, be elevated to its simple splendour?. For it never loses its own unique inwardness, but 'multiplied and going forth, as becomes its goodness, for an elevating and unifying blending of ihe objects of its care, remains firmly and solitarily centred within itself in its unmoved sameness ; and raises, accord- ing to their capacity, those who lawfully aspire to it, and makes them one, after the example of its own unifying Oneness. For it is not possible that the supremely Divine Ray should otherwise illuminate us, except so far as it is enveloped, for the purpose of instruction, in variegated sacred veils, and arranged naturally and appropriately, for such as we are, by paternal forethought. Section III. Wherefore, the Divine Institution of sacred Rites, having deemed it worthy of the supermundane imi- • Rom. V. 2. ^ Syr. Doc. p. 6i, Clark. «r Plato Rep. 6, 7— II, 121 — 126. Read Allegory of Cave. on the Heavenly Hierarchy. 3 tation of the Heavenly Hierarchies, and having de- picted the aforesaid immaterial Hierarchies in ma- terial figures and bodily compositions, in order that we might be borne, as far as our capacity permits, from the most sacred pictures to the instructions and similitudes without symbol and without type, transmitted to us our most Holy Hierarchy. For it is not possible for our mind to be raised to that immaterial representation and contemplation of the Heavenly Hierarchies, without using the material guidance suitable to itself, accounting the visible ^' beauties as reflections of the invisible comeliness ; and the sweet ^ odours of the senses as emblems of the spiritual distribution ; and the material ^ lights as a likeness of the gift of the immaterial enlighten- ment ; and the detailed sacred instructions ^, of the feast of contemplation within the mind ; and the ranks °^ of the orders here, of the harmonious and regulated habit, with regard to Divine things ; and the reception of the most Divine Eucharist, of the partaking'^ of Jesus, and whatever other things were transmitted to Heavenly Beings supermundanely, but to us symbolically.
2he orders here, of the harmonious and regulated habit, with regard to Divine things ; and the reception of the most Divine Eucharist, of the partaking'^ of Jesus, and whatever other things were transmitted to Heavenly Beings supermundanely, but to us symbolically. =^ For the sake, then, of this our proportioned deifi- cation, the philanthropic Source of sacred mysteries, by manifesting the Heavenly Hierarchies to us, and constituting our Hierarchy as fellow-ministers with them, through our imitation of their Godlike •" Ps. xix. ' Num. XV. 3. '' Luke ii. 9. • John vii. 14. ° Rom. xiii. 1,2. " i Cor. x. 16. 4 Dio7iysius the Areopagite priestlinP^'^ °, sn far nq in nq 1ipg^pc;rxiJ^^^-,nnrlpr _sensiblelikeness the supercelestial Minds, in the inspired compositions ol the Uracles, iri order~that It might lead us through the sensible to the intel- ligible p, and from inspired symbols to the simple sublimities of the Heavenly Hierarchies. CAPUT n. That Divine and Heavenly things are appropriately revealed^ even through dissimilar symbols. Section I. It is necessary then, as I think, first to set forth what we think is the purpose of every Hierarchy, and what benefit each one confers upon its followers; and next to celebrate the Heavenly Hierarchies ac- cording to their revelation in the Oracles ; then fol- lowing these Oracles, to say in what sacred forms the holy writings of the Oracles depict the celestial orders, and to what sort of simplicity we must be carried through the representations ; in order that we also may not, like the vulgar, irreverently think that the heavenly and Godlike minds are certain many- footed 'i and many-faced^ creatures, or moulded to the brutishness of oxen% or the savage form of fions*, and fashioned like the hooked beaks of eagles °, or the feathery down of birds ^, and should imagine that there are certain wheels^ of fire above the heaven, " I Pet ii. 9. ^ v6r}Ta. "J Ezek. i. 7. ^ Ibid. i. 6. » Ibid. i. 10. ' Ibid. " Ibid. * Ibid. i. 6—8. y Dan. vii. 9. on the Heavenly Hierarchy. 5 or material thrones ^ upon which the Godhead may recline, or certain many-coloured ^ horses, and spear- bearing leaders of the host ^, and whatever else was transmitted by the Oracles to us under multifarious symbols of sacred imagery. And indeed, the Word of God *= artlessly makes use of poetic representations of sacred things, re- specting the shapeless minds, out of regard to our intelligence, so to speak, consulting a mode of edu- cation proper and natural to it, and moulding the inspired writings for it. Section II.
3*= artlessly makes use of poetic representations of sacred things, re- specting the shapeless minds, out of regard to our intelligence, so to speak, consulting a mode of edu- cation proper and natural to it, and moulding the inspired writings for it. Section II. But if any one think well to accept the sacred com- positions as of things simple and unknown in their own nature, and beyond our contemplation, but thinks the imagery of the holy minds in the Oracles is incongruous, and that all this is, so to speak, a rude scenic representation of the angelic names ; and further says that the theologians ought, when they have come to the bodily representation of crea- tures altogether without body, to represent and dis- play them by appropriate and, as far as possible, cognate figures, taken, at any rate, from our most honoured and immaterial and exalted beings, and ought not to clothe the heavenly and-^ Godlike simple essences with the many forms of the lowest creatures to be found on the earth (for the one would perhaps be more adapted to our instruction,, and would not « Dan. vii. 9. ? Zech. i. 8. ** Joshua v. 13, 14; 2 Mace. iii. 25. "^ 0eoAo7io. 6 Dionysius the Areopagite degrade the celestial explanations to incongi'uous dissimilitudes; but the other both does violence without authority to the Divine powers, and likewise leads astray our minds, through dwelling upon these irreverent descriptions) ; and perhaps he will also think that the super-heavenly places are filled with certain herds of lions, and troops of horses, and bel- lowing songs of praise, and flocks of birds, and other living creatures, and material and less honourable things, and whatever else the similitudes of the Oracles, in every respect dissimilar, describe, for a so-called explanation, but which verge towards the absurd, and pernicious, and impassioned; now, in my opinion, the investigation of the truth demonstrates the most sacred wisdom of the Oracles, in the de- scriptions of the Heavenly Minds, taking forethought, as that wisdom does, wholly for each, so as neither, as one may say, to do violence to the Divine Powers, nor at the same time to enthral us in the grovelling passions of the debased imagery. P'or any one might say that the cause why forms are naturally attributed to the formless, and shapes to the shapeless, is not alone our capacity which is unable immediately to elevate itself to the intelligible contemplations, and that it needs appropriate and cognate instructions which present images, suitable to us, of the formless and supernatural objects of contemplation ; but fur- ther, that
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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