Theurgy has often been described as a decline into irrationality, but more recent publications have shown that theurgy is by no means irrational. Rather, it represents a shift to a different view of the human being and the world (cf. especially I. Tanaseanu-Döbler, Theurgy in Late Antiquity. The Invention of a Ritual Tradition [2013]; C. Addey, Divination and Theurgy in Neoplatonism. Oracles of the Gods [2014]). According to the later Neoplatonists Iamblichus and Proclus, the soul descends completely from the higher intelligible realm and thus needs divine help in the form of rituals to ascend. This entails a different view of the human being as a combination of body and soul and thus a different appreciation of corporeality – and this is the focus of H.’s book on corporeality in later Neoplatonism, a revised version of his PhD dissertation (Freiburg, Germany), which provides a detailed exposition of the well-established claim, i.e. that the body and corporeality play a more important role in the later Neoplatonism of Iamblichus and Proclus than in the preceding Platonic tradition.
The book consists of a brief introduction, an introduction to theurgy (Chapter 2), a central extensive chapter on corporeality in later Neoplatonism (Chapter 3), a final chapter that compares theurgy to Indian Tantra and Persian Sufism (Chapter 4) and a brief conclusion. The short index includes Greek terms and concepts.
The second chapter introduces readers to theurgy, explains that it differs from magic since it is not an attempt to force the gods, but rather a way of integrating human beings into divine actions (pp. 23–37). The theurgists learn to use symbols sown into the cosmos to help the soul ascend (pp. 37–58). Divine names play a central role in prayers and hymns used by theurgists in their rituals (pp. 58–63); furthermore, sun, light and fire have a central place in rituals (pp. 63–84).
H.’s third chapter focuses on the central topic of the book, i.e. on the role of corporeality and matter in later Neoplatonism, especially in Iamblichus and Proclus. H. presents four main related aspects of the claim: (1) human beings are seen as a combination (synamphoteron) of body and soul and rehabilitation of rites; (2) a less negative view of the embodiment of soul; (3) introduction of the concept of divine matter; (4) the theory of the ochêma-pneuma (pp. 7; 85).
First, H. establishes that Iamblichus’ view of the body and of the embodiment of the soul is more positive than that of Plotinus (pp. 85–105); the body is not seen as a hindrance to the ascent of the soul, but as an integral part of the human being. The return of the soul to the divine realm is thus not a simple withdrawal from the body, but has to include ritual elements that take into account the composite nature of human beings. H. further discusses the change in appreciation of matter; Iamblichus assumes that there is a higher form of matter that the theurgist may use to promote the ascent (pp. 105–12). In the Platonic tradition the combination of soul and body is, in general, a problem in need of explanation. Later Neoplatonists assume that there is a mediating soul-vehicle, composed of higher, finer matter, which allows the soul to connect to the body (pp. 116–17). In order to explain these intricate concepts, H. situates them in the context of Iamblichus’ and Proclus’ ideas of the corporeality in the higher realm. He first discusses Iamblichus’ ideas on the finer materiality of astral gods, daimones and of the soul-vehicle (pp. 125–53) and concludes with a discussion of Proclus’ ideas on higher forms of materiality of higher divine beings and of the soul-vehicle (pp. 155–94).
The final chapter compares theurgy to Indian Tantra (pp. 195–235) and Persian Sufism (pp. 235–9) with the goal of presenting other traditions that elevated corporeality in a similar fashion.
Certainly, Iamblichus and Proclus see the body as much more positive than Plotinus, but the opposition is not quite as stark as H. makes it look at times (pp. 86–93; 110–12). Plotinus would certainly not see the body as helpful for the soul and would not recommend theurgy for the ascent of the soul, but he does not always see the body as evil. He can have a more positive view of the bodily realm (as H. admits occasionally, pp. 88; 242). The thesis that Iamblichus and Proclus constitute a significant departure from Plotinus and Porphyry is, however, correct.
It is, to this reader, not quite clear why H. chose to treat Indian Tantra and Persian Sufism in the final chapter. He does not claim a dependence, but treats them as parallel and similar phenomena. He is, however, right in his claim that theories that elevate the role of the body and matter are often seen as inferior to those who disparage the bodily realm. It is, therefore, a little surprising that H. does not explore the development of this idea in Christian Neoplatonism. He refers to Dionysius the Areopagite in a footnote (p. 23 n. 55), but does not mention the fact that Dionysius transforms the late Neoplatonic idea of the human being as a synamphoteron and of the body as an instrument (organon) for the ascent. In Dionysius the body is elevated to the status of a companion of the soul that fights alongside the soul in their common endeavour to reach salvation (cf. W.-M. Stock, Theurgisches Denken. Zur Kirchlichen Hierarchie des Dionysius Areopagita [2008], pp. 171–8). Dionysius also transforms the later Neoplatonic theory of divine names (W.-M. Stock, ‘Naming the Unnamable. Dionysius on Divine Names’, The International Journal of the Platonic Tradition 15 [2021], 131–59).
The book serves as good introduction to theurgy in later Neoplatonism; more advanced readers will not find a new thesis, but there are detailed presentations of Iamblichus’ and Proclus’ ideas on the body, human beings, the soul-vehicle and divine matter.
