On the Mysteries of the Egyptians - Pimander - Asclepius

...is essential and simple. For we cannot reach that very Unity original: "unitatem." In Neoplatonism, the "One" or "Unity" is the supreme, indivisible source of all existence. unless we use something most unified within ourselves—the "unity of the mind," which exists above the specific characteristics of the soul and the intellect. The Unity of the gods themselves unites souls to it from eternity through the "unities" within those souls, according to a connection so intimate and powerful that it appears to be a single, unbroken continuity. The Divine Intellect grants being to the soul through its own essential act of understanding. Therefore, the very existence of the soul is a form of understanding—specifically, understanding God, upon whom it depends. Our true being is to know God, because the highest essence of the soul is its intellect; in that intellect, existing and understanding divine things are one and the same perpetual act. From that supreme essence, the soul’s discursive powers original: "potentiae animae discurrentes." This refers to the mind's ability to reason step-by-step through logic, which Iamblichus considers inferior to direct, immediate divine intuition. are derived.

Below the gods, we rank demons original: "daemones." In the context of ancient Greek philosophy, these are not "demons" in the modern evil sense, but intermediary spirits that serve as messengers or guardians between gods and humans., heroes, and pure souls. These three orders are the attendants of the gods. We cannot reach these attendants—demons, heroes, or pure souls—through the usual wandering paths of human reason. Instead, it is necessary to rise up to an essential and eternal form of intelligence. Just as the gods are always reached through an innate notion, so too are these divine attendants reached only when the soul has set aside its "mobile" or shifting mode of cognition. This shifting mode belongs to our rational power, which must instead be shaped by the higher Intellect and pure Understanding.