On the Mysteries of the Egyptians - Pimander - Asclepius

ON THE MYSTERIES.

[...being] suited for governance, and naturally provides for inanimate things, being influenced by various forms at different times. Likewise, for the gods, there exists an order and beauty itself—or the causes of both—derived from superior causes; for the soul, however, there exists order and an intellectual beauty original: "intellectualis'q; pulchritudo." In Neoplatonism, intellectual beauty refers to the beauty derived from the Divine Mind or Intellect, rather than physical appearance.. Furthermore, in the gods there is a measure original: "mensura." A philosophical term for the limit or principle that gives structure and order to reality. that is powerful over all things; the soul, however, determines that measure and acts through it upon specific things.

Daemons and heroes, as intermediaries original: "medij." These beings act as bridges between the perfect, unchanging gods and the fluctuating world of human souls. between the gods and souls, consist of a fitting proportion relative to the extremes and to themselves; they are composed of the properties of both souls and gods, which we have described above.

Therefore, if you wish to grasp the nature original: "speciem" of the gods, consider the properties of the lowest rational soul and attribute the opposites, in their perfection, to the gods. If you wish to construct the nature of a daemon, compose it from both, while attributing more of divinity. If, finally, it is the nature of a hero, compose it from both, but bringing in more of the soul's conditions.

He The author, Iamblichus criticizes Porphyry Porphyry was a fellow Neoplatonist who often sought more rational or physical explanations for spiritual phenomena; Iamblichus argues here that spiritual beings should be defined by their own essence, not the physical matter they govern. for distinguishing these separate beings by their relationship to bodies—namely, the gods by their relationship to ethereal bodies original: "corpora ætheria." The "ether" was considered the fifth element, the substance of the stars and heavens., daemons to aerial bodies, and souls to earthly ones—because, clearly, primary causes should not be distinguished by their subsequent effects. Incorporeal substances are not "in" bodies; instead, they lead them from the outside, giving something to them but receiving nothing in return.