The Chaldean Oracles: Text, Translation, and Commentary

In the extant fragments, the most important of these are the Iynges (iynges), Connectors (synocheis), Teletarchs (teletarchai), angels, and demons, although other entities are named by various commentators (see, e.g., Psellus, Hypotyposis). A similar “filling up” of divine space is also an important feature of Gnosticism and Hermeticism, where numerous quasi-mythic or quasi-abstract entities serve to separate the Highest God from the contamination of material existence.The paradox, of course, is that these powers not only separate but connect the various levels of the cosmos, forming a "great chain of Being." In the Chaldean system, these various entities, for the most part, apparently function as diverse aspects of the world of Ideas.

1. Iynges

The name iynx, in Greek literature, is particularly associated with magic. Originally it designated a certain bird, the “wryneck,” which was bound to a wheel by a sorcerer and spun around as a means of attracting an unfaithful lover. In some instances, the wheel itself was called a Iynx. As such, the Iynx functioned as a love charm. Later, under the influence of Plato’s spiritualization of Eros, the word Iynx came to mean the “binding” force between man and the gods.See O. Geudtner, Die Seelenlehre der Chaldäischen Orakel (Meisenheim am Glan, 1971), p. 42 ff. It is this definition we find in the Oracles, but under various guises. For example, in fragment 77, the Iynges are identified with the “thoughts” (Ideas) of the Father; in fragment 78, they are said to be “couriers” between the Father and matter; in fragment 79, the Iynges are connected with certain cosmic entities called “Intellectual Supports”; in fragment 206, they are equated with the “magic wheels” used in the theurgic rites. The apparent confusion of function here is somewhat illusory as the Iynges, in each instance, function as mediating or “binding” entities between the intelligible and sensible worlds. Indeed, IX the Iynges can be viewed not only as the mediators of messages, but as the message itself.

2' For example, as the “thoughts” or Ideas of the Father, the Iynges are actually magical names (voces mysticae) sent forth by the Father as name “couriers” in order to communicate with the theurgist. At this end, the magic wheel spun by the theurgist attracts these celestial Iynges and enables the theurgist (who alone is privy to the divine language of the gods) to communicate with the Father. But the message communicated by the Iynges is none other than their own magical names which, when uttered, enabled the theurgist to acquire certain divine powers.