The Chaldean Oracles: Text, Translation, and Commentary

In addition, the Iynges are connected with the Intellectual Supports, cosmic entities which play an important role in maintaining the regular movement of the planets. Such an identification undoubtedly occurred because it was believed that the Iynges—when invoked by the theurgist—became physically situated in the various planetary spheres. It was from this vantage point, then, that the Iynges mediated the message of their magical names back and forth between the two worlds.

✓In sum, then, the Iynges play both a cosmic and theurgic role in the Chaldean system: identified with the Platonic Ideas and Intellectual Supports, they both inform and participate in ruling the Universe; identified with the magic wheels and voces mysticae, they aid the theurgical act. This double function is also characteristic of both the Connectors and Teletarchs, to which we now turn.

2. Connectors

As cosmic entities, the Connectors (synocheis), like the Iynges, are said to issue from the Father (who, in one instance, is actually designated First Connector; see fragment 84 and compare fragments 32, 80, 81). However, the principal function of the Connectors is quite different. Their chief purpose is to harmonize and protect the various parts of the Universe, a notion which builds on the Stoic concept of universal “sympathy” combined with a Middle Platonic re-evaluation of Plato’s Ideas. According to Lewy, this reinterpretation first occurs in Philo, where the Platonic Ideas are referred to as “invisible powers” which “hold together” the Universe.Lewy, pp. 345-346. Compare Philo, De migratione Abrahami 181; Legum Allegoriae I, 48; 329. In the Chaldean system, these “powers” are equivalent to the Connectors, which perform the same harmonizing function.

In addition, the Connectors are said to perform a “protective” function (see fragment 82), but the exact nature of this activity is unclear. Perhaps the Connectors “protected” or “preserved” that very harmony which they themselves had created. In other words, the Connectors not only establish the “bond” of harmony in the Universe, they also preserve this concord by felicitously watching over it as guardians.

Lastly, the Connectors, like the Iynges, also have a theurgic function, as it is on the rays of the sun (called “Material Connectors” in fragment 80) that the soul makes its initial ascent. Seemingly, this theurgic dimension is mediated through the Teletarchs (see below) as the Connectors are said to “assist” these three rulers during the course of the rites. This image of the sun with its “connective” rays can also serve as a paradigm for the role of the Connectors as a whole: at the theurgic level, the connective...