On the Mysteries of the Egyptians

...more among themselves those which are referred in a more similar manner to the first and the last. The Good is twofold: that which is above essence, and that which is according to essence. In Neoplatonism, the "Good" or "The One" is so transcendent it is "above essence" (beyond being), while the gods possess an "essential" good that defines their nature. Essence is the property of all gods. But the Good itself is above essence and is called the cause of good—namely, the principle of essential good. Accordingly, the degrees of the gods are distinguished among themselves by their degrees of essence. Essential good does not exist in the lowest rational souls as it does in the gods, but rather as a participation in good according to intellectual beauty; yet this beauty is present in them immovably.

On the order of the higher beings.

Our souls are counted among the genera of divine beings. Heroes are greater than men; therefore, daemons are much grander. The first of the divine is the Good itself, with the gods following. The last are the particular rational souls. Between these two extremes are two intermediates: namely, heroes (who are close to souls) and daemons (who are close to gods), just as air and water exist between fire and earth. The author uses the four elements as an analogy for the spiritual hierarchy: Gods are like Fire (highest), Daemons like Air, Heroes like Water, and Souls like Earth (lowest). Even if heroes surpass us in power, virtue, beauty, and magnitude, they nevertheless correspond closely with our soul and its life. Daemons are superior to heroes and serve as ministers of the gods, acting like architects in the worldly workshop. original: "opificio mundano." This refers to the demiurgic task of shaping and maintaining the physical universe. What things are ineffable and hidden in the gods, the daemons express and reveal. Daemons and heroes adapt the universal, simple, and immovable gifts of the gods to inferior beings; they reconcile all things and are the authors of harmonic consensus and mutual compassion among all. They convey divine things to us and equally lead our affairs back to the divine. Furthermore, they equally arrange the degrees in the gifts of the superiors and in the preparation of the recipients. The diverse genera of divine beings differ among themselves through a threefold mode of properties: namely, as pertains to their essences, virtues, and actions. The property of the gods is unity, permanence in themselves, and an eminent providence that is the immovable cause of motions. They have nothing in common with those for whom they provide, and this property is preserved in them according to their essence, virtue, and action. The property of souls is a declination toward multitude A "turning away" from the unity of the One toward the many things of the material world. and motion, a conjunction with the gods, and the receiving of something from others and being filled with vital motion. Their property is to harmonize everywhere with all things—partly those that remain and partly those that flow—and to temper all things in and through themselves. Indeed, this property is preserved in them according to essence, virtue, and action. The properties of daemons are to contain within themselves the gifts of the gods (though in a lower way than the gods), but to contain the conditions of inferior things under the idea and reason ratio: the governing logic or principle of those divine gifts; while they are indeed multiplied, they are also united; though mixed, they are also unmixed; finally, they are moved, but stable...