Chaldean Oracles information

The Chaldean Oracles are a set of spiritual and philosophical texts widely used by Neoplatonist philosophers from the 3rd to the 6th century CE. While the original texts have been lost, they have survived in the form of fragments consisting mainly of quotes and commentary by Neoplatonist writers. They were likely to have originally formed a single mystery-poem, which may have been in part compiled, in part received via trance, by Julian the Chaldean, or more likely, his son, Julian the Theurgist in the 2nd century CE. Later Neoplatonists, such as Iamblichus and Proclus, rated them highly. The 4th-century emperor Julian (not to be confused with Julian the Chaldean or Julian the Theurgist) suggests in his Hymn to the Magna Mater that he was an initiate of the God of the Seven Rays, and was an adept of its teachings. When Christian Church Fathers or other Late Antiquity writers credit "the Chaldeans", they are probably referring to this tradition.

The Chaldean Oracles show an affinity with gnostic teachings of their time. They describe the transcendent First Paternal Intellect which includes the mediating World-Soul, a female Power Hecate similar to Sophia. Fiery emanations from the First Intellect produce the Second Intellect, the Demiurge, who comprehends the cosmos as well as himself, and creates Matter. Farthest from the Highest God (First Father / Intellect) is a dense shell of matter from which the enlightened soul must emerge, shedding its bodily garments. A combination of ascetic conduct and correct ritual are recommended to free the soul from the confines of matter, and to defend it against the demonic powers lurking in the realms between Gods and mortals.^[1]

^ "The Relation between Gnosticism and Platonism" in Sethian Gnosticism and the Platonic Tradition, p.40

[1] "The Relation between Gnosticism and Platonism" in Sethian Gnosticism and the Platonic Tradition, p.40

Chaldean Oracles information

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Chaldean Oracles

Chaldean

Hecate

Theurgy

Barbarous name

Western esotericism

Prisca theologia

Seven rays

Sibylline Oracles

The City of God

De Coelesti Hierarchia

Neoplatonism

Gymnosophists

Eastern esotericism

Ecclesia Gnostica

Enneads

Neoplatonism and Christianity

Henosis

On the Consolation of Philosophy

Buddhism and the Roman world

Hegias

Proclus

Priscus of Epirus

Plotinus

Giovanni Pico della Mirandola

Neoplatonism
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Works Enneads De Mysteriis Aegyptiorum Liber de Causis The City of God The Consolation of Philosophy De Coelesti Hierarchia De divisione naturae Chaldean Oracles
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Related topics Platonism (in the Renaissance) Platonic Academy Middle Platonism Kabbalah Spirituality Isma'ilism Druze Allegorical interpretations of Plato Plato's unwritten doctrines Neoplatonism and Christianity / Gnosticism
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