P. D. NewmanTheurgy: Theory and Practice
The Mysteries of the Ascent to the Divine
P. D. Newman has been immersed in the study and practice of alchemy, hermetism, and theurgy for more than two decades. A member of both the Masonic Fraternity and the Society of Rosicrucians, he lectures internationally and has published articles in many esoteric journals, including The Scottish Rite Journal, Knights Templar Magazine, and Ad Lucem . He is the author of Angels in Vermilion: The Philosophers’ Stone from Dee to DMT and Alchemically Stoned: The Psychedelic Secret of Freemasonry. He lives in Tupelo, Mississippi, with his son, Bacchus, and his wife, Rebecca.
Foreword by Ioannis Marathakis
Introduction
PART I
Porphyry and Proclus’s Para-Homeric Sources
1. Katabasis and the Presocratics
A Survey of Underworld Descents in Philosophy Prior to Plato
2. Platonic Allegories and Myths
A Discussion on Plato’s Reorientation of Soul Flight with Reference to His
Influence on the Development of Theurgy
3. The Chaldæan Oracles and Theurgy
A Discussion on the Official Emergence of Theurgy from Platonic Metaphysics
4. Plotinus and the Platonizing S ethian Gnostics
A Look at the Father of Neoplatonism and His Precarious Relationship with
the Sethian School of Gnosticism
5. Hermetica and Theurgy
A Discussion on the Emergence of Hermetism with Reference to Its Close
Parallels with the Art of Theurgy
PART II
The Odyssey and the Iliad
6. Porphyry’s On the Cave of the Nymphs
An Exploration of Theurgic Theory with Reference to Porphyry’s Reading of
the Odyssey
7. Proclus’s Commentary on Plato’s Republic
A Breakdown of Theurgic Praxis with Reference to Proclus’s Reading of the
Iliad
PART III
Theurgic Telestikē
8. Animated Agalmata
A Discussion on the Process of Statue Animation and Its Vital Role in
Practical Theurgy
Conclusion
Appendix
Homeromanteion
A Method of Bibliomancy from the Greek Magical Papyri Involving the Iliad,
the Odyssey, and Astragaloi or Kuboi
Notes
Bibliography
Index
