an unknown password, spoken and unspoken. And they often bring the soul down 148 into the world for many reasons, either through the shedding of its wings or through the paternal will. And they hold that the world and the revolutions of the stars are eternal. And they divide Hades in many ways, and now they call him a god, the ruler of the terrestrial realm, and now they say the place under the moon is Hades, and now the mean between the aetherial and the hylic world, and now the irrational soul, and they place the rational in it, not essentially, but relatively, whenever it has sympathy towards it and puts forth the partial reason. And they consider the ideas now as the concepts of the father, now as the universal reasons, physical and psychic and intelligible, now as the transcendent existences of beings. And they compose their discourses about magic both from certain supreme powers and from terrestrial matters. And they say that the things above are in sympathy with the things below, and especially those under the moon. And they restore the souls after so-called death according to the measures of their own purifications in all the parts of the world; and some they also raise above the world and define them as intermediates between the indivisible and divisible natures. And of these dogmas, Aristotle and Plato accepted the greater part, while Plotinus and Iamblichus and Porphyry and Proclus followed all of them and accepted these things unreasoningly as divine utterances. A summary outline by Psellus of the ancient dogmas among the Chaldeans. Making for you a brief exposition of the Chaldean dogmas, about which you asked me to write to you, I myself also begin from the ineffable One, according to them. After which they babble of a certain paternal depth composed of three triads, 149 each having a father first, a power second, and a mind third. And after these things they say there are intelligible and intellectual beings, of which the first is the Iynx, after which are three others, paternal and intelligible and unutterable, which divide the worlds in three ways, according to the empyrean and the aetherial and the hylic. And after the Iynges, they say, come the Synoches; and the Iynges, for them, establish the unutterable unions of all things, while the Synoches unify the processions of the multitude of beings, having fixed in themselves the center of the communion of both between the intelligible and the intellectual. And next to the Synoches they place the Teletarchs, being three themselves; of whom one is empyrean, another aetherial, and another hylic. And the Iynges are only monads, while the Synoches are monads already showing forth the multitude, and the Teletarchs are monads having a divided multitude. And after these they hold the fontal fathers, or the cosmogoi; of whom the first is the one called Once-Beyond, after whom <ἡ> Hecate is second and middle, and the third is the Twice-Beyond; after whom are three implacables and a seventh, the one that girds. And the Once-Beyond is a paternal mind {ὁ} with respect to the intelligibles, but father of all the intellectuals; and Hecate fills all things with intellectual light and life. Indeed these are called fathers and cosmogoi as immediately supervening the worlds. And Hecate has about herself fountains of different natures. And of the fountains around the girdle, nature brings the end to completion, being suspended from the back of Hecate; and of the fountains in her flank, the one on the right is of souls, the one on the left is of virtues. And the Twice-Beyond has received a demiurgic order among the fountains, just as Hecate has a life-giving one; for he himself set forth the type of the ideas for the world; and he is called Twice-Beyond because he is dyadic, on the one hand comprehending the intelligibles with the mind, and on the other hand bringing sensation to the worlds; and he is called Once-Beyond because he is unitary; and Hecate is only Beyond. And the implacables, having received the fiery power of the Synoches, guard the existences from above the fathers and keep their fontal energies undefiled; and the fountain of the girders is a primary cause of the intellectual distinction. And there is also a fontal triad 150 of faith

ἄγνωστον ῥητοῦ καὶ ἀρρήτου συνθήματος. καταβιβάζουσι δὲ τὴν ψυχὴν 148 πολλάκις ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ δι' αἰτίας πολλάς, ἢ διὰ πτερορρύησιν ἢ διὰ βούλησιν πατρικήν. ∆οξάζουσι δὲ τὸν κόσμον ἀίδιον καὶ τὰς τῶν ἄστρων περιόδους. τὸν δὲ ᾅδην πολλαχῶς καταμερίζουσι, καὶ νῦν μὲν αὐτὸν θεὸν ὀνομάζουσιν ἀρχηγὸν τῆς περιγείου λήξεως, νῦν δὲ τὸν ὑπὸ σελήνην τόπον ᾅδην φασί, νῦν δὲ τὴν μεσότητα τοῦ αἰθερίου κόσμου καὶ τοῦ ὑλαίου, νῦν δὲ τὴν ἄλογον ψυχήν, καὶ τιθέασιν ἐν αὐτῇ τὴν λογικήν, οὐκ οὐσιωδῶς, ἀλλὰ σχετικῶς, ὅταν συμπαθῶς ἔχῃ πρὸς αὐτὴν καὶ προβάλλῃ τὸν μερικὸν λόγον. ἰδέας δὲ νομίζουσι νῦν μὲν τὰς τοῦ πατρὸς ἐννοίας, νῦν δὲ τοὺς καθόλου λόγους, φυσικοὺς καὶ ψυχικοὺς καὶ νοητούς, νῦν δὲ τὰς ἐξῃρημένας τῶν ὄντων ὑπάρξεις. τοὺς δὲ περὶ μαγειῶν λόγους συνιστῶσιν ἀπό τε ἀκροτάτων τινῶν δυνάμεων ἀπό τε περιγείων ὑλῶν. συμπαθῆ δὲ τὰ ἄνω τοῖς κάτω φασὶ καὶ μάλιστα τὰ ὑπὸ σελήνην. ἀποκαθιστῶσι δὲ τὰς ψυχὰς μετὰ τὸν λεγόμενον θάνατον κατὰ τὰ μέτρα τῶν οἰκείων καθάρσεων ἐν ὅλαις ταῖς τοῦ κόσμου μερίσι· τινὰς δὲ καὶ ὑπὲρ τὸν κόσμον ἀναβιβάζουσι καὶ μέσας αὐτὰς διορίζονται τῶν τε ἀμερίστων καὶ μεριστῶν φύσεων. Τούτων δὲ τῶν δογμάτων τὰ πλείω καὶ Ἀριστοτέλης καὶ Πλάτων ἐδέξαντο, οἱ δὲ περὶ Πλωτῖνον καὶ Ἰάμβλιχον Πορφύριόν τε καὶ Πρόκλον πᾶσι κατηκολούθησαν καὶ ὡς θείας φωνὰς ἀσυλλογίστως ταῦτα ἐδέξαντο. Ψελλοῦ ὑποτύπωσις κεφαλαιώδης τῶν παρὰ Χαλδαίοις ἀρχαίων δογμάτων Σύντομόν σοι τῶν Χαλδαϊκῶν δογμάτων ποιούμενος ἔκθεσιν, περὶ ὧν ἐδεήθης γράψαι σοι, ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀρρήτου κατ' ἐκείνους ἑνὸς τίθεμαι καὶ αὐτὸς τὴν ἀρχήν. μεθ' ὃ πατρικόν τινα ληροῦσι βυθὸν ἐκ τριῶν τριάδων 149 συγκείμενον, ἑκάστης ἐχούσης πατέρα μὲν πρῶτον, δεύτερον δὲ δύναμιν, τρίτον δὲ νοῦν. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτά φασιν εἶναι νοητάς τε καὶ νοεράς, ὧν πρώτην μὲν εἶναι τὴν ἴυγγα, μεθ' ἣν τρεῖς ἑτέρας πατρικὰς καὶ νοητὰς καὶ ἀφθέγκτους, διαιρούσας τοὺς κόσμους τριχῇ κατὰ τὸ ἐμπύριον καὶ τὸ αἰθέριον καὶ τὸ ὑλαῖον. μετὰ δὲ τὰς ἴυγγας προσεχεῖς, φασίν, οἱ συνοχεῖς· καὶ αἱ μὲν ἴυγγες τὰς ἀφθέγκτους αὐτοῖς ἑνώσεις τῶν πάντων ὑφιστᾶσιν, οἱ δὲ συνοχεῖς τὰς προόδους τοῦ πλήθους τῶν ὄντων ἑνίζουσι μεταξὺ τῶν νοητῶν καὶ τῶν νοερῶν κέντρον τῆς ἀμφοτέρων κοινωνίας ἐν ἑαυτοῖς πηξάμενοι. προσεχεῖς δὲ τοῖς συνοχεῦσι τοὺς τελετάρχας τιθέασι τρεῖς καὶ αὐτοὺς ὄντας· ὧν ὁ μὲν ἐμπύριος, ὁ δὲ αἰθέριος, ὁ δὲ ὑλάρχης. εἰσὶ δὲ αἱ μὲν ἴυγγες μονάδες μόνον, οἱ δὲ συνοχεῖς μονάδες ἤδη προφαίνουσαι τὸ πλῆθος, οἱ δὲ τελετάρχαι μονάδες διῃρημένον ἔχουσαι τὸ πλῆθος. μετὰ δὲ τούτους τοὺς πηγαίους πατέρας δοξάζουσιν ἤτοι τοὺς κοσμαγούς· ὧν πρῶτος ὁ ἅπαξ λεγόμενος, μεθ' ὃν <ἡ> Ἑκάτη δευτέρα καὶ μέση, τρίτος δὲ ὁ δὶς ἐπέκεινα· μεθ' οὓς τρεῖς ἀμείλικτοι καὶ ἕβδομος ὁ ὑπεζωκώς. ἔστι δὲ ὁ ἅπαξ ἐπέκεινα νοῦς {ὁ} πατρικὸς ὡς πρὸς τὰ νοητά, πατὴρ δὲ τῶν νοερῶν ἁπάντων· ἡ δὲ Ἑκάτη νοεροῦ φωτὸς καὶ ζωῆς πάντα πληροῖ. καλοῦνται δὴ οὗτοι πατέρες καὶ κοσμαγοὶ ὡς προσεχῶς ἐπιβαίνοντες τοῖς κόσμοις. ἔχει δὲ περὶ αὑτὴν ἡ Ἑκάτη πηγὰς διαφόρων φύσεων. τῶν δὲ κατὰ τὸν ζωστῆρα πηγῶν ἡ μὲν φύσις τὸ τέλος συμπεραίνει τῶν τῆς Ἑκάτης νώτων ἀπαιωρουμένη· τῶν δὲ ἐν τῇ λαγόνι πηγῶν ἡ μὲν τῶν ψυχῶν ἐστι δεξιά, ἡ δὲ τῶν ἀρετῶν ἐν λαιοῖς. ὁ δὲ δὶς ἐπέκεινα τάξιν μὲν ἔλαχεν ἐν ταῖς πηγαῖς δημιουργικήν, ὥσπερ ζῳογόνον ἡ Ἑκάτη· αὐτὸς γὰρ προὔθηκε τὸν τῶν ἰδεῶν τύπον τῷ κόσμῳ· καλεῖται δὲ δὶς ἐπέκεινα, ὅτι δυαδικός ἐστι, νῷ μὲν κατέχων τὰ νοητά, αἴσθησιν δὲ ἐπάγων τοῖς κόσμοις· ὁ δὲ ἅπαξ ἐπέκεινα λέγεται, ὅτι ἑνιαῖός ἐστιν· ἡ δὲ Ἑκάτη μόνον ἐπέκεινα. οἱ δὲ ἀμείλικτοι ὑποδεξάμενοι τὴν πρηστήριον τῶν συνοχέων δύναμιν φρουροῦσι τὰς ὑπάρξεις ἄνωθεν τῶν πατέρων καὶ τὰς πηγαίας αὐτῶν ἐνεργείας ἀχράντους φυλάττουσιν· ἡ δὲ τῶν ὑπεζωκότων πηγὴ πρωτουργός ἐστιν αἰτία τῆς νοερᾶς διακρίσεως. ἔστι δὲ καὶ πηγαία τριὰς 150 πίστεως