The Wisdom of Hypatia: Ancient Spiritual Practices for a More Meaningful Life (3 page)

Although there is some doubt about Hypatia’s birth date, we know that by 415 she

was a mature woman, at least in her mid-forties, perhaps as old as sixty, a widely respected figure of dignity, moderation, and wisdom.

According to church historians, Cyril was passing through the streets of Alexandria, and came across a crowd at the door to a house. There were young men and wealthy citizens with their horses and chariots blocking the road. Cyril turned to a companion and asked, “Whose house is this?” and he was told, “It is the house of the philosopher Hypatia.” According to this historian, Cyril became jealous of her popularity and influence, for

“the whole city doted on her and worshiped her.”

We do not know how much Cyril was directly responsible for the ensuing events, but at very least he encouraged his followers to stir up popular resentment and fear against her.

In the ancient world astronomy was hardly distinguished from astrology, and they both 10 introduction

were considered parts of mathematics, which the popular mind considered a kind of mag-ic. She was accused of being devoted to “magic, astrolabes and instruments of music”!3

Thus, given Hypatia’s known activities, and the fact she was Pagan (which many Christians considered devil worship), it was not hard to spread the rumor that she was a witch and had used black magic to cast a spell over Orestes, over Christians, and indeed over all of Alexandria. It was whispered that Orestes had stopped attending church and that she was converting him to Paganism. Thus, especially among the uneducated followers of Cyril, the suspicion and distrust of Hypatia grew.

The
parabolans
were strong young men who had been recruited by Cyril to help the clergy, in particular to do the “heavy lifting,” such as moving sick or disabled people from their homes to the hospitals. But they also served as a kind of paramilitary force, loyal to Cyril, and it is hard not to see them as fifth-century “Brownshirts” (Hitler’s storm troop-ers). They helped to spread the slander against Hypatia.

One day in March, during the season of Lent, a hotheaded minor church functionary

called Peter the Reader gathered the parabolans and they led a mob toward Hypatia’s

house. She was being driven home, but the mob blocked her chariot and pulled her out of it. They dragged her through the streets and ripped off her clothing; we can imagine her cries of fear and indignation.

They dragged her into a church and gouged away her flesh with sharp, broken ceramic

roofing tiles. No doubt her shrieks of agony echoed off the church walls, and the floor ran with her blood. “While she was still feebly twitching, they beat her eyes out.”4 We can only hope that she had passed out or died before the next crime, for they dragged her bloody body through the streets until body parts were scattered all over Alexandria (as one church historian put it). Their savagery glutted, they gathered her remains and burned them. (This kind of barbarism was not unique; in 361 and 457 the Christians dragged two of their bishops through the streets until they were dead, and then burned their bodies.)

Obviously there was widespread indignation and revulsion at Hypatia’s murder, even

among the Christians, and it became a blot on Cyril’s record as a church leader. Nevertheless, no one was punished in any significant way for the crime, although the parabolans were restrained to some degree and made to report to the Prefect. Orestes himself was withdrawn from Alexandria by the emperor, or perhaps he asked to be withdrawn, having seen the city and its people at their worst. Cyril had won.

Hypatia’s murder is sometimes said to be the end of philosophy in Alexandria, and to mark the end of the classical world, but this is an exaggeration. Certainly philosophers introduction 11

kept a low profile, continuing to teach but staying out of civil affairs. Mercifully, Theon had died a few years before and didn’t have to witness his daughter’s gruesome end.

If you know anything at all about Hypatia, you probably know the story of her horrific death, although many versions of the story are embellished or distorted to fit the teller’s inclinations. Nevertheless, my goal in this book is not a history of Hypatia and her times (which can be found in other books; see
Additional Reading
), but a guide to practicing her philosophy as a way of life that is valuable to us now.

Why Hypatia’s Philosophy is Important Today

You might ask why a 1600-year-old philosophy would be of interest to anyone but historians of philosophy, but there are several reasons it is valuable to you and me, the most important being that it teaches a system of spiritual development especially suited to contemporary Western culture.

In Hypatia’s time, which like ours has been characterized as an Age of Anxiety, peo-

ple were seeking new spiritual insights and practices that would show them how to live rewarding and fulfilling lives, in spite of the stresses of their world. They were unsatisfied with the common dogmas, whether religious or secular, and sought direct spiritual experience as a source of meaning in their lives. Many people feel the same way today, for they are dissatisfied with organized religion on one hand and with scientific materialism on the other. Hypatia’s philosophy, which is called Neoplatonism, has the advantage that it teaches spiritual practices to connect us with the deepest sources of meaning in our lives and to live them with divine purpose; in this it is like Buddhism and the other great wisdom traditions of the East.

Although spirituality is a very important component of Neoplatonism, it is a philosophy, and so (like Buddhism, which has been called a religion without God) it is compatible with many religions and even with atheism, as I will explain later. Therefore, in addition to Pagan Neoplatonists, over the centuries there have been many Jewish, Christian, and Moslem Neoplatonists. Indeed, the techniques taught by Hypatia are the core of the spiritual practices of all these religions, and so they are a common point of agreement. This religious neutrality is why Hypatia had Jewish and Christian students (of course Islam did not yet exist), and why her Christian disciples, including one who became an important bishop, remained Neoplatonists as long as they lived.

There is no evidence of a falling out between Hypatia and her Christian students, and her murder must be seen as a particularly brutal political assassination, not as religious per-12 introduction

secution. Although there were certainly religious overtones (Cyril’s faction referred to her as “that Pagan woman”), she was caught between the political aspirations of two Christian factions who were not above torture and murder.

In our own time, when there is so much strife among mutually intolerant Christian,

Jewish, and Moslem extremists, I think that we cannot ignore a system of Pagan philosophy and spiritual practice that all these faiths have found valuable, and which contributed to their contemplative and mystical traditions. Hypatia’s philosophy offers itself as a common core of spiritual practice compatible with these and other religions, including contemporary Paganism and Wicca.

Remarkably, this ancient philosophy is quite consistent with the modern worldview,

including modern depth psychology, and so it is very applicable now. This is because, as a spiritual discipline, it did not depend significantly on ancient scientific ideas, which have been superseded. Rather, it depended on spiritual practices that took students into their psychological depths and on to the divine sources of meaning common to all people. The structure of the human psyche has not changed in many thousands of years, and so Neoplatonic practices are as useful now as they were then. Nevertheless we have learned a few things over the past 1600 years, and in this book I will suggest some places where I think Hypatia’s philosophy needs to be updated.

On the other hand, Hypatia’s philosophy has been tested by time. When she was teach-

ing, it had already been practiced and refined for at least one thousand years (as you will see in chapter 3). Although her philosophy was a culmination of this development, Neoplatonism has continued to evolve—in various guises—and still lives in our time.

Like most ancient philosophers, Hypatia taught a
way of life
, not an academic subject to be studied but not practiced. This does not mean that they did not investigate and debate abstruse topics, but these intellectual pursuits were a means to an end: living well. This is the approach to Hypatia’s philosophy that I take in this book:
a way of life
. Therefore, its focus is on spiritual practices and exercises directed toward your spiritual transformation and well-being.

What’s in it for you? A system of practical techniques for living a happier, more spiritually enlightened life. Whether you are Pagan, like Hypatia, or Jewish, Christian, Moslem, or Wiccan, or whether you are a skeptic or nonbeliever, you can use these spiritual practices. With them you can learn to live a more joyous life in spite of the inevitable disappoint-ments and tragedies. And you can learn to access a source of insight and guidance—of introduction 13

divine wisdom—that will give your life deeper purpose and direction. Who doesn’t want to live with joy and purpose?

This book is not intended to be an academic study; that is not its purpose. Many excellent scholars have studied Neoplatonism and continue to do so, and I have benefited from their work. If you want to learn more about Neoplatonism from an academic perspective, please look at
Additional Reading
at the back of this book. Also, although I avoid technical terminology so far as possible, I have included a
Glossary
at the back to help with the terms that are unavoidable.

A few remarks on my conventions: I capitalize “God” and “Goddess” when they are

used as the name of a god, but I don’t capitalize “god” and “goddess” as generic terms.

Also, I have adopted the modern convention of capitalizing “Pagan” like the other religions. I have also used the modern scholarly and culturally neutral notation for dates: CE

(Common Era, instead of A.D.) and BCE (Before Common Era, instead of B.C.). Finally, English speakers usually pronounce “Hypatia” as
high-PAY-shah
, but in her time it would be more like
hü-pah-TEE-ah
(where
ü
is pronounced as in German). Her name means
highest
or
supreme
.

Philosophy as a Way of Life

I have mentioned several times that in the ancient world, philosophy was not so much an academic discipline as a way of life. Therefore, as a way of learning the techniques and practices taught by Hypatia, I think it will be helpful if I tell you a little about the role of philosophy in the ancient world. Then (as now) people’s spiritual interests and activities varied widely. Some were ardent believers and devoted practitioners, while others participated only because it was socially expected. Many were initiated into the Pagan Mysteries, such as the Eleusinian and Bacchic Mysteries, but many fewer experienced the illumination and spiritual transformation that the mysteries were intended to produce. This is what Plato meant when he quoted an ancient Orphic saying:

The wand-bearers are many but the Bacchi are few.5

In other words, many carry the wand of Bacchus in the religious processions, but those truly inspired by the god—the Bacchi—are very rare.

In every age and every part of the world, however, there have been spiritual masters offering systems of spiritual development intended to increase their students’ spiritual depth and understanding, to improve their lives by revealing the secrets of reality, and to allow them to interact personally with the divine powers governing it. In the ancient Greek and Roman worlds, these teachers and seekers of a deeper spiritual life were called
philosophers
(lovers of wisdom).

15

16 spiritual practices

The same is true now. Whether you are a Pagan like Pythagoras, Plato, Hypatia, and

the rest, or Wiccan, or a follower of one of the “religions of the book” (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), you may find yourself seeking a deeper experience of the sacred and a spiritually more enlightened life. If so, you are of the same mind as the ancient people who sought out the philosophers. Welcome!

The ancient philosophical schools were very different from what we think of as philosophical instruction now. It wasn’t primarily a matter of teaching the student complex systems of thought or techniques for analyzing intellectual ideas, but a method of improving the student’s way of life. Since the philosophical teacher was supposed to guide the student into a new, philosophical way of living, the method depended a great deal on where the student was beginning, on their present psychological and spiritual state, so it was very individualized. Like a doctor treating a patient, the teacher first had to diagnose the student’s condition and then to apply the appropriate treatments. Philosophy is both
cure
for the soul, which depends on its prior condition, but also ongoing
care
for it afterwards, which depends on the character of each soul, for this affects its dispositions, strengths, and weaknesses. Philosophy is a process, not a one-time achievement.

Picture a teacher, the “master,” meeting with a small group of students, the “disciples,”

in a home, garden, or similar location. (“Teacher” and “student” are the literal meanings of
magister
and
discipulus
in Latin.) They might begin by discussing a text from the sect’s founder or another sage, with the teacher answering the disciples’ questions. The purpose was to teach the students reasons and conclusions that would help them live in accord with the philosophy; it was not doctrine for its own sake.

After the discussion, each student might report to the group, in an atmosphere of mutual affection and trust, about his or her success in living philosophically. They might bring up particular problems they were having for group discussion. Later the teacher would meet with the disciples individually to address issues that might be too personal to discuss openly in the group. The mentor, like a coach, would review, either individually or as a group, each disciple’s progress in his or her spiritual practice, and perhaps recommend changes.