The Wisdom of Hypatia: Ancient Spiritual Practices for a More Meaningful Life (58 page)

Animation

Hypatia’s students have heard rumors about theurgy, and some of them have

mixed feelings about its legitimacy. No matter what their preconceived ideas, they

are anxious to hear about it from Alexandria’s best-known philosopher. Unconsciously they lean forward as she begins by explaining that there are a number of theurgic

“operations,” but today she is explaining only the most useful four.

The first operation is called in ancient Greek
telestikê
, a vague term that means “mystical”

or “initiatory.” (I mentioned it in connection with “perfection” in Ch. 10.) In this case it refers to a particular mystical art or science. In English the procedure is often called

“animating a statue,” which might suggest statues dancing around the room, unless you remember that
anima
is a Latin word for soul, and thus
animation
is literally giving a soul 278 the path of trust

to something. In Greek the technical term for this process is
empsychosis
, since it puts a soul (
psyche
) into something.

“Normally,” Hypatia explains, “animation is used to cause a divine or daimonic soul

to occupy an
icon
or sacred image; thus this soul is given a material vehicle through which it may operate. Therefore in this, as in all theurgic operations, you become godlike by participating in the creative activity of the Nous, specifically, in the animation of the material world. Such an operation can be used to consecrate an icon (for example, to be the principal divine image in a shrine), or to provide a medium of communication with divinity, or to purify your soul by helping to mold it in the divine image.

“To repeat, you cannot compel a god to occupy the image, but you can prepare the

image as a suitable receptacle for the divine power, so that it may actualize its energy in the material world. It is like preparing an object to reflect a certain color of light, but the light must be present already for the reflection to take place. This preparation is accomplished by using the divine signs and symbols in the preparation of the image.

The more symbols you use, the better the image will reflect the divine energy.

“For example, the divine image could be a statue or a picture of the god in a char-

acteristic pose, or an image of an attribute associated with the god, such as an animal sacred to the god (for example, an owl for Athena), or the god’s instrument (such as a lyre for Apollo). Christian examples include an image of Jesus, a cross, and a lamb.

“The statue can have a receptacle in its back or base into which you can put the

god’s tokens. These might include gemstones, metal objects, herbs, plants, and animal parts, such as a claw, feather, or bit of fur. If the image is a picture, you can mount it on a box in which you put the tokens, or hang it above the box. You can fumigate the image with incense appropriate to the god and anoint it with appropriate oils or perfumes.

You can address invocations, prayers, chants, poetry, or other texts to the god, sing hymns, or play music appropriate to the god. Finally, the icon will be a better receiver if you construct or consecrate it at a time that is astrologically auspicious for attracting the god’s power. The general principle should be clear: the more signs, symbols, and tokens you can combine in the icon, the better the receiver it will be. They all serve to connect you to a particular divine energy. Many theurgists report that phenomena

the path of trust 279

of light may appear around the icon, and that the god may grant prophetic dreams,

manifest omens, or deliver revelations.”

The image will become numinous when it is animated by the divine energy; psychologi-

cally, the archetype or complex is projected onto the image, a projection that is invited by appropriate symbols. When this projection occurs, the divine energy will be actualized in your psyche, and the image may induce deep insights; psychologically, the archetype or complex has been activated by the symbolic image and is interacting with your conscious experience.

This attention to a physical image could be misinterpreted as superstition or even idola-try, but it is not, for there is no supposition that the image
is
a god. To think that the deity is literally in the image would be as foolish as supposing that the President is inside your TV

when he or she gives the “State of the Union” address. In both cases you have an artificial contrivance designed to translate the omnipresent energy into a form that humans can perceive. As a consequence the speech is present in viewers’ minds.

In the Christian world, St. John Damascene (c.675–749 CE), among others, advocated

the use and veneration of icons. He said they might serve as “books for the unlettered,” but more importantly that they have inherent power, for the archetypal Form is really present in the icon. The veneration of icons was approved at the Second Council of Nicaea (787

CE).315

Animating an Icon:
If you want to try animating a divine image, here is a way to do it. Pick a divine figure that holds meaning for you. If it is a figure from a traditional religion, then do a little research to find other symbols associated with

the deity (angle, saint, hero, etc.). Create a small shrine to house the image and

put other associated divine symbols in or on it. When you are ready to conse-

crate it, place some offerings, such as flowers, on it. If you know how to do so,

you can pick an astrologically appropriate time, or a time that is symbolically

significant in another way.

280 the path of trust

Animating an Icon (continued):
Light a candle in the shrine, and some incense if you like. Sit or stand comfortably before the image, and calm your body and soul.

Contemplate the icon for a few moments, and try to feel it as a link to the di-

vinity. It may seem to glow in the divine light. Recite a prayer requesting the

divinity to reveal itself through the icon. (Psychologically you are arranging

for a projection of subconscious content onto the image.) You may follow the

prayer with a quiet chant calling the deity (e.g., an arrow prayer). Request that

the deity allow its energy to remain in the icon so that you can use it as a means

for connecting with the divine energy. Pray before and venerate the icon so

long as you like, and then thank the deity for its presence. Any time you pray

before the icon in this way, it will increase its capacity to hold the divine energy.

Incubation

In all cultures and all times people have noticed their dreams, and occasional “big

dreams” seem potent with meaning and significance. Therefore dreams have been an

important means of engaging spiritual forces from ancient shamanism to modern ana-

lytical psychology.316 In particular, from Pythagoras to Hypatia and beyond, philosophers interpreted dreams. In modern terms, since dreams arise from the unconscious mind they can give insight into unconscious processes and developments. Many are insignificant, but others, especially the “big” or archetypal dreams, may be critical to your psycho-spiritual development.

Since ancient people attached so much importance to dreams, they could not always

wait for an archetypal dream to occur on its own, so they practiced
dream incubation
to encourage a big dream in answer to a question or problem. The basic idea is simple: after psychological preparation, you go to rest or sleep in a sacred place, and hope to have an archetypal dream. Afterwards a spiritual therapist helps you to interpret it and apply it to your situation.

The most widespread use of incubation in the ancient world was at some 400
Asclepeia
, temples of the healing god Asclepius. For more than a thousand years, beginning in the sixth century BCE, many thousands of sufferers came to these temples to have their physical and mental afflictions cured.317 Apparently many of them went away satisfied, for they the path of trust 281

left inscriptions recounting their cures or plaques representing the cured part, and we have many thousands of these, which you can see in museums.

Hypatia explains: “The procedure in the Asclepeia will help you understand how to

practice incubation. After traveling, perhaps a long distance, to the temple, you pray, make offerings, and are purified. Among other things, this puts you into an appropriate mental and spiritual state to have an archetypal dream. An attending priest-therapist performs divinations to determine if the time has arrived for an archetypal dream, and sometimes you may have to wait for months. When the time comes you retire at

night to the sanctuary, where you lie down on a couch by the animated statue of the

god. The god might come to you in a dream, or you might have a vision of the god

in a semi-waking state. The god might cure you with a touch or prescribe a cure. In

some cases you converse with the god, either in a waking vision or in a
lucid dream
, that is, a dream in which you are aware you are dreaming. Sometimes you have to