Mystic South

Theurgy is the ritual practice of meeting with the Gods in order to negotiate with them and to secure their assistance. Although its roots lie deep in shamanic practice, theurgy was developed to a high art by Neoplatonic philosophers, including Iamblichus and Proclus. It is the basis for invocation operations in the later Western magical traditions. In this paper I present the basic principles of Neoplatonic theurgy, working through in detail the construction of a theurgical ritual for invoking Athena based on Proclus' theurgical Hymn VII to Athena and the Greek magical papyri. I will show in particular how the formulas for invocation can be discovered or constructed, and explain how they function by sympathetically activating specific divine energies.