The Mysteries of the Ascent to the Divine with P.D. Newman

Welcome to Occult of Personality: esoteric podcast extraordinaire. I’m Greg Kaminsky. Now, in episode number 225, author P.D. Newman returns to the show after an eight year hiatus to discuss his recent book Theurgy: Theory & Practice—The Mysteries of the Ascent to the Divine, Homeric Epics, the Chaldean Oracles, and Neoplatonic Ritual - https://www.amazon.com/Theurgy-Theory-Practice-Mysteries-Ascent/dp/164411836X/.

This interview was a real treat because P.D. Newman gives us a great depth of insight into the history, theory, and methods of theurgy—magic of the gods! There were some technical issues with the recording that I did my best to work around. My apologies for that but I know that the content of the conversation more than makes up for it.

"P. D. Newman has been immersed in the study and practice of alchemy and theurgy for more than two decades. A member of the Masonic Fraternity, the Society of Rosicrucians, and the Martinist Order, he lectures internationally and has published articles in many esoteric journals, including The Scottish Rite Journal, The Masonic Society Journal, and Invisible College. The author of Alchemically Stoned and Angels in Vermilion, Newman lives in Tupelo, Mississippi."

The research Newman did in support of this book is really astounding and quite interesting. His scholarship has really made it clear that theurgy as we understand it did not originate in the second century A.D. but has its roots in beginningless time. Furthermore, the understanding of this activity and its context is laid out beautifully in a way that is both scholarly and valuable for practitioners. For me, what made the book so special was that contemplating the implications of his arguments helped me to see and understand that the way I defined theurgy was limiting and inaccurate, but with Newman’s words, I can more fully appreciate what is known as the Western esoteric tradition. I heartily recommend Theurgy: Theory & Practice, just like all of Newman’s books.

"In this detailed study, P. D. Newman pushes the roots of theurgy all the way back to before the time of Homer. He shows how the Chaldean Oracles were not only written in Homeric Greek but also in dactylic hexameter, the same meter as the epics of Homer. Linking the Greek shamanic practices of the late Archaic period with the theurgic rites of late antiquity, the author explains how both anabasis, soul ascent, and katabasis, soul descent, can be considered varieties of shamanic soul flight and how these practices existed in ancient Greek culture prior to the influx of shamanic influence from Thrace and the Hyperborean North. The author explores the many theurgic themes and symbolic events in the Odyssey and the Iliad, including the famous journey of Odysseus to Hades and the incident of the funeral pyre of Patroclus. He presents a close analysis of On the Cave of the Nymphs, Porphyry’s commentary on Homer’s Odyssey, as well as a detailed look at Proclus’s symbolic reading of Homer’s Iliad, showing how both of these Neoplatonists describe the philosophical theory and the technical ritual praxis of theurgy. Using the Chaldean Oracles as a case study, Newman examines in detail the methods of telestikē, a form of theurgic statue animation, linking this practice to ancient Egyptian and Greek traditions as well as theurgic techniques to divinize the soul."

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