What is Hierarchy? and what the use of Hierarchy?
Section I.
Now, it is time to try and define the Hierarchies. Dionysius goes about it by defining what is above it, how it functions and what purpose does it serve.
The Hierarchy is a metaphysical construction which bases on Oneness, and the hierarchical units working as if organs of God. A sort of totality of the Divine, lurking behind the meaning of the Hierarchy, is described being ”free of any dissimilarity”. It is as if the totality of the Divine bears all the worlds including the problem of evil, yet at the same time it is beyond the impurities as the initiations given through the Hierarchy is described as ”the undeviating moulding of those who are being initiated harmoniously to itself”. The immanent and transcendent divinities, as two different sides of the same being, could be seen one through the gradient of the Hierarchy.
A sacred order, I believe can be validly interpreted here in two ways different ways:Pseudo-Dionysius wrote:Hierarchy is, in my judgment, a sacred order and science and operation, assimilated, as far as attainable, to the likeness of God
1. It is the order of nature, the laws and rulers of different areas of nature.
2. It is the One occult order – the Central Lodge – beyond all formal magical orders, the latter being able to harness the demands and powers of the initiations given from the invisible occult order. A book title comes to mind: ’The True and Invisible Rosicrucian Order’. (If you seek this out, I recommend checking the page count. The original edition doesn’t have the important reprint of the Rosicrucian manifestos and the commentary, and was only added later to the book).
I used the article ’the’ instead of ’a’ because I believe there is either a mistranslation here or, the author observes individual units in the Hierarchy and how they operate according the same hierarchical idea, although the units have very specific purposes. I believe we as human beings are meant to ascend through all of them and thus we need to try to prepare ourselves to receive blessing, teaching and Knowledge from the totality of the Hierarchy.
Science could be interpreted to mean how Knowledge, more specificly: gnosis, is gained as one ascends through the Hierarchy. We can trace it through the subtle understanding of meanings which we come to understand against the rock of the mundane world, finding the supermundane within its depths. In Finland we have a traditional synonym for occultism, perhaps from the 19th-20th century nomenclature which can be translated freely as ”secret science” (salatiede). This word is a good alternative to emphasise the meaning for ’Science’ used in this text, differing from the definition used by today’s scientific academy.
Through the Science we come to understand also the operation of God, of the laws of nature, the mystery play it folds out from its different layers.
This is an important part of understanding initiations. For temperaments emphasising mysticism, amidst its positive sides of sinking in to the depths of the experience and gaining gnosis from there or finding energetic unity with certain entities, there is a negative side to it also that could be seen as a trap where the initiations can not be actualized thorougly as the actualizations of the initiatory powers are not pierced through to the level of concious actions. The wondrous membrane of mysticism over the gray world of the mundane is enchanting and if it is not used consciously as a medium for inner meanings to be transferred to concrete reality to help make conscious responsible choices – ethical strive – it will entrap the mystic itself to this mediumistic state. As we know, over emphasising some part(s) of our human constitution will reflect the imbalance in the very being of the individual, impairing it incapable of proceeding on the Path until this imbalance is reconciled with and balance is restored. Thus we receive initiations only to the degree we make them realty in our every-day actions. Astral phenomena, feelings etc. are not real initiations. At best they may guide us towards rehearsing certain energetic modes of being and guide us towards them, but such hints can only be reached through balanced and careful interpretations of visions and situations on which these modes are well applied. I’m talking here about both the White and the Red astral, the former pertaining to the energetic modes and the latter to visions etc. in need of interpretation.Pseudo-Dionysius wrote:and imparts its own proper light to each according to their fitness
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Unfortunately I have fallen a bit behind on the schedule. I will try to go through Section II during this week also, but if I can't make the deadline we'll have to shift the schedule a bit.