Gregory Shaw

This work presents a precise and scholarly exposition of theurgy within the Neoplatonic school, especially through the writings of Iamblichus. Shaw reveals theurgy as a disciplined technology of spiritual transformation rooted in symbolic actions, embodiment, and cosmic participation.
Theurgy establishes the body as an active participant in the soul’s ascent. Ritual becomes a bridge between the human microcosm and the divine macrocosm, allowing the practitioner to embody the sacred order rather than merely contemplate it.

Hellenic Tantra argues that scholarship on later Platonism has been misled by a dualist worldview. The theurgic Platonists in the school of Iamblichus (4th century CE) did not ascend out of their bodies to be united with the gods—as is the common belief—but allowed the gods to descend into their bodies. By comparing embodied deification in theurgy to Tantric traditions of embodied deification, Gregory Shaw allows us to understand the power and charisma of the last Platonic teachers. Hellenic Tantra reveals a living Platonism that has been hidden from us.