Zevist Meditation · Ascend

Theosis: The Magnum Opus

updated by: High Priest Zevios Metathronos & Pythia

The Great Work, Θέωσις: the whole of the path to the Gods, lived every day.

I. What the Magnum Opus Is

The Magnum Opus, the Great Work, is Θέωσις: the human being made divine, the end the Temple names Ὁμοίωσις Θεῷ, becoming as the Gods.

It is not a single practice. It is the cumulation of all the practices: the body trained, the mind mastered, the emotions ruled, the soul empowered and the Spirit awakened, each built on the one beneath it, as the Basic Meditation Program sets out.

Nor is it a meditation, done for an hour and then set aside. It is a way of life. It lives in how one trains and eats, works and studies, speaks and acts, prays and meditates, every day, toward the Gods. The practices are its tools, and the life lived through them is the Work.

II. Given by the Gods

Past a point, the high meditations are given by the Gods. They come to the one who has built the ground for them, at the time the Gods judge right, and in the form that soul can bear.

Iamblichus, On the Mysteries II.11

οὐδὲ γὰρ ἡ ἔννοια συνάπτει τοῖς θεοῖς τοὺς θεουργούς· ἐπεὶ τί ἐκώλυε τοὺς θεωρητικῶς φιλοσοφοῦντας ἔχειν τὴν θεουργικὴν ἕνωσιν πρὸς τοὺς θεούς; νῦν δ᾽ οὐκ ἔχει τό γε ἀληθὲς οὕτως· ἀλλ᾽ ἡ τῶν ἔργων τῶν ἀρρήτων καὶ ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν νόησιν θεοπρεπῶς ἐνεργουμένων τελεσιουργία ἥ τε τῶν νοουμένων τοῖς θεοῖς μόνον συμβόλων ἀφθέγκτων δύναμις ἐντίθησι τὴν θεουργικὴν ἕνωσιν.

“For it is not thought that joins the theurgists to the Gods; otherwise what would keep those who philosophize in theory from having theurgic union with the Gods? But the truth is not so: the perfect accomplishment of the ineffable works, performed as befits the Gods and beyond all understanding, and the power of the unspeakable symbols, understood by the Gods alone, establish the theurgic union.” (lit.)

Iamblichus names the mystery. Thought alone does not join the theurgist to the Gods; if it did, everyone who reasons about the Gods would already be one with Them. Union comes through the sacred works themselves, done as befits the Gods and beyond what the mind can grasp, and through the power of symbols that the Gods alone understand. The highest part of the Work therefore rests with the Gods. They give it, in Their own time.

III. No False Assumptions

One must not make false assumptions on this path.

• Knowing about it is not attaining it. To know what the Great Work is said to be is not to have done it. Iamblichus wrote at length so that no one would believe the whole power of theurgy comes from himself.
• An experience is not the summit. A strong light, a vision or a surge of energy is a sign on the way. Natural psychics especially can believe themselves further on than they are (Finding Your Type).
• The high meditations are not taken. Practices pieced together from guesses or from books are not the meditations the Gods give.
• The measure is the life. What one has truly become shows in the days: in the floors mastered, the virtues kept, and self-honesty before the Gods.

IV. Until Then

Until this section is released, the Gods will guide you. Follow the programs from the ground up and master each floor before the next. Live the Ethics, keep the bond with the Gods in prayer and in ritual, observe yourself honestly and keep your record. When the time comes, what is needed is given.

Build every floor, live the Work each day, and the Gods will open the summit in Their time.