Section IV.
This, then, according to my science, is the first
rank of the Heavenly Beings whicJi encircle and
stand immediately around God ; and without sym-
bol, and without interruption, dances round His
eternal knowledge in the most exalted ever-moving
stability as in Angels ; viewing purely many and
blessed contemplations, and illuminated with simple
30 Dioijysiiis the Areopagite
and immediate splendours, and filled with Divine
nourishment, — many indeed by the first-given pro-
fusion, but one by the unvariegated and unifying
oneness of the supremely Divine banquet, deemed
worthy indeed of much participation and co-opera-
tion with God, by their assimilation to Him, as far
as attainable, of their excellent habits and ener2:ies,
and knowing many Divine things pre-eminently, and
participating in supremely Divine science and know-
ledge, as is lawful. Wherefore the Word of God has
transmitted its hymns to those on earth, in which
are Divinely shewn the excellency of its most exalted
illumination. For some of its members, to speak
after sensible perception, proclaim as a "voice ot
many waters," " Blessed is the glory of the Lord
from His place ^ ;" and others cry aloud that fre-
quent and most august hymn '^ of God, " Holy, Holy,
Holy, Lord of Sabaoth, the whole earth is full of His
glory *^." These most excellent hymnologies of the
supercelestial Minds we have already unfolded to
the best of our ability in the " Treatise concerning
the Divine Hymns," and have spoken sufficiently
concerning them in that Treatise, from which, by
way of remembrance, it is enough to produce so
much as is necessary to the present occasion, namely,
" That the first Order, having been illuminated, from
this the supremely Divine goodness, as permissible,
in theological science, as a Hierarchy reflecting that
Goodness transmitted to those next after it," teach-
ing briefly this, "That it is just and right that the
^ Ezek. iii. 12. *• OeoXoylat/. * Isa. i. 3.
071 the Heavenly Hierarchy. 31
august Godhead — Itself both above praise, and
all-praiseworthy — should be known and extolled by
the God-receptive minds, as is attainable ; for they
as images of God are, as the Oracles ^^ say, the Di-
vine places of the supremely Divine repose ® ; and
further, that It is Monad and Unit tri-subsistent f,
sending forth His most kindly forethought to all
things being, from the super-heavenly Minds to the
lowest of the earth ; as super-original Origin and
Cause of every essence, and grasping all things super-
essentially in a resistless embrace.
CAPUT VIII.
Concerning Lordships and Powers and Authorities^ and concerning their middle Hierarchy .
Section I.
Let us now pass to the middle Order of the
Heavenly Minds, gazing, as far as we may, with
supermundane eyes upon those Lordships, and the
truly terrible visions of the Divine Authorities anil
Powers. For each appellation of the Beings above
us manifests their God-imitating characteristics of the
Divine Likeness. I think, then, that the explanatory
name of the Holy Lordships denotes a certain un-
slavish elevation, free from all grovelling subserviency,
as becomes the free, not submitting itself in any
way whatever to one of the tyrannical dissimilarities,
as a cruel Lordship ; superior to every kind of cring-
ing slavery, indomitable to every subserviency, and
elevated above every dissimilarity, ever aspiring to
^ Isa. Ixvi. I. ' Acts vii. 49. ' llcb. i. 3.
32 Dionysiiis the Areopagife
the true Lordship, and source of Lordship ; and
moulding, as an image of goodness, itself, and those
after it, to its Lordly bearing, as attainable, turning
itself wholly to none of the things that vainly seem, but
to the Lordly Being, and ever sharing in the Lordly
likeness of God, to its utmost ability ; and the
appellation of the Holy Powers denotes a certain
courageous and unflinching virility, for all those
Godlike energies within them — not feebly weak for
the reception of any of the Divine illuminations
vouchsafed to it — vigorously conducted to the Divine
imitation, not forsaking the Godlike movement
through its own unmanliness, but unflinchingly look-
ing to the superessential and powerful-making power,
and becoming a powerlike image of this, as far as is
attainable, and powerfully turned to this, as Source of
Power, and issuing forth to those next in degree,
in gift of Power, and in likeness to God ; and that
the appellation of the Holy Authorities, of the same
rank as the Divine Lordships and Powers, (denotes)
the beautiful and unconfused good order, with regard
to the Divine receptions, and the discipline of the
supermundane and intellectual authority, not using
the authoritative powers imperiously for base pur-
poses, but conducted indomitably, with good order,
towards Divine things, and conducting those after it
benignly, and assimilated, as far as permissible, to the
x\uthoritative Source of authority, and making this
visible, as is possible to Angels, in the well-ordered
ranks of the authoritative power within it. The
middle Order of the Heavenly Minds having these
Godlike characteristics, is purified and illuminated
on the Heavenly Hierarchy, 33
and perfected in the manner described, by the Divine
illuminations vouchsafed to it at second hand, through
the first Hierarchical Order, and passing through this
middle as a secondary manifestation.
Section II.
No doubt, as regards that message, which is said
to pass through one angel to another, we may take
it as a symbol of a perfecting completed from afar,
and obscured by reason of its passage to the second
rank. For, as men skilled in our sacred initiations
say, the fulness of Divine things manifested directly
to ourselves is more perfecting than the Divine con-
templations imparted through others. Thus, I think,
the immediate participation of the Angelic ranks
elevated in first degree to God, is more clear than
those perfected through the instrumentality of others.
Wherefore by our sacerdotal tradition, the first Minds
are named perfecting, and illuminating, and purifying
Powers of the subordinate, who are conducted,
throu,2:h them, to the superessential Origin of all
things, and participate, as far as is permissible to
them, in the consecrating purifications, and illumi-
nations, and perfections. For, this is divinely fixed
absolutely by the Divine source of order that,
through the first, the second partake of the su-
pren:iely Divine illuminations. This you will find
declared by the theologians in many ways. For, when
the Divine and Paternal Love towards man whilst
chastening, in a startling manner. His people Israel,
for their religious preservation, after delivering them
34 Dionysius the Areopagite
to terrible and savage nations for correction, by
various leadings of His guided people to better
things, both liberated them from their misery, and
mildly led them back, through His compassion, to
their former state of comfort ; one of the theolo-
gians, Zechariah, sees one of the first Angels, as
I think, and near God, (for the Angelic appellation
is common, as I said, to them all), learning from
God Himself the comforting words, as they are called,
concerning this matter ; and another Angel, of inferior
rank, advancing to meet the first, as for reception
and participation of enlightenment ; then, by him in-
structed in the Divine purpose as from a Hierarch,
and charged to reveal to the theologian that Jeru-
salem should be abundantly occupied by a multitude
of people^. And another theologian, Ezekiel, says
that this was righteously ordained by the glorious Deity
Itself, seated above the Cherubim ^. For Paternal
Love towards man, conducting Israel as we have said
through chastisement to better things, by a righteous-
ness worthy of God, deemed right to separate the
guilty from the guiltless. This is first revealed to
one after the Cherubim ^ ; him who was bound about
the loins with a sapphire J, and wore displayed the
robe coming down to the feet, as a Hierarchical
symbol. But the Divine Government enjoins the
other Angels, who bore the battle-axes ^, to be in-
structed from the former, as to the Divine judgment
in this matter. For, to one. He said that he should
K Zech. i. 8—17. »> Ezek. ix. 3. ' Ibid. 3.
J Ibid. X. I. ^ Ibid. ix. 2.
on the Heavenly Hierarchy. 35
go through the midst of Jerusalem, and place the
sign upon the forehead of the innocent men, but to
the others; "Go into the city after him and strike,
and draw not back your eyes, but to every one upon
whom is the sign draw not near."
What would any one say concerning the Angel,
who said to Daniel ', " The word has gone forth ? "
or concerning him the first, who took the fire from
the midst of the Cherubim, or what is more remark-
able than this for shewing the good order amongst
the Angels, that the Cherubim casts the fire into
the hands "" of him who wears the sacred vestment ;
or concerning Him Who called the most divine
Gabriel, and said to him, " Make this man under-
stand the vision"," or whatever else is recorded by
the holy theologians concerning the Godlike order
of the Heavenly Hierarchies ; by being assimilated
to which, as far as possible, the discipline of. our
Hierarchy will have the Angelic comeliness, as it
were, in reflection, moulded through it, and con-
ducted to the superessential Source of order in every
Hierarchy.
CAPUT IX.
Concer?iing the Principalities, Archangels^ and Angels^ and concerning their last Hierarchy.
Section I.
There remains for our reverent contemplation a Division which completes the Angelic Hierarchies,
* Dan. ix. 23. ■" Ezek. x. 2—7. " Dan. viii. 16.
36 Diofiysitis the Areopagite
that divided into the Godhke PrincipaHties, Arch-
angels, and Angels. And I think it necessary, to
declare first the meaning of their sacred appellations
to the best of my ability. For that of the Heavenly
Principalities manifests their princely and leading
function, after the Divine example, with order re-
ligious and most befitting the Princely, and their
being wholly turned to the super-princely Prince,
and leading others in princely fashion, and being
moulded, as far as possible, to that prince-making
Princedom Itself, and to manifest its superessential
princely order, by the regularity of the princely
powers.
Section II.
The (Order) of the Holy Archangels is of the
same rank with the heavenly Principalities. For
there is one Hierarchy and Division, as I said,
of them and the Angels. But since there is not
a Hierarchy which does not possess first and middle
and last powers, the holy order of Archangels oc-
cupies the middle position in the Hierarchy between
the extremes, for it belongs alike to the most holy
Principalities and to the holy Angels ; to the Prin-
cipalities because it is turned in a princely fashion
to the superessential Princedom, and is moulded
to It . as far as attainable, and unites the Angels
after the fashion of its own well-regulated and mar-
shalled and invisible leadings ; and it belongs to
the Angels, because it is of the messenger Order,
receiving hierarchically the Divine illuminations from
on the Heavenly Hierarchy. 37
the first powers, and announcing the same to the
Angels in a godly manner, and, through Angels,
manifesting to us, in proportion to the religious
aptitude of each of the godly persons illuminated.
For the Angels, as we have already said, complete
the whole series of Heavenly Minds, as being the
last Order of the Heavenly Beings who possess the
Angelic characteristic ; yea, rather, they are more
properly named Angels by us than those of higher
degree, because their Hierarchy is occupied with
the more manifest, and is more particularly con-
cerned with the things of the world. For the very
highest Order, as being placed in the first rank
near the Hidden One, we must consider as directing
in spiritual things the second, hiddenly; and that
the second, which is composed of the holy Lord-
ships and Powers and Authorities, leads the Hier-
archy of the Principalities and Archangels and
Angels, more clearly indeed than the first Hierarchy,
but more hiddenly than the Order after it, and
the revealing order of the Principalities, Archangels,
and Angels, presides, through each other, over the
Hierarchies amongst men, in order that the eleva-
tion, and conversion, and communion, and union
with God may be in due order ; and, further, also
that the procession from God vouchsafed benignly
to all the Hierarchies, and passing to all in common,
may be also with most sacred regularity. Hence,
the Word of God has assigned our Hierarchy to
Angels, by naming Michael as Ruler of the Jewish
people, and others over other nations. For the
^S Dlonysius the Areopagite
Most High established borders of nations according to number of Angels of° God.
Section III.
But if any one should say, " How then were the
people of the Hebrews alone conducted to the
^^ supremely Divine illuminations?" we must answer,
that we ought not to throw the blame of the other
nations wandering after those which are no gods
upon the direct guidance of the Angels, but that
they themselves, by their own declension, fell away
from the direct leading towards the Divine Being,
through self-conceit and self-will, and through their
irrational P veneration for things which appeared to
them worthy of God. Even the Hebrew people
are said to have suffered the same thing ; for He
says, " Thou ^ hast cast away knowledge of God,
and hast gone after thine own heart "■." For neither
have we a life governed by necessity, nor on account
of the free will of those who are objects of pro-
vidential care, are the Divine rays of the providential
illumination blunted ; but the inaptitude of the
mental visions makes the overflowing light-gift of
the paternal goodness, either altogether unpartici-
pated or inpenetrable to their resistance, or makes
the participations of the one fontal ray, diverse,
small, or great, obscure, or brilliant, although that
ray is one and simple, and always the same and ever
overflowing; for even if, over the other nations (from