Iamblichus and Proclus
In addition to his contemplation of Plotinus, Damiani also studied the works of Iamblichus and Proclus, two philosophers who continued the reinvigoration of Platonism begun by Plotinus. Proclus (fifth century ce) wrote extensive commentaries on the Platonic dialogues, which until recently were only available in English in the translations by the nineteenth-century translator Thomas Taylor. Proclus developed his own hierarchical system and correlated different orders of gods, conceived as superessential unities, with each degree of being.
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Proclus: Bound and Infinite
Although Damiani didn’t agree with the way Proclus conceived of the One, he thought there was much of value in Proclus’s writings. For example, in his discussion of the One in chapter 1 of Astronoesis, Damiani elaborated Proclus’s conception (itself based on Plato’s Philebus) that Bound and Infinity (or Limit and Unlimited) are two principles that manifest the One.
For classes that discuss the meaning of Bound and Infinity, see the two class series “Astronoesis: The One and Intellectual-Principle, Series 1” and “Astronoesis: The One and Intellectual-Principle, Series 2“.
Proclus: Monads and Henads
Also, in unpacking the meaning of the essential dignities in the astrological mandala, he made use of Proclus’s idea that Being, Life, Intellect, Soul, Nature, and Body are each unific principles, which Proclus called “monads.” And he used Proclus’s notion of the gods as superessential unities, or henads, to both unfold the highest meaning of the seven Chaldean planets and articulate the structure of the “aspectless aspects” of the One, symbolized by the dignities in the first quadrant of the metaphysical chart.
For more on the role of monads and henads in the astrological mandala, see About the Metaphysical Chart.
For more on the astrological mandala, see the section “The Astrological Mandala and Astrology’s Transcendental Ground.”
To find diagrams about the monads and henads, select either “Henads,” “Henads and Monads,” or “Monads” in the drop-down topic list in the diagram archive. Unfortunately, we don’t have any audio files for most of the classes on Proclus. At best we have some partial class summaries that have been scanned, and of these, only a few have been retyped as Word documents that are included in the archive. But because some of these Proclean ideas are found in many classes where the main focus was not explicitly Proclus and we do have audio and transcripts for some of these, it is important to note the Proclean pedigree of these ideas.
The Orphic and Chaldean Theogonies
G. R. S. Mead in his book Orpheus summarized and organized many of Proclus’s remarks about the various orders of gods in his Theology of Plato and his commentaries on Plato’s dialogues, and Mead created several charts that depicted the hierarchical orders of the gods. Damiani, in turn, created a number of diagrams that correlated these orders with the astrological mandala in a variety of ways.
You can find them in the diagram archive by selecting “Orphic Theogony (G. R. S. Mead)” or “Chaldean Theogony (G. R. S. Mead)” in the drop-down menu.
Iamblichus
Another Neoplatonist that Damiani studied was Iamblichus, who lived at the turn of the third century ce. There is more known now about the powerful influence Iamblichus had on Proclus’s metaphysics than when Damiani was alive. The only text available in English translation at the time Damiani was teaching was On the Mysteries, which argued for the superior value of theurgic practices over purely intellectual contemplation.
Damiani gave a series of classes on this text in 1981, and we have transcripts for all of them (see the class series titled “Iamblichus: On the Mysteries”).