3 - Plotinus

Summary

Enneads 4.4.40–43, translation A. H. Armstrong

In his Enneads, Plotinus (b. 205 CE; d. 270 CE) developed one of the first extant theories of “magic”. Plotinus is generally regarded as the founder of Neoplatonism, a late antique philosophical school that represents a new phase in the history of interpretation of the Platonic tradition. The Enneads consist of fifty-four treatises, edited and arranged into six groups of nine texts by Porphyry, his most famous pupil (Greek ennea: “nine”). The passage presented here is part of the fourth treatise of the fourth Ennead (modern scholars number the Enneads in their chronological order, classifying our treatise as number twenty-eight); it is the second of three treatises bearing the title “On difficulties about the soul”.

Compared to other ancient sources, Plotinus' theory of “magic” (most often he uses the Greek term goēteia as a synonym of mageia) has some unique features. First, instead of referring to transcendent beings, Plotinus claims that cosmic “sympathy” (sympatheia) underlies the works of “magic” (mageialgoēteia). For Plotinus, sympatheia signifies an all-pervading force that ties all existing things together. Accordingly, “magic” works by ritually activating or controlling sympatheia; to give one example, Plotinus points to the widely attested practice of ancient love charms. Second, Plotinus claims that there is no general difference between the effects of “magic” and those of “prayer” as he assumes a “natural drawing power in spells” (Enneads 4.4.40); here, Plotinus seems to parallel “magic” with established religious ritual.