Podcast episodes – The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast (SHWEP) · Earl Fontainelle

Naming Divine Nothingness: Introducing the Pseudo-Dionysios

December 18, 2024·1 hr 9 min·5 clips

How did a 6th-century pseudonymous author invent Christian mysticism by fusing Platonism with radical apophatic theology?

This episode introduces the Pseudo-Dionysius, a pivotal 6th-century pseudonymous author who synthesized late Platonist philosophy with Christian theology. Host Earl Fontenelle presents this figure as a major inflection point for Western esotericism and Christian mysticism. The Pseudo-Dionysius successfully adapted the metaphysical system of Proclus, a 5th-century Neoplatonist, into an orthodox Christian framework. He transformed Proclus's concepts, employing intense "apophatic" language to describe a God beyond being and knowledge. This author created a new theological vocabulary, using terms like "hyper-unknowable" and paradox to express divine ineffability. His works, known as the Corpus Dionysiacum, include "On Divine Names," "On Mystical Theology," "On the Celestial Hierarchy," and "On the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy." The Pseudo-Dionysius framed scripture and Christian liturgy as symbolic texts containing hidden, anagogic meanings for initiated interpreters. He presented the church as an initiatory order with hierarchical levels of secret, angelic wisdom. A fascinating claim is that the Pseudo-Dionysius essentially invented the genre of Christian mysticism, particularly through his short work "On Mystical Theology." He refers to Christian scriptures as "secret oracles," blending Hellenistic concepts with Christian tradition. The episode notes his theory of "symbols," adapted from Proclus, where scriptural names for God act as tools for noetic ascent until they dissolve into divine darkness. His description of God as a "monad or henad" directly imports Proclean terminology into a biblical context, creating a fused wisdom tradition. The literary persona is a complex fiction, as the author wrote under the name of Dionysius the Areopagite, a 1st-century Athenian convert mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. Scholars place the actual authorship between 485 and 528 CE, shortly after Proclus's death. The host mentions the intriguing theory that the real author could be Damascius, the last head of the Platonic Academy in Athens. The Pseudo-Dionysius further wove his fiction by citing non-existent works and a teacher named Hierotheus, who is a thinly veiled Christianized stand-in for Proclus. The tone is educational and conversational, blending scholarly exposition with enthusiastic commentary on esoteric ideas. Fontenelle speaks directly to the listener, framing the subject as a "gift that keeps on giving" and a "masterful literary hoax." This episode would deeply interest students of Christian mysticism, Neoplatonism, and the history of esoteric thought within orthodox traditions. Listeners seeking straightforward historical narrative or disinterested in theological metaphysics might find the detailed philosophical analysis less engaging.

As heard by us

A careful account of how Pseudo-Dionysius turns late Platonist metaphysics into a Christian mystical system.

This episode frames Pseudo-Dionysius, the sixth-century pseudo-author, as a major turning point in Western esotericism. It shows how late Platonist metaphysics is taken up, apophatic language is pushed to its edge, and the whole system is recast in Christian terms.

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You want a hard, lucid climb from Pseudo-Dionysius into Christian mystical theology.

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