{{short description|Mode by which all things are derived from the first reality, or principle}} {{other uses|Emanation (disambiguation)}} {{multiple issues| {{more citations needed|date=November 2022}} {{essay-like|date=November 2022}} }} {{Neoplatonism}} '''Emanationism''' is a theory in the cosmology or cosmogony of certain religious and philosophical systems, that posits the concept of ''emanation''. According to this theory, emanation, from the Latin ''emanare'' meaning "to flow from" or "to pour forth or out of", is the mode by which all existing things are derived from a 'first reality', or first principle. In the emanationist concept all things are derived from this first reality or perfect God, by consecutive steps of degradation, to a lower degree of this first reality or God: at every consecutive step the emanating beings are less pure, less perfect, less divine. Emanationism posits a transcendent principle from which everything is derived, as opposed to creationism, that considers the universe to be created by a sentient God who is separate from creation, and to materialism, which posits no underlying subjective and/or ontological nature behind phenomena, all phenomena being considered immanent.
==Origins== Emanationism is a cosmological theory which asserts that all things "flow" from an underlying principle or reality, usually called the Absolute or Godhead. Any teachings which involve emanation are usually in opposition to creation ex nihilo as emanation advocates that everything has always existed and has not been "created" from nothing.
{{harvp|Kleinman|2007}} writes:
<blockquote>Underlying the worldview of traditional cosmology is the idea that the universe is an emanation of a unitary divine principle. Although this idea has been blended with the revealed creationist doctrines of the major monotheistic religions, orthodox theologians have generally regarded it with suspicion. They have relegated it to the shadowy spheres of mysticism, pantheism, and the occult, which have always been at odds with orthodoxy. The traditional view is summed in the doctrine of emanation formulated by Plotinus.<ref>{{cite book|first=Robert|last=Kleinman|title=Four Faces of the Universe: An Integrated View of the Cosmos|year=2007|pages=186|publisher=Lotus Press|isbn=978-0940985919|oclc=271862709}}</ref></blockquote>
The primary classical exponent of emanationism was the neoplatonic philosopher Plotinus, who in his ''Enneads'' described all things phenomenal and otherwise as an emanation ({{langx|el|ἀπορροή}} ''aporrhoe'' (Ennead ΙΙ.3.2) or ἀπόρροια ''aporrhoia'' (II.3.11)) from the One (ἕν, ''hen''). In 5.1.6, emanationism is compared to a diffusion from the One, of which there are three primary hypostases, the One, the Intellect (νοῦς, ''nous''), and the Soul (ψυχή, ''psyche'').
Another advocate of emanationism was Michael Servetus, who was burned at the stake for his nontrinitarian cosmology.<ref>{{cite book |first=Jerome |last=Friedman |title=Michael Servetus: A Case Study in Total Heresy |year=1978 |page=134}}{{full citation needed|date=December 2024}}</ref>
==Occultism== Emanationism is a common teaching found in occult and esoteric writings. According to {{harvp|Owen|2005}}:
<blockquote>Theosophy draws on Neoplatonic emanationism, in particular the concept of separation from and return to the Absolute, and reworks the Eastern concepts of karma and reincarnation to provide an evolutionary theory of both humankind and the universe.<ref>{{cite book |last=Owen |first=A. |title=The Place of Enchantment: British Occultism and the Culture of the Modern |year=2005 |page=26}}{{full citation needed|date=December 2024}}</ref></blockquote>
Theosophy contends that all organisms—including animals and human beings—and all matter "flow" from a pure spiritual formation in the Absolute to a material one over time to become materialised and that they will later return to the Absolute after the cosmic cycle of life.
As Morgan summarises: "''The Secret Doctrine'' laid out an emanationist view of the development of the physical universe, a process of ebb and flow in which spirit gradually unfolded itself in matter, attaining consciousness, and returning to spirit in a higher and more realised form."<ref>{{cite book |last=Morgan |first=S. |title=Women, Gender and Religious Cultures in Britain, 1800–1940 |year=2010 |page=218}}{{full citation needed|date=December 2024}}</ref> According to the emanationist cosmology of Madame Blavatsky all monads emerge from divine unity at the beginning of a cosmic cycle and return to this source at its close.<ref>{{cite book |first1=John R. |last1=Shook |first2=Richard T. |last2=Hull |title=The Dictionary of Modern American Philosophers |volume=1: A–C |year=2005 |page=252}}{{full citation needed|date=December 2024}}</ref>
Blavatsky in her book ''The Key to Theosophy'' (1889) wrote that: "We believe in a universal divine principle, the root of all, from which all proceeds, and within which all shall be at the end of the great cycle of being."<ref>{{cite book |first=Joy |last=Dixon |title=Divine Feminine: Theosophy and Feminism in England |year=2001 |page=47}}{{full citation needed|date=December 2024}}</ref>
Occultist Samael Aun Weor taught emanationism from his studies with the Kabbalah and Gnosticism. He mapped out a complex esoteric cosmology with matter flowing from different planes of existence all existing in the absolute. As {{harvp|Dawson|2007}} comments:
<blockquote>As with esoteric thought in general, Weor holds that the universe originated in the ordering activity of the absolute upon chaotic primordial matter, giving rise to (emanating) the subsequent planes of the created order (Pleroma).<ref>{{cite book |first=Andrew |last=Dawson |title=New Era, New Religions: Religious Transformation in Contemporary Brazil |year=2007 |page=100}}{{full citation needed|date=December 2024}}</ref></blockquote>
==See also== * {{annotated link|Aeon (Gnosticism)|Aeon}} * {{annotated link|Anathem|''Anathem''}} * {{annotated link|Emanation in the Eastern Orthodox Church}} * {{annotated link|Jerusalem: The Emanation of the Giant Albion|''Jerusalem: The Emanation of the Giant Albion''}} * {{annotated link|Panentheism}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== {{refbegin}} * {{cite web |url=http://www.digital-brilliance.com/kab/essays/Emanation%20Ascent.pdf |title=Emanation & Ascent in Hermetic Kabbalah |first=Colin |last=Low |year=2004}} Presentation and notes on emanation and the roots of Hermetic Kabbalah. {{refend}}
{{Theology}}
Category:Classical theism Category:Divinity Category:Esoteric cosmology Category:Kabbalah Category:Neoplatonism Category:Religious cosmologies Category:Spiritual evolution Category:Theories in ancient Greek philosophy