Marilena Vlad: Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite on initiation and divine inspiration

My paper focuses on Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite’s perspective about initiation (μυσταγωγία). I try to show that, despite his tremendous work of explaining the names ascribed to God in the Scriptures (Divine Names), as well as the meaning of the rituals (Ecclesiastical Hierarchy), Dionysius does not envision initiation as a process of scholarly exegesis and knowledge acquisition. Rather, initiation is a process essentially linked with the phenomenon of divine inspiration and, as such, it should precede any explanation. The prophets who transmit the divine message, the hierarchs who work the divine rituals, as well as the sacred teachers who explain the texts and the rituals are all described as inspired by God (θεόληπτος). I analyze the inherent difficulties of the relationship between initiation and divine inspiration. Given that initiation can only be acquired through the mysteries, which are divine and divinely worked, I discuss the role of the explanations of divine names and of rituals. The explanations usually follow or accompany the mysteries and for this reason theycan only be communicated to the initiates. In this paper I explore nevertheless whether and, if so, how the explanation itself can become for Pseudo-Dionysius part of initiation.