Giovanni Pico della Mirandola and the Prisca Theologia

 Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, "dei Conti di Mirandola e Concordia" also known as the "Count of Concord", was born in 1463 at the castle of Mirandola to a wealthy military family in Italy. The seemingly prophetic nature of his title Count of Concord will become more obvious the more one learns about him. Since there are other places that a detailed biography can be found, the years leading up to the full outward expressions of his spiritual, intellectual and philosophical understandings (which eventually culminate into his famous "Vatican Project") will be covered briefly to set a general context and foundation. His “Oration on the Dignity of Man”, or just Oratio, is widely considered by scholars to be the manifesto of the Renaissance, encapsulating it’s spiritual and philosophical essence. He is often referred to as a "humanist" and his philosophy is considered as being central to the historic pivot from pre-modern culture to modern concepts about humankind's place in nature.  While from a historical perspective this may be the ultimate effect he contributed to, it is the intention of this short essay to explore Pico's esoteric knowledge and his tripartite or threefold philosophy that goes beyond any simple humanist definition of him.    

 Pico came from what was largely a military family but his mom Giulia decided he was going to be a scholar when he was born. From a young age he was recognized as having a prolific intellect and photographic memory by those close to him. It is recounted that he had a peculiar intuitive longing for some greater unity early on, sensing all things as being connected in some way, and his studies were a process of seeking out his vision of concord and unity. As an adolescent at age of fourteen he briefly studied canon law in 1477 at Bologna. A couple years later he learned ancient Greek at the University of Ferrara, which would undoubtedly assist his philosophical research that was to come. At age eighteen is when he officially began studying philosophy in Padua, one of the most renowned Universities in Italy at the time. This is when he began deeply studying Aristotle along with many of his subsequent commentators. In 1483 he inherited a portion of the family estate and at the age of 20, became one of the wealthiest people in Italy. In 1484 he received and read a copy of Marsilio Ficino's Theologia Platonica, which being so enamored with, urged Ficino to begin translating the works of the "godfather" of Neo-Platonism, Plotinus. In 1486 he was involved in a scandal that was explosive for him. He finished his studies in Paris, returned to his friends Lorenzo de’ Medici and Marsilio Ficino in Florence and left for Rome with 20 associates, servants and guards. On his way, he attempted to abduct (or perhaps save) Margherita, wife of Giovanni de’ Medici in Arezzo, Italy. Publically he was accused of  kidnapping Margherita however many private letters seem to indicate she wanted to run away with Pico. He all but got away with it. Pico was ambushed by soldiers who were sent by the leader of Arezzo, Filippo Carducci, to bring back Margherita. Eighteen of his twenty accomplices were killed and Pico himself was seriously wounded. This event caused a great uproar during Pico’s time and if it wasn’t for the famous ruler of Florence Lorenzo de’ Medici’s intervention on his behalf, he wouldn't have escaped prosecution with a mere fine.    

 This event urged Pico to redouble his efforts in contemplative philosophy and theology. It would be the same year as the disastrous Margherita scandal, 1486, that Pico would finish his 900 theses and his opening introduction or Oration. Pico arrived in Rome in December of 1486 and his 900 theses were ready to be printed. Quickly, voices of dissent began to emerge within the Vatican which convinced Pope Innocent VIII to cancel Pico’s grand debate. The pope then created a commission to review his theses to determine if any were heretical. After at first condemning a small number of the theses as heretical, the ecclesiastical authorities condemned his entire 900 theses and ordered that any copies of them should be destroyed. Needless to say this eclectic approach to prove the underlying truth of Christianity wasn't met favorably at the Vatican. Pico was thus forced to lower the aim of his ambitious debate. The later editions of his opening Oratio reflect this change, with it intended for a "private assembly" as opposed to the Vatican in Rome.  Pico's young death at the age of 31 could have been a result of the anger from powerful people in high places, who saw his philosophical and theological syncretism along with his subsequent vatican debate as a challenge to conventional interpretations of Christian theology. In 2007 Pico's remains were excavated and very high levels of arsenic were found in his bones which undoubtedly proves he was poisoned. Pico's secretary, Cristoforo di Casale, supposedly confessed while being tortured to poisoning Pico, however considering the circumstances the authenticity of such a confession must be questioned. A more reasonable suspect for Pico's death would be the religious fanatic Girolamo Savonarola or one of his henchmen, for reasons which will be explored later.

 Pico was known to have been surrounded by many learned men of his time, of which he frequently hosted dinner parties where he often conversed with Jewish and Christian Theologians along with Aristotelian and Platonic philosophers as well as with scholars of Dante and Petrarch. From this melting pot of influences Pico began to see what he seemingly knew intuitively from a young age, what he believed was a prisca theologia, which literally means "ancient theology", that can be interpreted as an esoteric concord and agreement between many diverse traditions. Pico continued his studies learning Aramaic (Chaldean), Hebrew, Greek and Arabic, likely among other languages, in order to study source material from the respective cultures of each language. Pico's personal library was known to be one of the most rich and diverse of his time, having access to texts which ranged from the classical Greek philosophy of Aristotle, Plato, Plotinus, and Proclus, to Jewish Kabbalistic works, to the Corpus Hermeticum to the Chaldean Oracles and Orphic Hymns. Pico, being close to the Christian priest and scholar Marsilio Ficino, would be one of the first in Europe to have copies of the Corpus Hermeticum and a broad variety of Plato's dialogues. This places Pico in the heart of the Renaissance of classical learning, sometimes termed the “Hermetic Reformation” of Europe. He can also be considered as the first Christian “Cabbalist”, with a C instead of K. This is because he interpreted Kabbalistic texts as being instructive of the Christian tradition, basically visioning Christianity as an unfolding or unpackaging of Judaism. Some scholars have argued that he was attempting to use Kabbalah to convert Jews into Christianity, however it’s not clear that this is the case. As with all things Pico has a syncretic vision of Judaism and Christianity and attempts to draw out this underlying concord.   

 In all of his studies Pico perceived an essential truth emerge which culminated into his "Vatican Project", a great debate in Rome where he intended to present his 900 theses and his opening statement, the so called "Oration on the Dignity of Man" all by memory. It is "so called" because he actually never gave it this name. A more proper name has been suggested for it as "Oration on the Dignity of Philosophy." This is because to Pico, man without Philosophy could be likened to a sensuous brute, or even a vegetative plant. Sadly, the Oration wasn’t published in Pico’s lifetime, as it wasn’t originally meant as a text, rather it was intended to be an opening statement to preface his Vatican debate.

 The Count of Concord was essentially intending to extract what he saw as a perennial truth that transcended any one tradition or school of religion and philosophy. This is why his “new” philosophy was actually anything but new, it was recollecting and breathing life into a tradition from antiquity. He perceived an underlying harmony between Plato and Aristotle, while the predominant understanding of his time (and even to some extent to this day) was that Aristotle is a repudiation of Plato, or even a refinement of Plato's sometimes too mystical dialogues. He claimed that where they appeared to outwardly disagree was primarily the result of the level of reality they were describing. Pico planned to write a text on this reconciliation which was named 'Concord of Plato and Aristotle', however only a small fragment of this text survives. Beyond the harmony of Plato and Aristotle, he saw an essential truth throughout the Kabbalah, Pythagoreanism, Hermeticism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, the mysteries of Dionysius, Eleusius and Bacchus, and what Plato coined as Philosophy, or the love of wisdom - philo-sophia. In January of 1487 he planned to unfold this goal of the reconciliation of all philosophy and all religion into a greater unity at the Vatican, with the Pope presiding, along with all the Cardinals, Bishops, and Arch-Bishops, and any theologian or scholar of the time, whom he famously offered to cover all travel expenses for. It is on this "world stage" he planned to present his opening oration and defend his 900 theses purely by memory. At the time formal scholastic debates of this sort were commonplace, however it was normal to debate three or four, or maybe ten theses at a time but nothing near the 900 that Pico intended to dispute. In a private letter Pico said that he could have continued to introduce many theses well beyond 900 but that he thought it proper to stop at this sacred number. This “sacred” number likely relates to the overall ninefold cosmology which is expressed in Platonic exegesis and in Christian Neoplatonic terms in Pseudo-Dionysius. This great Vatican Project seemingly paralleled his personal mystical experience of reconciling his Titanic, and thus divergent, nature back into its original Dionysiac form, finding this greater threefold unity within himself,  and reflecting this ultimately ineffable concord of the many into the One throughout the whole world.    

 It should be made clear that he didn't plan on defending all 900 theses as true, a sometimes overlooked fact which has caused much confusion for researchers of Pico's work. He had a complex framework of debate setup and it is now understood that the ordering and structure of the 900 theses was done to reflect the most recent schools of philosophical and theological thought, which were in large warring with each-other, while progressing to more ancient, and thus more original sources of truth. Pico therefore finds the least agreement in the more modern theses, and the most agreement in the ancient. The first 400 theses were structured to have a quasi-historical order whereas the the latter 500 theses were according to his own opinion. All in all the 900 theses covered a range of material, from what were for Pico modern day philosophical and theological conclusions, who he termed the Latins, all the way back to Aristotelian, Platonic, and Pythagorean philosophies and Kabbalistic,  Hermetic, Chaldean and Orphic theogonies. In perceiving this structure of his theses, it becomes clear that he intended to reconcile the warring factions of philosophy and theology of his time by returning to the sources that they originated and strayed from. This is why he is such a quintessential representation of the spirit of the Renaissance, because Renaissance means "rebirth" and for Pico that meant the rebirth of this prisca theologia, or ancient religion. For this effort Pico has to be considered one of the greatest syncretists of all time, discovering what he believed is a golden thread which united all these seemingly divergent strains of philosophy and theology into his so-called "new'' philosophical mysticism.   

 His theses also all had a complex numerological significance, such as the section with 72 theses according to his Conclusions, which likely relate to the Kabbalistic 72 names of God. Pico, like other Kabbalist, believed that Moses was given a secret oral tradition - the Kabbalah - that accompanied the ten commandments on Mount Sinai. Kabbalah essentially means "to receive". Although it has multiple layers of meaning, it's most basic is that of it being an oral tradition passed down from teacher to student, perhaps not dissimilar to Plato's dialectic style. Among some Kabbalists, it is commonly believed to be as old (or older) than the Hebrew religion itself. It was then finally written into text in the 10th century. Some scholars discount Pico's trust in the authority of the Kabbalah based on it's age, claiming it is a more recent tradition than Pico and Kabbalists believe. However, it is inaccurate to think the Kabbalah is only as young as the Middle Ages. It is often believed to be much younger by modern scholars because the publication of the first openly known Kabbalist document, the Sefer Yetzirah, is in the 10th century (although there is evidence of fragments going back to the 6th century). Simply because this is the earliest publication of a Kabbalistic text doesn't mean that it was also the beginning of the tradition itself, being a tradition noted by it's secrecy and word of mouth style of transmission. 

 There is strong evidence Pico employed some kind of esoteric associative or Kabbalistic framework that strategically linked theses to other related theses throughout the whole 900. Because of the classic rules of debate that would likely be followed, those debating him at the Vatican would be able to start with any thesis that they wanted. His numerological associations between theses would likely function as a mnemonic device, allowing him to easily control the direction of the debate by allowing him to move from whatever thesis his opponents started with, to another that he thought clarified the matter.

 At the centre of Pico's philosophy, the human being is placed as the ultimate measure of all things, echoing the Delphic Oracle in Greece "know thyself" and the dialogue of Hermes Trismegistus to Asclepius - "A great miracle, Asclepius, is man." To Pico, the human being represents the microcosm of the divine Logos, the word of God and rational philosophical life. As humans we are an intermediate being having part of our existence as material, animal and earthly, and part immaterial, angelic and heavenly. The animalistic part of our nature is divergent, multiplicitous, Titanically torn to pieces, and sensuously full of unquenchable desires that precipitate us in strife from one incarnation to the next. This animalistic or lower part of our nature can be likened to the classical four elements, squareness, and all things that are "governed under the moon." To remedy it, the ancient Greek virtues of Fortitude (earth), Prudence (water), Justice (air) and Temperance (fire) are prescribed. Our heavenly part is all that draws us upward, which is modeled by our Rational, Intellectual nature. It is that part of us that awakens when we see it’s similitude of beauty in works of art, which are thought retain some similitude of the archetypal Beauty, as in Plato’s Symposium, that draws the soul upwards in it's aspirations to the original image of Beauty. This immaterial and eternal part of our nature is governed by threeness, that which is circular and shines dimly through lower material nature. Alchemically it is Salt, Sulfur and Mercury. It is arguably the "philosophy" in the "philosopher’s stone." For it the compasses are an apt symbol, having three parts (two points and their apex), and being that which circles and keeps in due bounds the square of our lower nature. The understanding of these two natures is of primary importance in Pico’s system, as is the eventual dominion of the circular nature of the soul over the squareness of our physical nature. Our birth in the physical body represents a type of spiritual death, where our immaterial essence becomes obscured and ruled by our material nature. The initiatory process is a reversion of this material dominion of the immaterial soul, a remembering of Osiris's or Dionysus's body. This process can be described as the philosophical ascent of the soul which ultimately transcends discursive reasoning all together, similar to the Socratic madness described in the Phaedrus or the Bacchic frenzy. The divesting of garments before initiation, as described by Plotinus and Socrates amongst others,  represents the higher nature separating itself from the bonds of it's physical vestment, performing what is prescribed in the Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus “Earth must be separated from fire, the subtle from the dense, gently with unremitting care.”    

 Pico argues that if we are to Platonically regrow the wings of our soul, the earthly part of our nature must be first cleansed and purified, as in the divesting of garments, because only that which is like can come into contact with that which is like and that which is impure is excluded from that which is pure. The human being doesn't audaciously call heaven and the Gods down to himself, for they are the generators of nature yet aren’t mingled or dependent on it. Instead we are to climb Jacob’s ladder to “heaven”. Through moral rectitude our sensual animalistic nature is tamed, through dialectic we become rational and are led to natural philosophy along with the seven liberal arts and sciences, by which we trace the shadows of nature to the light of their Intellectual Forms. Finally through holy theology, we attain perfection in the ineffable silence and see the “midnight sun” in the heart of the mystery, the hyparxis of all hyparxis, that is, the summit of all summits, the one and supernal unity beyond being and non-being. This is, in essence, the same process as followed in the initiation into the mysteries.

As the main character Lucius relates about the mysteries of Isis in Apuleius's Metamorphoses: 

"I came to the boundaries of death and, having trodden the threshold of Proserpina, I travelled through all the elements and returned. In the middle of the night I saw the sun flashing with bright light. I came face to face with the gods below and the gods above and paid reverence to them from close at hand."

And in the words of Plotinus (205-270 A.D) in his work On Beauty: 

“Let us, therefore, re-ascend to the good itself, which every soul desires; and in which it can alone find perfect repose. For if anyone shall become acquainted with this source of beauty he will then know what I say, and after what manner he is beautiful. Indeed, whatever is desirable is a kind of good, since to this desire tends. But they alone pursue true good, who rise to intelligible beauty, and so far only tend to good itself; as far as they lay aside the deformed vestments of matter, with which they become connected in their descent. Just as those who penetrate into the holy retreats of sacred mysteries, are first purified and then divest themselves of their garments, until someone by such a process, having dismissed everything foreign from the God, by himself alone, beholds the solitary principle of the universe, sincere, simple and pure, from which all things depend, and to whose transcendent perfections the eyes of all intelligent natures are directed, as the proper cause of being, life and intelligence. With what ardent love, with what strong desire will he who enjoys this transporting vision be inflamed while vehemently affecting to become one with this supreme beauty! For this it is ordained, that he who does not yet perceive him, yet desires him as good, but he who enjoys the vision is enraptured with his beauty, and is equally filled with admiration and delight."

And again from the emerald tablet of Hermes Trismegistus, thrice-great Hermes (as translated by Fulcanelli):

1) This is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth:-
2) As below, so above; and as above so below. With this knowledge alone you may work miracles.
3) And since all things exist in and eminate from the ONE Who is the ultimate Cause, so all things are born after their kind from this ONE.   

   According to Pico it is the threefold initiatic pattern that is to encompass our lower nature, guiding the philosopher to recollect and remember himself in the original unity of the one from which he descended through dismemberment by the Titans. It is composed of three major themes, the overcoming of our physical appetites (moral rectitude), natural philosophy (dialectic), and theology. This is at the core of Pico’s philosophical mysticism and is also reflected in the writings of Neoplatonists such as Plotinus and Proclus, the latter of which Pico relied upon heavily. These are all concepts that Neoplatonists abstracted through Plato’s veiled literary oeuvre. The Neoplatonists believe there is a cohesive whole philosophy and theology that shines throughout Plato’s dialogues, so they essentially aimed to clarify what is hidden in Plato's works. Many church fathers were also inspired by Platonism, seeing that it shared certain congruences with Christianity. In Hebrew terms, Pico saw this initiatic tripartite pattern represented in the Tabernacle of Moses in the wilderness, with its three major divisions, through the gate of the outer porch, the inner walls and then the center tent which contained the “Holy of Holies”. The Tabernacle was said to be used by Moses in place of a regular temple and its layout has been thought to represent what eventually became King Solomon's temple, which contained sacred understandings in it's measurements and proportions, as do many ancient temples and cathedrals. It’s threefold division surely isn’t coincidental. Proclus notes in his commentary on the Alcibiades of Plato: 

“Socrates in the Alcibiades rightly observes, that the soul entering into herself will behold all other things, and deity itself. For, verging to her own union, and to the centre of all life, laying aside multitude, and the variety of the all manifold powers which she contains, she ascends to the highest watch-tower of beings. And as in the most holy of the mysteries, they say, that the mystics at first meet with the multiform, and many-shaped genera; which are hurled forth before the Gods, but on entering the interior parts of the temple, unmoved, and guarded by the mystic rites, they genuinely receive in their bosom divine illumination, and divested of their garments, as they say, participate of a divine nature; the same mode, as it appears to me, takes place in the speculation of wholes.   

 For the soul, when looking at things posterior to herself [that is material objects], beholds the shadows and images of beings; but when she turns to herself, she evolves her own essence, and the reasons which she contains. And at first indeed, she only, as it were, beholds herself; but, when she penetrates more profoundly into the knowledge of herself, she finds in herself both intellect and the order of beings.

But when she proceeds into her interior recesses, and into the adytum, as it were, of the soul, she perceives with her eye closed, the genus of the Gods, and the unities of beings. For all things reside in us according to the peculiarity of the soul, and through this we are naturally capable of knowing all things, by exciting the powers and the images of wholes which we contain.”   

 This analysis by Proclus clearly lays out the threefold initiatory pattern along with philosophy as being a reflection of the ancient mysteries, likely Orphic or Eleusinian to Proclus. First the soul observes that which is posterior to herself, or the shadows of the infinite variety of nature - the outer porch of the tabernacle. Then she turns in on herself and evolves the “reasons which she contains”, her intellectual nature - natural philosophy which is the inner porch. Then she proceeds, divested of her garments, into her “adytum” or holy of holies, receives divine illumination and unites through the Platonic Images or Gods, to the One.    

 The rational has a seat in the soul, and the soul’s seat is in intellect, and intellect within the “supernal ineffable darkness” whose approximation is oneness, yet goes beyond even the One itself.  In Platonic ontology there is found an overarching threefold division of the One, the Intellect and the Soul, and in the Christian terms of Pseudo-Dionysius (whose name is clearly a nod to the Dionysian and Bacchic Mysteries) the Seraphim, the Cherubim, and the Thrones, or even the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and in Kabbalistic terms the three pillars of Beauty, Wisdom and Strength. Freemasons may see some correlation to the threefold symbolism that is replete throughout the degrees, along with the three by three by three, the ninefold or enneadic unfolding of the first three orders. This threefold division is mirrored in Psuedo-Dionyius’s angelic hierarchy as well as the Tree of Life. It is foreshadowed by Ain, Ain Soph, and Ain Soph Aur and repeated in the downward threefold patterning of the Tree of Life, the nine culminating in the tenth Sephiroth, Malkuth or the Kingdom. Each of these three divisions all contain a portion of that which precedes it, linking the One cause in its highest and most super-essential ineffable nature, to the many in an infinite variety of creative generative forms. Again, this threefold or tripartite philosophy is found at the core of Pico's work. It is almost needless to say why this was seen as such a significant and essential pattern to Pico. It blends elements of Platonic, Christian, Jewish, Arabic, Hermetic and so called Pagan traditions into a syncretic whole. Pico saw all the disagreements of these traditions as superfluous and ultimately a disagreement in semantics, or the language they used. Pico didn’t blend these traditions together in some kind of wish-washy all encompassing way, but by extracting what he believed to be the primary core truth of each tradition into his “new philosophy” - which we have seen isn’t actually new at all. It is from this underlying harmony that Pico sought to unite “all religions and all philosophy” not only within himself, but on the world stage.    

   Pseudo-Dionysius’s angelic hierarchy is often considered to be a radical Neoplatonic interpretation of Christian Theology. However, to some of the early church fathers the Platonic (and thus Pythagorean and Orphic) philosophy seems to be the true core of Christian orthodoxy while others simply use it to reinforce their belief in the truth of Christianity. Pico draws heavily upon the writings of Pseudo-Dionysius, following a tradition of a Platonic interpretation of Christion theology that includes church fathers such as St. Justin Martyr, St. Clement of Alexandria, Origen, St. Augustine, Albertus Magnus, John Scotus, and Thomas Aquinas. It should be noted that this tradition has continued even until today, modern exponents of it including scholars such as Thomas Taylor (18 century) and Alvin Boyd Kuhn (20th century). In this sense Pico isn’t introducing anything radically new or unorthodox into Christianity, he is simply extending this line of Platonic interpretation. To Pico, as with many esotericists, that which is more ancient is more original and thus closer to the truth, a truth that has been obscured by its dispersion into various cultures and buried by the sands of time. For this reason, arguably Pico was a Platonist more so than a Christian, however he seems (at least outwardly) as enthusiastic about both, which leaves this opinion up for debate. With this point of view in mind, Pico has to be considered as one of the most prolific exponents of this Platonic Christian tradition, representing the culmination of prior centuries of similar, but not quite as grandiose, habits. This Platonic interpretation of Christian exegesis, according to Pico, reaffirms the fundamental truth of the religion and unfolds a prisca theologia or perennial philosophy. Here is an example that can clearly be seen reflected in Pico’s Platonic interpretation of Christianity, as summarized by Pseudo-Dionysius in his Mystic Theology:    

“Supernal Triad, Deity above all essence, knowledge and goodness; Guide of Christians to Divine Wisdom; direct our path to the ultimate summit of your mystical knowledge, most incomprehensible, most luminous and most exalted, where the pure, absolute and immutable mysteries of theology are veiled in the dazzling obscurity of the secret Silence, outshining all brilliance with the intensity of their Darkness, and surcharging our blinded intellects with the utterly impalpable and invisible fairness of glories surpassing all beauty. 

Let this be my prayer; but do, dear Timothy, in the diligent exercise of mystical contemplation, leave behind the senses and the operations of the intellect, and all things sensible and intellectual, and all things in the world of being and nonbeing, that you may arise by unknowing towards the union, as far as is attainable, with it that transcends all being and all knowledge. For by the unceasing and absolute renunciation of yourself and of all things you may be borne on high, through pure and entire self-abnegation, into the superessential Radiance of the Divine Darkness.”  

 This mystic “unknowing” beyond the Intellectual and the Sensual is the same as the understanding that Socrates expressed in his famous phrase ‘I know nothing”, that is, the Noetic realization of the Ineffable One and the Good that transcends our rational and intellectual nature all together. This isn’t to say that the rational and the intellectual are bad, rather they are important links in a chain of being that have to be moved through, connecting through Socratic divine madness - Theia Mania - to the original One of all the multiplicity of that which is generated. It connects the end back to the beginning, like the alchemical ouroboros, giving the plume of wings to the lover’s soul, so it may recollect itself into itself. 

 To Pico, the central problem with being human is dealing with the forces within us that either draw us upward or downward. He saw man as an indeterminate image that contains all potential, such as the "Old Man of the Sea" in Homer's Odessey - the ever-changing Proteus. It could also be that Pico was drawing on a reference found on Proteus in the Orphic Hymns from Ficino's Theologia Platonica. In it, Proteus is said to be the "third essence" and the "seat of the rational soul". It is this potential, when properly understood, that can be defined as freewill. This so-called “free-will”, in Pico’s terms, is the divine Logos that is a miniature spark from the Form generating Intellect. It is this Logos that makes up the rational soul. As Intellect is the intermediary between the Soul and the One, so the human being’s rational nature places him part way between the animal and the spiritual. These intermediaries form links in a golden chain of being that connects the primal first cause to everything that is created. Each link in the chain of being contains the previous, making all things ultimately ineffably interconnected with the One. Through our Protean nature, and thus freewill, Pico suggests we are able to descend Jacob’s ladder of being to its depths, and through moral rectitude overcome the urges of the body and begin the initiatic process of philosophic contemplation, ascending back again to the Good, the One primal cause before all other causes. This is the original battle of good and evil within ourselves, “Behold Adam is become as one of us, knowing good and evil.” Gen. 3:21. As Pico says in his Oratio: 

“The Father infused in man, at his birth, every sort of seed and all sprouts of every kind of life. These seeds will grow and bear fruit in each man who sows them. If he cultivates his vegetative seeds, he will become a plant. If he cultivates his sensitive seeds, he will become a brute animal. If he cultivates his rational seeds, he will become a heavenly being. If he cultivates his intellectual seeds, he will be an angel and son of God. And if he - being dissatisfied with the lot assigned to any other creature - gathers himself into the centre of his own unity, thus becoming a single spirit with God in the solitary darkness of the Father, he, who had been placed above all things, will become superior to all things.”   

 This pattern of an ascent from the lowest part of our nature to the higher clearly follows the Platonic philosophic ascent from the many to the One. The human being contains and is a composite of the three major categories of mineral, vegetal, and animal. The step beyond our animalistic sensuous nature is rational, which can be thought of as an intermediary that links our higher nature to our gross physical nature. This is why Pico considered that if a human is first governed by reason that he should be considered “not an earthly creature, but divine.” This rationality exists in everyone in potential, but is only prominent in those who strengthen it through the art of dialectic. Dialectic in its most mundane level is a dialogue between subject and object, or student and teacher as is seen throughout Plato’s dialogues. Within our own nature it is the part of us that is temporary and the part of us that is eternal, each one pulling us either downward or upward. This is the dialectic within ourselves, through which the mystic philosophical ascent and the “regrowth of the souls wings” takes place. The temporal, or material aspect of us is tutored by the eternal or spiritual nature - soul. In the philosophical tradition dialectic is a method by which the philosopher is able to move from the realm of opinion (doxa) through the dianoetic power into the realm of Noesis or knowing. As Plotinus says in his Enneads: 

“What, then, is the dialectic which ought to be delivered in addition to the former particulars? It is, indeed, a habit enabling its possessor to reason about every thing, to know what each thing is, and in what it differs from other things, what the common something is which it participates, where each of these subsists, if a thing is, what it is, what the number is of beings, and again of non-beings [which are not nothing] but different from beings. This, also, discusses the good, and that which is not good; such things as are under the good, and such as are under the contrary to it; and what that is which is eternal, and that which is not a thing of this kind. All these likewise it discusses scientifically, and not from opinion.”

 In other words, dialectic can be compared to the scientific investigation for truth, in Greek terms the dianoetic (likely where we get the word diagnosis), whereas opinion is related to belief and disbelief, being that of the doxastic nature. The dianoetic power of dialectic leads the philosopher to the principles behind material phenomena, the esoteric light behind shadowy nature, and is therefore a higher expression of what is naturally doxastic, or of the outward appearance which leads to mere belief. If, as some scholars believe, philosophy came from an oral tradition that preceded its written form, this would be an additional good explanation for the dialectical teacher-student format. Perhaps the written philosophic tradition, beginning with Plato, was an attempt at preserving this traditional oral method of communicating ancient knowledge of the mysteries. As Socrates says in the Phaedrus (249b-d): 

“Indeed it is necessary to understand man, denominated according to species, as a being proceeding from the information of many senses to a perception contracted into one by the reasoning power. But this is a recollection of what our soul formerly saw [when riding] with divinity, when in a perfect condition of being; and when she looked down upon what we now consider as realities, and was supernally elevated to the contemplation of that which is true. On this account, the dianoetic power alone of the philosopher is justly winged. For the philosophic memory perpetually adheres as much as possible to those concerns, by an application to which even a God becomes divine. But he who properly uses meditations of this kind, being always initiated in perfect mysteries, alone acquires true perfection.”   

 This theory, that philosophy retains the ancient mysteries, has been pursued seriously by some scholars, however there are some difficulties in proving it considering the historic secrecy around the mystery schools, specifically the Orphic, Pythagorean, Eleusinian, Dionysian and Bacchic. In this way, Plato is seen by many as an inheritor of ancient theological and thus mystical truth, and all of his writings as a way of preserving this truth in a veiled literary method for “those who have eyes to see”. Plato’s works are essentially a privation of the ancient mysteries so they could remain available in some fashion for posterity. By this interpretation, arguably the entire Western philosophical tradition is firmly rooted as a means of decentralizing the mysteries and making them accessible for those who can pierce through the veils of their language.    

 According to Pico, this initiatory process is a movement through the Platonized Pseudo-Dionysian  Christian angelic hierarchy, an ontology which is also confirmed by St. Thomas and St. Gregory. Starting from lowest to highest is the Thrones of judgement, the Cherubim of Intellectual splendour, to the Seraphim’s burning fiery love. Again Pico’s tripartite pattern emerges. The “active life” of the human being is governed by the Thrones, where judgement and thus moral virtues  form the material and active expression of our life. The Chereb, being located as the Intellect and an intermediary between the higher Seraphim and lower Thrones, partakes of both, illuminating the lower with the higher and through Dialectic communicating the lower back to the higher. The Seraphim correlates to the “radiance of Divine Darkness” or “center of unity” and “solitary darkness of the Father”, the Platonic One and Good. Thus Pico said that, according to the apostle Paul, the process by which the cherub descended to the lowest regions and ascended back again was through the triplex via, purgatio-illuminatio-unitio or purification (moral rectitude - the thrones), illumination (natural philosophy/Dialectic - the cherub), and perfection (the one and the good - the seraph). As Pico so eloquently describes in his Oration:
 
“Once we, inspired by the cherubic spirit, have reached this point through the art of speaking or of reasoning, that is, philosophizing according to the grades of Nature, penetrating the whole from the centre to the centre - then shall we descend, dashing the one into many with Titanic force like Osiris, and ascend, drawing together with Phoebean might the many into the one, like Osiris’s limbs, until at last, resting in the bosom of the Father who is at the top of the ladder, we shall be made perfect in theological bliss.”   

 This again clearly illustrates Pico’s threefold initiatory pattern that is a major theme throughout his work. Ultimately, to Pico, philosophy is the panacea and universal medicine that cleanses and brings peace to the lower divergent multiplicity and warring forces of nature, or strife. It is likely why Pico associated philosophy with the “prince of peace”, Jesus Christ, healer of souls. As Homer would describe, it is the peace that takes us out of the wild seas of strife, to return unrecognizable, humbled and transformed to the shores of Ithaca. From Pico's Oration:

“So gently called, so kindly invited, we will then fly away into the embrace of the most blessed Mother like terrestrial Mercuries with winged feet and will rejoice in the longed-for peace. This is that most holy peace, the indissoluble bond, the harmonious friendship in which all souls, in one mind (a mind that is above all minds) are not only in agreement but, indeed, in a certain ineffable way, inwardly become one.”   

 To Pico, this represented the end of all philosophy and intellectual pursuits. The process of this ultimate unity and peace can be found in Pico’s defense of high magic, as opposed to “low magic” that he speaks of in his Oration. Pico’s “good magic” which is based on the ancient philosophical practice of theurgy (literally god work - theo, god, and ergasia work) - the ritual action which leads to the unification with the Gods and ultimately God or the One.  In the ancient Greek philosophical tradition, the Gods are thought of as the ideas and image of God. Each God is considered such because it expresses a characteristic and partakes in the nature of the One. This is called philosophical monism, which harmonizes the Greek pantheon of Gods with the monad, or one which precedes all ideas and forms. It reconciles the seemingly contradictory nature of polytheism and monotheism. It is clearly mirrored in the Platonic idea of the unknowable one that is the cause of all subsequent multiplicity. While this first cause is described as ineffable and unknowable, the prescribed tripartite initiatic process was indeed a method for coming into contact with this one. As unbelievable as it may seem, this theological foundation arguably is at the heart of all Western philosophy. Plato was a follower of Pythagoras, and Pythagoras was a follower of Orpheus, which links these illustrious sages into a golden chain of wisdom, a mystery tradition from ancient times (Algis Uzdavinys, Philosophy and Theurgy in Late Antiquity). This process is also outlined and synthesized beautifully in the so-called Neoplatonic tradition, from the likes of Plotinus, Porphyry, Iamblichus, Plutarch, Syrianus, Proclus, Damascius, Ammonius, Olympiodorus and Stephanus. Proclus’s six books on the Theology of Plato, which is itself divided into three major sections, should be noted as of particular interest to students of Pico, as it was a major source for him. 

 The unfortunate scholarly designation of this tradition as “Neoplatonic” is arguably means by which it has been discounted by mainstream scholars as an imaginative reinterpretation, thus not “original” Platonism. Others see the figures in this tradition as monumental intellects who were able to synthesize and clarify the underlying themes of Plato, seeing beyond their garment and making more obvious their esoteric import. This Neoplatonic, or more accurately Platonic tradition was notably revived in the 18th and 19th centuries by the prolific works of Thomas Taylor, who was the first person to translate Plato’s entire works into English. It re-emerged in the 20th century in the scholarship of Alvin Boyd Kuhn, especially in his incredible book “The Lost Light: An Interpretation of Ancient Scriptures.” Kuhn interprets Egyptian, Judaic, and Christian scriptures using Platonic philosophy. 

 Some scholars have suggested that towards the end of his life Pico reversed many of his earlier views on the Kabbalists, Chaldeans, and Prisci Theolgi, based on his text 'Disputations Against Divinatory Astrology', along with his nephew Gianfrancesco's post-humus, heavily edited publications, such as his 'Vita' and 'Opera'.  It should be noted that in Pico's 'Disputations Against Divinatory Astrology,' he didn't argue against the art in total, he believed it had a theological meaning and at least a sidereal influence, rather he argued against those of his day who used astrology as a predictive deterministic model - which was clearly opposed to his notion of free-will as expounded in his Oration. Gianfrancesco obtained all of Pico's manuscripts and unfinished works upon his death, against Pico's will, which has been proven to be a disaster for Pico's legacy. While Gianfrancesco publicly claimed to be a humble defender of his uncle's reputation and literary legacy, he loathed Pico's eclectic and syncretic methodologies that blended "heretical" pagan sources with the "pure" Christian theology. In the 1490's, the extreme anti-Renaissance Dominican friar Savonarola was gaining increasing political influence in Florence. Savonarola would eventually go on to destroy and undo much of the Renaissance legacy of Florence, going so far as to publicly burn poetry, literature, and artwork that he deemed heretical (famously known as the Burning of the Vanities). Under the influence of Savonarola's religious furor, Gianfrancesco attempted to undo and re-frame Pico's literature and legacy. For example, it is likely that Gianfrancesco had a fully completed version of Pico's Concord of Plato and Aristotle, which now only survives as a small fragment. Not only did Gianfrancesco fail to publish the work, he reversed Pico's efforts by publishing his own text entitled 'Examination of the Vanity of the Doctrine of the Gentes and of the Truth of Christian Teachings'. In this text he plagiarizes his uncle's works to outrageously reverse Pico's true beliefs and attack the very same Gentes and ancient philosophers that Pico originally defended in his Concord! There are also a couple of provably forged texts that were attributed to Pico which have been used as evidence of his reversal of earlier thinking, notably "Twelve Rules, Twelve Arms, Twelve Conditions" as well as "Commentary on the Lord's Prayer". The distortion of Pico's literary legacy at the hands of those who can only be termed as anti-Pico, namely Gianfrancesco and Savonarola, would reverberate for centuries and confuse subsequent scholars of his works. Their combined efforts to undo Pico leaves much wanting to understand the full scope of his genius, as all we have left are the mangled remains of his later texts which largely are the result of their literary crimes against Pico. While there is evidence that Pico's philosophy did evolve and develop to become more nuanced and refined towards the end of his life, there is no strong evidence that he reversed the main tenants as expressed in his Oration and 900 Theses.

 It should be obvious that there isn't an exact one-to-one relationship, so to speak, between the diverse traditions that Pico covers throughout his works, however there does seem to be a reasonable argument for a "golden thread" that weaves its way throughout them. It is this thread that Pico sought throughout his diverse studies as a means of syncretically reconciling seemingly contradictory traditions. If one is persuaded by the work of Graham Hancock, there is plenty of speculation to be had as to if this prisca theologia is the remnants of a more ancient universal knowledge from a lost civilization of a former golden age. If the reader is inclined to pursue this avenue of thinking, Graham’s book’s “Fingerprints of the Gods, “The Master Game”, and “Magicians of the Gods” are all highly recommended. His theory of a lost civilization fits neatly into most esotericists' world view, that there is a more ancient knowledge that was at least partially lost, and then fragmented into many variations and cultural traditions throughout the world. While it is not expected that the reader believes such a bold claim outright, there is vigorous research and scholarship on this subject that deserves thought and consideration. 

   

 Pico’s magnum opus can be seen as the culmination of this initiatic journey within himself, which he then intended to reflect in his “active” life on the world stage with his Vatican project. Although the project failed in its initial aim, it’s impact would echo for generations to come. Pico became known as the “Phoenix of the Renaissance” to many, not only for the elegance and ambition of his aim for transforming the world but also because of his keen intellectual capabilities and lofty spiritual/theological aspirations. While it is true that there are many disagreements in the details of different cultural mythologies and religions, time and time again many points of concord can be found. He was able to comprehend and give a voice to what he thought is a prisca theologia or perennial philosophy, that underlying unity that ultimately transcends any one religious or philosophical tradition. The truth as to if Pico achieved this is left for the diligent investigator to decide. This can only really ultimately be done by retracing his sources, and there is some evidence that this is the effect he intended to have. Upon this reflection, it leads one to view the figure of Pico as a premier syncretist and a landmark in the ancient philosophical tradition. For him the end of philosophy is the same as the first principle, the One that created all things. Through retracing the process of our descent, the path back will become clear. It’s very similar to the overarching theme in Homer’s Odyssey, with Odysseus’s strife at sea (the souls descent into a body), along with his transformation from a prideful warrior to a humble beggar on his final return to his homeland (the origin of the soul), Ithaca.

 In summary, Platonically this process is primarily the One, the Intellect and the Soul. Kabalistically it is the Tree of Life and its three pillars, Beauty, Wisdom and Strength. In Christianity it is Jacob’s ladder, along with the Thrones, the Cherubim, and the Sepharim. Masonically it is the three degrees along with the search for the lost word, only known by Hiram King of Tyre, Solomon, and Hiram Abiff. The descent or katabasis of our soul and it's ascent or anabasis follow the same path. 

As Heraclitus (500 B.C.) notes in his fragment “On the Universe”:

"LXVII. Immortal mortals, mortal immortals, one living the others’ death and dying the others’ life.
LXVIII. For it is death to souls to become water, and death to water to become earth. But from earth comes water, and from water, soul.
LXIX. The road up and the road down is one and the same.
LXX. The beginning and end are common."

The soul’s birth into a body is the symbolic death or slumber of its spiritual nature - it’s winter, whereas through the philosophical death it detaches itself from the dominion of the body and remembers itself in the summer of it's origin. As Socrates relates before his famous death by drinking hemlock, in Plato's Phaedo, philosophy is essentially preparation for death:


“It really has been shown to us that, if we are ever to have pure knowledge, we must escape from the body and observe things in themselves with the soul by itself. It seems likely that we shall, only then, when we are dead, attain that which we desire and of which we claim to be lovers, namely, wisdom…”


“…those who practice philosophy in the right way are in training for dying, and they fear death least of all men.” 

 This essential mission of philosophy is not surprisingly echoed in various the mystery traditions, which Pico must of undoubtedly recognized. Not only is it found in the Orphic, Eleusinian and Dionysian mysteries but also among the Egyptians, as noted by the eminent scholar on philosophy Algis Uzdavinys in his book "Philosophy and Theurgy in Late Antiquity" (2010):


"The Egyptian journey of Ra's ba, known as 'the path of two ways', is followed by both the soul of the dead and that of the hero, the initiate-philosopher who 'dies' before his actual physical death...both Gilgamesh and Odysseus perform this cosmic journey at the edges of the earth (perata ges)."

And the correlation between the ancient mysteries and philosophy is again reaffirmed in Plato's Phaedo:

"...but truth is in fact a purificaion from all these things, and self-restraint and justice and courage and wisdom itself are a kind of purification. And I fancy that these men who established the mysteries were not unenlightened, but in reality had a hidden meaning when they said long ago that whoever goes uninitiated and unsanctified to the other world will lie in the mire, but he who arrives there initiated and purified will dwell with the gods. For as they say in the mysteries, 'the thyrsus-bearers are many, but the mystics are few'; and these mystics are, I believe, those who have been true philosophers."

 Given this mystical, transcendental core of the Western philosophical tradition it is very ironic what philosophy has come to mean today, that is, discursive reasoning and logic. While it originally did include rationality as an important component, it didn't end with it as the most important. Ancient philosophy goes beyond mere words into the realm of theology and mysticism, as is hopefully made more clear in this essay. 
It provides access to an authentic spiritual tradition that is found right at the core of the foundation Western literature and culture, including even the Iliad and the Odyssey.

 Hopefully this short summary of Pico's spiritual and philosophical inspirations will inspire the reader to look deeper into this subject, especially including some of the sources mentioned in this text that he relies on.  If one is interested in learning more on Pico I highly recommend the more recent book “Pico della Mirandola: Oration on the Dignity of Man: A New Translation and Commentary” as well as "Syncretism in the West: Pico's 900 Theses".

In the final words of Pico at the end of his Oration:

“So that this may become clear to you by the facts, most reverend fathers, and so that my oration no longer postpone the object of your desire, most excellent doctors (whom not without great delight I see ready and, girded up, spoiling for a fight), let us take up our arms, as if to the sound of the battle trumpet, and may the outcome be fruitful and favorable.”