Theurgy and Aesthetic Experience: The Artistic Configuration of the Sacred in Byzantine Thought

Sarebannejad, Mohsen; Bolkhari Ghehi, Hasan

doi:10.30465/os.2026.53306.2076

Theurgy and Aesthetic Experience: The Artistic Configuration of the Sacred in Byzantine Thought

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Mohsen Sarebannejad ¹

Hasan Bolkhari Ghehi ²

¹ Ph.D., Advanced Studies of Art , College of Fine Arts, University of Tehran

² Professor, Advanced Studies of Art, College of Fine Arts, University of Tehran

10.30465/os.2026.53306.2076

Abstract

Introduction
In Byzantine philosophical–religious thought, beauty is not understood merely as an aesthetic quality or a subjective experience, but as a mode of sacred presence and an ontological event grounded in manifestation. Unlike modern aesthetic theories that separate art from ritual and metaphysics, Byzantine culture integrates these domains within a unified vision of reality structured by divine epiphany. Within this framework, theurgy functions as the mediating principle between the intelligible and the sensible realms. It is not limited to ritual performance but represents a metaphysical process through which divine energies become perceptible in symbolic and artistic forms. Rooted in Neoplatonic metaphysics and developed within Christian theology, especially in the works of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, Byzantine aesthetics interprets art as a field of participation rather than representation. Ecclesiastical rites, sacred images, architecture, and music are not decorative expressions but vehicles of divine manifestation. Consequently, aesthetic experience becomes a form of ontological participation in the sacred. This article seeks to clarify how theurgy transforms aesthetic perception into a metaphysical experience and how Byzantine sacred art embodies what can be termed a theurgic aesthetics. The central question of this research is: how does beauty, through theurgy, move beyond sensory perception and become a mode of existential and spiritual participation in divine reality?
Materials & Methods
This research adopts a qualitative and philosophical–hermeneutical methodology based on textual analysis of primary and secondary sources from Neoplatonic philosophy and Byzantine theology. Core materials include the works of Plotinus, Proclus, Iamblichus, and Pseudo-Dionysius, alongside modern scholarship on Byzantine aesthetics and sacred art.
The method is interpretive and comparative:
1.                   Key concepts such as beauty, manifestation, symbol, light, and participation are analyzed within Neoplatonic metaphysics.
2.                   These concepts are then examined in their transformation within Christian Byzantine theology.
3.                   Finally, their aesthetic implications are explored through the structure of ritual, iconography, and ecclesiastical art.
Rather than providing a purely historical reconstruction, the study aims to articulate a coherent philosophical framework for understanding theurgy as the foundation of aesthetic experience in Byzantium. This approach allows for identifying continuities and conceptual shifts between Neoplatonic ontology and Christian sacramental aesthetics.
Discussion & Results
The findings demonstrate that Byzantine aesthetics is inseparable from theurgic metaphysics. In Neoplatonism, beauty is understood as the manifestation of unity within multiplicity and as the visible expression of intelligible order. Plotinus interprets beauty as participation in the One through form and harmony, while Proclus conceptualizes it within the triadic structure of remaining (monē), procession (proodos), and return (epistrophē). This structure provides the ontological rhythm of beauty as an event of emergence and return.
Iamblichus introduces theurgical practice as a necessary complement to intellectual contemplation, emphasizing that material symbols can carry divine energies and function as instruments of participation. This shift grants matter a positive metaphysical role and prepare the ground for Byzantine sacramental aesthetics.
In Pseudo-Dionysius, this metaphysical structure is reinterpreted theologically: beauty becomes a divine name and a mode of God’s self-disclosure. Symbols and rituals are not merely pedagogical devices but loci of divine presence. Light, harmony, and hierarchy organize both cosmic order and liturgical experience. Artistic forms—icons, mosaics, architecture, and chant—thus become manifestations of divine energies within the sensible world.
The results indicate that in Byzantine thought, aesthetic perception is inherently participatory. Seeing an icon or hearing sacred music is not an act of detached observation but an encounter that transforms the perceiver. Art operates as a theurgical act that elevates sensory experience into metaphysical contemplation. Beauty functions as a bridge between human perception and divine reality, dissolving the boundary between art, ritual, and ontology.
This theurgic aesthetics is grounded in three principles:
1.                   Manifestation (epiphany): Beauty appears as the sensible expression of the divine.
2.                   Symbol: Artistic forms mediate rather than represent sacred reality.
3.                   Participation: Aesthetic experience involves existential engagement, not mere cognition.
Thus, Byzantine sacred art embodies an ontology of presence in which matter becomes transparent to transcendence.
Conclusion
This study argues that Byzantine aesthetics cannot be understood apart from theurgy. Beauty is not an autonomous aesthetic category but a mode of divine manifestation realized through ritual, symbol, and artistic form. Theurgy provides the metaphysical foundation that unites art, liturgy, and contemplation into a single experiential structure of participation.
The originality of this research lies in conceptualizing Byzantine sacred art through the notion of theurgic aesthetics, which interprets artistic creation and perception as acts of ontological communion with the sacred. This framework offers a renewed understanding of the relationship between art and transcendence and challenges modern separations between aesthetic experience and religious meaning.
By rethinking beauty as an event of presence rather than representation, this study contributes to contemporary philosophical discussions on sacred art, ritual aesthetics, and metaphysical participation. It also opens new possibilities for comparative dialogue between Byzantine thought and modern theories of aesthetic experience grounded in embodiment and relational ontology.

Keywords

Theurgy

Aesthetics

Byzantine Tradition

Sacred Art

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