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hupodoche  Term Image (υποδοχη) Script Image
(Language:  Greek)
Alternate Spellings:
Short Description: reception
Long Description: reception; the receptacle underlying all the world of becoming; for Plato – the material principle, the mother and receptacle of the whole visible cosmos ( Tim.51a); hupodoche is equivalent to space ( chora) and nurse ( tithene); according to Iamblichus, the pure and divine matter receives and reveals the gods in cosmogony ( De myster.232.17); each level on the Neoplatonic chain ( seira) of theophany is regarded as the receptacle of its superior (which functions as a ‘form’ in respect to ‘matter’); the embodied soul is a hupodoche of the god due to the soul’s capacity or theurgic suitability ( epitedeiotes); in theurgy, minerals, plants, animals, divine statues and icons, temples and sacred landscapes can be regarded as the receptacles of the descending divine light or power; initially, this is the Egyptian doctrine of descensio and translatio: the gods and divine powers descend into their images (akhemu) and animate the material world, understood as an imago caeli.
Example(s):
Source(s): The Golden Chain: An Anthology of Platonic and Pythagorean Philosophy, by Dr. Algis Uždavinys
Notes & References:
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Related Terms:
Provided By: Dictionary of Spiritual Terms