Theurgy · θεουργία, the divine work

Literally "god-work" — and Iamblichus's answer to the question of whether thinking can save you. It cannot: the soul has descended too far, so the gods left tokens in stones, plants, names and rites, and acting rightly with those tokens accomplishes what contemplation cannot. Kabbalah says this of the mitzvot: the commandments are not symbols of divine things but operations upon them, deeds performed below that do work above — tikkun. Crucially, both traditions insist this is not coercion. Theurgy is participation in a descent already offered; magic is an attempt to compel. Tehiru sits on the theurgic side of that line, and Iamblichus is the one who drew it.