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Emanationism is a speculativetheory in thecosmology orcosmogony of certainreligious andphilosophical systems, that posits the concept ofemanation. According to this theory, emanation, from the Latinemanare meaning "to flow from" or "to pour forth or out of", is the mode by which all existing things are derived from a 'first reality', orfirst principle. In the emanationist concept all things are derived from this first reality or perfect God, by consecutive steps of degradation, to a lower degree of this first reality or God: at every consecutive step the emanating beings are less pure, less perfect, less divine. Emanationism posits atranscendent principle from which everything is derived, as opposed tocreationism, that considers the universe to be created by asentient God who is separate from creation, and tomaterialism, which posits no underlying subjective and/orontological nature behind phenomena, all phenomena being consideredimmanent.
Emanationism is a cosmological theory which asserts that all things "flow" from an underlying principle or reality, usually called theAbsolute orGodhead. Any teachings which involve emanation are usually in opposition tocreation ex nihilo as emanation advocates that everything has always existed and has not been "created" from nothing.
Kleinman (2007) writes:
Underlying the worldview of traditional cosmology is the idea that the universe is an emanation of a unitary divine principle. Although this idea has been blended with the revealed creationist doctrines of the majormonotheistic religions, orthodox theologians have generally regarded it with suspicion. They have relegated it to the shadowy spheres ofmysticism,pantheism, and the occult, which have always been at odds with orthodoxy. The traditional view is summed in the doctrine of emanation formulated by Plotinus.[1]
The primary classical exponent of emanationism was theneoplatonic philosopherPlotinus, who in hisEnneads described all things phenomenal and otherwise as an emanation (Greek:ἀπορροήaporrhoe (Ennead ΙΙ.3.2) or ἀπόρροιαaporrhoia (II.3.11)) fromthe One (ἕν,hen). In 5.1.6, emanationism is compared to a diffusion from the One, of which there are three primaryhypostases, the One, theIntellect (νοῦς,nous), and theSoul (ψυχή,psyche).
Another advocate of emanationism wasMichael Servetus, who was burned at the stake for hisnontrinitarian cosmology.[2]
Emanationism is a common teaching found inoccult andesoteric writings. According toOwen (2005):
Theosophy draws on Neoplatonic emanationism, in particular the concept of separation from and return to the Absolute, and reworks the Eastern concepts ofkarma andreincarnation to provide an evolutionary theory of both humankind and the universe.[3]
Theosophy contends that all organisms—including animals and human beings—and all matter "flow" from a pure spiritual formation in the Absolute to a material one over time to become materialised and that they will later return to the Absolute after the cosmic cycle of life.
As Morgan summarises: "The Secret Doctrine laid out an emanationist view of the development of the physical universe, a process of ebb and flow in which spirit gradually unfolded itself in matter, attainingconsciousness, and returning to spirit in a higher and more realised form."[4] According to the emanationist cosmology ofMadame Blavatsky allmonads emerge from divine unity at the beginning of a cosmic cycle and return to this source at its close.[5]
Blavatsky in her bookThe Key to Theosophy (1889) wrote that: "We believe in a universal divine principle, the root of all, from which all proceeds, and within which all shall be at the end of the great cycle of being."[6]
OccultistSamael Aun Weor taught emanationism from his studies with theKabbalah andGnosticism. He mapped out a complexesoteric cosmology with matter flowing from differentplanes of existence all existing in theabsolute. AsDawson (2007) comments:
As with esoteric thought in general, Weor holds that the universe originated in the ordering activity of the absolute upon chaoticprimordial matter, giving rise to (emanating) the subsequent planes of the created order (Pleroma).[7]
