Theophanies of the Ancients

...they share in perfection and a vastly superior energy, along with a divine love and an indescribable gladness. That is: When the Gods appear, the souls of those who call upon them are affected in such a way that they obtain a certain other activity—more excellent, more perfect, and in every way better—and they feel a divine love and incredible joy. (Compare the work cited above, chapter 3). There were several kinds of benefits which the appearing Deities Numina: Divine powers or presiding spirits. bestowed upon mortals. The presence of the Gods gives us health of body, virtue of the soul, purity of mind, and, to speak simply, the restoration of all things within us to their own proper principles. That is: The arriving Gods bring health to the body, virtue to the soul, purity to the mind, and restore all our faculties, so to speak, to their own beginnings. (Iamblichus Iamblichus was a Syrian Neoplatonist philosopher; these quotes are from his famous work On the Mysteries, which defends theurgy and divine intervention., location cited, chapter 6). Furthermore, from those to whom they appear, they cut away all vice and all passion. (Iamblichus, book and chapter cited, chapter 31). Indeed, while the soul contemplated these blessed visions, it seemed to obtain another life, to perform other operations, and not even to be human. For often, as he adds elsewhere, the soul would cast off its own life and exchange it for the most blessed activity of the Gods. (Section I, chapter 12; compare Section III, chapter 31).

Thesis 12.

Furthermore, the Gods did not appear in one and the same manner. For sometimes they shone with splendor and fire, and at other times they were covered by mist and cloud. The former is clear from Euripides, where Ion, seeing Minerva The Roman name for the Greek goddess Athena. In the play Ion, she appears as a "deus ex machina" at the end of the drama. appearing, breaks out into these words:

Ah! Who above the god-given house, rising up,
Shows a face of the gods that outshines the sun?
original Greek: Ἔα· τίς οἴκων θεοδότων ὑπερτελὴς / Ἀνθήλιον πρόσωπον ἐκφαίνει θεῶν; From Euripides’ play Ion, lines 1555–1556.

in the play of the same name, lines 1555 and following. Aha! Who, rising and shining above the sacred buildings, shows a face of the Gods like the sun...