THE THEOSOPHICAL GLOSSARY defines theogony as “the genesis of the gods,” especially an account of the genealogy of the deities in mythology and religion. It is also the title of the most famous work of HESIOD, the first expositor of the Greek hierarchy of gods beginning with CHAOS. Theosophy posits a hierarchy of divine intelligences that emanated from the CAUSELESS CAUSE. These intelligences are powers or forces, rather than personalities, as they are usually understood in popular religion. THE SECRET DOCTRINE demonstrates that the teachings of various religions are rooted in a common primordial wisdom. In Greek mythology, for instance, Chaos corresponds to the “Deep” of Genesis, and the MULAPRAKRITI of the Hindus. They engendered the various creative gods of religions, such as the DEMIURGE, BRAHMA, LOGOS, etc. In the Jewish KABBALAH, these correspond to the unmanifested AIN SOPH, the Ain Soph Aur, and the first Sephirah Kether. This stage of theogony is the highest and corresponds to the Theosophical teachings on the three Logoi. It also refers to stages prior to the manifestation of the cosmos.

Other subsequent intermediate divine intelligences or principles are behind cosmic phenomena. The most important of these are the seven intelligences that follow the third Logos. These are the seven Spirits before the Throne of the Christian Book of Revelation. Various spiritual beings, from the loftiest to the lowest, are identified in religious systems, such as the nine orders of ANGELS in Christianity, as given by DIONYSIUS THE AREOPAGITE, namely, Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominations, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Archangels, and Angels. The theogony of Hesiod speaks of Titans and the other gods of Olympus as intelligences involved with terrestrial evolution. They are the equivalents of the Suras and Asuras of Hindu mythology, the angels and archangels of Christianity, and the DHYANI-BUDDHAS and DHYANI-CHOHANS of northern Buddhism.

V.H.C.

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