Theurgy was a form of pagan religious *magic associated with the *Chaldaean Oracles and taken up by the later Neoplatonists. It covered a range of magical practices, from rain-making and cures to animating statues of the gods. Like other forms of *magic, theurgy was based on a theory of cosmic sympathy but in theurgy, as in Neoplatonist metaphysics, sympathy was thought to extend beyond the material world and to unite it with a higher, divine world. Theurgy was accordingly believed to promote the union of the human soul with the divine. Plotinus shows no interest in theurgy but in the next generation it became the focus of a dispute between *Porphyry and *Iamblichus (2). Iamblichus' On the Mysteries argues, against Porphyry, that the human soul cannot attain union with the divine purely by its own efforts of philosophical contemplation; such union requires the assistance of the gods, which can be brought about by theurgy. Most of the later Neoplatonists accepted Iamblichus' position, although they varied in the emphasis they placed on theurgy. *Eunapius records that the pupils of Iamblichus' pupil *Aedesius differed on this point: Eusebius of Myndus apparently disapproved of theurgy while Chrysanthius and *Maximus (3) were enthusiastic practitioners. *Proclus and his school at Athens followed Iamblichus. It has often been thought that the 5th- and 6th-cent. Neoplatonists of *Alexandria (1) were less committed to theurgy than their Athenian contemporaries. In fact, of the pagan Neoplatonists at Alexandria, *Ammonius son of Hermeias is notably silent about both theurgy and the Chaldaean Oracles but the rest share the views of the Athenian school. Theurgy continued to attract the interest of the Byzantine Neoplatonists, particularly Michael *Psellus. See neoplatonism.