ABSTRACT
God relates to his creation through the medium of hierarchy – the structure of the universe and result of God's deliberation. Hierarchy, especially the principles of analogy and symmetry which govern it, allow God to express his love for creation and for creation to find its way back to God. The Dionysian hierarchy is divided into two universes, the celestial and ecclesiastical. While the two hierarchies are not connected, the ecclesiastical hierarchy mirrors the arrangement of its celestial counterpart. In the Celestial Hierarchy, Dionysius uses nine biblical names to demarcate the triple triad of the hierarchy, a formula which he attributes to Hierotheus. For Dionysius, each member of the celestial hierarchy operates its power in a double capacity in so far as each is participated in by a lower rank. Hierarchy is both an object, as the organization of the universe, a psychological rendering of the organization of the universe, and a process.
