What is "theurgy"

Theurgy \The"ur*gy\ (th[=e]"[u^]r*j[y^]), n. [L. theurgia, Gr. qeoyrgi`a, fr. qeoyrgo`s doing the works of God; qeo`s God + 'e`rgon work: cf. F. th['e]urgie. See Theism, and Work.]

1. A divine work; a miracle; hence, magic; sorcery.

2. A kind of magical science or art developed in Alexandria among the Neoplatonists, and supposed to enable man to influence the will of the gods by means of purification and other sacramental rites.
   --Schaff-Herzog Encyc.

3. In later or modern magic, that species of magic in which effects are claimed to be produced by supernatural agency, in distinction from natural magic.

1560s, "white magic," from Latin theurgia, from Greek theourgia "sorcery," from theos (genitive theou) "a god" (see theo-) + -ergos "working" (see organ). From 1858 as "the working of divine forces in human affairs." Related: Theurgical.

n. 1 A form of magic designed to allow for worship or conjuration of, or communication with spirits or deities. 2 A supernatural intervention in human affairs.

n. magic performed with the help of beneficent spirits

Theurgy (; from Greek θεουργία, Theourgia) describes the practice of rituals, sometimes seen as magical in nature, performed with the intention of invoking the action or evoking the presence of one or more gods, especially with the goal of uniting with the divine, achieving henosis, and perfecting oneself.