anagogic

1 9.9

Describes a spiritual or mystical reading of texts and events

adjective
/ˌænəˈɡoʊdʒɪk/

Literature

: anagógico

Many ancient texts contain anagogic interpretations that reveal deeper spiritual meanings.
anagogic phase

So a Gnostic sorcerer can probably face off against a number of anagogic sorcerers.

Examples

Consequently, we look somewhere else for a symbol that supports anagogic analysis; that is, a symbol based on the concept of the Church as the mystical body of Christ.

Academic text (1992)
What is most significant, in my estimation, is that the five modes parallel the five phases of symbolism: anagogic, mythic, formal, descriptive, and literal.

Academic text (1992)
Anagogic teachers from the past enlighten us.

Fiction book (1991)
In the anagogic phase, literature imitates the total dream of man, and so imitates the thought of a human mind that is at the circumference and not at the center of its reality.

Academic text (1992)
Literary critics will recognize Frye's "literal, allegorical, tropological, anagogic" categories when Dr. Hovaugh charts a course, Balthazar-like, toward a certain star.

Academic text (1998)
Now we have learned from Suidas how the Emperor Diocletian ordered every anagogic document burned at the public market, thinking thereby to thwart or obstruct Egyptian alchemists.

Fiction book (1991)
It so happens that the church, as a symbol, provides an excellent illustration for the differentiation made by Frye between the anagogic and mythic (or archetypal) phases:

Academic text (1992)
For Erasmus, exegesis is the dialectical tension between the two extremes of literal and anagogic meaning, reconciled by the paradoxical, enigmatic figure of allegory.

Academic text (2006)
The philosopher discussed the anagogic significance of dreams in understanding one's inner self.
In her lecture, she explored how anagogic readings of scripture offer insights into moral and ethical dilemmas.

Synonyms

mystical

vsanagogic

106 7.1

Having a spiritual quality that feels beyond normal understanding

focuses on spiritual interpretation of texts or events

mystic

vsanagogic

35 8.1

Having a strong spiritual quality or seeming mysterious

emphasizes interpretation of writings or events in a spiritual way

gnostic

vsanagogic

Specialized

1 9.9

Relating to secret spiritual knowledge that claims to show hidden truths about God

focuses on interpreting texts or events spiritually rather than secret knowledge

anagogical

vsanagogic

Literature

9.9

Gives a religious text a spiritual or hidden meaning

has identical meaning but uses a different adjective form

How Spiritual

anagogic

Literature

1 9.9

allegorical

Literature

7 7.7

literal

120 3.5

Surface Forms

anagogic positive

Morphology

anagogic = anagoge (semi-transparent) = anagoge + ic

The adjective is formed regularly from the noun 'anagoge' with the productive suffix '-ic', but both the base and the resulting sense are rare and specialized, so an average learner would not easily infer the meaning.

Etymology

The word anagogic comes from the Greek parts ana- 'up' and agōgos 'leading', so it literally means 'leading up'. A helpful image is that an anagogic reading 'leads' a text toward a higher, spiritual meaning, which is why the word describes mystical or spiritual interpretation.