plato knew the gherkins from iran, after ahrimanic intrigues

Theurgy, from the Greek theourgia means literally something like "actuating the divine" and refers to actions that induce or bring about the presence of a divine or supernatural being, whether in an artifact or a person. It was a practice closely related to magic - not least in its ritual use of material things, sacrifices, and verbal formulas to effect the believer's fellowship with the god, demon or departed spirit. It is distinguished from ordinary magical practices less by its techniques than by its aim, which was religious (union with the divine) rather than secular. use of the term theourgia as well as of the related theourgos, referring to a practioner of the art - arose in the second century CE in Hellenistic circles closely associated with the birth of Neoplatonism. The practice was commended and followed, in the third and later centuries, by certain Neolatonist philosophers and their disciples.[27]