Theopathy [from Greek theos god + pathos experience, feeling]

The seventh stage of initiation in the Mysteries, where the candidate becomes a selfless channel for communion with his inner god; the third and last stage of spiritual development -- the first being theophany, the second theopneusty. The sense of theopathy, originally used in the Greek Mysteries, was that the adept "suffered" the full influence of the god within him, becoming a selfless, consenting channel for the divine power pouring through him, in utter disregard of the personal self. Because of the immense personal renunciation involved, such an adept was said to suffer -- meaning to bear or carry the divinity within.

The second of these three initiatory grades, theopneusty, was the same as the third, but in less full degree, and signified that the initiate received the inspiration from above-within and, as it were, was breathed into from above, but did not carry the full load of the spiritual fire or inspirational flow. The first stage, theophany, was by comparison a temporary occurrence and signified the appearance of one's divinity to the initiant's self-conscious perception; the neophyte met his own inner god face to face, and the appearance or theophany lasted for a greater or less time depending upon various circumstances.

Such terms were held secret in the ancient Mysteries, although the words themselves, as time passed, slowly filtered outwards and often became misunderstood, as by Christian theologians.