Editing Higher Tiers Explanation (section)

=== THE FORMS: ===
The intellect, or ''nous'', exists outside the soul and serves as the ground of being before the originary One. Its divine unity is second only to the One itself. All things arise from and exemplify the intelligible, which is perfect, unchangeable, and eternal. When the soul is purified, it becomes form—entirely incorporeal, intellectual, and divine. In this purified state, the soul is the source of beauty and related to all things that share kinship with it. When the soul ascends to intellect, it becomes more beautiful, as intellect and the products of intellect constitute the soul’s true beauty. These aspects are not alien to the soul, but intrinsic to its nature when it is truly itself.

Goodness and beauty for the soul, then, are realized through "assimilation to God," because beauty is found in the intelligible realm, where the rest of beings reside. Beings themselves are identical with beauty, while ugliness represents the other nature—primary evil. For God, goodness and beauty are identical, and the Good is synonymous with Beauty.

This reinforces the idea of the ''nous'' as an originary unity that precedes being, while containing all forms beyond the duality of subject and object. These forms, being of the intellect, are perfect, unchangeable, and beyond the constraints of space and time. They are not subject to corruption, distinctions, or determinations. The forms are a trace of the One and possess generative power, both internally and externally. The unity of these forms is the intellect itself, which is generative and ontologically perfect, unconditioned, and not subject to lower causes, whether actual or potential.

In this framework, intellection is of that which is internal to ''Nous'' (Intellect), meaning the Forms are internal to it. The Form is the Idea itself, and thus, Intellect and the intellectual substance are one. Each Idea is not distinct from Intellect but is part of it, with Intellect being wholly composed of all the Forms, and each Form in turn being identical with Intellect. This mirrors how the totality of scientific knowledge contains all theorems, each integral to the whole without being differentiated by place.

Intellect exists within itself, in stillness, always complete and full. If one were to suggest that Intellect is prior to Being, then one might conclude that Intellect, in its actuality and thought, generates and perfects Being. However, if Being is understood as prior to Intellect, the Beings reside within the thinking Intellect, while intellection is an addition to them. Similar to how fire's actuality is part of its essence, intellection is the actuality of the Beings. Ultimately, Being and Intellect are one and share a singular actuality. The distinction between the two is only apparent to us, divided by our understanding, while in reality, the undivided Intellect is also Being and encompasses all things.

Higher Forms such as Goodness and Beauty are reflected onto lower forms like fashion, taste, and justice (although justice itself is a higher form in terms of its nomological nature). Lower forms reflect higher forms in varying degrees of complexity to simplicity, similar to how materials reflect sunlight with differing clarity. Despite these differences in reflection, all forms are essentially the same in their core essence. The Forms are eternal and unchanging, representing emanations from the One. The various hypostases (such as Intellect and Soul) do not occur as temporal events but instead signify degrees of emanation from the One, where the closeness or directness of the emanation determines their reflective power.