HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
THE 
 
 THEOLOGICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS 
 
 OF 
 
 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS, 
 
 \v 
 
 CHRISTIAN NEOPLATONIST. 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL GREEK, WITH 
 PREFACE, NOTES, AND INDICES. 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN DAVID CHAMBERS, M.A., F.S.A., 
 
 OF ORIEL COLLEGE, OXEORD, RECORUEB^F NEW SARUM. 
 
 UNIVERSITY) 
 ^ r* * o^ 
 
 With thrice-great Henns." MILTON'S "II Penseroso. 
 
 EDINBUEGH: 
 T. & T. CLAEK, 38, GEOEGE STEEET. 
 
 MDCC(?LXXXII. 
 
H 
 
 
 g 
 
 PRINTED BY THE COMMERCIAL PRINTING COMPANY 
 FOR 
 
 T. & T. CLARK, EDINBURGH. 
 
 LONDON, . 2, ^ ^/.A3 . HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO. 
 
 DUBLIN, .... GEORGE HERBERT. 
 
 NEW YORK, . SCRIBNER AND WELFORD. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAET I. 
 
 POEMANDRES. 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 I. Poemandres, ...... 1 
 
 II. To Asclepius. Catholic Discourse, ... 16 
 
 III. Sacred Discourse, . . . . .24 
 
 IV. To his own Son Tat. Discourse: The Crater or 
 
 Monas, ...... 30 
 
 V. To his own Son Tat. That the Invisible God is most 
 
 Manifest, ...... 36 
 
 VI. That in The God alone is The Good, and by no means 
 
 anywhere else, ..... 42 
 
 VII. That the greatest evil among men is ignorance of The 
 
 God, . . . . . .45 
 
 VIII. That none of the Entities perish; but mankind erro- 
 neously call the changes destructions and deaths, . 47 
 IX. Concerning Understanding and Sense, and that in The 
 God only is The Beautiful and The Good, but else- 
 where not at all, ..... 50 
 
 X. The Key. To his Son Tat, .... 55 
 
 XI. Mind to Hermes, ..... 68 
 
 XII. Respecting Common Mind. To Tat, ... 77 
 
 XIII. To his Son Tat. On a Mountain. Secret Discourse 
 
 about Regeneration and Profession of Silence, . 87 
 
 Secret Hymnody, . . .93 
 
 XIV. To Asclepius. To be rightly wise, . . 96 
 
 PART II. 
 
 EXCERPTS FROM HERMES BY STOB^US. 
 
 I. Of Truth. From the things to Tat, . . .100 
 
 II. Of Death. From Asclepius, .... 104 
 
 III. Of God. From the things to Tat, . . 105 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 IV. From Stobseus, Physica, 134, 106 
 
 V. Hermes to the Son, . . . . .107 
 
 VI. Concerning the Economy of the Universe. Of 
 
 Hermes from those to Ammon, . . .108 
 
 VII. Of Hermes from those ,to Ammon, . . . 109 
 
 VIII. Of Hermes from the things to Tat, . . 109 
 
 IX. Of Hermes from the things to Tat, . . . Ill 
 
 X. Of Hermes from that to Tat, . .111 
 
 XI. Of Hermes from the things to Ammon, . . 116 
 
 XII. Of Hermes from the things to Tat, . . .117 
 
 XIII. Of Hermes from those to Ammon, . . . 122 
 
 XIV. Of Hermes from those to Ammon to Tat, . . 123 
 XV. Of Hermes, 125 
 
 XVI. Of Hermes, 126 
 
 XVII. Of the Same, 127 
 
 XVIII. Of the Same, 128 
 
 XIX. Of the Same, 129 
 
 [As to the Sacred Book.] 
 
 XX. Of Hermes, 131 
 
 XXI. Of Hermes from that to Tat, . . .132 
 
 [As to the Decans.] 
 
 PAET III. 
 NOTICES OF HERMES IN THE FATHERS. 
 
 I. Justin Martyr, . . . . . .138 
 
 II. Tertullian, . . . . . .139 
 
 III. Cyprian, ...... 140 
 
 IV. Eusebius Pamphilus, . . . . .140 
 V. Clemens Alexandrinus, .... 141 
 
 VI. Firrnianus Lactantius, ..... 141 
 
 VII. Arnobius, ...... 148 
 
 VIII. Augustine of Hippo, ..... 149 
 
 IX. Cyrillus Alexandrinus, .... 149 
 
 X. Suidas, ....... 154 
 
 INDEX, ........ 156 
 
 Addendum to Note 2 on page 9. 
 
 It is possible also that Hermes may here refer to the traditional 
 " Seven Wise Men " mentioned by Philo Judseus in his Treatise, 
 " Every man virtuous also free," ch. xi., whom he speaks of as then 
 " being very ancient. " 
 
((UNIVERSITY 
 
 v .^ 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE IMercurius or Hermes Trismegistus of legend was a 
 personage, an Egyptian sage or succession of sages, 
 who, since the time of Plato, has been identified with the 
 Thoth (the name of the month September) of that people. 
 This Thoth is the reputed author of the "Kitual of the 
 Dead," or, as styled in Egyptian phraseology, the "Manifes- 
 tation of Light" to the Soul, who through it declared the 
 will of the Gods and the mysterious nature of Divine 
 things to Man. 1 Dr Pietschmann, in his work on Hermes, 
 which exhaustively treats of this subject, 2 gives a list of 
 authorities for these facts, ranging from Plato down to 
 Syncellus, circa A.D. 790. He states, however (p. 33), that 
 by the time that the so-called Hermeneutical writings were 
 collected together, the identity of Hermes with Thoth was 
 forgotten, and Thoth became his son Tat, and Asclepius 
 his disciple, both of whom he instructs in the writings now 
 translated. Subsequently Pietschmann informs us, quot- 
 ing Letronne, 3 that the epithet " Trismegistus " appears 
 first in the second century of the Christian era, and that, 
 before that period, Hermes was designated by the repeti- A 1 
 tion of the " peyas, ft'eyas, neya; " only, as on the Eosetta 
 Stone. 
 
 He was considered to be the impersonation of the reli- 
 gion, art, learning, and sacerdotal discipline of the Egyptian 
 priesthood. He was, by several of the Fathers, and, in 
 
 oi-7 
 
 TJ 
 
 1 Rawlinson's Egypt, i. 136, and the authorities there quoted. 
 
 2 Leipsic, Engelmann, 1875, pp. 31-33. 
 
 3 Ibid. p. 35, " Inscription Grecque de Rosette," Letronne, Paris, 
 1841. 
 
viii PREFACE. 
 
 modern times, by three of his earliest editors, supposed to 
 have existed before the times of Moses, and to have ob- 
 tained the appellation of " Thrice greatest," from his three- 
 fold learning and rank of Philosopher, Priest, and King, 1 
 and that of "Hermes," or Mercurius, as messenger and 
 authoritative interpreter of divine things. In the Hiero- 
 glyphics he, like Horus, is represented by a bird with a 
 hawk's head, and to him was sacred the Ibis and the 
 Moon. 2 
 
 f This Hermes and there was but one among the ancient 
 I Egyptians 3 was worshipped as a god by them. Terfcul- 
 lian 4 says, " In ancient times most authors were supposed 
 to be, I will not say god-like, but actually gods ; as, for 
 instance, the Egyptian Hermes, to whom Plato paid very 
 great deference." 
 
 / Clement of Alexandria 5 writes, " Hermes of Thebes and 
 Esculapius of Memphis ex vate Deus ; " and he subse- 
 quently gives a detailed account of his works, forty-two 
 in number four of astrology, others of astronomy, geology, 
 and hieroglyphics, and thirty -six of philosophy, hymns 
 to God, religious ceremonies, and sacerdotal discipline. 6 
 Lactantius 7 expresses himself thus (quoting Cicero, "De 
 Natura Deorum," Lib. iii.) : " Although a man, he was of 
 great antiquity, and built Hermopolis, and is there wor- 
 shipped as well as at Pheneus. He was most fully imbued 
 with every kind of learning, so that the knowledge of 
 many subjects and arts acquired for him the name of 
 
 ' 
 
 1 See the edition of the works of Hermes by Frangois de Foix, 
 Comte de Candalle, assisted by the younger Scaliger. 
 
 2 Champollion the younger (" Pantheon Egyptien"). Several hiero- 
 glyphical representations of him, under various Egyptian names, are 
 given by Pietschmann, p. 1. 
 
 3 See Pietschmann, ibid. pp. 35, 36. 
 
 4 " De Anima," ch. 2. 
 
 6 Stromata, I., ch. 21, p. 389, Oxford Edition, Lib. vi., ch. 4, p. 757. 
 
 6 The " Kitual of the Dead," vulgarly attributed to Hermes, as at 
 present discovered, consists of three Books redivided into 23 portions 
 and about 165 chapters. See Eawlinson's Egypt, i. 138. 
 
 7 Lib. i., ch. 6. 
 
PREFACE. ix 
 
 Trismegistus." Further, S. Augustine 1 relates, "He, the 
 fifth Mercury (as Lactantius had thought also), and his 
 friend Esculapius (or Asclepius, grandson of the first) were 
 men, and became gods, Mercurius and ^Esculapius, after 
 the Greek fashion." Cyril of Alexandria (" Contr. Julian.," 
 i. 30a, circa 412), speaks of Hermes in general thus: 
 " This Hermes then, him of Egypt, although being initia- 
 tor (reXsffrfo), and having presided at the fanes of idols, is 
 always found mindful of the things of Moses, l&c.; and 
 made mention of him in his own writings, which, being 
 composed for the Athenians, are called ' Hermaica,' fifteen 
 books." And subsequently, " I speak of Hermes, him 
 having sojourned, third, in Egypt " (Lib. v., 1762>). 2 
 
 The majority of the Fathers, in their uncritical mode, j 
 even Lactantius himself, confounded the original Hermes 
 with our author, in the same way that they ascribed to 
 the Sybilline verses a far too high antiquity;, and the later 
 Fathers, moreover, especially Lactantius, made no distinc- 
 tion between the genuine works of our Hermes and others 
 which falsely bear his name; some of them, as, for in-* 
 stance, " Asclepius," having been written at least a century 
 later ; and those, as, for instance, " The Sacred Book " and 
 the Dialogue between Isis and Horus (Stobseus, " Physica,' 
 928, 1070, edit. Meineke, i. 281, 342), to which it is impos- 
 sible to assign a date, are all indiscriminately ascribed 
 to the same Hermes, although it is absolutely certain 
 that the author of " Poemandres " never can have written 
 them. 
 
 What is strange is, that several of the learned editors of 
 the works of our Hermes consider him to have lived before 
 Moses. Vergicius, in his preface to the edition printed at 
 Paris by Turnebus in 1554, states this. Flussas (1574), 
 after discussion, leaves the question as to his age undeter- 
 mined; but Patricius (Patrizzi), in his "Nova de Universis 
 Philosophia," printed at Ferrara in 1591, and at Venice 
 
 1 " City of God," viii. 23, 26. 
 
 2 See the extracts from Cyril of Alexandria, post, Part III., and the 
 note from Pietschmann there. 
 
 I 
 
x PREFACE. 
 
 1593, says that Hermes lived some time before Moses, and 
 quotes Eusebius in his " Chronicle " as stating that Cath 
 or Tat his son flourished in the first year of Armeus, king 
 of Egypt, which was twenty years before the death of 
 Moses. On the other hand, John Albert Fabricius, the 
 learned author of the " Bibliotheca Grseca " (published 
 1705-1728), has relegated all the " Hermaica," in his 
 " Historia Literaria," to the later times of Jamblichus and 
 r Porphyry. Even Pietschmann, whose dissertation has 
 ^ been already mentioned, makes no distinction between 
 ( the legendary Hermes and the author of " Poemandres." 
 
 Notwithstanding these opinions, it is certain that the 
 Hermes who was the author of the works here translated 
 must, as Causabon and later writers (such as L. Menard, 
 who thinks he was probably contemporaneous with St. 
 John) have shown, have been a Greek living at Alexandria, 
 subsequently to Philo Judseus and Josephus, in the end 
 of the first and beginning of the second century; who, it 
 would seem, assumed the name of Hermes in order to give 
 greater weight to his teaching. The Fathers above quoted, 
 Lactantius himself, and the editors of Hermes above named, 
 may have been misled as to his great antiquity by the 
 hieroglyphical representations of him; but the facts, then 
 unknown, but now demonstrated, that the use of these 
 characters lasted in Egypt down to the tenth year of 
 Diocletian (he died A.D. 313) at the least, and that, as 
 Henry Brugsch and later investigators have shown, the 
 ordinary writing on papyrus in the National Library at 
 Paris, some of which is entirely in Greek characters, is 
 not earlier than the times of Nero, refute their supposi- 
 I tions. It is, moreover, quite impossible that an author 
 who shows an intimate acquaintance with the phraseology 
 of Plato, with the Hebrew Scriptures as extant in the 
 Septuagint version (sometimes using the very expressions 
 therein contained), who reproduces the language of the 
 Sermon on the Mount and of the Gospel, Epistles, and 
 Eevelation of St. John, and sometimes of St. Paul, can 
 have flourished at so early a period. 
 
PREFACE. xi 
 
 These same facts serve also to indicate his actual 
 epoch. Although, as De Eouge 1 has shown, very early 
 Egyptian monuments now at Berlin and elsewhere 
 express or insinuate the idea of the Eternal Father- 
 Creator, and of his Son begotten before the worlds, yet 
 the dogma of the Holy Trinity is, as we shall find, 
 expressed in far more categorical terms, and almost in 
 the very words of St. John, by our Hermes in his " Poem- 
 andres;" so also the doctrine of Baptism and the Begenera- 
 tion or new birth, as set forth by St. John in the third 
 chapter of his Gospel, as due to The Man, the only Son 
 of God. 
 
 Asclepius was said to be the grandson of Hermes, and 
 the work which bears that name refers unmistakably to 
 times near to those of Constantine, when the ancient reli- 
 gion of Egypt was tottering to its fall. Moreover, that 
 author refers therein repeatedly to Ammonius Saccas, who 
 is called the founder of the Xeoplatonic School,, and who 
 died circa A.D. 241. On the other hand, the clear refer- 
 ence, by Justin Martyr, to the teaching of Hermes as to 
 the Unity of the Godhead, 2 and the identity, almost verbal, 
 of a passage in that Father with a passage in the " Poern- 
 andres," and the mention of him by Tertullian, demonstrate 
 that he wrote before or contemporaneously with the earlier 
 of these Fathers. Many of the works of our Hermes are 
 probably still entombed in the libraries on the Continent; 
 but those which have come to light, and are now trans- 
 lated, are most remarkable and of very considerable im- 
 portance, since they are the only treatises we possess of 
 the kind belonging to that epoch. The emphatic praise 
 bestowed upon them by the Fathers, from Justin Martyr 3 
 downwards, ought to commend them to our notice. The 
 eulogium of Lactantius, 4 " Trismegistus who, I know not 
 how, investigated almost all truth;" and as he and Cyril 
 
 1 Etude sur le Rituel Funeraire des Egyptiens," " Revue Archec- 
 logique," 1860, p. 357 ; and see Rawlinson's Egypt, i. 320. 
 
 2 See Part III., post. 3 See Part III., post. 
 4 " Divin. Instit.," iv. 9. 
 
xii PREFACE. 
 
 of Alexandria x and Suidas 2 remark, his enunciation of the 
 doctrine of the Incarnation of the Son of God for the re- 
 generation of man, 3 and of the Holy Trinity in Unity, 4 
 of the immortality of the soul of man, is plain; whilst his 
 undoubted adherence to much of the philosophy of Plato 
 (the Attic Moses), especially in the " Timseus," entitles 
 him to be considered the real founder of Neoplatonism in 
 the best and most Christian sense. 
 
 The former editors of Hermes were of like opinion. 
 Thus Vergicius, in his preface to the edition of Turnebus 
 (Paris, 1554), " His teaching appears to be most excellent 
 and evangelical." " Behold in his theology how wonder- 
 fully and evangelically he hath plainly instructed us as to 
 the Most Holy Trinity." So also Flussas, with Scaliger 
 the younger (Bordeaux, 1574), "He deserves the name of 
 an evangelical philosopher, for he first expounded the chief 
 effects of divine grace upon man, and first declared how 
 his salvation depended upon the Son of God the one Man 
 given for the regeneration of mankind." So Patricius also, 
 in his "Nova de Universis Philosophia" (Ferrara, 1591; 
 Venice, 1593), which comprised the principal works of 
 Hermes, speaks thus, " In these books and fragments of 
 Hermes will appear a philosophy pious towards God and, 
 in most respects, consonant to the dogmas of faith. It 
 will appear also that all the Greek philosophies, Pytha- 
 gorean and Platonic in divine things and the dogmas of 
 morals, those of Aristotle and of the Stoics in physics and 
 medicine, were all taken from these his books and from 
 those which have perished." But although this may be so, 
 the reader must be forewarned that he will not find in these 
 writings a complete Christianity. There is no express 
 notice of the Nativity, of the Crucifixion, Eesurrection, or 
 Ascension, or coming of Christ to Judgment, to be found 
 therein, although there is also nothing inconsistent^ with 
 
 1 " Contra. Jul.," 33c. 2 Lexicon, voce " Hermes." 
 
 3 "Poemandres," ch. xiii. 4. 
 
 4 Ibid., passim; and see Suidse Lexicon, voce " Hermes," for a 
 passage to this effect not now extant elsewhere. 
 
PREFACE. xiii 
 
 these facts. On the other hand, as has been already seen, 
 they teach emphatically the Unity of the Godhead, the 
 dogma of the Holy Trinity God the Father, the Word, 
 the Son begotten of Him before the worlds, of the Holy 
 Spirit proceeding from the Father through the Son, in- 
 strumental in creation, and the Sanctifier; and there are 
 clear allusions to the effusion of this Holy Spirit on the 
 World, with its Seven Gifts in the shape of Fire. 
 Thus Hermes was not a mere Platonist propounding ] 
 the means of attaining moral and intellectual perfection 
 without reference to the facts and doctrines of Holy ; 
 Scripture, but, in theory at least, in great part a 
 Christian. 
 
 The "Hermaica" have been unaccountably neglected in 
 England. That these works were not unknown here in the 
 time of Milton is proved by his words from "II Penseroso," 
 "With thrice-great Hermes:" but they received little further 
 attention in this country. On the Continent, however, as 
 soon as the originals of his principal treatises was dis- 
 covered, the value of them was perceived, and immediately 
 after the invention of printing they were committed to the 
 press. 
 
 The " Poemandres," the principal work, was translated 
 into Latin and published by Marsilius Ficinus at Treviso 
 in 1471, divided into fourteen chapters, which were after- 
 wards increased to twenty by Patricius. This edition of 
 Ficinus was several times republished; at Ferrara and 
 Venice in 1472 ; at Mayence in 1503 ; and especially at 
 Cracow, but in a Latin translation only, by the Carmelite 
 Eosselli, in six volumes folio, in 1584, with a commentary 
 so voluminous, discursive, and argumentative that it is 
 nearly useless. Nevertheless, this was reprinted, with 
 what professed to be the original Greek, at Cologne, in 
 1638, in one volume folio. The original Greek of the ; 
 " Poemandres," and of the " Definitions of Asclepius to 
 Ammon the King" (which, we shall see presently, is not 
 a work of our author, but subsequent to his epoch), were 
 first printed and published by Adr. Turnebus, edited, with 
 
xiv PREFACE. 
 
 a preface, by Angelus Vergicius, at Paris, in quarto, in 
 1554. D. Franciscus Flussas republished the "Poem- 
 andres" in Greek and Latin, in quarto, at Bordeaux in 
 1574. Francis Patricius (Cardinal Patrizzi) reprinted the 
 works attributed to Hermes which are extant in Greek 
 (some of which, as already stated, we shall find are not 
 his) among his " Nova de Universis Philosophia " at Fer- 
 rara, in folio, in 1591; and again under a new title, "Nova 
 de Universis Philosophia libris quinquaginta comprehensa, 
 auctore Francisco Patritio," at Venice, in folio, in 1593, 
 Eobertus Meiettus being the printer. Gustave Parthey 
 has done a great service to early Christian literature by 
 publishing at Berlin, in 1854, an entirely new edition of 
 the "Poemandres" in the original Greek, from a MS. of 
 the end of the 13th century, No. 1220 in the National 
 Library at Paris ; others, Nos. 1297, 2007, 2518, of the 
 16th century, in the same library having, with 1220, been 
 collated by D. Hamm with the edition of Turnebus and 
 that numbered 2518, which had been written by the hand 
 of Angelus Vergicius at Venice. Parthey also consulted 
 another MS. of the 14th century, Plut. Ixxi., No. 33, in 
 quarto, in the Laurentian library at Florence, collated, at 
 the request of Parthey, by Francis de Furia with the 
 Turnebus edition. This publication of G. Parthey is 
 most carefully edited, and accompanied by a close and 
 admirable Latin translation of his own. In the preface 
 he promised an edition of the other remains of Hermes 
 to be found extracted in Stobseus and several of the 
 Fathers, which promise, it is to be lamented, he has not 
 yet performed. 
 
 There exist several old French translations of the "Her- 
 maica:" one by G. de Preau, published at Paris in 1557; 
 " Two books of Hermes Trismegistus, one ' Of the Power 
 and Wisdom of God,' the other 'Of the Will of God;'" 
 another of the " Poemander," by Foye de Candalle, with a 
 comment, at Bordeaux, 1574; another, by G. Joly and 
 Hub, in folio, at Paris, in 1579, again printed in 1626. A 
 complete translation into modern French of all the works 
 
PREFACE. xv 
 
 attributed to Hermes was published at Paris, by Dr Louis 
 Meuard, in 1866, in quarto, and again in 1868 in small 
 octavo. This translation is by no means literal, often an 
 abbreviation, and sometimes incorrect. It is prefaced by 
 a critical dissertation on the authorship and contents of 
 the Hermetic books respectively, which contains much 
 curious information. This work was crowned by the 
 Academy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres, but is dis- 
 cursive and not sufficiently discriminative. Nevertheless 
 the conclusions of the writer have often been adopted as 
 correct in the present volume. 
 
 In 1781 Dietrich Tiedemann, Professor of Philosophy at 
 the University of Marbourg, the author of several works on 
 the philosophies of the Greeks and Egyptians, published 
 at Berlin and Stettin a translation into German of the 
 Poemandres, or Treatise by the Hermes Trismegistus of 
 " God's Might and Wisdom." 
 
 In 1875, as already stated, Engelmann at Leipsic pub- 
 lished a dissertation on Hermes Trismegistus by Dr Eichard 
 Pietschmann, "after Egyptian, Greek, and Oriental sources," 
 which, however, relates mostly to the legendary Hermes, 
 and not to our author, but which contains a mine of infor- 
 mation on the general subject from a vast variety of 
 authorities, and may be considered introductory to the 
 present volume. 
 
 At Bologna, 1820, was printed a dissertation on the 
 Hermaica, of which, however, the translator has not been 
 able to obtain a copy. Some others are referred to by 
 Me*nard in the preface to his volume. 
 
 At 1855-1860 were published at Leipsic the complete 
 works of Stobasus in six volumes, correctly edited by 
 Augustus Meineke as part of the " Bibliotheca Scriptorum 
 Gra3corum et Komanorum Teubneriana," which, in his 
 " Physica et Ethica et Florilegium," contain large Excerpts 
 from Hermes. These constitute almost all we have of his 
 genuine works, beyond the "Poemandres," which we possess 
 entire, and the notices we have of them in the Fathers of 
 the Church. 
 
xvi PREFACE. 
 
 The genuine works of our Hermes now extant and here 
 translated, and presumably belonging to the latter part of 
 the first century and beginning of the second, are 
 
 1. The " Poemandres," of which he is by common con- 
 sent the author, which consists mostly of dialogues after the 
 manner of Plato. The first alone bears that name, being a 
 colloquy between that personage who represents "NoDg," 
 or "Mind" the Wisdom and Power and Providence of 
 God, Life, and Light with Hermes himself. The eleventh 
 chapter also contains a dialogue of a similar character. In 
 the remainder Hermes instructs his son Tat and his dis- 
 ciple and grandson Asclepius, and in part mankind gene- 
 rally, in the wonderful Knowledge of God and of the Crea- 
 tion and of Piety, which he had learned from Nofe. 
 
 2. Several portions of the books of Hermes and his son 
 Tat, for which we are mainly indebted to the excerpts 
 made by Stobseus in his "Physica," "Ethica," and the 
 " Florilegium." Also fragments of the first book of the 
 "Digressions to Tat," which are quoted in the works of 
 Cyril of Alexandria against Julian ; and some portions of 
 the books of Hermes to the earlier Ammon, which are 
 extracted from that work by Stobaeus in his " Physica," 
 with a few sentences quoted by Lactantius which are not 
 to be found elsewhere. The citations from Hermes con- 
 tained in the Christian Fathers will be found in Part III. 
 
 Other discourses commonly called " Hermaica," but 
 which are not his, because containing statements and 
 doctrines which are inconsistent with his, and are either 
 of Egyptian and heathenish origin, or savour of the later 
 teaching of Plotinus and Jamblichus, and besides contain 
 evident anachronisms, are therefore not included in this 
 volume, although we find there plagiarisms from the 
 original Hermes and many statements accordant with 
 Christianity. These are : 
 
 1. The "Perfect Discourse" (\dyoc, reXziog), which bears 
 the title of Asclepius. The author speaks of Hermes as 
 "my grandfather," and calls Ammon into council pre- 
 sumably that Ammonius Saccas who was the master of 
 
PREFACE. xvii 
 
 Plotinus, and died in Alexandria A.D. 241. Of this, except 
 such of the extracts in Stobaeus and Lactantius as are in 
 Greek, there is only one version extant a Latin transla- 
 tion falsely ascribed to Apuleius (which existed also solely 
 in the time of St Augustine, who cites it in chs. 23 and 26 
 of Lib. viii. of his "City of God "), and which was published 
 with his works by Aldus in 1521, and Almenhorst at 
 Frankfort in 1621. That this is not from the hand of 
 our Hermes is at once apparent from its contents, which 
 are at variance with his genuine writings. It contains, 
 amongst other things, an eloquent address to the Nile, 
 wherein the author, as a prophet, laments in touching 
 terms the abolition of the ancient national religion of 
 Egypt that holy land and the approaching triumph of 
 Christianity; the devastation of the country and of its 
 sacred shrines, and destruction of the population. He 
 speaks of Isis and Osiris, and of the cult of animals, of 
 Jupiter Plutonius, of thirty 1 - six horoscopes, and of the 
 Pantomorphosis. Further, it contains a distinct defence 
 of the worship of statues of the gods formed by the hands 
 of men, and maintains that it is a great privilege granted 
 by God to men the power of making gods. That Lac- 
 tantius quotes this work more than once as of Hermes 
 himself, and applies his description of the calamities of 
 Egypt as if they were the afflictions to come upon the earth 
 in the last days, 1 is simply a proof of the uncritical judgment 
 of some of the Fathers as to chronology, and sometimes as to 
 exact authorship, which is well known and acknowledged. 
 It is plainly the production of an Alexandrian of the 
 Egyptian religion, who assumed the name and discipleship 
 of, and quoted from, Hermes for his own purposes, and 
 most probably lived some short time before the epoch of 
 Constantine. 
 
 A second discourse, also found among the "Hermaica," is 
 
 a portion of that called the " Sacred Book," denominated 
 
 Ko>j XOO/AOU (Patrit, 276, Stobseus, " Physica," Meineke, L 
 
 281), which Patrizzi corrected after Stobseus from a MS. 
 
 1 Lactant., Divin. Instit., VII., 18. 
 
xviii PREFACE. 
 
 found at Enclistra, in the island of Cyprus. It is a strange 
 production, being a dialogue between Isis and his son 
 Horus, with Momus, on the creation of the world and of 
 f souls, and of metempsychosis. It is in places Platonic, as 
 \ if citing the Timreus; and it quotes also by name Hermes, 
 and partly the account by him of the Creation in " Poem- 
 andres." Being apparently a summary of the Grseco- 
 Egyptian philosophy, it must be attributed to a Graeco- 
 Egyptian, probably of Alexandria; but it is scarcely Greek 
 at all, and there are few indications of its exact date. In 
 this production Hermes is spoken of in these words : 
 " Hermes, he understanding all things, who also saw the 
 whole of things together, and having seen, considered them, 
 and having considered them was powerful to explain and 
 show them. For what he understood he committed to 
 characters, and having committed them to characters, con- 
 cealed the most part, being silent with wisdom, and speak- 
 ing opportunely, in order that all the duration of the world 
 hereafter should search out these things; and thus having 
 ordered the gods, his brethren, to become his escort, he 
 ascended towards the constellations. But he had for suc- 
 cessor Tat, his son and heir of his science, and shortly after- 
 wards Asclepius, son of Imothes, by the counsel of Pan 
 and Haephsestus, and all those to whom the Almighty Provi- 
 dence reserved an exact knowledge of the things of 
 heaven. Hermes then excused himself to all his sur- 
 roundings for not delivering the entire theory to his sdn, 
 on account of his youth." From this it would appear that 
 the writer of this discourse was posterior to Asclepius, 
 that is, of the middle or end of the third century. A 
 third fragment of importance is usually included among 
 the " Hermaica," and is quoted by Lactantius with a like 
 \ want of critical sagacity. It is denominated the " Defini- 
 tions ("Opoi) of Asclepius to King Ammon." He calls 
 " Hermes my master, who conversed with me often alone 
 or in presence of Tat," and quotes many passages of the 
 " Poemandres." It is written with eloquence. Ammon 
 the king is supposed to be present, and the main portion is 
 
PREFACE. xix 
 
 occupied with the praise of King Ammon and other kings. 
 The whole is alien from the spirit and diction of Hermes 
 himself, and must have been composed many years sub- 
 sequently to the " Poemandres." 
 
 The theological and philosophical teaching of our 
 Hermes for he was both a theologian and philosopher, 
 may be thus summed up : 
 
 First and foremost he insists upon the being of The God; 
 an Unconditioned, self-existent Essence, Founder (xrfoag), 
 Maker (vrotqrrii), Creator (dq/uiovpybs), upholder and governor 
 of the Universe at His own mere Will, the One, the Only, 
 the Supreme very Life and Light Itself. He is Almighty 
 (Mevriis), never inert, but ever acting in every part of His 
 creation, pervading and energizing all things by His 
 particular Providence, to which Fate and Necessity are 
 wholly subject. Nothing can subsist or move apart from 
 Him, Who has in Himself all things that have been, are. 
 or shall be. 
 
 He is the perfection and the sum of The Good, the 
 Beautiful, the Holy, and the True; immaterial, infinite, 
 incorporeal, invisible, the object of none of the senses; 
 ineffable, incomprehensible, inimitable, invariable; without 
 form or figure, colourless; Intelligence and Wisdom itself; 
 everlasting, independent of time, the Eternal from eternity; 
 the Light and Life of mankind; Holiness and Goodness 
 itself, and in no sense the author of anything evil or base. 
 If any evil exist in creation, it is as it were by way of 
 rust or excrescence only, and cannot be attributed to the 
 Deity. 
 
 This Being, above all, in all, and about all, is Unity. 
 The universal Harmony of the KoV/Aos, which is eloquently 
 set forth, demonstrates that He can be but One. Motion 
 exists throughout all the order of the worlds, and is the 
 condition and quality of the Eternal; but this Motion 
 must be generated and continually energized by some 
 Being superior to and stronger than that which is 
 moved, and than the medium in which the motion takes 
 place. If He ever ceased to energize, He would be no 
 
xx PREFACE. 
 
 longer God; but this never can be. He is inexpressible, 
 and has no name. A name implies an elder or superior 
 to give the name; but there is none such. We call Him 
 Father and Master and Lord of all existences, not as 
 names, but appellations derived from His benefits and His 
 works. 
 
 This, The God before the moist Nature which appeared 
 out of darkness, begat the Perfect Word, coessential 
 (' Opoouff/bi) with Himself, the Second God, visible and 
 sensible, First One and only, and loved Him as His own 
 Son a sacred, ineffable, and shining Word, exceeding 
 all the ability of men to declare Son of God The One 
 Man by the Will of God, through Whom is access in prayer 
 to The Father, The Lord of all things. 
 
 Through this Word were the World, the Heaven, the 
 Stars, the Earth, Mankind, and all the living existences in 
 them, brought into being, and harmoniously ordered 
 through the operation of Mind ("NoDj"), the Wisdom of 
 God, the God of Fire and Spirit proceeding from God, 
 Which with the Seven administrative Spirits created by it, 
 whose administration constitutes Fate, applied themselves 
 to the conformation of the Universe out of chaos, according 
 to the Idea, the Archetype or Pattern, pre-existent in the 
 Mind of the Deity. This "Kotos'" so created, Hermes 
 calls second God, as being wholly instinct with The 
 One Divinity. He gives the same appellation to the Sun, 
 for the same reason and because it is the instrument of 
 God's Will in new creating. The mode of the creation is 
 shown in the form of a Vision displayed before Hermes, 
 and in several portions is related in the very words of 
 the Septuagint version of Genesis. The Procession of the 
 Holy Spirit and His instrumentality in Creation is enun- 
 ciated, apparently according to the creed of the orthodox 
 Greeks. Thus, The God created Man after the image of 
 Himself, as His child, an immortal and divine animal, out 
 of two natures, the immortal and mortal, between the two, 
 that viewing all things he may admire them and then- 
 wonderful order and harmony. Man has a divine nature, 
 
PREFACE. xxi 
 
 because he has a Soul, an independent incorporeal im- 
 mortal energizing intelligent Essence, which, being a 
 portion of the Soul with which God animated the 
 Universe, was created before the body, and was infused 
 into it. It is threefold Mind or Eeason, Desire, and 
 Spirit, which can receive God, and become a consort 
 of Deity, having intellect and speech immortal pro- 
 perties, that Man may contemplate and worship his 
 Creator. The greatest disease of the Soul is ungodliness 
 and ignorance of God. 
 
 Man, being an imperfect, fallible, and composite being, 
 cannot know The God of himself; but those to whom The 
 God of His own free will imparts this faculty can do so. 
 He is ever desirous and willing to be known; and to those 
 who are pure, and who wish for this knowledge, He reveals 
 Himself by imparting to them of His Mind, which is of 
 the very essence of the Divinity, and joined to it as the 
 light is to the Sun. Not that Mind is God; but that The 
 God is the cause of Mind. This Mind in men is God. 
 Such men therefore have their humanity near to Deity, for 
 He is their very Father; when they leave the body, they 
 become this Mind. They must seek the knowledge of Him, 
 which is virtue, temperance, piety, salvation, and ascent to 
 Heaven. The God created all things perfect. Man has 
 become depraved; but has free choice of good and evil. 
 
 To attain this state, then, men must hate and mortify 
 the flesh, its vices and excesses, reject the depravity and 
 ignorance of earth, where Truth does not exist; the 
 wickedness, darkness, and corruption of the body; they 
 must recur and look in heart to Him, Who can alone show 
 the way of salvation. 
 
 The mode of accomplishing this, which can only be done 
 by the help of God, Who is willing to reveal Himself 
 to all, is by ridding themselves of the twelve principal 
 vices, and acquiring in their place the ten cardinal virtues. 
 When these shall be so acquired, man becomes fitted to 
 ascend to the Ogdoad, the eighth Circle, to the presence of 
 God his Father, to become immortal, part of His Essence 
 
xxii PREFACE. 
 
 and of His Powers and Virtues, and divine (&%/). 
 This may happen even in the body, by the gift of 
 God. This is the Eegeneration (fl-aX/yyewstf/a). The 
 author of it is the enlightening Word of God the One 
 Man by the will of God. Baptism is to be added, 
 and His good Spirit must lead men thereto: those thus 
 regenerate will strive to bring all mankind to the same 
 blessed state. 
 
 Neither any evil, nor has Fate, any power over those 
 who are thus pious and regenerate. They are rewarded 
 with immortality both of soul and body, becoming 
 partakers of Divinity, having attained The Supreme Good. 
 In death the union of soul and body is dissolved, but the 
 Soul survives. There can be no destruction of what is of 
 God and in God. From the perishing body (which is not 
 a destruction, but a dissolution of the union in order to be 
 renovated) a new body arises, and becomes immortal 
 through the immortal Soul. This cannot wholly be 
 attained in the present life; but, after death, the Man, 
 becoming entirely in harmony with God, employs himself 
 beyond the eighth or perfect zone in hymns of happine&lv,. 
 and praise. 
 
 Those who adhere to the body, and surrender themselves 
 to its passions, are abandoned by God; they attain not 
 unto The Good, or to immortality, but becoming more and 
 more wicked they are given over for vengeance to the evil 
 demon, tormented by wicked demons and fire; retrograding 
 to reptilism, they are given over to be tormented by evil 
 passions and lusts, and, condemned to misery, are whirled 
 about the universe are converted into devils. No allusion 
 is however made by Hermes to the Egyptian judgment 
 by Osiris, or to that by Christ taught in the New Testa- 
 ment. 
 
 Finally, the great end of Man is, when thus purified and 
 regenerated, to worship His Creator in His presence, and 
 to be united to Him, and to contemplate and adore 
 Him in holy Silence. In the " Poemandres " are three 
 several anthems of praise and blessing "verbal rational 
 
PREFACE. xxiii 
 
 sacrifices " addressed to the Deity; one of them denomi- 
 nated "The Hymn of the Kegeneration " to The God 
 "whose only passion is to be The Good." There is a 
 certain likeness in these to the ancient Egyptian hymns to 
 Ea, to Hades, and Osiris, and to the Litany of Ea translated 
 and published in the "Eecords of the Past;" but a much 
 greater resemblance to several of the Psalms. Thus does 
 Hermes inculcate or imply several of the main doctrines 
 and objects of Christianity; but it is fair to admit that, as 
 before observed, he does not notice the fact of the Nativity 
 upon earth, or the Crucifixion, Death, Eesurrection, or 
 Ascension of Christ, or His Coming to Judgment. 
 Perhaps they did not come within the purview of his 
 intention, as neither within that of Paley in his " Natural 
 Theology." 
 
 The astronomical teaching of Hermes is merely inci- 
 dental to the rest, and is simple enough. The whole 
 Universe is in the form of a sphere. Nature is composed 
 of four Elements Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. He 
 appears also to have inferred the rotundity of the Earth 
 fr^-. j that of the Sun, Moon, and Planets the latter perhaps 
 revolving round the Sun, but the whole cosmical system 
 round the Earth in an organized Harmony of one external, 
 of seven inner, circles; the varying motion of the Planets 
 being accounted for by a resisting medium. He was aware 
 of the difference between the revolutions of Venus and 
 Mercury and those of the other planets, but does not 
 account for it. He asserts plainly enough that the Earth 
 itself is stable and immoveable ; the Constellations, especi- 
 ally the Zodiac, fixed in a solid Firmament, circulating 
 round the Earth also, diagonally to the Equatorial Circle 
 and the orbits of the planets, with the Polar Star for a 
 central pivot, drawn round it by the COL stellation of the 
 Bear. The whole system of this KoV^oj, or Universe, and 
 of the Harmony thereof, is mainly the same as that of 
 Plato. 
 
 It is remarkable that Hermes anticipates modern 
 philosophy by insisting that there is no void in nature, and 
 
xxiv PREFACE. 
 
 that none of the works of The God can become extinct or 
 perish, but, if disappearing, are resolved into some other 
 essence or nature, and renovated in another form; thus, it 
 would appear, affirming the future eternity of existing 
 matter, and deducing from this the immortality of the 
 human body. His reasoning resembles that of S. Paul, 
 1 Cor. xv. 36 : " Thou foolish one, that which thou thyself 
 so west is not quickened except it die," &c. It is, of course, 
 impossible in this volume to contrast the theology and 
 philosophy of our Hermes, with that of Philo Judseus, with 
 which it has many points of resemblance, or with that of 
 the Grecian sages generally; but in the notes several 
 extracts have been given from the Dialogues of Plato (as 
 edited by C. F. Hermann, at Leipsic, in 1877) and from 
 other authors illustrative of the text. Many passages of 
 Holy Scripture from the Septuagint and the Eevised 
 Version of the New Testament have likewise been noted 
 with the same view. 
 
 Finally, it is desirable to state that the language and style 
 of our Hermes is semi-classical, though Alexandrian, and 
 without dialect; but often rugged, involved, mystical, tauto- 
 logical, and obscure, with a number of technical words 
 belonging to the Greek philosophy which renders it difficult 
 to translate. It bears much resemblance to that of Plato, 
 whose writings he had certainly studied. The aim of the 
 translator has not been to produce a flowing version, or an 
 elegant paraphrase, or a pithy abbreviation, but to render 
 the original into English with as much literal exactness as 
 practicable. 
 
UNIVERSITY 
 
 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 POEMANDRES. 1 
 
 CHAPTEK I. 
 
 1. THOUGHT in me (a) becoming on a time concerning the 
 Entities (&), and my meditation (c) having been exceedingly 
 sublimed, and my bodily senses also calmed down(d), 
 like as those oppressed in sleep from satiety, luxury, or 
 fatigue of body, I supposed some one of very great mag- 
 nitude, with indefinite dimension, happening to call out my 
 name, and saying to me, " What wishest thou to hear, and 
 to contemplate ; what, having undej^tgod (e), to learn and 
 toknow?"(/) 
 
 2. I say, " Thou, then, who art thou ?" " I, indeed," He 
 says, " am Poemandres, The Mind (g) of The Supreme 1 
 Power. 2 I know what thou wishest; and I am every- 1 
 where with thee." 
 
 3. I say, " I wish to learn the Entities, and to under- 
 stand the nature of them, and to know The God ; this," I 
 said, " I wish to hear." He says to me again, " Have in 
 thy mind whatsoever things thou wouldest learn, and I 
 will teach thee." 
 
 (a) li/volets ftoi. (6) ray Smov. (c) ^tvoioi. (d) 
 
 (e) vo9]<rats. (/) yituvett. (g) 'O TVS? Avdsyrfots Not^. 
 
 1 " Shepherd-man," " Flockman." According to Menard (Preface, 
 p. 3), " Shepherd of man ; " but no former editors have adopted this 
 meaning. 
 
 2 Av6err-/i$, according to the scholiast on Thucydides (Hesychius 
 and the " Thesaurus " of Stephens), was formerly synonymous with 
 etvTG&ip, but subsequently came to mean l|ovov<7Tjj?, or Dominus, 
 and the word is used by Hermes several times in that sense. 
 
 A 
 
2 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 4. Speaking this, he was changed in the form (a), and 
 immediately all things were disclosed to me in a moment ; 
 and I see a spectacle indefinable, all things having become 
 light, more pleasant and joyous, and having beheld I was 
 gladdened (6) ; and, after a little, darkness was brought down 
 in part having become dreadful and horrible, sinuously ter- 
 minated (c), so that I imagined myself having seen the dark- 
 ness changed into a certain moist nature(cQ, unspeakably dis- 
 turbed, and giving forth smoke as if from fire, and emitting a 
 
 / certain sound ineffable, mournful. Then a noise from it was 
 inarticulately sent out, as I supposed(e) the voice of Light. 
 
 5. From the Light a certain Holy Word descended upon 
 Nature, and a pure Fire l sprang forth from the moist nature 
 upwards on high. It was light and sharp and drastic also, 
 and the air being light followed The Spirit (/) ; it ascend- 
 ing up to the fire from land and water, so that it seemed 
 to be suspended from it. Earth and water remained 
 mingled in themselves so as not to be distinguished from 
 the water, and they were moved by The on-borne (g) 
 Spiritual Word 2 to hearing. 3 
 
 6. Then the Poemandres to me, " Hast thou under- 
 stood " (A), He says, " this the spectacle and what it 
 means ? And I shall know," I said, " that the Light." He 
 said, " I am MIND, thy God, Who is before moist nature, 
 
 (a) TYI fiix. (6) ypdiaQyiit. (c) 
 
 (d) si; vypdv Ttvct Qvaiu. (e) a; 
 
 (/) r<a KvevpotTt. See ch. iii., post. 
 (g) rov siritpspoftsvov wvevftetTtKov Ao'yov. (/&) 
 
 1 It is to be observed, once for all, that the Greek word " ^up" 
 translated " Fire," may mean " Heat," whether visible or invisible. 
 Here it would appear to mean the fire of the Holy Creative Spirit. 
 
 2 Compare Ps. civ. 30 : " Thou sendest forth Thy Spirit, they are 
 created; and Thou renewest the face of the earth." Also Genesis 
 i. 2: "And the earth was without form (dopxros, Septuagint) and 
 void (oix,oe,Ta,ax,tvet,aTog, unarranged, Sept.); and darkness upon the 
 face of the deep (Ina. 7% dfivaaw, Sept.) ; and the Spirit of God 
 moved upon the face of (kTrstp&psro IKKVU, Sept.) the water." This 
 description of the primitive Chaos closely resembles that of Plato in 
 " Timeeus," 53, which is too diffuse to be here quoted. 
 
 3 See ch. iv. post, and note (1) there. 
 
POEMANDRES. I. 3 
 
 that which appeared out of darkness ; but The luminous 
 Word(a) out of Mind, Son of God." 1 " What then ?" I say. 
 " Know thus : that in thee seeing and hearing is Word of 
 The Lord, but The Mind, Father God ; for they are not dis- 
 tinct from each other, for the union of these is the life." 2 
 " I thank thee," I said. " But understand The Light, and 
 become acquainted with that," He says. 
 
 7. And saying this He looked me in the face for a long ' 
 time, so that I trembled at the form of Him. But He 
 having nodded (&), I beheld in my mind The Light, being 
 in numberless powers, and the World having become 
 illimitable, and the fire to be restrained by a very great 
 force, and subdued (c), to have assumed a stationary (d) 
 condition. But I comprehended (e) beholding these things, 
 because of the word of the Poemandres. 
 
 8. But when I was in astonishment, He says to me 
 again, " Didst thou see in The Mind the Archetypical (/) 
 form, 3 that existing (g) before the indefinite beginning ? " 
 
 (a) tx, voog (parsfvo; Xoyo?. (b) ecyocvft/aetyrog. (c) 
 
 (d) artifft!/. (e) foa/oqQYiv. (/) etp%TV7roy <Bo?. (g) 
 
 1 See Lactantius, " Div. Inst.," iv. c. 6, where he quotes, in the 
 original Greek, from the book, " ' O Ao'yos reXg/o? " (attributed also to 
 Hermes, but not his work), at length, similar expressions. See the 
 extracts from Lactantius, post. Part III. 
 
 2 Compare John i. 1, 4 : " In the beginning was The Word, and 
 The Word was with (The) God, and the Word was God." (" God was 
 The Word," Greek). " The same was in the beginning with (The) God. 
 In Him was life, and the life was The Light of (the) men. The 
 Light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness apprehended it not. 
 There was The true Light, which lighteth every man coming into 
 the world." And see ibid. v. 26 : " God hath given unto us eternal 
 life, and this life is in His Son" (1 John v. 11). 
 
 3 Plato, in the " Tiimeus" (28), had written to this effect (see the 
 paraphrase by Jowett, vol. iii. 532) : " All that is generated must of 
 necessity be generated by some cause. When the Creator (jtyfttovp- 
 yoj), ever looking to what concerns this, having used for this purpose 
 a certain pattern (-zro^aBdy^aT/), worked out the idea and power of 
 it ; thus of necessity to finish all things as beautiful. To have used 
 a created pattern could not have been beautiful. The eternal, in- 
 effable Father of all had in view an eternal archetype (or pattern). 
 To imagine the archetype created would be a blasphemy, seeing that 
 
4 HEEMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 This Poemandres to me. " These then," I say, " Elements 
 of the Nature, whence constituted (a) are they ? " Again 
 He to me, "From the will of God, which, taking the 1 
 Word (6), and beholding the beautiful World (c), formed 
 an imitation (d), making the World by means of the ele- 
 ments (e) of Itself 2 and progenies of souls." (/) 
 / 9. But the Mind, The God, being masculine-feminine, 
 ) originating (g) Life and Light, 3 begat (K) by Word another 
 / Mind Creator (i), Who being God of the Fire and Spirit, 4 
 
 (a) vTTfarri. (6) Aot/Bot/o-ec. rov Ao'yo". (c) 
 
 (d) ftfft,qffXTO. (e) ffroiiceiav. (/) 
 
 (cj} VTreipxav. (Ji) dTSKiiwe. (i) vcvv 
 
 the world is the noblest of creatures, and God is the best of causes ; 
 
 and the World, being thus created according to the eternal pattern, 
 i is the copy of something." 
 
 1 In this treatise Xo'yo? is used with three significations "Reason, 
 Speech, and Word; but with the definite article "The Word" is 
 intended. 
 
 2 Stobseus, in his " Physica " (309, Meineke, i. 82), remarks ^that 
 Plato held that there were three great beginnings or principles 
 (jB^*/) The God, The Matter, The Idea by whom, out of which, 
 to which. The God is Mind (of the World) : Matter, that subject to 
 generation and destruction; but Idea, incorporeal Essence in the 
 intelligence and phantasies of The God. 
 
 \]/ In " Timeeus" (31, 32) Plato says : " Of the Four the constitution 
 (vvvTourfs) of the World took each one Whole. For the constitutor 
 constituted it of the Whole of Fire and Water, and Air and Earth, 
 leaving no part nor power of any without; first and especially, 
 because the perfect living creature should be of perfect parts, and 
 .also that out of the remnants no other such thing should become." 
 He argues thence that there can be but one xoV^o?, and from the 
 whole concludes, moreover, that the visible world is formed after 
 the pattern of the intelligible or invisible (see ibid. 31). Compare 
 Rom. i. 20 : " For the invisible things of Him, since the creation of 
 the world, are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that 
 are made, His everlasting Power and Divinity;" and Heb. ix. 23, 
 " It was necessary that the copies of things in the Heavens should 
 be purified with these " (scil. by sacrifices). 
 
 3 Compare John i. 4, " In Him was Life, and the Life was the 
 Light of the Men." 
 
 4 This paragraph seems to relate that the God of Fire and Spirit pro 
 ceeds, according to the creed of the orthodox Greek Church, from the 
 Father through the Son. See post, ch. iii. 2 ; ch. xiiL 21, and note. 
 
POEMANDRES. I. 5 
 
 created some Seven Administrators (a-), 1 encompassing in 
 circles the sensible world; and their administration is 
 called Fate (&). 2 
 
 10. Immediately from the downborne elements sprung 
 forth The Word of The God to the pure creation of all 
 Nature, 3 and was united to the creative Mind(c), for it was 
 of the same essence (d), 4 and the irrational downborne 
 elements of Nature were left to be matter only. 
 
 11. But the Creator Mind along with The Word, that 
 encompassing the circles, and making them revolve with 
 force (e), turned about its own creations and permitted 
 them to be turned about from an indefinite beginning to 
 an interminable end; for they begin ever where they end. 
 
 . (a) Sfo/x/rree?. (b) slfteipfisvYi. (c) ru ^^vovpy^ vu. 
 
 (d) ofAoovatos. (e) ^ivuv poi^a. 
 
 1 " The Seven Spirits which are before His throne " (Rev. i 4) ; " The! 
 Seven Spirits of God, and the Seven Stars " (ibid. L 20 ; iii. 1) ; " Seven 
 lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are Seven Spirits of 
 God " (ibid. iv. 5) ; " The Seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all the 
 earth" (ibid. v. 6) ; "I saw the Seven Angels which stand before God " 
 (ibid. viii. 2) ; " Seven Angels" (ibid. v. 7, 8) ; " Raphael, one of the 
 Seven Holy Angels which present the prayers of the Saints, and 
 which go in and out before the Glory of The Holy One" (Tobit, xiv. \ 
 15). See Rev. viii. 3, 4 ; Ps. ciii. 20 ; and the extracts from Hermes 
 by Stobeeus (188); Meineke, i. 48 (post, Part II.). 
 
 2 That Hermes held that Fate and Necessity are wholly subject to ^ 
 the Providence of the Creator, see ch. x. 20, and the Excerpt by Stobseus 
 (183) (post, Part II.); Meineke, i. 47. 
 
 3 By the Word of the Lord were the Heavens made, and all the 
 host of them by the breath of His mouth (tvTtptuQwciv xeti r<a 
 irvsvfAKTi (Spirit) " rot/ orof^etrog ctvrw -Kottja, vj ^vyf^ig oturui/," Septua- 
 gint), Ps. xxxiii. 6. " All things were made by Him " (i.e., The 
 Word), " and without Him (xuplc dvrov, "apart from Him ") was not 
 anything made that was made " (John i. 3) ; and see the remainder of 
 the passage before quoted. " Who is the Image of the invisible God, 
 the first born of all creation. For in Him were all things created in 
 the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, 
 whether thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers. All 
 things have been created through Him and unto Him " (Col. i. 15, 
 Revised Version). See Heb. i. 3, quoted next page. 
 
 4 It is remarkable to recognise here the test epithet of the orthodox 
 at the Council of Nicsea. 
 
6 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 But the revolution (a) of these, as the Mind wills from the 
 downborne elements, brought out irrational animals, for it 
 did not afford them reason. (&) But the air brought out 
 winged animals, and the water swimming, and both earth 
 and the water were separated from each other, 1 just as 
 The Mind willed, and the earth sent out from itself the 
 four-footed animals which it had, serpents, wild and tame 
 beasts. 
 
 12. But the Father of all things, The Mind, being Life 
 and Light, begat (c) (engendered) a Man like to Himself, 2 
 whom He loved as His own child, for He was very beauti- 
 ful, having the image of His Father. For, in fact, more- 
 over The God loved His own form, 3 and to this delivered 
 over all His own creations. 
 
 13. Having considered the formation (d) of the Creator 
 in the Father, He too willed to create (e), and was parted (/) 
 from the Father, becoming (g) in the creative sphere. 
 Having all the dominion (/&), He considered the creations 
 
 (a) KtpiQopdi. (6) Aoyov. (c) 
 
 (d) x.ctTciov}ffois rqv xrtaiv. (e) qfiov'hyj 
 
 (/) d'7ri%<i)piat)v. (g} ysvopevos. (h) i 
 
 1 " And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered 
 together unto one place, and let the dry land appear" (Gen. i. 9). 
 " There were heavens from of old, and an earth compacted out of 
 water, and amidst water, by the Word of God " (2 Peter iii. 5). See 
 post, ch. iii. 2. 
 
 2 u "Wisdom is the brightness of the everlasting Light, the unspotted 
 mirror of the Power of God, and the image of His Goodness " (Wis- 
 dom, vii. 26). 
 
 " The image of The invisible God, the first born of all creation " 
 (Col. x. 15). 
 
 " The only begotten Son, He hath declared Him." " His Son, Whom 
 He appointed heir of all things, through Whom also He made the 
 worlds, Who being the effulgence of His glory and the very image of 
 His substance, and upholding all things by the Word of His power " 
 (Heb. i. 3, Eevised Version). 
 
 " Who being in the form of God counted it not a prize to be on an 
 equality with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, 
 being made in the likeness of men, and being formed in fashion as a 
 man He humbled Himself" (Philipp. ii. 6, Revised Version). 
 
 3 " The kingdom of the Son of His love" (Col. i. 13, Revised Version). 
 
POEMANDRES. I. 7 
 
 of the brethren who were enamoured of Him j 1 but each 
 made Him participate of his own order(a), and having 
 learnt the essence (b) of these, and partaken of their / 
 nature, He willed to break through the circumference of 
 the circles, and to depress (c) the force of Him resting (d) 
 on the fire. 2 
 
 14 And He having all dominion (e) over the mortal 
 living things of the world, and over the irrational, looked 
 obliquely (/) through the Harmony, 3 breaking through the 
 
 (a) [AtrsblliQV filets rd^ta; (b) ovaiotv. (c) xscTotz-ovsjaflC/. 
 
 (d) tvtxtiftfvov. (e) e%ovfftotv. (/) vctptwj/tv. 
 
 1 " The first born among many brethren." 
 
 " It behoved Him in all things to be made like unto his brethren" 
 (Heb. ii. 17). Lactantius (Divin. Instit. iv. 6) quotes nearly the whole 
 of this passage, together with another similar one from " Asclepius," 
 applying it to Christ, and again (vii. 1), applying it to Man in general. 
 See post, ch. iii. and xiii. , 
 
 2 An internal Fire was part of the cosmogony of the Platonists. 
 
 3 Plato, in Timaeus (53) (in the main according to the Pythagorean 
 system), writes (after saying that God arranged the thin and light 
 elements above and the thick and heavy below), " When God put forth 
 His hand to order the Universe, Fire and Water and Earth and Air 
 having been produced (-Trspvx&r*), He fashioned them according to 
 forms and numbers, to put them together as far as was possible, as 
 should be most beautiful and best." 
 
 The Harmony of Heaven is described in the Timseus (35 and 36) : 
 " Heaven revolves round a centre once in 24 hours ; the orbits of 
 the Fixed Stars in a different direction from the Planets. The inner 
 and outer sphere cross one another, and meet again at a point oppo- 
 site to that of their first contact. The first moves in a circle from 
 left to right, along the side of a parallelogram supposed to be inscribed 
 in it, the second also moving in a circle along the diagonal of the 
 same parallelogram from right to left ; the first describing the path 
 of the Equator, the second that of the Ecliptic. To the sphere of 
 the undivided He gave dominion, but the sphere of the other or 
 manifold was distributed into seven unequal orbits, having intervals 
 in ratios of twos and threes, three of either sort. He bade them 
 move in opposite directions to one another ; three of them, the Sun, 
 Mercury, and Venus, with equal swiftness, the remaining four with 
 unequal swiftness to the three and to one another, but all in due 
 course. The Moon is represented by 1, the Sun by 2, Venus by 
 3, Mercury by 4, Jupiter by 9, Saturn by 27, being the compound of 
 the two Pythagorean ratios (as to which see ch. iv. post), having the 
 
8 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 might of the circles, and showed to the downward borne (a) 
 Nature the beautiful form of The God, which [Nature] 
 having beheld, having in itself insatiate beauty and all the 
 energy of the Seven Administrators, and the form (&) of The 
 God, smiled (c) for love, as it were having beheld the image 
 of the very beautiful form of the Man in the water and 
 the shadow (d) on the earth. But He having beheld in 
 the water the form like to Him being in Himself, loved 
 it and willed to dwell with it. But along with the will 
 came energy (e) and begat (/) the irrational form. 
 
 15. But Nature having received (g) the beloved, com- 
 pletely embraced (h) it, and they mingled, for they were 
 enamoured ; and through this, beyond all living upon earth, 
 
 I the Man is twofold, mortal indeed because of the body, 
 {immortal because of the essential^) Man. 1 For being 
 immortal, and having the dominion (Q of all things, he 
 suffers mortal things subject to the fate. Being, then, 
 above the Harmony, he became an harmonious servant. 
 But being masculine-feminine (/), being from a masculine- 
 feminine father, and sleepless, he is dominated by a 
 sleepless. 
 
 16. And after these things my Mind ; " For also I myself 
 love the discourse." But Poemandres says: "This is the 
 
 (a) x,a.ra(pf : pi. (6) ftopQyv. (c) tptilioiasv. ((?) 
 
 (e) hspystx. (/) Jxi/jjw. ((/) 'hctfiovau. (h) 
 
 (i) ovffia&Yi* (&) k^ovaioiv. (I) a.opsvo^'hvg. 
 
 same intervals though not in the same order, being the same mixture 
 as was originally divided in forming the world (see Jowett's " Sum- 
 mary," vol. iii. 578). The Harmony of Man, of his body, of the 
 parts of it, and of the earth, is detailed in the Timseus, 69, 77. It 
 is founded on a complicated system of triangles, which it is not, 
 necessary here to explain. But the Harmony of the soul and body 
 of Man has strict analogy to that of the xwrpos (ibid. 38). 
 
 1 Plato (" Parmenides," 144) says : " The Essence (oval*) belongs- 
 to all beings, although many, and is absent from none of the 
 entities, neither from the least nor from the greatest. This would be 
 foolish to say, for how can the Essence be absent from any entity ? 
 The smallest and greatest, and everywhere being and divisible, were 
 they comminuted as much as possible, yet certainly they are infinite 
 parts of the Essence." 
 
POElfANDRES. I. 
 
 Mystery concealed up to this day. For the Nature mingled 
 with the Man produced a certain most admirable wonder ; 
 for he having the nature of the harmony of the seven, of 
 which I spoke to you, 1 of fire and spirit, the Nature did 
 not wait, but immediately brought forth the seven men 2 
 after the natures of the Seven Administrators, masculine- 
 feminine, and sublime " (a). 
 
 And after these things, "OPoemandres! I have come now to- 
 a great desire, and am longing to hear ; do not diverge." And 
 Poemandres said, " But be silent, for I have not yet completed 
 to thee the first discourse." " Behold, I am silent," I said* 
 
 17. " There happened then, as I said, the generation of 
 these seven in such mode. For the air was feminine, the 
 water, cupiscent (6). It received maturity from fire ; from ! 
 ether the spirit ; and Nature brought forth the bodies after 
 the likeness of the Man. But the Man became (c) from 
 life and light unto soul (d) and mind ; from life as to soul, 
 but from light asHo mind; 3 and thus remained all the 
 
 (a) ftsretpaiovs. (6) o^svrtx^i/. (c) syevero. (d) 
 
 1 See ante, 9, note 4. Also Deuteronomy xxxii. 8, Sept. 
 
 2 For whom these Seven Men are intended is questionable ; but the 
 difficulty may perhaps be solved thus: The original pattern Man 
 being masculine-feminine, represents Adam with Eve who was 
 taken out of Adam; and the Seven whom Nature procreated 
 may signify, in like manner, the succeeding Patriarchs named in 
 Genesis, ch. iv. and v., wherein, after detailing the posterity of Cain, 
 it proceeds : " This is the book of the generation of Adam, in the 
 day in which The God made the Adam, after the likeness of God He 
 made him, male and female He made them, and blessed them, and 
 called his name Adam in the day that he made them " (from the Sep- 
 tuagint, edit. J. Field, Cantab. 1565). Then follows that Adam begat 
 sons and daughters after his likeness and his image, &c., and the 
 names of the Patriarchs, beginning with Seth, up to and including 
 Lamech the seventh, the father of Noah. Or the number Seven 
 here mentioned may conventionally signify Cain and his posterity. 
 
 3 " And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground (' dust 
 of the ground,' Heb.), and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, 
 and man became a living soul a (Gen. ii. 7, English Version). " 
 
 0oV TGV MuffpUTTOy %OVV 069TO 1% yjjj. Xl t 
 
 aj/rov TJ/OJJJ; %, xj sytusro 6 dlvfyuKOs si; 
 (Sept. ibid.}. 
 
10 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 members of the sensible world, until the period of the 
 completion of beginnings and progenies, (a) 
 
 18. Hear the remaining discourse which thou de- 
 sirest to hear. The period being completed, the con- 
 necting bond ($) of all things was loosed by the will of 
 God ; for all the living creatures being male-female, were 
 loosed apart (c) along with the Man, and became partly 
 some male, but some female in like manner. But The God 
 immediately said in Holy Word : ' Increase in increasing, 
 and multiply in multitude all formations and creations' 1 ^), 
 .and let the understander (e) recognise himself as being 
 immortal, and the cause of the death love of body, and 
 all Entities. 
 
 19. The providence of Him speaking this, by means of 
 Fate and Harmony effected the minglings and established 
 the generations, and all things were multiplied according 
 to kind. And he that recognised (/) himself arrived at the 
 superabounding good ; but he that, from error of affection, 
 
 (a) TlAonf dpx,uv x.u.1 ytvuv. (6) av 
 
 (c) liiihviro. (d) x.Tifff4.ex.roi. x,ot,i 
 
 (e) 6 svvovg. (/) 6 oivoiyyupiaoig SOCVTOV. 
 
 1 " And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply and 
 fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth " (English 
 Version). "Koe.1 nfaoyyaev ccvrolo 0oV "hty 
 x.cti Tr'hYipaaoiTt rdv^ocrce. In roug 6otha.aaot.is, X.OLI roc. Trtrewo 
 Jiri rys 7% " (Sept., Gen. i. 22). The Vulgate and English Version 
 agree in reading as to the blessing of Noah and his sons before the 
 creation of man: "Increase or be fruitful and multiply and re- 
 plenish the earth, and subdue it " (Gen. ix. 1). The Septuagint adds, 
 &nd "be Lords over it" (see post, ch. iii.). A scholiast (Michael 
 Psellus) on one of the MSS. of another work attributed to Hermes, 
 (but not his), " De Operatione Demonum," published by Boissonade, 
 Nuremberg, 1838, and quoted in the notes by Parthey (p. 10), whilst 
 acknowledging that Hermes must have been acquainted with the 
 books of Scripture, and sometimes copied the very expressions, as in 
 this passage, complains that he has not conserved the simplicity and 
 clearness of Scripture, but has amplified and exaggerated them after 
 the Greek fashion ; but the real difference consists only in this, that 
 what in Genesis is enunciated separately, is here extended to all 
 created beings. Yet surely this is within the purview of the Scrip- 
 tural expressions. 
 
POEMANDEES. L 11 
 
 loved the body, this man remaineth wandering in darkness, 
 sensibly (a) suffering things of death." 
 
 20. " Why do the ignorant (5) sin so greatly ?" said I, 
 " that they should be deprived of immortality ? " " Thou 
 seemest," he saith, " O thou (c) ! not to have apprehended 
 the things thou hast heard; did not I tell thee to un- 
 derstand ?" "I understand," I said, " and remember, and 
 at the same time I thank thee." " If thou hast under- 
 stood/' he saith, " tell me why are those being in death 
 worthy of death ?" " Because," I say, " before the peculiar 
 body cometh x the fearful darkness (d), out of which the 
 moist nature out of which the body is constituted (e) in 
 the sensible world, whence death is derived." (/) 
 
 21. " Thou hast understood rightly, Thou ! But after 
 what mode does he who hath understood himself (g) 
 proceed to God, which the Word of God said ? I say 
 that c from Light and Life is constituted the Father of the | 
 Universals (h), from whom the Man was generated.' " Say I 
 well speaking," He saith ; " for Light and Life are The 
 God and the Father from Whom the Man was generate. 2 
 If, then, thou hast learnt thyself to be from light and 
 life, 3 and that thou existest (i) of these, thou shalt pass 
 
 (a) ttlvQ-frra;. (6) d'/voovrres. (c) u wrog. (d) arv/vov. 
 
 (e) avvsffrriKSv. (/) dpltvzrou, literally, " is watered." 
 
 (g) 6 Ivvoqaots foLvroi/. (h) ruv 'ohuv. (i) Tvyx<ivt$. 
 
 1 " Darkness was upon the face of the deep " (Gen. i. 2.) 
 
 2 The God that made the world and all things therein. He being 
 Lord of Heaven and earth dwelleth not, &c. . . . seeing He Him- 
 self giveth to all life and breath and all things ; and He made of one 
 every nation of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth," &c., 
 ., . . " that they should seek God, if haply they might feel after 
 
 Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us : for in 
 Him we live and move and have our being, as certain even of your 
 own poets have said : For we are also His offspring " (Acts xvii. 
 24, 28). 
 
 3 " Ami The God said, I*efc-s=inake man after our own image, 
 after our likeness" (Gen. i. 26). "So The God created (l^o/yjo-j-y, 
 Septuagint) the man in His own image (after the image of God 
 Sept.), male and female created He them" (eKorwet/ ecvrovg, ibid. 
 28). 
 
12 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 f unto life again." 1 These things Poemandres said. "But,. 
 further," said I, " tell me how shall I pass unto life, O 
 Mind ? " Mind, The God, saith, " The man of mind (a), let 
 
 I him recognise himself." " Not all men then," I say,, 
 
 I "have mind." 
 
 22. " Say well, Thou ! speaking such things. I my- 
 self, The Mind, am present with the holy and good, and 
 pure and merciful, with those living piously ; and my 
 
 -, presence becomes a help ; 2 and forthwith they are cog- 
 nizant of all things, 3 and lovingly propitiate the Father,, 
 and give thanks, praising, and sing hymns to Him in 
 ranks (&), from affection ; and before delivering over the 
 body to its own death, they detest (c) the senses, knowing 
 their operations (d)-, or rather I, The Mind, will not suffer 
 the operations of the body which happen (e), to be accom- 
 plished ; for being doorkeeper, I will shut out the incom- 
 ings of the evil and base operations, cutting off the desires. 
 
 23. But from the fools and evil, depraved, and envious,. 
 and covetous, and murderers, and impious, I am afar off,. 
 
 f delivering them to the avenging demon, who, applying the 
 sharpness of the fire, attacks them sensibly (/), and pre- 
 pares (g) them still more for wickednesses, that they may 
 
 
 (d) 5 svvovg. (6) TSTotyfAtvoi. (c) f^vaoirrovroii. (d) 
 
 (e) rpoaTrivrovTot. (/) dia6^nx,ug. (g) oVTu^W. 
 
 1 " In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of (the) men." 
 " But as many as received Him, to them gave He the right to become 
 children of God " (Revised Version, John i. 4, 12). 
 
 2 "Thus saith the High and Holy One that inhabiteth eternity,. 
 whose Name is Holy : I dwell in the high and holy place, with him 
 also that is of an humble and contrite spirit" (Isaiah Ivii. 15). 
 "Thus saith The Lord, the Heaven is my throne, and the earth is 
 my footstool . . ., but to this man will I look, even to him that is 
 poor and of a contrite spirit (ravsti/ov xai fovxtov, Septuagint), and 
 that trembleth at my word" (ibid. Ixvi. 1, 3). "He that loveth 
 me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and will mani- 
 fest myself unto him." " If a man love me he will keep my word ; 
 and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make 
 our abode with him" (John xiv. 21, 23). 
 
 3 "If any man loveth God, the same is known of Him" (1 COIY. 
 viii. 3). " Then shall we know, even as we are known." 
 
POEMANDRES. I. 13 
 
 xneet with a greater vengeance, 1 and he ceases not fromi 
 insatiably moving their concupiscence to unbounded ap- 
 petites, as in a battle in the dark, and so tortures, and 
 ^augments the fire more and more upon them." 
 
 24. " You have well taught me," I said, " all things as I 
 desired, Mind ! But tell me further about the ascent 
 that is to be." (a) To these things Poemandres said : 
 " First, indeed, in the dissolution of the body material, it 
 -delivers up the body itself unto alteration (&), and the form 
 which thou hadst becomes invisible, and delivers the 
 -character (c) deprived of energy to the demon, and the 
 senses of the body return back to their respective 
 sources, becoming portions (d), and again united together 
 with the energies (e). And passion and desire depart unto 
 the irrational nature. 
 
 25. And thus the residue (/) hastens upward through 
 the Harmony, and gives up to the first zone the energy 
 of increase and that of decrease, and to the second the 
 machination of the evils and the fraud de-energized (g) ; 
 and to the third the concupiscent deception de-ener- 
 gized ; and to the fourth, the pride of domineering, with- 
 out means of satisfaction (K) ; and to the fifth, the un- 
 holy boldness and the rashness of the audacity; and to 
 the sixth, the evil covetings after wealth, de-energized; 
 and to the seventh zone, insidious falsehood. 
 
 26. And then, denuded from the operations (i) of the 
 Harmony, it becomes energizing at the eighth nature, having 
 its proper power, and along with the Entities (&) hymn- 
 ing The Father. Those being present at this his coming 
 there, rejoice together, and being made Like to those who 
 are with him(Q, he hears also the powers who are above 
 the eighth nature in a certain sweet voice hymning The 
 
 (a) ecvobov ri)$ yivopiuns. (6) otAAo/y<r;v. (c) TO %6o$. 
 
 (d) pepy yivoftevai (e) trvvtffToifitvai {1$ rx$ siipysis. 
 
 (/) AO/TTOV, sine artic. (g) dveytp'/YiTov. (A) fls-s-Agoj/fXTJrroy. 
 
 (i) tytpyifipdiTuv. (k) rotlg ovai. (I) avvovaiv. 
 
 1 Compare the parable of the Unclean Spirit (Matt. xii. 44 ; Luke 
 xi.24). 
 
14 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 God. And then in order they mount upward to the Father,. 
 
 j and they deliver themselves up to Powers, and be- 
 
 j coming Powers they become in God. 1 This is the good 
 
 ending of those attaining knowledge, to be made divine (a). 
 
 For the rest, why delayest thou ? Is it not that having 
 
 accepted (&) all things, thou mayest become guide to those 
 
 who are worthy ; so that the race of mankind through thee 
 
 may be saved by God ? " 
 
 27. Saying this to me, Poemandres mingled himself with 
 the Powers ; but I having given thanks, and blessed the 
 Father of the Universals (c), rose up, empowered by Him 
 and instructed as to the nature of everything (d), and the 
 grandest vision ; and I began to proclaim to the men the 
 beauty of the piety and that of the knowledge. " O 
 peoples, earthborn men, ye having given yourselves up to 
 drunkenness and sleep and to the ignorance of God, be sober,. 
 cease being gluttons (e), allured by irrational sleep." 
 
 28. But they having heard, approached with one consent, 
 and I say, " Why, earthborn men, have ye given your- 
 selves over to death, having power (/) to partake of im- 
 mortality ? Eepent (g) ye who have walked together with 
 the error, and who have intercommuned with the igno- 
 rance; depart from the dark light, partake ye of the 
 immortality, having abandoned the corruption." 
 
 C 29. And some of them having jeered, stood off, having 
 
 I given themselves up to the way of the death ; but some 
 
 i requested to be taught, casting themselves before my feet. 
 
 But I raising them up became a guide of the human race,. 
 
 teaching the words how and in what way they shall be 
 
 saved. And I sowed upon them the words of the 
 
 Wisdom, and they were nourished with the Ambrosial 
 
 (a) QeaQyjvKi. (6) KctpoLha.fiuv. (c) ruv ohuv. (f?) 
 (e) xpoti'ffciheiivrsi,. (jf) s^ovirioty. ((/) 
 
 1 The doctrine of Plato as to the life hereafter of the pious who 
 had vanquished evil and the desires of the flesh is explained in 
 Timseus (42) : " He who has lived well the time belonging to him, 
 having again proceeded to the habitation of his consociate star, shall 
 lead a happy and familiar (avvhfa} life therein." 
 
POEMANDRES. I. 15 
 
 Water. 1 And it becoming evening, and the splendour of ( 
 the sun beginning to be wholly set, I called upon them to 
 give thanks to The God ; and having fulfilled the thanks- 
 giving, each returned to his own couch. 2 
 
 30. But I inscribed within myself the beneficence of 
 Poemandres, and fulfilled with the things which I wished, 
 I was exceedingly rejoiced, for the sleep of the body be- 
 came sobriety of the soul (a), and the closing of the eyes i 
 true vision, and my silence pregnant with the good, and ! 
 the utterance of speech productions (&) of good things, 
 But this happened to me receiving from my Mind, that 
 is of the Poemandres, the Word of the supreme authority(c), j 
 whence becoming God-inspired (d), 3 1 arrived at the truth. 
 Wherefore I give from soul and whole strength blessing 
 to The Father God. 
 
 31. Holy The God, The Father of the Universals (), 
 whose counsel is perfected by His own powers. Holy The 
 God Who willeth to be known and is known by His own. 
 Holy Thou art Who by Word hast constituted the Entities. / 
 Thou art Holy, of Whom all nature was born image (/).* 
 Thou art Holy Whom the nature formed not (g). Thou 
 art Holy Who art stronger than all power. Thou art Holy 
 Who art greater than all excellence. Thou art Holy Who 
 
 (a) vq-fyig TJJf -j/vxqs. (&) yittNfciMtra. (c) T 
 
 (d) 0&o7rvov$. (e) rav oXwv. (/) sizav s(pv. ((j) sp optpaasv. 
 
 1 " Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter 
 into the kingdom of God " (John iii. 5). " Jesus answered and said, If 
 thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me 
 to drink, thou wouldest have asked of Him and He would have given 
 thee living water." " The water that I shall give him shall become 
 in him a well of water springing up unto eternal life " (ibid. iv. 10, 
 14). See ch. iiL, x,poc.rv)p f post. 
 
 2 From this passage some have surmised that this Hermes might 
 have been one of the Therapeutse, whose custom it was to worship 
 and sing praises thus at sunsetting. 
 
 3 The meaning is doubtful. (Q.) If not QtoKvsvs a, wea. In Parthey's 
 edition, the VQVS is not circumflexed. Here, by anticipation, are pro- 
 pounded the tenets of the Egyptian Mystics, and indeed of the Mystics 
 of all ages of Christendom. 
 
 * See ante, 8, and notes. 
 
16 HERMES TRISMEG1STUS. 
 
 art superior to praises. Accept rational (a) sacrifices pure 
 from soul and heart intent upon Thee, unspeakable, 
 ineffable, invoked (ft) by silence ! To me, beseeching that 
 I stray not from the knowledge that is according to our 
 essence assent; and strengthen me, and with this grace 
 enlighten those who are in ignorance, brethren of my race, 
 but sons of Thee ! Wherefore I believe Thee, and bear 
 witness; I pass into Life and Light. Blessed art Thou, 
 Father ! Thy Man wisheth to be sanctified with Thee, as 
 Thou hast delivered to him the whole power (c) (i.e., to 
 be so). 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Of Hermes the Trismegistus, to Asclepius. 
 Catholic Discourse. 1 
 
 1. EVERYTHING that is moved, Asclepius, is it not 
 moved in something and by something ? 
 
 Asclepius. Most certainly. 
 
 Hermes. Is there not necessity that that be greater in 
 which it is moved than that moved ? 
 
 Asclepius. There is necessity. 
 
 Hermes. Stronger therefore the motor 2 than that 
 moved ? 
 
 (a) ?ioy;a?. (6) (pavovfteve. (c) IfoiWctj/. 
 
 1 This chapter is extracted by Stobseus. (Physica, 384 ; Meineke, 
 i. 104). 
 
 2 See post, ch. ix. 9. The question of motion was important with 
 the Platonists. In Phsedrus (245), Plato had written : " Every soul 
 is immortal, for the ever-moveable is immortal; but that moving 
 other and moved "by other, having cessation of motion, has cessation 
 of life. But the self-moving alone, since not failing itself, never 
 ceases being moved ; but to the other things, as many as are moved, 
 is fountain and beginning of motion. But a beginning (or principle, 
 
 is ingenerate." 
 
POEMANDRES. II. 17 
 
 Asclepius. Stronger indeed. 
 
 Hermes. There is necessity that that in which it is 
 moved have a contrary nature to that which is moved ? 
 Asclepius^ And altogether so. 
 
 2. Hermes. Great then is this the World, 1 than which 
 there is not any body greater ? 
 
 Asclepius. It is confessed. 
 
 Hermes. And solid, for it hath been filled with many 
 other great bodies, or rather with all as many bodies as 
 there are ? 
 
 Asclepius. Thus it is. 
 
 Hermes. A body then is the World ? 
 
 Asclepius. A body. 
 
 Hermes. And moved ? 
 
 Asclepius. Most certainly. 
 
 3. Hermes. Of what size (a) then must be the place 2 in 
 which it is moved, and of what kind the nature ? Is it 
 not much greater that it may be able to receive the con- 
 tinuity of the forward course (6), and that that moved may 
 not, impeded by the narrowness, retard (c) its motion ? 
 
 (a) flnfXjJMr, (&) T *J (fiopAs. (c) tirta-ftp. 
 
 1 K&V^o?, i.e., the order of the Universe. 
 
 2 The question of motion is discussed by Plato in " Thesetetus," 152, 
 181 : " Motion is both change of place and revolution in itself. It 
 is motion also when change takes place from youth to age, from black 
 to white, from soft to hard. Two forms then of motion, change and 
 revolution." " All things are generated from forward course (<po/>?), 
 and movement, and mixture ; for nothing by no means ever is, but 
 always is becoming." " Motion affords that seeming to be and that 
 "becoming. Inactivity (^av-^iet} is the not being, and destruction. 
 Heat and fire producing and preserving all things is of forward course 
 and motion. Living animals are produced by the same. The health 
 of the body is injured by sloth, restored by exercise ; the health of 
 the soul is improved and preserved by learning and care being 
 motions, and acquires knowledge. By inactivity, carelessness, and v 
 want of instruction it learns nothing, and forgets what it may have / 
 learnt. Motion, then, is good both for soul and body ; and Homer 
 teaches that so long as there be the circulation in movement and the 
 sun, all things are, and are preserved with gods and men. But if 
 that stood still, all things would perish, and become, as it were, 
 upside down." 
 
18 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 Asclepius. Some very great thing, Trismegistus ! 
 
 4. Hermes. But of what kind of nature, whether of 
 the opposite, Asclepius ? But to body, opposite nature 
 is the incorporeal. 
 
 Asclepius. It is confessed. 
 
 Hermes. Incorporeal then is the place. But the incor- 
 poreal is either Divine or God. But the Divine I now 
 speak of is not the generated but the ingenerate (a). 
 
 5. If, then, it be Divine, it is essential (&) ; but if it be 
 God it becomes superessential (c). But otherwise it is 
 intelligible (d) thus. For intelligible is the first God to us, 
 not to Himself, for, the intelligible falls under the under- 
 stander (e) by sense. The God then is not intelligible to 
 Himself; for not being something else than that under- 
 
 ( stood is He understood by Himself (/). 
 
 6. But to us he is something else, and because of this 
 He is intelligible to us. But if the place is intelligible, 
 it is not therefore God but place ; but if also God it is 
 so, not as being place, but as capacious energy (g). But 
 everything moved is not moved in the thing moved, but 
 in the stable, and that moving it therefore is stable. For 
 it is impossible for it to be moved along with it. 
 
 ^ Asclepius. How then, Trismegistus, are things here 
 moved along with those being moved? for the spheres, 
 
 I thou saidst, those errants, are moved by the inerrant Qi) 
 sphere. 1 
 
 Hermes. This is not, Asclepius, motion together (i), 
 but countermotion ; for they are not moved similarly, but 
 contrary wise to each other ; and the contrariety (k) has 
 the resistance of the motion constant (Z). 
 
 7. For the reaction (in) is arrest of progress (n). Where- 
 fore, also, the errant spheres being moved contrary wise to 
 that inerrant by the contrariant opposition, because of 
 
 (a) TO xyiwiriTOi/. (6) ovviabqe. (c) dvovaloiarot/. 
 
 (d) voriTog. (e) ru voovvrt v'Trovt'TrTti. (/) t/<p' sxvrov. 
 
 x,upYirtx,9). (h) d7rhotvov$. (i) 
 
 (I) sffTuaav. (m) j durirvxiot,. (11) 
 
 1 See ch. i. 14, and note there. 
 
POEMANDRES. II. 19 
 
 the very opposition (a), are moved amongst each other (b) 
 by the stable (c). And it is impossible that it should be 
 otherwise ; for those arctic (spheres) which thou seest 
 neither setting nor rising, revolved about the same pointy 
 dost thou think to be moved or to stand still ? 
 
 Asclepius. To be moved, Trismegistus. 
 
 Hermes. What sort of motion, Asclepius ? 
 
 Asclepius. That being turned always about the same 
 point. 
 
 Hermes. But the circulation about the same point is 
 motion restrained by stableness (d). For what is around 
 the same hinders that exceeding the same; but that in 
 excess being hindered, if it stand in that which is around 
 the same, so also the contrary course stands firm, being 
 always maintained (e) by the contrariety. 1 
 
 8. But I will mention to you a terrestrial example meet- 
 ing the eye about this. Contemplate terrene animals, such 
 as the man, I say, swimming. For the water flowing on- 
 wards, the resistance of the feet and of the hands becomes 
 stability to the man, that he be not carried along with the 
 water, nor be sunk by it. 
 
 Asclepius. Thou hast spoken a very apposite example, 
 O Trismegistus! 
 
 Hermes. All motion then is moved in stability (/) and 
 by stability. The motion therefore of the World, and of 
 every material animal, does not happen to be generated by 
 things without the World, but by those within to that 
 without, either by soul or spirit, or something else incor- 
 poreal ; for body does not move a thing with soul (</), not 
 even the entire body, if it be without soul. 
 
 9. Asclepius. How sayest thou this, Trismegistus? 
 Woods then and stones, and all other without soul, are 
 they not bodies that are movers? 
 
 (a) Ttpl rqv Mctvrivnrrrat, ccvr^y. (6) v^i dft.~h.fauv. (c) VKO rvjg l 
 (d) tiro ffTtiffsaS' ( e ) ffTypt^oftevYi. (/) It/ ardiasi. ( 
 
 1 The same attempt to explain the relative motions of the planets 
 and stars is to be found in the " Timseus " of Plato. See also ante, 
 ch. i. 14, note. 
 
20 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 Hermes. By no means, Asclepius ! for that within the 
 body, that moving the soulless, is it not that body moving 
 both, that of the carrying (a) and that of the carried ? 
 A Wherefore soulless will not move soulless (&), but that 
 moving has soul, becaus^ it does move. Thou seest 
 therefore the soul weighed down when alone it carrieth 
 two bodies ; and that, indeed, things moved are moved in 
 somewhat, and by somewhat is plain. 
 
 10. Asclepius. Then the things moved must be moved 
 in a void, O Trismegistus ! 
 
 Hermes. May'st thou say well, Asclepius ! but none 
 of the Entities is void, for alone nonentity is void, and 
 alien from the existence (c) ; but that being, cannot be 
 being, unless it were full of the existence ; for that exist- 
 ing never can become void. 
 
 Asclepius. But are there not some things void, Tris- 
 megistus ! as an void measure, or a void cask, and a void 
 well and wine press, and the other suchlike things ? 
 
 Hermes. Alas ! for this great error, Asclepius ! Those 
 fullest and most replete, dost thou consider to be void ? 
 
 11. Asclepius. How sayest thou, Trismegistus ? 
 Hermes. Is not the air a body ? 
 
 Asclepius. A body it is. 
 
 Hermes. And does not this body permeate through all 
 
 beings, and permeating fill all things ? And body does it 
 
 ^- not consist mingled of the four ? l Full then are all things 
 
 which thou sayest are void, of the air and if of the air then 
 
 of the four bodies. And it happens that the converse 
 
 (a) /3et0Tofoz/TO?. (6) aifyv%M. (c) r 
 
 1 Fire, Water, Air, and Earth, according to the Pythagoreans and 
 Plato. Plato himself, in the " Timseus," says : " But as to that nature 
 which was before the generation of heaven, of Fire, Water, Air, and 
 Earth, we must consider that, and what occurred (ra. ^a.&-/\) before this ; 
 for no one hath ever indicated their origin (ysi/sffiv). We call them 
 beginnings or principles (up%as)> placing them as elements of the 
 Universe." Also, " of these four the existence of the World took 
 each one whole. For He having established it, established it out of 
 all fire, and water, and air, and earth, having left no part of any, nor 
 power without." 
 
POEMANDRES. II. 21 
 
 expression is evidenced (a), that those things which thou 
 callest full, all these are void of the air, these being nar- 
 rowed of room by other bodies, and not being able to 
 receive the air into their locality. Those things then 
 which thou sayest are void, one must call hollow, not void, 
 for they subsist, and are full of air and spirit (6). 
 
 12. Asclepius. The saying is uncontradic table, O Tris- 
 megistus ! The air is body, and this is the body which 
 permeates through all the Entities, and permeating fills 
 all tilings. But the locality then in which the Universe is 
 moved What should we call it ? 
 
 Hermes. Incorporeal, Asclepius ! 
 
 Asclepius. The incorporeal then, what is it ? 
 
 Hermes. Mind and reason (c), whole out of whole (cl), 
 comprehending itself; free from all body, inerrant, im- 
 passible from body, intangible itself, stablished (e) in 
 itself, having capacity (/) for all things, and conservative 
 of the Entities, of which are, as it were, rays, the Good, 
 the Truth, the archetype Light (g\ the archetype of the 
 Soul. 1 
 
 Asclepius. The God then, what is He ? 
 
 Hermes. He subsisting (h) One, not of these things, but 
 being also cause to these things that they are, as well as 
 to all, and to each one of the Entities. 
 
 13. Neither hath He left anything over beside (i) that is 
 not (&); for all things are those generate from the Entities, 
 not from those not Entities. Eor things not Entities have 
 not the nature to be able to become to be (7), but that of 
 not being able to become anything ; and again, the Entities 
 have not the nature of never to be (m). 
 
 14. Asclepius. Whatever then sayest thou The God to 
 be? 
 
 Hermes. The God then is not Mind but the cause that 
 
 (ft) txtfixivtaffoii. (6) TT'siVfAoiTog. (c) 
 
 (rf) o'Xof | oAoy. (e) SffTag. (/) %apYrrix,o$. 
 
 (</) TO ApxtrvTcov (flag. (h) ii-Trdpxav. (i) 
 
 (&) TO fty oy. (I) 'ysviffffett. (jfl) ^*7<JfcTor! dvoit. 
 
 1 See ante, ch. i. 8, and note. 
 
22 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 Mind is (a). ]N"or Spirit, but cause that Spirit is. 1 Nor 
 Light, but cause that Light is. Whence one must vene- 
 rate The God under these two appellations; these to Him 
 alone appertaining, and to no other for neither of others 
 called Gods, 2 nor of men, nor of demons, can any one, 
 even after a sort (5) be good, but The God alone ; and this 
 alone He is and nothing else. For all other things are 
 separable from the nature of the Good, for they are body 
 and soul, having no place able to receive the Good. 
 
 15. For the magnitude of the Good is so great as is the 
 subsistence (c) of all the Entities, both bodies and without 
 bodies, and sensible and intelligible, (d) This is the Good, 
 this The God. 3 Thou shouldst not then call anything else 
 good since thou wouldest be impious, nor anything else 
 ever The God, since thou wouldest again be impious. 
 
 16. In speech then indeed the Good is spoken of by all; 
 but whatever it is, is not understood (e) by all ; wherefore 
 neither is The God understood by all, but through igno- 
 rance they call the Gods and some of the men good, by no 
 means able either to be or to become such. For they are 
 very different (/) from The God ; for the Good is insepar- 
 able from The God, The God Himself being The Good. All 
 
 (a) TOV i<ji vow. (b}x,ottf oTTQffovouv. (c) 
 
 (d) vovfTuy. (&) voiiroii. (f) d 
 
 1 This doctrine seems to be consonant to the Creed of the orthodox 
 Greek Church as to the Procession. See as to this post, Part III. 
 
 / Plato (" Timeeus," 28) had written : " Everything "beginning anew of 
 necessity is generated by some causer. For to everything it is im- 
 possible to have generation apart from causer. When, then, The 
 Creator ever looking to that being thuswise, using some such pattern, 
 had effected the idea and the power of it, of necessity it was that 
 everything should be completed beautiful (*aAov). For the produc- 
 tion of which, using a generated pattern, it would not be beautiful." 
 
 2 " There is no God but One ; for though there be that are called 
 Gods, whether in heaven or in earth, as there be Gods many and 
 Lords many, yet to us there is One, God The Father, of Whom are 
 all things, and we unto Him " (1 Cor. viii. 4, 7). 
 
 3 " There is none Good but One, that is The God." See the subse- 
 quent sections, 16 and 17. (Mark x. 18; Luke xviii. 19; and ch. 
 vi. post, and note). 
 
POEM ANDRES. II. 23 
 
 the other Gods then are called immortals, being honoured 
 with the appellation of Gods ; but The God is The Good, 
 not by honour (a) but by nature. For one is the nature of 
 The God the Good, and one the kind of both these (6), 
 from which are all the kinds (c). For the Good is giving 
 everything, and receiving nothing. The God then gives 
 all things and receives nothing. The God then is The 
 Good, and the Good The God. 
 
 17. But another appellation is that of The Father ; again 
 because the Maker of all things; for it is of a father to 
 make. 1 Wherefore also in life the greatest and most reli- 
 gious anxiety (d) of the prudent (c) is the generation of 
 children (/), and the greatest misfortune and irreligon, is 
 that any one should depart childless from among men. And 
 this man renders justice after death to the demon, and 
 the punishment is this that the soul of the childless 
 should be condemned (g) to a body having the nature 
 neither of man nor of woman, which is accursed under the 
 Sun. Wherefore, O Asclepius ! be mutually pleased (h) 
 with no one being childless ; but on the contrary pity the 
 misfortune, knowing what punishment awaits him. 2 So 
 many and such things be said to thee, Asclepius! a 
 precognition somewhat of the nature of all things. 3 
 
 (a) X.OITOC TifAqv. (&) svog dfttyorrtpuv. (c) ra 
 
 (d) <77rot(Jj. (e) svCppouovaw. (/) 
 
 1 This passage is quoted and otherwise referred to by Justin Martyr 
 (Apolog. ii. 6), and Lactantius (Divin. Instit. i. 6). See Part III., and 
 see a similar passage, post, ch. v. 8, 10. 
 
 2 The dying childless was accounted a great misfortune among the 
 Jews. "They shall bear their sin; they shall die childless" (Levit. 
 xx. 20). " Thus saith the Lord, Write you this man childless" (Jer. 
 xxii. 30). It is manifest that this latter portion of ch. ii. was written 
 "before the epoch of Monachism. This is the only passage in which 
 Hermes propounds any kind of metempsychosis. 
 
 3 Two portions of this chapter are extracted by Stobaeus (Ecloga 
 Physica, Meineke's Edition, vol. I., p. 105). 
 
24 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 C H A P T E E III. 
 
 Sacred Discourse. 
 
 1. GLORY of all things, The God and Divinity and Nature 
 Divine. Beginning of the Entities, 1 The God, and Mind, 
 and Nature, and Matter; being Wisdom for the manifesta- 
 tion of everything (a). Beginning is the Divinity, and 
 Nature, and Energy (6), and Necessity, and End and 
 Renovation. For there was darkness without limit in 
 Abyss (c), and Water and Spirit, subtle, intelligent (d), 
 with divine power being in Chaos. 2 Then issued forth (e) 
 Holy Light, and there were collected (/) under an 
 arena (g) elements from moist essence, and all Gods 3 
 distribute of Seminal Nature (A). 4 
 
 2. And all things being indiscriminate and orderless (i\ 
 the light were separated off upwards (&), and the heavy 
 were made a foundation under a moist arena, the whole 
 
 (a) oiTrdlvTuv. . (6) ivipytix. (c) lv ctfivva-u (Sept.) 
 
 (d) "htKTOV VOSpOV. (e) dlsl0Yl. (/) I 
 
 (i) dSiopiaTuv. dxocTCKrxsvdiaTuv (the same word as in the Septuagint). 
 (k) dTToftiapiffOYi ti$ vi]/o$. 
 
 1 " I am the Alpha and the Omega, beginning and ending, saith The 
 Lord God, Which is, and Which was and is to come, The Almighty " (Rev. 
 i. 11). " I am the First and the Last and the Living One" (ibid. 18). 
 
 2 " And the Earth was without form and void (dopotros XKI dxara- 
 ffx,sva<TTos, KXI ffxoro; tTTKM TJjj dpvcraov, Septuagint), and darkness 
 was upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God moved upon the 
 face of the waters (KKI irvsv/ucc. got/ iTrsQepero knave,) rov v^otroc;, Sept.). 
 And The God said, ' Let I4ght be, and Light was (TwnQqra (pug, 
 xxl eyevsro (pu^ Sept.) And The God saw the Light that it was good 
 (x,al tTbsv o @to$ TO (p&>$ on x,ex.~hw, Sept.) And The God divided the 
 light from the darkness " (bftxapiirsv o to$ di/ot^aov^ Sept.) In the 
 margin of the Hebrew and in the Septuagint, " Between the light and 
 between the darkness" (Gen. i. 2-5). See ante, ch. i. 7, and the 
 
 ! [1 "Timseus" of Plato, 52, 53, for similar statements. 
 
 3 It is clear that throughout this treatise by " Gods " is meant the 
 superior Intelligences, whom we know as Principal Angels, respecting 
 whom see below, and ch. i. 9 ante, and note. 
 
 4 See post 3, and note -there. 
 
POEMANDRES. III. 25 
 
 Toeing divided apart 1 by fire, and suspended up to be 
 carried onward (a) by Spirit. 
 
 3. But each 2 God by his proper power (6), set for- 
 
 (a) o%ewdoti. (6) B/ot TVJ; 
 
 1 The agency of Fire or Heat is not directly noticed in Holy Scrip- 
 ture ; but it is clear that it must have formed part of the original 
 creation. To this may be referred " He maketh his angels spirits, 
 and his ministers a flame of fire," or " flaming fire " (Psalm civ. 4 ; 
 Heb. i. 7). 
 
 See a statement similar to that in the text in the " Timseus " of / 
 Plato, 52, 53. 
 
 The account of the Creation in Genesis proceeds thus : " And The 
 God said, Let there be a firmament (artpiupa, Sept.) in the midst of 
 the water, and let it divide the water from the water (^ix^upi^v dva,- 
 [tkaov vdotros KXI vdotTo?, Sept.); and The God made the firmament, 
 and divided the water which was under the firmament from the 
 water which was above the firmament; and it was so. And The 
 God called the firmament Heaven. . . . And The God said, Let 
 the water under the heaven be gathered together unto one gathering 
 (eig avvotyuy^v fttotv, Sept.), and let the dry land appear. And the 
 water under the heaven was gathered together unto its own gather- 
 ings, and the dry land appeared ; and The God called the dry land 
 Earth ; and the collections (rx avarvpoiTat,, Sept.) of the waters called 
 He Seas " (from the Septuagint in loco). 
 
 See ante, ch. i. 11, and notes there ; and the extract, Part II., by Sto- 
 bseus, from " The Things to Animon " (Physica, 741 ; Meineke, i. 203). 
 
 The account of the creation of the Sun, Moon, and Stars in Genesis 
 rims thus (ch. i. 14): "And ('The/ Sept.) God said, Let there be 
 lights ((paarvipsf, Sept.) in the firmament of the Heaven to divide 
 the Day from the Night (' between the Day and between the Night/ 
 Heb. and Sept.), and let them be for signs and for seasons, and for 
 days and for years ; and let them be for lights in the firmament of 
 the heaven to give light (oars. Qoiivtiv, Sept.) upon the earth, and 
 it was so." And ('The,' Sept.), God made two great Lights" 
 (rovs St/o (pa<rrvipoi$, Sept.), &c. " The stars also. And ( The,' Sept.), 
 God set them in the firmament of Heaven to give light upon the 
 earth, and to rule over the Day (' for the rule of the day,' Heb.), and 
 over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness (oLvoipiaov 
 rov (faro; x.atl dvolptaw rw OKOTOV^ Sept.) ; and God saw that it was 
 good." 
 
 2 " Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his 
 commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. Ministers 
 of his that do his pleasure " (Ps. ciii. 20, 21). See Heb. i. 14 ; Dan. 
 vii. 9. 
 
26 HERMES TPJSMEGISTUS. 
 
 ward (a) that ordained to him, and these became (5) beasts,, 
 quadrupeds, and reptiles, and aquatics, and winged,, and 
 every fruitful seed (c), and grass and green herb of every 
 flower, having the seed of the reproduction (d) in them- 
 selves. 1 
 
 And the Heaven appeared in Seven Circles, 2 and( Gods 
 
 (a) divqx.s. (6) sygj^TO. (c) vx-opdc. svoiropos. 
 
 (d) oTTtpftct ryjg KaChiyytvwiot,*;. 
 
 Plato (Politicus, 271) had written: " The God first with care ruled 
 over all this globe, as now, according to places ; the several parts of 
 the world are everywhere instinct by ruling gods, and divine demons 
 divided, like shepherds, the animals by races and herds, each for 
 each, sufficing for all things to which He assigned them." In the 
 " Timaeus" (58), he says: " The God made the self-sufficing and most 
 perfect Good, using the secondary causes as his ministers in the ac- 
 complishment of his work, but Himself fashioning the Good in all 
 his creations." Again (69), " Of the Divine, He Himself was Creator, 
 but the creation of the mortal He committed to his offspring." 
 
 1 " And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass " (' tender grass/ 
 Heb., fiorariov wprov, Sept.), " the herb yielding seed, and the fruit 
 tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself upon the 
 earth" (a'TTitpov ffTirspf^x Kctrx ysvos x>oil xoiff OJAOIOT'/ITOC., x,otl ^vhov xap-Trfftov- 
 Trofovv Koip-TToy ov TO aTTsp^ot O.VTOV sv CLVTU x.a,ru. ygj/of, Sept.). " And the 
 earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and 
 the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself after his kind" 
 (Gen. i. 11, 12). 
 
 " And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving 
 creature" ('creeping/ Heb.) "that hath life" ('soul/ Heb.; ' EpirotToc, 
 4/vxZy &v, Sept.) " and fowl that may fly" (' Let fowl fly 5 Heb.; 
 irsretyec. -Trerofteya, Sept.) " above the earth in the n (' face of the/ Heb.) 
 " open firmament of Heaven. And God created great whales, and 
 every living creature that moveth" (^/v^w aau tpTrsrav') " which the 
 waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged 
 fowl after his kind." " And God said, Let the earth bring forth the 
 living creature after his kind, cattle " (rsrpxTrolot, Sept.), " and creep- 
 ing thing, and beast of the earth " (fopta 7% yvjs, Sept.) " after his 
 kind. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and 
 cattle " (jcrquy, Sept.), " and everything that creepeth upon the earth 
 after his kind" (ibid. 12, 13). 
 
 According to the Timaeus of Plato (77), trees and plants were created,, 
 that man might continue, and animals also. 
 
 2 See ch. i. 7, and note there. 
 
 Dante has appropriated this notion in the " Divina Commedia,"' 
 though the number of circles does not correspond. 
 
POEMANDRES. III. 27 
 
 in their stellar forms (a)j, being visible with all their signs, 
 and the constellations l were severally enumerated (6), with 
 the Gods in them, and the circumference was wrapped 
 around (c) with air borne onward in a circular course by | 
 Divine Spirit. 2 And they sowed (d) also the generations of 
 
 (a) reti$ ivxarpois i%eott$. (b) ^nnpt&^6in TOC otarpa,. 
 
 (c) TSpisihixdYi TO vrtptxvx'hiov. (d) faTrtppoKoyovv. 
 
 1 " He telleth the number of the stars, and calleth them all by 
 their names" (Ps. cvii. 4). " He that maketh the seven Stars and Orion" 
 (Ainos v. 8). " He had in his right hand seven Stars" (Rev. i. 16). 
 " The mystery of the seven Stars. The Seven Stars are the Angels of 
 the Seven Churches " (ibid. 20). " He that holdeth the Seven Stars in 
 His right hand " (ibid. ii. 1). " He that hath the Seven Spirits of God 
 and the Seven Stars" (ibid. iii. 1); and see ante and note, ch. i. 9. 
 " And I saw an Angel standing in the Sun " (ibid. xix. 17). 
 
 The wide-spread belief in the East, that the stars had great influence > 
 on the earth probably arose from the idea that Angels or Divinities 
 resided iti them. Josephus mentions that Berosus attributed to 
 Abraham great knowledge of astrology, in which he instructed the 
 Egyptians. Diodorus speaks of Heliadss (Easterns), who were great 
 astrologers. One of them built Hieropolis, and the Egyptians became 
 great astrologers, and were looked upon as its inventors, and, accord- 
 ing to A. Tatius, the Egyptians taught it to the Chaldaeans. In the 
 dialogue between Hermes and Asclepius (perhaps not a genuine work 
 of Hermes himself), in answer to a question of Asclepius, Hermes is j 
 represented as affirming that the stellar Angels, called Decans, have J 
 very great influence over men. (See Part II. xix., post.} 
 
 Compare " The Stars in their courses fought against Sisera " (Judg. 
 v. 20, English Version). " From the heaven Stars from the array of 
 them" (I* 7% r%eu$ eivrw) "made war" (g^roA^weu/) "with Sisera" 
 (Sept.). " Canst thou bind the sweet influence of Pleiades " (' The 
 Seven Stars,' Heb.), " or loose the bands of Orion ? Canst thou bring 
 forth Mazzaroth " (' The twelve Signs,' Jerome) " in his season ? or 
 canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?" (Job xxxviii. 31, 32; see 
 also ibid. ix. 9). The Septuagint differs : " 2yj/jjx? %e Itapov IlAe/aBo?, 
 x.a.1 (Ppif/fiov flpiavo; %uoi%ec$; "H ^toivoi^is Ma^ovpad sv xoupy otvrov, 
 xoci "Ecrvtpov IKI xoftn; airrov oL&s aura" " Hast thou fastened the 
 bond of Pleiades, and hast thou opened the fence of Orion, or wilt 
 thou set open Mazzaroth in his season, and wilt thou bring Hesper to 
 his zenith ? " 
 
 The Seven Stars are thus enumerated in a verse attributed to 
 Hermes by Stobaeus : *' MJJIJ, Zgyj, "Apns, Hatpin, Kpwo$, "Hx/oj, 
 'Eppj};." (Physica, 176; Meineke, i. 45). 
 
 2 Plato (" Timseus," 37, Hermann's edition, iv. 340) thus writes : ; 
 
28 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 the men, for knowledge of Divine works, and energizing 
 
 testimony (a) of nature and multitude of men for the 
 
 dominion of all things that are under heaven, and the 
 
 cognition (&) of good things, for to be increased in increase, 
 
 and to be multiplied in multitude, and every soul in flesh 
 
 I through course of encircling Gods (c), for contemplation of 
 
 I Heaven, and course of the heavenly Gods, 1 and divine 
 
 works and energy of nature, and for signs of good things, 
 
 (a) Ivspyoixrav ftaprvaioiv. (b) l-Kiyvuaiv. (c) 6tav l^ 
 
 li From Reason then and this Providence of God for the generation 
 of Time, that Time might be generated, Sun and Moon, and five 
 others denominated Planet Stars, were generated for the division 
 and protection of the numbers of Time. And The God having made 
 bodies of each of them, placed them in the Orbits in which the 
 period of the others went being Seven, the stars being seven. Moon, 
 indeed, in the first around the earth, but Sun in the second above 
 earth, but Hesper and that called sacred of Hermes going in the 
 circle equal in swiftness with the Sun, but having the contrary force 
 to it, whence the Sun and that of Hermes and Hesper both overtake 
 and are overtaken in these by one another. When all the Stars then 
 needed to fabricate Time, had attained the course suitable each to each, 
 -and had become living bodies bound by vital chains, and had learned 
 that ordained to them according to the motion of the diverse being 
 diagonal (a-Aeey/**) and overruled by the same, they revolved, some in 
 -a larger, some in a lesser orbit; those in a lesser orbit revolving faster, 
 but those which had the larger revolving more slowly. That there 
 might be some measure of their relative swiftness in their eight courses, 
 God kindled Light in the second of the orbits, that next the earth, 
 which we call Sun, especially that it might shine over all the heaven, 
 and that living creatures, such to whom it was suitable, might partake 
 of number, learning it from the orbit of this and the like. Thus 
 then became Night and Day, and the period of the one and most 
 intellectual revolution," &c. " There is no difficulty in seeing that 
 the perfect number of Time completes the perfect year, when all the 
 eight periods having their relative degrees of swiftness are accom- 
 plished together, and begin again at their original points of departure." 
 See ante, sec. 2, note 2. 
 
 1 The Seven Stars, with their guardian angels (viz., the Sun, the 
 Moon, Venus, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn), were by Hermes 
 believed to revolve round the Earth, which remained unmoved in 
 the midst. So also the remainder of the Stars, but these latter fixed 
 in a solid firmament (ampta/aa,, Septuagint). See post, ch. xi. 7, and 
 note. 
 
POEMANDRES. ///. 29 
 
 for knowledge of Divine power, to know parts (a) of good 
 and evil things, and to discover workmanship (b) of all 
 good things. 
 
 4. Their living and becoming wise beginneth according 
 to portion (or degree) (c), of course of encircling Gods, and 
 to be resolved into that ; and there shall be great memorials 
 of artificial works (d) upon the earth, leaving behind in 
 renewal the wasting (e) of times. And every generation of 
 animated flesh (/), and of the fruit of seed, and of all art 
 energy (g) ; those which are diminished, shall be renewed 
 by necessity, and by renewal of Gods, and by course of 
 periodical circle of Nature. For Divine is the whole cos- 
 mical composition (h) renovated by Nature. For in the 
 Divine has Nature also been constituted. 1 
 
 (a) f^oipot;, or degrees. (6) B/BXov/>y/ay. (c) poipxv. 
 
 (d) re^vovpyififAoirtoy. (e) ftoti>paoii>. (/) l^v^v aotpxo;. 
 
 G/) T%ywp f /tii;. (Ji) 
 
 1 The construction of this Chapter is in many parts obscure, and I 
 the text corrupt or incomplete. Plato (" Timaeus," 30), after saying 
 that The God had brought all things out of disorder into order, adds : 
 " For it was not lawful for The Best to work out anything else but 
 the most beautiful." 
 
 The account of the Creation of Man, and the purposes for which 
 he was created, in the book of Genesis, which it will be instructive to 
 compare with that of Hermes, is as follows : 
 
 " And God said, Let Us make Man in Our Image, after Our Like- 
 ness : and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over 
 the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and 
 over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God 
 created Man in His own image, in the image of God created He him ; 
 male and female created He them. And God blessed them, and God 
 said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, 
 and subdue it ; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over 
 the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth (or 
 ' creepeth,' Heb.) on the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given 
 you every herb bearing seed (' seeding seed,' Heb.), which is upon the 
 face of all the earth, and every tree in the which is the fruit of a 
 tree yielding seed, to you it shall be f6r meat. And to every beast 
 of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that 
 creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life (' a living soul,' Heb.), I 
 have given every green herb for meat : and it was so. And God saw 
 
30 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 To Ms own Son Tat. Discourse. 
 The Crater, or Monas. 
 
 1. The Creator (a), not with hands but by Word, 1 made(&) 
 the whole World, 2 so that conceive of Him thuswise, as of 
 the present and everbeing, and having made all things, and 
 One and Only and by His own Will having created (c) the 
 Entities. For this is the body of Him ; not touchable, nor 
 
 (6) ITO/J^SI/ rov "Truuroe, 
 
 everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good " (Gen. 
 i. 26-31). 
 
 The version of the Septuagint is as follows : 
 
 " Ka/ sJtftv b Qebg 'TToirjaufAtv " AvQpuvov xar l/xova q/Atrspav xa/ 
 5ta$' opoiuffiv ; xa/ dp^sruffav ruv i^dvuv r^g QahdcGyg xa/ ruv 
 mreivuv rov ovpavov xa/ ruv xryvuv xa/ TaOjj rr t g yr^g xai Travruv 
 ruv IptftTuv TUV zpKOVTUv sft} r^g y?j. Ka/ I-TO/TJO'SV o &sbg rbv 
 
 xar f/xoi/a &sov svolqffsv avrov, apctv %ai Qq 
 Ka/ zvXoyrjfftv avrovg 6 @tbg X'syuv Av^dvtffQz xa/ 
 
 fy yw xa} xaraxupiovffars avrqc,, xai ap^trs ruv 
 rq$ QaXdfftfqg xai ruv tfsrsivuv rov bupavov xa/ Tavrwv ruv 
 xa/ tfaffqg rqg yyjg xa/ tfdvrwv ruv spKtrZiv ruv 
 * Ka/ sJrfsv 6 &sbg 'idou dsd 
 
 6<7rp/&a o sffriv svdvu tfdffTig rqg yyg, xai ^rav guXo? o s%si sv 
 xapirbv Gtfsp/Aarog G^O^ILOM V/JL/V effrai sjg [Bpuffiv. Ka/ 'Tract 
 roig Qripioig r%g yr^c, xai iraffi ro?c, rttreivoig rov ovpavou xa/ cravr/ 
 sp'TTsriZ sptfovri S<TTI T%g yqg o e^si sv sowruj > fyvy$v fayjg xai -ravra 
 %6prov %Xupbv sig (Spuffiv xa/ sysvsro ourug. Ka/ sJdsv o 0% ra 
 cravra offa eKofyffz xa/ tdov xaXa X/av" (Field's Edition, Cantab. 1665). 
 
 1 The Chaldee paraphrast has " Memra." " By the Word of The 
 Lord were the heavens made and all the host of them by the breath 
 of His mouth " (Ps. xxxiii. 6). " He spake and it was done " (ibid. 9). 
 " Through faith we understand that the worlds have been framed by 
 the Word of God" (Heb. xi. 3). " For this they wilfully forget that 
 there were heavens from of old, and an earth compacted out of water 
 and amidst water, by The Word of God " (2 Pet. iii. 5). See also 
 Gen. i. 6 ; John i. 3. 
 
 2 The word " xoV^o?" has been uniformly translated " World," but 
 it must be understood to mean the entire cosmical " Ordo," or 
 Universe. * 
 
POEMANDRES. IV. 
 
 31 
 
 
 visible, nor measurable, nor separable (a), nor like to any 
 other body. For He is neither fire, nor water, nor air, nor 
 Spirit ; but all are from Him ; for being good He willed to 
 dedicate this to Himself alone, and to adorn the earth. 1 
 
 2. But as ornament of Divine body, He sent down The 
 Man, immortal animal, mortal animal. And the Man 
 indeed excelled the animals and the world because of the 
 Speech (&) and of the Mind. For the Man became spec- 
 tator of the works of The God, and wondered, and acknow- 
 
 the Maker. 
 
 3. The Speech, then, O Tat ! He hath imparted among 
 all the men but by no means the Mind ; not envying (c) 
 any; for envy cometh not thence, but is conceived (cQ 
 below in the souls of those men who have not the Mind. 
 
 Tat. Wherefore, then, Father ! has not The God im- 
 parted The Mind to all men ? 
 
 Hermes. He willed, Child ! this to be stationed (e) in 
 the midst, as it were a prize for the Souls. 
 
 4. Tat. And where hath He stationed it ? 
 
 Hermes. Having filled a great Cup (/), of this He sent 
 down giving a herald (#), and commanded him to proclaim 
 to the hearts of men these things ; Baptize thyself who is 
 able into this the Cup, who is believing that thou shall 
 return to Him who hath sent down the Cup, who is recog- 
 nizing for what thou wast generated (h). As many, then, 
 
 
 (c) 
 (/) 
 
 (a) B/fltoretTov. (6) rov Aoyo"- (c) tyQovuv, grudging. 
 
 (fZ) avviarotroii. (e) ftpvt 
 
 (g) loiig zypvxot. (1l) 
 
 1 See Plato in Stob. Physica (64 Meineke, i. 16) : " The One, the 
 only natured (^oi/6<pvl?), the singular (^oyaS/xo'v), the really Being, 
 the Good. But all these of such sort of names attach to The Mind. 
 Mind, then, is The God, a separate form (gfdo?). But let the separate 
 be heard of as the unmixed with all matter, and implicated with 
 none of things corporeal, nor sympathetic with the passionate in 
 nature. But of this Father and Maker, the other divine pro- 
 ductions are indeed intelligible, and the World called intelligible, 
 and are exemplars of the visible world ; in addition to these certain 
 ethereal powers (but they are irrational and corporeal) and aerial 
 and of water, but the sensible productions (gxyoi/) of the First God, 
 Sun, Moon, Stars, Earth, and the World comprehending all things." 
 
32 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 as understood the proclamation and were baptized with The 
 
 t CuJb Mind, these partook of the knowledge and became perfect 
 
 \ men, having received the Mind. But as many as failed 
 
 of (a) the proclamation, they having obtained the Speech, 
 
 / but not the Mind, are ignorant for what they were generated, 
 
 / and by Whom. 1 ftv ^Loj ^ Ujb feuj < WjL v^tK <A^t &IV4 
 
 5. But the senses of these are very like those of the 
 irrational (&) animals, and having the temperament in 
 
 > cupidity (c) and passion (d), they admire not those things 
 worthy of contemplation, but attaching themselves to the 
 pleasures and appetites of the body, believe that the Man 
 was generated for the sake of these. But as many as have 
 partaken of the gift that is from The God, these, O 
 Tat! according to comparison (e) of the works, are im- 
 mortal instead of mortal, embracing (/) all things in their 
 own Mind, those upon the earth, those in Heaven, and 
 if there is anything above Heaven. So much having 
 elevated themselves, they behold the Good, and having 
 beheld, they have considered their sojourn here as mis- 
 fortune, and having despised all things corporeal and 
 incorporeal, they hasten to The One and Only. 
 
 6. This, Tat ! is the science (g) of the Mind, the in- 
 spection (7i) of divine things, and the recognition (i) of The 
 God the Cup being Divine. 2 
 
 (a) yftatprov. (6) 0&Xoy6>y. (c) ryv xpxatv 
 
 (d) opyvj. (e) XMTX wyxptfftit. (/) 
 
 (g) 6inor9)f&iri. (li) suropfot, looking into. (i) 
 
 1 " He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved " (Mark xvi. 
 16). " Except a man be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of 
 God " (John iii. 3). " Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, 
 he cannot enter into the kingdom of God " (ibid. 5). 
 
 2 Here is enunciated the substance of what has been improperly 
 called " Mysticism " (to be distinguished from Quietism), viz. : " A 
 sacred and secret knowledge of God and of Divine things." Hermes 
 anticipates the sentiments of the Epistles and Homilies of the two 
 Egyptian Macarii. In Homily vi. (Edit. Pritius, 1598), are found 
 these expressions "'O Opovos Tq$ titoryiros o voi>$ yftow katt, x.ai irot'Aiy 
 o Qpoiios rov vw vj 0&rj? tart zal TO ^vlv^cx,? "The throne of the 
 Divinity is the Mind of us ; and again, the throne of the Mind is The 
 Divinity and The Spirit." See post, ch. x. 5, 6, and ch. xiii. 
 
POEMANDRES. IV. 33 
 
 Tat. I, too, wish to be baptized, J?ather! 
 
 Hermes. Unless, first, jthou shalt iatej tlie body, 1 O 
 Child! thou canst not love thyself; but having loved 
 thyself thou shalt have Mind, and having the Mind thou 
 shalt obtain also (a) the science. 
 
 Tat. How sayest thou these things, Father? 
 
 Hermes. For it is impossible, Child ! to be about ' 
 both about things mortal, namely, and things divine.-! 
 For of Entities there being two, body and bodiless, in) 
 which the mortal and the Divine are understood (&), the 
 choice of one or the other is left to him who wisheth to 
 choose. 2 For it is not possible that both concur; but 
 with whomsoever the selection (c) is left, the one being 
 diminished hath manifested the energy of the other. 
 
 7. The choice, then, of the more excellent not only 
 happens most fair to the chooser to deify (d) the Man, but 
 also shows forth the piety towards God ; but that of the 
 inferior hath indeed destroyed the man, but he hath trans- 
 gressed (e) nothing towards God but this only, that like 
 as pageantries (/) pass on in the midst, not able them- 
 selves to energize anything, but are hindering them, in 
 the same way so these make a pageant (g) only in the 
 world, being led away by the bodily pleasures. 
 
 8. These things being thus, Tat ! those which are from 
 The God both have belonged to us, and will belong (A); let 
 those from us follow and not lag behind ; for The God is 
 not the cause, but we are the cause of evil things, prefer- 
 ring these to the good. 3 Thou seest, Child ! how many 
 
 (a) [ttTothij-fyy. (6) vouroii. (c) 
 
 (d) d.Ko6tuaa,i. (e) \ i 7ch-n[x.(it~h-wtv. (/) 
 
 (g) KoftTctvovai. (h) v-Trqp^e xott V7ra,p%fi. 
 
 1 " This is life eternal, that they should know Thee the only true 
 God "( John xvii. 3). 
 
 " I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage" (1 Cor. ix. 27). 
 
 "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. 
 If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him " 
 (1 John ii. 15). 
 
 2 See the Excerpt from Stobseus, Ethica ii. 358, post, Part II. xviii. , 
 
 3 " Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for 
 
 C 
 
34 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 bodies we must pass through, and how many choirs of 
 demons, and continuity and courses of stars, that we may 
 hasten to the One and only God. For The Good is insur- 
 passable, interminable, and endless (a) ; in itself also it is 
 without beginning ; but to us seeming to have as beginning 
 the knowledge (&). The knowledge then does not become 
 a beginning to it, but to us it affords the beginning of that 
 which should be known (c). 
 
 9. Let us lay hold of the beginning, and we shall make 
 way with quickness through everything. For it is alto- 
 gether perverse (d) the abandoning things accustomed and 
 present, to revert to those ancient 1 and pristine. For 
 the things appearing delight, but those appearing not 
 cause difficulty in believing. But the evils are more ap- 
 parent, but the good is obscure to the eyes ; for there is 
 neither form nor figure to it. For this reason it is similar 
 to itself, but to all others dissimilar ; for it is impossible 
 for incorporeal to be apparent (e) to body. 
 
 10. This is the difference of the like from the unlike,, 
 and to the unlike is the shortcoming to the like (/). 2 : 
 For the Monas (Unit) being beginning (g) and root of all 
 things, is in all things as it were root and beginning ; for 
 without beginning is nothing; but beginning is out of 
 nothing but out of itself, since it is beginning of the 
 others. 3 For it is this (beginning) since there happens not 
 
 
 (a) dr&$. (&) r^v yvaaiv. (c) TOV yvaaQyiaoptevov. (d) 
 (e) (poti/qitoif. (y) vffTtpYiftoi ?rpo$ TO OJ&OIQV. (g} ocp^. 
 
 God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man ; 
 but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, 
 and enticed " (James i. 14, 15). 
 
 1 " Forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward 
 to the things which are before" (Phil. iii. 13, Eevised Version). 
 
 2 This is extracted by Stobseus (Physica, 306 ; Meineke, i. 81). 
 
 3 Plato enumerated three dp%Ki or beginnings " The God, The 
 Matter, The Idea: By whom, out of which, to which: But the God 
 is Mind of the world, but the Matter that subject to generation 
 and destruction ; and Idea incorporeal Essence in the intelligences 
 and the phantasies of the God," Stobseus (Physica, 309 ; Meineke, 
 i. 8% 
 
POEMANDRES. IV. 35 
 
 being other beginning. Monad then being beginning, 
 comprises in it (a) every number, comprised by none ; and 
 it engenders (6) every number engendered by no other 
 number. 
 
 11. But everything engendered is imperfect and divis- 
 ible, may be increased and diminished; but to that perfect 
 nothing of these things happens ; and what may be in- 
 creased also is increased by the Monad, but is consumed (c) 
 by its own weakness, when no longer able to receive the 
 Monad. 1 
 
 This then to thee, Tat ! as far as possible is described 
 the Image of The God, which if thou contemplatest accu- 
 rately, and shalt understand with the eyes of the heart, 
 believe me, Child ! thou shalt find the way to the things 
 above, or rather, the Image itself will guide thee. For 
 the spectacle hath something peculiar; those who shall 
 attain to the contemplation it detains and attracts, just as 
 they say the magnet-stone the iron. 2 
 
 (a) iimpik-tfi. (&) yeyvK. (c) 
 
 1 Here is set forth the Pythagorean doctrine. He placed the 
 principles (dpxd$) of all things in numbers and their symmetries, 
 which he calls harmonies, but these composed of both elements 
 (ffTOixHoi). Again, he placed the Monad and the indefinite Duad in 
 these principles. One of these principles he assigns to The creative 
 and eternal Cause, which is Mind The God; but the other to the 
 passive and material, which is the Visible World. " The nature of 
 number is a Decade, for you count up to Ten, and then go back to 
 the Monad ; and of these Ten the power is in the Fours, for it is made 
 up of the Tetrad and of its parts ; and if any one exceeds the Tetrad,. 
 he will fall over out of the Ten." (See Stob., Physica, 300; Meineke,. 
 i. 80). The views of Leibnitz in his "Principia Philosophise and 
 Theodicse," nearly resemble the above. 
 
 2 Here may be quoted the noble passage from the Wisdom 
 of Solomon, wherein many of the expressions and ideas closely 
 resemble what has preceded and what follows (ch. vii 16, 17 r 
 22-29). 
 
 The English version is this: 
 
 " For in His hand are both we and our words ; all Wisdom also, 
 and knowledge of workmanship. For He hath given me certain 
 knowledge of the things that are, namely, to know how the world 
 was made, and the operation of the elements, &c. For Wisdom, 
 
36 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Of Hermes the Trismegistus, to his own Son Tat. 
 That the Invisible God is most Manifest. 
 
 I ' 1. THIS discourse also, Tat ! I will go through with 
 ' thee, in order that thou mayst not be uninitiate in the 
 Name of The more excellent God; but do thou understand, 
 how that seeming to the many nonapparent, shall become 
 very apparent to thee. For it would not be, if it were non- 
 apparent. For everything apparent is generated (a), for it 
 hath appeared. But the nonapparent always is, for it has 
 no need to appear. For it ever is, and makes all other 
 things apparent. He being nonapparent, as ever being, 
 Himself making manifest (&), is not made manifest ; not 
 Himself generated ; but in imagination (c) imagining all 
 things. 1 For imagination is of the things generated only. 
 For imagination is naught but generation. 
 
 (a) yevvviTOV. (&) (pctvtpatt. (c) 
 
 which is the worker of all things, taught me : for in her is an under- 
 
 standing Spirit, holy, One only, manifold, subtile, lively, clear, un- 
 defiled, plain, not subject to hurt, loving the thing that is good, 
 quick, which cannot be letted, ready to do good ; kind to man, sted- 
 fast, sure, free from care, having all power, overseeing all things, and 
 going through all understanding, pure and most subtile Spirit. 
 For Wisdom is more moving than any motion : she passeth and 
 goeth through all things by reason of her pureness. For She is the 
 breath of the power of God, and a pure influence flowing from the 
 'Glory of the Almighty : therefore can no defiled thing fall into her. 
 For she is the brightness of the everlasting Light, the unspotted 
 mirror of the power of God, and the Image of his Goodness. And 
 being but one, she can do all things : and remaining in herself, she 
 maketh all things new: and in all ages entering into holy souls, she 
 maketh them friends of God, and prophets. For God loveth none 
 but him that dwelleth with "Wisdom. For she is more beautiful 
 than the Sun, and above all the order of Stars : being compared with 
 the Light she is found before It." 
 
 The Septuagint has no essential difference. 
 
 C x Imagination, or Phantasy, seems here to be equivalent to the 
 
 * " Idea" previously spoken of. 
 
POEMANDEES. V. 37 
 
 2. But the One ingenerate is plainly both unimagin- 
 able (a) and nonapparent; but imagining (6) all things, 
 He appears through all things and in all things, 1 and 
 especially in those in whom He may have wished to 
 appear. Do thou then, Child, Tat! pray first to the 
 Lord and Father, and Only and One and from Whom 
 the One, to be propitious (c), that thou mayst be able to 
 understand The God so great (d), if that but one ray of 
 Him may shine forth upon that thine understanding. For 
 understanding (e) alone discerns the nonapparent (/) as 
 being itself nonapparent ; if thou art able, it will appear 
 to the eyes of thy mind, O Tat ! for the Lord is without 
 envy (g) ; for He appeareth throughout the whole World. 
 Thou mayst be able to take understanding, to see it, and 
 lay hold of it with thine own hands, and to contemplate 
 the image of The God. But if that within thee is non- 
 apparent to thee, how shall He in Himself through thine 
 eyes appear to thee? 
 
 3. If, however, thou wishest to see Him, consider the 
 Sun, consider the course of the Moon, consider the order 
 of the Stars; who is He maintaining this order? 2 for the 
 whole order is determined (h} by number and place. 3 The 
 Sun is the greatest god of the gods in heaven, to whom all 
 the heavenly gods yield as if to a king and dynasty. And 
 this the so vast (i), the greater than earth and sea, sub- 
 
 (a) ei(pot!>ToifffoiffTo$. (&) QctvTotaiuv. (c) i'Aj^(f). (d) 
 (e) vows (the passage is corrupt). (/) TO xtpavss. 
 
 (g) <Z<p0ovQs (ungrudging). (h) vrtpiapurTott. (i) 
 
 1 " For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things " 
 (Horn. ii. 36). See to the same effect 1 Cor. viii. 6; Coloss. i. 16. 
 
 2 " Which commandeth the Sun, and it riseth not, and sealeth up 
 the Stars ; which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon. 
 the waves of the Sea (' a$ sir >ti(povs,' as if upon floors/ Sept.); 
 which maketh Arcturus, Orion (" Earns pov, Sept.), and Pleiades, and 
 the chambers of the South" (Job ix. 7-9). "The Moon and the 
 Stars, which Thou hast ordained" (Ps. viii. 3). "He telleth the 
 number of the Stars; He calleth them all by their names" (Ps. 
 cxlvii. 4). 
 
 3 See ante, ch. i. 14, and note there. 
 
38 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 mits (a), having above itself stars revolving smaller than 
 itself. Whom reverencing or whom fearing, Child? 
 And each of these the Stars being in Heaven, make not 
 alike or equal course. Who is He having defined to each 
 the way and the magnitude of the course ? 
 
 4. This Bear (&) which turned about itself, and carrying 
 round along with it the whole World order (c) : who is He 
 having fabricated that organism? Who is He having cast 
 bounds about the Sea? Who He having stablished(d) 1 the 
 Earth? 
 
 For there is some One, Tat ! the Maker and Lord of 
 all these things. For it is impossible that either place or 
 number or measure be conserved apart from the Maker. 2 
 For all order (e) cannot be made (/) without place and 
 
 (a) avt-fctTai. (b) "Apxros. (c) rov 'Troc-vroe, KM/AGP. 
 
 (d) f^pKffois. (e) rx^ig. ( < / r ) awoiwos. 
 
 1 "The Lord made the Sea and all that therein is" (Exod. xx. 11). 
 " The Sea is His and He made it, and His hands formed the dry land" 
 (Ps. xcv. 5). " Thou hast founded the world and its fulness" (Ps. Ixxxix. 
 11). " The world also shall be established that it shall not be moved " 
 (Ps. xcvi. 10. See also Ps. xxiv. 2, xxxv. 6; Jonah ix. 9; Acts iv. 24, 
 xiv. 15; Kev. x. 6). " Where wast thou when I laid the foundations 
 of the earth? Declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid 
 the measures thereof, if thou knowest ? or who hath stretched out the 
 line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or 
 who laid the corner-stone thereof? Or who shut up the Sea with 
 doors, when it brake forth as if it had issued out of the womb? and 
 brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors, and said, 
 Hitherto shalt thou come, and no further ; and here shall thy proud 
 waves be stayed?" (Job xxxviii. 4. See Isaiah li. 10). "The Lord 
 which hath placed the land for the bound of the sea, by a perpetual 
 decree that it cannot pass it " (Jer. v. 22, and see Neh. ix. 6). " The 
 Lord possessed me in the beginning of His ways before His works of 
 old," &c., "when He gave to the Sea His decree that the waters 
 should not pass His commandment ; when He appointed the founda- 
 tions of the earth, then I was by Him " (Prov. viii. 22-29). 
 
 2 " HoiYrrvjs" Maker, " Creator." In this Hermes rises beyond 
 Plato, whose God may seem to some to be rather a constructor and 
 arranger of material already existing. In his Timaeus he speaks of 
 Fire, Water, Air, and Earth as beginnings or first principles (tip%ei$), 
 and asserts that no one hath ever indicated what was their origin. 
 Yet, in other places, he speaks of The God as 
 
POEMANDEES. V. 39 
 
 without measure, but without Master (a), neither this, 
 Child ! For if the unordered is defective (b), in that it 
 doth not keep the way of the order, yet it is under a 
 Master, Him having not yet ordained the order to it. 1 
 
 5. I wish it were possible for thee becoming winged to 
 fly up into the air, and being lifted up in the midst between 
 the Earth and Heaven to behold the solidity of the Earth 
 and the fluidity of the Sea, the flowings of rivers, the loose- 
 ness of the air, the vehemence of fire, the course of stars, 
 the very swift circling (c) of heaven around these. most 
 fortunate spectacle that, Child ! at one glance to behold 
 all these, the immovable in movement, and the invisible 
 apparent ; by means of which is effected the very order of 
 the World, and this the World of the order. 
 
 6. If thou wouldest behold the Creator also through the 
 things mortal, those upon the earth and those in depth, 
 consider, Child! the man fabricated (d) in the belly, 
 and examine accurately the art of the fabricator (e), and 
 learn who it is fabricating this beautiful and divine image 
 of the Man. Who is He having circumscribed (/) the eyes, 
 who He having perforated the nostrils and the ears, who 
 He having opened the mouth, who He having stretched 
 out and bound together the nerves, who He having formed 
 in channels the veins, who He having hardened the bones, 
 who He having cast the skin about the flesh, who He 
 having separated the fingers and the limbs, who He having 
 widened a basis for the feet, who He having opened the pores, 
 who He having extended the spleen, who He having formed 
 the heart pyramidwise, who He having put together the 
 sides, who He having widened the liver, who He having 
 hollowed out (g) the lung, who He having made the stomach 
 
 (a) aSgWorof. (6) IvBfigj. (c) irspifittwv. (d) 
 
 (e) TOW B>7a/oy/jy^<7yro?. (/) irepiyptyeis. 
 
 1 Plato (Timaeus, 30), " For The God having willed that all things 
 "be good, and nothing according to His might, be bad (<pt/Aoi>), thus 
 taking up everything as much as was seen, not being at rest but 
 moved confusedly and disorderly, brought it into order from this 
 disorder." 
 
40 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 capacious, who He having fashioned the most honourable 
 parts for being evident, but having concealed the base. 1 
 
 7. Behold how many arts of one material! how many 
 works in one circumscription (a), and all exceedingly 
 beautiful and all measured, yet all in difference. Who 
 made all these things ? What mother, what father ? If 
 not alone The invisible God, by The will of Himself having 
 created all things ? 2 
 
 8. And a statue indeed or an image apart from a sculptor 
 or painter (6), no one says can become to be (c) ; and hath 
 this creation become to be (d), apart from a creator ? O 
 this much blindness ! this much impiety ! O this much 
 ignorance ! Never ever, Child, Tat ! shouldst thou de- 
 prive the Creator of His creations. Better and superior it 
 is 3 . As much as is according to God in name, so much 
 is He the Father of all things, for He is Only (e), and this 
 is the function for Him to be, Father. 
 
 9. But if you compel me to speak something more bold, 
 it is His Essence to be pregnant (/) of all things, and to 
 make (g). And since apart from the Maker it is impos- 
 sible that anything be generated, so also it is impossible 
 that He ever be not, unless ever making all things in 
 Heaven, in air, in earth, in depth, in every part of the 
 world, in every part of the Universe (7i), in that being and 
 in that not being; for there is nothing in the universal 
 world which is not Him. He is both the Entities * and 
 
 (a) 'Treptypxtpy. (&) faypoitpov. (c) yfyovtvott. (d) 
 
 (.e) (Aovog. (f) xvsiv. (</) 'Troitiv. (Ji) TOV KotuTog. (i) TO, ovrcc. 
 
 1 " God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath 
 pleased Him. . . . Our uncomely parts have more abundant come- 
 liness. For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered 
 the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part 
 which lacked" (1 Cor. xii. 22-24). 
 
 2 " First of all believe that there is One God, Who created and 
 framed all things of nothing into a Being. He comprehends all 
 things, and is Only, immense, not to be comprehended by any." 
 Shepherd of Hennas, Lib. II., Mandat. I.; Wake's Apostolical 
 Fathers. 
 
 3 Here occurs a lacuna, and the text is corrupt. 
 
POEMANDEES. V. 41 
 
 those nonentities ; for the Entities He hath manifested, . ! 
 but those nonentities He hath in Himself. 
 
 10. This the God is superior to a name; This the un- 
 manifest, This the most manifest, to be contemplated by 
 the mind; This visible to the eyes; This incorporeal, 
 multicorporeal yea, rather of every body (a); for there is 
 nothing which This is not. For This is alone all things. [ 
 And because of this He has all names, that He is One 
 Father, and because of this He has not a name 1 that He 
 is Father of all. Who, then, is able to bless (6) Thee 
 concerning Thee, or to Thee? Looking whither shall I 
 bless Thee, above, below, within, without? for there is 
 no condition (c), no place about Thee, nor anything else 
 of the Entities; for all things are in Thee, all things 
 from Thee, having given all things and receiving nothing ; 
 for Thou hast all things, and nothing that Thou hast 
 not. 2 
 
 11. When, Father ! shall I hymn Thee ? for neither thine 
 
 (a) 7To6!/roV auf4,a,TQ$. (b) gyAoyijo'oc/. (c) 
 
 1 " But proper name for the Father of all things Who is unbegotten 
 there is none; for whoever is called by a name has the person older 
 than himself who gives him that name. But the terms, Father, God, 
 and Creator, and Lord and Master, are not names, but terms of 
 address derived from His benefits and His works" (Just. Martyr, 
 Apolog. ii. 6). 
 
 This passage is cited with the highest approbation by Lactantius 
 (Divin. Instit., L ch. 6), and again in a different sense (ibid. iv. 7). 
 See post, Part III. 
 
 2 " For of Him, and through Him, and unto Him are all things " 
 (Rom. xi. 38). It is impossible to lay down in stronger terms the 
 doctrine of the all-pervading and particular providence of God, and of 
 His being the actual and present prompting author of every thing 
 and event. (See Psalm cxxxix. 1-12). Cudworth, in the Intellectual 
 System (ch. iv. 33), ascribes these sentiments to the old Egyptian 
 Theology, apparently quoting this and other passages of the Poem- 
 andres and " the Asclepian dialogue," where it is repeated from the 
 Poemandres ; and "Wilkinson (Ancient Egyptians, iii. 178), and after 
 him Kawlinson (History of Egypt, i. 314), reiterate this statement. 
 Without denying that the ancient Egyptians were Monotheists, such 
 a statement cannot be proved from the above-named authorities 
 which were both posterior to the Christian era. 
 
42 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 hour nor time is it possible to ascertain (a), concerning 
 what also shall I hymn? concerning what things Thou 
 hast made, or concerning those Thou hast not made ? con- 
 cerning those Thou hast made manifest, or concerning 
 those Thou hast concealed? Wherefore also shall I hymn 
 Thee? As if being of myself, as if having something 
 mine own ? (b) as being another ? For Thou art what I 
 may be, Thou art what I may do, Thou art what I may 
 speak, for Thou art all things, and there is nothing else 
 that Thou art not. Thou art everything generated (c). 
 Thou that art not generated ; Mind also, intelligent (d). 
 Father too creating, God also energizing ; good moreover, 
 and making all things. For of matter, indeed, the lightest 
 in parts (e) is air; but of air, Soul(/) ; of Soul, Mind; but 
 of Mind, The God. 
 
 CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 That in The God alone is The Good, and ly no means 
 anywhere else. 
 
 1. THE Good, O Asclepius ! is in nothing excepting The 
 God alone. Eather, indeed, the Good is The God Himself 
 evermore. But it is thus, He must be Essence, destitute (g) 
 -of all moxenient, and of generation (but naught is desti- 
 tute of this), but having around Itself a stable energy 
 wanting nothing, without superfluity, most copious pro- 
 vider^). One thing is the beginning of all things; for that 
 providing (i) everything is Good. When I say also in all 
 respects, it is ever Good. But this belongs to no one else 
 except to The God only. For neither is He wanting of 
 ^anything, so that coveting to possess it He should become 
 
 (d) x.ot.Tot'h.ot.flfiiv. (6) i^tiov. (c) 
 
 (d) vooi>ft,euQ$. (e) tieTTTopspeffTspov. (/ 
 
 (h) xopyiyov. (i) irau yap ro xop 
 

 
 POEMANDRES. VI. 43 
 
 evil ; nor is any of things being to be lost by Him, having 
 lost which He should be grieved ; for grief is part of eviL 
 Nor is anything superior to Him by which He might be 
 assailed, nor is anything compeer (a) with Him so that He 
 be injured, and for this reason should be in love (6) with 
 it ; nor disobedient with which He should be angry; nor 
 wiser which He might envy. 
 
 2. These things then not existing in His Essence, what 
 remains beside but The Good only? for as none of the evil 
 things in such an Essence, so in none of the others will the 
 Good be found. For in all, things are otherwise, both in 
 the small and in the great, and in those individually, and 
 in this the animal the greater and most powerful of all. 
 
 For things generated (c) are full of passions, the generation , r t 
 itself being subject to passion (d). But where passion is 
 there nowhere is The Good; but where The Good there < 
 nowhere is even one passion. For where day is, nowhere 
 night, but where night, nowhere day. Wherefore impos- 
 sible is it that in generation there be The Good, but in 
 the nongenerate (e) only. For as the common being (/) 
 of all things is bound up in the Matter, so is it also of The 
 Good. In this way the world is good so far as it also 
 makes all things, so as in the part of the making to 
 be good; but in all other things not good. For also it 
 is passible (g), and moveable, and maker of passible 
 things. 
 
 3. In the Man indeed the good is ordered according to 
 comparison with the evil For here that which is not very 
 evil is the good, and that here good is the least particle of 
 the eviL It is impossible then to purify the good here 
 from the evil ; for here the good grows evil (&), and being 
 grown evil no longer remains good, and not having remained 
 becomes eviL In The God alone, therefore, is The Good, 
 or The God Himself is The Good. Only, therefore, 
 Asclepius ! is the name of The Good among men, but the fact 
 itself nowhere, for it is impossible. For the material body 
 
 (a) av^w/oy. (6) epot<r0vjffTou. (c) ygi/j/jrra. (d) 
 
 (e) r$ ec'/svvviTa. (/) fiirovfftoc. (g) Tr&drrrog. (h) 
 
44 HERMES TEISMEGISTUS. 
 
 is not capable (a) 1 , that on all sides restricted (5), by evil r 
 and labours, and griefs, and desires, and anger and errors, 
 and mindless opinions. And the worst of all, Asclepius ! 
 is that each of these the aforesaid is believed here to be 
 the greatest good. 2 That more than unsurpassable evil, 
 the gluttony (c), the error, the provider of all the evils, is 
 the absence here of the Good. / 
 
 4. And I also give thanks to The God, to Him Who hath 
 instilled into my mind respecting the knowledge of The 
 Good; that it is impossible for that to be in the world. 
 For the world is the plenitude of the evil (d)f but The God 
 of the Good, or the Good (the plenitude) of The God. 
 For the excellencies of the beautiful are around this very 
 Essence, and perhaps these His Essences appear thus, both 
 more pure and more distinct. For we may dare to say, O 
 , Asclepius ! that the Essence of The God, if indeed He have 
 I Essence, is the Beautiful, but the Beautiful is also Good. No 
 good thing is to be comprehended among those in the world. 
 For all things falling under the eye are images, and as it 
 were adumbrations (e), and those who fall not under it, 4 
 and specially that of The Beautiful and of The Good. 
 And as the eye is not able to behold The God, so neither 
 The Beautiful nor The Good ; for these are integral parts of 
 The God, properties (/) of Himself only, familiars (g\ in- 
 separables, most lovely, which either God Himself loveth 
 or they love The God. 
 
 (a) 6v %upkt. (&) KotvroQ 
 
 (c) (ActKhov oii/vTrtpfi'hYiTQv q yoKrrpiptctp'yioi. 
 
 (d) xofffto; 'Tc'hYiptofAu. rq$ xowc/otj. (e) tibu'hoc. 
 
 .(/) /8/. (g) ofaftoi. 
 
 1 " For I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good 
 thing" (Rom. xx. 18). 
 
 2 " For that which is exalted among men is an abomination in the 
 sight of God" (Luke xvi. 15). 
 
 3 " This present evil world " (heararos otiuvog irowpov, Greek) (Gal. 
 i. 4). "The whole world" (xo'o^oj 0X0?) "lieth in wickedness" 
 (1 John v. 19). " All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the 
 lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father " (ibid. iu 
 16), " but of the world" (Ix rov xoapov). 
 
 4 Here is a lacuna in the text which mars the sense. 
 
POEMANDRES. VII. 45 
 
 5. If thou art able to understand (a) The God, thou 
 wilt understand The Beautiful and Good, the exceeding 
 "bright, the exceeding radiant, from The God. For that is 
 the Beauty incomparable, and that the Good inimitable, 
 just as also God Himself. As then thou understandest 
 The God, thus also understand The Beautiful and Good ; for 
 these are incommunicable to the others of the animals, - 
 because of being inseparable from The God. If Thou^ v 
 inquirest about The God, thou inquirest about The Beau- 
 tiful 
 
 6. For the way leading to it is one, the piety with 
 knowledge; hence the ignorant, and they not having \^ 
 journeyed the way, which is concerning this piety, dare to 
 speak of the Man as beautiful and good, not having even 
 beheld a dream whether anything is good, but preimpli- 
 oated (6) with every evil, and having believed the evil to 
 be good, and thus using it insatiably, and fearing to be 
 deprived of it, and striving in every way that, not only he 
 may have, but also may augment it. Such are the human 
 gods and The Beautiful, O Asclepius! which we are 
 neither able to fly nor to have hated. For that, of all 
 things, is most difficult, because we have need of them, 
 and without these we cannot live. 
 
 CHAPTEK V 
 
 That the Greatest Evil among Men is Ignorance of 
 The God. 
 
 1. WHITHER are ye carried, men, intoxicated! drinking 
 up the unmixed wine of ignorance, which yet ye cannot 
 bear, but already are even vomiting it? Stop, be sober; 
 look again with the eyes of the heart, and if ye all cannot, 
 
 (a) vowou, to conceive in mind. (b) 
 
46 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 at least ye that are able. For the vice (a) of ignorance 
 inundates all the earth, and corrupts therewith the soul 
 enclosed in the body, not suffering it to be harboured in 
 the havens of the salvation. 
 
 2. Be not therefore borne along together by the much 
 current, but ye that are able, having made use of reflux 
 to attain the haven of the salvation, having been harboured 
 therein, seek a guide, who shall lead you in the way to the 
 gates of the knowledge, where is the shining Light, that 
 pure from darkness, where not one is drunken, but all are 
 sober, looking on in the heart to Him willing to be seen. 
 For He is not audible, nor effable, nor visible to the eyes, 
 but to Mind and Heart. First, however, it is necessary 
 that thou shouldest tear off 1 the garment which thou bear- 
 est, the web(&) of ignorance, the support of wickedness, 
 the bond of corruption, the dark enclosure, the living death, 
 the sentient corpse, the tomb carried about with thee, the 
 domestic robber, him hating through the things he loves, 
 and grudging (c) through the things he hates. 
 ^ 3. Of such sort is the hateful garment which thou hast 
 put on, 2 drawing thee down to itself, that not having 
 looked back and beheld the beauty of The Truth, and the 
 
 (a) xoiKiot. (V) vtpctfffta. (c) 
 
 1 Plato had written in Phsedo (66, 67)" If, whilst in the company 
 
 > of the body, the soul cannot have pure knowledge, one of two things 
 must follow; either that knowledge is not to be attained at all, or if 
 at all, after death. In the present life we make the nearest approach 
 to knowledge when we have the least possible communion or fellow- 
 ship with the body, and are not infected with the bodily nature, but 
 remain pure until the hour when God Himself is pleased to release 
 us ; and then the foolishness of the body shall be cleared away, and 
 we shall be pure and hold converse with other pure souls from 
 below, which is no other than the light of Truth, for no impure 
 
 , thing is allowed to approach the pure." 
 
 Compare 1 Cor. xiii. 12 " Now I know in part, but then shall I 
 know even as I am known." Also Rev. xxi. 27 "There shall 
 nowise enter into it anything unclean," &c. 
 
 2 " I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing " 
 (Rom. vii. 18). "I buffet my body and bring it into bondage" (1 Cor. 
 ix. 27). It is instructive to compare with the text the language of 
 
POEMANDRES. VIII. 47 
 
 indwelling Good, thou shouldest hate its vileness, having 
 understood the snare, which it hath laid in wait for thee, 
 making those things seeming to us and being considered 
 objects of sense (a), insensible, having obstructed them with 
 much matter, and filled them with abominable pleasure, 1 
 so that thou shouldest neither hear those things about 
 which it behoves thee to hear, nor discern those about 
 which it behoves thee to discern. 
 
 CHAPTEK VIII. 
 
 Tliat none of the Entities perish, ~but mankind erroneously 
 call the changes, destructions and deaths. 
 
 1. CONCERNING Soul and body, Son! now is to be 
 discoursed ; in what way verily the soul is immortal, and 
 of what quality (&) is energy in constitution and dissolution 
 of body. For concerning naught of these is the death, but 
 it is intellectual notion (c) of an appellation " immortal," 
 either as vain work (d), or by deprivation of the first letter ; 
 
 (a) otlffdnr^ptot. (6) tutpyeia B Trorottryi. (c) voyf&di. (d) xsvov spyoy. 
 
 William Law, in his " Spirit of Prayer" (Part I., Works vii. 84): 
 " Our own life is to be hated, and the reason is plain: it is because 
 there is nothing lovely in it. It is a legion of evil, a monstrous 
 birth of the Serpent, the World, and the Flesh. It is an Apostasy 
 from the Life and Power of God in the Soul a life that is death to 
 Heaven, that is pure unmixed Idolatry, that lives wholly to self and 
 not to God, and therefore all this own life is to be absolutely hated, 
 all this Self is to be denied, and mortified, if the Nature, Spirit, 
 Tempers, and Inclinations of Christ are to be brought to life in us." 
 
 1 " I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of 
 my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which 
 is in my members. wretched man that I am ! Who shall deliver 
 me out of the body of this death ? (Eom. vii. 23). "The mind of 
 the flesh is enmity against God " (ibid. viii. 7). " They that are in 
 the flesh cannot please God " (ibid. viii. 8). See also Galat. v. 17. 
 
48 HERMES TEISMEG1STUS. 
 
 that being called Qamrog instead of the aQavarog. 1 For the 
 death is of destruction; but naught of those things in the 
 world is destroyed, for if the World is second God and 
 immortal animal, it is impossible for any part of the im- 
 mortal animal to die ; for all the things in the world are 
 parts of the world, and especially the Man, the rational 
 animal. 
 
 2. For first of all really (a), and eternal, and nongenerate, 
 The Creator of The Universe (&), God. But the second that 
 after His image the World by Him engendered, 2 and by 
 Him held together and nourished and immortalized, as by 
 its own father, everliving as immortal. For the ever- 
 living (c) differs from the eternal (d). For The One was 
 not generated by another, and if it be generate, it was 
 yet not generated by itself but always is generate. For the 
 eternal in that it is eternal, is the Universe (e). And The 
 Father Himself, of His Own Self, is eternal, and the World 
 became (/) eternal and immortal by The Father. 
 
 3. And so much of matter as was set apart by Him The 
 Father having embodied and swelled out (g) the Whole, 
 formed this sphere like, 3 placing around it such quality (h), 
 
 (6) TUV 
 
 (e) TO 'Tracy. (jf) yeyove. (g) oyxuaocg. (Ji) 76 
 
 1 See the doctrine of Plato as to what death is (Phsedo, 67). 
 
 2 Plato enunciates the same views in the Phsedon and in Timaeus 
 (33 and 41) : " For The God in His power willed that all things 
 should be good, and nothing Lad, and brought the Universe fully out 
 of disorder; for it neither was nor is possible that He should do 
 aught else but what is most beautiful ; thus having completed a work 
 that might be something most beautiful and perfect in its nature. 
 So then, according to the right reason, it behoves one to say that 
 this the Kotrpos became through the Providence of The God a living 
 creature (yov), endued in very truth with Soul and Mind." (See 
 Stobseus, Florilegium, Meineke, iv. 105). 
 
 ( 3 Plato thought that the xoV^o? was spherical in form. In the 
 i Timseus (33 and 62) he says : " He gave it figure O#jj^ce), the be- 
 coming, and the convenient ; for when about to encompass all living 
 beings in it, with living being (&XM), a figure would be becoming, that 
 comprehending in it all such like figures; wherefore also He described 
 it circular, spherelike from the centre, distant every way so far to 
 
POEMANDRES. VIII. 49 
 
 being both itself immortal and having the material eternal. 
 But full of the Ideas (a) The Father having sown in the qua- 
 lities, 1 inclosed them in the sphere as if in a cave, 2 willing 
 for every quality to adorn that of quality with itself; but 
 with this immortality having encompassed the whole body, 
 lest the matter having wished to secede from the consti- 
 tution thereof, should be dissolved into its own disorder (>). 
 For when the matter was unincorporate, Child ! it was 
 without order ; but it has even here that revolution (c) 3 in 
 respect of the other small qualities, that of the increase 
 and that of the diminution, which men call death. 
 
 4. But this the want of order exists (d) around earthly ani- 
 mals ; for the bodies of the heavenly have one order, which 
 they have allotted from the Father at the beginning; and this 
 is maintained, by the restoration (e) of each, 4 indissoluble ; 
 
 (a) iofuv. (6) rqv setvTvj$ oira^ixv. (e) r^v tfaovftsvyt. 
 
 (d) yiviToti. (e) ctKox.otTOKJTtx.atus. 
 
 the extremities." " So all the heaven being spherelike, and the World 
 thus brought into being every part being equidistant from the centre, to 
 speak of above or below is neither just nor accurate. If any one were 
 to go round this in a circle, often, standing at the antipodes, he would 
 speak of the same part of it as above and below. As I said, to talk of 
 the spherical as having one part above and another below, is not wise." 
 
 1 Referring to the "Ideas" or " Forms n which Plato held to be 
 the originals of all things, Plutarch defined the " Idea" thus (quoted 
 byStobaeuSjPhysica, ch. xii. 6a; Meineke,i. 87) : "Idea is Incorporeal 
 Essence, cause of such like beings as itself is, and pattern (^xpec^siy^oc) 
 of the subsistence (tmordtfffas) of the objects of sense (afofaray) having 
 themselves (s^ovrav) according to nature ; it indeed sustained of itself, 
 and imaging (evmcovi^ovyet) shapeless materials, an,d becoming cause 
 of the arrangement QiaTei%eas) of these, applying order of a father to , 
 the objects of sense." 
 
 Plato, in " Parmenides," says: " It appears to me that the matter 
 stands thus : that these Forms (l/S>j) stand in the Nature as if patterns, 
 and that other things resemble these, and are likenesses, and the 
 participation of the Forms with the others, becomes nothing else than 
 the being assimilated to them." 
 
 2 This simile of the cave is borrowed from Plato's Republic, lib. v. 
 28, 517, et seq.; Hermann, iv. 202. 
 
 3 Parthey suggests " confusion/' p. 38. 
 
 4 Referring to the return of each to its own place in the heavens. 
 See ante, ch. iii. and note 3 there. 
 
 D 
 
50 HERMES TR1SMEGISTUS. 
 
 but the restoration of the earthly bodies is constitution (a) f 
 and the dissolution itself restores (&) to the indissoluble 
 bodies ; that is to say, the immortal ; and thus there be- 
 comes deprivation of the sense, not destruction of the 
 bodies. 
 
 5. But the third animal, The Man, generated after the 
 image of the World, but having Mind, according to the will 
 of the Father beyond other earthly animals, not only has 
 sympathy with the second God, but also intelligence (c) 
 of the first ; for of the one it is sensible as of body, but of 
 the other it receives intelligence as of an incorporeal and 
 of the Good Mind (d). 
 
 Tat. This animal, then, does not perish? 
 
 Hermes. Speak well (e), Child! and understand what 
 God is, what the World, what an immortal animal, what a 
 dissoluble animal, and understand that the World indeed 
 is from The God, and in The God, but the Man from the 
 world, and in the world, but the beginning and comprehen- 
 sion (/) and constitution of all things is The God. 1 
 
 CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 Concerning Understanding and Sense (g), and that in The 
 God only is The Beautiful and The Good, lut elsewhere 
 not at all. 
 
 1. YESTEKDAY, Asclepius ! I delivered the perfect 
 Discourse ; but now I consider necessary, consequential to 
 that,' tcTgo also through the discourse respecting Sense. 
 For sense and understanding seem indeed to have differ- 
 
 (a) avaroiffig. (6) ek^oxx^itnetrxf. (c) 
 
 (d) vov TOV otyaQov. (e) tvtpqpYia'ou. (jf ) 'Trs 
 
 (cj) i/ojjffg&j, understanding ; diffdyvsas, sense. 
 
 1 It seems evident from the contents of this Chapter, connected 
 with what precedes and what follows, that Poemandres, in mystical 
 
POEMANDRES. IX. 51 
 
 ence, because that is material (a), but this essential (b) ; but to 
 me both seem to be united, and not to be separated among 
 men, by Keason (c). For in the other animals the sense is 
 united to the nature, but in men understanding (d). But) 
 Mind differs from understanding as much as The God from_/ 
 Divinity (e). For the Divinity indeed is generate by(/) 
 God, but understanding by the Mind, being sister of the 
 speech and organs of each other. For neither is the speech 
 uttered apart (y) from understanding, nor is the under- 
 standing shown without speech. 
 
 2. The Sense then and the Understanding, both to- 
 gether, have influence (h) upon the Man, as it were, con- , 
 nected with each other. For neither apart from Sense is 
 it possible to understand, 1 nor to have sensation apart 
 from understanding. But it is possible to understand 
 Understanding (i) apart from Sense, as those fancying (k) 
 visions in their dreams ; but it seems to me that both the 
 energies are generated in the vision of the dreams, and 
 that the sense is aroused to wakefulness out of sleep. 
 For the Man has been divided both into the body and 
 into the Soul, and when both the parts of the Sense shall 
 concord one with another, then that the understanding is 
 spoken out and brought forth (I) by the Mind. 
 
 3. For the Mind conceives all the thoughts (in) ; good 
 indeed when it shall have received the seeds from The 
 God, but the contrary when from any of the demons ; no 
 
 (a) I/TUXJJ. (ft) ovataion;. (c) 
 
 (d) vow;, or intellect. (e) QSIOTYIS. (/) 
 
 (Jc) (p&vrsioft,voi, imagining. (I) dtroKv/idswoiy. (m) x,vzi 
 
 language, means to teach the future immortality of the human body 
 (see Philippians iii. 21), after a renovation of the same after death. 
 He seems also to hold the future eternity of created matter. Plato, 
 in Timeeus, had declared that the xoV^o? was perishable, so far as its 
 nature was concerned, for it was an object of sense, because corporeal, 
 but that it will never perish by the providence and continuous cohe- 
 rence (aotvo-fcYi) of God, 
 
 1 See Locke, " No Innate Ideas." " Nihil in intellectu quod non 
 prius fuit in sensu." 
 
52 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 part of the world being vacant from the Demon; that 
 Demon to be separated from The God ; who entering in 
 unawares (a) sowed the seed of his own energy, and the Mind 
 conceived what was sown : l adulteries, murders, parricides, 
 sacrileges, impieties, stranglings, hurling down from pre- 
 cipices, and all other such the works of evil demons. 2 
 
 4. For the seeds of The God are few, but great and 
 both beautiful and good: Virtue, and Temperance, and 
 Piety. But Piety is Knowledge of God, 3 which he who 
 recogniseth (fr), becoming full of all the good things, pos- 
 sesses (c) the divine thoughts, and not like the many. 
 Because of this, those being in knowledge, neither please 
 the many, nor the many them ; they seem to be mad, and 
 occasion laughter, and being hated and despised, and per- 
 haps also murdered. For we have said that wickedness (d) 
 must dwell here, being in its own region ; for its region is 
 the earth (e), not the World (/) as some may say blas- 
 pheming. But the Godfearing man will contemn all 
 things, perceiving the Knowledge. For all things to such 
 an one, although to others the evil, are good ; and taking 
 counsel he refers all things unto the Knowledge, and what 
 is wonderful, alone renders the evils good (#). 4 
 
 5. I return again to the discourse of Sense. Human, 
 then, is the common Union (A) in man, of sense with under- 
 standing. But not every man, as I said before, enjoys 
 
 (a.) vmiathQuv. (6) /Iflr/yvovf. (c) 
 
 (d) xoix.iotv. (e) % yij. (/) 
 
 (g) dy a, Gorton*. (Ji) TO xouHMqaett. 
 
 1 See the parable of the Sower, Matthew xiii. 39. " Out of the heart 
 of men proceed evil thoughts, adulteries" (Mark vii. 21). "When 
 lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin" (James i. 15). See also 
 Galat. v. 19. 
 
 2 See Lactant., Div. Instit., ii. 15, 16, where these sentiments are 
 quoted as from Hermes. 
 
 3 Quoted by Lactant., ibid. 16. See John xvii. 3. " And this is 
 life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus 
 Christ whom Thou hast sent." That this wisdom and knowledge is 
 identical with piety, St Augustine maintains in his Eucheiridion. 
 
 4 It is superfluous to refer to the numerous passages of Holy Scrip- 
 ture which enunciate the same doctrines as those here set forth. 
 
POEMANDEES. IX. 53 
 
 this understanding, but one is material, another essential. 
 For the one along with wickedness (material, as I said), 
 from the demons possesses (a) the seed of the understand- 
 ing ; but these along with the essentially good are saved 
 by The God. For The God is the Creator of all things ; 
 creating all things He makes all things like to Himself; 
 but these good things generated, in the use of energy are 
 barren : for the worldly course rubbing against (b) these 
 generations (c), makes them qualities, soiling these indeed 
 with the evilness, but purifying those with the Good. For 
 the World also, O Asclepius! has its proper sense and 
 understanding, not like to the human nor as various, but 
 as superior and simpler. 
 
 6. For the sense and understanding of the World is 
 one, in the making all things, and unmaking them into 
 itself, organ of the will of The God; and so organised, 
 that, having received all the seeds unto itself from The 
 God, conserving them in itself, it might manifestly (d) make 
 all things, and dissolving might renew all things ; and 
 when thus dissolved, as a good agriculturist of life it 
 imparts by the change a renewal to these its offspring (e). 
 There is nothing that it does not engender alive (/). But 
 bearing it makes all things alive, and it is at once the 
 place and the creator of life. 
 
 7. But the bodies from matter are in difference. For 
 some indeed are from earth, some from water, some from 
 air, and some from fire ; but all are composite (#), and 
 some are more so, some more simple ; more so indeed are 
 the heavier, the lighter less so. But the velocity (A) of its 
 course effects the variety of the generations of qualities (j). 
 For breath (&) being very dense stretches forth the quali- 
 ties (I) over the bodies with one fulness, that of the life. 
 
 8. The God indeed then is Father of the World, but the 
 World of things in the world. And the World indeed is 
 
 (a) iff%tf. (b) 93 xofffifKq (f>opoi rpifiovaa,, wearing away. 
 
 (c) ra,s '/tviati;. (d) ti/etpyas. (e) (f>voftei/ot^. 
 
 (/) oyoj>/. (g) avvQiTet. (h) i.e., rot> 
 
 (t) rUSt 7TOIUSI '/WitJttoV. (k) KVQV). (I) 
 
54 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 son of The God ; but things in the World are from the 
 World, and properly was it called " World " (%6<rpo$), for it 
 adorneth all things by the variety of the generation (a) and 
 by the indefectibility (6) of the life, and the imweariedness 
 of the energy, and the quickness of the necessity, and the 
 combination (e) of the elements, and the order of the things 
 generated. The same then should be called "World" 
 both necessarily and fittingly. Of all animals there- 
 fore both the Sense and the Understanding comes in 
 upon them from without, inspired (d) by that circum- 
 ambient ; but the World having once received this along 
 with the being generated, has it, having received it from 
 The God. 
 
 9. But The God is not, as it seems to some, insensible 
 and mindless. For through superstition (e) they blaspheme. 
 For all things as many as are, Asclepius ! these are in 
 The God, and generated by The God, and thence depen- 
 dent (/) ; some indeed energizing through the bodies, and 
 others moving through animated Essence (g), others making 
 life through spirit, and others undertaking those defunct ; 
 and that suitably. But I rather say, not that He has 
 these things, but I show forth the Truth, He is all things, 
 not receiving them from without but giving them forth 
 .outwards (h). And this is the Sense and the Understand- 
 ing of The God, the moving all things always, and there 
 shall be never a time^when any of the Entities shall be 
 deficient (i) ; but when I say the Entities, I speak of The 
 God. For the Entities The God has, and neither is any- 
 thing without (&) Him, nor is He without anything. 1 
 
 10. These things to thee, O Asclepius! being intel- 
 
 (a) y*vffM$, or production. (6) otd;A<W<y. (c) avardiaei. 
 
 (d) tiaKvtovaot. (e) !)iaia,ipr)vioe,g. (/) sxeiOsv ypTvipivei. 
 
 (g) 3/a ovaiag i]/vxtxqs- (h) t%u. (i) otwo'hetQtiJiffereu. (&) Uro$. 
 
 1 The foregoing passages may be possibly taken in a Pantheistic 
 sense ; but they surely may be better understood of the particular 
 superintending Providence of a Deity which pervades and guides all 
 things, and on which all things are dependent. They are almost the 
 exact words of Malebranche in his Recherche de la VfritZ (lib. iii. ch. 
 vi., part 2). 
 
POEMANDRES. X. 55 
 
 ligent (a) will seem true, but being without intelligence 
 incredible. For the understanding is the believing, and 
 the disbelieving is the not understanding. For my dis- 
 course attains even up to the truth. For the Mind is 
 great, and being brought on the way by the discourse up 
 to a certain point, is able to attain the Truth ; and having 
 considered all these things, and found them consonant, it be- 
 lieved those interpreted by the discourse, and hath rested (6) 
 in that beautiful belief. To those then having understood 
 the aforesaid from The God they are credible, but to those 
 not having understood incredible. Let these things and 
 so much be discoursed concerning Understanding and 
 Sense. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The Key. To his Son Tat. 
 
 1. THE Discourse of yesterday, Asclepius! I addressed 
 to thee, but that of to-day it is just to address to The Tat, 
 since moreover it is an epitome of the generic discourses 
 which have been spoken to him T The God then and 
 Father and The Good, Tat ! has the same Nature, or 
 rather also Energy. For the appellation of Nature (c) is 
 also that of increase, which is concerning things change- 
 able and unchangeable, and moveable and immoveable, 
 that is things Divine and things human, of which He wills 
 each to be. But Energy is otherwise (d), as we have taught 
 also respecting other things Divine and human ; what one 
 must understand about this. 
 
 2. For the Energy of Him is The Will, and His Essence 
 the Willing all things to be. For what is God and Father 
 and the Good, than the being of all things not yet in 
 being? But the very existence (e) of the Entities, that is 
 
 (a) svttoovvTi. (6) fTrotyiTroc.vosc.ro. (c) i.e., 
 
 (e) 
 
56 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 The God, that is The Father that is The Good, to Whom 
 none of other things belong (a). For the World indeed 
 and the Sun itself also father of things according (&) to 
 their common being, is not moreover equally the cause of 
 the good to the animals nor of their living. But if this thus 
 be the case, it is nevertheless entirely as being compelled 
 by The Good Will ; apart from which it will be possible 
 neither to be, nor to be generated. 
 
 3. For the father is the cause of the children, and of the 
 seed, and of the nutriment, having taken the appetite of 
 the Good from the Sun. For The Good is The making- 
 power (c). But this is not possible to be ingenerate (d) in 
 any other but in Him only; Him receiving indeed nothing, 
 but willing all things to be. 1 I will not say, Tat ! mak- 
 ing (e) ; for a maker is defectible in much time, in that 
 he sometimes makes, sometimes does not make, both in 
 quality and quantity (/). At one time they are so many 
 and of such quality, at another the contrary. But The 
 God is Father and The Good, in that He is all things. 2 
 
 (a) Kpofftart. (b) x,otroi fAtrovaiav, participation. 
 
 (c) TO TTOYiTtxov, making. (rf) gyyz/ff$os;. (e) Troiovvri. 
 
 (/) TTOIOTYITOS XXI TTOffOTJJTOf. 
 
 1 Here, as in other places, the writer wholly differs from the notion 
 of the Deity being a mere constructor or arranger of formless matter; 
 an opinion attributed by some to Plato. See ante, note to ch. v. 4. 
 Malebranche energetically maintained that there was no other im- 
 mediate principle, no other efficient reason, no other real mover than 
 the Grace and the Will of God. See his Promotion Physique, p. 93; 
 Recherche de la V6rite (1712), last part; Meditations Chretiennes, vi. ; 
 Traite de Morale, 94. 
 
 The doctrine of this Chapter is energetically and luminously set 
 forth by William Law in his " Way to Divine Knowledge " (Works, 
 vii. p. 146). 
 
 2 " God derives not His being from creatures, but all creatures are 
 but imperfect participations of the Divine Being" (Malebranche, 
 Recherche de la Verite, lib. 3, pt. 2, c. vi.). " God is so far all Being 
 that He has all the being of each of His creatures, retrenching their 
 bounds. Remove this boundary and difference and you remain in 
 the Universality of Being, and consequently in the infinite perfec- 
 tion of Self-existence" (Fenelon, Existence de Dieu, part 2, v. 1). 
 tf I believe that there is no substance purely Intelligible but that of 
 
POEMANDRES. X. 57 
 
 4. Thus verily are these things to him who is able to- 
 perceive. For indeed this (a) wills to Be, and is also Itself, 
 especially for Itself. For verily all other things are be- 
 cause of This. For it is proper to the Good to become 
 known. This is The Good, O Tat! 
 
 Tat. Thou hast filled us, Father! with the good and 
 most beautiful spectacle, and the eye of my mind hath 
 been little short of sanctified by such kind of spectacle. 
 For not as if a ray of the Sun, being fiery, does it dazzle 
 and make the eyes close, is thus the spectacle of The Good. 
 On the contrary, it shines forth and augments the light of 
 the eyes to so much as he who is able can receive the 
 influx of the intellectual (6) splendour. 1 For it is rather 
 sharp in penetrating (c), but not injurious and replete with 
 all immortality. 
 
 5. They who are able to drink in somewhat more of 
 this spectacle oftentimes fall asleep from the body into 
 this most beauteous vision. As Uranus and Kronos ourj 
 forefathers experienced. 2 Would that we also, O Father ! 
 
 Hermes. Would it may be so, Child ! But now as yet 
 we are not intent upon the vision, and we are not yet strong 
 enough to open the eyes of our mind, and to contemplate 
 the beauty of that The Good, 3 the incorruptible, the in- 
 comprehensible. For then thou will perceive it when 
 thou mayest have nothing to say about it. For the know- 
 
 (a) i.e., d'/oc.&ou. (b) vowijs hctfATrribovog. (c) sis TO x.otfax,i>H(r0a(~ 
 
 God, that we can discover nothing but in His Light, and that we 
 shall be unintelligible to ourselves until we see in God. Still He 
 presents to ourselves the Idea perfectly intelligible which He has of 
 our being comprehended in His Own " (Malebranche, RechercJie de la 
 Verite, lib. 3, part 2, ch. i.). 
 
 1 " In thy light shall we see Light" (Ps. xxxvi. 9). "The Lord 
 shall be unto thee an everlasting light " (Is. Ix. 19). " To give th 
 light of the knowledge of the glory of God" (2 Cor. iv. 6). " God is 
 Light, and in Him is no darkness at all " (I John i. 5 ; and see John 
 viii. 12, 9, 5). " Who only hath immortality dwelling in light un- 
 approachable " (1 Tim. vi. 16), &c., &c. 
 
 2 Lactantius (Div. Instit., i. 11) alludes to this passage as a proof/ 
 that both were men, and never really Divinities. 
 
 3 " Now we see in a mirror darkly " (1 Cor. xiii. 12). 
 
58 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 ledge of It is both divine silence and repose (a) of all the 
 Senses. 
 
 6. For he having understood this is neither able to 
 understand any other thing, nor he having beheld this to 
 behold any other thing, nor to hear of any other thing, 
 neither to move his entire body. For seizing hold of all 
 his bodily senses and motions he moves not (6) ; but 
 
 ! shining around all the mind and the whole soul, it en- 
 lightens and abstracts from the body, and transforms the 
 
 ! whole of it into the Essence of God. 1 For it is possible, 
 Child ! that the soul be deified (c), placed in body of Man, 
 having beheld the beauty of The Good. 
 
 7. Tat. To be deified how sayest thou, Father ? 
 Hermes. Of every soul divisible, Child! there are 
 
 changes. 
 
 Tat. How again divisible ? 
 
 Hermes. Hast thou not heard in the Generics (d) that 
 
 / from one soul that of the Universe (e) are all souls them- 
 selves which are rolled about (/) in all the world, as if 
 distributed ? Of these the souls then, many are the changes ; 
 of these indeed into a happier, of those into the opposite. 
 Some then indeed being reptile, are changed into watery 
 
 ' beings, but some of the watery into terrestrial, but those 
 terrestrial into winged, those serial into men, and those of 
 humankind possess the beginning of immortality changing 
 into demons. Whence thus they pass into the choir of 
 the unerring Gods. But there are two choirs of Gods; 
 
 (a) KXTotpyix. (6) oirpsftii. (c) 
 
 (d) kv ro7$ ytvixots. (e) rq$ TOV TTOCVTO;. (jf) 
 
 1 f< We all with unveiled face reflecting as a mirror the glory of the 
 Lord, are transformed into the- same image from glory to glory " (2 
 Cor. iii. 18, Revised Version). " That by these " (promises) " ye may 
 "become partakers of the Divine Nature " (2 Pet. i. 4. See 1 John 
 iii. 2). As remarked above (ch. iv. 6), Hermes here enunciates the 
 sentiments and objects of the real Christian Mystics of all ages, espe- 
 cially those of the Fathers of the desert, and of the two Macarii 
 Egyptii, of St Augustine, Fenelon, Malebranche, and many others, 
 -especially of the author of the " Imitation of Christ." See ante, ch. 
 iv. 1 and 6, and note there. 
 
POEMANDRES. X. 59 
 
 one indeed of those erring, 1 the other of those unerring, 
 and this is the most perfect glory of the SouL 
 
 8. For Soul entering into the body of a man if it remain 
 Evil, neither tastes immortality nor partakes of the Good, but 
 retrograde turns its way back to that of the reptiles. And 
 this is the condemnation of an evil soul ; ignorance is the 
 vice of soul. For a soul nothing acquainted with the Entities > 
 nor the nature of them, nor with The Good, being blind, is 
 entangled with the bodily passions ; and the unfortunate, 
 not having known itself, serves bodies alien and de- 
 praved (a), carrying the body as if a burthen, 2 and not 
 ruling but ruled over. This is Vice of Soul. 
 
 9. Contrariwise, Virtue of Soul is Knowledge. For he 
 knowing is both good and pious and already Divine. 
 
 Tat But who is this, Father ? 
 
 Hermes. He neither speaking many things, nor hearing 
 many things ; for he listening (b) to two discourses and 
 hearings, fights with a shadow. For The God and Father 
 and the Good is neither spoken nor heard. But this having 
 itself thus, in all the Entities are the Senses ; because of 
 its not being possible to be, apart from them. Knowledge 
 differs much from Sense. For Sense is generate from that 
 overpowering (c), but Knowledge is the end of Science (d), 
 but Science gift of The God. For all Science is incorporeal, 
 using for an organ the Mind itself, but the Mind using 
 the body. 
 
 10. Both then enter (e) into bodies, things mental and 
 material; for from antithesis and contrariety must all 
 things consist (/), and it is impossible that this should be 
 otherwise. 
 
 Tat. Who then is this material God ? 
 
 Hermes. The beautiful World, but it is not good. For 
 it is material and easily passible, and it is indeed the first 
 of the passibles, but second of the Entities and wanting (g) 
 
 (a) p,ox0qpot$. (6) a^oXa^y. (c) yivercti rov I 
 
 /rf) f^-KTTtjftris. (e) xupsi ti$. (/) ^si rotvoivrct ovvtaroivoii, 
 
 1 "The Angels which kept not their first Estate" (Jude 6). 
 
 2 " The body of this death " (Rom. vii. 24). 
 
60 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 to itself, and itself sometime generated, but ever in being ; 
 being too in generation and ever generated. Generation is 
 of qualities and quantities ; for it is moveable. 
 
 11. For every material movement is generation. The 
 mental state (a) moves the material movement in this 
 manner, since the world is a sphere, that is a head ; but 
 above head there is nothing material; just as neither i& 
 there anything mental beneath the feet, but all material. 
 But Mind, head itself is moved spherically, that is simi- 
 larly to a head. As many things then as are united to 
 the membrane (&) of this the head wherein is the soul, 
 are by nature (c) immortal, as if [of the body formed in 
 Soul] ; and having the Soul full (d) of [or fuller than] x the 
 body. But things distant from the membrane, in which 
 the body possesses more than the soul, are by nature 
 mortal ; but all is a living animal ; so that the universe is 
 composed both of material and mental. 
 
 12. And the World indeed is first, 2 but the Man second 
 animal after the World, but first of the things mortal ; and 
 indeed of the other animals he has the living quality (e)< 
 in him. Not, moreover, is he only not good, but also evil, 
 as mortal. For the World is not good as moveable, but 
 not evil as immortal, but the Man both as moveable and 
 as mortal is evil. 
 
 13. But the Soul of man is carried on (/) in this way: 
 The Mind in the Eeason, the Eeason in the Soul, the Soul 
 in the Spirit, the Spirit in the Body. The Spirit pene- 
 trating through the veins and arteries and blood moves the 
 animal, and as it were, after a certain manner, supports it. 
 Wherefore also some have thought the Soul to be blood ; 
 being mistaken as to the nature, not knowing that first 
 must the Spirit return back into the Soul, and then the 
 
 (a) vovrrv) ara,ais. (b) ru vptvi. (c) 
 
 (d) TtKypTfi. (e) TO efA*J/v%o, (/) ' 
 
 1 Menard reads TT^IU (more of soul than body), which is doubtless 
 the meaning. The passage is probably corrupt. 
 
 2 This and the next section are extracted by Stobseus (Physica, 770 ;. 
 Meineke, i. 215). 
 
(a) xotQe'htw. (b) rot^ati/ra, qpnfrrott. (c) 
 
 (d) S/aAvff/i/. (e) ayxuftwov. (/) 
 
 (g) oyxffff. (h) dioc^Vffotffoe.. 
 
 1 So far as in Stobaeus (Eclog. Physica; Meineke, i 212). As to 
 the subject of death, see Part II., Excerpts by Stobseus in the Florile- 
 gium, ch. ii; Meineke, iv. 106, and ante, ch. viii. 1, 2, and^postf, xi. 15. 
 
 2 " This is life eternal, that they should know Thee The Only 
 True God " (John xvii. 3). " And hath given us an understanding 
 (otxvoiotv'), that we may know Him that is true. . . . This is the 
 true God, and eternal life" (1 John v. 20). 
 
 POEMANDRES. X. 61 
 
 blood be coagulated, and the veins and the arteries be I 
 emptied, and then the animal perish (a), and this is the j 
 death of the Body. 1 
 
 14. From one beginning have all things depended (&), 
 but the beginning is from The One and Only. And the 
 beginning indeed is moved, that beginning may again be- 
 come (c), but The One stands abiding, and is not moved. 
 And three therefore are these, The God and Father and 
 The Good, and the World and the Man. And The God 
 hath indeed the World, but the World the Man. And the 
 World indeed is generated Son of The God ; but the Man 
 as it were offspring of the World. 
 
 15. For The God ignoreth not the Man, but moreover 
 thoroughly knoweth him and desires to be known. This 
 alone is saving for Man, The knowledge of The God. 2 
 This is the ascent to the Olympus. By this alone the Soul 
 becometh Good, and not sometimes Good, sometimes Evil ; 
 but becomes so of necessity. 
 
 Tat. How sayest thou this, Trismegistus ? 
 
 Hermes. Contemplate a Soul of a boy, Child! not 
 having yet received its distribution (d\ his body being yet 
 small and not yet fully amplified (e). 
 
 Tat How? 
 
 Hermes. Beautiful to look upon everywhere, and not 
 yet defiled by the passions of the body, still almost depen- 
 dent from the Soul of the world ; but when the body has 
 been amplified (/) and shall have drawn it out, into the 
 masses (g) of the body, having distributed (h) itself, it 
 engenerates oblivion, and partakes not of the beautiful and 
 
62 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 good. And the oblivion becomes vice. And the same 
 thing happens to those departing out of the body. 
 f 16. For the Soul recurring back into itself, 1 the Spirit is 
 ! contracted into the blood, and the Soul into the Spirit, but 
 the Mind becoming pure from its garments being divine 
 I by nature, taking a fiery body, circulates in every place,, 
 having abandoned the Soul to judgment and to the punish- 
 ment according to desert. 
 
 Tat. Row speakest thou this, Father ? 2 The Mind 
 is separated from the Soul, and the Soul from the Spirit, 
 thou having said the Soul to be garment of the Mind, but 
 of the Soul the Spirit ? 
 
 17. Hermes. It behoves the hearer to agree in mind, 
 Child I with the speaker, and to consent, and to have his 
 hearing more acute than the voice of the speaker. The 
 composition of these garments, Child! is generate 
 in an earthly body. For it is impossible that the Mind 
 
 i should establish itself by itself naked in an earthly 
 body, for neither is any earthly body able to bear (a) 
 
 I so great immortality nor to endure (5) this such virtue, 
 c v \ a body with passions being under the same skin with 
 it. It hath taken then as it were an envelope (c) the 
 Soul. But the Soul also itself being something divine 
 uses the Spirit as if an envelope. But the Spirit per- 
 vades the Animal. 
 
 18. When then the Mind has departed from the earthly 
 body, it forthwith puts on its own the fiery tunic, which it 
 could not, having to dwell in the earthly body. For earth 
 sustains not fire, for all is enflamed even by a small spark. 
 And because of this the water is diffused around the Earth 
 as rampart and wall resisting against the flame of the fire. 
 Mind however being the most swift of all divine thoughts, 
 and swifter than all the elements, has its body the Fire. 
 For The Mind being Creator of all things, uses the Fire as 
 
 (a) myxfcfv. (6) Kys%taQeu. (c) ^rg|0//3oA^i/. 
 
 1 See post, sec. 21, and note. 
 
 2 The following is extracted "by Stotseus (Physica, 775 ; Meineke, 
 i. 219). 
 
POEMANDRES. X. 6S 
 
 an instrument towards that Creation. 1 That Mind indeed 
 [Creator] of the Universe uses all things, but that of the 
 Man things upon earth only. For the mind upon earth 
 being destitute of the Fire is unable to create the things 
 Divine, being human in the administration. 
 
 19. But the human soul, not every one but the pious, is 
 a kind of demonhood (a) and divine ; and such a soul after 
 the departure from the body, having striven the strife of 
 this piety (but strife of piety is having known The God 2 
 and to have wronged no man) becomes wholly Mind. But 
 the impious Soul remains in that its proper Essence (b\ 
 punished by itself and seeking an earthly body into which 
 it may enter, being human (c). For other body 3 does not 
 yield place (d) to a human soul ; nor is it justice (e) that 
 a human soul should degrade (/) into a body of an irra- 
 tional animal. For of God is this law, to guard a human 
 Soul from this so great disgrace. 4 
 
 () <$flC/,c40J'/ot T/?. (fy i^ioig ovaia,$. (c) 
 
 (d) YjucT-i. (e) 6sf*,is. (/) 
 
 1 See ante, ch. i. The following section 19 is extracted by Stobseus 
 (Physica, 1007 ; Meineke, i. 307). 
 
 2 Quoted by Lactantius (Divin. Instit., ii. 16, and v. 15 ; see also 
 iii. 9). " This is Life eternal, that they should know Thee The Only 
 True God" (John xvii. 3). 
 
 3 It has been surmised from this passage that Hermes (with Plato) "] 
 held that the souls of the dead generally might pass into other human > 
 bodies. But as to this point, see post contra. 
 
 * Hermes here dissents from Platonism. Plato, speaking as from 
 Socrates (Phsedo, 80), says: "The Soul, the very likeness of the 
 Divine and immortal, and intellectual and uniform, and indissoluble 
 and unchangeable; the Body the likeness of the human, mortal, 
 unintellectual, multiform, dissoluble, and changeable. Must we 
 suppose that the Soul which is invisible, passing to the true Hades, 
 which like her is invisible, and pure and noble, and on her way to 
 the True and Wise God, whither if God will my [soul is also soon 
 to go: that the Soul, if this be her nature and origin, is blown away 
 and perishes immediately on quitting the body as the many say? v 
 That can never be. The truth rather is that that soul which is pure 
 at departing and draws after her no bodily taint, having never volun- 
 tarily been connected with the body, which she is ever avoiding, her- 
 self gathered into herself which has been the study of her life, 
 
64 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 20. Tat. How then is the human soul punished, O 
 Father ? 
 
 Hermes. And what is a greater punishment of a human 
 -Soul, Child ! than the impiety ? and what sort of fire has 
 so great a flame as this impiety? and what kind of de- 
 vouring wild beast thus maltreats the body so much, as 
 this impiety the very Soul ? Or seest thou not, how many 
 evils the impious Soul suffers ? shouting and crying out, 
 " I am burned, I am consumed ; what I may say, what I 
 
 meaning that she has studied true philosophy, the practice of death ; 
 that soul herself invisible, departs to the invisible world, to the 
 Divine, immortal, and rational. Thither arriving she is secure of bliss 
 and is released from the errors and follies of men, their fears and 
 wild passions and all other human ills, and ever dwells, as they say 
 of the initiated, in company with the Gods. But the soul, which has 
 been polluted and impure at the time of her departure and always the 
 servant of the body, enamoured and fascinated by it and by its desires 
 and pleasures, until she believes that Truth exists only in a bodily 
 form which a man may use for the purposes of his lusts, and is 
 accustomed to hate and fear and avoid the intellectual principle, 
 which to the bodily eye is invisible and can only be attained by 
 philosophy, do you suppose that such a soul will depart pure 
 and unalloyed 1 She is held fast by the corporeal, which is heavy 
 and earthy. They are dragged down again to the visible, to the 
 tombs and sepulchres, compelled to wander about such places in 
 payment of the penalty of their former evil ways. The craving after 
 the corporeal never leaves them, and they are imprisoned finally in 
 another body, imprisoned in the same natures which they had in 
 their former lives. Men who have followed after gluttony and wan- 
 tonness and drunkenness pass into apes and animals of that sort: 
 those who have chosen injustice and tyranny into wolves and hawks 
 and kites, according to their several natures and propensities. Some 
 may be happier than others who have practised civil and social virtues, 
 such as temperance and justice, although not acquired by philosophy. 
 They may pass into some quiet and social nature like their own, such 
 as bees, wasps, or ants, or back into the form of men. But he who 
 is a philosopher and lover of learning, who is entirely pure at depart- 
 ing, is alone permitted to attain to the Divine nature. This is why 
 the true votaries of philosophy abstain from all fleshly lusts, and 
 refuse to give themselves up to them. They who have any care of 
 their own souls, say farewell to all this ; they will not walk in the ways 
 of the blind, and when philosophy offers purification and relief from 
 il, they turn and follow it." 
 
POEM A NDEES. X. 65 
 
 shall do, I know not. I am eaten up, the unfortunate, by 
 the ills enclosing me ! I neither see nor, the miserable, do 
 I hear ! " These are the voices of the soul being punished, 
 not as the many suppose and thou opinest, Child ! that 
 a soul going forth from the body becomes a wild beast (a), 
 which is a very great error. 1 
 
 21. For the Soul is punished after this manner. 
 But the Mind when it becometh demon, is ordained 
 to acquire a fiery body for the ministries (b) of The 
 God, and entering into the very impious soul chastises it 
 with the scourges of the sins; by which being scourged, 
 the impious soul turns itself to murders, and injuries, 
 and blasphemies, and various violences, and other 
 tilings by which men are wronged; but the Mind enter- 
 ing into the pious Soul guides it to the light of the 
 Knowledge. And the such like Soul never ever experi- 
 ences satiety, hymning and blessing all men, and in 
 words and deeds doing all things well, imitating its own 
 Father. 2 
 
 22. Wherefore, O Child! giving thanks to The God, it 
 behoves to pray to obtain the beautiful Mind. The Soul 
 then passes on to the superior, but to the inferior it is im- 
 
 (a) 0yipiei(Tcti. (6) VTrspqefots. 
 
 1 See ante xix., sec. 4, note. 
 
 Plato in Timceus (42) had also spoken thus : " Those who are domi- 
 nated by bodily passions shall be avenged by justice ; but he that 
 has passed well the proper time, living again, proceeding to the dwell 
 ing of the associate (^vwofiov) star, will lead a happy life ; but failing 
 of these he will in his second birth change into the nature of a woman ; 
 but not ceasing then from the way of evil by which he was debased, 
 he changes into some beastly nature, and shall not cease from labours, 
 until by reason having conquered the great tumult and debasement, 
 and being other, he return to the form of the first and best habitude 
 
 (H*> 
 
 2 Compare Wisdom, iii. 1-10 : " The souls of the righteous are in 
 the hand of God, and there shall no torment touch them. In the 
 sight of the unwise they seemed to die. . . Yet is their hope full 
 of immortality. . . . But the ungodly shall be punished accord- 
 ing to their own imaginations, which have neglected the righteous 
 and forsaken the Lord." 
 
66 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 passible. 1 For there is a community of Souls, and those 
 of the Gods hold communion with those of the men, and 
 those of the men with those of the irrationals. But the 
 superior take care of the inferior, Gods of men, 2 but men 
 of the irrational animals, but The God of all. For He is 
 Superior to all, and all are inferior to Him. The World 
 then is subject to The God; but the Man to the World, 
 and the irrational to the Man; but The God is over all 
 things and about all things. And of The God indeed the 
 Energies are like as rays, and of the World the natures are 
 rays, but of the Man the arts and sciences are rays. And 
 these Energies indeed energize throughout the world, and 
 upon the Man through the physical rays of the World, but 
 the natures through the elements, but the men through 
 the Arts and Sciences. 
 
 23. And this is the administration of the Universe (a), 
 dependent from the Nature of The One and pervading it 
 through the Mind of One. 3 Than which nothing is more 
 divine and more energetic, or more unitive (&) of Men in- 
 deed to the Gods, or of Gods to the Men. This is the 
 Good demon. Blessed the Soul which is fullest of this; 
 unfortunate the Soul which is void of this. 
 
 Tat. How sayest thou thus again, Father? 
 
 Hermes. Dost thou think then, Child! that every 
 soul has the good Mind? for it is of this that our discourse 
 is about, not concerning the servile one(c), concerning 
 whom we have just before spoken, him sent down- 
 wards (d) because of the judgment. 
 
 24. For Soul apart from the Mind can neither say any- 
 
 (ct) B/o/fc>70'/ rov KOIVTOS. (b) kvutiKOrtipov. 
 
 (c) VKYipsrixov. (d) Kd.roe.'Tri^'Trof^ivov. 
 
 1 The following, down to the end of this chapter, is extracted by 
 Stobaeus (Physica, 766; Meineke, i. 213). 
 
 2 " Are they " (i.e., Angels) " not all ministering Spirits, sent forth 
 to do service for the sake of them that shall inherit salvation?" (Heb. 
 i. 14). " When The Most High divided the nations, when He separated 
 the Sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the nations according to the 
 number of the Angels of God" (Deut. xxxii. 8, Septuagint Version). 
 
 3 Or " through the One Mind." 
 
POEMANDRES. X. 67 
 
 thing nor do anything. For, oftentimes the Mind hath 
 departed out of (a) the Soul; and in that hour the Soul 
 neither discerns nor hears, but is like an irrational 
 animal. So great is the power of the Mind; but neither 
 does it endure an inert (6) Soul, but relinquishes the 
 Soul of such sort attached to the body, and by it drawn 
 downwards. The Soul of this sort, O Child! has not 
 Mind. Wherefore neither ought one to call such an 
 one Man. For Man is a Divine Animal, and is not com- 
 parable with the other animals, those upon earth, but 
 with those above in Heaven called Gods, 1 or rather, if 
 it behoveth one boldly to speak the truth, the Man really 
 is above them, or, they are altogether equipollent with 
 each other. 
 
 25. For no one indeed of the heavenly Gods shall de- 
 scend unto earth, having left the boundary of Heaven, but 
 the Man ascends unto the Heaven, and measures it, and 
 knows what kind of things of it are on high, and what kind 
 below, and learns all other things accurately; and what is 
 greater than all, without leaving this earth he becomes on 
 high. So great is the grandeur to him of this (c) exten- 
 sion. Wherefore it is to be dared to say that the Man 
 upon earth is a mortal God, but the Heavenly God an ; 
 immortal Man. Wherefore through (d) these the Two are 
 all things administered, World and Man ; but by (c) The 1 
 One all things. 2 
 
 (a) |g<rr>i. (b) varpx;. 
 
 (c) exToursas; in Stobaeus the word is gx<rra<rwj. 
 (d) hoi (e) viro. 
 
 1 " I have said, Ye are Gods ; and all of you are children of the Most 
 High" (Ps. Ixxxii. 6). They are equal with the Angels ; and are Sons 
 of God" (Luke xx. 36). "But are as Angels in Heaven" (Mark 
 xii.25). 
 
 2 Five portions of this Chapter are extracted by Stobaous (Eclog. 
 Physica). See supra and Meineke, vol. i., and index. 
 
68 HERMES T&ISMEGISTUS. 
 
 CHAPTEE XL 
 
 Mind to Hermes. 
 
 1. Mind. Eestrain then the discourse, O thrice greatest 
 Hermes ! and call to remembrance the things said. But 
 as it has occurred to me to speak, I will not delay. 
 
 Hermes. Many speaking many things, and those dif- 
 ferent, concerning the Universe and The God, I learnt not 
 the truth ; Do thou, Master, make plain (a) to me con- 
 cerning this, for to thee only would I confide the explana- 
 tion concerning these things. 
 
 2. Mind. Hear, Child ! how The God and the Uni- 
 verse have themselves. God, The Eternity, the World, 
 the Time, the Generation. The God makes Eternity (&), 
 The Eternity the World, The World the Time; but The 
 Time the Generation. But of The God is as it were 
 Essence, The Good, The Beautiful, The Happiness, The 
 Wisdom ; of the Eternity the Identity (c) ; of the World 
 the Order ; of the Time the Change; but of the Genera- 
 tion, The Life and the Death. The Energies of The God 
 Mind and Soul, but of the Eternity permanence and im- 
 mortality, but of the World, restitution and redestruction, 
 but of the Time augmentation and diminution, and of the 
 Generation quality. The Eternity then is in The God, 
 
 1 The World in the Eternity ; but the Time in the World, 
 and the Generation in the Time. And the Eternity in- 
 deed is stationed (d) around The God, and the World is 
 moved in the Eternity, the Time is accomplished (e) in the 
 World, but the Generation takes place in the Time. 
 
 3. The fountain then of all things is The God, but 
 Essence- the Eternity, Matter the World; Power of The 
 God the Eternity, Work of the Eternity the World, not 
 sometime (/) generated, but always generated by the 
 Eternity; neither therefore will it ever be corrupted, for 
 
 (a) ^loiffx^aov. (V) a-luuoe, wottt. (c) q 7 
 
 (d) SOTYIKS. (e) mpxtovTou. (/) ov 
 
POEMANDRES. XL 69 
 
 Eternity is incorruptible, nor doe_s any of things in the World 
 perish, the World being encompassed by the Eternity. 
 
 Hermes. But the Wisdom of The God, what is it? 
 
 Mwul. The Good and the Beautiful and the Happiness 
 and the whole of Virtue and The Eternity. The Eternity 
 then provides (a) the Immortality, imparting also per- 
 manence to the Matter. 
 
 4. For the generation of that is dependent from the 
 Eternity, as also the Eternity from The God. For the 
 Generation and the Time in Heaven and in Earth are 
 beings double in nature : in Heaven indeed unchangeable 
 and incorruptible, but in earth changeable and corruptible. 
 And of the Eternity indeed the Soul is The God, but of 
 the World the Soul is the Eternity, but of the Earth the 
 Heaven. And The God indeed is in the Mind but the 
 Mind in the Soul, but the Soul in the Matter, but all 
 these through the Eternity. But this the Universal Body, 
 in which are all the bodies, is full of Soul, but the Soul 
 full of the Mind and of The God ; within it fills but without 
 encircles it, vivifying the Universe. Without indeed this 
 the great and perfect Animal the World (&) 1 , but within, 
 all the animals ; and above indeed in the Heaven abiding 
 in the identity, but below upon the earth changing the 
 generation. 
 
 5. But the Eternity keeps together (c) this, whether 
 through necessity, or through providence, or through 
 nature, and if anything else any one thinks or shall think. 
 This Universe The God is energizing; but the Energy of I 
 God being a power insuperable, with which one could com- 
 pare neither things human nor things divine. Wherefore, -j 
 O Hermes ! by no means of things below nor of things 
 above shouldst thou think any like to The God, since thou 
 
 (a) x.o<Tft(. (6) a>oi> rov xoaftov. (c) 
 
 1 Plato (Timseus, 92): " This the World having thus received ani- 
 mals, mortal and immortal, and having been fulfilled, became a 
 visible animal, containing the visible, sensible God, Image of The ! 
 Intelligible, the greatest the best, the most beautiful and most per- 
 fect, one Heaven ; This being only begotten." 
 
70 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 wouldest fall from the truth. For nothing is like to The 
 without like and Only and One; and not to any other one 
 shouldst thou think that He yields in the power. For who 
 beside Him is either Life and 1 Immortality, and change 
 of quality? And what else should He do? For The God 
 is not inert, else all things would become inert ; for every- 
 thing is full of God, for neither in the world is inertness (a) 
 anywhere, nor in any other. For inertness is an empty 
 word, both as to the maker and the thing generated. 
 
 6. For all things must be generate, both always and 
 according to the preponderance (&) of each place. For the 
 Maker is in all things, not settled (c) in any, nor Making 
 in something, but all things. 2 For Power being energizing, 
 is not self sufficient (d) in the things generated, but the 
 generated are under Him. Contemplate through me the 
 World subjected to thy view, and consider accurately the 
 beauty of it, a body indeed undecayable (e), and than 
 which nothing is more ancient, and throughout the whole 
 in full vigour (/) and new, and still more vigorous. 
 
 7. Behold also those subject Seven Worlds arranged in 
 eternal order and in different course fulfilling the Eternity, 
 and all things full of light, but fire no where, for the 
 friendship and the combination of things opposite and those 
 dissimilar became Light, shining forth through the energy of 
 The God, 3 Generator of all Good, and Prince (g) of all order 
 and guide of the Seven Worlds; a Moon, the precursor of 
 all these, Organ of the Nature changing the Matter below; 
 
 (a) dpyta. (6) povq*. (c) ifyvftittog, (d) d,urix.px,ys. 
 
 (e) dxyipoiTov. (f) eUxftouov, ((/) oip-^Qvrog. 
 
 1 " Who only hath immortality, dwelling in Light unapproachable " 
 (1 Tim. vi. 16). 
 
 2 " However destitute Planets, Moons, and rings may be of inhabi- 
 tants, they are at least vast scenes of God's presence and of the activity 
 with which He carries into effect everywhere the laws of nature; and 
 the glory of creation arises from its being not only the product but 
 the constant field of God's activity and thought, wisdom, and power " 
 (WhewelTs " Plurality of Worlds," ch. xii., Fourth Edit, 382. See 
 sec. 12, post}. 
 
 3 " And God said, Let Light be, and Light was " (Gen. i. 3). 
 
POEMANDRES. XI. 71 
 
 and the Earth in the midst of the Universe, established as 
 support (a) of this beautiful World, 1 nourisher and nurse of 
 those upon Earth. Behold also the multitude of the im- 
 mortal animals how large it is, and of the mortal; in the 
 midst of both as well of the immortal as of the mortal, the 
 Moon revolving around. 
 
 8. All things then are full of Soul, and all things pro- 
 perly (6) moved by that; some indeed around the Heaven, 
 but others around the Earth, and neither the right towards 
 the left, nor the left towards the right; nor those above 
 downwards, nor those below upwards. And that all these , 
 are generate, most beloved Hermes ! thou dost not still I j 
 need to learn of me; for they are bodies, and have soul, 
 and are moved. But for these to concur (c) in one is im- 
 possible apart from the gatherer (cT). 
 
 9. This then must be some one and such altogether One. 
 For different and many being the motions and the bodies 
 not similar, yet but one velocity ordered throughout all, 
 it is impossible that there be two or more Makers ; for the 
 one order is not preserved with many. For in the feebler, 
 emulation will ensue of the superior, and they will contend. 
 And if other was the Maker of the mutable animals and 
 mortals, he would have desired to make immortals also ; 
 just as also he of the immortals, mortals. Suppose then 
 if also there be two ; one being the Matter and one the 
 Soul, with which of them would be the conducting of the 
 making (e) ? and if somewhat also with both, with whom 
 the larger portion ? 
 
 10. But think thus, as of every living body having the 
 constitution (/) of Matter and Soul, and of the immortal 
 and of the mortal, and of the irrational. For all living 
 
 (a) i/Troffrafy^j/. (6) /S/fiij. (c) 
 
 (d) %api$ TOV ffvi/ayovro$. (e) yfi^yiac, ry$ TTOiqffeas. (/) 
 
 1 See ante, ch. iii. 4, and note there. Mr Proctor, in his work, " Our 
 
 place among Infinities," states that the Egyptians held that the Sun 
 
 and Moon revolved round the Earth, but the five other planets round 
 
 the Sun. But this passage proves the general belief to have been that 
 
 the whole system revolved round the Earth, which remained stationary 
 
 in the midst. 
 
72 HERMES TEISMEGISTUS. 
 
 bodies are animated (a), but those not living are again 
 matter by itself. And Soul likewise by itself approached 
 to (b) the Maker is cause of the life ; but cause of all the 
 life is that which is (cause) of the immortals. 
 
 Hermes. How then are also the mortal animals different 
 from the mortal ? And how is it that the immortal and 
 making immortality, makes not the animals (so) ? 
 
 11. Mind. And that there is some One who is making 
 these things is plain, and that He is also One is most 
 manifest ; for also there is one Soul and one Life and one 
 Matter. 
 
 Hermes. Who then is He ? 
 
 fi Mind. Who may it be other than The One God ? For 
 
 ,j to whom can it belong to make animated animals but to the 
 God only? 1 One then is God. Most ridiculous then if 
 having acknowledged the World to be One and the Sun 
 
 , One and the Moon One and The Divinity One, but The God 
 
 ^Himself to be as multiple (c) as you wish. 2 
 
 12. He then makes everything in many ways. And 
 what great thing is it for The God to make life and soul 
 and immortality and change, thou doing such many things. 
 For thou seest, and speakest, and hearest, and smellest, 
 and tastest, and touchest, and walkest, and understandest, 
 and breathest, and it is not another who is seeing, and 
 another who is hearing, and another who is speaking, and 
 other who is touching, and other who is smelling, and other 
 who is walking, and other who is understanding, and other 
 who is breathing, but one who is doing all these things. 
 But neither are these possible to be apart from The God. 
 For just as, shouldest thou become inert (d) of these, thou 
 art no longer animal ; so neither, should The God become 
 
 I inert of them, what it is not lawful to say, no longer is 
 ; He God. 
 
 13. For if it is demonstrated that nothing is possible to 
 
 (ft) [4\]/vx.ot. (6) 7retpxx,sif^ivv}. (c) iroarov. (d) xxTOipyvj^s. 
 
 1 Quoted by Lactant. (Divin. Instit., i., vi.). 
 
 2 This passage disconnects the author from all complicity with the 
 Egyptian or Greek Mythology. 
 
POEMANDRES. XL 7$ 
 
 be l [apart from The God or inert], by how much rather The 
 God. For if there is anything that He does not make, if 
 it be lawful to say it He is imperfect. But if He is not 
 inert but perfect, then He makes all things. For a little 
 give thyself up to -me, Hermes! thou wilt the more easily 
 understand the work of The God as being one: that all 
 the things generate be generate, whether those once gener- 
 ated, as those about to be generated. But this, O most 
 beloved ! is Life, this is The Beautiful ; this is The Good, 
 this is The God. 
 
 14. If thou wishest also to understand this in operation, 
 see what would happen to thee wishing to engender. But 
 this is not like to Him, for He indeed is not delighted, nor 
 has He another co-operator. For being selfworking (a) He 
 is always in the work, being Himself what He makes. For 
 if He should be separated from it, of necessity all things 
 must collapse, all things be deathstruck as there not being 
 life ; but if all things are living, and One also the Life, One 
 then also is The God. And again, if all things are living, 
 both those in the heaven and those in the earth, and one 
 Life throughout all things is generate by The God, and this 
 is The God, then all things are generate by The God. 
 But Life is the Union (b) of Mind and Soul. Death how- 
 ever not the destruction of the compounds but dissolution 
 of the union. 2 
 
 15. 3 [Eternity then is the image of The God but of the 
 eternity the world, of the world the Sun, of the Sun the 
 man]. But this transmutation the people say to be death, 
 because that the body indeed is dissolved, but the life, it 
 being dissolved, departs to the obscure (c). But in this dis- 
 
 (a) avrovp'/os. (6) svaais. (c) its TO et$ctv$. 
 
 1 Parthey's note (p. 92) here is : " Post slveu, excidisse videtur 
 %ppi$ TOU 6iov." But query whether not " x,ot,Ta,pyy}[ttvov" "inert." 
 (See a similar argument, Lactant., de Ira Dei, ch. 11). 
 
 2 See ante, sec. 14, and note. Also ch. viii. 1, 2; ch. x. 13; and 
 post, Part II., Excerpt II. by Stobseus, and notes there. 
 
 3 It seems probable, as suggested by L. Menard (p. 76), that this 
 phrase has been interpolated here by some copyist or scholiast, it 
 being out of place with what precedes and follows. 
 
74 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 -course, Hermes! most beloved to me I say, as thou nearest, 
 the World also to be transformed because of part of it 
 becoming each day in the obscure, but by no means to be 
 dissolved. And these are the passions (a) of the World, 
 revolutions and occultations (b). And the revolution is 
 conversion (c), but the occult ation, renovation. 
 
 16. For the World is of all manner of forms (d\ not 
 having the forms lying without, but itself changing them 
 in itself. Since then the World was generated of all forms, 
 He having made it, what should He be? for without 
 form (e) indeed He cannot be, and if He be also of all forms 
 He will be like to the World. But having one form so 
 far He will be inferior to the World. What then may we 
 say Him to be? lest we reduce the discourse into doubt- 
 fulness ; for nothing doubtful is to be understood about 
 The God. He has then one Idea (/), which is His proper 
 own(#), which incorporeal, may not be subject of(h) the 
 sight ; and shows all [ideas] by means of the bodies. And 
 be not astonished if there be some incorporeal idea. 
 
 17. For it is as if that of the discourse, and margins (i) 
 in the writings (&). For they are seen being wholly out- 
 side, but smooth in the nature, they are also entirely even. 
 But consider what is said more boldly, but yet more truth- 
 fully. For just as a man cannot live apart from life, so 
 neither can The God live without doing the Good. For 
 this is as it were Life and as it were motion of The God, 
 to move all things and to vivify. 
 
 18. But some of the things spoken ought to have pecu- 
 liar consideration ; understand as such what I say. All 
 things are in The God ; not as if lying in place ; for the 
 place indeed is both body and immoveable, and things 
 lying have not motion. For they lie otherwise (I) in in- 
 corporeal, otherwise in appearance. Understand Him com- 
 prising all things, and understand, that than the incorporeal, 
 
 (a) 7ra,9n. (It) ^tvyatis x.ot,\ x,pvi]/et$. (c) 
 
 (d) 'TroiVTOff.op^of. (e) olpoptyoc. (/) 
 
 (y) fttoi. (fl) VTroffretty. (i) ocxpapsioe.1. 
 
POEMANDRES. XI. 75 
 
 there is nothing more comprehensive (a), nor quicker nor 
 more powerful, but it of all things is the most compre- 
 hensive and quickest and most powerful. 
 
 19. And understand thus of (b) thyself, and command 
 the Soul of thife to proceed to India, and quicker than 
 thy command it will be there; command it to proceed to the 
 Ocean, and there again it will quickly be, not as if having 
 passed on from place to place, but as if being there. 
 Command it also to fly up to the Heaven, and it will not 
 be in want of wings; nor will anything be hindrance 
 to it, neither the fire of the Sun, nor the atmosphere, 
 nor the revolution (c), nor the bodies of the other stars, 
 but, piercing through all, it will fly up even to the last 
 body. And if thou shouldest wish even to break through 
 this Universe (d), and to behold the things without (if in- 
 deed there be anything without the World), it is possible 
 for thee. 
 
 20. See how much power, how much speed thou hast ! 
 Art thou able for all these things together, but The God 
 not? After this manner then understand The God as if 
 that He had all understandings (e) in Himself, the whole 
 World itself. If then thou wouldest not compare (/) thy- 
 self with The God, thou canst not understand The God; 
 for like is understandable by like. Augment thyself to 
 an immeasurable magnitude, having got rid of all body, 
 and having surpassed all time, become eternity; and thou 
 wilt understand The God. Having supposed (g) in thyself 
 nothing impossible, think thyself immortal and able to 
 understand all things: every art indeed, every science, the 
 habit of every animal. Become more lofty than every 
 height and lower than every depth. Collect in thyself all 
 the sensations (h) of the things made, of fire, water, dry 
 and moist, and at the same time to be everywhere in earth, 
 in sea, in heaven, not yet to have been born, to be in the 
 womb, young, old, to have died, things after the death, and 
 
 (Ci) 7TplX,TlXr6)TtpOV. (6) CCITO. (c) V) B/1/J7. 
 
 (d) etvro oAov. (e) voqftoiTa. (/) 
 
 (g) i>7ro(TT-/i<rK[t,ev6$. (h) 
 
76 HERMES TEISMEGISTUS. 
 
 having understood all these things together, times, places, 
 affairs, qualities, quantities, thou wilt be able to understand 
 The God. 
 
 21. But if thou shouldest shut up the Soul of thee in 
 the body and debase it, and say, I understand nothing, I 
 can nothing, I fear the sea, I am not able to ascend into- 
 the Heaven, I know not who I (a) have been, I know not 
 who I shall be ; what with thee, and with The God ? for 
 thou canst understand nothing of things beautiful and good, 
 being a lover of the body, and evil. Eor the complete- 
 evil is the being ignorant of the Divinity (&) ; but the being 
 able to have known and to will and to hope, is the (c) 
 right way, peculiar (d) of the good, and smooth and easy; 
 journeying He will meet thee everywhere, everywhere will 
 He be seen, where and when thou dost not expect; watch- 
 ing, sleeping, sailing, journeying by night, by day, speaking, 
 silent ; for there is nothing which is not image (e) of the 
 Divinity. 
 
 22. Hermes. Is The God invisible? 
 
 Mind. Speak well ! And who is more manifest than- 
 He? Tor this very thing He made all things that thou 
 mayest discern Him throughout all things. This is The 
 Good of The God, this is His virtue, that He is apparent 
 throughout all things. For nothing is invisible, not even 
 of the incorporeal. Mind is seen in the understanding, 
 The God in the making. These things have to thee as to 
 so much been explained, O Trismegistus ! But all the 
 other things likewise consider with thyself and thou shalt 
 not be deceived. 
 
 (a) yp-fiv. (b) TO Oetov. (c) svQtlix,. 
 
 (d) /()/#. (e) 
 
POEMANDRES. XII. 77 
 
 CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 Respecting Common Mind. 
 To Tat. 1 
 
 1. Hermes. The Mind, O Tat ! is of the very essence 
 of The God; if indeed there is any essence of God, and of 
 what quality this may be He alone hath accurately known. 
 The Mind then is not cut off from the Essentiality of The 
 Godhead (a) but united, just as the light of the Sun. But 
 this the Mind in men indeed is God. Wherefore also 
 some of men are Gods, 2 and their humanity is nigh to the 
 Deity. For also the Good Demon hath called the Gods 
 immortal men, but the men mortal Gods. But in irrational 
 animals the Mind is the nature. 
 
 2. For where Soul, there also is Mind, as where life 
 there also is Soul. But in the irrational animals the soul 
 is life, void of the Mind; for the Mind is benefactor of the 
 souls of men, for it works on them (b) to their proper good; 
 and in the irrational indeed it co-operates with the nature 
 of each, but it practises against (c) those of the men. For 
 every Soul generate in body is forthwith depraved, both by 
 
 (a) ovviorqros 6fvr-ffrog. (6) epyoi^Ton eivroc;. (c) 
 
 1 According to Menard (Pref., p. 73), the author of this chapter is 
 some obscure disciple of Plotinus ; and the Good Demon mentioned 
 therein, Ammonius Saccas, the reputed founder of the Neo-platonists 
 in the beginning of the 3d century ; but the translator does not 
 accept this view. The whole chapter is a metaphysical amplification 
 of the Divine truth so energetically set forth (amongst others) by 
 Malebranche in his Reclwrche, de la VeritS, and Traite de la Morale. 
 " For in Him we live, and move, and have our being " (Acts xvii. 28). 
 "And in Him all things consist" (Col. L 17). " Upholding all things 
 by the Word of His power" (Heb. i. 3). See ante, ch. x. 4, note 1 ; , 
 and hereafter sec. 14, for what is meant by the Good Demon. 
 
 2 " I have said ye are Gods " (Ps. Ixxxii. 6). " Partakers of the 
 Divine nature " (2 Peter i. 4). " Is it not written in your law, I said, 
 Ye are Gods? If He called them Gods unto whom the word of God 
 came, and the Scripture cannot be broken ; say ye of Him," &c. 
 (John x. 34). 
 
78 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 the grief and the pleasure. For of the composite body 
 both the grief and the pleasure seethe (a), just as humours, 
 into which the Soul having entered is immerged (&). 
 
 3. In whatsoever souls then the Mind presides to these 
 it shows its own light, practising against their proclivi- 
 ties (c) ; just as a good physician pains the body pre-occupied 
 fay disease, burning or cutting for the sake of health. In 
 the same way also the Mind pains the Soul, extricating it 
 from pleasure, by which every disease of Soul is generate. 
 A great disease of the Soul is Atheism (c), since thereupon 
 follows opinion (e\ unto all things that are evil and nothing 
 good. Thus then the Mind counteracting this, procures 
 the Good for the Soul, as also the physician the health for 
 the body. 
 
 4. But as many human Souls as have not obtained The 
 Mind as pilot, suffer the same with those of the irrational 
 animals. For becoming co-operator with them and letting 
 loose the desires to which they are borne, tending to- 
 gether (/) by the force of the appetite to the irrational, like 
 as the irrationality of the animals, irrationally enraged and 
 irrationally desiring, they cease not, nor have satiety of 
 the evils. For angers and irrational desires are excessive 
 vices. But for these, as it were avenger and convicter, The 
 God hath set over them the law. 1 
 
 5. Tat. There, Father ! the discourse concerning the 
 Fate, that previously uttered to me, is in danger of being 
 
 , overthrown. For if it is altogether fated to this some one 
 to fornicate or commit sacrilege, or to do any other evil 
 something, why is he punished, he from necessity of Fate 
 having done the deed? 
 
 (a) tyovffiv. (&) fieMrrt^erott. (c) TrpoKypfAoKJiv. 
 
 (d) dfaoTYig. (e) ($o|oc. (/) avvTtivcivaa$. 
 
 1 " What then is the law 1 ? It was added because of transgressions " 
 (Gal. iii. 19). 
 
 Plato in " Laws" (716) says: "The God then, as is also the ancient 
 saying, having the beginning and the end and the mean of all 
 Entities, terminates things directly, proceeding according to Nature. 
 But with Him ever follows on Justice, avenger of those who depart 
 from the Divine Law" (Hermann's Edit., v. 118). 
 
POEMANDRES. XII. 79 
 
 Hermes. Of Fate indeed are all the works, O Child! 
 and apart from that not anything of corporeal things, 
 neither good nor evil happens to be. It is fated too that he 
 having done the evil to suffer. And for this he does it, that 
 he may suffer what he does suffer, because he hath done it. 
 
 6. But at the present let be (a) the discourse concerning 
 Vice and Fate ; for elsewhere we have spoken concerning 
 these, but now the discourse with us is concerning Mind, 
 what the Mind can, and how it is different; in men in- 
 deed of such kind, but in the irrational animals changed; 
 and again that in the irrational animals indeed, it is not 
 beneficent, but in men extinguishing both the irascible and 
 the concupiscent (&). And of these one must understand 
 some indeed as persons with reason (c), but others without 
 reason. 
 
 7. All men are subject to fate and to generation and 
 to change ; for these are the beginning and end of Fate ; 
 and all men indeed suffer things fated, but those with 
 reason of whom we have said that the Mind is Guide, 
 suffer not in like manner with the others, but having 
 departed from Vice, not being evil, suffer not evil. 
 
 Tat. Again how sayest thou, Father? A fornicator not 
 evil ? a murderer not evil ? and all the rest ? 
 
 Hermes. But he with reason (d), Child ! not having 
 fornicated will suffer but as having fornicated; neither 
 having murdered but as having murdered. And the 
 quality of change it is not possible to escape from, just as 
 also of generation ; but it is for him having Mind, to escape 
 Vice. 
 
 8. Wherefore also I have heard 1 the good Demon, O 
 Child ! saying always .... and if he had given it in 
 
 (c) lAAoy/^oi/f &i/dpot$. (d) 6 
 
 1 This is apparently peculiarly Socratic ; but that the meaning of j 
 Hermes did not stop there is manifest from his afterwards deno- 
 minating the good Demon The " First begotten God," and identify- 
 ing it afterwards with the Mind or Wisdom of God. This passage,. 
 however, has lacunae, and is clearly partially corrupt. 
 
SO HERMES TRTSMEGISTUS. 
 
 writing he would altogether have profited the race of men, 
 for He alone, Child ! l as First begotten God having 
 
 viewed (a) all things pronounced Divine words 
 
 I have heard then Him sometime saying that One are all 
 things, and especially the bodies intelligible (&), for we 
 live in power and in energy and eternity. And the Mind 
 then is good . . . which is the Soul of it ; but this being 
 of such kind, there is nothing separable of things intel- 
 ligible (c). Thus then it is possible that Mind ruling (d) 
 over all things and being the Soul of The God, do whatever 
 it wishes. 
 
 9. But do thou understand and refer this discourse to 
 the enquiry which thou enquiredst of me in what is be- 
 fore : I speak concerning the Fate of The Mind. For if thou 
 wouldest accurately put away the contentious words, O 
 Child ! thou wilt find that truly The Mind, the Soul of The 
 God, dominates over all things, both Fate and Law and all 
 other things; and nothing impossible for it, neither the 
 placing the human Soul up above (e) Fate, nor, having 
 neglected things which happen, to place it beneath The 
 Fate. 2 And let these things indeed, as to so much be 
 spoken, the best of the good Demon. 
 
 Tat. And divinely, Father ! and truly and helpfully 
 these things. 
 
 10. But this further explain to me. For thou saidest 
 that the Mind in the irrational animals energized according 
 to Nature (/), working together with their appetites (g). 
 
 (a) xctribuv. (&) roc, i/oyrdc, eupoiTa. (c) ovl)t ^IOIGTCITM ray iso'/rrav. 
 (d) oipxovroe.. (e) VTTSpdva. (/) HX.YIV (pvaiag. (g) opp^s. 
 
 1 " The image of The invisible God, the Firstborn of all creation " 
 (Coloss. i. 15). "The beginning of the creation of God " (Rev. iii. 14). 
 " The Firstborn " (Heb. i. 6). " The Firstborn of the dead Jesus Christ " 
 (Rev. i. 5). For " Only begotten/' see John i. 14, 18; iii. 16, 18; 
 1 John iv. 9. 
 
 2 Lactantius (Divin. Instit., lib. ii. ch. 16) writes: "Hermes affirms 
 that those who have known God are not only safe from the attacks 
 of demons, but that they are not even bound by fate. The only 
 protection," he says, "is piety; for over a pious man neither evil 
 demon nor fate has any power." 
 
POEMANDRES. XII. 81 
 
 But the appetites of the irrational animals as I think are 
 passions ; and if also the Mind co-operates with the ap- 
 petites and the appetites of the irrationals are passions, 
 then the Mind also is passion, commingling (a) with the 
 passions. 
 
 Hermes. Well done, Child ! thou enquirest nobly. 
 It is just for me also to answer. 
 
 11. All things, O Child ! incorporeal in body are subject 
 to passion (6), and peculiarly (c) are they passions; for 
 everything moving is incorporeal, and everything moved, 
 body. And incorporeals are moved by the Mind, and 
 movement is passion. Both then have passion (d\ both 
 the moving and the moved; the one indeed ruling, the 
 other ruled. Having departed from the body, departure 
 is also from the passion. But rather perhaps, O Child! 
 nothing is passionless, but all are subject to passion. But 
 passion differs from what is subjected to passion. For the 
 one energizes, the other is passive. But the bodies also 
 energize of themselves ; for either they are immoveable or 
 are moved ; but whichever it may be it is passion. But 
 incorporeals always energize, and because of this they are 
 subjects of passion. Let not then appellations disturb 
 thee, for both the energy and the passion are the same 
 thing, but to have used the more honourable (e) name is 
 not grievous. 
 
 12. Tat. Most clearly, O Father ! hast thou delivered 
 the discourse. 
 
 Hermes. And see this, O Child ! that these two things 
 The God hath bestowed on the Man beyond all the mortal 
 animals, both the Mind and the Eeason, equivalent (/) to 
 immortality; and in addition to these he has the enun- 
 ciative Eeason (g). 1 Of these if any one make use for 
 what he ought, he will differ nothing from the immortals ; 
 but rather moreover going forth from the body, he will 
 
 (a) ffpy%^vr/jr. (6) 3-0T. (c) x.vpla$. (d) Kot.a-x.ii. 
 
 (e) si/QYifivrtpu. (/) laortpoi. (</) roit "7rpQ$opix.oy "hoyov. 
 
 1 i.e., Language, Ao'yo?, that word being here used in a double sense 
 for both Speech and Reason. 
 
 F 
 
82 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 be guided by both unto the choir of the Gods and 
 blessed. 
 
 13. Tat. Do not however the other ^animals use lan- 
 guage (a), O Father ! 
 
 Hermes. No ! Child, but voice ; for language differs 
 altogether much from voice. For language indeed is com- 
 mon to all men, but voice is peculiar to each kind of 
 animal. 
 
 Tat. But also of the Men, Father ! according to each 
 nation the language is different. 
 
 Hermes. Different indeed, O Child ! but one the Man, 
 and so the language is one, and is mutually interpreted, 
 &nd the same is found both in Egypt and Persia and Greece. 
 But thou seemest to me, O Child ! to be ignorant of the 
 virtue and magnitude of Language. For the blessed God, 
 Good Demon, 1 declared Soul to be in Body, but Mind in 
 Soul, Eeason (&) in the Mind, The Mind in The God, but 
 The God Father of these. 
 
 14. The Keason then is the image of the Mind, and Mind 
 of The God, and the Body indeed of the Idea (c) and the 
 Idea of the Soul. 2 Of Matter now the most subtle (d) is Air, 
 of Air the Soul, of Soul Mind, and of Mind God. And The 
 God indeed is around all things and through all things. 3 
 But the Mind around the Soul, and the Soul around the 
 Air, and the Air around the Matter. Of necessity both 
 the Providence and the Nature are instruments (e) of the 
 World, and of the order of the Matter ; and of things intel- 
 ligible each indeed is essence, but essence of them is the 
 identity (/). Of the bodies of the Universe each is many. 
 For the composite bodies having the identity, and making 
 
 (a) Ao'yov. (&) Ao'yo^j *.&, Trpofpopixov. (c) TVS /cteaj-. 
 
 (d) hrTrrettsptffTctToy. (e) opyctvdt. (/) rotvror^rx. 
 
 1 Who is meant by the Good Demon is here plainly stated. 
 
 2 What is here meant by " Idea " is difficult to determine. Whether 
 the " Idea" of Plato, or the form of the manner and mode of exist- 
 ence and species. 
 
 * " Of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things " (Rom. 
 xi. 36). 
 
POEMANDRES. XII. 83 
 
 the change into one another, always conserve the incor- 
 ruption of the identity. 
 
 15. But in all the other composite bodies there is num- 
 ber of each. For apart from number it is impossible for 
 constitution or composition or dissolution to become. But 
 the Unities (a) generate and augment the number, and 
 again dissolved receive [it] (b) into themselves. And the 
 Matter is One. But this entire World, the great God, and 
 image of the Greater, and united to Him and conserving 
 the order and will of The Father is plenitude (c) of the 
 Life. And there is nothing in this throughout all the eter- 
 nity of the paternally given (d) revolution, 1 neither of the 
 whole, nor of them in part, which is not living. For not 
 one thing neither hath become, nor is, nor shall be in 
 the World, dead. For the Father hath willed Life to 
 be in it, whilst it be constituted. Wherefore also it must 
 be God. 
 
 16. How then, O Child! in The God, in the Image of 
 the Universe, 2 in the plenitude of the Life, can there be j 
 dead things? For deadness is corruption, and the corrup- ' 
 tion destruction. How then can any part of the incor- 
 ruptible be corrupted or anything of The God be destroyed ? 
 
 Tat. The animals in it die not then, O Father ! being 
 parts of it? 
 
 Hermes. Speak well, Child! erring in the appella- 
 tion of the [thing] generate. For they do not die, Child L 
 but as composite bodies are dissolved, and the dissolution 
 is not death, but the dissolution of the mixture (e). And 
 they are dissolved not that they may perish, but that they 
 may become new. For what is the energy of Life? la- 
 it not motion? What then in the World is immoveable? 
 Nothing, O Child ! 
 
 (a) evofiiss. (6) i.e., number. (c) 
 
 (d) Konwag. (e) 
 
 1 aLKoxctroiordiatas ', Latine, " Reditus Solis Lunse, &c., anno verterite 
 ad eadem signa." 
 
 3 TCIVTOS. Parthey (p. 109) translates "patris," netrpas; the sense 
 rather requires this latter -word. Menard translates as in the text. 
 
84 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 17. Tat. Does not the earth seem to thee immoveable, 
 Father? 
 
 Hermes. No, Child! but also multimoveable, and it 
 alone also stable. For how would it not be ridiculous the 
 nurse of all to be immoveable, her producing (a) and gene- 
 rating all things ; for it is impossible apart from motion 
 that the producer produce anything. Thou hast asked the 
 most ridiculous thing, whether the fourth portion shall be 
 inert. For the immoveable body signifies nothing else but 
 inertness. 
 
 18. Know then universally, Child ! that the whole 
 Entity (&) in the World is moved either by way of diminu- 
 tion or augmentation; but what is moved also lives, but 
 there is no necessity that the whole (c) living animal should 
 be the same. For the entire World, being collective (d), is, 
 Child ! unchangeable, but the parts of it are all change- 
 able ; but nothing corruptible or destroyed. But the ap- 
 pellations confuse mankind. For the generation is not 
 
 f Life, but the Sense, nor the change death, but oblivion. 
 \ These things then having themselves thus, immortal are 
 \ all things, the Matter, the Life, the Spirit, the Soul, out of 
 j which every animal has been constituted. 
 
 19. Every animal therefore is immortal through the 
 Mind ; but of all especially The Man, who is susceptible of 
 God, and joint in Essence (e) with God. For with this 
 animal alone God holds converse (/), by night through 
 
 i dreams, by day through symbols (</), and through all He 
 predicts to him things future through birds, through 
 entrails, through spirit (A), through an oak; 1 wherefore 
 also The Man professes to be acquainted with things ante- 
 cedent and present and future. 
 
 20. And see this, O Child ! that each of the other ani- 
 mals frequents one part of the world, the aquatics indeed 
 
 (a) QVQVOO.V. (6) TC&V TO Sv. (c) TO t^uov ir civ. 
 
 (d) 6[AOV UV. (e) (TVVOVffiOlffTlXOS. (/) OftihSl. 
 
 (g) avpfifauv, possibly presages. (h) Tcvtvponof. 
 
 1 The foregoing seems to prove that the author wrote under the 
 Roman domination. 
 
POEMANDRES. XII. 85 
 
 the water, the terrestrial the earth, and those aloft the 
 air; but the Man makes use of all these: earth, water, 
 air, fire. He beholds also heaven, and he touches this also 
 with his sense. But The God is around all and throughout 
 all; for He is Energy and also Power, and it is nothing 
 difficult to understand The God, O Child ! 
 
 21. But if thou wishest also to contemplate (a) Him, 
 behold the order of the World and the fair symmetry (b) 
 of this order, behold the Necessity of things apparent, the 
 Providence of those having been generated (c) and are 
 generate, behold the Matter being very full of life, The 
 so great God moved along with all Good, and beautiful 
 Gods, and Demons, and Men. 
 
 Tat. But these, O Father ! are altogether Energies ? 
 
 Hermes. If then they are altogether Energies, Child ! 
 by whom then are they energized unless by God? Or art 
 thou ignorant that just as parts of the World (d) are 
 Heaven and Earth and Water and Air, the same way parts 
 of God, are Life and Immortality, Energy, and Spirit, and 
 Necessity, and Providence, and Nature, and Soul, and 
 Mind, and the permanence of all these, that called Good? 
 and there is not anything beside of things generate or 
 those having been generated where there is not The God. 
 
 22. Tat. In the Matter then, O Father? 
 
 Hermes. Matter, O Son ! is apart from God, 1 that to it 
 thou mayest set apart a peculiar place. But what, being 
 but a Mass (e), dost thou think it to be, not being ener- 
 gized? But if it be energized, by whom is it energized? 
 for these energies we have said to be parts of The God. 
 By whom then are all the animals vivified? By whom are 
 things immortal made immortal ? By whom are unstable 
 things changed? But whether thou sayest Matter, or 
 Body, or Essence, know that these same are energies of 
 
 (a) QtupwoLi. (6) svzoafttotv. (c) ysyovoruv. 
 
 (d) rot/ xoa/aov (Atp*. (e) oapov. 
 
 1 The doctrine of Plato about Matter is enunciated, Timoeas, 30. 
 See post, Part II., Excerpts from Stobeeus (Physica, 319 ; Meineke, 
 i. 84). 
 
86 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 The God, and of Matter energy the Materiality, and of 
 Bodies energy the Embodiment (a), and energy of the 
 Essence the Essentiality, and this is The God the Universe. 1 
 23. But in the Universe there is nothing which is not 
 The God, whence neither magnitude, nor place, nor quality, 
 nor figure, nor time is about The God; for He is Universe (&), 
 and the Universe is throughout all things and around all 
 things. This The Word (c), Child ! venerate and wor- 
 ship (d). But worship of The God is one, not to be evil. 2 
 
 () ffUftOtTOTYITOC. (&) 'TfOC.V. 
 
 (c) rov hoyov. (c?) Kpoaxvvti xotl &py]ax,eae. 
 
 1 See above, that this does not include Matter. 
 
 2 In the First Epitome of Clement (Dressel's Edit. 17), according to 
 that Editor put together in the time of Jerome, the following is stated 
 to have been the teaching of St Peter: "Let them believe in One 
 Father Almighty, and in His only-begotten Son, generated from 
 Him in an unspeakable manner before the worlds, and in The Holy 
 Spirit from Him ineffably proceeding ; and let them acknowledge 
 One God in Three Subsistences, without beginning, without end, 
 everlasting, eternal, increate, irreversible, unchangeable, simple, 
 incomposite, incorporeal; invisible, untouchable, uncircumscribed, 
 incomprehensible, infinite, not understandible; good, just, all-power- 
 ful Creator of all creations, Autocrat of all things, all-seeing, all- 
 providing Supreme Lord and Judge." The words of Newton as to 
 the Deity are as follows: "^Eternus est et infinitus omnipotens et 
 omnisciens; id est durat ab seterno in seternum, et adest ab infinito in 
 infinitum. Non est seternitas et infinitas, sed seternus et infinitus; 
 non est duratio et spatium, sed durat et adest. Durat semper et 
 adest ubique, et existendo semper et ubique durationem et spatium 
 constituit." The same doctrine is laid down, Lact. Div. Instit., vi., 
 ch. v. ; and (quoting Hermes), vi., ch. 25, totidem verbis. 
 
POEMANDRES. XIII. 
 
 CHAPTEE XIII. 
 
 To his Son Tat on a Mountain. Secret Discourse about 
 Regeneration and Profession (a) of Silence. 
 
 1. Tat. In the Generalities, Father ! thou hast spoken 
 enigmatically and not lucidly, discoursing concerning Deity, 
 and hast not revealed, having said that no one can be saved 
 before the Eegeneration (6); and I having become suppliant 
 of thee on the descent from the mountain after that thou 
 hadst conversed with me, and desiring to learn the dis- 
 course of the Eegsneration, because that, beyond all things 
 this alone I know not, thou promisedst when thou shouldest 
 become alienated (c) from the World, to deliver it to me. 
 Wherefore I became prepared, having alienated also the 
 thought in me from the deceit of the World. But do Thou 
 fulfil to me also the last residues (d) in which thou pro- 
 misedst to deliver to me Eegeneration, propounding them 
 with voice or privily. I am ignorant, Trismegistus ! 
 from what matter and womb Man hath been generated, 
 and from what kind of seed. 
 
 2. Hermes. O Child! intellectual Wisdom (e) is in 
 Silence, and the Seed the truthful Good. 
 
 Tat. Of whom sowing, O Father? for as to the whole 
 I am in doubt. 
 
 Hermes. Of the Will of The God, O Child ! 
 
 Tat. And of what kind (/) the engendered, O Father? 
 Being destitute of the Essence that intelligible (g) in me, 
 other will be the engendered (h) God Son of God. 
 
 Hermes. The All in all, constituted of all Powers. 1 
 
 Tat. Thou speakest enigma to me, O Father ! and dost 
 not converse as father with son. 
 
 (a) ia-ayygA/etf. (6) TJJ? 
 
 (c) ^eAA/jj d'xcLh'hvrpiwsQct.i. (d) 
 
 (e) 00$ tot, voepa. (/) 
 
 T9j{ vovrrqs. (h) o 
 
 1 See ColoBsians i. 15, 16, &c., before cited. 
 
88 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 ^ Hermes. This kind, Son! is not taught; but when He 
 may wish is brought to remembrance by The God. 
 
 3. Tat. Thou tellest me things impossible, Father ! and 
 forced. Whence I wish to reply to them correctly. Have 
 I been produced (a) stranger Son of the paternal race ? 
 Grudge me not, Father! I am a genuine (&) Son; relate 
 to me the mode of the Regeneration. 
 
 Hermes. What can I say, O Child ! I have not what 
 to speak except this. I perceive a certain unfeigned (c) 
 spectacle generated in me ; from the mercy of God I have 
 also gone forth from myself into an immortal body, and I 
 am now not what formerly, but have become generated (d) 
 in Mind. This fact is not taught neither by that fictile (c) 
 element by which it is possible to see, and because of 
 this the first composed form is neglected by me ; nor that 
 I am coloured and have touch and measure; I am alien 
 now from these things. Thou lookest at me verily, O 
 Child ! with eyes, when with fixed attention thou con- 
 siderest with body and sight; I am not beholden (/) with 
 those eyes now, Child ! l 
 
 4. Tat. Thou has cast me into no small madness and 
 irritation of mind, Father! For now I do not see my- 
 self. 2 
 
 Hermes. Would, Child ! that thou also wouldest 
 come out of thyself, as those who in sleep perceive 
 dreams apart from sleep. 
 
 Tat. Tell me this too. Who is the generator (g) of the 
 Regeneration? 
 
 Hermes. The Son of The God One Man by the Will of 
 God. 3 
 
 (a) iritpvxa. (b) yvqetas. (c) oi'x'hu.aTW. (d) 
 
 (e) ^rAocoT^i. (jf) QtapovftKi. (</) ytvsaiovpyos. 
 
 1 The parallel between this passage and 1 Cor. ii. 14 is remarkable, 
 " Now the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; 
 for they are foolishness unto him : and he cannot know them, because 
 they are spiritually judged" (" discerned," Authorised Version). 
 
 2 This in the dialogues of Plato is a reply of his auditors to some 
 of the paradoxes propounded by him. 
 
 3 See ante, ch. i. 12, note, where the quotation of that passage and 
 
POEMANDRES. XIII. 8fr 
 
 5. Tat. Now for the rest, Father ! thou hast brought 
 me to silence, abandoned by previous thoughts; for I 
 behold thy magnitude the same, Father! with the 
 character (a). 
 
 Hermes. And in that thou art deceived ; for the form 
 of mortals is changed day by day : for by time it is turned 
 to augmentation or diminution, as falsity. 
 
 6. Tat What then is true, O Trismegistus ? 
 Hermes. That not perturbed (6), Child ! that not 
 
 limited (c), the colourless, the formless, the invariable, the 
 naked, the luminous, the comprehensible in itself, the 
 unalterable, the good, the incorporeal. 1 
 
 Tat. I am really maddened, Father ! for seeming to 
 have become wise through thee, my senses have been 
 closed up by this cogitation (d). 
 
 Hermes. Thus it holds, Child ! for [sense perceives 
 that] this is borne upwards as fire, that borne downwards 
 as earth, and moist as water, and blowing together as air ; 
 but how wilt thou understand this by sense, that not hard, 
 that not moist, the unconstrainable, the not dissolved, that 
 understood solely in power and energy? Thou wantest 
 Mind alone able to understand the generation in God. ;; 
 
 7. Tat. I am then unable, O Father ! 
 
 Hermes. Let it not be, O Child ! Draw to thyself and \ 
 it will come ; wish and it becomes. Lay to rest (e) the senses 
 of the body, and it will be the generation of The Deity; 
 purify thyself from the irrational avengers (/) of the Matter, i 
 
 (a) ra ^dpocKrijpi. (b) Qohovptvov. (c) ^lopi^optvov. 
 
 (d) vovjftccTo;. (e) xonapyififfO]/. (_/) Tiftapuv. 
 
 this is extracted by Lactantius (Divin. Instit., iv. 6, vii. 4, post, Part 
 III.). Here we find a distinct assertion of the Incarnation of the Son 
 of God. This passage and the remainder of the Chapter is almost a 
 repetition of John iii. 3-21. For after having said, " Except a man be 
 born anew;" " Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he can- 
 not enter into the kingdom of God;" " Ye must be born anew;" he 
 subjoins, " So God loved the world, that He gave His only begotten 
 Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have 
 eternal life." " That the world should be saved through Him." 
 
 1 See Excerpt from Stobeeus, Part II. v., " Of Truth," ad fin. 
 
00 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 Tat. Avengers I have then in myself, O Father ! 
 
 Hermes. Not few, O Child ! but both fearful and many. 
 
 Tat. I am ignorant, O Father ! 
 
 Hermes. This is one Avengeress, Child ! Ignorance ; 
 but the second Grief, the third Intemperance, the fourth 
 Concupiscence, the fifth Injustice, the sixth Covetousness, 
 the seventh Deceit, the eighth Envy, the ninth Cheatery, the 
 tenth Wrath, the eleventh Kashness, the twelfth Malice (a) ; 
 these are in number twelve; but under these are more 
 others, Child ! and through the prison of the body they 
 compel the within placed (&) man to suffer in his senses. 1 
 
 8. But these stand off, not forthwith (c), from him who 
 is pitied by The God ; and thus is composed (d) both the 
 way and reason of the Kegeneration. Henceforward, 
 Child! be silent and speak well; and through this the 
 mercy will not cease to us from The God. Kejoice hence- 
 forward, Child ! being purified by the powers of The 
 God unto comprehension (e) of the discourse. Knowledge 
 of The God hath come to us, and that coming, Child ! 
 the ignorance is banished. Knowledge of joy hath come 
 to us; this having arrived, Child ! Grief will fly to those 
 who give place to it. I call the Temperance (/) power for 
 joy, 2 sweetest power ! Let us assume it, O Child ! most 
 readily. How along with the arrival hath it expelled the 
 intemperance. 
 
 9. But the fourth now I call Endurance (#), the power 
 -adverse to the concupiscence. This degree, Child ! is 
 the fixed seat of Justice (li) ; for without contention behold 
 how it hath banished the injustice. We are justified, O 
 Child ! injustice being absent. The sixth power coming 
 
 (a) xotxix. (6) sv^ia-^roi/. (c) 
 
 (d) ovviarotroti. (e) avvoc.p&puaiv. (/) iyx,paiTice,. 
 
 (g) xaprtpieiv, continence. (h) 
 
 1 " The works of the flesh are manifest, which are fornication, un- 
 cleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, 
 wraths, factions, divisions, heresies, envying, drunkenness, revellings, 
 And such like" (Galat. v. 19). 
 
 2 Temperance was considered the greatest virtue by the Platonists, 
 and to include almost every other. 
 
POEM AN DEES. XIII. 91 
 
 to us that contrary to covetousness I call Communica- 
 tion (a). That departing, I call moreover upon the Truth; 
 and the deceit flies and Truth becomes present Behold 
 how the Good is completed, Child ! the Truth becoming 
 present. For envy hath departed from us, and with The 
 Truth, The Good also hath become present along with Life 
 and light, and no more hath supervened any vengeance 
 of the darkness, but they have fled away vanquished by 
 assault. 
 
 10. Thou hast learnt (6), Child ! the way of the Ke- 
 generation. The Decade l becoming present, O Child ! the 
 intelligent generation (c) has been constituted and expels 
 the twelfth (d) ; and we are made contemplators by the 
 generation. 2 Whosoever then hath obtained according to 
 the mercy, the generation according to God, having relin- 
 quished the bodily sense, recognises himself constituted of 
 Divine things and is rejoiced. 
 
 11. Tat Become stable (e) by The God, Father! I ima- 
 gine (/), not with vision of eyes, but with that intellectual 
 energy through Powers. I am in heaven, in earth, in water, 
 in air. I am among animals, among plants, in the womb, 
 before the womb, after the womb, everywhere. But still 
 tell this to me how the vengeances of darkness being in 
 number twelve, are expelled by ten powers ? What is 
 this way, O Trismegistus ! 
 
 12. Hermes. This the tabernacle (g), O Child ! which we 
 have passed through, is constituted out of the zodiacal circle 
 and that consisting of animal signs (h), being twelve in 
 
 (a) xeivuvtctv. (6) syi/axets. (c) voepec 
 
 (cl) scilicet, **/**. (e) 
 
 (/) (potvrci^Qftou. (</) ffKqvo;. (h) 
 
 1 The Decade was one of the perfect numbers of Pythagoras and N 
 Plato. 
 
 2 " Adding on your part all diligence, in your faith supply 
 virtue; and in your virtue knowledge, and in your knowledge tem- 
 perance, and in your temperance patience, and in your patience god- 
 liness, and in your godliness love of the brethren, and in your love 
 of the brethren love" (2 Pet. i. 5; and see Matt. v.). 
 
92 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 number, of one nature indeed, but of all shaped form (a). 
 For error of the Man there are distinctions in them (&), O 
 Child ! united in the operation. Temerity (c) is insepar- 
 able from Wrath, and they are also indistinguishable. 
 Suitably then according to the right reason they make the 
 departure, as if also eliminated by ten powers, that is by 
 the Decade. For the Decade, O Child ! is soul genera- 
 tive (d) ; for life and light are united there where the 
 number of the Unit hath been born of the Spirit. The 
 Unit (e) therefore according to reason hath the Decade and 
 the Decade the Unit. 
 
 13. Tat. Father ! I behold the Universe and myself in 
 The Mind. 
 
 Hermes. This is the Eegeneration, Child! the no 
 longer employing imagination upon the Body, that triply 
 divided (/), through this discourse concerning the Ee- 
 > generation on which I have made comment; that we 
 may not be calumniators of the Universe towards the 
 many, to whom God Himself does not will to reveal it. 1 
 
 14. Tat. Tell me, Father ! has this the EocTy, that 
 constituted of Powers, ever dissolution ? 
 
 Hermes. Speak well ! and utter not impossibles, since 
 thou wiliest sin, and the eye of thy mind be made impious. 
 The sensible body of the Nature is far off from the essen- 
 tial generation (g). For that is dissoluble but this indis- 
 soluble, and that mortal, but this immortal ; knowst thou 
 not that thou hast been born God 2 and Son of the One, 
 which also I ? 
 
 (a) Tc&vTOftoptpov Bg foiet. (6) d; 
 
 (c) irpovsrsiot. (rf) ij/vwyovog, (e) % tvec.$. 
 
 (/) TO rpixy ^txffTXToif, i.e., Body, Soul, Spirit, (g) 
 
 1 This passage is doubtful in meaning, with various readings, some 
 of which omit the negative. (See Parthey, 122, note). 
 
 2 " I said ye are gods, and ye are all the children of the Highest. 
 The Sons of God," applied to men (Gen. vi. 2, 41 ; John x. 34, quoting 
 Psalm Ixxxii. 6). " The Sons of God came to present themselves 
 before the Lord" (Job i. 6, ii. 1). " Ye are the Sons of the living 
 God" (Hos. i. 10). " To them gave He right to become children of 
 God" (John i. 12). " For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, 
 
POEMANDRES. XIII. 93 
 
 15. Tat. I was wishing, O Father ! the praise through 
 the hymn, which thou saidst when I had become at the 
 Ogdoad (a) I should hear of the Powers. 1 
 
 Hermes. According as the Poemandres prophesied of the 
 Ogdoad (Z>), thou hastest well, Child ! to loose the tabernacle; 
 for thou hast been purified. The Poemandres, the Mind 
 of the Supreme Power (c), hath not delivered to me more 
 than the things written, knowing that from myself I shall 
 be able to understand all things, and to hear those which 
 I wish, and to see all things; and he hath charged me to 
 do things beautiful. Wherefore also all the Powers that 
 are in me sing. 
 
 16. Tat. I wish, Father, to hear and desire to understand 
 these things. 
 
 Hermes. Be still, Child! and now hear the harmonized 
 praise, the hymn of the Eegeneration which I judged not 
 fit so easily to speak forth, unless to thee at the end of the 
 whole. Whence this is not taught but is hidden in silence. 
 Thus then, O Child ! standing in a place open to the 
 sky (d) looking toward the South wind about downgoing 
 of the setting sun bow the knee ; and likewise also at the 
 return towards the sunrise quarter. 2 Be at rest then, O 
 Child! 
 
 Secret Hymnody. 
 
 17. Let all Nature of World receive the hearing of this 
 hymn ! Be opened, O Earth ! Let every vehicle (e) of 
 rain be opened to me. The trees wave ye not ! I am 
 about to hymn The Lord of the creation, and the Universe 
 and The One. Open ye Heavens and Winds be still! 
 
 (a) \7f\ rqv oy^oa^a,. (b) oy'boettioi. 
 
 (c) Ty; otvQtvTias, see ch. i. 3, and note there. 
 
 (d} tit vKettdpip. (e) ftox,*o$. 
 
 these are Sons of God " (Rom. viii. 14). " Now are we children of 
 God" (1 Johniii. 1, 2). 
 
 1 As to the Eighth or Ogdoad, see ch. i. 25, 26. 
 
 2 From this and a former passage it has been conjectured that 
 Hermes might have been one of the Therapeutics, whose custom it 
 was to worship thus kneeling and at these periods of the day. 
 
94 HERMES T1USMEGISTUS. 
 
 Let the immortal circle of The God receive my discourse. 
 For I am about to hymn Him having founded (a) all things, 
 Him having fixed the Earth, and suspended Heaven, and 
 commanded from the Ocean the sweet water to become 
 present (I) unto the earth inhabited and uninhabitable, for 
 the nourishment and use of all men; Him having com- 
 manded fire to shine for every action on gods and men. 
 Let us all together give the praise to Him, The Sublime 
 above the heavens, to the Founder of all Nature. This i& 
 the Eye of the Mind, and may He receive the praise of 
 these my powers. 
 
 18. Ye powers that are in me hymn The One and the 
 Universe ; sing along with my will all the powers which 
 are in me. Holy Knowledge, enlightened from thee, 
 through thee hymning the intelligible (c) Light, I rejoice 
 in joy fulness of Mind. All ye powers hymn together 
 with me, and do thou my Temperance (d) hymn; my Jus- 
 tice hymn the just through me. My Communionship (e) 
 hymn the Universe ; through me Truth hymn the Truth ; 
 The Good hymn Good. Life and Light ; from us to you 
 the praise passes. I give thanks to Thee, Father ! 
 Energy of the Powers, I give thanks to Thee, O God ! 
 power of these energies of mine. Thy Word through me 
 hymneth Thee. Through me receive the Universe in 
 speech, rational sacrifice (/). 
 
 19. The Powers that are in me shout these things. 
 They hymn Thee the Universe ; they perform Thy Will. 
 Thy Counsel is from Thee ; to Thee the Universe. Ke- 
 ceive from all rational sacrifice. The Universe that is 
 in us, Life preserve ! Light enlighten ! Spirit God ! 
 For The Mind ShepherdethQ/) Thy Word, Spirit-bearing 
 Creator ! (h) 
 
 20. Thou art The God. Thy Man shouteth these things 
 through Fire, through Air, through Earth, through Water, 
 through Spirit, throughout the works of Thee. From the 
 
 (a) xrlaatiToi. (6) VK(x.px,tu. (c) 
 
 (d) tyxpaLTstct. (e) xoivavia,. (/) TO nav Ao'yp "hQyi*>W 6vaiat.v. 
 
 (h) 7rutv t uoiTQ(p6pt " 
 
POEMANDRES. XIII. 95 
 
 Eternity of Thee I have found praise ; and what I seek 
 by that Thy counsel I acquiesce in (a). I know that by 
 Thy will, this the Praise is said. 
 
 Tat. O Father ! I have placed thee in my World. 
 
 Hermes. In the intelligible (b) say, O Child ! 
 
 Tat. In the intelligible, O Father! I am able; from 
 the hymn of thee and this thy praise my Mind hath been 
 enlightened. Moreover I also wish from my own thought 
 to send praise to The God. 
 
 21. Hermes. O Child ! not incautiously. 
 
 Tat. In the Mind, O Father ! What I contemplate I 
 Tat say to Thee, Patriarch of the generative energy (c) ; 
 to God I send rational sacrifices. God ! Thou Father ! 
 Thou the Lord ! Thou the Mind ! Eeceive the rational 
 sacrifices which Thou wishest from me; for Thou being 
 willing, all things are performed. 
 
 Hermes. Thou, Child ! send an acceptable sacrifice 
 to The God, Father of aU things. But add also, Child r 
 through the Word (d). 1 
 
 (a) dvoi'TriTrctvfteti. (&) gv TOJ 
 
 (c) f /itoipx,oc rqg ytyt(rtovp'ytot$. (rf) S/ot rot/ 
 
 1 It is manifest that in this Chapter Hermes mystically yet un-^ 
 mistakeably enunciates the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, " God The / 
 Father," " Thy Word," and The " Spirit God." See CyriU. Alexand. [ 
 contr. Julian. 33, and Suidas (post, Part III.). Cudworth (Intell. Sys- 
 tem, ch. iv., cxxxvi.) writes: " Since all three, Orpheus, Pythagoras, 
 and Plato, travelling into Egypt, were there initiated into the arcane 
 theology of the Egyptians, called Hermaical, it seemeth probable that 
 this doctrine of a Divine Triad (ij ruv rpiav 6&uv Tretpdtioffts) was also 
 part of the arcane theology of the Egyptians." He proceeds further \ 
 to show at length that the Pagan philosophers above named and their 
 followers " called this their Trinity, a Trinity of Gods." This 
 opinion, so far as Greek philosophers and the ancient Egyptians are 
 concerned, has been controverted by Mosheim in the notes to his 
 Latin translation of Cudworth's work and by others, on the ground 
 that this philosophical creed was in a Trinity not of persons, but of 
 attributes. (See Rawlinson's " Egypt," voL i. p. 320). But this ob- 
 jection by no means applies to our Hermes, whose Trinity is that 
 of Three Persons who were in Union, each actively employed in the 
 Creation, in sustaining the cosmical system, and in conducting Man 
 to Heaven. 
 
D6 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 Tat. I give thanks to Thee, Father ! having prayed for 
 me to assent (a) to these things. 
 
 22. Hermes. I rejoice, Child ! at thy having gathered 
 in fruit from the Truth, the good things, the immortal 
 productions. Having learnt this from me, announce 
 silence of the Virtue ; to no one, Child, revealing the tra- 
 dition of the Eegeneration, that we may not be reckoned 
 as calumniators. For sufficiently each of us hath medi- 
 tated, I indeed as speaking, and thou as hearing. Men- 
 tally (&) hast thou known thyself and The Father that is 
 ours. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 To Asclepius. To le Rightly Wise, (c). 
 
 1. Since the son of mine Tat, in thine absence, wished 
 to learn the nature of the Entities, but did not permit 
 me (d) to pass over any, as son and junior but lately 
 arriving at the knowledge of the particulars respecting 
 each one, I was compelled to speak more fully, in order 
 that the theory might become to him easy to follow. But 
 to thee I, having selected the principal heads of the 
 things spoken, have wished to commit them to thee in 
 few words, having interpreted them more mystically, as to 
 one of such an age, and scientific of their nature. 
 
 2. If the things apparent have all been generated and 
 are generate, but those generated are generate, not of 
 themselves but by other; but many are the generated, 
 rather all the apparent and all the different and dissimilar, 
 and the generate are generate by other : there is some One 
 Who is doing these things, and He ingenerate and older 
 than those generated. For the generated I say are gene- 
 
 (a) pot uhe7v. ( & ) votpuf. (c) tv Qpovttv. (d) 
 
POEMANDRES. XIV. 97 
 
 rate by other ; but of the generated beings it is impossible j 
 that any be older than all, except only the Ingenerate. ^J 
 
 3. But this is both Superior and One and Only, really 
 wise as to all things, as not having anything older. For 
 He rules both over the multitude, and the magnitude and 
 difference of things generate, and over the continuity (a) 
 of the making and the energy. Then the generated are 
 visible but He invisible. On account of this He makes, 
 that He may be mvisible (&). He always then is making, 
 wherefore He is invisible. Thus He is worthy to under- 
 stand, and for the understander to wonder at, and the 
 wonderer to bless Himself, having recognised his own 
 kindred Father (c). 
 
 4. For what is sweeter than an own kindred Father? ^ 
 Who then is He, and how shall we recognise Him ? 
 Whether is it just to ascribe to Him the appellation of 
 The God or that of The Maker, or that of The Father, or 
 also the three? God indeed because of the Power, Maker 
 because of the energizing, Father because of the Good. 
 For Power is different from things generate, but energy is 
 in this, that all things are generated. Wherefore having 
 cast away the much speaking and vain speaking, we must 
 understand these two, That Generate, and The Maker ; for 
 between these is naught, nor any third thing. 
 
 5. Understanding then all things and hearing all things, 
 remember these Two ; and consider these to be the All, 
 placing nothing in ambiguity (cl), neither of those above 
 nor of those below, nor of those divine, nor of those 
 changeable, nor of those in secrecy. For Two are all ^ 
 things ; That Generate, and The Maker, and that the one 
 be separated from the other is impossible ; for neither is 
 it possible for the Maker to be apart from the Generate, 
 nor the Generate apart from the Maker ; for both of them 
 are the very same ; wherefore it cannot be that the one be 
 separated from the other, as neither self from itself. 
 
 (a) TJi avvt&icc rtjg irQiyotas. (b) "ivoc, dopotrag 19; another reading 
 
 adopted by Patricius is Ivoc. opetros 17. 
 
 (c) yvqaiov TT art pot. (rf) ai-ropix. 
 
 G 
 
98 HERMES TPJSMEGISTUS. 
 
 6. For if the Maker is nothing else beside that making, 
 only, simple, incomposite, it is of necessity that He make 
 this same for Himself; since generation is the making by 
 the Maker, and every the generate it is impossible to be 
 generate by itself. Generate must be generated by another. 
 Without Him making, the generated neither is generated, 
 nor is. For the one without the other hath lost its proper 
 nature by deprivation of the other. If then the Entities 
 are acknowledged to be Two, 1 That Generate and That 
 Making, One are they by the Union (a); this indeed 
 preceding but that following. Preceding indeed God The 
 Maker but following That Generate, whatever it may be. 
 
 7. And because of the variety of those generate thou 
 shouldst not be scrupulous, fearing to attribute meanness 
 and dishonour to The God. For His Glory is One The 
 Making all things, and this is of The God as it were body, 
 
 . The Making; but to Him The Maker nothing evil or base is 
 "^ to be imputed. For these are the passions following upon 
 the generation, as rust on the brass and dirt on the body. 
 For neither did the brass worker make the rust, nor 
 those having generated the dirt, nor The God the evil- 
 ness ; but the vicissitude (&) of the generation makes 
 them as it were to effloresce (c) ; and because of this 
 The God made the change, as it were a purgation of the 
 J generation. 
 
 f 8. Besides indeed to the same limner (d) it is allowed 
 both to make Heaven, and Gods, and earth, and sea, and 
 men, and all the brutes (e), and the inanimate, and the 
 trees ; but to The God is it impossible to make these ? O 
 the much silliness and ignorance, this about The God ! For 
 such sort suffer the most dreadful of all things. For 
 affirming that they both reverence and praise The God, by 
 not ascribing (/) to Him the making of all things they 
 neither know The God, and in addition to the not know- 
 ing, also in the greatest degree are they impious towards 
 
 (a) TJ5 evatrei. (b) S;a^o;/3j. (c) i^ew&tiv. 
 
 (d) faypatya. {&) cihoyct. (/) 
 
 1 See Cyrill. Alex. Contr. Jul., 63 E, (post, Peart III.). 
 
POEMANDRES. XIV. 99 
 
 Him, having attributed to Him as passion, contempt (a), ! 
 or impotence, or ignorance, or envy; for if He makes not 
 all things, in pride (b) He makes them not, or not being 
 able, or being ignorant, or grudging, which is impious. 
 
 9. For The God has one only Passion, The Good; but 
 The Good is neither proud nor impotent, nor the rest; for 
 this is The God The Good, with Whom is every power of 
 making all things; but everything that is generated hath 
 been generated by The God; that is by The Good and 
 Him able to make all things. 
 
 10. But if, how then He makes and how the generate 
 are generated thou wishest to learn it is permitted thee. 
 Behold a very beautiful and very similar figure ; an agri- 
 culturist casting down seed into the earth, sometimes wheat, 
 sometimes barley, sometimes some other of the seeds. 
 Behold the same planting a vine, and an apple, and fig, 
 and the others of the trees. Thus The God indeed in 
 Heaven sows immortality, but in Earth change, but in 
 the Universe life and motion. These things then are not 
 many but few, and easily numbered. For all of them are 
 four, 1 both The God Himself and the Generation in which 
 the Entities (c) consist. 2 
 
 (a) VTtpvfyliur. (6) vTrepyQaiyay. (c) roe. o'yr 
 
 1 viz., Earth, Air, Fire, Water. 
 
 2 See the first line of ch. i., ante. 
 
 FlNIS POEMANDRES. 
 
HERMES TRISMEGISTUS, 
 
 PAET II. 
 
 EXCERPTS MADE BY STOB^US (STH OR 
 GTH CENTURY) FROM THE WORKS OF 
 HERMES. 
 
 L_OF TEUTH. 
 
 FROM THE THINGS TO TAT (Florilegium, xi. 23; 
 MeineJce, i. 248). 
 
 " RESPECTING Truth, O Tat ! it is impossible for Man, 
 being an imperfect being, and composed of imperfect mem- 
 bers, and the tabernacle (a) consisting of various bodies 
 and many, to speak with boldness. But what is possible 
 and just that I affirm, that Truth is in eternal (&) bodies 
 only, of which also the bodies themselves are true. Eire 
 is very fire, and nothing else ; Earth very earth itself, and 
 nothing else ; Air itself air, and nothing else ; Water very 
 water, and nothing else ; but these bodies of ours are con- 
 stituted of all these ; for they have of fire, they have also 
 of earth, they have also of water, also of air; and it is 
 neither fire, nor earth, nor water, nor air, nor anything 
 true ; but if, at the beginning, the constitution (c) of us 
 had not Truth, how then can it either see or speak Truth ? 
 but only to understand if God will. All things, then, 
 
 (a) TO <rxijyo. (6) ettbtoii* (c) avarocaig. 
 
EXCERPTS BY STOB^EUS. 101 
 
 those upon earth, Tatius ! are not Truth, but imitations 
 of the Truth, and not all but these few, but others false- 
 hood and error, O Tatius ! and semblances of phantasy (a), 
 just like images standing together. But when from above 
 the phantasy has this influx, there Truth becomes imita- 
 tion of the Truth ; but apart from the energy from above, 
 there remains falsehood. Just as also the image shows 
 the body indeed in the drawing (Z>), but it is not body 
 according to the phantasy of the thing seen. And it looks 
 indeed having eyes, but it sees nothing, and hears nothing 
 at all. And the drawing has indeed all the other things, 
 but they are falsehoods, deceiving the eyes of the beholders, 
 of some indeed supposing to see truth. 1 If, then, we 
 thus understand and see each of these as they are, we 
 both understand and see a true thing ; but if beside the 
 Entity (c), we shall neither understand nor shall know 
 anything true. 
 
 Is there, then, O Father ! Truth even in the earth ? 
 
 And thou hast not blindly erred, O Tatius ! Truth is by 
 no means in the earth, nor can be ; but that some of the 
 men understand concerning Truth, to whom The God shall 
 have given the God-discerning (d) power. Thus I under- 
 stand and say, nothing is true on the earth ; all are ph&n- 
 tasies and semblances. I understand and speak true things. 
 
 To understand and speak true things, then, ought we 
 not to caU this Truth? 
 
 But, what? 
 
 Ought one to understand and speak the Entities? Yet 
 there is nothing true upon the earth ? This is true, the not 
 
 (a) So'ot/ (pavrsfcff/a;. (6) TV) 
 
 (c) irotpoi TO 6'v. (d) 
 
 1 Here is a manifest lacuna. Plato had written (Laws E, 7306;, 
 " Truth is esteemed by Gods as of all good things, by men of all things, 
 of which he about to be born may be immediately partaker, blessed 
 and fortunate from his beginning, so that he live through the most 
 time being true, for he is faithful; but he is faithless by whom false- 
 hood is willingly loveable, to whomsoever unwillingly he is mindless; 
 neither of which is enviable, for every one, both whoso is faithless 
 and foolish, is unloveable." 
 
102 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 knowing anything true; how also can it possibly be, O 
 Child? Truth is most perfect Virtue; it is the unmixed 
 Good; that neither perturbed (a) by matter, nor encom- 
 passed by body, naked, lucid, irreversible (&), holy, unalter- 
 able, good; but things here, O Child! such as they are, 
 thou seest incapable of receiving (e) this Good, corruptible, 
 subject to passion, dissoluble, reversible, ever inter- 
 changed (d), becoming other from others. What things, 
 then, are not true, even to themselves how ever can they 
 be true ? For everything that is altered is falsehood, not 
 abiding in what it is, but veering about, exhibits to us 
 phantasies, others and others. 
 
 Is not Man then true, Father ? 
 
 According to (e) man he is not true, O Child ! For The 
 True is that having its constitution from itself only, and 
 abiding according to it, such as it is. But the Man is 
 constituted of many things, and does not abide according 
 to himself, but is turned and changed, age from age, form 
 from form (/), and this being still in the tabernacle. And 
 many have not known their children, a short time inter- 
 vening, and again children likewise parents. That then 
 which is so changed about as not to be recognised can it 
 be true, Tatius ? Is not that, on the contrary, a false- 
 hood, becoming in various phantasies of changes ? But do 
 you understand to be something true, the abiding and 
 eternal ; but Man is not always, wherefore neither is he a 
 true thing. For the Man is a certain phantasy, but the 
 phantasy would be extremest (g) falsehood. 
 
 Neither these, then, Father ! the eternal bodies since 
 they change are true? 
 
 Everything, then, that is gendered and changeable is 
 not true ; but being generate by the forefather, as to the 
 matter it is possible to esteem (Ji) them true. But even 
 these have some falsehood in the change, for nothing not 
 abiding of itself (i) is true. 
 
 v. (6) (poivou oe-TpsirTOv. (c) 
 
 (d) tvoe.'h'hoiwf6tvai. (e) x,a,6oTi. (/) Riedv. 
 
 (g) eixpoToiTOV. (Ji) fa-^fixtyoti. (i) t(p ctvr~. 
 
EXCERPTS BY STOB^US. 103 
 
 " True, O Father !" 
 
 " What, then, would anyone call the Sun, alone beyond 
 nil other things not changed, but abiding of itself, Truth ? 
 Wherefore, also, because it alone hath been entrusted (a) 
 with the creation of all things in the world, ruling all 
 things, and making all things, which I both reverence and 
 ftlso salute (6) the truth of it, 1 and after The One and First, 
 1 acknowledge this creator. 
 
 "What, then, may be the first Truth, O Father?" 
 
 " One and only, Tatius ! Him not from matter, Him 
 not in body, the colourless (c), the very figureless (d), the 
 irreversible, the 2 unalterable, the ever-being. But the 
 falsehood, O Child I is corrupted. For corruption hath 
 laid hold of all things that are upon earth, and encom- 
 passes them (e) and the providence of the True will en- 
 compass. For apart from corruption (/) neither can 
 generation be sustained, since upon all generation corrup- 
 tion follows, that it may again be generate ; for it is neces- 
 sity that things generate be generated from those cor- 
 rupted; but it is necessity that things generate be cor- 
 rupted, that the generation of the things being do not 
 stop. Acknowledge this First Creator for the generation 
 of the Entities. Those things, then, generated from cor- 
 ruption, would be (y) falsehoods, because sometimes, in- 
 deed, becoming other things, then other things; for to 
 become the self-same things is impossible ; but that not 
 itself (Ji) how can it be true? One ought, then, to call 
 such things phantasies, 3 Child ! If we rightly designate 
 
 (b) Trpoaxwu. (c) 
 
 (g) tin. (h) civro. 
 
 1 This is a quotation from Aristotle, Pint, 770: " *a/ Kpo<rx,vvZ: ye 
 Bourne, ftsy rov 5j?uoj>." 
 
 2 " The Father of Light, with Whom there can be no variation, 
 neither shadow that is cast by turning " (James i. 17). See Poem- 
 andres iv. 2, and note. 
 
 3 Plato writes thus in Sophistes," 263 : " Thought (d,^ ,), 
 opinion (do'!*), and phantasy (<poe,irrotffiet) are all generate in the souls. 
 Is not thought and speech the same, except that one within the soul 
 
104 HERMES TEISMEGISTUS. 
 
 the Man, phantasy of manhood ; and the child, phantasy 
 of a child; and the youth, phantasy of a youth; and the 
 adult (a), phantasy of an adult ; and the old man, phantasy 
 of an old man. For neither the man is a man, nor the 
 child a child, nor the youth a youth, nor the adult an 
 adult, nor the old man an old man, for being transmuted, 
 both the things previous and those existing are falsified. 
 But these things, understand thus, Son! as also of the 
 falsehoods of these energies from above, dependent (&) 
 from the Truth itself. But this being thus, I say the 
 falsehood to be an operation (c) of the Truth." 
 
 II. OF DEATH. 
 
 FKOM ASCLEPIUS (Meineke, iv. 106 ; Florilegium, 120). 
 
 WE must now speak of Death, for the Death frightens 
 the many as a very great evil through ignorance of the 
 fact. For death becomes dissolution of a defunct body; 
 and also the number of the harmonies (d) of the body being 
 completed. For the harmonization (d) of the body is num- 
 ber. But the body dies when it can no longer support the 
 man. And death is this, the dissolution of body and dis- 
 appearance of bodily sense. 1 
 
 (a) oLv^poi. (b~) v)pry[&wuv. 
 
 (c) ivtpynftK. (d) &pf&tav apftoyyi. 
 
 is a discoiirse with itself without voice, and that streaming from it 
 through the mouth is called speech? But in words again there is 
 affirmation and denial. When, then, this happens in the soul, 
 through thought in silence, what can you call it but opinion? But 
 when opinion, not by itself, but along with sense, is present with 
 anyone as a passion, what can we call it but phantasy? Since, then, 
 speech is true and false, and that the thought of these is a discourse 
 of the soul with itself, but opinion the result of thought, and that 
 what we call phantasy is the mixture of sense with opinion, and 
 these being related to words, some and sometimes these are false." 
 
 1 Here, as elsewhere, Hermes enunciates the Pythagorean axiom 
 that definite number is of the essence of all things. 
 
 The subject of what death consists in, and that it is a destruction? 
 
EXCERPTS BY STOB^EUS. 105 
 
 III. OF GOD. 
 
 FROM THE THINGS TO TAT (Florilegium, 78 ; 
 Meineke, iii. 104). 
 
 To understand God is difficult, to declare Him (a) im- 
 possible. For body to signify (&) the incorporeal is im- 
 possible, and the perfect to be comprehended by the 
 imperfect is not possible, 1 and for the eternal to be con- 
 versant with (c) the short-lived very difficult. For this 
 ever is, but that passes away, and this indeed is Truth, 
 but that is overshadowed by phantasy. For the weaker 
 from the stronger and the less from the superior are as 
 far distant (d) as the mortal from the Divine, and the 
 intermediate distance of these dims the sight of the 
 Beautiful. For the bodies, indeed, are seen by eyes, by 
 tongue things visible are related, but those incorporeal 
 and invisible and figureless and not composed of matter, 
 it is impossible also to be comprehended by our senses. 
 I apprehend mentally I apprehend mentally (e), O Tat ! 
 what it is not possible to express (/) in speech, that is 
 The God! 2 
 
 (ci) (fipoiffeii Sf. (6) ff^aijj/a/. (c) 
 
 of the harmonies of the "body only, is discussed by Plato in the 
 Phaedon, 91 et seq. (Hermann's Edition, I., 122-139). His conclusion- 
 is this: " Death, then, coming upon the man, the mortal of him, as 
 it seems, dies, but the immortal goes away, departing safe and inde- 
 structible, displacing itself from the death." 
 
 He had said, Phsedon, 67 : " Is not this called death loosing and 
 separation of soul from body ? But ever especially and only, those 
 philosophising rightly desire this loosing, and this is the very care- 
 fulness of the philosophers this loosing and separation of soul and 
 body." 
 
 See as to this subject Poemaudres, ch. viii., i. 2 ; ch. x. 13, and xi. 
 15. 
 
 1 This passage is quoted (nearly verbatim) by Lactantius, Epitome, 
 ch. iv. ad finem, and previously Divin. Instit., lib. II., ch. ix., and 
 by Cyrill. Alex. Contr. Jul., 33c. (post, Part III.). 
 
 2 Plato, Timseus, 28, wrote: The Maker then and Father of this- 
 
106 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 IV. 
 
 From Stobceus, PJiysica, 55 ; Meineke, i. 14 : " Hermes 
 being asked what God is, said, ' The Creator of the Whole 
 of things, most wise Mind, and Eternal.' " 
 
 From Stolceus, Physica, 134 ; Meineke, i. 33. (It is not 
 stated from what work of Hermes). 
 
 FOR some very great Demon, Child ! hath been or- 
 dained (a), revolved (&) in the midst of the Universe, 
 beholding all things that are generate on earth by the 
 Men. For just as over the Divine order The Providence (c) 
 and Necessity are ordained, in the same manner also over 
 the Men is ordained Justice, energizing these things for 
 them (d). For this indeed rules the order of the Entities 
 as Divine, and not willing to sin nor being able; for it is 
 impossible for the Divine to have been led astray (e) t from 
 which also succeeds (/), the being impeccable. But the 
 Justice is ordained avenger of those sinning upon Earth. 
 For the race of men, since mortal and consisting of evil 
 matter, . . . and especially to them occurs the lapsing (g), 
 with whom Godseeing power (h) is not present ; over these 
 then, and especially, does the Justice prevail, and they are 
 subjected to the Fate through the energies of the genera- 
 tion ; but to Justice through the sins in the life. 1 
 
 (a) TT;CT/. (b) tfaovftivv]. (c) q 
 
 (d) exe(tKM$t aliter. IKI'IUXIS. (e) ve'hTri6qvt. (/) 
 
 (g) TO ohiadoiviiit. (Ji) 
 
 Universe it is both a business to find, and having found, to all it is 
 impossible to declare." This passage of Hermes is quoted by Justin 
 Martyr (post, Part III.). 
 
 " One God Who can neither be defined by any words, nor con- 
 ceived by the Mind" (Shepherd of Hernias, Lib. ii., Mandatum, i.). 
 
 1 See the similar sentiments of Plato in his " Laws," 716 and 905; 
 and Hermann, v. 118, 342. 
 
EXCERPTS BY STOB^US. 107 
 
 V. 
 
 HERMES TO THE SON (Stobccus, Pliysica, 162 ; Meineke, i. 42 ; 
 Patrit., p. 38). 
 
 EIGHTLY hast tliou spoken to me all things, Father ! 
 but further remind me what things are those according to 
 Providence and what according to Necessity, likewise also 
 according to Fate. 1 
 
 I said that there were in us, O Tat ! three species of 
 incorporeals, and the one indeed is something Intelligible. 
 This then indeed is colourless, figureless (a), incorporeal, 
 out of the first and intelligible Essence. But there are 
 also in us, opposite to this, configurations () which that 
 receives (c). That therefore moved by the Intelligible 
 Essence for any reason (d), and received, immediately is 
 changed into another species of motion, and this is image 
 of the intelligence (e) of the Creator, . . . but third 
 species of incorporeals is that which is occitrrent (/) 
 about the bodies ; place, time, motion, figure (g), appear- 
 ance, magnitude, form ; and of these there are two differ- 
 ences. For some of them are properly qualities (h\ but 
 others of the body; those indeed properly qualities, are 
 the figure, the colour, the form (i\ the place, the time, 
 the motion ; but those proper of the body are the figured 
 figure, and the coloured colour, and there are also the 
 shaped out shape (&), and the appearance, and the mag- 
 nitude; these are uonparticipate with those. The In- 
 
 (a) oi<r%Yift<iTi<TTO!t. (6) a^^uocrorriTSS. (c) V 
 
 (d) irpog rivet, hoyoy. (e) effia'h.ov rov voyjftstTOs. (/) 
 
 (g) ffxvijuot. (Ji) fiia$ Koicc. (i) ei 
 
 1 Plato sometimes indeed speaks of the Matter, sometimes of the 
 bearing (a-^kaiv) of the Maker towards the Matter; and some things 
 indeed he refers to Providence and some to Necessity. He says then 
 in the Tirnseus : " Being mingled then the genesis of this the World 
 was generated, by the conjunction (avjra,a^ug) of Necessity and Mind, 
 but Mind ruling over Necessity." (See Stobseus, Physica, 160; 
 Meineke i. 42). 
 
108 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 telligible Essence then, being with The God (a), has free 
 power (&) of itself, and of saving other saving itself, since 
 the same Essence is not under Necessity; but having 
 been abandoned by The God, it chooses the corporeal 
 nature, and the choice of it according to Providence be- 
 comes that of the World. But the irrational Whole (c) is 
 moved according to some reason, and the reason indeed 
 according to Providence, but the irrational according to 
 Necessity, and the things having occurred about the body 
 according to Fate. And this is the relation (d) of things 
 according to Providence and Necessity and according ta 
 Eate. 
 
 YI. 
 
 CONCERNING THE ECONOMY OF THE UNIVERSE OF HERMES. 
 
 FROM THOSE TO AMMON. 
 (Stobceus, PTiysica, 183; Meinckc, i. 47; Patrit., p. 38). 
 
 BUT that governing throughout the whole World is 
 Providence (e), but that keeping together and encompass- 
 ing it is Necessity, but Eate compelling (/) leads and 
 brings about all things (for the nature of it is the com- 
 pelling) cause of generation and destruction of life. The 
 World then first has the Providence (for first it happens 
 upon it) (g) ; but the Providence was expanded (li) in the 
 heaven. Wherefore also Gods are turned around it and 
 are moved having motion unwearied and ceaseless, and 
 Eate, wherefore also Necessity. And the Providence in- 
 deed provides, but Eate is the cause of the disposition of 
 the Stars. This is inevitable law, according to which all 
 things are ordained. 1 
 
 (a) ^po; re>> 0tu. (ft) k^ova-iotv. (c) TO oi'hoyov -TTOCV. 
 
 (d) 6 y\6'/o;, discourse. (e) Kpovottx.. (/) x,a,Tot,vcx.yx.u.( ! ov<joe.. 
 
 (</) TTpUTOS y^P OIVTVIS TVy)(,<X.Vt. (A) 
 
 1 See Poemandres, i. 9, and notes 4 and 5 there. 
 
EXCERPTS Y STOB^EUS. 109 
 
 VII. 
 
 OF HERMES FROM THOSE TO AMMON (Stobazus, Physica, 
 188 ; Meineke, i. 48 ; Patrit., 38). 
 
 BUT all things are generated by Nature and by Fate, 
 and there is not a place destitute of Providence. But 
 Providence is the self-sufficient Eeason of The God above 
 in heaven. But two are the spontaneous (a) Powers of 
 this, Necessity and Fate. But the Fate subserves (6) to 
 Providence and Necessity, but to the Fate subserve the 
 Stars. For neither can any one fly from Fate, nor guard 
 himself from the force (c) of these ; for the constellations 
 are the armour of Fate; for according to this all things 
 -are consummate (d) in the Nature and with the Men." x 
 
 VIII. 
 
 OF HERMES FROM THE THINGS TO TAT. 
 (Stdbasus, Physica, 249, 250; Meineke, i. 64; Patrit., 38). 
 
 So also to discover about the three Times ; for neither 
 are they by themselves (e), nor are they united (/), and 
 again they are united and are of themselves. For if thou 
 supposest the present (g) to be apart from the past, it is 
 impossible to be present if it do not also become past ; for 
 out of that departing becomes the present, and from the 
 present comes the future. But if one must examine 
 further, we will reason thus ; that the past time departs 
 that it should no longer be, but the future does not exist (h) 
 in that it is not yet present, but that neither is the present 
 
 (a) ocyTo^yt/f. (6) v'TrypsTei. (c) 
 
 (rf) otTroTfiAovov. (e) x,at^ secvrovg. (_/) 
 
 (g) rov fvsvTfJTot. (Ji) vircipxetv. 
 
 1 See Poemandres, i. 9, and iii. 3, and notes there. Plato's expla- 
 nation of the operation of the Fates, Lachesis, Clotho, and Atropos, 
 will be found in his " Politica." 
 
110 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 together with us in the abiding (a). For Time which hath 
 not stopped (&), having course, not even a point (c), how 
 is it said to be present, which is not able even to stop? 
 And again the past conjoining with the present and the 
 present with the future becomes one ; for they are not 
 apart from themselves in the identity and the unity (d) and 
 the continuity. Thus the Time being one and the same, 
 becomes both continuous and disjoined. 1 
 
 (a) avp'votpiiva.t Iv ra pkviiv. (6) sc 
 
 (c) poTTyy ov^e xsvrpov. (d) SVOTVJTI. 
 
 1 Plato wrote thus (Timseus, 37) : " When the Father having gene- 
 rated it had made that moving and living, The created Glory of the 
 eternal Gods, He was delighted and determined to conform His work 
 to the pattern (irotpotbeiyftei) still more, and as this was eternal He 
 sought to complete the Universe eternal as far as might be. Now 
 the nature of the Intelligible Being is everlasting; but to attach 
 eternity altogether to the generate (ytvvYirw) was impossible ; where- 
 fore He resolved to have a certain moveable image of eternity, and 
 fitting it to heaven, eternity remaining in One, He makes along with 
 it an everlasting likeness proceeding according to number, whicli 
 being we have named it Time. For days and nights and months 
 and years not being before heaven was generated, then along with 
 that existing, He contrives the generation of these. These all are 
 parts of Time, and the ' was ' and ' shall be ' generated forms of 
 Time, referring which to the Eternal Essence, we are latently erro- 
 neous; for we say how it ' was,' ' is/ and ' shall be/ but to This that 
 
 * It is' alone appertains, according to the true expression, but the 
 
 * was/ and the ' shall be/ should properly be affirmed of the genera- 
 tion proceeding in Time ; for it is motion. But as to That always abid- 
 ing at the same immoveably, it belongs neither to become older nor 
 younger through time, nor ever to be generated, or now have been 
 generated; nor again shall be, nor is it at all connected with such 
 generation as is of things carried on in Sense. Moreover, when we 
 say that what has become has become, and what is becoming is be- 
 coming, and that what will become will become, and that what is not 
 is not, of none of these do we speak accurately." The reader will be 
 reminded of (Exod. iii. 14), " And God said unto Moses, I am that I 
 am" ('Ey<y >/ 'O av," Sept.). 
 
EXCERPTS BY STOB^US. Ill 
 
 / 
 
 IX. 
 
 OF HERMES FROM THE THINGS TO TAT. 
 (Stobaws, 319, ibid., i. ch. 10; Meineke, i. 84; Patrit., 51). 
 
 FOR the Matter also, O Child ! hath been generated and 
 was. For Matter is receptacle (a) of generation, but gene- 
 ration mode of energy of The imbegotten and pre-existing 
 God. Receiving then the seed of the generation, it was 
 generated and became variable and received Ideas being 
 made into shapes (b). For there presided over it, being 
 varied, that (energy) fabricating the ideas of the variation (c). 
 The nongeneration (d) of the matter then was shapeless- 
 ness, but the generation the being energized. 1 
 
 X. 
 
 OF HERMES FROM THAT TO TAT. 
 (Stobceus, Physica, 699; Meineke, i. 190; Patrit., p. 4). 
 
 Asclepius. I, O Child ! both because of the love of Men 
 and of the piety towards The God, first write this. For 
 there can be no piety more righteous than to understand 
 the Entities, and to proffer thanks to the Maker on account 
 of these, which I will never cease performing. 
 
 (a) dyy&iov. (b) 
 
 (c) T^O-JTJJJ. (d) 
 
 1 Stobaeus (ibid.) remarks that Plato (Timseus, 30) affirmed The 
 Matter to be bodylike, shapeless, formless, figureless, without quality 
 as to its own nature ; but having received the Forms it became as it 
 were nurse, receptacle (cx^ayg/oy) and mother of them. Plato asserts 
 that The Matter simply, as to its entirety, does not change its state 
 (i|*Wra/), but receives all things entering it, but has no original 
 shape whatever. " Three kinds are to be distinguished, the thing 
 generated, that in which it is generated, and that whence, being 
 assimilated, the thing generated is produced." " "We may fittingly 
 compare the thing receiving to a mother, that from whence to a 
 father, and the nature between these to offspring." 
 
112 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 Tat. What then can any one doing, Father ! if there 
 is nothing truthful here, pass through the life rightly (a). 
 
 Asdepius. Be pious, O Child! The pious man will 
 philosophize pre-eminently (&) ; for apart from philosophy 
 it is impossible to be pre-eminently pious; but he having 
 learnt what they are, and how they have been arranged, 
 and by whom, and on account of whom, will render thanks 
 for all things to the Creator as to a good father, and useful 
 nurse and faithful guardian; and he proffering thanks will 
 be pious; but the pious man will know both where is The 
 Truth and what that is; and having learnt he will be still 
 more pious. But by no means, Child ! can Soul being 
 in body, having elevated itself to the comprehension (c) 
 of that being good and true, fall away (d) to the opposite ; 
 for Soul having learnt the Forefather of itself exercises 
 vehement (e) love, and oblivion of all the evil things, and 
 cannot any more apostatize from The Good. This, O 
 Child ! let this be end of Piety, attaining to which thou 
 wilt both live rightly, and shalt die happily, the Soul of 
 thine not being ignorant whither it behoves that she 
 should soar up. For this is the only way, Child ! that 
 to Truth, which also l our forefathers journeyed, and having 
 journeyed attained The Good. This way is venerable and 
 smooth, but difficult for Soul to journey being in body. 
 For first it behove th her to war with herself, and to make 
 a great division, and to be prevailed over (/) by the one 
 portion. For the resistance (g) becomes of one against 
 two ; of the one flying, of the others dragging downwards, 
 and there comes to pass much strife and fighting of these 
 with each other ; of the one desiring to fly, of the others 
 hastening to retain. But the victory of both is not alike; 
 for the one hastens to the Good, the others dwell with the 
 evils ; and the one desires to be freed ; but the others love 
 
 (a) Koe.'hus. (6) oixpa;. (c) Ktvrcihrffyiv. (d) o 
 
 (e) fall/OV. (/) TT'hSOVtX.TYlD'/JVOtt. (ff) 9] 
 
 1 " Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where 
 is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your 
 souls" (Jer. vi. 16). 
 
EXCERPTS BY STOB^EUS. 
 
 the servitude, 1 and should indeed the two portions be 
 conquered, they remain deserted of themselves (a) and of 
 their ruler; but if the one be vanquished it is led and 
 carried off by the two, being punished by the mode of 
 living here (6). This, Child ! is the guide of the way 
 thither ; for it behoveth thee, Child ! first to anoint 
 the body before the end, and to conquer in the life of 
 striving (c), and having conquered thus, to return. 2 But 
 now, Child ! I will go through under heads, the Entities ; 
 for thou wilt understand the things spoken having remem- 
 bered those which thou hast heard. All the Entities are 
 moved, that not being only is immoveable. Eveiy body 
 changeable, not every body dissoluble. Some of the bodies 
 are dissoluble. Not every animal mortal, not every animal 
 immortal. The dissoluble is corruptible, that abiding im- 
 mutable, the immutable eternal. That ever generate ever 
 also is corrupted ; but that once for all generate is never 
 corrupted, nor becomes anything else. First The God, 
 second the World, third the Man; The World because of 
 the Man, but the Man because of The God. Of the Soul, 
 the sensible (d) indeed is mortal, but the rational immortal. 
 
 (a) This passage is corrupt. (6) ry I 
 
 (c) ivocyuviov ftiov. (d) TO ot,i<jQ-/rrov. 
 
 1 The latter portion of the seventh chapter of the Epistle to the 
 Komans is much in point, ending ver. 23 : " But I see a different law 
 in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing 
 me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members," &c. 
 
 2 In the Phaedon (65), Socrates and Simmias agree that the philo- 
 sopher must disengage his soul entirely from the communion with 
 the body, differently from the many, who think pleasure only worth 
 living for ; the genuine philosopher must stand apart from all these. 
 (66) Whence come wars and fightings, but from the body and its 
 lusts? Wars are necessitated by love of money for the sake of the 
 service of the body; money must be acquired for the body to the 
 neglect of philosophy. (67) The purification of the soul, is it not 
 this : the separating the soul as much as can be from the body, and to 
 place itself altogether by itself, apart from the connection and con- 
 junction of the body, and to dwell as far as possible at present and 
 in future alone by itself, loosed as it were from the chains of the 
 body? 
 
 H 
 
114 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 Every Essence immortal, every Essence mutable. Every 
 Entity double ; None of the Entities is stable (a). Not all 
 things are moved by Soul, but Soul moves every Entity. 
 Everything passive (6) has sense, everything sensible is 
 subject to passion (c). Everything grieved and is pleased 
 a mortal animal; not everything pleased is grieved [but is](c?) 
 an eternal animal. Not every body is subject to disease (e); 
 every body subject to disease is dissoluble. The Mind in 
 The God; the reasoning (/) in the Man; the reasoning 
 in the Mind, the Mind impassible. Nothing in body 
 true, in incorporeal the whole without falsity. Every- 
 thing generate mutable, not everything generate cor- 
 ruptible. Nothing good upon the earth, nothing evil 
 in the Heaven. The God good, the Man evil. The 
 Good voluntary, the evil involuntary. The Gods choose 
 things good as good. The good rule (g) of what is great 
 is good rule ; the good rule the law. Time divine, human 
 law. Evil is aliment of World, Time corruption of Man. 
 Everything in Heaven unchangeable, everything upon 
 earth changeable. Nothing in Heaven servile, nothing 
 upon earth free. Nothing unknowable in Heaven, nothing 
 known (7i) upon the earth. Things upon earth are not in 
 common (i) with those in Heaven. All things in Heaven 
 blameless, all things upon earth subjects of blame. The 
 immortal is not mortal, the mortal not immortal. That 
 sown is not always generated, but that generated always 
 also sown. Two are the times of dissoluble body, that 
 from the sowing up to the birth, and that from the birth 
 up to the death. Of the eternal Body time is from the 
 birth only. The dissoluble bodies are increased and dimi- 
 nished. The dissoluble matter is changed about to the 
 opposites, corruption and generation ; but the Eternal either 
 into itself or into the like. Generation of Man is begin- 
 ning of corruption, corruption of Man of generation. That 
 
 (tt) tOTYlKtV. (&) TO TTOtaXM. (c) TO Oll(j66fAtVQll 
 
 (d) The construction doubtful. (e) vwki. 
 
 (/) Aoy/o/*oV. (</) tvvoftix. The text is here deficient. 
 
 (ti) yvupipw. (i) oy xotvavef. 
 
EXCERPTS BY STOBJEUS. 115 
 
 "being departing (a) [is also succeeding (6), the succeeding] 
 is also departing. Of the Entities some indeed are in 
 bodies, some in ideas (c), but some energies ; but body is 
 in ideas, 1 but idea and energy in body. The immortal 
 partakes not of the mortal, but the mortal does partake of 
 the immortal. The mortal indeed comes not into immortal 
 body, but the immortal becomes present in mortal. The 
 energies are not upward tending (d), but downward tend- 
 ing. Things upon earth profit nothing those in Heaven, 
 those in Heaven profit all those upon earth. The Heaven 
 is receptive of eternal bodies, the earth is receptive 
 of corruptible bodies. The earth irrational, the Heaven 
 rational Things in Heaven lie underneath (e), things 
 upon earth lie on the earth. The Heaven is first of 
 elements. The earth last of elements. Divine Provi- 
 dence order, Necessity subservient to Providence. 2 For- 
 tune, 3 course of the disorderly (/), effigy of energy, lying 
 opinion. What is God ? Immutable Good. What Man ? 
 Immutable Evil. 
 
 Having remembered these heads, thou wilt also be im- 
 mediately reminded of what things I went through to thee 
 in fuller words ; for these are the summaries of those. But 
 abstain from these conversations (g) with the many, for 
 to grudge thee I do not wish, but rather that thou wilt 
 appear to be ridiculous to many. For the like is accepted 
 with the like, but the unlike is by no means friendly with 
 the unlike. For these the -words have altogether the 
 listeners few, or speedily they will have not even few. 
 They have also something peculiar in themselves ; they 
 rather stimulate those evil unto the evil. Wherefore one 
 
 (a) ecTroyiyyofAevtv. (6) g-T/y/yj/gTc*/. The text incomplete. 
 
 (c) iQeeii(. (d) dvaQepsJ;. (e) 
 
 (/) T W Q Q p4 araxTov. (g} 
 
 1 The word /Sea seems here to signify shape or model. 
 
 2 See Poemandres, x. 20, and note. 
 
 3 Plato's definition of Fortune : " Cause in things unpreferred, ac- 
 cording to accident, and consequence and chancing and variable 
 habitude of choice in relation to the purpose respecting the end" 
 (Stobseus, Physica, 204 ; Meineke, i. 53). 
 
116 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 ought to guard oneself against the many understanding 
 not the virtue of the things spoken. 
 
 Tat. How mayest thou speak, Father ! 
 
 Asclepius. Thus, Child ! every the animal of the 
 men is rather prepense (a) to the evil, and becomes (&} 
 nurtured along with this ; wherefore also he is pleased 
 with it. But this the animal, if he have learnt that the 
 "World is generated and all things are generate according 
 to Providence and by Necessity, Fate ruling over all 
 things, will not be by much worse than himself, 1 having 
 despised indeed the Universe as generated, and referring 
 the causes of the evil to the Fate, he will never abstain 
 from every evil work. Wherefore one should be on guard 
 as to them, in order that they being in ignorance may be 
 less evil, though fear of the obscure (c). 
 
 XL 
 
 OF HERMES FROM THE THINGS TO AMMON.S 
 (Stobceus, ibid. i. 720; Meinckc, i. 196; Patrit., 40). 
 
 THE Soul then is incorporeal Essence, and though being 
 in body, does not depart from its proper essentiality. For 
 it happens being ever moveable according to Essence, and 
 according to Intelligence self-moveable (d); not moved in 
 something nor towards something, nor because of some- 
 thing ; for it is prior (e) in the Power ; but the prior has 
 no need of the latter ones. That in something then is the 
 place, and time, and nature ; that towards something is 
 harmony, and form, and figure (/), but that because of 
 which, the Body; for because of Body both Time, and 
 Place, and Nature ; but these have communion with each 
 
 (a) etrtpps'TrtorTfpov. (6) avvrpotyov ytynsrott. (e) 
 
 (d) otvTOx.fi/irrras. (e) TrporepeJ. (/) l/Boj xxl 
 
 1 Will only follow his own evil nature. 
 
 2 This is Ammon, the contemporary of our Hermes, not Am- 
 monius Saccas. 
 
EXCERPTS FROM STOBJEUS. 117 
 
 other according to cognate familiarity (a). Since then the 
 body required place (for it were impracticable that Body 
 be subsistent without place) and is changed by nature; 
 it is impossible that there be change without time and the 
 motion according to nature, nor that there be such a sub- 
 sistence of body without Harmony. Because then of Body 
 is the place ; for receiving the changes of the body, it does 
 not suffer the thing changed to be destroyed. But changed 
 from other it falls apart to other, and is deprived of the 
 condition (Z>) indeed, but not of the being Body ; but being 
 changed to other it has the condition of the other; for the 
 body that was body continues Body, but the quality of 
 disposition (c) does not continue ; the Body then according 
 to disposition is changed. Incorporeal then the place, the 
 time, and the natural motion. But each of these pos- 
 sesses its peculiar property; but property of the Place is 
 receptivity (d), of Time interval and number, of Nature 
 motion, of Harmony friendship, of Body change ; but pro- 
 perty of Soul the Intelligence according to Essence. 
 
 XII. 
 
 OF HERMES FROM THE THINGS TO TAT. 
 (Stobceus, Physica, 726 ; Meineke, i. 198). 
 
 Tat. Rightly hast thou explained these things, O 
 Father! but further teach me these. For thou saidest 
 somewhere that the Science and the Art are the energy of 
 the rational (e) ; but now thou sayest the irrational ani- 
 mals are and are called irrational through deprivation of 
 the rational ; it is plain there is necessity according to this 
 the account, that the irrational animals do not partake of 
 science (/), neither of art, through the being deprived of 
 the rational. 
 
 (a) ffwyy!/ix,y)v o/X/<r/?r. (6) l'|fefij. (c) 
 
 (d) irotpoiboxv). (e) rov Aoy/xot/. (/) f 
 
118 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 Asclepius. For there is necessity, Child ! 
 
 Tat. How then do we see, Father ! some of the 
 irrational using science and art ; such as the ants treasur- 
 ing up the food for the winter, and the aerial animals 
 also putting together nests for themselves, and the quad- 
 rupeds cognizant of their own folds ? 
 
 Asclepius. These things they do, Child ! neither by 
 science nor by art, but by Nature. For the science and 
 the art are things teachable (a), but of these irrationals 
 none is taught anything. For things generate by nature 
 are generate by a common (6) energy, but those by science 
 and art belong to knowing ones, not to all ; but what is 
 generate in all is energized by Nature. Thus the Men 
 look upwards, but not all men are musical, nor all archers, 
 nor hunters, nor all the rest ; but some of them have learnt 
 something, science and art energizing. In the same way, 
 if some of the ants had done this but some not, fairly 
 thou hadst said, they do this very thing by science, and 
 by art collect the food; but if all are led alike by the 
 Nature to this even unwilling, it is plain that they do this 
 neither by science nor by art. For Energies, Tat ! them- 
 selves being incorporeal, are in bodies and energize through 
 the bodies. Wherefore, Tat ! in that they are (c) incor- 
 poreal (and thou sayest them to be immortal), and in that 
 they cannot energize apart from bodies, I say that they 
 are always in Body. For things generate for something or 
 because of something, having fallen under (d) Providence 
 or Necessity, it is impossible ever to remain inert of the 
 proper energy. For the Entity always will be ; for this is 
 of it both body and life. To this reason follows there 
 being also always the bodies. Wherefore also I say the 
 very embodiment (e) to be eternal energy. For if bodies 
 upon earth are dissoluble, but bodies there must be, and 
 these places and organs of the Energies, and the Energies 
 are immortal (but the immortal ever is) ; Energy, and the 
 making of bodies therefore (/) ever is. But they follow upon 
 
 (a) t>tba,x,Ttx,dt,. (6) *#0o?ux>j. (c) xctdon. 
 
 (d) VTTOTrgTTTJiJfcOTflt. (e) <I6)ftOlTU<TlU. (/) St'/S. 
 
EXCERPTS FROM STOBJSUS. 119 
 
 the Soul, not simply generate along with it. But some of 
 them energize along with the generating the Man, heing 
 together with (a) the Soul as to things irrational ; but the 
 purer energies according to change of the age energize 
 along with the rational part of the Soul. But the Energies 
 themselves are dependent (6) from the bodies. And from 
 the Divine bodies, these the bodymaking come into things- 
 mortal ; and each of them energizes either about the Body 
 or the Soul. And they are congenerate (c) with the Soul 
 itself apart from body. Always are there energies, but 
 not always is the Soul in mortal body, for it is able to be 
 apart from the body; but the Energies cannot be apart 
 from the bodies. This is a sacred word, Child! Body 
 indeed cannot subsist apart from Soul, but the To Be (d) 
 can. 
 
 Tat. How sayst thou this, Father ! 
 
 Hermes. Understand thus, O Son! The Soul having 
 been separated from the body, the Body itself remains; 
 but this the body during the time of the remaining (e) is 
 energized, being dissolved, and becoming formless (/) ; but 
 the body is not able to suffer these things apart from 
 Energy. There remains then with the Body the energy 
 itself of a separated Soul. This then is the difference of 
 immortal body and of mortal, that the immortal indeed 
 consisted of one matter, the other not, and the one makes, 
 the other is passive (#); for everything that is energizing 
 rules, but that energized is ruled, and the ruling indeed 
 being ordinative (A) and free, leads, but the servile is led. 
 The Energies then not only energize the Bodies with Souls, 
 but the bodies without souls ; woods, stones, and the others 
 like, both increasing and making fruitful, and cooking, and 
 corrupting, and liquefying, and putrefying, and breaking up, 
 and energizing the like, such as bodies without Souls are 
 capable to suffer. For Energy is called, O Child ! that very 
 same thing whatever ever is the thing generate ; for ever 
 
 (a) opov. (6) 9)pT7if/.ivoii. (c) avyyiyvorroti. 
 
 (d) TO tUvai. (e) TJJJ ?r/^o!/jj. (/) eisibsg. 
 
 (fj) Tcaujy^i. (h) t 
 
120 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 also must there be generate many things; but rather all 
 things. For never ever fails (a) the World of some one of 
 the Entities, but always borne onward it brings forth (5) 
 in itself the Entities never ever abandoned, by the corrup- 
 tion of it (c). Let every energy then be thought of as always 
 being immortal, which may be in any body whatsover. 
 But of the Energies some are of the divine Bodies, but 
 some of the corruptible, and some indeed are general, but 
 some special (d), and some indeed of the kinds, and some 
 of the parts of each one. Divine indeed then are those 
 energizing in the eternal Bodies, and these are also perfect 
 as in perfect bodies : but partial those, in one of each kind 
 of the animals, but special somewhat those in each of the 
 Entities. This the discourse then, O Child! concludes, 
 that all things are full of Energies. For if it be necessity 
 that the energies be in bodies, but many bodies in World, 
 more I say are the Energies than the Bodies. For in one 
 body often is one, and second, and third, apart from those 
 general following thereon (e). For I call general Energies 
 those really corporeal, generate through the senses and the 
 motions ; for apart from these the energies, it is not pos- 
 sible that the body subsist. But there are other special 
 Energies in the souls of men, through Arts, Sciences, and 
 studies and energizings. For the Senses follow along 
 with the Energies, or rather the senses are effects (/) of the 
 energies. Understand then, Child I the difference of 
 Energy and Sense ; for Energy is sent from above; but the 
 Sense being in the body, and from this having the Essence, 
 having received the Energy makes it manifest, just as if 
 having made it corporeal (g). Wherefore I say the Senses 
 are both corporeal and mortal, subsisting so long as the 
 body. For also the senses are generated with the body, 
 and die with it; but the immortal Bodies themselves indeed 
 have not immortal sense, as if consisting of such sort of 
 
 (6) 
 
 (c) a.Ko'htityQwofAtvoc. uvToii TV; (f)&optx(. The passage is corrupt. 
 
 (d) il^iKoti. (e) ruu 
 (/) dTTQTt'htffftce.Ta. (g) 
 
EXCERPTS FROM STOB^EUS. 121 
 
 /essence ; for the sense is wholly of nought else than of the 
 evil or of the good accruing to (a) the body, or of that 
 again quitting it; but in the eternal Bodies there is 
 neither accruer nor departure; wherefore sense in these 
 is not generated. 
 
 Tat. In every body then is sense sensational (&) ? 
 
 Asclepius. In every, Child ! and energies energize 
 in all. 
 
 Tat. Also in the soulless, Father? 
 
 Asclepius. Also in the soulless, O Child! But there 
 are differences of the senses ; for those of the rational are 
 generate with Reason, but those of the irrational are corporeal 
 only, and those of the soulless are senses indeed, but gene- 
 rated passive according to increase only and according to 
 -diminution. But the passion and Sense are dependent from 
 one head(c), but are brought together (d) into the same, 
 and by the energies. But of the animals with souls there 
 are two other energies, which follow upon the senses and 
 the passions : Grief and Joy ; and apart from these it is 
 impossible for an animal with soul, and especially a rational, 
 to have sense. Wherefore also I say that these are ideas of 
 the passions, ideas ruling rather over the rational animals. 
 The Energies then indeed energize, but the Senses make 
 manifest the energies. But these being corporeal are 
 moved by the irrational parts of the Soul, wherefore also 
 I say that both are evil imbued (e); for both the rejoicing, 
 occasioning the sensation with pleasure, forthwith happens 
 to be cause of many evils to him having experienced it (/), 
 and the grief occasions stronger sorrows and pains ; where- 
 fore both as it seems would be evil imbued. 
 
 Tat. Would the sense of body and of soul be the same, 
 O Father? 
 
 Asclepius. How understandest thou, O Youth! Sense 
 of Soul? 
 
 Tat Is not indeed Soul incorporeal? but the sense may 
 be body, Father! the sense which happens being in body. 
 
 (a) Ts-poy/evoftivov. (b) otladeivsreci. (c) x.opv(pijs 
 
 (d) ffvvxyovrsti. (e) zotxurtxeis. (/) T 
 
122 HEEMES TEISMEGISTUS. 
 
 Asclepius. If we place it in body, Child! we de- 
 clare it like the soul or the energies. For these being 
 incorporeal we say are in bodies. But the Sense is neither 
 energy nor Soul nor anything other of body beside the 
 aforesaid; it would not then be incorporeal; but if it 
 is not incorporeal, it would be body ; for of the Entities 
 must some be bodies, but some incorporeal. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 OF HEKMES FEOM THOSE TO AMMON. 
 (Stobceus, Physica, 741; Meineke, i. 203; Patrit., p. 40). 
 
 THAT moved then is moved according to the energy of 
 the motion, that moving the Universe. For the Nature of 
 the Universe affords motion to the Universe, one indeed 
 that according to its power, but other that according to 
 energy. And this indeed permeates (a) through the entire 
 "World, and holds it together within, but that pertains to(&) 
 and encompasses it without, and they proceed (c) through 
 all things in common. And the Nature of all things pro- 
 ducing things generate affords produce (d) to those produced, 
 sowing indeed the seeds of itself and having generations 
 through moveable matter. But the Matter being moved 
 is warmed, and becomes fire and water, the one potent and 
 strong, but the other passive. But the fire opposing the 
 water, dried up somewhat of the water (e), and the earth 
 was generated sustained (/) upon the water. 1 But being 
 dried up around vapour (g) was generated from the three, 2 
 the water, the earth, and the fire, and air was generated. 
 These things came together (A) according to the reason 
 of the Harmony, hot with cold, dry with moist, and from 
 the concurrence (i) was generated Spirit and seed, analogous 
 
 (a) ^ifatt. (&) vretpvjKM. (c) 
 
 (d) <pvv)i>. (e) f%vjpeti/e rov v^etro;. (/) 
 
 (#) &TfAo$. (h) ffvityhQi. (i) 
 
 1 See Poemandres, ch. i. 5, 11, and ch. iii. 2. 2 See Gen. ii. 6V 
 
EXCERPTS BY STOB^US. 123 
 
 to the encompassing Spirit. This falling into the matrix 
 is not quiescent (a) in the seed ; and not being quiescent 
 changes the seed, and being changed it possesses increase 
 and magnitude. But upon the magnitude an image of 
 figure is impressed (&) and it is figured ; and the form is 
 carried (c) upon the figure, through which that made into 
 image is made into image (d). Since however the Spirit 
 had not in the womb the vital motion but the ferment- 
 ing (e), Harmony harmonized this also, being receptacle of 
 the intellectual life. But this is simple and unchangeable, 
 by no means ever desisting from this immutability. But 
 that in the womb is brought forth (/) in numbers and de- 
 livered, and breaks (g) into the outer air, and being very 
 near the Soul is associated with it, not according to the 
 congenerate association (A), but according to that fated ; for 
 there is no love in it to be together with body. Through 
 this according to Fate, it affords to that generated intel- 
 lectual motion, and the intelligent Essence of its life ; for 
 it creeps into it along with the spirit, and moves it 
 vitally. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 OF HERMES FROM THOSE TO AMMON TO TAT. 
 (Stobceus, Physica, 745 ; Meineke, i. 204). 
 
 AND the Lord indeed and Creator of all the eternal 
 Bodies, O Tat! having once made hath not made any 
 further, nor does make. For having delivered up these 
 things to themselves and united them to each other He 
 let them go to be borne (i) on, wanting in nothing as 
 eternal. If they want anything, they will want of one 
 another, but of no kind of importation (k) of that from 
 
 (a) viptf&ii. (6) I'Trta'xoiTot.i. (c) o 
 
 (d) ftQahoiroitiToci. (e) fipotortzqv. (/) 
 
 (cj) aLyti. (Jl) awy/vix,qy oizsioTYirot. (i) <PJjx 
 (k) ftrfCpopoi;. 
 
124 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 without, as being immortal. For it behoved that the 
 Bodies generated by Him to have such sort also the 
 Nature. But He our Creator being in body hath made us 
 and makes, and ever will make bodies dissoluble and 
 mortal. For it was not lawful for Him to imitate the 
 Creator of Himself, besides it also being impossible. For 
 He indeed made out of the first Essence being incor- 
 poreal; but He out of that embodiment (a) made us. 
 Justly then according to the right reason, these the bodies 
 indeed, as having been generated from an incorporeal 
 Essence, are immortal ; but ours are dissoluble and mortal 
 (the material of us being composed out of bodies), be- 
 cause of being weak and requiring much succour. For 
 how ever even haply had the connection of our bodies 
 kept up, if it had not some nourishment superinduced 
 thereon from the like elements, and refreshing us (&) each 
 day by day? For both of earth and of water and of fire 
 and of air there is an influx generated upon us, which 
 renovating our bodies keeps together the tabernacle. So 
 also for the motions we are rather weak, bearing motions 
 not even one day. For be well assured, Child! that 
 unless in the nights the bodies of us reposed, we should 
 not bear up for one day. Whence the Creator being good 
 having foreprovided (c) all things made the Sleep for the 
 preservation of the Animal, the greatest soother of the 
 fatigue of the motion, and ordained an equality to each 
 time, or rather a longer for the repose. But understand, 
 O Child ! the very great energy of the sleep, opposite to 
 that of the Soul, but not less than that. For as the Soul 
 is energy of motion, the same way the bodies also cannot 
 live apart from the sleep ; for it is relaxation and libera- 
 tion of the compacted members, and it energizes within, 
 making into body the superinduced (d) matter, distributing 
 to each that congenial (e) to it ; the water indeed to the 
 blood, but the earth to the bones and marrows, the air to 
 the nerves and veins, but the fire to the vision. Where- 
 
 (ct) ytivx/aii/Yis aufAonuastos. (&) vKtaufAolTov. (c) 
 (d) fTrtiffthOovactv. (e) TO oi 
 
EXCERPTS BY STOB^US. 125 
 
 fore also the body is supremely delighted with the sleep, 
 energizing this the pleasure. 
 
 XV. 
 
 OF HERMES (Stolceus, Physica, 750 ; Meineke, i. 206 ; 
 Patrit., 516). 
 
 THERE is then that pre-existent (a) beside all the En- 
 tities and those really Entities (&). For there is that pre- 
 existent through which is the Essentiality (c), that pre- 
 dicated of the entire Whole (d) : common with the intel- 
 ligibles of things really Entities and of the Entities as 
 considered by themselves (e). But the contraries to these, 
 in another way again, themselves are by themselves. But 
 Nature is sensible Essence, having in itself all sensible 
 things. But in the midst of these are intellectual (/) and 
 sensible Gods. The things intellectual are those having part 
 with the intelligible (y) [Gods], but things of opinion Qi) 
 those having communion with the sensible Gods. But 
 these are (i) images of intelligences ; like as Sun is image 
 of The Creator God in Heaven. For as He created the 
 Whole (&), so the Sun creates the animals and generates 
 plants and presides over the winds. 1 
 
 The next extract in Stobseus (754) is entitled " Hermes, 
 from the Aphrodite " (Meineke, i. 207) ; but the very title 
 and the contents prove that he was not the author of it. 
 
 (a) TO irpo ov. (6) orrug ovruv. (c) 
 
 (d) yj xadfaov. (e) xotd' socvroe, voovpti/au. (f) 
 
 (g) vQ/rruif. (li) rtx. ^otffroc. (i) 
 (k) TO o'Aofr. 
 
 1 This Excerpt is obscure and probably imperfect. It is not men- 
 tioned in the editions of Stobseus from what work of Hermes it is 
 extracted. 
 
126 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 OF HERMES (Stobceus, Physica, 800 j 1 Meineke, i. 227; 
 Patrit, 41 and 40b). 
 
 SOUL then is an eternal intelligent Essence having 
 understanding after its own mode. 
 
 Ibid. The Soul then is incorporeal Essence ; for if it 
 has body it will be no longer conservative of itself. For 
 every body has need of the To Be (a) and has need also of 
 life, that situate in order. For universally upon that 
 having generation change also must follow. For the 
 generate is generate in magnitude, for generate has in- 
 crease; but universally upon that increased follows after 
 diminution; upon diminution corruption. Having re- 
 ceived the form of life it lives and has community of the 
 To Be with the Soul. But the cause of the To Be to 
 another itself first is Being (&). But the To Be now I call 
 generation in Eeason (c) and partaking of intelligent life (c) ; 
 but the Soul affords intelligent life. But it is named 
 Animal indeed because of the life, but rational because of 
 the intelligent, mortal because of the body. Soul there- 
 fore is incorporeal, having the power without degeneration. 
 For how is it fitting (e) to speak of the intelligent animal, 
 there not being Essence of that also affording life? 
 Neither is it fitting to say Eational, there not being the 
 thoughtful (/) Essence, that affording also intelligent life. 
 But in all the intelligence does not follow on (g) because 
 of the constitution of the body as regards (A) the Harmony. 
 For if in the constitution the warm is superabundant it 
 becomes light and ardent, but if the cold, it becomes heavy 
 and slow; for nature adapts (-&) the constitution of the 
 
 (a) Citron rov tlvoti. (6) etvrvi Kparv) ov lor/. (c) TO h 
 
 (d) &$)$ voep&g. (e) oiov re. (/) 
 
 ((/) aqHwiiroii. (h) irpo$. (i) appoget. 
 
 1 In this and the three following Excerpts, Stobseus does not state 
 from whatfc works of Hermes they are extracted. 
 
EXCERPTS BY STOB^US. 127 
 
 body to the Harmony. But of the Harmony there are 
 three forms, that according to the warm, and that accord- 
 ing to the cold, and that according to the mean. But it 
 adapts according to the prevailing Star() of the com- 
 bination (6) of the Stars. But Soul having received it 
 as is fated, to that affords life by the operation of the 
 Nature. The Nature then assimilates the Harmony of 
 the Body to the combination of the Stars, and unites the 
 commixture (c) to the Harmony of the Constellations, so 
 as to have sympathy towards each other. For the end 
 of the Harmony of the Stars is the engendering sympathy 
 according to their Fate. 
 
 XVII. ,4 * o^ 
 
 OF THE SAME (Stobccus, Physica, 803; MeincJce, I 228; 
 Patrit., 41). 
 
 THE Soul then, Ammon ! is Essence having finality in 
 itself (d), in origin having received life, that according to 
 Fate, and has drawn to itself Eeason like to the Matter, 
 having Vehemence (e) and Desire. And the Vehemence 
 indeed exists as Matter ; this if it shall habituate itself (/) 
 to the intelligence of the Soul becomes Courage, and is 
 not led away by cowardice. But the Desire is accordingly. 
 It, if it shall habituate itself to the rationality (#) of the 
 Soul, becomes Modesty, and is not moved by pleasure. 
 For the rationality completes that deficient in the Desire. 
 But when both shall mentally agree and shall practise an 
 equal habitude (K), and both be holden (i) by the ration- 
 ality of the Soul, Justice is generated. For the equal 
 habitude of these takes away the excess of the Vehemence, 
 and equalizes that defective in the Desire. Origin of these 
 
 (a) dart pen. (6) ffwyx.pdi(rea$. (c) rol 
 
 (d) ayroreAjjf. (e) Ovpos. (/) '/ 
 
 (h) 1w t* t . (t) 
 
128 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 is the thinking (a) Essence, being itself according to the 
 same in its own comprehending (&) Eeason, having power 
 over its own Eeason. But the Essence leads and governs 
 as ruler ; but the Eeason of it as the comprehending coun- 
 sellor. The Eeason then of the Essence is knowledge of 
 the ratiocinations, those affording a resemblance of ration- 
 ality to the irrational ; obscure indeed as regards rationality, 
 but rationality as regards the irrational, just as Echo is to- 
 Sound, and the shine of the Moon to the Sun. Vehemence 
 and Desire are arranged after a certain ratio (c) and attract 
 one another, and establish in themselves reciprocal mental 
 action (cl). 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 OF THE SAME (Stobceus, Physica, 806; Meincke, i. 229; 
 Patrit., p. 41. It is not said from what work of Hermes 
 this is taken). 
 
 EVERY Soul is immortal and ever moveable. For we 
 have said in the generalities (e) that motions, some indeed 
 are from the Energies and some from the Bodies. We said 
 too that the . Soul was generated from a certain Essence, 
 not of matter, being a thing incorporeal, and being itself of 
 a thing incorporeal. For every generate thing of necessity 
 must be generated from somewhat. Upon the generation 
 of as many then as corruption follows, upon these of 
 necessity two motions follow: that of the Soul by which 
 it is moved and that of the Body by which it is increased, 
 decays and moreover also being decomposed is decom- 
 posed (/). This I define is the motion of corruptible 
 bodies. But the Soul is ever moveable, because it always 
 itself is moved and energizes motion in others. According 
 to this reason then, every Soul is immortal and ever move- 
 
 (c) "hoyiafAov. (</) 
 
 () ytvtxolc. (/) dvahvOsi/To; dvet'b.vereti. 
 
EXCERPTS BY STOB^EUS. 129 
 
 able, having motion, the energy of self. Ideas of Souls 
 are Divine, human, irrational. The Divine then indeed is 
 of the Divine body in which is the Energy of Self, for 
 indeed it is moved in Self, and moves itself, for when it 
 hath departed from mortal animals, having been separated 
 from the irrational parts of itself, going forth into the 
 Divine body as ever moveable, in itself it is moved, car- 
 ried round along with (a) the Universe. But the human 
 has indeed also somewhat of the Divine, but with it are 
 also conjoined (&) the irrationals, both the Desire and the 
 Vehemence (c) ; and these indeed are immortal, because they 
 also happen to be Energies, but the Energies of mortal 
 bodies. Wherefore indeed from the Divine part of the 
 Soul being in the Divine body, they happen to be afar off; 
 but when this has entered into a mortal body, these also 
 walk in (rf), and by the presence of them is generated ever 
 Human Soul. But that of the irrationals is constituted 
 of Vehemence also Desire. Wherefore also these the animals 
 were called irrational, through deprivation of the Eeason 
 of the Soul. But Fourth (Idea) understand that of the 
 inanimate, which being without the bodies, energizes 
 moving them. But this would be moved in the Divine 
 Body, and as it were in (e) passing moving them. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 OF THE SAME (Hid. ibid., 809; Meineke, i. 230). 
 
 SOUL is then eternal intelligent Essence, having as intel- 
 lect (/) its own Eeason. But thinking with it it acquires (g) 
 thought of the Harmony. But separated from the physical 
 body it abides self according to self; it being of itself in 
 the intelligible World (ti). But it rules over its own Eeason 
 
 (a) avfmpKptpoft&vYi. (b) OVVVJVTXI. (c) % 
 
 (d) tKKQotToi. (e) x-artx, Trdpobov. (/) 
 
 (g) avvvoavact tTrcnrxToti. (h) VOY,TU 
 
130 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 bringing like motion, by name Life, through its own intelli- 
 gence (a) to him that comes into life. For this is proper 
 to Soul, the affording to others like to its own property. 
 There are thus two lives and two motions; one indeed 
 that according to Essence, but the other that according to 
 nature of Body. And the one indeed more general, the 
 other more partial. But that according to Essence is self 
 determinate (5), but the other of Necessity ; for everything 
 moved is subordinated to the Necessity of the mover. 
 But the moving motion is associated (c) with the love of the 
 intelligent Essence. For the Soul would be incorporeal 
 Essence, nonpartaker of the physical body ; for if it has body 
 it has neither Eeason nor Understanding. For every body 
 is unintelligent (d) ; but having received of Essence, it came (e) 
 to be a breathing animal and the Spirit [or breath] (/) in- 
 deed is of the body, but the Keason is contemplative of the 
 beauty of the Essence. But the sentient Spirit is judicial (g) 
 of the things appearing. It hath been divided into the 
 organic senses, and some portion of it is spiritual vision, 
 and Spirit hearing and smelling and tasting and touching. 
 This the Spirit educated (A) by thought judges the Sen- 
 sible; but if not it fancies only, for it is of Body and 
 receptive of all things. But the Keason of the Essence is 
 the being wise (i). But there co-exists with the Eeason 
 the Knowledge of things honourable, but with the Spirit 
 the Opinion (/;). For this indeed has the energy from the 
 circumambient World, the other from Itself. 
 
 [Stdbceus, Physica, 928, makes a long Extract purporting 
 to be from " Hermes Trismegistus," from the Sacred Book 
 that caUed "Virgin of World" (Patrit., p. 276; MeineJce, i. 
 281), but it is alien from the genuine writings of our 
 Hermes, being a dialogue between Isis and Horus, and 
 
 (a) vovjftoiTt. (&) oivre^ovfftfjg. (c) 
 
 (d) dv6r,roi/. (e) ev%e. (/) vrvtvpoe,. (</) 
 
 (A) oivctyofAtvov. (*') TO (ppovovv. (/') q do 
 
EXCERPTS BY STOB^EUS. 131 
 
 with 2g;>, Kpovos, and "HX/O; Greek and Egyptian Deities 
 to whom no allusion is made in the other writings of 
 our author, which are also manifestly inconsistent with 
 any belief in the existence of such beings.] 
 
 XX. 
 
 OF HERMES (Stolceiis, Ethica, Lib. ii., 358; Meiwke, Vol. 
 ii., p. 100. It is not stated from what woi*k of Hermes 
 this is taken). 
 
 THERE is then Essence and Eeason and Understanding 
 and Thought. Both Opinion and Sense are referred to (a) 
 the Thought, but the Reason goes to the Essence, but the 
 Understanding goes by itself. But the Understanding is 
 interwoven (6) with the Thought; but permeating one 
 another (c) they become one Form [or Idea], and that is 
 that of the Soul. But Opinion and Sense are referred to 
 the Thought of the same ; but these do not remain at the 
 same ; whence they both exceed and fall short and differ 
 with Itself (d). Worse indeed it becomes when drawn 
 away from the Thought; but when it accompanies and 
 is obedient, it holds communion with the intellectual 
 Eeason through the Sciences. But we have the choos- 
 ing. For the choosing the superior is with us, and like- 
 wise the worse at our will. 1 For choice being made of 
 the evils brings us near to the corporeal nature : through 
 this Fate tyrannizes over the chooser (e). When then 
 the corporeal Essence in us, the intellectual Eeason, is 
 self-determinate (/), and this [Essence] holds on always 
 according to this and in such wise, through this Fate 
 
 (a) Qiptrai. (&) 
 
 (c) lA^oVra B< <xA?^Av. (d) 
 
 (e) ^vifotffnvsi T$ thofiiva. (/) 
 
 1 See Poemandres, ante, ch. iv. 6. 
 
132 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 does not touch this man, 1 but having taken for aid (a) the 
 first from the First God, it passes beyond thoughtful 
 Reason (&) and the entire Reason which Nature hath 
 ordained for those generate. With these Soul having had 
 communion has communion with the Fates of these, being 
 not partaker of the nature of the fated. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 [IT is questionable whether the following Excerpt, or 
 any and what part of it, has Hermes for its author. The 
 larger portion of it is not in Patricius nor in the earlier 
 editions of Stobasus. There is no allusion to the " Decans" 
 ox "Tanae" in his other works, and it has the air of a 
 supplement composed by some subsequent writer, possibly 
 an Alexandrian Jew. Although the words of Hermes are 
 cited, and some passages of Poemandres referred to, yet 
 the style is different, and there are therein many w r ords 
 not found in his genuine writings, as well as variant dicta, 
 such as that the Stars generate demons to be their servants. 
 The astronomical portion is very curious, and is not in- 
 consistent with the theory propounded by Hermes. The 
 account of the celestial Demons or Angels seems to be a 
 compound of Jewish traditions combined with classical 
 notions on the subject. The last part of the dialogue is 
 more like the theology of Hermes, except that the author 
 speaks of the potency of the Name of God, whereas he had 
 frequently maintained that God had no name]. 
 
 (a) 7Tix.pei.6t1a a. (6) ^{ctvor,rix.ov \6yov Trpoiyat. 
 
 1 See Lactantius (Divin. Instit., lib. ii. ch. 16, post\ where this 
 passage is quoted. 
 
 Plato in Menon (99) : " Opinions, although true, last but a short 
 time, and are worth little ; but when one finds them through reason- 
 ing to be causes, they become sciences and are permanent." In 
 Politicus (309) : " The true opinion about things beautiful and just 
 and good and the contrary to these, with firmness, when it is gene- 
 rated in Souls, is the generating Divine Nature in a Godlike (o 
 race." 
 
EXCERPTS BY STOB^EUS. 133 
 
 OF HERMES FROM THAT TO TAT. 
 (Stobceus, Physica, 469; Mrineke, i. 129). 
 
 Asdepius. Since in the former general discourse thou 
 promisedst l to inform me concerning the thirty-six Decans, 
 now inform me concerning them and the energy of these. 
 
 Hermes. There is no grudging, Tat ! and this should 
 be the most principal and most elevated discourse of all ; 
 but do you understand accordingly. We spake to thee 
 concerning the Zodiacal Circle, and of that also bearer of 
 animals (a), and of the five planets and Sun and Moon, 
 and of the circle of each of these. 
 
 Asdepius. For Thou spakedst thus, Trismegistus ! 
 
 Hermes. Thus I wish thee having remembered those, 
 to understand also concerning the thirty-six Decans, that 
 the discourse also concerning these may be well known 
 to thee. 
 
 Asdepius. I remember, Father ! 
 
 Hermes. We affirmed somewhere, Child ! Body to be 
 comprehensive (6) of all these things; apprehend then 
 <also mentally of it, as a circularly formed figure ; for thus 
 also exists the Universe. 
 
 Asdepius. Such sort of figure I understand thus as thou 
 sayest, O Father ! 
 
 Hermes. Under the circle then of this the Body have 
 been ordered the thirty-six Decans middle between the 
 circle of the Universe and of the Zodiac, setting bounds 
 between (c) both the circles, and as it were easing (d) that 
 
 (a) ao<popov. (&) 7TSpisx,Ti)toy. (c) %fopi'ovToi$. (d) *ov< 
 
 1 No such promise is to be found in any of the genuine works of 
 Hermes which have as yet come to light, but the following is found 
 in the " Asclepius," ch. viii. : " The Ousiarque of Heaven or of all that 
 is comprised under that name is Zeus, for it is by Heaven that Zeus 
 gives life to all things. The Ousiarque of the Sun is the light, for 
 it is from the disk of the Sun that we receive the benefit of the light. 
 The thirty-six Horoscopes of the fixed constellations have for Ousi- 
 arque or Prince him whom they name Pantomorphos or Omniform, 
 because he gives divers forms to divers species." 
 
134 HERMES TPJSMEGISTUS. 
 
 the Zodiac and defining it, carried along with the planets 
 both to equalize its power with the r progression (a) of the 
 Universe in contrariwise to the Seven ; and to hold 
 back (&) the comprehending body ; for it l would have 
 been last in the course, it by itself in the effect (c). But 
 to accelerate the Seven other circles because of their being 
 moved with a slower motion than the circle of the 
 Universe. 2 For necessity is there that they should be 
 moved as that of the Universe. 
 
 Let us understand then of them that they are stationed 
 around (d) the Seven and the circle of the Universe, or 
 rather of all things that are in the World, as if it were 
 guardians; keeping together all things, and maintaining 
 the good order of all of them. 
 
 Asclepius. For so I understand, Father ! from what 
 thou sayest. 
 
 Hermes. But understand further, Tat ! that they are 
 also unaffected (e) by those things which the other stars 
 suffer. For neither kept back in their course do they stop, 
 nor hindered do they retreat, nor are they enveloped with 
 the light of the Sun which the other stars experience, but 
 being free up above all things as watchful guardians and 
 overseers of the Universe they encompass the Universe in 
 the day and night. 
 
 Asclepius. Whether then also do these, Father! 
 possess energy as to us? 
 
 Hermes. The very greatest, O Child ! For if they ener- 
 gize upon those, how not also upon us, both as to each one 
 and in common. . . . Thus, Child ! of all the things 
 happening universally (/), in the energy is from these; 
 such as (understand what I say) revolutions of kingdoms, 
 
 (a) iffctivvKjuelv TYI Qopoi. (b) eire%ttv. (c) tv ru 
 
 (rf) Vip liar 0,060,1. (e} dKo-Qtig. (/) 
 
 1 i.e., The Zodiac. 
 
 2 See as to this Poemandres, ch. ii. 6. As explained there and else- 
 where, Plato as well as Hermes believed the KoV^o? to be in the Form 
 of a Sphere, and that the outer Periphery controlled the motions of 
 the planetary circles. 
 
EXCERPTS BY STOB^EUS. 135 
 
 rebellions of cities, famines, pestilences, tides of the ocean, 
 earthquakes. None of these things, Child ! happens 
 apart from the energy of those. But further in addition 
 to these things understand : for if they preside (a) over 
 them and we are also under the Seven, understandest thou 
 not that a certain energy of them attains (b) even to us as 
 their sons or by their means? 1 
 
 Asclepius. What may be the form of the body to them, 
 O Father? 
 
 Hermes. These then the Many call Demons; but that 
 of the demons is not any peculiar race, nor having different 
 bodies out of some peculiar matter, not being moved by 
 Soul as we are ; but they are energies of these thirty-six 
 Gods. Further, in addition to these things understand, O 
 Tat ! the energizing (c) of these, that also they sow upon 
 the Earth what they call Tanae, some indeed salutary but 
 others destructive. Moreover also Stars borne onward in 
 heaven they generate for themselves subministers (d), and 
 have servants and soldiers. But these, mingled with them, 
 are borne onward, raised aloft in the ether, filling up the 
 space of that, so that there should be no space on high void 
 of stars ; 2 arranging together (e) the Universe having a 
 proper Energy subordinate as to the Energy of the thirty- 
 six. From whom also about the countries destructions are 
 generated of the other living animals, and the multitude 
 of the live creatures devastating the fruits. But above 
 these is that called Bear (/) in the midst of the Zodiac, 
 composed of seven Stars, having another in opposition (g) 
 overhead. The Energy of this indeed is as if an axle, by 
 no means indeed either setting or rising, but remaining in 
 
 (a) 7r;<rrTOt;<r/y. (6) QQatvtw. (c) svepynftoi. 
 
 (d) ifTFoiht rtovpyovs. (e) ffv/xoffftovirres. (f) "Apxro;. 
 
 (g) etrrfwyov. 
 
 1 See as to the power and influence of the Stars and their Angels, 
 Poemandres, iii. 3, and notes there. 
 
 2 This will be in anticipation of the modern theories, that the 
 fixed Stars are Suns with attendant satellites or luminaries, that the 
 shape of the heavens is spherical, and that celestial space is replete 
 with stellar matter. 
 
136 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 the same place and turned about itself but energizing the 
 revolution of the Zodiacal circle (a), delivering over this the 
 Universe from the night indeed to day, and from the day 
 to night. But after this there is another Chorus of Stars 
 which we have not thought worthy of appellations, but 
 those hereafter having imitated us, will themselves too 
 apply to these appellations. But below the Moon are other 
 stars perishable, while subsisting for little time, exhaled 
 from the earth itself, into the air above earth; which also 
 we see dissolved, having the nature like to the useless of the 
 animals upon earth, and are generate for nothing else than 
 that only they perish ; such as the race of the flies, the 
 fleas, the worms, and the others the like. For verily these, 
 O Tat! are neither useful to us nor to the world: on the 
 contrary are hurtful, being troublesome, being appendices (6) 
 of the Nature, and having the generation by way of the 
 superfluous (c) ; the same way also the stars exhaled from 
 the Earth do not indeed assume the place above, for they 
 are unable as issuing from beneath. But having the 
 weight great, drawn downwards by their own matter, they 
 are quickly dissipated, and being dissolved fall again to 
 earth, having energized nothing except only having dis- 
 turbed the air above Earth. But there is another kind, O 
 Tat! that of those called comets, appearing occasionally (d), 
 and again after a short time becoming invisible, neither 
 rising nor setting nor being dissolved ; which become con- 
 spicuous messengers and heralds of universal events about 
 to be in future ; but these have their place beneath the 
 circle of the Sun. When then anything is about to happen 
 in the world, these appear; but having appeared a few 
 days again having gone under the circle of the Sun, they 
 remain invisible, having appeared in the West, others in 
 the North, others again in the East (e), and others in the 
 South. But we denominated them Prophets. This is the 
 nature of Stars. But (/) Stars have difference with Con- 
 stellations (ff) ; for Stars are those suspended aloft in the 
 
 (tt) t^uotyopov. (&) TTot.poix.o'hQvQ'hfAaiTct,. (c) X,OC,TOC TO 
 
 ((/) X.OCTO. xoupov. (e) rw "htfti. (/) dffrsp&f. (</) oLarpuv. 
 
EXCERPTS BY STOB^US. 137 
 
 heaven, but Constellations are those enclosed (a) in the 
 body of the Heaven, and carried along with the Heaven, of 
 which we have mentioned the twelve of the Zodiac. He 
 who is not ignorant of these things is able accurately to 
 understand The God, and if one ought to speak also with 
 boldness, becoming eyewitness also to behold Him (b), and 
 having beheld to become blessed. 
 
 Asclepiw. Blessed how truly, O Father! he having 
 beheld Him ! 
 
 Hermes. But it is impossible, O Child ! that one in 
 body should have this happiness. But it behoves each 
 first to exercise the Soul of his here, in order that becoming 
 there where it is permitted to behold, it may not have 
 mistaken the way. But so many men as are body lovers, 
 these can never ever behold the Vision of The Beautiful 
 and Good. For what sort of beauty, O Child! is that 
 which has neither figure nor colour nor body? 
 
 Asclepius. Could there be anything, Father, apart 
 from these beautiful? 
 
 Hermes. The God alone, Child! but rather that 
 being something greater, The Name of The God. 
 
 (a) iy&stftsva,, (b) OCVTOTTTYIV Q&a,(JOitjQot,i. 
 
 END OF PART II. 
 
HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 PAET III. 
 
 NOTICES OF HERMES IN THE FATHERS, 
 
 I. 
 
 JUSTIN MAETYH (born circa A.D. 100; martyr. A.D. 165). 
 " Uapaiverfabe it fa 'EXfojvag," " Parsenetica ad Grsecos " 
 Opera Edit. Colon. 1636, p. 37, ad fin. 
 
 " BUT if any one should think it worth (a) while to have 
 learnt from the most ancient philosophers named among 
 them, as to the discourse concerning The God, let him 
 hear both Acrnon 1 and Hermes; Acmon indeed in his 
 discourses concerning Him calling Him 'The altogether 
 hidden God/ and Hermes wisely and openly saying, ' To 
 understand The God indeed is difficult, but to express [or 
 declare] Him impossible.' To whom then it is possible to 
 understand it is altogether therefore becoming to know." 2 
 
 (a) o'totro. 
 
 1 This Acmon was probably the Greek philosopher who lived just 
 previously to the Emperor Hadrian (A.D. 76-138), and was master of 
 Plutarch, and taught at Delphi in the 12th year of Nero's reign (A.D. 
 66). He professed Syncretism, and endeavoured to reconcile Aristotle 
 with Platonism (Plutarch, " De adulatoribus," Fabricius Bibliotheca 
 Grseca, v. 153). He has been confounded wrongfully with Ammo- 
 nius Saccas, the master of Plotinus and the reputed founder of Neo- 
 platonism, who died at Alexandria A.D. 241. A reference, however, 
 may be intended to the Egyptian Ammon. 
 
 2 See " Poemandres," ch. v., sec. 10, and more particularly the 
 
NOTICES IN THE FATHERS. 139 
 
 Ibid., Apologia, i., sees. 21, 22. 
 
 " When we say that The Word, Who is the First be- 
 gotten of God, was born, &c., we introduce nothing different 
 from what you say of those whom you call sons of Jupiter. 
 For you are aware how many sons the writers of repute 
 among you assign to him. Hermes the interpreting Word 
 and teacher of all." " If we affirm that The Word Who is 
 of God was begotten of God even in a peculiar manner, 
 and beyond the ordinary generation as I have already said, 
 let this be common to you who affirm Hermes to be the 
 Messenger Word from God." Translated Library of the 
 Fathers, Oxford, 1861. 
 
 Ibid., Apologia, ii., sec. 6. 
 
 " But proper name for The Father of all things Who is 
 unbegotten there is none. For who ever is called by a 
 name, has the person older than himself who gives him 
 the name. But these terms ' Father,' ' God,' and 'Creator/ 
 and 'Lord' and 'Master,' are not names, but terms of address 
 derived from His benefits and His works." 1 Translated 
 Library of the Fathers, Oxford, 1861. 
 
 ii. 
 
 TERTULLIAN (born, according to Tillemont, A.D. 136; ac- 
 cording to others 160; died very old, AJX 216-1). 
 Contra Valentinianos, ch. xv. 
 
 " Now the Pythagoreans may learn, the Stoics may 
 know, Plato himself, whence Matter, which they will have 
 to be unborn, derived both its origin and substance for all 
 this pile of the World, which not even the renowned Mer- 
 
 extract from " The things to Tat," Stobseus, Florilegium, 78; Meineke, 
 iii. 134. Quoted also by Lactantius. See post. 
 
 1 Quoted also by Lactantius (Divin. Instit., i., vi.). See a nearly 
 identical passage in Poemandres, ch. v. sec. 10. 
 
140 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 curius Trismegistus, Master of all physical philosophy 
 thought out." , 
 
 [The Author of the " Poemandres," however, distinctly' 
 states several times that " ro vav" was created by The 
 One God]. 
 
 Hid., De Anima, ch. xxxiii. 
 
 "Even if Souls have permanency enough to remain 
 unchanged until the judgment, a point which Hermes 
 Egyptius recognised when he said that the Soul after its 
 separation from the body was not dissipated back into the 
 Soul of the Universe, but retained permanently its dis- 
 tinct individuality. 'In order that it might render/ to 
 use his own words, ' an account to The Father of those 
 things which it has clone in the body.' " 
 
 III 
 
 CYPRIAN (born circa A.D. 200 ; martyred A.D. 258). Baluze 
 Edit. Paris, 1726. De Idolorum Vanitate, p. 220. 
 
 " HERMES TRISMEGISTUS unum Deum loquitur eumque 
 incomprehensibilem atque inestimabilem confitetur." 
 " Hermes Trismegistus speaks of One God, and confesses 
 Him to be incomprehensible and inestimable." 
 
 IV. 
 
 EUSEBIUS PAMPHILI (bom circa 264), Hist. Lib., v. ch. 8, 
 lias a clear quotation from the " Poemandres " of Hermes 
 (whom, however, he probably confounds with the Shepherd 
 Hernias) " ou ftovov fa o/dsv, dXXa xal d'Tfods^rcx,! (o 
 rqv rov Hoifttvog ypcKprjV Xeyuv, KaXwg ovv siffev q ypatpr) TJ 
 IIpuiTov trdvruv rtiffrtvffov on sig sdnv o 0s^g, o ra vdvra, xritfa? xa/ 
 xarapr/Vag, xa/ r& %%?" 
 
NOTICES IN THE FATHERS. 141 
 
 "Irenseus not only knew but approves the writing of 
 the Shepherd, saying, ' Well then spake the Scripture say- 
 ing first of all things believe that The God is One, He 
 having created and arranged the Universe, and the rest.' " 
 
 V. 
 
 CLEMENS ALEXANDRINUS (born circa 150), (Stromata, Lib. 
 i., ch. 21, Lib. vi, ch. 4, p. 379. Oxford Edition). He 
 mentions Hermes of Thebes and Esculapius of Mem- 
 phis, " e vate Deus." Ibid., Lib. vi., ch. iv., p. 737. 
 
 CLEMENS gives a long description of the various works 
 attributed to this Egyptian Hermes, Forty-two in number. 
 Four of Astrology, others of Astronomy, Geology, and 
 Hieroglyphics, and thirty-six containing all Egyptian 
 philosophy at great length, including Hymns to God, reli- 
 gious ceremonies, and sacerdotal discipline. As no par- 
 ticular reference is there made to any of the treatises in 
 this volume, it is unnecessary to go into further details 
 concerning those mentioned by Clemens. 
 
 VI. 
 
 EIRMIANUS LACTANTIUS (died A.D. 325). Edition of Le 
 Brun and Dufresnoy, Paris, 1747. Divine Institutes, 
 i. ch. vi. 
 
 AFTER recounting shortly the history of the legendary 
 Hermes (whom he uncritically confounds with our Author), 
 he subsequently quotes our Hermes, and proceeds thus : 
 
 " Hermes " (or the fifth Mercury), " although he was 
 a man, yet he was of great antiquity, and most fully 
 imbued with every kind of learning, so that the knowledge 
 of many subjects and arts acquired for him the name of 
 Trismegistus. He wrote books, and those in great num- 
 
142 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 bers, relating to the knowledge of divine things, in which 
 he asserts the Majesty of The Supreme and Only God, and 
 makes mention of Him by the same names which we use, 
 ' God and Father.' And that no one might inquire His 
 name, he said that He was without name, and that on 
 account of His very Unity He does not require the pecu- 
 liarity of a name. These are his own words: 1 The ' God is 
 One, but He who is only One does not need a name; for 
 He Who is Self Existent is without a name.' " 
 
 Hid. i. ch. 11. 
 
 " Therefore it appears that Saturn was not born from 
 heaven, which is impossible, but from that man who 
 bore the name of Uranus. And Trismegistus asserts the 
 truth of this ; for when he said that very few existed 
 in whom there was perfect learning, he mentioned by 
 name among these his forefathers Uranus, Saturn, and 
 Mercury." 2 
 
 Hid. ii. ch. 9. 
 
 " For that the world was made by Divine Providence, 
 not to mention Trismegistus, who proclaims this." 
 
 Ibid, and Epitome, ch. 4, ad Jin. 
 
 " His (God's) works are seen by the eyes, but how He 
 made them is not even seen by the Mind; because, as 
 Hermes says, Mortal cannot draw nigh to (that is approach 
 nearer and follow up with the understanding) the immor- 
 tal; the temporal to the eternal, the corruptible to the 
 incorruptible." " And on this account the earthly animal 
 is as yet incapable of perceiving heavenly things, because 
 it is shut in and held as it were in custody by the body." 3 
 
 1 Vide Poemandres, ch. v. 10; Parthey's Edit., p. 47, and note 
 there ; ch. xi. 7-12, ibid. 92. Asclepius I. It may be here observed 
 that when Lactantius quotes the genine Hermes, he always transcribes 
 the original Greek. 
 
 2 Poemandres, ch. x. ; Parthey's Edit., 70. 
 
 3 Hermes, from " The things to Tat," extracted by Stobams, Flori- 
 leginm, ch. 80 ; Meineke, iii. 104. 
 
NOTICES IN THE FATHERS. 143 
 
 Ibid., Divin. Instit., ii. ch. 11. 
 
 " But the making of the true and living Man from clay 
 is the work of God. And this also is related by Hermes, 
 who not only says that Man was made by God after the 
 image of God, but he even tried to explain in how skilful 
 a manner he formed each limb in the human body, since 
 there is none of them which is not available for the neces- 
 sity of use as well as for beauty." x 
 
 Ibid. ch. 13. J 
 
 "Empedocles and Lucretius and Varro among the Romans 
 determined that there were four Elements, that is Fire, Air, 
 Water, and Earth, perhaps following Trismegistus, who 
 said that ' our bodies were composed of these four Elements 
 by God, for ' (he said) ' they contained in themselves 
 something of fire, something of air, something of water, 
 and something of earth; and yet that they were neither 
 fire, nor air, nor water, nor earth.' " 2 
 
 Ibid. ch. 15. 
 
 " Thus there came to be two kinds of demons, one of 
 heaven the other of earth. The latter are the wicked 
 Spirits, the authors of all the evils which are done, and 
 the same Devil is their prince, whence Trismegistus calls 
 him the ruler (a) of the demons." 3 
 
 Ibid. ch. xvi 
 
 " In short, Hermes affirms that those who have known 
 God are not only safe from the attacks of demons, but 
 that they are not even bound by Fate. ' The only pro- 
 
 1 Poemandres, ch. {.passim, ch.v.; Parthey,44, ch. xiii.; ibid. 116. 
 
 2 Poemandres, ch. ii. 11, and note there. See also the extract from 
 Hermes, "Of the things to Ammon to Tat," Stobaeus, Physica; 
 Meineke, Edit. i. 204, and more expressly the extract in the Flori- 
 legium, xi. ; Meineke, i. 248. 
 
 3 See Poemandres, ch. ix. 3. 
 
144 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 tection/ he says, 'is piety; for over a pious man neither 
 evil demon nor fate has any power ; for God rescues the 
 pious man from all evil ; for the one and the only good 
 thing among men is piety/ And what piety is he testi- 
 fies in another place in these words : ' For piety is the 
 knowledge of God' (0goD /i/wtr/s). Asclepius also, his dis- 
 ciple, more fully expressed the same sentiment in that 
 finished discourse which he wrote to the king. 1 Each of 
 them, in truth, affirms that the demons are the enemies 
 and harassers of men, and on this account Trismegistus 
 calls them wicked angels, so far was he from being ignor- 
 ant that from heavenly beings they were corrupted and 
 began to be earthly." 2 
 
 Ibid. iv. 
 
 " Assuredly He is The very Son of God Who by that wise 
 King Solomon full of Divine inspiration spoke these 
 things which we have added: 'God founded me in the 
 beginning of His ways, &c. (quoting Proverbs viii. 22, 31, 
 from the Septuagint). But on this account Trismegistus 
 spoke of Him as " the Artificer of God." 3 
 
 Ibid. iv. ch. 8. 
 
 " But Hermes also was of the same opinion when He 
 says that He was ' His own Father ' and ' His own 
 mother ' " (Avroirdropa 
 
 Ibid. ch. 9. 
 
 " For the Greeks speak of Him as The Logos, more be- 
 fittingly than we do, as the Word or Speech ; for Logos 
 signifies both Speech and Eeason, inasmuch as He is both 
 the Voice and the Wisdom of God. . . . For Trismegistus 
 
 1 It is plain then that the ""Opoi, or ' Definitions of/ Asclepius to 
 King Ammoii " were written by him, not by our Hermes. 
 
 2 Poemandres, ch. ix. 3, 4; Parthey, 61, 62; ibid. ch. xii. 9; ibid. 
 104. Extracts from Hermes in Stobreus, " Ethica, 358; Meineke,. 
 ii. p. 100." 
 
 3 See Poemandres, i. 10; Parthey, 5. 
 
 4 (q) Poemandres, i. 8; Parthey, 4. 
 
NOTICES IN THE FATHERS. 145 
 
 who I know not how investigated almost all Truth, often 
 described the Excellency and Majesty of The Word, as the 
 instance before mentioned declares, in which he acknow- 
 ledges that there is an ineffable and sacred Speech, the 
 relation of which exceeds the measure of man's ability." l 
 
 Ibid., Dimn. Instit., Lib. iv. ch. 6. 
 
 " But that there is a Son of The Most High God Who is 
 possessed of the greatest power, is shown not only by the 
 unanimous utterances of the prophets, but also by the 
 declaration of Trismegistus, and the predictions of the 
 Sibyls. Hermes in the book which is entitled ' The Per- 
 fect Word ' made use of these words : ' The Lord and 
 Creator of all things Whom we have thought right to call 
 God, since He made the Second God visible and sensible. 
 But I use the term sensible, not because He Himself per- 
 ceives (for the question is not whether He Himself per- 
 ceives), but because He leads (a) to perception and intel- 
 ligence. Since therefore He made Him First and alone 
 and One only, He appeared to Him beautiful and most full 
 of all good things, and He hallowed Him and altogether 
 loved Him as His own Son.' " 2 
 
 Ibid., Dimn. Instit, v. ch. 65. 
 
 "But Piety is nothing else but 'the Knowledge of God,' 
 as Trismegistus most truly defined it." 3 
 
 (a) v'TTQirift'Trti. 
 
 1 Poemandres, i. 3, 6-9; Parthey, 3, 5. 
 
 2 This passage is found nearly verbatim in the Asclepius, ch. iv. 
 Lactantius gives the original Greek, which is not extant elsewhere. 
 But it is also to be found in the original Greek in Poemandres, ch. i. 
 6, 10, 12; Parthey's Edit., 3, 5, 6; whence it would seem that Ascle- 
 pius copied from Poemandres. See also Poemandres, ch. xiii. 4; 
 Parthey 's Ed., 117. This is also cited by Lactantius in the Epitome 
 of the Divin. Instit., ch. xlii. 
 
 3 Poemandres, ix. 3, 4. 
 
146 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 Ibid., Lib. vi. ch. 25. 
 
 " We ought therefore to hold forth and offer to God that 
 alone for the receiving of which He Himself produced us. 
 But how true this twofold kind of Sacrifice is, Trismegistus 
 Hermes is a befitting witness, who agrees with us, that is 
 with the Prophets whom we follow as much in facts as in 
 words. He thus spoke concerning Justice: 'Adore and 
 worship the Word, Son ! but the worship of God con- 
 sists of one thing, not to be wicked.' l Also in that ' Per- 
 fect Discourse ' when he heard Asclepius enquiring from 
 his Son (Tat) whether it pleased him that incense and other 
 odours for divine Sacrifice were offered to his father, ex- 
 claimed : ' Speak words of good omen, Asclepius ! for it 
 is the greatest impiety to entertain any such thought 
 concerning that being of pre-eminent goodness. For these 
 things and things resembling these are not adapted to 
 Him. For He is full of all things as many as exist, and 
 He has need of nothing at all. But let us give thanks 
 and adore Him, for His Sacrifice consists only of Blessing.' 2 
 And he spoke rightly." 
 
 Ibid., Lib. vii. ch. 4. 
 
 " But Hermes was not ignorant that Man was both 
 made by God and after the image of God." 3 
 
 Ibid. ch. 9. 
 
 " Man alone of all the animals is heavenly and Divine ; 
 whose body raised from the ground, elevated countenance 
 and upright position, goes in quest of its origin, and de- 
 spising as it were the lowliness of the Earth, reaches forth 
 to that which is on high, because he perceives that the 
 
 1 Poemandres, ch. xii. 23; Parthey, 113. 
 
 2 In Asclepius, ch. xv. As before shown, this " Perfect Discourse" 
 was not written by Hermes but by Asclepius, his disciple, subse- 
 quently. Here Lactantius quotes in Latin, not in Greek. See also 
 Poemandres, ch. xiii. 19, 20. 
 
 3 Poemandres, ch. i. 12; Parthey, 6. 
 
NOTICES IN THE FATHERS. 147 
 
 highest good is to be sought by him in the highest place, 
 and mindful of his condition in which God made him 
 illustrious, looks towards his Maker. And Trismegistus 
 most rightly called this looking, a contemplation of God 
 which has no existence in the dumb animals." l 
 
 Ibid. ch. 13. 
 
 " Hermes describing the nature of Man, that he might 
 show how he was made by God, introduced this statement: 
 ' And the same out of two natures, the immortal and the 
 mortal, made one Nature, that of Man ; making the same 
 partly immortal and partly mortal, and bringing this He 
 placed it in the midst between that nature which was 
 Divine and immortal, and that which was mortal and 
 changeable, that seeing all things he may admire all 
 things." 2 
 
 Ibid., Divin. Instit., Lib. vii. ch. 18. 
 
 " This Hermes did not conceal ; for in that book which is 
 entitled ' The Perfect Discourse,' after an enumeration of 
 the evils concerning which we have spoken, he added 
 these things : ' But when these things thus come to pass, 
 then He who is Lord and Father and God and the Creator 
 of the First and One God, looking upon what is done, and 
 opposing to the disorder His own will, that is Goodness, 
 and recalling the wandering, and cleansing wickedness, 
 partly inundating it with much water and partly burning 
 it with most rapid fire, and sometimes pressing it with 
 wars and pestilences, He brought His World to its 
 ancient state and restored it.' " 3 
 
 1 Poerriandres, ch. xii., xiii., xiv. passim; Parthey, 106, 111, et seq. 
 
 2 Poemandres, ch. iv. 2, substantially. It is found also in the 
 " Perfect Discourse," Asclepius, ch. iv. 
 
 3 This passage is cited in the original Greek by Lactantius, which 
 otherwise we do not possess. In the Latin translation ascribed to 
 Apuleius, it varies much. It is found in the Epitome of Lactantius, 
 ch. viii.; also in Asclepius, ch. ix., nearly verbatim, apparently copied 
 from some former work of Hermes. As before stated, this last was 
 
148 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 Lactantius, Epitome of Divin. Instit., ch. iv. 
 (In Latin). 
 
 " Hermes, who on account of his virtue, and his know- 
 ledge of many arts, deserved the name of Trismegistus, 
 who preceded the philosophers in the antiquity of his 
 doctrine, and who is reverenced by the Egyptians as a 
 God, in asserting the majesty of The One God with infinite 
 praises, calls Him Lord and Father, and says that He is 
 without a name, because He does not stand in need of a 
 proper name, inasmuch as He is alone, and that He has no 
 parents, since He exists of Himself and by Himself. In 
 writing to His Son He thus begins : ' To understand God 
 is difficult, to describe Him in speech is impossible even 
 for one to whom it is possible to understand Him ; for the 
 perfect cannot be comprehended by the imperfect, nor the 
 visible by the invisible.' " l 
 
 VII. 
 
 AENOBIUS (circa 305, about the abdication of Diocletian) 
 writes thus (Adversus Gentes, Lib. ii. 13). 
 
 "You, you I address who zealously follow Mercury, 
 Plato, and Pythagoras, and the rest of you who are of one 
 mind and walk in union in the same paths of doctrine." 
 
 not written by Hermes but by this Asclepius ; for the same chapter 
 contains also a defence of Image worship, and a recognition of Jupiter 
 as Supreme God, which is wholly inconsistent with what Hermes has 
 previously inculcated. 
 
 1 See the references, ante, p. 6. Also the Excerpts from Justin 
 Martyr, ante, 1. 
 
NOTICES IN THE FATHERS. 149 
 
 VIII. 
 
 AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO (born 354). 
 
 HE relates without doubt (" City of God," viii. 23, 26) 
 how the fifth Mercury and his friend Asclepius (or ^Escu- 
 lapius), grandson of the first, were men, and became Gods 
 as Mercury and JEsculapius after the Greek fashion. To 
 Hermes, who like Horus was represented by a bird with a 
 hawk's head, was sacred the Ibis and the Moon. [In the 
 same chapters Augustine quotes a Latin translation of the 
 " Asclepius " at length the Greek version as it seems not 
 even then being extant as advocating the worship of 
 Images as Gods. It has been shown that this is not a 
 work of the true Hermes, and consequently the observa- 
 tions of St Augustine thereon are not here extracted.] 
 
 IX. 
 
 CYRILLUS ALEXANDRINUS (Patriarch of Alexandria, 412), 
 Lib. i., Contra Julianum, 30&. 
 
 "Tins Hermes then, him of Egypt, although being 
 Initiator (a) and having presided at the fanes of the Idols, 
 is always found mindful of the things of Moses, and if not 
 altogether rightly and completely yet still in part. For 
 he hath profited, and he hath made mention of him also 
 in his own writings, which he having composed for Athen- 
 ians (6), are called Hermaiea fifteen Books." 
 
 Lib. i, Contra Julianum, 31&. 
 The same Cyril writes thus: 
 
 " The Trismegistus Hermes in this wise says : To un- 
 derstand (c) God is difficult, to declare (d) Him impossible 
 
 (a) rfreffTvs; "etsi Sacerdos esset," Latin translation. 
 
 (6) 'A0JJJ/JJ07. (c) i/ojjffa;. (d) Qpourou 
 
150 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 if even it were possible to understand Him, for the incor- 
 poreal to be signified by body impossible and tlie perfect 
 to be comprehended (a) by the imperfect not possible, and 
 the eternal to be conversant with the short-lived difficult; 
 for this ever is, but that passes away, and this is true, but 
 that is overshadowed by phantasy. 1 For as much as the 
 strengthless and the stronger and the less from the superior, 
 are distant, so much the Mortal from the Divine and im- 
 mortal. If then there be any incorporeal eye, let it come 
 forth from the body, and to the Vision of the Beautiful. 
 Let it fly up and be lifted into air ; not figure, not body, 
 not ideas, seeking to contemplate, but that rather, The 
 Maker of these ; the quiet, the serene, the stable, the in- 
 variable, the Self, all things and Only, The One ; the Same 
 out of Itself, the same in Itself, the like to Itself, which 
 neither is like to another, nor is unlike to Itself, 2 and again 
 The Same." 
 
 Ibid. 33c. 
 
 " But the Trismegistus Hermes thus speaks concerning 
 The God : ' For The Word of Him proceeding forth being- 
 altogether perfect and generative and Creator in a genera- 
 tive nature falling upon generative Water, made water 
 pregnant.' " 3 
 
 And the same again : 
 
 " The 4 Pyramis" (he says) " lying under the Nature, and 
 to the intelligible world. For it has resting upon it a 
 Kuler and Creator, Word of The Lord of all, Who, after 
 
 1 See Stobseus, Florileg., 80; Meineke, iii. 104; ante, Stobecus, 
 vii., Part II. 
 
 2 Extracted by Stobseus also substantially, Florilegium, xi. 23, ad 
 Jin. See 1, ante, Part II., and Meineke, i. 251. 
 
 3 See Poemandres, i. 8, 14, 15; Suidas, Lexicon, post, x., who quotes 
 this same passage. 
 
 4 In the commencement of Poemandres, ch. i., Hermes had as- 
 serted that Fire or heat was the chief medium which the Creator 
 had employed for the arrangement of Creation. Fire as Flame is in 
 form a Cone or Pyramid, hence that appellation was given to the 
 Pyramids, which are Cones. See Poemandres, i. 17. 
 
NOTICES IN THE FATHERS. 151 
 
 Him First Power ingenerate, infinite, from Him having 
 issued forth (a), rests upon and rules those things, having 
 been created by Him. He is Forebegotten of the All- 
 perfect, and perfect, and generative, own kindred Son." l 
 
 " And again the same, replying as if to some enquirer of 
 the priests in Egypt, saying : ' For what then, Megistus ! 
 was the good Demon 2 called by this name by The Lord of 
 all?' He saith, 'And in those previous I said, but thou 
 hast not understood, The nature of The same Intelligible 
 Word. This is a generative nature, just as the generation of 
 Him, either nature or mode, or call it what you wish to 
 call it. This only understanding, that perfect He is in 
 perfect, and from perfect; perfect things He effects, and 
 creates and vivifies. Since then He has such kind of 
 nature He has been well thus addressed.' " 
 
 " And the same in the first discourse of the Digressions 
 to Tat, 3 he thus speaks concerning God : ' The Word of 
 the Creator, O Child ! is eternal, Self-moveable, unaug- 
 mentable, undiminishable, unchangeable, incorruptible and 
 Only, always like to Himself, equable and even, stable, 
 well-ordered, being One after the pre-acknowledged God;' 
 and as I think he signifies by this The Father." 
 
 " Hermes says also in the third discourse of those to 
 Asclepius : ' It is not attainable to impart such sort of 
 Mysteries to uninitiated; but hear with the Mind. One 
 only was intelligent Light before intelligible Light and 
 Mind always is luminous with light, and nothing other 
 was than Oneness of this always being in Itself, always 
 within the Mind of its own Self, and with light and with 
 Spirit encompasses all things.' And afterwards: 'With- 
 out this, not God, nor Angel nor Demon nor any other 
 Essence, for He is Lord and Father of all things, and God 
 and source of life and Power and Light and Mind, and all 
 things are in Him and under Him.' 
 
 (a) 
 
 1 See Poemandres, i. 6, 9, 10; xiii. 3 ; xiv. 3. 
 
 2 See as to the " Good Demon," Poemandres, xii. passim. 
 
 3 See Poemandres, iv. and v., and elsewhere. 
 
152 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 " For as to Mind out of Mind I opine he speaks of the 
 Son, and so Light out of Light. He mentions also the 
 Spirit as encompassing all things, and he says that neither 
 Angel nor demon, nor verily any other nature or Essence, 
 lies without the Divine Supremacy, therefore power; but 
 under Him are all things and by It are determined." 
 
 " And again the same in the same third discourse of those 
 to Asclepius, as if some one enquiring concerning The 
 Divine Spirit he speaks thus : ' Unless there were some 
 providence of the Lord of all things that I should reveal 
 this discourse, neither had such kind of desire now taken 
 hold of you that you should have made enquiry concerning 
 this. But now hear the remainder of the discourse. Of this 
 Spirit of which I have often previously spoken all things 
 are in want. For supporting according to worth He vivi- 
 fies all things and nourishes and is dependent (a) from the 
 Holy Source, assisting with Spirit and ever originating (b) 
 life to all, being the One generative (c). He knew It then 
 both originating in its own subsistence (d) and all things 
 vivifying and nourishing, and as dependent from a Holy 
 Source of The God and Father ; for it proceeds from Him 
 according to Nature, and through The Son is made instru- 
 mental in Creation.' " (e) 1 
 
 Cyrillus, ibid., Lib. ii. 52#. 
 
 " I will also add to these what formerly the Trismegistus 
 Hermes wrote to his own Mind, for thus the book is named: 
 * Dost thou say then God is invisible,' &c." 2 
 
 Cyrillus, ibid., 566. 
 
 "I will mention the words of Hermes thrice greatest 
 only which he uses in that dialogue which is to Asclepius : 
 
 (a) s^tjpr^roif. (6) vireip%ov. (c) 
 
 (d) fiioav<na.Ti)$. (e) xopyytirott TV) xriret. 
 
 1 As Menard has remarked (Preface, i.), this passage states the 
 doctrine of the Trinity as held by the Greek Church, viz., The Holy 
 Ghost proceeding from the Father through the Son. See Poem- 
 andres, ch. xiii. 4, 19, 21. 
 
 2 See the passage, Poemandres, ch. xi. 22. 
 
NOTICES IN THE FATHERS. 153 
 
 'And Osiris said/" &c. This passage being part of the 
 Asclepius, not the work of Hermes himself, is not here 
 extracted. 
 
 Cyrillus, ibid. 
 
 " In the first Book of his Digressive discourse (a) to Tat : 
 ' The Lord of all things immediately spoke to His Holy and 
 Intelligent and Creative Word, "Let there be Sun;" and 
 along with the speaking, the Fire having the uplifting (b) 
 Nature, I say then the unmixed the most brilliant and 
 more drastic and generative, by its own Spirit the Nature 
 was attracted (c) and raised aloft from the water.' Again 
 of this make mention, he among them Trismegistus Hermes J 
 he introduced The God saying to the formations (d), ' On 
 you, those from Me, I will impose Necessity; this, that 
 commandment by my Word given to you; for this law 
 ye have.' " l 
 
 Cyrillus, ibid. 630. 
 
 "For Hermes by name thrice great, writes thus to 
 Asclepius concerning the nature of the Universe: 'If 
 then the beings are acknowledged to be two, that gene- 
 rate,' &c." 2 
 
 Ibid. 64c. 
 
 "And again after other things in warmer words he 
 comes speaking, having put a most plain example, and 
 says : ' Besides indeed to the same limner it is allowed,' 
 &c." 3 
 
 Cyrillics, Lib. viii. p. 274c. 
 
 " Hermes thrice great hath said also somewhere of God 
 The most excellent Artificer :(e) ' Moreover as perfect and 
 wise, He hath imposed order and want of order; when the 
 Intelligible indeed He placed first as older and superior, and 
 
 (a) B/g^oS/XW T^O-yU. (6) CtyuQspOVffOC. (c) 
 
 (d) XTlGfAOKJlV. (e) OtptfITOT%VOV. 
 
 1 This from Poemandres, i. and iii. 
 
 2 This from Poemandres, xiv. 6, 7. 
 
 3 This from Poemandres, xiv. 8. 
 
154 HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. 
 
 should have the first place ; but the Sensible 'as second, 
 that they should be subject to those (a). That then, borne 
 lower than the Intelligible and weighed down (5), has in 
 itself a wise creative Word." 
 
 Cyrill. Contra. Julian., citing Hermes. 
 " If thou understandest that Only and Sole God, thou 
 wilt find nothing impossible, for it is all Virtue. Think 
 not that it may be in some one, say not that it is out 
 of some one. It is without termination, it is the termina- 
 tion of all. Nothing contains It, for It contains all in 
 Itself. What difference is there between the body and 
 the incorporeal, the created and the uncreated, that which 
 is subject to the Necessity, and that which is free, between 
 the things terrestrial and the things celestial, the things 
 corruptible and the things Eternal ? Is it not that the one 
 exists freely and that the others are subject to Necessity ? 
 That which is below is imperfect and corruptible." 
 
 Cyrill. Contra. Julian., Lib. v. 1766. 
 
 "The Egyptians also have to tell, numbering among 
 themselves names of not few wise men, that they had 
 many, who were of succession after Hermes. I speak of 
 Hermes, him having sojourned third x in Egypt." 
 
 X. 
 
 SUIDAS (under Alexander Comnenus), Lexicon. Vocc 
 Hermes. [Edit. Godofredus Bernardy (after Gaisford) 
 Halis et Brunsvigae, 1853.] 
 
 " HERMES the Trismegistus. He was an Egyptian sage, 
 and flourished before Pharaoh. He was called Trisme- 
 
 (a) viroffryx.?!. (&) 
 
 1 Pietschmann, in Ms dissertation on Hermes Trismegistus (Engel- 
 
 mann, Leipzig, 1875), attempts (pp. 51-54) to determine who these 
 
 three Hermes were: one contemporary with Enoch and Seth; the 
 
NOTICES IN THE FATHERS. 155 
 
 gistus because he spoke concerning a Trinity (a), saying 
 that in Trinity there is One Godhead (b) thus : There was 
 intelligent Light before intelligent Light, and there was 
 always Mind luminous of Mind (c), and the Unity of This 
 was nothing other, 1 and Spirit encompassing all things. 
 Without This God is not nor angel 2 nor any other Essence. 
 For of all tilings He is God and Father and Lord, and all 
 things are under Him and in Him. For His Word going 
 forth, being altogether perfect and generative (d) and 
 creative (e) having fallen on Water also generative, ren- 
 dered the Water pregnant (/). 3 And having said this he 
 prayed, saying : ' I adjure thee, O Heaven-wise work of 
 The great God. I adjure thee, Voice of Father Which He 
 spoke first when He stablished the whole World. I ad- 
 jure thee by that His Only begotten Word and The Father 
 of Him embracing around all things.' " 4 
 
 (&) Trtpi rpioibos. (&) dtivrTtrret,. (c) voo; 
 
 (d) 
 
 second a Chaldsean, contemporary with Sardanapalus, who had 
 Pythagoras for his pupil; the third a physician, who was born in 
 Memphis of uncertain age. It is clear, however, that none of these 
 was the Hermes, the author of Poemandres. 
 
 1 The Editor of Suidas remarks that Cyrillus Alexandrinus quotes 
 this passage thus (" from Hermes in that to Tat to his own Mind,'' 
 i. Contr. Julian., pp. 33 and 52) : "And the Unity of this was nothing 
 other always, being in Himself, and with His own Mind and Light 
 and Spirit He embraces around all things." 
 
 2 See Poemandres, ii. 14. The word there however is " God," not 
 angel. 
 
 3 See the same passage quoted by Cyrillus Alexandrinus, Contra. 
 Julian., 33c, ante, p. 150. 
 
 4 Cyrill. Alex, and Justin Martyr in his HapatitsTlzos vpo; 'EA- 
 A/jj/ecj attributes this last invocation, with a trifling variation, to 
 Orpheus. 
 
 It is noteworthy that the last poem of Longfellow was a lyrical 
 Ode in celebration of Hermes Trismegistus. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Administrators, Seven, of Fate, 5; 
 Energy of, Creator has, 8, 9. 
 
 Air, feminine, 6, 9, 27; is Body, 
 permeating all things, 20, 21; 
 one of the Four Materials of 
 Creation, 20, 21; how generated, 
 2, 122. 
 
 All in All, constituted of all 
 Powers, 87. 
 
 Almighty, Dominus, Supreme, 
 (A'y&vr^), 1, 15, 93. 
 
 Ambrosial water, 14. 
 
 Ammon, 127. 
 
 Animal, Animal Being; made ex- 
 istent by God, 26; energies and 
 instincts of, 118; not arts or 
 sciences, ibid.; has life rational 
 in Soul, mortal in body, 126. 
 
 Antithesis and contrariety of all 
 things, 59. 
 
 Apparent things delight, non- 
 apparent difficult of belief. 
 
 Appetites of irrationals, 80; are 
 their instincts, 118. 
 
 Archetypical Form, 3; Archetypi- 
 cal Light and Soul, 21. 
 
 Arts and Sciences, rays of Man, 
 66; Special Energies of the 
 Rationals only, 117, 120; sent 
 from above, and differ from 
 Sense, ibid., 122. 
 
 Ascent to Good of Soul, what, 13; 
 through Harmony leaving Vices, 
 ibid. 
 
 Asclepius, 16-19, 44, 54, 96. 
 
 Atheism, great disease of Soul, 78. 
 
 Avengers, irrational, of Matter, to 
 be abandoned, 89; are twelve 
 principal Vices, 90; of darkness 
 are expelled by ten Virtues, 90. 
 
 Baptism of Men with Cup, 31; 
 Baptized receive Mind, 32. 
 
 Bear, Constellation of, how ener- 
 gizing, 136. 
 
 Be, The To Be, 126. 
 
 Being in Essence, cause of, is com- 
 mon to generate and to Soul; 
 Generation in Reason; Intelli- 
 gent Life; Animal causing Life, 
 rational, mortal, 126. 
 
 Beautiful and Good, Essence of is 
 God; integral parts of, 44, 45, 
 73; Beautiful also Good, ibid.; 
 inseparable from Him and in 
 Him only, 50; Vision of, what. 
 137. 
 
 Beauty of Good, cannot be fully 
 be seen here or in Body, in 
 Divine Silence and repose only, 
 57, 137; God moves with all 
 that is, 85; lover of Body and 
 Evil cannot understand, 76. 
 
 Beginning (A'^v?, Moz/a?), what 
 is, 24; is out of nothing, 34; all 
 things from One, ibid., 61. 
 
 Belief in God, how attained, 55. 
 
 Birth, Body and Soul associated 
 at by Fate, 123. 
 
 Body, Bodies, love of is death, 10, 
 11; constituted out of Moist 
 Nature, 11; how dissolved [see 
 Death], 13; World, a Body, 17; 
 opposite of Incorporeal, 18; 
 cannot move Soul, 19; without 
 Soul moved by body with Soul, 
 20; given up to passion, cannot 
 admire good, 43, 76; to be 
 hated, 32; a hateful garment, 
 bond of corruption, prevents 
 men seeing Truth and good, 46, 
 
158 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 47; Earthly, want order when 
 dissolved; return to indissoluble 
 and immortal, 53; all composite 
 of Matter and Soul, ibid,., 71. 
 
 Body, Bodies, are moveable, 81; 
 sensible, are dissoluble and 
 mortal, 24, 92; when dissolved, 
 it is dissolution of mixture only 
 to become new, 82; of spiritual 
 Power immortal and indissolu- 
 ble, 92 ; require much help and 
 succour, 124; properties and 
 qualities of dissoluble and in- 
 dissoluble, 107; are never true, 
 114; Ideas and Energies of, 
 115; has communion with Soul 
 in Time, Place, and Nature, 
 and how, 116-17; cannot exist 
 apart from Soul, 119; how 
 energized in dissolution, ibid.; 
 Harmony of, its relation to Stars, 
 127; lovers of, cannot behold 
 God, 137. 
 
 Bodies, heavenly, have one order, 
 indissoluble, maintained by 
 return of each to its place, 49, 
 92; Bodies, Eternal, alone true, 
 100; made once for all, 123. 
 
 Breath (IIj/osj) gives qualities of 
 life, 53. 
 
 Change, all men subject to, 79; 
 things changeable and gendered 
 not true, 103. 
 
 Chaos, description of, 2, 24. 
 
 Child of God, Typical Man in His 
 Image, 6. 
 
 Children, anxiety to have [see 
 Man] ; how punished who have 
 not, 23. 
 
 Choice between corporeal and in- 
 corporeal, mortal and Divine 
 left to man, 33; cannot use 
 both; of excellent deifies him, 
 of worse destroys, ibid.; of good 
 and evil is with each, 131; of 
 evil subjects to fate; of good, 
 fate touches not, ibid. 
 
 Circles of Planets and of Heaven, 
 Seven, 16, 134; of Universe, 
 133-34; of Gods, 28; Zodiacal, 
 136. 
 
 Comets described, predict future 
 events, 136. 
 
 Constellations appear and signs, 
 27; Gods in them, ibid.; are 
 armour of fate, 109; what are, 
 137. 
 
 Contemplation of Heaven and 
 works of God, Man created for, 
 28, 31; of image of God, guide 
 to things above, 35, 37; detains 
 and attracts, ibid. 
 
 Corporeal. See Body. 
 
 Corruption necessary to genera- 
 tion, 103. 
 
 Courage in Soul, what, 127. 
 
 Creation, mode of, 4, 5, 8, 24; of 
 Universe good, 48; of all forms 
 yet one Idea, 74 ; of eternal 
 Bodies once for all, 123-4; of 
 mortal and dissoluble con- 
 tinually, ibid.; of Man, 39. 
 
 Creator (A^/oyjoyoV) who, is 
 Mind, 4, 5; willed to create, 6; 
 shewed forth from of God, 8 ; of 
 Man, 39. 
 
 Cup (Kparvip) is Divine, 31, 32; 
 man to be baptized in it, ibid. ; 
 obtains knowledge, perfection, 
 and immortality thereby, 32; 
 unwilling then to remain on 
 earth; hastens to One and Only, 
 ibid. 
 
 Darkness in Abyss, 2, 24. 
 
 Death, cause of, love of body, 10; 
 derived out of original Dark- 
 ness, 1 1 ; what it is, not destruc- 
 tion, 47, 48; deprivation of 
 sense only, 49, 50; is dissolu- 
 tion of union of body and soul, 
 73, 74; how carried on this, 13; 
 of the mixture, 83 ; not change 
 but oblivion, 84 ; dissolution of 
 Harmonies of body, 104. 
 
 Decade of Virtues regenerates, 
 expelling vices, 90, 91, 92; is 
 intelligent regeneration, accord- 
 ing to God, ibid. ; is Soul genera- 
 tive, 92 ; is the Mind, ibid. 
 
 Decans, Thirty-six, 133; where 
 
 stationed, and their office, 134; 
 
 encompass Universe and in- 
 
 I fluence earth, 135; generate 
 
INDEX. 
 
 159 
 
 Tanse as sub-ministers, ibid. ; are j 
 under the Seven, ibid. 
 
 Demon, Demons, Avenging, pun- 
 ishes wicked, 71; evil in all 
 the world, 51-52 ; inspire evil | 
 and evil thoughts, 51 ; separate J 
 from God, sow seeds of crime, 
 ibid. Good who, 66, 77, 79; is 
 Firstbegotten God, 80; Blessed 
 God, 82. 
 
 Desires, excessive, are vices, 7; in 
 Soul modified by Reason, 127;! 
 as energies, ratio of, 128;* of] 
 immortal bodies; are far off 
 the Divine part of the Soul, 129; 
 of irrational, ibid. 
 
 Divine, men made, by attaining 
 Knowledge, 14; after death, 
 Souls are; how they enter Body, 
 129; Man's Soul has something 
 of, ibid.; body what, ibid. 
 
 Divinity ((d-torn;), how different 
 from God; is generated by Him, 
 51. 
 
 Dreams apart from Sense, 51 ; how 
 they affect men, ibid.; Body and 
 Soul awakened in, ibid. 
 
 Earth, how produced from Fire, 
 Water, &c., and Divine Bodies, ! 
 2, 6-24, 122 ; God willed to | 
 dedicate it to Himself and adorn 
 it; region of Wickedness, 52; 
 Time and Generation in, 68; 
 support of World; nurse of ani- 
 mals, 71 ; not immoveable or 
 inert, full of motion yet stable, 
 84; how arranged by God, 93, 
 94; Truth not of, 101; corrupt, 
 103; changeable, not in common 
 with Heaven, nothing known 
 on, all blameable, 114; contrast 
 between and Heaven, 115; is 
 last of Elements, ibid.; how first 
 generated, 26, 122. 
 
 Elements, Four, of Universe, 4, 99; 
 how generated, 122; Heaven first, 
 of Earth last, 115. 
 
 Energy, Energies, of Soul, 47; of 
 God's good things may make 
 their qualities evil or good, 53; 
 are rays of God throughout 
 world and in man, 66; of God 
 
 what, His will, 55, 69; of Mind 
 and Soul, 68; all of are from 
 God, 85 ; of Universe from 
 Him, 86 ; of matter and bodies, 
 ibid.; incorporeal in bodies, and 
 common to brutes, and those 
 different in each, 118; of irra- 
 tionals, how operating, 118, 
 119-120; how connected with 
 bodies, ibid. ; bodies have many 
 souls, 119-120; some divine, 
 some corruptible, ibid.; all 
 things full of ; general and 
 special; general account of, 120. 
 
 Engendered things imperfect, 35. 
 
 Entities (T J 'OJ>T), Hermes wishes 
 to know of, 1; constituted by 
 Word of God, 15; none are void, 
 20; God cause of, beginning of, 
 21-24; none left beside by God 
 that is not, 21-22; Nature of, 
 ibid.; all good, 22; created at 
 God's will, 30; God is not, but 
 all from Him, 31 ; two in gene- 
 ral, corporeal and incorporeal, 
 mortal and Divine, 33; God has 
 all in Himself, never deficient, 
 54; in World, diminution or in- 
 crease, 84; if generate, must be 
 by One other, 96; but Two, 
 Generate and Maker, 97-8; these 
 One by Union, ibid.; Generate 
 are Four, 99; by First Creator 
 only, 103 ; to 'understand is 
 Piety, 111; Qualities of, summed 
 up, 113; First God, Second 
 World, Third Man, World be- 
 cause of Man, Man because of 
 God, 113-14; all double, none 
 stable, 114; moved by Soul, 
 ibid.; some in Bodies, some in 
 Ideas, some Ideas, 115; World 
 always has, 120; Pre-existent 
 Essentiality before all other 
 Entities, 125; belongs to entire 
 Universe, ibid. 
 
 Envy in Men without Mind, 31; 
 God has not. 
 
 Essentiality, the Divine God, 18, 
 125; what are, 21. 
 
 Essence C Qvai*\ (see Soul) ; of God, 
 to be pregnant of all things, 40; 
 has no evil, is good only, 43 ; is 
 
160 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 the Beautiful and Good, 44, 68; 
 has happiness and wisdom, 68; is 
 His willing all things to be, 55 ; 
 Soul, how transformed into, 58; 
 First of World Order, of Time 
 Generation, 68; Intelligible, not 
 under Necessity or Fate, 108; 
 immortal and mutable, 114; of 
 God, Eternity, 68; First what, 
 124; relation of, with Keason, 
 128. 
 
 Eternal, different from everlast- 
 ing, 48. 
 
 Eternity (' O Aiau), made by God 
 in and around Him, 68; its 
 energy, permanence, and im- 
 mortality, ibid., 69 ; World moved 
 in, and work of, Powers of God, 
 67, 68; incorruptible. 69; keeps 
 together World and Universe; 
 makes matter immortal; what 
 it has in it, ibid. 
 
 Evil, man, not God, cause of, 33; 
 more apparent than good, and 
 delights men, 34; not of God, 
 but separate, 43; mixed with 
 good on earth, ibid.; thought to 
 be good by ignorant, 45; com- 
 pared to dirt and incrustations 
 on creation, 98; involuntary, 
 114; is aliment of the World, 
 ibid. 
 
 Existence, Subsistence ("Yirapfyi), 
 God is, The, 21, 22, 55, 56. 
 
 Eyes of man cannot behold God, 
 or Good and Beautiful, 44; of 
 body cannot consider Truth, 88. 
 
 Falsehood, how operation of Truth ; 
 all things on earth are, 104. 
 
 Fate, Seven Administrators in 
 Seven Circles of Heaven are, 5 ; 
 and Harmony establish, and 
 cause of generation and destruc- 
 tion, 10, 108; all subject to, 79; 
 of the Evil to suffer and to 
 obey Justice, 79, 80, 108; those 
 having Mind, not subject to, 79, 
 80, 132 ; dominated over by 
 Mind, 80; bodily things subject 
 to, 108; cause of disposition of 
 Stars, ibid.; subserves Provi- 
 dence and Necessity, 109; a 
 
 Power of Providence, none 
 can avoid it, ibid.; rules over 
 all things, 116; regulates union 
 of Soul and Body, 123; Fate 
 and choice, 131; has no power 
 over Keason, having God for 
 Guide, 132. 
 
 Father of all things, The God, 
 Life, and Light, 6-15; created 
 typical Man in His Image, ibid.; 
 of Universe, constituted of Life 
 and Light, 11; an Epithet of 
 God, 23; has no Name, 41; In- 
 generate and Eternal, 48; and 
 see " God," post. 
 
 Fire, piire, or heat, 2; instrument 
 in Creation, 2, 62; issues from 
 moist Nature, ibid.; and Spirit, 
 ibid.; God of, issued forth by- 
 Word of The God, 4; agency of, 
 in Creation, 2, 6, 122; divided 
 things light and heavy, 25; 
 gives maturity to Men, 9; 
 shines on all, 94; earth sustains 
 not, 62; punishment of wicked, 
 12. 
 
 Fortune, what, 115. 
 
 Generate, Generation, are things 
 apparent, 36 ; of quantities and 
 qualities and moveable, 65; 
 Essence of Life and change in 
 Time, 68 ; must be by other 
 and that one preceding and iii- 
 generate, 96; Two in Creation 
 only, Maker and that generate, 
 97 ; these are inseparable, ibid.; 
 must be generator and generate; 
 one by Union, 98 ; changeable 
 and not true, 102 ; how far may 
 be, ibid.; corruption necessary 
 for, 103; are phantasies, ibid. 
 See Entities. 
 
 Gluttony, unsurpassable evil, 44. 
 
 God, The ("O 20?), Father, Life, 
 and Light, created typical Man 
 in His own form, 8, 11-16 ; will 
 of, 10, 30; what He is, 21; in 
 Holy Word said increase and 
 multiply, 16; intelligible in 
 Himself, 18 ; to us, ibid., 48, 
 105 ; is superessential, non- 
 apparent, 18, 36; self-existent, 
 
INDEX. 
 
 161 
 
 21, 22, 55, 56; alone good, 22, 
 42, 94, 99 ; by His nature, 20, 
 23 ; One and Only, 30, 32, 34, 
 37, 71, 72, etc.; glory of, 24; 
 gives all things, receives no- 
 thing, 23, 56, 76, 94 ; maker of 
 all things, ibid., 30; Father of 
 all things, and of man, 37, 40; 
 without envy, Father of Body, 
 Soul, own kindred Father of 
 Man, 97; Reason and Mind, 
 82; by Word constituted Enti- 
 ties, ibid.; Beginning and 
 Cause of the Entities, Life, 
 Light, and Spirit, 21; Mind, 
 Nature, Matter, Wisdom, 27; 
 Holy, of Whom all Nature 
 Image, 37, 40 ; above all Power 
 and Excellence, ibid.; always 
 making manifest though non- 
 apparent, 36 ; non-generate, 
 ibid., 48 ; the Good in God, 42- 
 99; nothing else good, 22, 23; 
 cannot exist without doing, 
 74; contemplation of, guide to 
 Heaven, 35 ; not visible, touch- 
 able, separable, unlike body, 31, 
 97 ; may be made apparent, 36; 
 appears throughout world, 37 ; 
 this His Virtue, 76 ; to be con- 
 templated and prayed to by 
 Understanding, 37 ; visible and 
 to be contemplated in his works 
 in Heaven and Earth, 37, 75, 
 85 ; orders course of sun and 
 stai*s, 38 ; fabricated circles of 
 Heaven, and whole world, sea, 
 and earth, ibid.; not spoken or 
 heard, 58 ; superior to all, 66 ; 
 dedicated Earth to Himself, 31 ; 
 Maker and Lord of all, in par- 
 ticular of Man, 38, 39, 40; His 
 Essence to be pregnant of, and 
 make all things, and Natures, 
 40, 94; all things full of, 70; 
 is self- working, 72 ; nothing 
 made without Him, 40; world 
 and all things in Him, 70, 74, 
 85 ; nothing in world not Him, 
 72, 73 ; nothing apart from Him, 
 70; is the Entities and Non- 
 Entities, 41, 55, 56; has no 
 Name, all Names being all 
 
 things, 42; His Name very 
 great, 137 ; is intelligent Mind 
 energizing, ibid., 69 ; all tilings 
 generate and ungenerate, none 
 generate without Him, ibid.; 
 nothing superior to or compeer 
 with Him, 43, 70; not to be seen 
 with eyes, 44 ; willing to be seen, 
 visible to Mind and heart of the 
 good, 46, 76 ; manifest through- 
 out all things, 76 ; Fountain and 
 Founder of all things and 
 natures, 68, 94 ; is the Beauti- 
 ful and Good, Happiness and 
 Wisdom, 44, 56, 68, 73; these 
 integral, inseparable properties 
 of Him, 44, 45 ; sows the seeds 
 of, and Virtue, Temperance, and 
 Piety, 52 ; Creator of Universe 
 like Himself, 48, 53, 69, 106; 
 beginning, comprehension, and 
 constitution of all things, 50; 
 Prince of order. Guide of worlds, 
 70 ; not insensible, mindless, or 
 inert, 54, 70 ; if inert, no longer 
 God, 72; all things energizing 
 energize through Him, 84, 85 ; 
 energy of His Will, 55, 56 ; is 
 the making Power, 94; is all 
 things not yet in being, ibid.; 
 made all forms of one Idea, 74 ; 
 how to understand, 75, 76 ; ig- 
 norance of, sum of evil, 76 ; will 
 be met and known by the good, 
 ibid.; holds converse with Man, 
 84 ; parts of, 85 ; is Energy and 
 Power, ibid.; has neither mag- 
 nitude, place, quality, figure, 
 nor time, although Generator, 
 86, 92; simple, incomposite, 
 His Glory One, this, as it were, 
 His Body, 98; is both Maker 
 and Father, and why, 97, 80; 
 makes nothing evil, but all 
 things, 76, 92, 99; is not Maker 
 only, but conserver, ibid.; has 
 one Passion, the Good, ibid.; 
 compared to agriculturist, 99; 
 sows immortality, change on 
 Earth, life and motion in Uni- 
 verse; cannot be understood, 
 impossible to express in speech, 
 105 ; may be apprehended men- 
 
162 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 tally, ibid.; is Truth Itself, 103, 
 105; is eternal, 106; is Im- 
 mutable Good, 115. See also 
 Spirit, Trinity, Word. 
 
 Gods in plural, 22, 24, 28 ; in con- 
 stellations and stars, 27; or 
 Angels, 24; distribute seminal 
 nature in Creation as ordained, 
 26; circling course of, 28, 29; 
 Man comparable with, or supe- 
 rior to, and why, 67; shall not 
 descend to earth, 67; moved 
 with World, 85 ; intellectual and 
 sensible, 125. 
 
 Good, The, beholden by those with 
 Mind, 32; excellence of, 34; 
 God is only, 42, 43 ; cannot be 
 in this world, and why, 44, 57 ; 
 in the ingenerate only, 43 ; dis- 
 similar to all else, 44, 57 ; can- 
 not co -exist with Passion, 43 ; 
 generated by worldly course 
 becomes evil qualities, 53 ; can- 
 not be purified from evil here, 
 43 ; proper to, to become known, 
 57; moves with God in the 
 Universe, in permanence, 85; 
 spectacle of, sanctifies, 57; is 
 intellectual splendour and im- 
 mortality, 57; sometimes in- 
 duces sleep of body, ibid.; seen 
 in Divine silence and repose of 
 senses, 58 ; beauty of, deifies Soul 
 in body, transforms into Image 
 of God, ibid. 
 
 Grass and green herbs created, 26. 
 
 Grief and. joy, energies of Sense, 
 and rational, and how, 121; are 
 Ideas of Passions, and evil, ibid. 
 
 Harmony of creation, what, 7 ; 
 of the Seven, 9 ; established 
 minglings and generations, 10; 
 of the body, 104, 117, 127; 
 action of, 122, 123; of the four 
 materials of the World, 122; 
 how it acts in birth and with 
 Spirit, 123; is immutable, ibid.; 
 differences in, of, in three forms 
 of figure, form, and image, ibid., 
 and 126, 127; its relation to 
 Stars, 127; dissolution of [see 
 Body and Death]. 
 
 Hate of body necessary, 33. 
 
 Head contains Soul, 60; what is 
 united to immortal, and what 
 distance from mortal, ibid. 
 
 Heaven and Earth, double, un- 
 changeable, incorruptible, and 
 the reverse, 69; Eternity of, 
 ibid.; Heaven unchangeable, 
 without blame, receptive of in- 
 corruptibles, and has nought 
 common with earth, 115; 
 general description of qualities, 
 114, 115; mutual relations with 
 earth, ibid.; contrast with earth, 
 ibid. ; Heaven first of Elements, 
 Earth last, 115; Heaven, Seven 
 Circles of, 26. 
 
 Hermes, as guide, preaches to men 
 repentance and wisdom, 14; 
 invites them to thank God, 15; 
 his prayer of, to God, 16; is 
 Holiness of God, ibid.; passes 
 into Life and Light, 16. 
 
 Hymn to God the Father, 15; 
 subjects of, 42; how and when 
 to be sung, 93; of the Kegenera- 
 tion, 93-95; secret, ibid. 
 
 Ignorance of God, greatest evil, 
 corrupts Soul, 46; is complete 
 evil, 76. 
 
 Idea, Ideas, the Father full of, 
 49; their qualities in sphere, 
 ibid.; God has one, 74; in- 
 corporeal, what, 74; some shewn 
 in bodies, ibid.; what they are, 
 75. 
 
 Identity, Essence of Eternity, 68; 
 Bodies of Universe have, 82-3. 
 
 Image of God will guide to things 
 above, 35; contemplation of, 
 ibid. 
 
 Imagination, Phantasy, 36; of 
 things generate only, ibid. 
 
 Immortality, Immortal, man is, 
 has not mortality, 10; is pre- 
 sent in mortal bodies, 115; 
 whoso sins greatly, deprived of, 
 11 ; man of mind light and 
 life, has, 11, 12; in all things, 
 matter, life, spirit, soul, 84; 
 animals have, especially Man, 
 ibid. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 163 
 
 Impiety, how punished after death, 
 63, 64. 
 
 Incorporeal, the, moves World, 19; 
 is the place in which the 
 Universe is moved, 21 ; what it 
 is, 21 [see Soul, Spirit]; Good, 
 Truth, and Light, rays of, ibid.; 
 intangible, conservative of 
 Entities, ibid.; non-apparent 
 to body, 34; most comprehen- 
 sive and powerful, 75; always 
 movers, 81; always energizes, 
 ibid.; moved by Mind, ibid.; 
 subjects of Passion, ibid.; can- 
 not be comprehended by sense, 
 105 ; three species, qualities, 
 properties, and that received 
 by us, 107; First Essence is, 
 ibid.; properties and qualities 
 of bodies, ibid. 
 
 Increase and multiply, God's 
 command, 10. 
 
 Lnert, God is not, 72, 73; equiva- 
 lent to non-existence, ibid. 
 
 Ingenerate, God is, unimaginable, 
 and non-apparent, 37; yet ap- 
 pears in all things, ibid. 
 
 Injustice, absence of, justifies, 90. 
 
 Intellect (No^a) is Reason of 
 Soul, 129. 
 
 Intellectual things, and intelligi- 
 ble Gods, 125. 
 
 Intelligence (NoV/j), of First God, 
 Man of Mind has, 50; of 
 Creator, 107; according to 
 Essence, property of Soul, 117. 
 
 Intelligent only understand God, 
 and believe in Him, 55. 
 
 Intelligible Essence, what, 107; 
 not under Necessity, 108. 
 
 Intelligible (youro?), God not so 
 to Himself, but to us by sense, 
 18 ; each an Essence. 82. 
 
 Irrationals, creation of, without 
 Reason, 6, 26; renewal of, 29; 
 Energies of, how operating by 
 Nature only, 118. 
 
 Justice and Endurance, 90; 
 ordained over men, avenger of 
 evil, 106; subjects them to fate, 
 ibid.; is Divine and cannot err, 
 
 ibid.; how generated, 127; by 
 thinking Reason, 128. 
 
 Knowledge (Tvaatg), received by 
 Baptism with Cup, 32; enables 
 to obtain The Good, 34; with 
 Piety is the way to God, 45; is 
 Shining Light, 46; of God is 
 Piety, 52 ; makes evils good, -ML; 
 is Virtue of Soul and made 
 Divine, 59; how it differs from 
 Sense, ibid.; alone saving for 
 Man, 51; by it Soul becomes 
 good, ibid.; banishes Ignorance, 
 90. 
 
 Language, how differing from 
 Voice, belongs to Man only, is 
 enunciative Reason, 81, 82* 
 
 Law, Avenger and Convicter of 
 evil, 78. 
 
 Life, is union of luminous Word 
 out of Mind, 3; with the Soul, 
 73; World, place and creator of, 
 53; and always in it, 83; and 
 Immortality, God is, 70-73, 85; 
 of God, what, 74; Life one, 
 therefore God One, ibid.; will of 
 Father is plentitude of, 83; 
 Motion, energy of, ibid.; in ir- 
 rationals, 77 ; intelligent, afford- 
 ed by Soul, 126. 
 
 Light, and Voice of, out of Chaos, 
 2; issues forth to Chaos, 24; 
 Holy Word descends from it 
 on Nature, 3; in numberless 
 Powers, ibid.; God the Father 
 is, 11; God, cause of, 22. 
 
 Light things separated upward, 
 heavy downward, 23. 
 
 Love of Body, cause of Death and 
 darkness, 10, 11; of self, hating 
 Body, obtains Mind and Science, 
 33. 
 
 Magnitude and increase through 
 Spirit, 123. 
 
 Maker (HotyrYis) of all things, God 
 Father of all things, is but One, 
 37-39, 56; not that only, but is 
 all things, 56; cannot be two or 
 more, and why, 71; can and 
 must be but One, 97, 98; im- 
 
164 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 pious to deny this, ibid.; pre- 
 cedes, that generate follows, 
 ibid.; Making ia body of God; 
 not making not God, 98; not 
 maker of evil, ibid. 
 Man, Image of Father God, 6, 39, 
 40; beheld in Water by Creator 
 of World, 8, 50; His own form, 
 ibid.; twofold, mortal and im- 
 mortal, 8-13 ; harmonious ser- 
 vant, masculine, feminine, ibid.; 
 generate by God the Father, 
 from Life and Light unto Soul 
 and Mind, 9, 11; generations of, 
 how sown, 28; created for what 
 purposes, Contemplation of God, 
 &c., 29-31 ; excels other animals, 
 and how, in speech and mind, 
 31, 67, 84; ornament of Divine 
 Body, ibid.; Beauty of, Divine 
 Image, 39, 40; how fabricated by 
 Creator, 39; cannot be without 
 Him, 40; cannot be destroyed, 
 being work of God, 48; Divine 
 Animal, 67; having Mind, has 
 sympathy with World, Intelli- 
 gence of First God, 13, 50; 
 divided into Body and Soul, 51; 
 belongs to World, is its offspring, 
 61 ; saved by knowledge of God, 
 ibid.; at death leaves gar- 
 ments and takes fiery tunic, 62; 
 Man, God-fearing, has Know- 
 ledge, 52; has sense and under- 
 standing in union, 56; wicked, 
 has understanding from demons, 
 53; evil, as mortal and move- 
 able, 60, 114; immutably so, 50- 
 114, 115; and as animal, 116; 
 First of things mortal, 60; of 
 Mind is above gods, and why, 
 67, 77 ; on earth a mortal God, 
 ascends to Heaven; with World 
 administers all things, ibid.; 
 having Mind and Reason, im- 
 mortal, ibid.; passes into Life 
 again, 81-84; susceptible of, 
 and joint in Essence with God, 
 84; with God holds converse, 
 and so he knows future things, 
 ibid.; of Mind hymning the 
 Father with the Powers, 14, 94; 
 attaining Knowledge,becomes in 
 
 God, 95: how different from 
 other animals, 85; cannot be 
 true, and why, 100, 101, as man, 
 102 ; constituted of many things 
 and changeable ; a Phantasy, 
 102; a succession of phantasies, 
 103-4; generation of, 114, 115. 
 
 Many, The, The Entities not to be 
 discoursed of to, 115; under- 
 stand not Philosophy, 116 ; 
 thereby disposed to evil, will 
 refer evil to Fate, ibid. 
 
 Matter or Material, eternal, 49 ; 
 originally without order, 2; 
 Material World, beautiful, not 
 good; Matter, how dealt with by 
 God, 48, 49; from Matter differs, 
 53; qualities generated from, 
 ibid.; Matter is from four things, 
 Earth, Air, Fire, Water, ibid.; 
 made immortal by Eternity, 69, 
 84; order of, regulated by 
 Providence, 81; is One, 83; full 
 of Life from God, 85 ; not ener- 
 gized by Him is mere mass, ibid.; 
 Energy of Materiality, ibid.; 
 generated by God, 111; recep- 
 tacle of Generation and Ideas, 
 ibid.; is variable, dissoluble, 
 and eternal, 111, 114; how 
 moved and warmed at Creation, 
 122. 
 
 Metempsychosis, 23, 63; of Soul 
 not into wild beasts, 63. 
 
 Mind (Noi>f), speaks as Poeman- 
 dres, 1, 15; of the Almighty 
 Supreme, ibid. ; Masculine, 
 Feminine, 4; offspring of Word, 
 Creator, God of Fire and Spirit, 
 ibid.; is Life and Light, 6; is pre- 
 sent with Holy and Good, 12; 
 shuts out works of body, ibid.; 
 and Reason incorporeal, 21, 59; 
 is from God, 2, 32; is recognition 
 of God and science of Divine 
 things, ibid.; Mind, Word, crea- 
 tive, 5, 6; of all things, 62; afar 
 off from wicked, 12 ; not im- 
 parted to all men, and why, 31 ; 
 how to be obtained, 33; received 
 by Baptism into Cup, 31; Dis- 
 courses with the Harmonies, 
 God is not, but cause of, 22, 95 ; 
 
INDEX. 
 
 165 
 
 Science of, what is, 32; those 
 having, hasten from Earth to One 
 and Only, ibid.; has Intelligence 
 of First God, 50; those who 
 have, become in God and are 
 immortal, 84, 95; spoken forth 
 by understanding in dreams, 
 51; has Soul for envelope, and 
 why, 62; swiftness of; has Fire 
 for body, 62; on Earth has not 
 Fire, and so knows not Divine 
 things, 63; is Essence of God, 
 and united to Him as Light to 
 Sun, 77; Men with, behold 
 God, is God, 77; a good physi- 
 cian to Soul, 78; those who 
 have, are not subject to Fate, and 
 escape Vice, 79; is Soul of The 
 God, 80, 82; principal of all 
 things, and dominates all things 
 with Fate and Law, ibid.; in 
 brutes, works with natural 
 appetites; but is not passion, 80, 
 81; is impassible, 114; with 
 Reason, will guide to God, 82; 
 Mind in Soul, Reason in Mind, 
 Mind in God, 82, 114; can alone 
 understand Regeneration, 89. 
 
 Monas, Unit, or Beginning, 34, 35; 
 comprises and engenders every 
 number comprised of none, 35. 
 
 Mortal, that which is distant from 
 the Head, 60; relation of, to 
 immortal, 115. 
 
 Motion (Kii>Yifft$), conditions of, 
 16; in somewhat, ibid.j motor 
 stronger than thing moved, that 
 in which moved contrary to 
 thing moved., 17; is capacious 
 Energy, 18; in the incorporeal 
 and ingenerate, not in the 
 stable, 18, 19; in place, ibid.; of 
 Planets, contrary to other Stars, 
 17-19; of errant and unerrant 
 spheres explained, ibid.j not in 
 avoid, 20; of material, is gener- 
 ation, 60; of World, orderly, 
 spherical, not up and down, 60, 
 71; Soul originates, 128; of 
 Soul and Body; of corruptible 
 bodies, ibid. 
 
 Name of God, 36; has no Name, 
 
 being superior to a Name, and 
 why, 41; has all names, ibid.; 
 dignity of, 137. 
 
 Nature/Elements of, constituted 
 by will of God, 4; image of 
 God Creator, 8; enamoured of 
 Him, ibid.j receives beloved 
 form, ibid.j mingled with, man 
 brought forth Seven Men, 9; 
 from Air and Water, ibid.j Peri- 
 odical Circle of, 28; renovated 
 by Divine Power and Necessity, 
 29; constituted in The Divine, 
 ibid.; what it is, 55; of The Good 
 and The God, the same, ibid.; 
 rays of World energize through 
 the Elements, 66; of the One; 
 administers Universe through 
 Mind of One, ibid.; is the Mind 
 of, and energizes Irrationals, 77, 
 118; properties of, and relations 
 with Body, 116-117; corporeal 
 merely, abandoned by God; of 
 Universe moves all things, 122; 
 of Universe permeates and sur- 
 rounds it, ibid.; produces things 
 generate, ibid.; is sensible Es- 
 sence, having in itself all sensible 
 things, 125; assimilates Har- 
 mony of body with Stars, 127. 
 
 Necessity, 107-8 ; intelligible 
 Essence not under, but irration- 
 als subject to, ibid.; keeps to- 
 gether the World, 108; a Power 
 of Providence, 109; subservient 
 to Providence, 115, 108. 
 
 Number (see Harmony) ; com- 
 prised in the Monad, 35; be- 
 longs to all composite bodies, 
 83; unities generate, and aug- 
 ment, ibid.j' of Body, what, 104, 
 123. 
 
 Ogdoad, what, 13, 93. 
 
 One and Only, Beginning is from, 
 61; abides, unmoved, adminis- 
 ters all things, ibid, et seq. 
 
 One Maker only, one Soul, one 
 Life, one Matter, 80-98. 
 
 One are all things, especially In- 
 telligibles, 80. 
 
 One, God's glory, 98; Generate and 
 Ingenerate, One by union, ibid. 
 
166 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Opinion ( Ao|), of Sensible things, 
 125; and Sense are of Thought, 
 131 ; with Thought, has com- 
 munion with Reason through 
 Sciences, ibid. 
 
 Order (r&%t$) of Creation cannot 
 be conserved apart from Maker, 
 38; nor without Place, Measure, 
 and Maker, 39; may be defec- 
 tive somewhat, yet under a 
 Master, ibid.; by One Maker 
 only, 71; of Heavenly bodies, 
 One and indissoluble, 49; in 
 earthly animals defective, ibid.; 
 of World, 85. 
 
 Passions of Body, 32; of World, 74. 
 
 Passion, belongs to things generate, 
 32, 43; cannot co-exist with 
 The Good, ibid.; all things in 
 Body have, 81; what Passions 
 are, ibid.; energize; all things 
 moveable and immoveable have 
 ibid.; energize with Senses, 121. 
 
 Phantasy, what, 102-3-4; Men 
 are, ibid. 
 
 Philosophy, cannot be pious with- 
 out, 112; unacceptable to the 
 many, 116. 
 
 Pious, Piety (Ew/3g/), beauty of, 
 14; become in God, ibid.; 
 shewn by choice of the In- 
 corporeal, 33; and Knowledge 
 way to God, 45 ; those who 
 have, hated and despised by 
 the many, ibid.; strife of, is 
 havng known God, 63; what 
 pious is, and should do; will 
 philosophize, 112; pious know 
 Truth, thank Creator as Good 
 Father, will love Good God; 
 will live and be happy, must war 
 with self and body, ibid.', only 
 way to goodness, ibid. 
 
 Place, properties of, 116, 117; 
 motion must be in, 17. 
 
 Planets, Seven, 18, 134; how 
 moved, ibid. 
 
 Pleasures of body bad, 10, 11, 32; 
 those given up to, cannot ad- 
 mire Good, 32. 
 
 Poemandres, meaning of word, 1, 
 93. 
 
 Powers hymning the Father, 13; 
 with purified Man, 14; of God, 
 14; above Eighth Nature, ibid.; 
 purify men, 90 ; intellectual, 
 91; sing to God, 93. 
 
 Providence (ttpovotoi), of God 
 effects minglings and genera- 
 tions, 10; and Nature are In- 
 struments of the World, and 
 order of The Matter, 82; each, 
 Essence of Intelligibles, ibid.; 
 and Necessity over Divine 
 Order, 106 ; governs whole 
 World with Eeason, 108-9: 
 World first has, then expanded 
 in Heaven, 108; Fate subject 
 to, 109; no place destitute of, 
 109; self-sufficient Reason of 
 God, ibid.; is Order, 115; World 
 generated, and all things gov- 
 erned by, 115. 
 
 Punishment of wicked, 64, 65. 
 
 Qualities of World enclosed by 
 Father Creator in sphere, 49; 
 made good and evil by energiz- 
 ing in the World, 53. 
 
 Reason (Ao'yo?) and Mind in Man 
 immortal, 81 ; enunciative, ibid.; 
 Reason in Mind, Mind in God, 
 82-114; how differing from In- 
 stinct, 118, 119; relations of, 
 with thinking Essence, 128, 131 ; 
 is Intellect of Soul, 129; not in 
 the Irrationals, ibid.; contem- 
 plates Beauty of Essence, 130; 
 knows things honourable, ibid.; 
 of Essence, in being Wise, ibid.; 
 having Essence, self-determin- 
 ate, 131. 
 
 Renewal of, flesh and seeds, how, 
 29. 
 
 Regeneration, Regenerate, cannot 
 be saved without, 87; mode of, 
 88; who is Generator of, ibid.; 
 not understood by Senses, and 
 does not belong to Four Ele- 
 ments, 89; Mind alone under- 
 stands, ibid.; accomplished by 
 being rid of twelve Vices, 
 through Powers of God, 90, 91 ; 
 what it consists in, 92 ; the 
 
INDEX. 
 
 167 
 
 Regenerate immortal ; "born of 
 God and Son of The One, ibid.; 
 hymn of, how and when to be 
 sung, 93; not to be disclosed to 
 all, 96. 
 
 Sacrifices, rational (Aoy/xa?), 16,94, 
 95 ; to God, Father of all things, 
 95; through The Word, ibid.; 
 acceptable thus, ibid. 
 
 Science (E-r/rnj^*?), (see "Arts"); 
 is gift of God and incorporeal, 
 59; using Mind as organ and 
 end of knowledge, ibid. 
 
 Sciences and Arts, energies of the 
 rational, 117; brutes have not 
 118. 
 
 Seeds and green herbs created, 26. 
 
 Sense (AMnrtf^ deprivation of, 
 death, 50; and understanding 
 connected influence Man, 51; 
 is material, ibid.; cannot be 
 apart from, ibid.; comes upon 
 World from God, 54; in all 
 Entities, 59; how differing from 
 Knowledge, ibid.; of Body to 
 be laid aside to understand, 89; 
 to be relinquished for Regener- 
 ation, 91; cannot comprehend 
 incorporeal and invisible, 105; 
 difference of, from Energies, 
 120; differ from each other, and 
 how, 121; are effects of Ener- 
 gies, 120-121 ; and connected 
 with Passions, ibid.; are Cor- 
 poreal and Mortal, bodily, good 
 and evil only, ibid.; not in 
 Immortal bodies, ibid. 
 
 Sense of Soul, what, 122. 
 
 Sensible Gods, as the Sun, images 
 of Intelligences, 125. 
 
 Seven administrators, 5. 
 
 Seven Circles of Heaven, ibid., 26. 
 
 Seven Men produced by Nature, 9. 
 
 Silence, pregnant with good, 15 ; 
 and Repose Divine, 58 ; contem- 
 plates The Good, ibid.; Intel- 
 lectual Wisdom in it, 87; of 
 Virtue, 76. 
 
 Sinners, great, deprived of immor- 
 tality, and why, 11. 
 
 Sleep, effects of, on body, 57, 124; 
 fore-provided by the Creator for 
 
 the preservation of the animal, 
 ibid. 
 
 Speech, Enunciative Reason, 81 ; 
 puts Man above animals, im- 
 parted by God to all, 31 ; sister 
 of Mind and Understanding, 51. 
 
 Son of Father of all things, the 
 Typical Man, 6, 7 ; Father de- 
 livered over to Him all crea- 
 tures, ibid. 
 
 Son of God, One Man by will of 
 God, 88. 
 
 Soul (Yv%v)) is immortal, and its 
 energy, 47, 58; moves World, 19; 
 cannot be moved by body, ibid.; 
 how even in body transformed 
 and deified, 58; Souls are divis- 
 ible and different sorts of, ibid.j- 
 are parts of Soul of the Universe, 
 ibid., 61; of good man passes 
 into Choir of unerring Gods, 
 ibid.j how deified and trans- 
 formed, 58; some happy and 
 unerring, these the perfect Glory 
 of Soul, ibid.j vice of, ignorance 
 of Good, 59; virtue of, Know- 
 ledge, ibid.j this makes men 
 Divine, ibid.j- entangled with 
 Passions is evil, and ruled by 
 body, ibid. 
 
 Soul and spirit, how they operate, 
 60; is not the blood, iJnd.j- of 
 Youth, how developed, 62; con- 
 tracted into Spirit at death, 
 ibid.; is punished according to 
 desert, ibid.j departing from 
 body, what it becomes, ibid., 
 and 65. 
 
 Soul, envelope of Mind, Spirit of 
 Soul, Soul in Body, Mind in 
 Soul, 62, 82; Soul of pious, how 
 rewarded, ibid., and 65,66; Im- 
 pious is punished in its proper 
 Essence, ibid., and how, 64, 65; 
 does not degrade into a beast, 
 63, 65; community of Souls, 
 what, 65; superior take care of 
 inferior, 66; having Mind of The 
 One blessed, ibid.j- apart from 
 Mind, powerless and irrational, 
 66, 67; inert, has not Mind, 
 ibid.j- Soul of Universe full 
 of Mind and of God, 69; all 
 
168 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 things full of, and moved by, 71 ; 
 one Soul only, 72; great activity 
 and power of, 75 ; always with 
 Mind, ibid.j shut up in body, 
 how debased and depraved, 76, 
 77; Irrationals have not, ibid.; 
 disease of, is Atheism, 78; not 
 having obtained Mind as pilot 
 overcome by appetites and evil, 
 ibid.; is above Fate, 80; having 
 elevated itself to Good cannot 
 fall away, 112; vehemently 
 loves its forefather, ibid.j in 
 body, must war with body 
 and conquer, 113; is an Entity, 
 ibid.j' Sensible is mortal, Ration- 
 al immortal, ibid.; moves every 
 being, 114; is energy of motion, 
 124; is incorporeal, Eternal, 
 rational, thinking, Intelligent 
 Essence, having Reason as Intel- 
 lect, 116, 126, 127; concerned 
 with Harmony Form and 
 Figure, ibid.; having finality in 
 itself, and Life according to 
 Fate, 127; has communion with 
 body in Time, Place, Nature, 
 116, 126; energies of, how work- 
 ing through bodies, 119; works 
 through bodies, but not always 
 in body, ibid.; associated with 
 bodies through Harmony, 123; 
 has no love for body, but creeps 
 into with the Spirit through 
 Fate, 123; gives body intellectual 
 motion, ibid.; affords intelligent 
 life, 127; may be in Body move- 
 able, 130; and self-moveable and 
 moving others, 116, 126; is from 
 Incorporeal Essence, 128; motion 
 of, in body, ibid.; ideas of, 129; 
 Divine part of, has energy of 
 Self, without Vehemence or De- 
 sire, ibid.; separate from body, 
 remains Self in intelligible 
 World, ibid.; rules over Reason, 
 ibid., 130 ; has two motions, 
 essential self-determinate, and 
 bodily of Necessity, ibid., 
 131; is Understanding and 
 Thought, 131; to be exercised 
 here to behold The God, the 
 Beautiful, and the Good, 137. 
 
 Soulless cannot move soulless, 20. 
 
 Spectacle of Good sanctifying, 57 ; 
 intellectual splendour of, some- 
 times induces sleep of body, 
 ibid. 
 
 Sphere. See World. 
 
 Spheres, errant, moved by in- 
 errant, 7-18; contrariwise, by 
 the stable, 19; Arctic moved 
 round some point but not re- 
 strained by Stability, 19. 
 
 Spirit (TLvivpa), God, cause of, 
 and employed in Creation, 2, 25, 
 62, 122-3; the Mind of Fire, 
 ibid.; in God, 94; The God sent 
 forth by Word; another Mind 
 Creator, God of Fire and Spirit, 
 4; Divine, wrapped round all 
 Constellations, moving them, 27 ; 
 encompassing Spirit, 123 ; of 
 Man, how operating, 60; returns 
 into Soul at death, 61 ; is envel- 
 ope of Soul, ibid.; judicial of 
 appearances, 130; has Senses as 
 organs, ibid.; Opinion belongs 
 to, ibid. 
 
 Stars, and Fate, 5, 106, 109; ap- 
 pear in Signs and Constellations 
 with Gods in them, 27; circular 
 course of, ibid.; order of deter- 
 mined by number and place, 
 37; unequal in courses, ibid.; 
 sensible, God's images of Intel- 
 ligences, 125; influence of, on 
 Earth, 27, 135; none can avoid 
 force of, 109 ; said to generate sub- 
 ministers, 135; some perishable, 
 136; are appendices of nature, 
 ibid.; how differing from Con- 
 stellations, 137. 
 
 Subsistence. See Existence. 
 
 Sun, greatest of Gods in Heaven, 
 37; after First and One Creator, 
 103; intrusted with Creation, 
 ibid.; is Truth, ibid.; Hermes 
 salutes it, ibid.; Image of 
 Creator, God, 125 ; creates 
 animals, &c., ibid. 
 
 Sun and World, Father of things 
 according to the goodwill of 
 God, 56. 
 
 Tanse, 135. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 169 
 
 Temperance, knowledge of, is joy 
 and great virtue, 90. 
 
 Thanks to God at Evening, 15. 
 See Hymn. 
 
 Thought (Ewoi* AWOIK), 1, 131, 
 etc. ; Opinion and Sense belong 
 to, 131; Understanding inter- 
 woven with, ibid. 
 
 Thoughts (Noi^aTa) good from 
 God, evil from demons, 51. 
 
 Time, made by and in the World; 
 its Essence Change; generation 
 accomplished in, 68; Times are 
 three, past, present, and future, 
 110; are but one and cannot be 
 disjoined, ibid.; of bodies, 114; 
 properties of, 117. 
 
 Trinity, enunciated, 94, 95. See 
 God and Son. 
 
 Truth, belief in, how attained, 55 ; 
 what is truly such only, 89, 96; 
 banishes deceit and brings Life 
 and Light, 91 ; in Eternal bodies 
 only, not in Man. 100, 101; on 
 earth none but imitations only, 
 101; may be understood by 
 Man of goodwill, ibid.; Who the 
 First Truth, and why, 103; 
 eternal and perfect, 105. 
 
 God vivifying it, 69; Eternity 
 keeps it together, God energizes 
 it, ibid.; God is, nothing in it 
 not Him, 86, 94; motions of, by 
 nature, 122. 
 
 Uranus and Kronos forefathers 
 had vision of The God, 57. 
 
 Understanding (NoV/f No'^a), or 
 Intellect differs from Mind, 50, 
 51; an essential of Man, ibid., 
 51 ; united with Sense is Keason, 
 ibid.; generate, by Mind, in- 
 fluences Man, ibid.; Speech can- 
 not be without, 51; can exist 
 without Sense, ibid.; with Sense 
 comes from God, 53, 54; but 
 if with wickedness demoniacal, 
 ibid.; necessary to belief in 
 Truth, 55; self going, 131; with 
 Thought, are Soul, ibid.; recog- 
 nizes Man as immortal. 
 
 Unit (Mov?) or Cup, 34; hath in 
 itself the Decade, and all num- 
 bers, 92. 
 
 Universe (To Tl&y) moved in the 
 incorporeal, 21; created by God 
 and is eternal, 48; composed 
 of Material, and World, 50; 
 motions of, compared to those of 
 a head, 60; full of Soul, and of 
 
 Vehemence in Soul (Qvpos) is 
 material, 127; ratio of, with 
 Desire and Reason, 128; energies 
 of, far from the Divine, 129; 
 belong to irrationals, ibid. 
 
 Vices, how man purified from, at 
 death, 13; of Soul is ignorance, 
 59; cured by Mind, 79; twelve 
 principal, 90; to be eliminated 
 by ten Virtues, 92. 
 
 Vices and Virtues, how connected 
 with Zodiacal signs, ibid. 
 
 Virgin of the World noticed, 130. 
 
 Voice, animals have; how differing 
 from language, 82. 
 
 Void, none in Nature, no Entity 
 void, 20. 
 
 Water, in beginning, intermingled 
 with earth, and pure fire from, 
 2; separated from earth, how, 6; 
 Deity contemplated form of 
 Man in, 8; cupiscent in creation, 
 9, with Spirit in Chaos, 24; is 
 on earth to resist fire, 62; created 
 for Man, 94. 
 
 Wicked, how punished, 12; by 
 fire, and subject to Justice and 
 Fate, 106. 
 
 Wickedness, reign of, is earth, 52. 
 
 Will of God, loosed bounds, and 
 made Males and Females; made 
 the World, 10, 30; created the 
 Entities, Man, and all things, 
 30, 31, 40; World, organ of, 53; 
 is His Essence, 55; His energy, 
 ibid.; without it nothing can be 
 generate, 56; sows Wisdom and 
 Good, 87; through Son of God 
 regenerates, 88. 
 
 Wisdom of God, what is, 69; in 
 silence, 87; intellectual, what, 
 sown by will of God, ibid. 
 
 Word( Ao'yo s) ,theSpiritual, 2 ; lumi- 
 nous, out of Mind, Son of God, 
 
170 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 3; is union of Mind, Father God, 
 and the Word; is Life; are not 
 distinct, ibid.; The God by 
 Word begat Mind, Creator God 
 of Fire and Spirit, 4; of God to 
 pure creation of all Nature of 
 same Essence with Creative 
 Mind, 5,94; of Supreme Author- 
 ity received from Mind, 15; 
 made the World, 30; the Mind 
 Shepherdeth, 94; praise to God 
 through, 95. 
 
 World (Ko's/<off), formed of Ele- 
 ments after an Archetype, 4; 
 Illimitable, 3, 4; by Word of 
 Creator, ibid., 30 ; out of Elements 
 by Will of God, ibid., 31 ; greater 
 than any Body is moved, 17; in 
 that greater than itself, 18; in 
 the incorporeal ingenerate God, 
 ibid.; by things within either 
 Soiil, or Spirit incorporeal, 19; 
 whole of, Divine in nature, 29; 
 order of, how effected, 39; not 
 good except in making, 43; 
 plenitude of evil, why, 44, 57; 
 but not itself wicked, 52; can- 
 not perish as created by God, 
 Eternal and Immortal Animal, 
 48, 49, 50, 69; formed sphere- 
 like, ibid.; is Second God from 
 the God, and in the God Son of 
 the God, 48, 54, 61, 69; Man is 
 from, 50; has pure sense and 
 understanding from God, 53, 
 54; is organ of Will of God, 
 makes and unmakes all things, 
 53; engenders all things alone, 
 ibid.; called K6$po$ fittingly, 
 and why, 54; material God, 
 and First of possibles, Second 
 of Entities, 59; deficient some- 
 
 time, and ever generated, 
 ever in being, 60; First 
 Animal, but not good, ibid.; 
 subject of God, and hath 
 the Man, 61, 66; Man sub- 
 ject to it, ibid.; made by Eter- 
 nity material, ibid.; Energies of, 
 restitution and destruction, 68; 
 Time is in, ibid.; will never 
 perish, nor things in it, 69; is 
 moved in Eternity, 68, 69; its 
 Essence Order, ibid.; beauty 
 and vigour of, 70; Passions of, 
 74; full of all forms, ibid.; great 
 God image of greater, united 
 to Him, conserving His order and 
 will, 83; is Image of Universe, 
 and Plenitude of Life, ibid.; has 
 always Life, and nothing dead 
 in it, nor can be, ibid.; collec- 
 tive is unchangeable incorrup- 
 tible, but parts of changeable, 84 ; 
 parts of, are Four, 85; Intelli- 
 
 fible, 95; generated by Provi- 
 ence and Necessity, 116. 
 Worlds, Seven, God, Prince of, 
 
 full of light, 70. 
 Worms and flies appendices of 
 
 Nature, 136. 
 Worship of God, what it is, 136. 
 
 Zodiac, how corresponding with 
 Virtues and Vices, 92, 133. 
 
 Zodiac, what, 134; circle of, ener- 
 gized by the Constellation of 
 Bear, 135-6; twelve Constella- 
 tions in, 137. 
 
 Zones, Eight, of Harmony, 13; 
 Man of Mind leaves vices in 
 them successively, ibid.; eighth, 
 receives Mind, having proper 
 energy, ibid. 
 
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 PHILIP SCHAFF, D.D. 
 
 II. MARK. By J. P. LANGE, D.D. LUKE. 
 By J. J. VAN OOSTERZEE. 
 
 III. JOHN. By J. P. LANGE, D.D. 
 
 IV. ACTS. By G. V. LECHLER, D.D., and 
 Rev. CHARLES GEROK. 
 
 V. ROMANS. By J. P. LANGE, D.D., and 
 
 Rev. F. R. FAY. 
 
 VI. CORINTHIANS. By CHRISTIAN F. 
 KLING. 
 
 VII. GALATIANS. By OTTO SCHMOLLER, 
 Ph.D. EPHESIANS and COLOSSIANS. 
 By KARL BRAUNE, D.D. PHILIPPIANS. 
 By KARL BRAUNE, D.D. 
 
 VIII. THESSALONIANS. By Drs. AUBER- 
 LIN and RIGGENBACH. TIMOTHY. By J. 
 J. VAN OOSTERZEE, D.D. TITUS. By J. J. 
 VAN OOSTERZEE, D.D. PHILEMON. By J. 
 J. VAN OOSTERZEE, D.D. HEBREWS. By 
 KARL B. MOLL, D.D. 
 
 IX. JAMES. By J. P. LANGE, D.D., and 
 J. J. VAN OOSTERZEE, D.D. PETER and 
 JUDE. By G. F. C. FRONMULLER, Ph.D. 
 JOHN. By KARL BRAUNE, D.D. 
 
 X. THE REVELATION OF JOHN. By 
 
 Dr. J. P. LANGE. Together with double 
 Alphabetical Index to all the Ten Volumes 
 on the New Testament, by JOHN H. WOODS. 
 
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