way of hermes

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THE WAY OF

HERMESN w Te Copus He neticumTe D nitions Hermes isme stus to Ascle ius

CLEMENT SALN, DORINE VAN ENW LLIAM D WHAR ON, JEAN-PIER

r dR V r


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Inner Traditions Inte ational

One Park StreetRochester, Vermont 05767 w InnerTrad tions.com

F rstU S ed t on pub shed n 2000 by Inner Trad t ons Internat onal

F rst pub shed n 1999 by Gera d Duckworth& Co Ltd , London

C us He eti umtrans at on© 1999, 2000 by C ement Sa aman,Dor ne van Oyen, and W l am D Wharton e iti s He esT sme istus t s epiustranslat on© 999,4000 y Jean-P erre Mah

A r ghts reser ed No part of th s book may be r produced or ut zed·n any form or by any means, electron c or mecha cal, nc ud ngphotocopy ng, record ng, or by any nformat on s orage and retr eva

system, without perm ss on n wr t ng om the p b sher

L brary of Congress Catalog ng n P b cat on Da aCo us Hermet cum Eng ish

The way of Hermes : translat ons of T he Co us Hermet cum andThe de n t ons of Hermes Tr smeg stus to Asclep us/ [trans ated by]Clement Salaman '" et al st U S ed

p cmOr g na ly pub shed London Duckwort& Co , 1999Includes b bl ograph ca references and ndex

ISBN 0 8928 8 7 (a k paper)1 Hermet sm Hermes, Tr smeg stus De ons of HermesTr smeg stus to Asc ep us II Salaman, Clement II T t e

BF1600 C67 3 2000135 5 dc21

Pr nted and bound n the Un ted States

0 9 8 7 6 5 3 2

s boo was peset n aramond BE Regular

99 086338

Contents

T Preface by Professor Gilles Quis elA knowledgements Translators' Foreword Translators' Note

T NSLATIONA e ord Notes on the Greek TextBibliographyIndex

92

13

6

77 9

89939 5

T f

Introduction T NSLAT ON NotesBibliography

P ates between ages 48 and 49

5

98

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That Light whose smi e kind es the unive se, That Beauty in which a things wo kand move, That Benediction which the ec ipsing Cu seOf bi th can quench not, that sustaining LoveWhich, t ough the web of being b ind y woveBy man and beast and ea h and ai and sea,Bu s b ight o dim, as each a e mi o s of The e fo which a thi st, now beams on me,Consuming the ast c ouds of co d mo ta ity.

She ey,Adonais

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Th C rpus H rm ticum

· a a d byC Sa a a

va OyW a Wha

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Preface

the year46 a mo k brought a Greek ma uscript to Flore ce The mo k Leo ardo of Pistoia was o e of the age ts that thecity s ruler Cosimo de' Medici had se tscour Europe s mo asteries for forgotte writi gs of the a cie ts a d what he ow brought his patro was a codex co t i i g fourtee treatisesattributed to Hermes Trismegistus a a cie t E ptia sage This work s arrival caused a great stir because Hermes ide ti edwith the bis god Thoth was held to be older that Plato a d Mosesa d the u derlyi g i spiratio of all philosophy a d religio thatfollowed him Cosimo immediately i structed his scholar Marsilio

ici o to suspe d his project of tra slati g the complete dialoguesof the divi e Plato so that he might u dertake a tra slatio of thiseve more sig i ca t work

This ma uscript co tai ed the ucleus of theCorpus Hereticu also falsely calledPi ander a er the rst treatise

Poi andres. Alo g with some astrological a d alchemical worksalso amed a er Hermes these tracts became the dame talwriti gs of the Re aissa ce together called Hermeticismwhereas the doctri e of theCorpus Her eticu is called Hermetism. The texts of theCorpus are preserved i Greek a dappear to have bee produced betwee the rst a d third ce turi s i Alexa dria Egypt

6 4the Swiss Calvi ist from Ge eva Casaubo provedthat theCorpus Her eticu was ot as old as it prete ded to be but should be dated a er the begi i g of the Christia era ert s Hermetic writi gs lost their ge eral fasci atio but lived o i secret societies such as the Freemaso s a d the Rosicrucia s The discove of Hermetic writi gs i o e of the thirtee codicesfou d ear Nag Hammadi i Egypt i945cha ged this situatiocompletely They co tai ed a b�tter versio i Coptic of pa s ofthe HermeticAscle ius preserved i Lati amo g he works ofApuleius a d moreover the i tegral text of a u k ow writi g

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The Corpus Hermeticumc d On h Ogdo d nd Enn d This work shows hou nydoub h h H rm ic b i v r w s ini i d in o s v r gr d s b for r nsc nding h sph r of h s v n p n s nd hh v n of h x d s rs ( h Ogdo d) Th n h wou d b ho d h

God b yond nd xp ri nc Hims f I is now comp y c r inh h r xis d b for nd r h b ginning of h Chris i nr in A x ndri s cr soci yo M sonic odg Th

m mb rs of his group c d h ms v s br hr n w r ini i dhroug b p ism of h Spiri gr d ch o h r wi h s cr d

kiss c br d s cr d m nd r d h H rm ic wri ings sdi ing r is s for h ir spiri u progr ssMor ov r h cri icisms of C s ubon os much of h ir forc

For v n if hCorpus Hermetic m w s wri n down r h r i s conc p s cou d si y b v o d nd E p i And in f c h b sic princip s of m n ion of h wor d s ov r ow fromGod d of m s r y of sun igh ( is on is from h

n ) ar ypic y nci n Egyp i n Nor shou d h i u nc of so ric Jud ism b n g c d Th r xis d h im in A x ndri nd P s in ThronMys icism in which h ini i d ros hrough h s v n p c sof H v n o b ho d h K bod h uminous g o of God in hsh p of M n This mys icism w s inspir d by ision ofEzekiel 1 hron c r d by four iving b ings bov which w s

gur ik h pp r nc of M n s i od y h found ion of J wish mys icism bou Ad m Q dmon rch yp M n n

h Poimandres God brings fo h h An hropos M who dsc nds o cr nd f s in o m r Th cho s h m in h mof so ric ud ism

n h c n u b for Chris h in u n i S oic phi osoph rPosidonius ugh h h Cosmos w s domin d by h symphy of hings' (s rs nd v n s on r h) h God w s Spiri

which p rv d d h A nd h m n w s consubs n i wi hGod b c us h h d Spiri A h s m im c r in Eudorus

P onis w s ching in A xandri s r ssing h r igiousm n s ik r inc ion in P o nd ing o r conci P o

wi h Aris o Th H is s fo ow d h s gur s in usingp i osophic n g o x r ss fund m n y r igious ch ings

Thus H rm ic S udi s h v b comp y r n w d Th rfor h im h s com for n w r ns ion which s s h Gr k

Prefacex in h igh of h n w discov ri s d nds n d qu

wording in mod rn idiom no in d by h pr judic s of o df s on d r ion ism

Gi s QuispProf ssor Em ri us U r ch nd H rv rd


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Ac owledgements

We would l ke to th nk ll th ose who h ve ss sted in t he prepr ti on of th s ed it on Pr of esso r G lle s Qu spel k ind ly sup por tedour e ort s nd contr bute d the pref ce. Pr ofes sor Je n-P ierr e M h w s lso most gener ous in gre e ing to pub l ish s tr nslt on of th e Def nit ion s w th n introd uct ion n t s volume Thef o ow ng pr ov d ed re ia b e and en t us ast ic h e p in th e tra ns a-t on: M rt n Block, K e th Hern d on, K enn eth L r sen , K th leen Lehma nn , Ed th Murp h y, J ohn M ur phy nd D n e Wh rt onMeta Cus h ng was of g re at a ss st ance in pr epari ng note s a nd th e text f or pu b icat on. Oth ers have g ven the ntr od ucto y sect ons and a e ord th ough t scr ut in y , and to th em we ar e mostg ra t .

We also tha nk a th ose who, before pu b icat on, re ad or he ard the .tr ns l ion, nd wh o, b y their en thu s i sm, h ve encour g edus In our wor k Above ll, we r e inde bte d to th e l te Le onM cL r en , wh o in iti t ed nd ins p ire d th s tr nsl t ion, wh ich weno w ded ica te to h im .

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Translators' Foreword

The heart of the Hermet c te c ng cont ned in th s book is thre s tion th t the nd vidu is fundament no di erentthe Supreme This re s t ongnosis, sing e, immed te event,ch r cter sed s second bi h This te ch ng out nes the sptu p th th t prep res the w y for th sg osis, wh ch is not

chieved b n e o of th ord mind The words of tte cher work independent of the d scip e's th n ng The pointhese tre t ses s not to rgue the truth of the r propos t ons; theme ning s the ch nge they e ect in the he s of their re ders orsteners n w ken ng them to the t uth

We fee th t there is need for new tr ns t on whose gu ge re ects the insp r tion intent of these writings t s enough to pro de ter l tr ns t on, however ccur te,un ess it reproduces something of the music nd poet of theor n , it wi not touch the s me emotion chord Our mcre te n Eng sh version whose c rit nd c dence evoke transforming connection with the s cred th t drew the origin

isteners togetherA further re son why we h ve emb rked on new tr ns tio

is bec use we fee th t the m nuscript tr dition cou d nd shou be fo owed f r more c ose y, where t c n be, w thout d mthe sense or og c of the Greek At times this ppro ch seemsopen up the text in esh nd nterest ng w s We h ve primarconsulted the fou eenth centu m nusc pt L urenti nus7 33

d the s xteen h centu Bod ei nus3 37 s we l s the sixteenthcentu ed tion of Adrien Tu ebus, c ose re ted to V ndobons s ph 2.We h ve so re ied on the critic edition of A D N

nd A J Festugi re There re some p ces where it h s not bposs b e to fo ow the m nusc pts bec use the simp dom ke sense For those p ss ges we h ve fo owed Nock s Gtext For simp icity's s ke we h ve nc uded textu l notes onlthose occ sions when we h ve dep rted from Nock s text We h

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The Co pus He eticua so kept explanatory notes to a minimum to allow the translationto speak for itself.

s we prepared our translation we spoke with Jean PierreMah of the Sorbonne about his work on the De nitions ofHe esT is egistus a Greek manuscript which was found in Oxford'sBodleian Libra and brought to light by J Paramelle in 99 (seeMah , Extraits Herm tiques', p 9).Our conversation led toMah 's most generous agreement to include his translation of thatwork, along with h s introduction, in th s edition We feel fortu ateto be able to present his valuable insights into the nature andcomposition of this teaching, as well as the De nitions apho-risms which, as he argues, formed the basis of the Co pus andother Hermetic writings

Recent arguments for greater E ptian in ue ce on the Co pus(see P fessor Quispel's Preface a d our· A erword) d sposed us toapproach our task with particular care The temptation was toabide by the traditional renderings of the Greek philosoph calvocabula , but such a decision would have given the tra slationa cast that was at times excessively Platonic, Aristotelia or StoicFor example, we ge erally preferred nature' or essence' to theAristotelian substa ce' for usia. We usually le Nous untrans-lated, feeling that intellect' or mind' were inadequate for the pure,conscious light of Book 4or the creative intellige ce of thecosmos of Books and with most te s, however, we wereby no means in exible i our decisions when the context sug-gested discursive thinking, mind' seemed the best choice

The term that prompted most d scussion was to agathon theword with which Plato denoted the supreme Form, the spiritual

analo e to the Sun in the visible orld When, as in Book 6agathon is discussed in contrast with kakon the dark ess orignorance of evil, we decided to stay with the conve tional good'or goodness' Occasionally, where some pa icular aspect of toagathon seems o be meant, we have used another translationappropriate to the context, but in these very few instances we haveinserted to agathon in parentheses immediately a er the termused When the context suggested reference to the supreme realityitself, we felt that good' or goodness' w uld imply little more thana moral judgement We decided in the end to follow Cice o, whotranslated to athon into the Latin Su u Bonu the Supre eGood We hope this will suggest to the reader the h ghest reality

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T anslato s Fo e o di the cosmos; the t e identity of every person and indeed ofeverything in the creation

We have endeavoured to give the translation a fresh ess a dvigour that will illuminate for today's re der the way these worksdrew and inspired l steners in antiq ity nd the Renaissance We

hope thus to open the mind to the ete al questions that thesetreatises address What am I? What is th s world around me? Whatis my relation to it?

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March 999Clement SalamanDorine van Oyen

William D Wharto


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Translators' Note

In the translat on that follows, lettered note references a, b, c, etcrefer t the Notes on the Greek Text on pp 89 92 Numberedreferences , 2etc. refer to the notes at the end of each book of thetranslat on There s no Book 5(see below, p. 85).

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The Corpus Hermeti um

Book !Poimandres to Hermes Trismegistus

1 Once, when m nd had become ntent on the th ngs wh ch are,and my understand ng was ra sed a great he ght, w le myb d ly senses were w thdrawn as sleep, when men are we gheddown by too much food or by the fat gue of the body, t seemed thatsomeone mmensely great of n n te d mens ons happened to callmy name and sa d to me

What do you w sh to hear and behold, and hav ng beheld whatdo you w sh o le and k ow?

2. Who are you?' sa dHe sa d, I am Po mandres theNous of the Supreme I know

what you w sh and I am w th you eve where.

3. I w sh to le ,' sa I, the th ngs that are and understand the rnature and to know God. 0 how I w sh to hear these t ngs!

He spoke to me aga n. Hold n yourNous all that you w sh tolearn and I w ll teach you

4 When he had thus spoken, he changed n fo and forthw thupon the nstant, all th ngs opened up before me and I beheld aboun less v ew All had beco e l ght, a gentle and joyous l ghtand I was lled w th long ng when I saw there had co e to be n one part a downward mov ng darkness,fearful and loathsome, wh ch I exper enced as a tw st ng andenfold ng mot on. Thus t appeared to me.

I saw the nature of the darkness change nto a watery sub-stance, wh ch was ndescr bably shaken about, and gave outsmoke as om re, culm nat ng n an unutterable and mou lecho There was sent fo h from the watery substance a loud, nart culate c the sound, as I thought, was of the l ght •

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The Corpus Her eticu Book 1Out of the light came fo h the Holy Word which entered into

the wate substance, and pure re leapt from the wate sub-stance and rose up t e re was insubsta tial, piercing and active.The air, being light, followed the breath, and mounted up till itreached the re, away from ea h and water, so that it seemed tobe suspended om the re The ea h and water remained in theirown place mingled together, so that they could not be distin-guished, and they were kept in motion by the breath of the Word,which passed over them within hearing.

6 Poimandres spoke to me and saidHave you understood what you have seen and what it means?I shall come to know it, I said.That light, he said, is I,Nous your God, who was before the

wate substance which appeared out of the darkness; and theclear Word from Nous is the Son of God

How can this be? said I.'Know this , he sai d 'Th at whic h se es and h ear s wi t h n you isthe Wor d of t h e Lord, and N ou s is God t he Fath er. T h ey are notsepar ate f rom each othe r , for the ir un ion i s life .'

Thank you, I said.But perceive the light and know it, said Poimandr s.

7 And when he had thus spoken, he looked at me l in the facefor a long time, so that his form made me tremble. When he hadlooked u , I saw in my ownNo us that the light was in innumerablepowers, hav ng become an in nite wo ld. I saw a re encompassedby a mighty power, being under command keep its place I was

intent upon these things, seeing them by means of the word ofPoimandres.

8 . As I stood am azed, Poiman dres spoke agai n to me , say ing :'o u sa w in Nous t he rst for m, which is p o r to the be g

of the begi nin gless d en dles s. Th us spok e Poima ndre s to me. 'Th en, I sa id, 'wh ence did th e elemen ts of n atur e ha ve t hei r

origins?H e answ�red: 'Fr om t he will of G od, whi ch, h oldin g t h e W ord

and seei ng th e beau t i l cos os made one exa ctlo m he r ow n c ons t itue nt e lem ent s an d th e o spr ing of souls

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The Corpus Her eticu Book 1'Nous God, being male and female, beginning as life and light,

gave bi h, by the Word, to another Nous the Creator of the world;he, being the god of re and air, fo ed seven powers who encom-pass in their circles the sensory world, and the gove ance ofthesepowers is called destiny.

Immediately, the Word of God leapt forth from the downwardmoving elements to the pure work of the Creator, and was unitedwith the Creator Nous (for he was of the same substance) and thedownward moving elements of the creation were le behind, without the Word, to be matter alone

.'Nous the Creator, together with the Word, encompassing thespheres and spinning them round w t a rushing motion, causedthose things he had made to revolve and he allowed them torevolve from no xed beginning to an end without limit, for it

begins where it ends The rotation of these spheres, as Nous willed,brought fo h from the downward moving elements liv ng beingsw thout speech (for they did not contain the Word) and the airproduced winged creatures and the water swimming creaturesThe earth and the water were separated from each other, as Nouswilled, and the earth brought fo h from herself what she pos-sesses, four footed animals, reptiles, beasts; wild and tame.

12 'Nous the Father of all, who is life and light, brought fo hMan, the same as himself, whom he loved as his own child, for Manwas ve beauti l, bearing the image of his Father It was reallyhis own form that God loved, and he handed over to him all his

creation.3 hen Man had obs rved in the Father the creation of t e

Creato he himself wished to create; and he was ve permissionto do so by the Father, being begotten in the sphere ofthe Creator,he observed care lly the creations of his brother om which heobtained eve power The Father and the brother loved him, andeach gave him of their own author ty. Having acquired knowledgeof their essence and partaking in their nature, he wished to breakthrough the circumference of the spheres and to come to know thepower of him who was set in authority over the re

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The Co us Hermeticum Book1themselves over to the path of death; others begged to be instructed, having thrown themselves at my feet. Li ing them up, Ibecame the g de of the race teaching the words of God, how theycouldbe saved. I sowed in them the words of wisdom and they werenourished by the water of immortality the eve ing came andthe rays of the sun began fully to set, I bade them to thank God;when they had fully given thanks each ret ed to h s own bed

30 I engraved in myself the bene cent kindness of Poimandresand having been lled with what I desired, I was delighted Forthe sleep of the body became the sob ety of the soul, the closing ofthe eyes became true sion, my silence became pre ant with theSupreme Good, and the utterance of the Word became the generation of r ches. All this came to me who had received it from myNous that is to say from Poimandres, the Word of the Supreme. Ihave come, div nely inspired by the t th. Wherefore, I give praise

God the Father w th mywhole soul and strength:31 Holy is God the Father of all

Ho y is God whose will is accomplished by h s own powersHolyis God who wills to be known and is own by those

that are his own.Holya thou who by the Word has united all that isHoly art thou of whom all Nature became an imageHoly art thou whom Nature has not created.Holyart thou who is stronger tha all powerHoly art thou who art higher than all pre eminenceHoly a thou who surpasses praises

Receive pure o erings of speech o ered you by inner mind andheart, thou who a unutterable, vast, beyond description, who artspoken of by silence

)32. I beg you that I may not fall from the knowledge that leadstowards our essence, and endow me with vitality; by this grace, Ishall enlighten those of the race who are in ignorance, my brothersand your sons Wherefore, I have faith and I bear w tness. I go tolife and light You are blessed, Father He who is your man wantsto share in your holiness, as you have given him all authority

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The Corpus Hermeticum Book2

Book 2He es to sc epius

1. H Is not eve thing that is moved,0 Asclepius, moved insomething and by someth ng?

A-Ce ainlyH - Must n ot th at in w h ch somet hin g is moved be gr ea t er t ha n

wh at is mo ved ?

A-It mustH-Must not the mover be more powerful than the moved?A-De nitely more power l.H And mu st n ot th a t in whi ch m ovemen t occurs h ave a na ture

opposite to t ha t of the mo ved ?A -Yes, indeed

2 H-Now this cos os is vast Surely there is not a greater bodythan this?

A-Agreed.H - An d it is d ense ? Fo r it i s fll ed w ith man y ot her g rea t bod ies,

or rather with bodies that e ist.A That is soH - s the cosmos a body?A-It is.H Is it moved?

3 A -Certai lyH - The n how la r ge ust be t he space in w hich the cosm os is

moved a nd what is th e na t ure of th at s pace ? Mu st it n ot be m u ch

large r, in ord er to accomm odate the con t inuo us course of t hemovem ent of th e cosmos and to p r eve n t it s mot ion f rom bei n ghindered by its con nement?

A -It must be something huge, 0 Trismegistus

4 H What is it like? Must it not be of a opposite nature,Asclepius? And the nature opposite to body is il ss

A-A eedH -T he s pace t hen , is b odile ss. Th e bo d iles s is e ither divi n e or

it is G od. I unde rstan d 'di vine t o mean n ot 'be g otte n but 'unb egot ten'

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The Corpus Her eticu : Book 25 If th bodil ss is d vin it is ndow d th b ing if it is God itstands apa t om b ing oth w s it would b p c ptibl Fo usGod is th high st p c ption but not fo Him Fo that which isp c iv d is p c iv d by th s ns � of th p c iv th foGodis not p c iv d by Hims lf How v in that H is not oththan that wh ch is p c iv d H do s p c iv Hims lf6 To us H is som thing s pa at and it is b caus of t s that wp c iv Him But if th spac in which th cosmos is mov d isp c iv d it is not God but simply spac If th spac is God itis no long spac but that which ncompass & all acti ty lthat is mov d is not mov d in what is mov d but in what is

ov d Th mov is still it is impossibl fo Him to b mov dA-How th n 0 T ism gistus a th s things h mov d by

thos which mov th m? Fo you hav said that th plan tasph s a mov d by th x d sta s

H-It is not th sam mov m nt 0 Ascl pius but a mov m ntin th opposit d ction fo th y a not mov d in th sam waybut in a way opposit to ach oth This count mov m nt has apoin fo its mov m nt that is x d

7. Fo count mov m nt is th b ing of stilln ss • Now thplan ta y sph s a mov d in th opposit di ction to th x dsta s Th y a mov d by ach oth in opposition Th y a mov d

oundth i opposit by a point which is x d and it cannot both wis Thos two B a s [th const llations which you s ]n ith s t no s and a tu d about th sam point do youthink th y a mov d o a x d?

A-Th y a mov d0 T ism gistusH -With what kind of mov m nt Ascl pius?A With a mov m nt that tu s a ound that pointH -Th ci cula mov m nt is a mov m nt about that point

gov d by that which is still fo volution ound that pointp v nts any dig ssion d g ssion is p v nt d if th volutionis stablish d Thus th mov m nt in th opposit di ction isstabilising and is X d by th p incipl of count mov m nt

8. I shall giv you an xampl upon a th und you v y sLook at mo tal b ings fo instanc a man swimming Th wat

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The Corpus Her eticu Book2ows but th count action of f t and hands p ovid stability fo

th man so that h is not ca i d down st amA A v cl a xampl T ism gistusH -All mov m nt th n is p oduc d in that wh ch do s not mov

and by that wh ch do s n t mov Th fo th mov m nt ocosmos and of all v ng mat ial tu s out no to a s om whacom s om outsid th cosmos but om what is within wh cmov s outwa om th soul f om h b ath of lif o fanoth inco po al b ing Fo a body do s not mov a body thas a soul no in g n al any body v n if it ha no soul

A How can you say this T sm g stus? Ca ot pi c s of woodston s and oth th ngs that hav no soul mov bodi s?

H-Not so Ascl pius Wh nbody mov s som thing without asou it is that with n not th body wh ch mov s both th band what is bo

H nc a body with a soul wh n it mov s mov s that wh ch in • Th fo you s th soul is w igh d down wh n v oown it ca s t o bod s Cl a ly th n th ngs which a ma mov d in som th ng and by som th ng

10. A -Must obj cts b mov d in som thing0 T ism gistus?H Th y must Ascl pius Nothing wh ch is is a void o

non x st nc is void b ing fo ign to xist nc Fcan n v b void

A-But a th not som things which a void0 T ism gistus such as an mpty ja an mpty pot a whol iv b d oth simila th ngs?

H -What a hug mistak Ascl pius! What is totally full andquit no mousO you hav simply tak n as mpty

11 A-How can you say this 0 T ism gistus?H Is ai a substanc Ascl pius?A It isH Do s not this substanc p vad all that x sts and in

p vad ng all do s it not ll it? Is this substanc not a mixtu osubstanc s ? Th fo a not all things which you say a v

ll d with ai ? Th fo thos things which you say a void should call hollow not void Th fact is that th y a ll of ai anth b ath of lif

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The Corpus Her eticu Book 212 Your words are irre table, 0 Trismegistus. So what shall wesay is the space in which eve thing s moved?

H It is bodiless, Asclepius.A But what is the bodiless?H Nous the Word , emerging out of that which is whole, entire

and complete; Nous containing itself, nembodied, steadfast, un-a ected, and impalpable, itself standing by itself, containing andreserving all beings, whose glories are the Supreme Good, truth,

the origin of breath, the origin of soul.A What then is God?H He is not any one of these, but He is the cause of their

e stence, the ause of the existence of everything and of eveindividual.

1 He has le no space for the unreal. All that is has come fromthe real and ot om the unreal. The quality of the unreal is thatit cannot come into existence, indeed i cannot become anything.Again the real never has the nature of the unreal.

14.A What do you mean by: never has the nature of the unreal?H God isNous and the cause of existenc ; He is not breath,

but the cause of the breath s existence; He is not light, but thecause of the light s e stence. Thus one should worship God bythese two names (Nous the cause of existence), since theybelong to Him alone and to no one else. No other beings spoken ofas gods, men or divine powers can be even in the sligh est degreegood, but God alone God is this alone and no hing else All otherthings are contained" within the nature of the Supreme Good, for

they are body and soul, but themselves have no place to containthe Supreme Good

1 .The greatness of this good is such that it is the reality of allbeings; of the bodily and of the bodiless, of the senso and of thesubtle. This is the Supreme Good, this is God. Therefore, do notcall a thing else good since then you blaspheme, and do not evercall God anything but good, since then again you blaspheme.

16. Eve one uses the term good , but what it is, not eve oneperceives. On account of this , God is not perceived by everyone, butin ignorance they call gods and certain men good who can never be

28

The Corpus Her eticu Book 2and never become good The Supreme Good is not at all alien toGod; it is inseparable om Him, as i is God Himself All the otherimmo al gods are honoured by the name of God. However, God isgood, not by being honoured, but by his nature. For the nature ofGod is one: supreme goodness; God and goodness are one genera-tive power, from which come all generations. He who gives all andtakes nothing is good. God gives all and takes nothing So God isthe Supreme Good and the Supreme Good is God.

1 .The other name is that of the Father, by virtue of Him beingthe author of all things; for the Father s nature is to create.Therefore, the raising of children2 is held in the greatest esteem inlife and most blessed by right thinking people; and the greatestmisfortune and impiety is when omeone depa s om mankindwithout children, for he su ers punishment a er death from thedivine powers. This is the retribution: that the soul without chil-dren is condemned to a body that is neither male nor female, andis cursed by the sun Therefore, Asclepius, do not congratulateanyone without children but rather take pity on his misfortune,knowing what punishment awaits him. Let this much be spokenas a foretaste to the understanding of the nature of the All.

*

T r is substantia vi nc t at a portion of t op ning of Bookof t orpus H rm um as w l as an ntir int rv ning book av

b n lost from t manuscripts n manuscripts t at contain tit s forin ivi ua tr atis s, Book is lab ll A U rsa T a h of H rm s oTa . W at follows in t manuscripts, ow v r, is a r ss to scl pius,sugg sting t at at an arly point, a tr atis was lost. itional vi ncfor omission com s from Jo ann s Stoba us, w os A 00 ant olo ofanci nt wis om an it ratur for is son s ucation contains xt nsiv

xc rpts from t is tr atis n xc rpt of som tw nty v in s n swit a ph as i ntical wit t rst lin of t manuscripts Book2 isa r s scl pius, an matc s t r st of t tr atis in subj ctmatt r. T is fragm nt is, t r for , g n rally r gar as four Bookc apt rs t at pr c t op ning xtant in t manuscripts. t is a sounlik y t at t abrupt b ginning of t Stoba an xc rpt corr spon sto t op ning of t origina tr atis f on assum s t at pag s w r lostb tw n t origina Book2 U rsa T a h ofH rm s o Ta ant manuscripts' Book (H rm s to scl pius) on can also assum t att origina b ginning of Book was also ost or a fu l r iscussion of

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The Corpus Her eticu Book 4Plunge into t is bowl if you can having faith that you ll rise

to him that sent down the bowl realising why you came into being 'Those who heard the proclamation merged withNous partook

of higher knowledge and became perfect and complete since theyhad receivedNous. Those who missed the proclamation had theWord but had not receivedNous ignorant as they were as to whythey were bo and om whom.

5 The perceptions of these people are like those of dumb animalshaving a mixture of rage and lust they do not value things worthyof their attention but u to the pleasures and appetites of thebody believing that man was bo for that reason. Those whopartook in the gi of God0 Tat are immortal rather than mortalif one considers their works They comprehend all in theirNouswhatever is o earth in heaven and eyond heaven Having thusraised themselves they see the Supreme Good and realising thatthey regard t me sp nt here as a misfortune. Disregarding thegross and the subtle they hasten to the One alone.6 This Tat is the knowledge ofNous and the ision of whatcomes from God It is the p rception of God since the bowl is ofGod

T I also wish to be immersed inNous 0fatherH If you don't rst hate your body son you cannot love your

Self. If you love your Self you will haveNous and havingNous youll partake of knowledgeT Why do you say that father?H For son it is impossible to be gove ed by both by the

mortal and by the divine There are two kinds of beings theembodiedand unembodied in whom there is the mor al and thedivine spirit. Man is le to choose one or the other ifhe so wishesFor one cannot choose both at once when one is diminished itreveals the po er of the other.

7 Thus this power the choice of the better not only happens to bethe most glorious for him who chooses in that it unites man withGod but it also shows reverence to God. The inferior choice hasdestro ed man Not ing o ends God but this: as processionspassing in the road cannot achieve anything themselves yetstill

32

The Corpus Her eticu Book 4obst ct others so these men merely process through the universeled by the pleasures of the body.

8. These things being so Tat the things of God have alwaysbelonged and will always belong to us May what comes from usaccord with that and may there be no delay Since God is not thecause of evils we are to blame preferring these things to what isgood o you see0 son how many bodies we have to pass throughhow many bands of demons through how many series of repeti-tions and cycles of the stars before we hasten to the One aloneAll this has be crossed the Supreme Good is unlimited and ithas no be inning and no end But to us it appears that knowledgehas a beginning·

9. Knowledge then is not the origin of the Supreme Good but forus it provides the origin of what is to be known. Let us thereforetake hold of the origin and pass over eve thing else with speed;for it is a path full of tangles when leaving the familiar andpresent to retu to the ancient and original For what appearsthe eyes delights us and what is unseen makes us mistrust. Tothose who have eyes e il is most evident and the Supreme Goodis hidden For the Supreme Good has no orm and leaves no markThus it is like to itself but unlike all else What is unembodiedcan never be seen by a body

10.This is the di erence between the like and the unlike and theinferiority of the unlike compared to the like For the One is theorigin and the root of all and nothing is without origin The origina ses on y om itself beca se it is the origin of all other t ings; forit is i elf beca se it d s not come om another ori in Thereforethe One is e o gin and comprehends' by number without beingcomprehended by any n mber and being e producer of all ingsby number is not itself p oduced by any other number.

11. Eve thing that comes into being is imperfect and undetermined ; it may be increased and diminished but no such thinghappens to the perfect. And what can grow grows by virtue oftheOne but is overpowered by its own weakness no longer able togive way to the One This is the image of God0 Tat that has beendrawn for you as far as it an be. If you observe it clearly and

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The Corpus Her eticu : Book 5re ect upon it with the eyes of the heart, believe me, my son, youwill nd the way to higher things In fact the image itselfwill guideyou For sight of the image has a special quality of its own Itdwells in those who have already seen it and draws them upward,just as they say a magnet draws up iron

Book He es to Tat

This teaching also I shall fully e pound to you,0 Tat, so thatou are not shut o from God who is too g eat for a name

Understand that what appears u a fest to many will beco emost evident to you, for it would not e ist if it were not ma festto you Eve thing that is manifest has been brought into being;for it has been b ought to light Ho ever, the unmanifest e stsalways; it does not need to appe , for it e ists always and it makeseve thing else manifest, though it itself is unmanifest since italways is That which makes manifest is not itself made manifest,for it has not been brought fo h But it brings all images to themin in imagination Things that are bego tten belong only toimagination For imagination is nothing but begetting

2 It is plain that the One is unbo and not imagined and it isunma fest, but it appears as all kinds of images, through all andin all and chie y to those to whom it wishes to appear My son,Tat, ray rst to the Lord and Father; he is single, but not the One,apart from whom is the One Pray that through grace you will beable to perceive God as so great that even just one ray of Him may

shine in your mind. For pure perception perceives the unmanifest,as it is itself also unmanifest If you are strong enough, He willappear to the eye ofNous 0Tat For the Lord appears in Hisbounty throughout the whole universe Can you see pure percep-tion and ta e hold of it with these hands and contemplate theimage of God? But if you cannot see what is within, how can Godwho is Himself within you appear to you through your eyes?

3.If you wish to see Him, consider the sun, the course of the moon,the order of the stars. Who watches over this order? For all rdersets a limit by number and place The sun is the greatest od ofthe gods in heaven, for whom all heavenly gods give way as to a

3 4

The Corpus Her eticu : Book 5ing and master He, who is so great, greater than the ea h and

the sea, supports the tu ng stars He has them above hima though they are smaller than himself Does he stand in awe ofany one? Does he fear anyone,0 son? Does not each of those starswhich are in heaven, follow a similar if not identical course? Whohas ordained to each the direction and si e of its course?

4 This Great Bear tu s around its lf, and carries the wholeuniverse along with itself. Who has acquired that as an instru-ment? Who has thrown boundaries round the sea? Who has set theearth in place? For there is someone,0 Tat, who is the creator andmaster of all these things. It is impossible that the place, thenumber and the measure be preser ed, without him who createdit For all order is created, and what is out of place and out ofmeasure is not created; but not even that, my son, is without amaster For if the disorder is in need of order, when so to speak, it

stops the normal working of order, it is nevertheless under amaster, albeit one who has not yet brought it within the bounds oforder

5. 0 that you could grow wings and y up into the air, and that,poised between earth and heaven, you might see the rmness ofearth, the liqui ity of the sea, the course of the rivers and the ee

ow of the air, the piercing re, the revolution of the stars, theswi ness of the heavenly movement encircling all these thingsWhat most blessed vision,0 son, to behold all that in one moment;the unmoving being moved, the unmanifest being made manifestthrough what it creates! This is the very order of the universe andthis is the beauty of the order.6 If you also wish to see God through mo al beings who are onearth and in the sea, consider, my son, man being formed in thewomb and e amine carefully the skill of God s work, and under-stand wh creates this beautiful and godlike image of man? Whohas outlined the eyes? Who has pierced out the nostrils and ears?Who has opened the mouth? Who has stretched and fastened thesinews? Who has conducted the veins in their channels? Who hasstren hened the bones, and covered the esh with skin? Who hasseparated the ngers? Who has widened the soles of the feet? Whohas bored the passages thr ugh the bod , who has stretched out

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The Corpus Her eticu : Book 5the pleen? ho ha hape the hea like a pyrami an joinethe inew to ether? ho ha broa ene the liver? ho hahollowe out the lun an ma e the tomach capaciou ? ho hafa h one the mo honourable par o that they ma be een anconceale tho e part which are un eemly?

7 See how many kill ari e from one ub tance an how manyform are ma e by one impre ion an all th n beautiful, allthin mea ure , all thin varie . ho ma e all the e? atmother, what father, f not the unmanife t o , who create allth n by Hi own will?

8. No one ay that a tatue or a portrait ha come into beinwithout a culptor or a painter then a thi work come into beinwithQut a creator? hat blin ne ! hat acrile e! hat minle arro an e! My on Tat, never eprive the work of creation of

their creator. He i reater than anythin the name of Go implie ,o reat i the Father of all for He i in le an Hi work i u tthi : to be Father

9 If you force me peak more bol ly, it i Hi nature to conceiveall thin an create them an a w thout the Creator nothin cancome into e i tence, o He woul not e i t ete ally if He ha notalway been creatin all thin in heaven, in air, in earth, in the

ea, everywhere in the univer e, everywhere in the All, in what ian what i not. There i nothin in all thi which i not Him el .Boththe thin that are an the thin that are not are h m elfFor the thin that are, He ha ma e man fe t an the thin thatare not He contain within Him elf.10 Thi i Go , reater than a name He ianife t, yet He imo t manife t He can be perceive byNous;He can be een by theeye . He i b ile , yet He ha many bo ie , or rather eve bo y.Nothin i which He i not. For He i all that e i t an He hatherefore all name , becau e all name come om one Father, anthat i why e Him elf ha no name, for he i the Father of all.How can you be prai e to other or to your el An where hallI look to prai e you: above, below, in i e or out i e? For you therei no irection, no place, nor any other bein All i within y u, all

36

The Corpus Her eticu : Book 6come om you You ive eve thin an take nothin . For youhave eve t n an there i nothin you o not have.

11. hen hall I i your prai e ? For it i not po ible to nyour hour or your ea on For what hall I prai e you? For whay u have create or for what you have not create ? For what youhave reveale or for what you have hi en? An why hall I prai eyou? Becau e you are of my own nature? Becau e you have whati your own? Becau e you are other? But you are what oever I amyou whatever I o; you are whatever I peak You are all thina there i noth n el e Even what i not you are. You are athat ha come into bein you are what ha not come into beinYou areNous an what i appre en e byNous; you Fathera you create, Go a you are in eve action, the Supreme Gooa you are the cau e of all.

The ne t pa of matter i air, of air, oul, of oul,Nous ofNousGo .1*

Apray r lik fo a, w ic is r p at in ook

Book 6He es to sclepius

1.The Supreme Goo ,0 A c1epiu , i not in anyth n , if not in Go

a one, rather, the Supreme Goo i alway Go Him elf If thio, it i the real nature of all movement an of all enerationNothin i bere of thi real nature which ha an ener thatb n thin to re t roun it elf It i not in want an ha noe ce it i completely full an upplie all nee it i inbe innin of all th n For in ayin that the provi er of evet n i oo I am ay n that it i alway oo in eve way

Thi Supreme Goo belon to nothin el e but to Go aloneFor He lack s not hin g, les t a ny desir e to possess anythin g mayre nd er Hi m e il, nor can anyth ing be lost to Him whi ch wou d ma ke Him grie ve, for grie f is th e her itag e of e il. No bein g ismighti er t han God, by whom He could be tre ate d as an en emy, nor

is it p ossibl e for H im to su er an y i us tic e by a nyone and th ere -

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The Corpus Her eticu Book 6fore He will love eve one No being is disobedient to Him whichwould provoke His anger nor is any being ser which wouldprovoke His jealousy

2 S nce none of these a ictions belongbeing what is le butthe Supreme Good alone? For just as none of them belong to beingso t s Good will not be found in any of these a ictions. But l

hese other a ictions exist in eve being in the small and in thegreat in indi dual creatures and in that living being hi�self (thecosmos) which is greater and more power l than all be gs andall th ngs What is bo is full of su ering for bi h itself issu ering and when there is su ering the Supreme Good is neverthere and when t is Good is there there is no su er ng at allWhe;e there is day there is no night where there is ght there sno day Therefore the Supreme Good c nnot be in what s begottenbut only in what is unbegotten Just as there s pro ision ofeverything in the physical world likewise the Supreme Goodpermeates abundantly n this way the cosmos is good as it createsall things t is good with regardits creative aspect but ineverything else it is not good For it is subject to su ering andmovement and is the producer of beings who are destined to su er

3 Within man the Supreme Good is limited by the measure of evilFor in man just a little evil is counted as good Good for him is thesmallest portion of evil Therefore for h m good cannot be eefrom eVil For in man goodness is ill used and when it is ill usedgoodness no longer remains and when it does not remain evil isborn Therefore the Supreme Good is only in God or rather God

himself is this Good Thus0

Asclepius there is only the termgood' for men never its reality for that is impossible The grossbody allows no room for it bound fast eve where by evil toilspains desires passions deceits foolish opinions And Asclepiusthe worst of all is that each of these things which have just beenmentioned are in man considered to be the greatest good whereasin fact each is an unsurpassable evil. Greed the root of all evil isthe error of man it is the absence of goodness.

4 And I am thankful to God for putting e en a taste of heknowledge of the Supreme Good into myNous because this oodcannot exist in the world. For the world is the sum total of ev l�

38

The Corpus Her eticu Book 7od the unli ited goodness or rather goodness the limitless God

For the excellencies of beautiful things are round His true natureand appear in some way even m re pure and simple for they areof od One must have couragesay 0 Asclepius that theessence of God if indeed He has an essence is beauty but nobeauty and goodness are to be found in the things of the cosmosFor al things w ch fall u der the eye are images and as it werepa ntings But what does not fall under the eye s ch e y thee cellence f beauty and goodness And just as the eye cannot see

od so it cannot see beauty and goodness For these are theatt butes of God perfect and complete belonging to Him alonethey are His ve own inseparable and most beloved either Godloves them or they love God

5. f you can perceive God you will perceive beauty goodness(toagathon and splendour illumined by God That beauty is incom-

parable and that goodness in m table as is God Himself Thusinsofar as you perceive God you must perceive beauty and good-ness These are not shared by other liv ng beings as they are

nseparable om God If you seek a er God you also seek a erbeauty There is one way lead ng to that beauty devoti n withk owledge

6 Thus the ignorant and those not on the way of devotion dare tospeak of a man as beauti l and g od however man in his dreamcanby no means see if anything is good but he takes eve evil tohimself believing evil to be good and thus using t for himself hebecomes insatiable and fear l of being robbed of it he strugglesfor everything not onl to have it but to increase it. Such thingsare good and beautiful to men0 Asclepius and we can neitherescape them nor hate them The worst thing of all is that we haveneed of these th ngs and we cannot live without them.

Book 7

1 Wh ther are you being carried0 men as you are havingswallowed neat the word of ignorance w ch you cannot keepdown but are a ready vomiting up? Stop be sobe ook up withthe eyes of the heart and if all of you cannot at least those whocan. The evil of ign rance oods the whole earth and completely

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The Corpus Her eticu : Bookdestroys the soul con ned to the ody not allowing it to e rought

a safe har our.

2 Therefore don t e car ed down y the great ood ut make useof the tide. Let those of you who can nd the safe har our ring your s p in and seek one who will lead you y the handthegates of the knowledge in your hea . There is the right lightclear of darkness where no one gets , ut all are so erlooking with he hea to Him who wills to e seen. He cannot eheard He cannot e uttered nor seen th eyes ut yNous andthe hear . First you have to strip o the garment which you arewearing the we of ignora ce the fa ric of evil the k ot ofdestruction the girdle of darkness the living death the sentientcorpse the por a le tom the ro er in your house him who hatest ough what he loves and ears malice through what he hates.

3 Such is the hat ful garment you wear which inds you down initself lest when you look up and see the eauty of truth and theSupreme Good which lies within you should hate the e il of thisgarment and realise its treachery. This has ensnared you makingthe seeming senses which are not acknowledg d insensi le; for ithas locked them up with much gross matter and lled them withloathsome pleasure so that you do not hear what you should hearand do not see what you should see.

Book SHe es to Tat

1 Now my son we must speak a out the soul and the ody: inwhat way the soul is immortal and what is the activity whichforms the ody and dissolves it. Mor ality has nothing to do withthis. The concept comes om the word immo al . Either mo alityis a meaningless word or it has lost its rst sylla le as it ispronounced mortal instead of immo al . Mor ality is a kind ofdestruction ut nothing in the universe is destroyed. If the secondGod is the cosmos an immo al eing it is impossi le for any parof an immor al eing to die. Ev thing in the cosmos is a par ofthe cosmos ut especially man the living eing with speech.

2 The rst God of all is in fact ete al un egotten and the Creator ·

40

The Corpus Her eticu Bookof all. The second God is in the image of the rst. H is egotten

y im and he is within im and y Him he is sustained and madeimmortal; thus y his own Father he is ever living as an immortal. at goes on living is distinct from the ete al. The ete alwas not egotten from another. You might ay that He was egotten from Himself if so He was never egotten ut He is alwayscoming into eing He is the ete al. Because of Him the All isete al. The Father is ete al ecause of Himself ut the cosmosis eternal and immor al ecause it is egotten of the Father.

3. And however much material there was it eing su ject to Hisdisposal the Father tu ed it all into a ody. H rais d it up andmade it spherical co ferring this quality on what He had wroughtnamely an immor al and ete al ateriality. When He had sown

er ain kinds of causal forms into he sphere He enclosed them aswithin a cave As He wished to ado the material withinHimself with all qualities He inv st d th whole ody with immortality so that this material would not wish itself separate fromits composition with the ody a d thus dissolv into its ownu di erentiat d stat . When this material was not a ody it wasundi erentiated my son. In this wor d other small things such asgrowth and iminution which m n call d ath ar nv lop d ythis mat rial.

4 This u di er ntiated stat xists in resp ct of ar hly eings.The odies of the celestia s hav on order which was assig ed tothem y th Fath r in th egi ning and this ind structi l ord ris kept un roken y the periodic retu of ach ody in the cosmiccycle. ithin that cycle ear hly odi s are fo ed eturned anddissolved into o i s that ar indestructi le that is immortal.Thus ther is deprivation of the senses ut no destruction of

odies.

5. The third living eing man has een egotten in the imag ofthe cosmos ut as the Father will d not li ing like other earthlycreatures. Not o ly does he have a ity with the second God utalso a conception of the rst. perceives the se ond G d as a

ody the rs he conceives as without a ody and asNous that isth Supreme G od.

T Then does this eing an not die?

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The Corpus Her eticu : Book 9movi g t1em. At·o e a d the same time He is space a d theCreator of life.

7 The bodies made from matter are diverse Some are om ea hsome from water some om air some from re. All is compou dedof pa s some more complex others simpler. The more complexare heavier a d the simpler lighter. The rapid motio of thet g cosmos produces the varied qualities of bei gs. The b astof air from this is co ti uous a d le ds qualities to bodies as welas the abu da ce of life.

8 od is the Father of the cosmos the cosmos is the father of thosewithi the cosmos the cosmos is the so of od a d those withithe osmos have bee created by the cosmos. The cosmos has beeaptly amed order ; for it gives order to all thi gs through thediversity of their origi a d the co ti uity of life through u tiri gactivity a d the speed of desire through the shadow of theeleme ts a d the givi g of order to what comes i to bei g. That itshou d be called order is both ecessary a d tti g. Thus these s perceptio a d u dersta di g of all that lives come i fromoutside. They breathe by mea s of that which co tai s them butthe cosmos receives se se perceptio a d u derstandi g o ce a dfor all at the time it was bo a d ha i g received them from od it keeps them.

9 t od is ot as some will think without se se perceptio a dwithout u dersta di g. Through their very piety such me b aspheme; for0 Asclepius all thi gs that exist are i od. They have bee brought forth by od a d depe d upo Him. Some workthrough bodies others make thi gs move through the soul; somele d ife through breath others receive the dead remai s. All this is just.I shou d rather say that od does ot co tai these bei gs but tell the truth He is them a . He does ot take them i fromoutside but issues them out. This is the se se perceptio a du dersta di g of od ever to move all bei gs a d there will ever be a time whe anythi g will be le without Him. Whe ever Ispeak of bei gs I speak of od for od supports bei gs a d

othi g is outside Him and He outside othi g.

1 . 0Asclepius these thi gs will seem true to you if you u der-

The Corpus Her eticu Book 10stand them but if you remai ig ora t they are beyo d be ief. u dersta d them is to take them as tr e a d ot to u derstathem is to take them as u true. My discourse leads to the truththe mi d is great a d guided b t is teachi g may ar ve at tht th. Whe he mi d has comprehe ded all thi gs a d fou dthem to be i ha o y with what has bee expou ded by theteachi g it takes them to be true a d comes to rest i that beauti l truth. Those who u dersta d through od hold what has just bee spoke to be true but hose who do ot u dersta d

ot believe it. Let this much be said about u dersta di g a dse se perceptio .

Book 1He es to Tat

1 I imparted yeste day s dis ourse to you0 Asclepius so today it is right to give it to Tat especially because it is a abridgeme t the ge eral8 teachi g addressed to hi . od Father a d theSupreme ood have the same ature or rather power. The amof ature also mea s growth as it co ce s bei gs w ich chaa d which are both movable a d immovable: it co ce s the divia d the human both of which od wills i to bei g. We havdiscussed power elsewhere a d also other divi e a d huma matters which have to be kept i mi d o this subject.

2 The power of od is is will a d od s esse ce is to i l all thto be. What is od Father and the Supreme ood but the existe ce of all thi gs eve those tha are ot hat e se but the v

substa ce of all that is? T is is od this is Father a d this is thSupreme ood; without a fu her additio . Although the cosmoa d the su are father to them that partake of them they are ot i the same ma er the cause of the Supreme ood i livi bei gs or of their life. If they are father they are whol y co t

ed by the will of the Supreme ood without which othi g caor become.

3. The father is the cause of his childre both of their ge eratioa d their ourishme t havi g received the desire om the Supreme ood through the su for t is ood is the creative p cple. This ca not be prese t a yo e but that O e alo e wh


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The Corpus Her eticu Book 10takes nothing but wills all th ngs to be. I do not therefore say atthat the One creates for over a long period of time the creator isdefective in that sometimes he creates and sometimes he does not.

ometimes he is defective in quality and at other times in quantity. ometimes he creates many things of a pa icular nd andsometimes their opposite. But God Father and the upreme Goodare there for the existence of all

4 hese things are so for the man who is able to see; God wills thisand so it is; indeed it is or th s man s sake. One might even say allother things exist for h s sake. It is the nature of the upremeGood that this Good should be nown0 at.

. 0 father you have lled us with a good and most beautifulvision so that my mind s eye is almost a aid of such a sight.

H. It does not like the rays of the sun which are ery blazeon the eyes and make them close. his is the ision of the upreme

od it shines forth in such a way that the man who has the powercan as far as possible perceive the owing light of pure perception.Not only does it come down to us more swi ly but it is harmlessand is wholly immo al.

Indeed those who are able to drink in more of this vision o enlose awareness of the body in this most beauti l sight as hap-pened to our ancestors Ouranos and ronos

May that happen to us0 father!H. May it indeed my son. But as yet we are too weak in sight

and are not strong enough to open the eyes of the mind and tobehold the b�auty of that upreme Good incorruptible and incom-prehensible. hen you have noth ng to say about it then you willsee it; for the experience of it is the silence of God and thewithdrawal of all the senses.

6. He who has perceived it cannot perceive any other; he who hascontemplated it cannot contemplate any other he cannot hear ofany other he cannot even move the body. easin from all bodilymovement and sensation he stays still. hen it has illumined thewhole mind and the whole soul it ames up again and draws theentire man out of the body and transforms him into his essentialbeing. It is impossible my son for"the soul who has behe d thebeauty of the upreme Good to beco e God while in the body.

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The Corpus Her eticu Book 10. What do you mean by become God'0 father?

H. Eve separate soul goes through transfo ations my son. hat do you mean by separate'?

H Have you not heard in the general teaching that all thesouls which wander around the whole cosmos as if separate are

om a single soul the soul of al ? Indeed there are many transfor-mations of these souls some more for unate others less. hosewhich are reptiles are changed into aquatic creatures a uaticcreatures into those of the ear h those of the earth into fowls ofthe air the air borne into man. he human souls which gain

mmorta ity are transformed into spirits and thence to the choru es of the gods. here are two choruses of the gods one is of thegods that wa der and the other of those that do not move.

8. his is the most perfect glo of the soul. When the soul whichhas entered a human body emains e il it does not taste immortality nor pa ake of the upreme G od Being dra ged away ittu back on its journey to the reptiles andthat is the condemnation of the ev l s ul. he e il of the soul then is ignorance ; forthe soul knowing nothing of beings or of their nature or of the

upreme Good is blind and shakes with bodily pa ns. he evilspi t i orant of itself becomes a slave to monst us and mise

ble bodies It carries its body as a burden and does not commandbut is commanded. uch is the ev l of t e soul.

9. On the other hand the excellence of the soul is understanding;for the man who und stands is good devoted and already godlike.

. hat sor of man is this0 father?H. O e who does not speak much nor gives heed to many

things. He who busies imself in giving and listening to speechesmy son is beating the air. God Father and the upreme Goodcannotbe spoken of or heard A l beings have senses because theycannot live without them but understanding is ve di erent fromsense; for sensation arises om the objects of sense which govemen while understandi g is the ful l ent of knowledge andknowledge is the gi of od.

10.All knowledge is incorporeal using the mind as an instrumentjust as the mind uses the body. Both then come into the body mind

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The Co pus He eticu Book10and matte . All things must be composed of cont ast and opposi-tion it cannot be othe wise.

T. What then is this mate ial God?H The cosmos beauti l but not good fo it is mate ial and

easily a ected, and although it is st among things that change,it is second among things that a e and it is incomplete At sometime it was c eated, and yet it always e ists it e ists in c eation,and it is always being c eated i c eates quality and quantity andit is subject to movement C eation is the movement of all matte .

11.The unmovingNous moves matte thus: since the cosmos is asphe e that is a head and the e is nothing mate ial above thehead, as the e is nothing mental below the feet, whe e all ismatte soNous is the head and is itself moved as a sphe e thatis, in a manne app op iate to a head. The efo e all that is unitedto the tiss e of this head is the soul and is immo al by natu e.Just as eV the body is made in the soul so all that is united tothe head has fa mo e soul than body. What is fu the away f omthe tissue of the head is mo al, having within it mo e body thansoul Eve y living being like the cosmos is composed of matteand Nous

12.The cosmos is the st but man is the second living being a ethe cosmos He is the st among c eatu es that die but like otheliving beings he has a soul Still, he is not only not good, but in asmuch as he is mo al he is co upt Now the cosmos is not good inas much as it can be moved, but not co upt as it is immo tal whileman is co upt as he both can be moved and is mo al

13.The soul of man is ca ied in this way:Nous in the Wo d theWo d in the soul, the soul in the body he b eath passing th oughveins a e ies and the blood sets the living being motion andin a mann suppo s it. The efo e some people think that the soul

s the blood but they a e mistaken about its natu e They do notealise that once the b eath has to withd aw into the soul, the

blood congeals the veins and a te ies become empty and then theliving being is emoved and this is the death of the body

14.All things depend upon one st cause and this depends uponthe One alone. The st cause is set in motion so that it again

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One of a pa r of o elis ks naming King Nectan ebo IIof he 30t Dy as y, c . 350 Be . Accord ing o e v ca nsc pons Nec ane o se up h s obe isk and s ellow at e doorway o th e sanct ary of

e emple ofT oth He mopo i Du ing he18 cent ry ey were mo ed o a posi ion i on of one of Cai o's mosques . Br sh Museu m (G f of King George II).


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To h he ibis headed scribe of he gods s a d g befo e he alco headed su -godRe Ho akhty Pap us ofNes aneb she u 2 s Dynasty 950Be B ish Museum

Stele wi h To h as baboon, ibis and ibis man 1s ce tury A ard P e son MuseumAmsterdam.

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To as a oon sc o h sna e ( a hos

Daimon) on his ead, and as i s 1s en yAA a d P e son M se m Ams e dam

A exand ian s e e sna e as a hos Daimon332-50 Be A a d Pie son M se m, Ams e dam

The Corpus Hermeticum Book10be omes a ause Only the One remains still and does not mo eSo there are these three rs ly God Father and the SupremeGood; se ondly the osmos; and thirdly man od ontains the

osmos and the osmos man The osmos is the son of God manthe son of the osmos and as it were grandson of God

15 God does not ignore man he knows him fully s God alsowishes to be known This is the only sal ation for man knowledgeofGod T s is the as ent to the highest abode of the gods Thusthe soul be omes wholly good but it is not good fore er for itbe omes orrupt whi h happens from ne essity

T Why do you say that0 Trismegistus?H Look at the soul of a hild my son that has not yet a epted

its own separation Its body is not y t grown and as not fullyde eloped How beauti l it isbehold in e e way Not yetsoiled by the experien es of the bod still irtually dependingupon the soul of the osmos But when the b dy has grown large

and drags the soul do n to its grossness the soul separates itselffor ets and does not partake of beauty and goodness Forgettingbe omes her orruption

16.This also happens to those lea ing the body hen the soulret s to itsel the breath withdraws into the blood and the soulinto the breath butNous being freed om o ers and beinggod ike by ature takes on a body of re and ranging e erywherelea es the soul to the judgement and justi e it deser es

T How an ou sa0 father thatNous is separated from thesoul and the soul from the breath when you ha e said that the soulwas the o ering ofNous and the breath is that of the soul?

17.H The listener0 on sho ld be of one mind and so l withthe speaker and his hearing should be i ker than the o e of thespeaker The formation of these o ers my son takes pla e in thearthy bodyNous annot be seated by itsel in su h a body withouto ering The ea hy body annot sustain so great an immortality

nor a su h ex ellen e bear onta t with a body subje t to su er-ing ThereforeNous h s taken the soul as a o er and the soulbeing itself di ine uses breath as re and the b eath go e sli ing beings

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The Corpus Her eticu : Book 101 WheneverNous is separated om its earthy body, it immediately puts on its own cloak of re which it could not have in itsearthy body, for ear h cannot bear re t is all b t up, even bya tiny spark. Therefore water is spread round the earth as adefence or a wall to hold o the ames of reNous being fasterthan all divine thought and faste than all elements has re as abody Being the Creator of all,Nous uses re as an instrument ofhis creative activity The u versalNous creates eve thing, theNous of man only earthly things Stripped of reNous in man cancreate nothing divine, being human by reason of where it dwells

19 The human soul, that is not every human soul, but a pious one,is spiritual and divine When such a soul has freed itself from thebody and passed the test of piety, which is to know God and toharm no man, it beco es pureNous. But the impious soul remainsin its own substance, rest icted by itself, see ing an earthy body,that is to sayI human body into which it may enterV. No other bodyhas room for a human soul; and it is not lawful for a human soulto fall into the body of an irrational creature t is the law of Godto protect the human soul om such an outrage

2 T - How then is the human soul punished, father?H - What greater punishment is there for the human soul than

impiety? What re makes greater ames than impiety? Whatsavage beast mutilates the body as impiety mutilates the soul? Doyou not see how many evils the ungodly soul su ers? How it callsfor help and shrieks I am on re; am ablaze I don t know what

say or what to do. Wretch that I am, I am being consumed bthe evils w ch possess me. I cannot see; I cannot hear!' e theynot the voices of a soul which is being punished? Or do you believe,as most do, my son, that the soul at the moment it leaves the bodyenters that of a beast? This is a ve great error.

21 For the oul is punished in the following way. WhenNousbecomes a divine power, it is obliged to receive a e body to serveGod; and it enters the impious soul and tortures it with thetorments belonging to those that e . icted by these the impious soul t s to murder, outrage and blasphemy and eve indof violence by which men a ront justice But whenNous enter thepious soul it leads it to the light of nowledge. Such a soul is never

5 0

The Corpus Her eticu Book 10insolent through sleep , but blesses all men, setting all thingsright in wo d and deed, since it is the image of its Father

22 Wherefore my son, when giving thanks to God, you shou d prafor a mind that is noble. Then the soul (an pass to a better state,not to a worse There is a communion of souls and those of the godcommunicate with those of men, those of men with creatures. Thestronger take care of the weaker, gods of men and men of creaturesand God of a l; for He is stronger than all; and all are weaker thanHim Thus the cosmos is subject to God, man to the cosmos and thcreatures to man. God is abo e all and around alL he powers ofGod are like rays, as are the atural powers ofthe cosmos, and thear s and sciences of men he powers act th oughout the cosmoand upon man through the rays of its nature the powers of natureact through the elements and men through a s and sciences

23. This is the gove ance of the all, depending on the nature of

the One, gove ng th ough theNous of the One Nothing is moredivine or e ective or more able to unite men to the gods and thegods to men than thisNous This is the spi it of the Supreme GoodBlessed is the soul which is wholly lled with it, wretched is thesoul which is devoid of it

T How can you say this again, father?H. - Do you believe, my son, that eve y soul hasNous, the

Supreme Good? For that is what we speak of now, not a out theser ant, of which we have spoken earlier, which was sent down topunish

24 WithoutNous the soul cannot say anything or do anything'.1O enNous leavesY the soul and at such a time the soul neithersees nor hears, but is like a dumb creature; such is the power ofNous But it leaves such a sou tied to the body and su ocated byit here below Such a soul, my son, has noNous. Therefore such aone should not be called a man; for man is a divine being and is notto be counted amongst the other creatures on ear h but amongstthose in heaven c led gods Indeed, if we have to speak the t uboldly, the t ue man is above the gods, or at least y their equalin power

25. Not one of the heavenly ods will leave the bounda ies of

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The Corpus Hermeticum Book11open to your vision and contemp ate deep y its beauty its bodywithout taint Nothing is more ancient It is ever new and ever inits prime indeed it e ceeds its prime.

7. See how the seven wor ds arranged in an ete a order iebeneath it ling out ete ity by their di erent courses A is lof ight yet nowhere is there re for ove and the b ending ofopposites and dissimi arities has given birth to ight which shinesforth by the power of God source of eve good being princip e ofa order ru er of the seven wor ds See the moon forerunner ofthem a inst ment of nature transforming matter be ow Seethe ea h set in the midst of a ed foundation of the beautifucosmos nourisher and nurse of earthly creatures Consider thevast m titude of beings both immo a and morta and howbetween them the moon pursues her round

8. And a beings are of sou and are moved by it some around

heaven others around the earth those on the right do not move tothe e nor do those on the e move to the right ikewise thoseabove do not move down nor do those be ow move up And that athese hings have been brought into being most be oved Hermesyou no onger need to ea om me For they are bodies have asou and are moved hese things cou d not merge into one withoutthat which causes them to merge. herefore there ust be such acause which is one a one

9. Since the movements are mu t p e and di erent and the bodiesare not a ike yet one constant speed has been ordained for altherefore there cannot be two or more creators One order cou d

not be kept by many creators Where there are many there isjea ousy of the more potent I i e p ain to you if there wereanother creator of changeab e and mortal beings he wou d havewished to create immo a s just as the creator of the immorta swou d wish to create mo a s But consider since there is on y onematter and one sou if there were two creators which of themwou d take charge of creation? If both to whom wou d fa thegreater part?

10.But understand this that every iving body consists of matterand sou whether that body is of an immorta or a morta bei g or

54

The Corpus Hermet cum: Book11that of a dumb creature For a iv ng bodies have a sou whthose wh ch not a ive are simp y matter ikewise sou itse f present with the Creator is the cause of ife But He whthe cause of the immo als is the who e cause of ife How is it thHe creates other i ing creatures om morta s? How can what is

i mo a and creates immo ality not create what be ongs toi ng creatures?C ear y there is a Creator of t ese things and it is very evide

that there s on y one For sou is one ife is one and matter iWho is He?

o e se but the one God?o e se cou d give iving creat res a sou b t the one Go

erefore God is one It is quite rid cu ous that you acknow edthe cosmos to be ever asting the sun to be one the oon to b oand t e divine nature to be one yet you think God to be one of as e es

12 s one God makes eve thing a p ura ity of gods wou dabsurd Is it surprising that God creates ife and soul immorta itand ransformation when you yourse f do so many things? For yousee andspeak hear and sme touch wa k about think abreathe here is not one who sees and another who hears one whspeaks and another ho touches one who sme s and another whwa ks one who hinks and another who breathes there is a singone who does a these things But none of this is possib e withGod For just as if you cease doing these things you are no onga iving being so if God ceases from these things though it ii p ous to say it He is no onger God

13 For if it cou d be shown that without doing these things youcannot e st how much more is this true of God? For if there isanyth ng he does not create then disgracefu though it be to sait He is not perfect. And since He is not id e·but is perfect Hecreates a things

Give me your undivided attention for a w i e 0 Hermes anyou will easily understand how the work of God is one to br ng ath ngs into being those that are those that have once been andthose that wi be

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The Corpus Her eticu : Book 11This is life, my beloved; this is beauty, this is the Supreme G od,

this is God

14.And if you want to understand this in practice, watch whathappens when you desire to beget But it is not the same with Him;for He does not e perience the pleasure, since He has no pa nerFor working by Himself He is always in His work, for He is whatHe creates If He were separated from it, all would collapse, andall would by necessity perish, because life would be no more Sinceeverything is alive and life is one, God is also one. If againeverything is alive, both in heaven and earth, and there is one lifefor all which comes into e istence through God, God is also thatlife. All then is made by God and life is the union ofNous and soul.Death is not the destruction of what has been put together but thedissolution of the union.

15.Ete ity is the image of God; the cosmos, of ete ity; the sun,of the cosmos; and man, of the sun People call transf rmation

eath, because the body is dissolved, but in fact life withdraws intothe unma fest.

I shall ell you, as you are listening with such reverence, mybeloved Hermes, that all these things that have been thus dis-solved and indeed the cosmos, are transformed Each da a part ofthe cosmos withdraws into the unmanifest, but the cosmos isnever issolved This is what happens to the cosmos, these are itscycles and its mysteries The cycles are a continual rotation anthe mystery is the renewal

16 The cosmos assumes all forms, it does not hold constant thefo s that are within it but it changes them within itself Sincethe cosmos is omniform, of what form would the Creator be? ForHe cannot be without a form And if He is omniform He will be likethe cosmos But if He has one form, He ll be inferior to thecosmos Wh t then shall we say of Him, if we are not to bring ourdiscussion into di culty? And we cannot conceive a di cultyabout God If He has any form, He has one form which is not visibleand is bodiless and reveals all forms by means of bodies

17.And don t be amazed if there is a bodiless form, for it is life theform of a word In paintings mountain peaks appear to stand out

56 J

The Corpus Her eticu : Book 11sharp y, but they are act ally smooth and at If you consider

hat I have said, e could formulate it even more boldly and trulyjust as man cannot live without life, so God cannot live withoutemanating the Supreme Good This is, as it were, the life andmovement of God, to move all things and to make them live

18 Some of the things being said need special attention. Understand what I saying All is within God; but not as if lying in aplace For a place is not only a body, but an immovable body, andwhat lies in a place has no motion Within God eve thing lies inbodiless imagination Think of Him who contains it all. There isnothing to limit the incorporeal, there is nothing quicker or morepowerful It is absolutely without limit, the quickest and mostpowerful of all.

19.Consider this yourself Command your soul to go anywhere ,and it will be there quicker than your command Bid it to go to theocean and aga n it is there at once, not as ifit had gone from placeto place but was ready there. Order it to y up heaven and itwill need no wings, nor will anything impede it, neither the re ofthe sun, nor the ether, nor the whir wind, nor the other heavenlybodies, but cutt g through them all it will soar up to the last bodyAnd if you wi&h to break through all this and to contemplate whatis beyond (if there is anything beyond the cos os), it is in yourpower

20.See what power you have and what speed ou can do all thesethings and yet God cannot? Re ect on God in this way as havingall within Himself ideas the cosmos, Himself, the whole. If you

do not make yourself equal od you cannot understand HimLike is understood by like. Grow to immeasurable size. Be eefrom eve body, transcend all time Become ete ity and thus youwill understand God Suppose nothing to be impossible for your-self. Conside yourself immortal and able o understand every-thing: all arts, sciences and the natu e of every living crature.Become higher than all eights and lower than all depths Senseas one within yourself the entire c eation re, water, the d andthe moist Conceive yourself to be in all places at the same timein earth, in the sea, in heaven; that you are not yet bo , that youare within the womb, that you are young, old, dead; that you are

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The Corpus Her eticu Book 12beyond death Conceive all things at once: times, places, actions,qualities and quantities then you can understand God

2 But if you lock up your soul in your body, abase it and say understand noth ng can do nothing am a aid of the seacannot reach heaven do not know who was nor whoshall be 'What have you to do with God? For you cannot conceive anythingbeaut l or good while you are attached to the body and are evilFor the g atest evil is to ignore what belongs to God To be ableto ow and will and hope is the straight and easy wayappropriate each that will lead to the Supreme Good When youtake that road this Good will meet you eve where and will beexpe enced eve where, even where and when you do not expectit when awake, asleep, in a ship, on the road, by n ght, by day,when speakingand when silent, for there is nothing which it isnot

22 Now do you say that God is invisible? Be care l Who is moremanifest than He? He has made all things for this reason: thatthrough them you should see Him T�s is the goodness(to

athon of ; this is His excellence: that He is made manifestthrough all Though you cannot see what is bodilessNous is seenin the act of contemplation, God in the act of creation: hese thingshave been made clear to you Hermes thus far Re ect on all otherth ngs in the same way with n yourself and you will not be ledastray

Book 1He es Tat

1 H Nous 0 Tat, comes om God s essence, if indeed He hasessence What so of t ng this essence is, He alone knows fully

n fact,Nous is not separate om God's true essence, but is, as itwere, spread out om it just like the light of the sun n men thisNous is God thus some men are gods and then humanity is akinto divin ty in fact,athos Dai on called gods immo al men,and men mo al gods. But in irrational creatures there is justnature.

58

The Corpus Her eticu Book 122 Now wherever there is soul, there also isNous; likewise, wherever there is l fe, there also is soul However, in irrational tures the soul is life devoid ofNous. Nous is the benefactor forhuman souls, for it moves themthe upreme Good n irrationacreatures it works in the nature of ea h, whereas in men's sou

counteracts that nature For eve soul on being bo in a bodyimmediately corrupted by both pain and pleas e Since the is composed of di erent par s, both pleasure and pain seewithin it like juices in a stew, and the soul, when it enters ithese, is drowned

3. n souls whereNous gove s its light is revealed acting iopposition to all they have previously acquired Just as a physician causes pain by b i g or cutting the body that has beegrippedby disease, in the same mannerNous causes pain to thesoul by awing it away from pleasure, from which every diseof the soul is bo .

Th e gre t d iseas e of t e soul i s d enia l of God , next is belie f inap pearan ces, an d accom p anyin g these a�e all ev ils an d noth in ggood . But th en Nous, actin g in oppo siti on to the dise ase , secu resgood for the soul, ju st as th e phys ician se cu res ealth f or thebody.

4 Human souls that are not gove ed byNous su er the same asthe souls of irrational creatures, forNous merely powers thesesouls a d gives them up to desires. The souls are carried to deby the force of appetite which leads to loss of reason Just with the unreasonable nature of beasts, such souls do not cbeing unreasonably angered and unreasonably desirous, nor cthey have enough of these e ils For anger and desires are without reason, without limit and it is for these souls that d up the law as a punishment and as a test

5 T - Father, then the previous teaching that you gaveabout destiny risks contradiction. For if it is decreed by esthat someone commits adultery or sa rilege or some other eis he who has done the deed under destiny's compulsion punished?

H - Eve thing is the work of destiny my so , and apart that nothing of the phys cal realm e sts, nor do good and

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The Corpus Hermeticum: Book 12

20 See his, my son, that each of the living creatures retu s againand ag to one part of the cosmos aquatic creatures t the waterterrestrial creatures to the ea th, and winged creatures to the air :But man makes use of all these ea h, water, air, re - and hesees heaven, and touches even this with h s mind God is both

arou d all and , through all, he is activ ty and power, and so toexpe ence God s presence is not di cult, my son

21 If you wish to contemplate Him, behold the arrangement of thecosmos and the ne order of t s array, and behold how all that isvisible is so by necessity, how all that has happened and nowhappens is through providence Obser e matter, most ll of life,th s god of such magnitude, being moved with all that is good andbeauti l; gods, spi ts and men

T - But what you are describing, father, are acti itiesH - If they are just activities, my son, by whom are they set in

motion? By another god? Or do you not know that just as heavenater, ea th and air are pa s of the cosmos in the same manne ;life, immo tality, blood, necessity, provide dce nature soul andI 0us are His limbs; and that the permanence f all th se is hat

alled the Supr me Good? So there is nothing that comes intobe g or has come to being anywhere that is not God.

22. T - He is in matter then, father?H Yes, for if matter, my son, is apa fr m God, then what

so of place w ll you give it? What do you thi it could be otherthan a formless heap if it is not set in motion?

But as it is in motion, by whom is it set in motion? For we saidthat activity is an aspect of God So by whom are all livingcreatures brought t life? By whom are immortals made immo al?By whom is the changing changed? Whe her you speak of matter,body or essence, know that these are themselves activities of Godthat he acti�ty that is matter is His material nature, the activit �hat body�s His bodily nature, and the activity that is essence

H essent al nature and th s is Go the All

23 And in the All there is nothing that is not And so there isneither size, place, quality, shape nor time outside G, for He isAll; and the All per ades and encompasses eve thing I

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The Corpus Hermeticum Book 13

Bow down before this teaching, my son, and worship it Thereis one way to worship God be not evil.

*

1 ForAathos Daimon see Aterword, p. 79 b low.

Book 13Heres to Tat

1 T - In the general lectures, 0 father, you spoke in riddles aboutt e di ne nature without shedding any light You haven't revealed anything when you say that nobody can be saved beforerebi h er you had spoken to me when we were crossing" thedesert, I sought your help and asked to lea the teaching onrebirth, for th s, above all I did not know, and you sai : When youare ready to become a stranger t the world, I shall bestow it upon

you. I am re dy now and my mind is set rmly away from thebeguilement of the world Ful l your promise to me in which yousaid you would set before me either ope ly or in secret the way inwhich rebi h is bestowe For I o not know, Trismegistus fromwhat so of womb or from what k nd of seed man is born

2 H -0 son, spiritual wisdom lies in the womb of silence and these is truth and the Supreme Goo

T By whom is the seed sown,0 father? I am entire y at a lossH. - By the will of God, 0 son.T And what kind of man is bo , 0 father? For he has nothing

in common with me either in nature or mind

H - He who is bo from Go is of a di erent kin he is a sonofGod and himself God, in all he is the All, composed of all powersT. - You speak in ri es, 0 father, not like father to sonH - This kind of knowledge is not taught, 0 son, but through

God it is remembered, whenever He wills

3 T. - 0 father, you are giving me answers which are impossibleand contrived I wo

way of hermes

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