THE ONE AND THE MANY, THE
TYPE AND THE INDIVIDUALITY:
Hermes:
"How quickly thou understandest the reason of things, Asclepios!
I have not yet said that all is one and that one is all, since all things
were in the Creator before the creation and we can call Him all since all
things are His members. Wherefore, throughout all this discourse, bear
in mind Him who is One and All, the Creator of all things.
"Everything descends from heaven upon the earth, into the water,
into the air: only fire is vivifying, because it tends upwards; that which
tends downwards is subordinate to it. That which descends from above is
generative; that which emanates and rises is nutritive. The earth, alone
self-supported, is the receptacle of all things, and reconstructs the types
which she receives. That Universal Being which contains all and which is
all, puts into motion the soul and the world, all that nature comprises.
In the manifold unity of universal life, the innumerable individualities
distinguished by their variations, are, nevertheless, united in such a
manner that the whole is one, and that everything proceeds from unity.
"Now this unity, which constitutes the world, is formed of four
elements: fire, water, earth, and air:--one single world, one single soul,
and one single God. Lend me now all the powers and all the penetration
of thy thought; for the idea of Divinity, which cannot be conceived save
by divine assistance, resembles a rapid stream precipitating itself onwards
with impetuosity, and often, therefore, outstrips the attention of the
listeners, even of him who teaches.
"Heaven--God manifest--regulates all bodies. Their growth and
their decline are determined by the sun and the moon. But He who directs
heaven--the soul itself and all that exists in the world--is very God,
the Creator.
"From the heights where He reigns descend innumerable influences
which spread themselves throughout the world, into all souls both general
and particular, and into the nature of things.
"The world has been prepared by God in order to receive all particular
forms. Realizing these forms by means of Nature, He has updrawn the world
to heaven through the four elements.
"Everything is in accordance with the designs of God; but that
which originates from on high has been separated into individualities in
the following manner. The types of all things follow their (representative)
individualities in such way that the type is a whole; the individual is
a part of the type.
"Thus the Gods [higher creative hierarchies] constitute a type,
the genii [angels or devas] also. Similarly, men, birds, and all beings
which the world contains, constitute types producing individuals resembling
them.
"There is yet another type, without sensation, but not without
soul. It consists of those beings which sustain themselves by means of
roots fixed in the earth [i.e., plants]. Individualities of this type are
found everywhere.
"Heaven is full of God. The types of which we have spoken have
their habitation extending up to that of the beings whose individualities
are immortal. For the individuality is a part of the type, as, for instance,
man is a part of humanity; and each one follows the character of its type,
hence it comes that, while all types are imperishable, individuals are
not all imperishable.
"Divinity forms a type of which the indidualizations are as immortal
as itself. Among other beings eternity belongs only to the type; the individual
perishes, and is perpetuated only by reproduction. There are, then, some
mortal individualities. Thus man is mortal, humanity is immortal.
"Nevertheless, individuals of all the types mix with all the types.
Some are primitive; others are produced by these, by God, by genii, by
men, and all resemble their respective types.
"For bodies can be formed only by the divine will; individualities
cannot be characterized without the aid of the genii; the education and
training of animals cannot be conducted without men.
"All those genii who have forsaken their own type, and become
joined in individuality to an individuality of the divine type, are regarded
as neighbors and associates of the Gods.
"The genii who preserve the character of their type, and are properly
called genii, love that which relates to mankind. The human type resembles,
or even surpasses, theirs; for the individuality of the human is manifold
and various, and results from the association mentioned above. It is the
indispensable link between nearly all other individualities.
"The man who has affinity with the Gods through the intelligence
which he shares with them, and through piety, is the neighbor of God. He
who has affinity with the genii approximates himself to them. They who
are satisfied with human mediocrity remain a part of the human type. Other
human individualities will be neighbors of the types or individualities
with which they shall be in affinity.
Part III
THE DUAL NATURE OF MAN:
"Man, then, Asclepios, is a great marvel; a creature worthy of
respect and adoration. For amid this divine Nature he moves as if he himself
were a God. He knows the order of the genii, and, aware that he is of the
same origin, he despises the human side of his being in order to attach
himself exclusively to the divine element.
"How happily constituted and near to the Gods is humanity! In
joining himself to the divine, man disdains that which he has in him of
the earthly; he connects himself by a bond of love to all other beings,
and thereby feels himself necessary to the universal order. He contemplates
heaven; and in this happy middle sphere in which he is placed, he loves
all that is below him, he is beloved of all that is above. He cultivates
the earth; he borrows the speed of the elements; his piercing thought fathoms
the deeps of the sea. Everything is clear for him. Heaven does not seem
to him too high, for knowledge lifts him to it. The brightness of his mind
is not obscured by the thick mists of the air; the earth's gravitation
is no obstacle to his efforts; the profundity of deep seas does not disturb
him; he includes everything and remains everywhere the same.
". . . The soul of the world sustains itself by perpetual motion.
. . . The spirit which fills everything, mingles with everything, and vivifies
everything, adds consciousness to the intelligence, which, by a peculiar
privilege, man borrows from the fifth element--the æther. In man,
the consciousness is raised to the knowledge of the divine order.
"Since I am led to speak of the consciousness, I will presently
expound to you its function, which is great and holy as that of divinity
itself. I was speaking of union with the Gods--a privilege which they accord
only to humanity. A few men only have the happiness of rising to that perception
of the Divine which subsists only in God and in the human intelligence."
Asclepios:
"Are, then, not all men similarly conscient, Trismegistus?"
Hermes:
"All, Asclepios, have not the true intelligence. They are deceived
when they suffer themselves to be drawn after the image of things, without
seeking for the true reason of them. It is thus that evil is produced in
man; and that the first of all creatures lowers himself almost to the level
of the brutes.
"But I will speak to you of the consciousness and all that belongs
to it, when I come to my exposition of the mind. For man alone is a dual
creature. One of the two parts of which he consists is single, and, as
the Greeks say, essential; that is, formed after the divine likeness. The
part which the Greeks call Kosmic--that is, belonging to the world--is
quadruple, and constitutes the body, which , in man, serves as an envelope
to the divine principle. This divine principle, and that which belongs
to it, the perceptions of the pure intelligence. conceal themselves behind
the rampart of the body."*
*"The
five elements of the Microcosm are here made to correspond with the five
elements which the Greeks allotted to the Macrocosm;--earth, water, air,
fire, and æther. Trismegistus says that man obtains his intelligence
from 'the æther--the fifth element.' Trismegistus includes in the
body the physical particles [the dense physical body], the exterior consciousness
[the five ordinary senses], the magnetic forces [vitality or Prana
working through the vital body], and the sensible or mundane mind [the
concrete mental body]. In the fifth element he includes the immortal part--soul
and spirit; since he speaks of the 'divine principle and that which belongs
to it--the perceptions of the pure intelligence [the higher abstract mind
(Manes) and the intuition (Buddhi)].' The soul, as we have already seen
. . . is the percipient principle of man; the spirit is the divine light
by means of which she sees. It is advisable, in this place, to point out,
for the sake of a clear understanding of what follows, that Hermetic doctrine
regards man as having a twofold nature. For he is in one sense a child
of the earth, developed by progressive evolution from below upwards [the
evolution of the form side of the nature]; a true animal, and therefore
bound by strict ties of kinship with the lower races, and of allegiance
to Nature. In the other sense, man descends from above [the involution
of the spirit through experience in progressively more complex levels of
force-matter], and is of celestial origin; because when a certain point
in his development from below is reached, the human soul focuses and fixes
the Divine Spirit [through the link of Mind], which is peculiarly the attribute
of man, and the possession of which constitutes his sovereignty over all
other creatures. And until this vivification of the soul occurs, man is
not truly Man in the Hermetic sense."--Dr. Anna Kingsford (A.
K.)
Part IV
GOD, THE WORLD, AND MAN:
Asclepios:
"Why then, O Trismegistus, was it necessary that man should be
placed in the world, instead of where God is, to dwell with Him in supreme
beatitude?"
Hermes:
"Thy question is natural, O Asclepios, and I pray God to assist
me in replying to it, for everything depends upon His will, especially
those great things which are at this moment the subject of our inquiry;
listen, then, to me, Asclepios. The Lord and Author of all things, whom
we call God, brought forth a second God, visible and sensible; I describe
him thus, not because he himself has sensibility, for this is not the place
to treat such a question, but because he is perceptible to the senses.
Having then produced this unique Being who holds the first rank among creatures
and the second after Himself, He found His offspring beautiful and filled
with all manner of good, and He loved it as His own child.* He willed,
then, that another should be able to contemplate this Being so great and
so perfect whom He had drawn forth from Himself, and to this end He created
man, endowed with reason and intelligence.
*This "second
God" is the Visible Universe, which in most Hermetic writings is spoken
of as the "Son of God"--"the Word made flesh."--A.
K.
"The will of God is absolute accomplishment; to will and to do
are for Him the work of the selfsame instant. And, knowing that the essential
could not apprehend all things unless enveloped by the world, He gave to
man a body for a dwelling-place. He willed that man should have two natures;
He united them intimately and blended them in just proportion.
"Thus, He formed man of spirit and of body; of an eternal nature
and of a mortal nature, so that, a creature thus constituted, he might,
by means of his double origin, admire and adore that which is celestial
and eternal; cultivate and govern that which is upon the earth. I speak
here of mortal things, not of the two elements subjected to man, to wit,
earth and water, but of things coming from man, which are in him or depending
on him, such as the culture of the soil, the pastures, the construction
of buildings, of ports, navigation, commerce, and those reciprocal exchanges
which are the strongest bond among men. Earth and water form a part of
the world, and this terrestrial part is sustained by the arts and sciences,
without which the world would be imperfect in the eyes of God. For that
which God wills is necessary, and the effect accompanies His will; nor
can it be believed that anything which has seemed good to Him can cease
to seem good to Him, because from the beginning He knew what should be
and what should please Him.
Part V
THE REASON FOR MAN'S DUAL
NATURE
"But I perceive, O Asclepios, that thou art anxious to know in
what manner heaven and those who inhabit it can be the object of the aspiration
and adoration of man; learn, then, O Asclepios, that to aspire after the
God of heaven and all those who are therein is to render them frequent
homage; for alone of all animated beings, divine and human, man is able
to render it. The admiration, adoration, praise, and homage of man rejoice
heaven and the celestial inhabitants; and the choir of the Muses has been
sent among men by the supreme Divinity in order that the terrestrial world
might not be without the sweet science of hymns; or rather that the human
voice might celebrate Him who only is All, since He is the Father of all
things, and that the tender harmonies of earth might ever unite themselves
with the celestial choirs. Only a few men, rarely endowed with a pure intelligence,
are entrusted with this holy function of beholding heaven clearly. Those
in whom the confusion of their two natures holds the intelligence captive
under the weight of the body, are appointed to have communion with the
inferior elements. Man is not, then, debased because he has a mortal part;
on the contrary, this mortality augments his aptitudes and his power; his
double functions are possible to him only by his double nature; he is constituted
in such a manner that he can embrace alike the terrestrial and the divine.
I desire, O Asclepios, that thou mayest bring to this exposition all the
attention and all the ardor of thy mind; for many are wanting in faith
concerning these things. And now I am about to unfold true principles for
the instruction of the holiest intelligences.
Part VI
THE THREEFOLD NATURE OF
GOD
"The Master of Eternity is the first God, the world is the second,
man is the third. God, creator of the world and of all that it contains,
governs all this universe and subjects it to the rule of man. And man makes
of it the object of his special activity. So that the world and man become
the appendage one of the other, and it is with reason that in Greek the
world is called Kosmos. Man knows himself and knows the world; he should,
therefore, distinguish that which is in accord with himself, that which
is for his use and that which has a right to his worship. While addressing
to God his praises and his acts of grace, he should venerate the world
which is the image of God; remembering that he is himself the second image
of God. For God has two similitudes: the world and man. The nature of man
being complex, that part of him which is composed of soul, of consciousness,
of mind, and of reason is divine, and from the superior elements seems
able to mount to heaven; while his cosmic and mundane part, formed of fire,
water, earth, and air, is mortal and remains upon the earth; so that what
is borrowed from the world may be restored to it.
"It is thus that mankind is composed of a divine part and of a
mortal part, to wit, the body. The law of this dual being, man, is religion,
whose effect is goodness. Perfection is attained when the virtue of man
preserves him from desire, and causes him to despise all that is foreign
to himself. For terrestrial things, of which the body desires the possession,
are foreign to all parts of the divine Thought. Such things may indeed
be called possessions, for they are not born with us, they are acquired
later. They are then foreign to man, and even the body itself is foreign
to man, in such wise that man ought to disdain both the object of desire,
and that whereby he is made accessible to desire.
"It is the duty of man to direct his soul by reason, so that the
contemplation of the divine may lead him to take but small account of that
mortal part which has been joined to him for the sake of the preservation
of the lower world. In order that man should be complete in both his parts,
observe that each of these possesses four binary subdivisions--to wit,
the two hands and the two feet, which, with the other organs of the body,
place him in relation with the inferior and terrestrial world. And, on
the other hand, he possesses four faculties: sensibility, soul, memory,
and foresight, which permit him to know and perceive divine things. He
is able, therefore, to include in his investigations, differences, qualities,
effects, and quantities. But if he be too much hindered by the weight of
the body, he will be unable to penetrate into the true reason of things.
"When man, thus formed and constituted, having received for his
function from the supreme God, the government of the world and the worship
of the Divinity, acquits himself well of this double duty, and obeys the
holy Will, what should be his recompense? For if the world is the work
of God, he who by his care sustains and augments its beauty, is the auxiliary
of the divine Will, employing his body and his daily labor in the service
of the work produced by the hands of God. What should be his recompense,
if not that which our ancestors have obtained? May it please divine goodness
to accord this recompense also to us; all our aspirations and all our prayers
tend toward its attainment; may we, delivered from the prison of the body,
and from our mortal bonds, return, sanctified and pure, to the divine heritage
of our nature!"
Asclepios:
"What thou sayest is just and true, O Trismegistus! Such indeed
is the price [reward] of piety toward God, and of care bestowed on the
maintenance of the world. But return to the heavens is denied to those
who have lived impiously; upon them is imposed a penance which holy souls
escape, to wit, migration into other bodies. The end of this discourse,
O Trismegistus, brings us to the hope of eternal future for the soul, as
the result of her life in the world. But this future is for some difficult
to believe; for others it is a fable; for others, again, perhaps a subject
of derision. For it is a sweet thing to enjoy what one possesses in the
corporeal life. Therein lies the evil, which, as one may say, turns the
soul's head, attaches her to her mortal part, hinders her from knowing
her divine part, and is envious of immortality. For I say unto thee, by
a prophetic inspiration, no man after us will choose the simple way of
philosophy, which lies wholly in application to the study of divine things,
and in holy religion. The majority of men obscure philosophy with diverse
questions. How come they to encumber it with sciences which ought not to
be comprehended in it, or after what manner do they mingle in it diverse
questions?"
Hermes:
"0 Asclepios, they mingle in it, by means of subtleties, a diversity
of sciences which belong not to it--arithmetic, music, geometry. But pure,
philosophy, whose proper object is holy religion, ought to occupy itself
with other sciences only in so far as to admire the regular phases of the
stars, their positions and their courses, determined by calculation; the
dimensions of the earth, its qualities and quantities; the depth of the
sea; the power of fire; and to know the effects of all these things, and
Nature; to adore Art, the artist, and his divine intelligence. As for music,
that is apprehended when one apprehends reason and the divine order of
things. For this order by which everything is ranged singly in the unity
of the whole, is indeed an admirable harmony and a divine melody."
Asclepios:
"What then, after us, will men become?"
Hermes:
"Misled by the subtleties of the sophists, they will turn aside
from the true, pure and holy philosophy. To adore God in the simplicity
of thought and of the soul, to venerate His works, to bless His will, which
alone is the fullness of good--this is the only philosophy which is not
profaned by the idle curiosity of the mind. . . ."
Part VII
OF MIND AND SIMILAR THINGS
"Let us begin to speak of Mind and of other similar things. In
the beginning were God and Hylè--it is thus that the Greeks term
the first matter or substance of the universe. The Spirit was with the
universe, but not in the same manner as with God. The things which constitute
the universe are not God, therefore before their birth they were not in
existence, but they were already contained in that from which they were
produced. For besides and without created things is not only that which
is not yet born, but that also which has no generative fecundity, and which
can bring forth nothing. Everything which has the power of generating contains
in germ all that can be born of it, for it is easy to that which is brought
forth to bear that which shall bring forth. But the eternal God cannot
and never could be born; He is, He has been, He will be always. The nature
of God is to be His own Principle. But matter, or the nature of the world,
and mind, although appearing to be brought forth from the beginning, possess
the power of birth and of procreation--fecundative energy. For the beginning
is in the quality of Nature, who possesses in herself the potentiality
of conception and of production. She is then, without any foreign intervention,
the principle of creation. It is otherwise with that which possesses only
the power of conception by means of mixing with a second nature. The matrix
of the universe and of all that it contains appears not to have been itself
born, holding however, within it, potentially, all Nature. I call that
the matrix which contains all things, for they could not have been without
a vehicle to contain them. Everything which exists must exist in some place
(or vehicle), neither qualities nor quantities, nor positions, nor effects
could be distinguished in things having no place and being nowhere. Thus
the world, although not having been born, has in it the principle of all
birth; since it affords all things a fitting matrix for conception. It
is, then, the sum-total of qualities and of matter susceptible of creation,
although not yet created.
"Matter, being fecund in all attributes, is able also to engender
evil. I put aside, therefore, O Asclepios and Ammon, the question asked
by many:--'Could not God hinder evil in the nature of things ?' There is
absolutely nothing to say to them; but for you I will pursue the discourse
begun, and I will give the explanation. They affirm that God ought to have
preserved the world from evil; now, evil is in the world as an integral
part of it. The sovereign God indeed provided against it inasmuch as was
reasonable and possible, when He bestowed upon humanity sentiment, knowledge,
and intelligence. By these faculties solely, which place us above other
animals, we may escape the snares of evil and vice. The man who is wise
and protected by divine intelligence, knows how to preserve himself from
such immediately he beholds them, and before he has been entrapped thereby.
The foundation of knowledge is supreme goodness. Spirit governs and gives
life to all that is in the world; it is an instrument employed by the will
of the sovereign God. Thus we ought to comprehend, by intelligence alone,
the supreme Intelligible called God. By Him is directed that secondary
sensible God (the universe), who contains all spaces, all substances, the
matter of all that engenders and produces,--in a word, all that is.
"As for the spirit (or Mind), it moves and governs all individual
beings in the world according to the nature which God has assigned to them.
Matter--Hylè, or the Kosmos--is the receptacle, the motion,
the replication of everything which God directs, dispensing to each of
them that which is necessary to it, and filling them with spirit according
to their qualities.
"The form of the universe is that of a hollow sphere having in
itself the cause of its quality or of its figure, wholly invisible; if,
choosing any given point of its surface, one should seek to behold its
depths, one would be unable to see anything. It appears visible only by
means of those special forms whose images appear graven upon it, it shows
itself only in effigy; but in reality it is always invisible in itself.
Therefore, the center, the depths of this sphere--if indeed one may call
it a place--is in Greek named Hades, the invisible, from eidein,
to see, because the center of a sphere cannot be seen from without. Moreover,
the types or formative appearances were called Ideas, because they are
the forms of the Invisible. This interior of the sphere which the Greeks
call Hades, because it is invisible, the Latins name Hell (Inferno), on
account of its profound position. These are the primordial principles,
the first sources, of all things. Everything is in them, or by them, or
comes forth from them."
Asclepios:
"These principles are, then, O Trismegistus, the universal substance
of all individual appearances ?"
Hermes:
"The world nourishes bodies, the spirit nourishes souls. Thought,
the heavenly gift which is the happy privilege of humanity, nourishes intelligence,
but few men only have an intelligence capable of receiving such a benefit.
Thought is a light which illuminates the intelligence, as the sun illuminates
the world. And even more, for the light of the sun may be intercepted by
the moon, or by the earth when night comes; but when thought has once penetrated
into the human soul, it mingles intimately with her nature, and the intelligence
can never again be obscured by any cloud. Therefore, with reason, it has
been said that the souls of the Gods are intelligences. As for me, I say
not this of all of them, but of the great supernal Gods."
PART VIII
THE PRIMORDIAL PRINCIPLES
OF THINGS
Asclepios:
"What, O Trismegistus, are the primordial principles of things?"
Hermes:
"I reveal to thee great and divine mysteries, and in beginning
this initiation I implore the favor of heaven.
"There are many orders of the Gods; and in all there is an intelligible
part. It is not to be supposed that they do not come within the range of
our senses; on the contrary, we perceive them, better even than those which
are called visible, as this discussion will inform thee.
"Thou wilt apprehend this fact if thou lendest all thine attention
to our discourse; for this order of ideas, so sublime, so divine, so elevated
above the intelligence of man, demands an uninterrupted attention without
which speech merely flits across the mind and flees away, or rather, returns
to its source and is lost therein.
"There are, then, Gods superior to all appearances; after them
come the Gods whose principle is spiritual; these Gods being sensible,
in conformity with their double origin, manifest all things by a sensible
nature, each of them illuminating his works one by another.* The
supreme Being of heaven, or of all that is comprehended under this name,
is Zeus, for it is by heaven that Zeus gives life to all things. The supreme
Being of the sun is light, for it is by the disk of the sun that we receive
the benefit of the light. The thirty-six horoscopes of the fixed stars
have for supreme Being or prince, him whose name is Pantomorphos,
or having all forms, because he gives divine forms to diverse types. The
seven planets, or wandering spheres, have for supreme Spirits Fortune and
Destiny, who uphold the eternal stability of the laws of Nature throughout
incessant transformation and perpetual agitation. The ether is the instrument
or medium by which all is produced.
*Hermes here
includes as Gods the sensible Forces of Nature, the elements and phenomena
of the universe.--A. K.
"Thus, from the center to the uttermost parts, everything moves,
and relations are established according to natural analogies. That which
is mortal approximates to that which is mortal, that which is sensible
to that which is sensible. The supreme direction belongs to the supreme
Master, in such wise that diversity is resolved into unity. For all things
depend from unity or develop from it, and because they appear distant from
one another it is believed that they are many, whereas, in their collectivity
they form but one, or rather two Principles. These two Principles, whence
all things proceed, and by which all exist, are the substance of which
things are formed, and the Will of Him who differentiates them."
Asclepios:
"What is the reason of this, O Trismegistus?"
Hermes:
"It is this, Asclepios. God is the Father, the universal Ruler--or
whatever other name yet more holy and religious may be given to Him--and
which, because of our intelligence, ought to be held sacred between us;
but, in considering His divinity, we cannot define Him by any such name.
For the voice is a sound resulting from the concussion of the air, and
declaring the will of man, or the impression that his mind has received
through the senses. This name, composed of a determined number of syllables,
serving as a token between the voice and the ear, and, moreover, sensation,
breath, air, all that is concerned with, and belonging to its expression--these
convey this name of God, and I do not think that a name, however complex
it may be, is able to designate the Principle of all majesty, the Father
and Lord of all things. Nevertheless, it is necessary to give Him a name,
or rather every name, since He is one and all; therefore we must say either
that All is His name, or we must call Him by the names of all things. He,
then, who is one and all, possessing the full and entire of both sexes,
ever impregnated by His own Will, brings forth all that He has willed to
beget. His Will is universal goodness, the selfsame goodness that exists
in all things. Nature is born of His divinity, in such wise that all things
should be as they are, and as they have been, and that Nature may suffice
to generate of herself all that in the future is to be born. This, O Asclepios,
is why and how all things are of two sexes."
Asclepios:
"Sayest thou this also of God, O Trismegistus?"
Hermes:
"Not only of God, but of all beings, whether animated or inanimate.
For it is impossible that anything which exists should be barren. Were
we to suppress the fecundity of existing things, it would be impossible
for them to remain what they are. For I say that this law of generation
is contained in Nature, in intellect, in the universe, and preserves all
that is brought forth. The two sexes are full of procreation, and their
union, or rather their incomprehensible at-one-ment, may be known as Eros,
or as Aphrodite, or by both names at once. If the mind can perceive any
one truth more certainly and clearly than another, it is this duty of procreation,
which God of universal Nature has imposed for ever upon all beings, and
to which He has attached the supremest charity, joy, delight, longing,
and divinest love. It would be needful to demonstrate the power and necessity
of this law, if everyone were not able to recognize and perceive it by
interior sentiment. Behold, indeed, how at the moment when from the brain
the tide of life descends, the two natures lose themselves each in each,
and one eagerly seizes and hides within itself the seed of the other! At
this moment, by means of this mutual enchainment, the feminine nature receives
the virtue of the male, and the male reposes on the bosom of its mate.
This mystery, so sweet and so necessary, is enacted in secret, lest the
divinity of the two natures should be constrained to blush before the railleries
of the ignorant, were the union of the sexes exposed to irreligious observation.
For pious men are not numerous in the world; they are, even, rare, and
one might easily count them. In the majority of men malice abides, for
lack of prudence and of knowledge of things of the universe.
"The understanding of divine religion, the basis of all things,
leads to the contempt of all vices in the world, and supplies the remedy
against them; but when ignorance asserts itself, then vices develop and
inflict upon the soul an incurable hurt. Infected by vices, the soul is,
as it were, swollen with poison, and can be healed only by knowledge and
understanding. Let us then continue this teaching, even though but a small
number should profit by it; and learn thou, O Asclepios, why to man only
God has given a part of His intelligence and of His knowledge. Wherefore,
hearken.
"God the Father and the Ruler, after the Gods,* formed
men by the union in equal proportions of the corruptible part of the universe
and of its divine part, and thus it happened that the imperfections of
the universe remained mingled in the flesh. The need of nourishment which
we have in common with all creatures, subjects us to desire and to all
other vices of the soul. The Gods, constituted of the purest part of Nature,
have no need of the aid of reasoning or of study; immortality and eternal
youth are for them wisdom and knowledge. Nevertheless, seeing the unity
of Order, and that they might not be strangers to these things, God bestowed
on them for their reason and their intelligence, the eternal law of Necessity.
*Hermes here
intends the mundane deities.--A. K.
"Alone, among all creatures, whether to avoid or to overcome the
evils of the flesh, man has the aid of reason and of intelligence, and
the hope of immortality. Man, created good, and capable of immortal life,
has been formed of two natures: one divine, the other mortal; and in thus
forming him, the Divine Will rendered him superior to the Gods, who have
an immortal nature only, as well as to all mortal beings. For this reason,
man, united in close affinity with the Gods, pays them religious service,
and the Gods, in their turn, watch with a tender affection over human affairs.
But I speak here only of pious men; as for the wicked, I will say nothing
concerning them, in order that I may not, by pausing to talk about them,
sully the holiness of this discourse."
Part IX
THE RELATIONSHIP AND RESEMBLANCE
BETWEEN MEN AND GODS
"And since we are brought to speak of the relationship and of
the resemblance between men and Gods, behold, O Asclepios, the power and
capacity of man! Even as the Ruler and Father, or to give Him the loftiest
name--God--is the creator of the firmamental Gods, so is man the creator
of the Gods who dwell in temples, pleased with human proximity, and not
only themselves illumined, but illuminating. And this both profits man
and strengthens the Gods. Dost thou marvel, Asclepios? Dost thou lack faith
as do many?"
Asclepios:
"I am confounded, O Trismegistus; but yielding myself willingly
to thy words, I judge man to be happy in that he has obtained such felicity."
Hermes:
"Certes, he deserves admiration, being the greatest of all the
Gods! For the race of the Gods is formed of the purest part of Nature,
without admixture of other elements, and their visible signs are, as it
were, only heads.* But the Gods which mankind makes, possess two
natures--one divine, which is the first and by far the purest, the other
belonging to humanity, which is the matter of which these Gods are composed,
so that they have not only heads, but entire bodies, with all their limbs.
Thus mankind, remembering its nature and its origin, persists in this matter,
in the imitation of Deity, for even as the Father and Lord has made the
eternal Gods after the similitude of Himself, so also has humanity made
its Gods in its own image."
*Hermes speaks
of the Stars, and of the Astral Powers, not of the Divine Intelligences.
The whole of this discourse has a hidden and profound meaning, relating
to the human organism, and to the elemental genii, which through man are
individualized.--A. K.
Asclepios:
"Dost thou speak of the statues, Trismegistus?"
Hermes:
"Yes, of the statues, Asclepios. See how wanting thou art in faith!
Of what else should I speak but of the statues, so full of life, of feeling,
and of aspiration, which do so many wonderful things; the prophetic statues
which predict the future by bestowing dreams and by all manner of other
ways; which strike us with maladies, or heal our pains according to. our
deserts? Art thou not aware, O Asclepios, that Egypt is the image of heaven,
or rather, that it is the projection below of the order of things above?
If the truth must be told, this land is indeed the temple of the world.
Nevertheless--since sages ought to foresee all things--there is one thing
thou must know; a time will come when it will seem that the Egyptians have
adored the Gods so piously m vain, and that all their holy invocations
have been barren and unheeded. Divinity will quit the earth and return
to heaven, forsaking Egypt, its ancient abode, and leaving the land widowed
of religion and bereft of the presence of the Gods. Strangers will fill
the earth, and not only will sacred things be neglected, but--more dreadful
still--religion, piety, and the adoration of the Gods will be forbidden
and punished by the laws. Then, this earth, hallowed by so many shrines
and temples, will be filled with sepulchers and with the dead. O Egypt!
Egypt! there will remain of thy religions only vague legends which posterity
will refuse to believe; only words graven upon stones will witness to thy
devotion! The Scythian, the Indian, or some other neighboring barbarian
will possess Egypt! Divinity will return to heaven; humanity, thus abandoned,
will wholly perish, and Egypt will be left deserted, forsaken of men and
of Gods!
"To thee I cry, O most sacred River, to thee I announce the coming
doom! Waves of blood, polluting thy divine waters, shall overflow thy banks;
the number of the dead shall surpass that of the living; and if, indeed,
a few inhabitants of the land remain, Egyptians by speech, they will in
manners be aliens! Thou weepest, O Asclepios! But yet sadder things than
these will come to pass. Egypt will fall into apostasy, the worst of all
evils. Egypt, once the holy land beloved of the Gods and full of devotion
for their worship, will become the instrument of perversion, the school
of impiety, the type of all violence. Then, filled with disgust for everything,
man will no longer feel either admiration or love for the world. He will
turn away from this beautiful work, the most perfect alike in the present,
the past, and the future. Nor will the languor and weariness of souls permit
anything to remain save disdain of the whole universe, this immutable work
of God, this glorious and perfect edifice, this manifold synthesis of forms
and images, wherein the will of the Lord, lavish of marvels, has united
all things in a harmonious and single whole, worthy for ever of veneration,
of praise and love! Then darkness will be preferred to light, and death
will be deemed better than life, nor will any man lift his eyes to heaven.
The Emerald Tablet
Hermes
Trismegistus: His First Book
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