Manly P. Hall - Lectures On Ancient Philosophy - Rosicrucian and Masonic Origins (CH. 19) (1929)
Manly P. Hall - Lectures On Ancient Philosophy - Rosicrucian and Masonic Origins (CH. 19) (1929)
Hall
CHAPTER 19
by Manly P. Hall
1901-1990
From Lectures on Ancient PhilosophyAn Introduction to
the Study and Application of Rational Procedure:
The Hall Publishing Company, Los Angeles, First Edition 1929, pp 397-417
file:///C|/Documents and Settings/David Moore/My Documents/Rosicrucian and Masonic Origins, by Manly P_ Hall.htm (1 of 22)10/20/2004 3:44:11 AM
file:///C|/Documents and Settings/David Moore/My Documents/Rosicrucian and Masonic Origins, by Manly P_ Hall.htm (3 of 22)10/20/2004 3:44:11 AM
which the Masonic Jacob must wrestle throughout the night.[pp 398-399]
It is possible to trace Masonry back a few centuries with comparative ease, but
then the thread suddenly vanishes from sight in a maze of secret societies and
political enterprises. Dimly silhouetted in the mists that becloud these tangled
issues are such figures as Cagliostro, Comte de St.-Germain, and St. Martin,
but even the connection between these individuals and the Craft has never
been clearly defined. The writings of early Masonic history is involved in such
obvious hazard as to provoke the widespread conclusion that further search is
futile. The average Masonic student is content, therefore, to trace his Craft
back to the workmen's guilds who chipped and chiselled the cathedrals and
public buildings of medieval Europe. While such men as Albert Pike have
realized this attitude to be ridiculous, it is one thing to declare it insufficient
and quite another to prove the fallacy to an adamantine mind. So much has
been lot and forgotten, so much ruled in and out by those unfitted for such
legislative revision that the modern rituals do not in every case represent the
original rites of the Craft. In his Symbolism, Pike (who spent a lifetime in the
quest for Masonic secrets) declares that few of the original meanings of the
symbols are known to the modern order, nearly all the so-called interpretations
now given being superficial. Pike confessed that the original meanings of the
very symbols he himself was attempting to interpret were irretrievablylost;
that even such familiar emblems as the apron and the pillars were locked
mysteries, whose "keys" had been thrown away by the uninformed. "The
initiated," also writes John Fellows, "as well as those without the pale of the
order, are equally ignorant of their derivation and import. (See The Mysteries
of Freemasonry.)
Preston, Gould, Mackey, Oliver, and Pikein fact, nearly every great
historian of Freemasonry-have all admitted the possibility of the modern
society being connected, indirectly at least, with the ancient Mysteries, and
their descriptions of the modern society are prefaced by excerpts from ancient
writings descriptive of primitive ceremonials. These eminent Masonic scholars
have all recognized in the legend of Hiram Abiff an adaptation of the Osiris
myth; nor do they deny that the major part of the symbolism of the craft is
derived from the pagan institutions of antiquity when the gods were venerated
in secret places with strange figures and appropriate rituals. Though cognizant
of the exalted origin of their order, these historians-either through fear or
uncertainty-have failed, however, to drive home the one point necessary to
file:///C|/Documents and Settings/David Moore/My Documents/Rosicrucian and Masonic Origins, by Manly P_ Hall.htm (4 of 22)10/20/2004 3:44:11 AM
establish the true purpose of Freemasonry: They did not realize that the
Mysteries whose rituals Freemasonry perpetuates were the custodians of a
secret philosophy of life of such transcendent nature that it can only be
entrusted to an individual tested and proved beyond all peradventure of
human frailty. The secret schools of Greece and Egypt were neither fraternal
nor political fundamentally, nor were their ideals similar to those of the
modern Craft. They were essentially philosophic and religious institutions, and
all admitted into them were consecrated to the service of the sovereign good.
Modern Freemasons, however, regard their Craft primarily as neither
philosophic nor religious, but rather as ethical. Strange as it may seem, the
majority openly ridicule the very supernatural powers and agencies for which
their symbols stand.
The secret doctrine that flows through Freemasonic symbols (and to whose
perpetuation the invisible Masonic body is consecrated) has its source in three
ancient and exalted orders. The first is the Dionysiac artificers, the second the
Roman collegia, and the third the Arabian Rosicrucians. The Dionysians were
the master builders of the ancient world. Originally founded to design and
erect the theaters of Dionysos wherein were enacted the tragic dramas of the
rituals, this order was repeatedly elevated by popular acclaim to greater
dignity until at last it was entrusted with the planning and construction of all
public edifices concerned with the commonwealth or the worship of the gods
and heroes. Hiram, King of Tyre, was the patron of the Dionysians, who
flourished in Tyre and Sidon, and Hiram Abiff (if we may believe the sacred
account) was himself a Grand Master of this most noble order of pagan
builders. King Solomon in his wisdom accepted the services of this famous
craftsman, and thus at the instigation of Hiram, King of Tyre, Hiram Abiff,
though himself a member of a different faith, journeyed from his own country
to design and supervise the erection of the Everlasting House to the true God
on Mount Moriah. The tools of the builders' craft were first employed by the
Dionysians as symbols under which to conceal the mysteries of the soul and
the secrets of human regeneration. The Dionysians also first likened man to a
rough ashlar which, trued into a finished block through the instrument of
reason, could be fitted into the structure of that living and eternal Temple built
without the sound of hammer, the voice of workmen or any tool of contention.
[pp 400-401]
file:///C|/Documents and Settings/David Moore/My Documents/Rosicrucian and Masonic Origins, by Manly P_ Hall.htm (5 of 22)10/20/2004 3:44:11 AM
The Roman collegia was a branch of the Dionysiacs and to it belonged those
initiated artisans who fashioned the impressive monuments whose ruins still
lend their immortal glory to the Eternal City. In his Ten Books on
Architecture, Vitruvius, the initiate of the collegia, has revealed that which
was permissible concerning the secrets of his holy order. Of the inner
mysteries, however, he could not write, for these were reserved for such as had
donned the leather apron of the craft. In his consideration of the books now
available concerning the Mysteries, the thoughtful reader should note the
following words appearing in a twelfth-century volume entitled Artephil Liber
Secretus: "Is not this an art full of secrets? And believest thou, O fool! that we
plainly teach this Secret of Secrets, taking our words according to their literal
interpretation?" (See Sephar H' Debarim.) Into the stones they trued, the
adepts of the collegia deeply carved their Gnostic symbols. From earliest
times, the initiated stonecutters marked their perfected works with the secret
emblems of their crafts and degrees that unborn generations might realize that
the master builders of the first ages also labored for the same ends sought by
men today. [p 402]
The Mysteries of Egypt and Persia that had found a haven in the Arabian
desert reached Europe by way of the Knights Templars and the Rosicrucians.
The Temple of the Rose Cross at Damascus had preserved the secret
philosophy of Sharon's Rose; the Druses of the Lebanon still retain the
mysticism of ancient Syria; and the dervishes, as they lean on their carved and
crotched sticks, still meditate upon the secret instruction perpetuated from the
days of the four Caliphs. From the far places of Irak and the hidden retreats of
the Sufi mystics, the Ancient Wisdom thus found its way into Europe. Was
Jacques de Molay burned by the Holy Inquisition merely because he wore the
red cross of the Templar? What were those secrets to which he was true even
in death? Did his companion Knights perish with him merely because they had
amassed a fortune and exercised an unusual degree of temporal power? To the
thoughtless, these may constitute ample grounds, but to those who can pierce
the film of the specious and the superficial, they are assuredly insufficient. It
was not the physical power of the Templars but the knowledge which they had
brought with them from the East that the church feared. The Templars had
discovered part of the Great Arcanum; they had become wise in those
mysteries which had been celebrated in Mecca thousands of years before
theadvent of Mohammed; they had read a few pages from the dread book of
file:///C|/Documents and Settings/David Moore/My Documents/Rosicrucian and Masonic Origins, by Manly P_ Hall.htm (6 of 22)10/20/2004 3:44:11 AM
the Anthropos, and for this knowledge they were doomed to die. What was the
black magic of which the Templars were accused? What was Baphomet, the
Goat of Mendes, whose mysteries they were declared to have celebrated? All
these are questions worthy of the thoughtful consideration of every studious
Mason.
Truth is eternal. The so-called revelations of Truth that come in different
religions are actually but a re-emphasis of an ever-existing doctrine. Thus
Moses did not originate a new religion for Israel; he simply adapted the
Mysteries of Egypt to the needs of Israel. The ark triumphantly borne by the
twelve tribes through the wilderness was copied after the Isiac ark which may
still be traced in faint has-relief upon the ruins of the Temple of Philae. Even
the two brooding cherubim over the mercy seat are visible in the
Egyptiancarving, furnishing indubitable evidence that the secret doctrine of
Egypt was the prototype of Israel's mystery religion. In his reformation of
Indian philosophy, Buddha likewise did not reject the esotericism of the
Brahmins, but rather adapted this esotericism to the needs of the masses in
India. The mystic secrets locked within the holy Vedas were thus disclosed in
order that all men, irrespective of castely distinction, might partake of wisdom
and share in a common heritage of good. Jesus was a Rabbin of the Jews, a
teacher of the Holy Law, who discoursed in the synagogue, interpreting the
Torah according to the teachings of His sect. He brought no new message nor
were His reformations radical. He merely tore away the veil from the temple
in order that not only Pharisee and Sadducee but also publican and sinner
might together behold the glory of an ageless faith. [pp 402-403]
In his cavern on Mount Hira, Mohammed prayed not for new truths but for old
truths to be restated in their original purity and simplicity in order that men
might understand again that primitive religion: God's clear revelation to the
first patriarchs. The Mysteries of Islam had been celebrated in the great black
cube of the Caaba centuries before the holy pilgrimage. The Prophet was but
the reformer of a decadent pagandom, the smasher of idols, the purifier of
defiled Mysteries. The dervishes, who patterned their garmentsafter those of
the Prophet, still preserve that inner teaching of the elect, and for them the
Axis of the Earth thesupreme hierophant-still sits, visible only to the faithful,
in meditation upon the flat roof of the Caaba. Neither carpenter nor cameldriver, as Abdul Baha might have said, can fashion a world religion from the
file:///C|/Documents and Settings/David Moore/My Documents/Rosicrucian and Masonic Origins, by Manly P_ Hall.htm (7 of 22)10/20/2004 3:44:11 AM
substances of his own mind. Neither prophet nor savior preached a doctrine
which was his own, but in language suitable to his time and race retold that
Ancient Wisdom preserved within the Mysteries since the dawning of human
consciousness. So with the Masonic Mysteries of today. Each Mason has at
hand those lofty principles of universal order upon whose certainties the faiths
of mankind. have ever been established. Each Mason has at hand those lofty
principles of universal order upon pregnant with life and hope to those
millions who wander in the darkness of unenlightenment. [p 403]
Father C. R. C., the Master of the Rose Cross, was initiated into the Great
Work at Damcar. Later at Fez, further information was given him relating to
the sorcery of the Arabians. From these wizards of the desert C. R. C. also
secured the sacred book M, which is declared to have contained the
accumulated knowledge of the world. This volume was translated into Latin
by C. R. C. for the edification of his order, but only the initiates know the
present hidden repository of the Rosicrucian manuscripts, charters, and
manifestos. From the Arabians C. R. C. also learned of the elemental peoples
and how, with their aid, it was possible to gain admission to the ethereal world
where dwelt the genii and Nature spirits. C.R.C. thus discovered that the
magical creatures of the Arabian Nights Entertainment actually existed,
though invisible to the ordinary mortal. From astrologers living in the desert
far from the concourse of the market-place he was further instructed
concerning the mysteries of the stars, the virtues resident in the astral light, the
rituals of magic and invocation, the preparation of therapeutic talismans, and
the binding of the genii. C. R. C. became an adept n the gathering of medicinal
herbs, the transmutation of metals, and the manufacture of precious gems by
artificial means. Even the secret of the Elixir of Life and the Universal
Panacea were communicated to him. Enriched thus beyond the dreams of
Croesus, the Holy Master returned to Europe and there established a House of
Wisdom which he called Domus Sancti Spiritus. This house he enveloped in
clouds, it is said, so that men could not discover it. What are these "clouds,"
however, but the rituals and symbols under which is concealed the Great
Arcanum-that unspeakable mystery which every true Mason must seek if he
would become in reality a "Prince of the Royal Secret"?
Paracelsus, the Swiss Hermes, was initiated into the secrets of alchemy in
Constantinople and there beheld the consummation of the magnum opus. He is
consequently entitled to be mentioned among those initiated by the Arabians
into the Rosicrucian work. Cagliostro was also initiated by the Arabians and,
file:///C|/Documents and Settings/David Moore/My Documents/Rosicrucian and Masonic Origins, by Manly P_ Hall.htm (8 of 22)10/20/2004 3:44:11 AM
because of the knowledge he had thus secured, incurred the displeasure of the
Holy See. From the unprobed depths of Arabian Rosicrucianism also issued
the illustrious Comte de St.-Germain, over whose Masonic activities to this
day hangs the veil of impenetrable mystery. The exalted body of initiates
whom he represented, as well as the mission he came to accomplish, have both
been concealed from the members of the Craft at large and are apparent only
to those few discerning Masons who sense the supernal philosophic destiny of
their Fraternity. [p 405]
The modern Masonic order can be traced back to a period in European history
famous for its intrigue both political and sociological. Between the years 1600
and 1800, mysterious agents moved across the face of the Continent. The
forerunner of modern thought was beginning to make its appearance and all
Europe was passing through the throes of internal dissension and
reconstruction. Democracy was in its infancy, yet its potential power was
already being felt. Thrones were beginning to totter. The aristocracy of Europe
was like the old man on Sinbad's back: it was becoming more unbearable with
every passing day. Although upon the surface national governments were
seemingly able to cope with the situation, there was a definite undercurrent of
impending change; and out of the masses, long patient under the yoke of
oppression, were rising up the champions of religious, philosophic, and
political liberty. These led the factions of the dissatisfied: people with
legitimate grievances against the intolerance of the church and the oppression
of the crown. Out of this struggle for expression materialized certain definite
ideals, the same which have now come to be considered peculiarly Masonic.
The divine prerogatives of humanity were being crushed out by the three great
powers of ignorance, superstition, and fearignorance, the power of the mob;
fear, the power of the despot; and superstition, the power of the church.
Between the thinker and personal liberty loomed the three "ruffians" or
personifications of impediment-the torch, the crown, and the tiara. Brute force,
kingly power, and ecclesiastical persuasion became the agents of a great
oppression, the motive of a deep unrest, the deterrent to all progress. It was
unlawful to think, well-nigh fatal to philosophize, rank heresy to doubt. To
question the infallibility of the existing order was to invite the persecution of
the church and the state. These together incited the populace, which thereupon
played the r6le of executioner for these arch-enemies of human liberty. Thus
the ideal of democracy assumed a definite form during these stormy periods of
file:///C|/Documents and Settings/David Moore/My Documents/Rosicrucian and Masonic Origins, by Manly P_ Hall.htm (9 of 22)10/20/2004 3:44:11 AM
European history. This democracy was not only a vision but a retrospection,
not only a looking forward but a gazing backward upon better days and the
effort to project those better days into the unborn tomorrow. The ethical,
political, and philosophical institutions of antiquity with their constructive
effect upon the whole structure of the state were noble examples of possible
conditions. It became the dream of the oppressed, consequently, to re-establish
a golden age upon the earth, an age where the thinker could think in safety and
the dreamer dream in peace; when the wise should lead and the simple follow,
yet all dwell together in fraternity and industry. [pp 405-406]
During this period several books were in circulation which, to a certain degree,
registered the pulse of the time. One of these documentsMore's Utopia
was the picture of a new age when heavenly conditions should prevail upon
the earth. This ideal of establishing good in the world savored of blasphemy,
however, for in that day heaven alone it was assumed could be good. Men did
not seek to establish heavenly conditions upon earth, but rather earthly
conditions in heaven. According to popular concept, the more the individual
suffered the torments of the damned upon earth, the more he would enjoy the
blessedness of heaven. Life was a period of chastisement and earthly
happiness an unattainable mirage. More's Utopia thus came as a definite blow
to autocratic pretensions and attitudes, giving impulse to the material emphasis
which was to follow in succeeding centuries.
Another prominent figure of this period was Sir Walter Raleigh, who paid
with his life for high treason against the crown. Raleigh was tried and, though
the charge was never proved, was executed. Before Raleigh went to trial, it
was known that he must die and that no defense could save him. His treason
against the crown was of a character very different, however, from that which
history records. Raleigh was a member of a secret society or body of men who
were already moving irresistibly forward under the banner of democracy, and
for that affiliation he died a felon's death. The actual reason for Raleigh's death
sentence was his refusal to reveal the identity either of that great political
organization of which he was a member or his confreres who were fighting the
dogma of faith and the divine right of kings. On the title page of the first
edition of Raleigh's History of the World, we accordingly find a mass of
intricate emblems framed between two great columns. When the executioner
sealed his lips forever, Raleigh's silence, while it added to the discomfiture of
file:///C|/Documents and Settings/David Moore/My Docum.../Rosicrucian and Masonic Origins, by Manly P_ Hall.htm (10 of 22)10/20/2004 3:44:11 AM
file:///C|/Documents and Settings/David Moore/My Docum.../Rosicrucian and Masonic Origins, by Manly P_ Hall.htm (11 of 22)10/20/2004 3:44:11 AM
commuted by the Pope to life imprisonment in the old castle of San Leo.
Shortly after his incarceration, Cagliostro disappeared and the story was
circulated that he had been strangled in an attempt to escape from prison. In
reality, however, he was liberated and returned to his Masters in the East. But
Cagliostrothe idol of France, surnamed "the Father of the Poor," who never
received anything from anyone and gave everything to everyonewas most
adequately revenged. Though the people little understood this inexhaustible
pitcher of bounty which poured forth benefits and never required
replenishment, they remembered him in the day of their power. [pp 407-408]
Cagliostro founded the Egyptian Rite of Freemasonry, which received into its
mysteries many of the French nobility and was regarded favorably by the most
learned minds of Europe. Having established the Egyptian Rite, Cagliostro
declared himself to be an agent of the order of the Knights Templars and to
have received initiation from them on the Isle of Malta. (See Morals and
Dogma, in which Albert Pike quotes Eliphas Levi on Cagliostro's affiliation
with the Templars.) Called upon the carpet by the Supreme Council of
France, it was demanded of Cagliostro that he prove by what authority he had
founded a Masonic lodge in Paris independent of the Grand Orient. Of such
surpassing mentality was Cagliostro that the Supreme Council found it
difficult to secure an advocate qualified to discuss with Cagliostro philosophic
Masonry and the ancient Mysteries he claimed to represent. The Court de
Gebelinthe greatest Egyptologist of his day and an authority on ancient
philosophies-was chosen as the outstanding scholar. A time was set and the
Brethren convened. Attired in an Oriental coat and a pair of violet-colored
breeches, Cagliostro was haled before this council of his peers. The Court de
Gebelin asked three questions and then sat down, admitting himself
disqualified to interrogate a man so much his superior in every branch of
learning. Cagliostro then took the floor, revealing to the assembled Masons
not only his personal qualifications, but prophesying the future of France. He
foretold the fall of the French throne, the Reign of Terror, and the fall of the
Bastille. At a later time he revealed the dates of the death of Marie Antoinette
and the King, and also the advent of Napoleon. Having finished his address,
Cagliostro made a spectacular exit, leaving the French Masonic lodge in
file:///C|/Documents and Settings/David Moore/My Docum.../Rosicrucian and Masonic Origins, by Manly P_ Hall.htm (12 of 22)10/20/2004 3:44:11 AM
For some time, the Society of Unknown Philosophers moved extraneous to the
church. Among the fathers of the church, however, were a great number of
scholarly and intelligent men who were keenly interested in philosophy and
ethics, prominent among them being the Jesuit Father, Athanasius Kircher,
who is recognized as one of the great scholars of his day. Both a Rosicrucian
and also a member of the Society of Unknown Philosophers, as revealed by
the cryptograms in his writings, Kircher was in harmony with this program of
philosophic reconstruction. Since learning was largely limited to churchmen,
this body of philosophers soon developed an overwhelming preponderance of
ecclesiastics in its membership. The original anti-ecclesiastical ideals of the
society were thus speedily reduced to an innocuous state and the organization
gradually converted into an actual auxiliary of the church. A small portion of
the membership, however, ever maintained an aloofness from the literati of the
faith, for it represented an unorthodox classthe alchemists, Rosicrucians,
Qabbalists, and magicians. This latter group accordingly retired from the outer
body of the society that had thus come to be known as the "Order of the
Golden and Rose Cross" and whose adepts were elevated to the dignity of
Knights of the Golden Stone. Upon the withdrawal of these initiated adepts, a
powerful clerical body remained which possessed considerable of the ancient
file:///C|/Documents and Settings/David Moore/My Docum.../Rosicrucian and Masonic Origins, by Manly P_ Hall.htm (14 of 22)10/20/2004 3:44:11 AM
lore but in many instances lacked the "keys" by which this symbolism could
be interpreted. As this body continued to increase in temporal power, its
philosophical power grew correspondingly less. [pp 410-411]
The smaller group of adepts that had withdrawn from the order remained
inactive apparently, having retired to what they termed the "House of the Holy
Spirit," where they were enveloped by certain "mists" impenetrable to the eyes
of the profane. Among these reclusive adepts must be included such wellknown Rosicrucians as Robert Fludd, Eugenius Philalethes, John Heydon,
Michael Maier, and Henri Khunrath. These adepts in their retirement
constituted a loosely organized society which, though lacking the solidarity of
a definite fraternity, occasionally initiated a candidate and met annually at a
specified place. It was the Comte de Chazal, an initiate of this order, who
"raised" Dr. Sigismund Bacstrom while the latter was on the Isle of Mauritius.
In due time, the original members of the order passed on, after first entrusting
their secrets to carefully chosen successors. In the meantime, a group of men
in England, under the leadership of such mystics as Ashmole and Fludd, had
resolved upon repopularizing the ancient learning and reclassifying
philosophy in accordance with Bacon's plan for a world encyclopedia. These
men had undertaken to reconstruct ancient Platonic and Gnostic mysticism,
but were unable to attain their objective for lack of information. Elias
Ashmole may have been a member of the European order of Rosicrucians and
as such evidently knew that in various parts of Europe there were isolated
individuals who were in possession of the secret doctrine handed down in
unbroken line from the ancient Greeks and Egyptians through Boetius, the
early Christian Church, and the Arabians. [p 411]
The efforts of the English group to contact such individuals were evidently
successful. Several initiated Rosicrucians were brought from the mainland to
England, where they remained for a considerable time designing the
symbolism of Freemasonry and incorporating into the rituals of the order the
same divine principles and philosophy that had formed the inner doctrine of
all great secret societies from the time of the Eleusinia in Greece. In fact, the
Eleusinian Mysteries themselves continued in Christendom until the sixth
century after Christ, after which they passed into the custody of the Arabians,
as attested by the presence of Masonic symbols and figures upon early
Mohammedan monuments. The adepts brought over from the Continent to sit
in council with the English philosophers were initiates of the Arabian rites and
file:///C|/Documents and Settings/David Moore/My Docum.../Rosicrucian and Masonic Origins, by Manly P_ Hall.htm (15 of 22)10/20/2004 3:44:11 AM
file:///C|/Documents and Settings/David Moore/My Docum.../Rosicrucian and Masonic Origins, by Manly P_ Hall.htm (16 of 22)10/20/2004 3:44:11 AM
both depend on each other. The Seeds of that eternal Peace and Tranquillity
and everlasting Repose must be sown in this Life; and he that would glorify
and enjoy the Sovereign Good then must learn to do it now, and from
contemplating the Creature gradually ascend to adore the Creator."
Of all obstacles to surmount in matters of rationality, the most difficult is that
of prejudice. Even the casual observer must realize that the true wealth of
Freemasonry lies in its mysticism. The average Masonic scholar, however, is
fundamentally opposed to a mystical interpretation of his symbols, for he
shares the attitude of the modern mind in its general antipathy towards
transcendentalism. A most significant fact, however, is that those Masons who
have won signal honors for their contributions to the Craft have been
transcendentalists almost without exception. It is quite incredible, moreover,
that any initiated Brother, when presented with a copy of Morals and Dogma
upon the conferment of his fourteenth degree, can read that volume and yet
maintain that his order is not identical with the Mystery Schools of the first
ages. Much of the writings of Albert Pike are extracted from the books of the
French magician, Eliphas Levi, one of the greatest transcendentalists of
modern times. Levi was an occultist, a metaphysician, a Platonic philosopher,
who by the rituals of magic invoked even the spirit of Apollonius of Tyana,
and yet Pike has inserted in his Morals and Dogma whole pages, and even
chapters, practically verbatim. To Pike the following remarkable tribute was
paid by Stirling Kerr, Jr., 33? Deputy for the Inspector-General for the District
of Columbia, upon crowning with laurel the bust of Pike in the House of the
Temple: "Pike was an oracle greater than that of Delphi. He was Truth's
minister and priest. His victories were those of peace. Long may his memory
live in the hearts of the Brethren." Affectionately termed "Albertus Magnus"
by his admirers, Pike wrote of Hermeticism and alchemy and hinted at the
Mysteries of the Temple. Through his zeal and unflagging energy, American
Freemasonry was raised from comparative obscurity to become the most
powerful organization in the land. Though Pike, a transcendental thinker, was
the recipient of every honor that the Freemasonic bodies of the world could
confer, the modern Mason is loath to admit that transcendentalism has any
place in Freemasonry. This is an attitude filled with embarrassment and
inconsistency, for whichever way the Mason turns he is confronted by these
inescapable issues of philosophy and the Mysteries. Yet withal he dismisses
the entire subject as being more or less a survival of primitive superstitions.
file:///C|/Documents and Settings/David Moore/My Docum.../Rosicrucian and Masonic Origins, by Manly P_ Hall.htm (17 of 22)10/20/2004 3:44:11 AM
[pp 413-414]
The Mason who would discover the Lost Word must remember, however, that
in the first agesevery neophyte was a man of profound learning and
unimpeachable character, who for the sake of wisdom and virtue had faced
death unafraid and had triumphed over those limitations of the flesh which
bind most mortals to the sphere of mediocrity. In those days the rituals were
not put on by degree teams who handled candidates as though they were
perishable commodities, but by priests deeply versed in the lore of their cults.
Not one Freemason out of a thousand could have survived the initiations of the
pagan rites, for the tests were given in those strenuous days when men were
men and death the reward of failure. The neophyte of the Druid Mysteries was
set adrift in a small boat to battle with the stormy sea, and unless his
knowledge of natural law enabled him to quell the storm as did Jesus upon the
Sea of Galilee, he returned no more. In the Egyptian rites of Serapis, it was
required of the neophyte that he cross an unbridged chasm in the temple floor.
In other words, if unable by magic to sustain himself in the air without visible
support, he fell headlong into a volcanic crevice, there to die of heat and
suffocation. In one part of the Mithraic rites, the candidate seeking admission
to the inner sanctuary was required to pass through a closed door by
dematerialization. The philosopher who has authenticated the reality of
ordeals such as these no longer entertains the popular error that the
performance of "miracles" is confined solely to Biblical characters. "Do you
still ask," writes Pike, "if it has its secrets and mysteries? It is certain that
something in the Ancient Initiations was regarded as of immense value, by
such Intellects as Herodotus, Plutarch and Cicero. The Magicians of Egypt
were able to imitate several of the miracles wrought by Moses; and the
Science of the Hierophants of the mysteries produced effects that to the
Initiated seemed Mysterious and supernatural." (See Legenda for the Twentyeighth Degree.) [pp 414-415]
It becomes self-evident that he who passed successfully through these arduous
tests involving both natural and also supernatural hazards was a man apart in
his community. Such an initiate was deemed to be more than human, for he
had achieved where countless ordinary mortals, having failed, had returned no
more. Let us hear the words of Apuleius when admitted into the Temple of
Isis, as recorded in The Metamorphosis, or Golden Ass: "Then also the priest,
file:///C|/Documents and Settings/David Moore/My Docum.../Rosicrucian and Masonic Origins, by Manly P_ Hall.htm (18 of 22)10/20/2004 3:44:11 AM
all the profane being removed, taking hold of me by the hand, brought me to
the penetralia of the temple, clothed in a new linen garment. Perhaps,
inquisitive reader, you will very anxiously ask me what was then said and
done? I would tell you, if it could be lawfully told; you should know it, if it
was lawful for you to hear it. But both ears and the tongue are guilty of rash
curiosity. Nevertheless, I will not keep you in suspense with religious desire,
nor torment you with long-continued anxiety. Hear, therefore, but believe
what is true. I approached to the confines of death, and having trod on the
threshold of Proserpine, I returned from it, being carried through all the
elements. At midnight I saw the sun shining with a splendid light; and I
manifestly drew near to the Gods beneath, and the Gods above, and
proximately adored them. Behold, I have narrated to you things, of which,
though heard, it is nevertheless necessary that you should be ignorant. I will,
therefore, only relate that which may be enunciated to the understanding of the
profane without a crime." [p 415]
Kings and princes paid homage to the initiatethe "newborn" man, the
favorite of the gods. The initiate had actually entered into the presence of the
divine beings. He had "died" and been "raised" again into the radiant sphere of
everlasting light. Seekers after wisdom journeyed across great continents to
hear his words and his sayings were treasured with the revelations of oracles.
It was even esteemed an honor to receive from such a one an inclination of the
head, a kindly smile or a gesture of approbation. Disciples gladly paid with
their lives for the Master's word of praise and died of a broken heart at his
rebuke. On one occasion, Pythagoras became momentarily irritated because of
the seeming stupidity of one of his students. The Master's displeasure so
preyed upon the mind of the humiliated youth that, drawing a knife from the
folds of his garment, he committed suicide. So greatly moved was Pythagoras
by the incident that never from that time on was he known to lose patience
with any of his followers regardless of the provocation.
With a smile of paternal indulgence the venerable Master, who senses the true
dignity of the mystic tie, should gravely incline the minds of the Brethren
towards the sublimer issues of the Craft. The officer who would serve his
lodge most effectively must realize that he is of an order apart from other men,
that he is the keeper of an awful secret, that the chair upon which he sits is the
seat of immortals, and that if he would be a worthy successor to those Master
Masons of other ages, his thoughts must be measured by the profundity of
file:///C|/Documents and Settings/David Moore/My Docum.../Rosicrucian and Masonic Origins, by Manly P_ Hall.htm (19 of 22)10/20/2004 3:44:11 AM
Pythagoras and the lucidity of Plato. Enthroned in the radiant East, the
Worshipful Master is the "Light" of his lodgethe representative of the gods,
one of that long line of hierophants who, through the blending of their rational
powers with the reason of the Ineffable, have been accepted into the Great
School. This high priest after an ancient order must realize that those before
him are not merely a gathering of properly tested men, but the custodians of an
eternal lore, the guardians of a sacred truth, the perpetuators of an ageless
wisdom, the consecrated servants of a living God, the wardens of a Supreme
Mystery. [p 416]
A new day is dawning for Freemasonry. From the insufficiency of theology
and the hopelessness of materialism, men are turning to seek the God of
philosophy. In this new era wherein the old order of things is breaking down
and the individual is rising triumphant above the monotony of the masses,
there is much work to be accomplished. The "Temple Builder" is needed as
never before. A great reconstruction period is at hand; the debris of a fallen
culture must be cleared away; the old footings must be found again that a new
Temple significant of a new revelation of Law may be raised thereon. This is
the peculiar work of the Builder; this is the high duty for which he was called
out of the world; this is the noble enterprise for which he was "raised" and
given the tools of his Craft. By thus doing his part in the reorganization of
society, the workman may earn his "wages" as all good Masons should. A new
light is breaking in the East, a more glorious day is at hand. The rule of the
philosophic elect-the dream of the ages-will yet be realized and is not far
distant. To her loyal sons, Freemasonry sends this clarion call: "Arise ye, the
day of labor is at band; the Great Work awaits completion, and the days of
man's life are few." Like the singing guildsman of bygone days, the Craft of
the Builders marches victoriously down the broad avenues of Time. Their
song is of labor and glorious endeavor; their anthem is of toil and industry;
they rejoice in their noble destiny, for they are the Builders of cities, the
Hewers of worlds, the Master Craftsmen of the universe! [p 417]
Note: Page breaks from the original book are indicated between
paragraphs. Full paragraphs above each page indicator is found on the
first page number shown next in succession. The secon page indicates that
the respective paragraph was broken onto the second page indicated. I
have included these original page numbers as a further reference resource for
file:///C|/Documents and Settings/David Moore/My Docum.../Rosicrucian and Masonic Origins, by Manly P_ Hall.htm (20 of 22)10/20/2004 3:44:11 AM
+++
[Return to Top]
Return to
Classic Texts
Menu
Explore
Next Text
file:///C|/Documents and Settings/David Moore/My Docum.../Rosicrucian and Masonic Origins, by Manly P_ Hall.htm (21 of 22)10/20/2004 3:44:11 AM
file:///C|/Documents and Settings/David Moore/My Docum.../Rosicrucian and Masonic Origins, by Manly P_ Hall.htm (22 of 22)10/20/2004 3:44:11 AM
thereof, and forgetteth all evils; and when it hath learned and known its
Father and Progenitor, it can no more apostatize or depart from that
good.
7. And let this, O Son, be the end of Religion and Piety; whereunto thou
art once arrived, thou shalt both live well and die blessedly, whilst thy
soul is not ignorant wither it must return, and fly back again.
8. For this only, O Son, is the way to Truth, which our Progenitors
travelled in; and by which making their journey, they at length attained
to the good. It is a venerable way and plain, but hard and difficult for
the soul to go in that is in the body.
9. For first must it war against its own self, and after much strife and
dissention, it must be overcome of the part; for the contention is of one
against two, whilst it flies away, and they strive to hold and detain it.
10. But the victory of both is not like, for the one hasteth to that which is
Good, but the other is a neighbour to the things that are Evil; and that
which is Good desireth to be set at liberty, but the things that are Evil
love bondage and Slavery.
11. And if the two parts be overcome, they become quiet, and are
content to accept of it as their Ruler; but if the one be overcome of the
two, it is by them led and carried to be punished by its being and
continuance here.
12. This is, O Son, the Guide in the way that leads thither; for thou must
first forsake the Body before thy end, and get the victory in this
contention and strifeful life, and when thou hast overcome, return.
13. But now, O my Son, I will by Heads run through the things that are.
Understand thou what I say, and remember what thou hearest.
14. All things that are moved, only that which is not is immoveable.
15. Every body is changeable.
16. Not every body is dissolveable.
17. Some bodies are dissolveable.
35. Not everything that joyeth is also sad, but is an eternal living thing.
36. Not every body is sick; every body that is sick is dissolveable.
37. The mind in God.
38. Reasoning (or disputing or discoursing) in Man.
39. Reason in the Mind.
40. The Mind is void of suffering.
41. No thing in a body true.
42. All that is incorporeal, is void of Lying.
43. Everything that is made is corruptible.
44. Nothing good upon Earth; nothing evil in Heaven.
45. God is good; Man is evil.
46. Good is voluntary, or of its own accord.
47. Evil is involuntary, or against its will.
48. The gods choose good things, as good things.
49. Time is a Divine thing.
50. Law is humane.
51. Malice is the nourishment of the World.
52. Time is the corruption of Man.
53. Whatsoever is in Heaven is unalterable.
54. All upon Earth is alterable.
.......... .
productions of itself.
13. For the Mind being God, Male and Female, Life and Light, brought
forth by his Word another Mind or Workman; which being God of the
Fire, and the Spirit, fashioned and formed seven other Governors, which
in their circles contain the Sensible World, whose Government or
disposition is called Fate or Destiny.
14. Straightway leaped out, or exalted itself from the downward
Elements of God, The Word of God, into the clean and pure
Workmanship of Nature, and was united to the Workman, Mind, for it
was Consubstantial; and so the downward born elements of Nature were
left without Reason, that they might be the only Matter.
15. But the Workman, Mind, together with the Word, containing the
circles, and whirling them about, turned round as a wheel, his own
Workmanships; and suffered them to be turned from an indefinite
Beginning to an indeterminable end, for they always begin where they
end.
16. And the Circulation or running round of these, as the mind willeth,
out of the lower or downward-born Elements, brought forth
unreasonable or brutish Creatures, for they had no reason, the Air
flying things, and the Water such as swim.
17. And the Earth and the Water were separated, either from the other,
as the Mind would; and the Earth brought forth from herself, such living
creatures as she had, four-footed and creeping beasts, wild and tame.
18. But the Father of all things, the Mind being Life and Light, brought
forth Man like unto himself, whom he loved s his proper Birth; for he
was all beauteous, having the image of his Father.
19. For indeed God was exceedingly enamoured of his own form or
shape, and delivered unto it all his own Workmanships. But he, seeing
and understanding the Creation of the Workman in the whole, would
needs also himself fall to work, and so was separated from the Father,
being in the sphere of Generation or Operation.
20. Having all Power, he considered the Operations or Workmanships
of the Seven; but they loved him, and everyone made him partaker of his
own order.
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/2216/clsctexts/2ndBook.htm (3 of 11)30/11/2005 12:04:18
the Seven, from him whom I told thee, the Fire and the Spirit, Nature
continued not, but forthwith brought forth seven Men, all Males and
Females, and sublime, or on high, according to the Natures of the seven
Governors.
30. And after these things, O Pimander, quoth I, I am now come into a
great desire and longing to hear; do not digress or run out.
31. But he said, Keep silence, for I have not yet finished the first speech.
32. Trism. Behold, I am silent.
33. Pim. The Generation therefore of these Seven was after this manner:
The Air being Feminine and the Water desirous of Copulation, took
from the Fire its ripeness, and from the aether Spirit, and so Nature
produced Bodies after the species and shape of men.
34. And man was made of Life and Light, into Soul and Mind; of Life
the soul, of Light the Mind.
35. And so all the members of the Sensible World, continued unto the
period of the end, bearing rule and generating.
36. Hear now the rest of that speech thou so much desireth to hear.
37. When that period was fulfilled, the bond of all things was loosed and
untied by the will of God; for all living Creatures being
Hermaphroditical, or Male and Female, were loosed and untied together
with man; and so the Males were apart by themselves and the Females
likewise.
38. And straightways God said to the Holy Word, Increase in increasing
and multiplying in multitude all you my Creatures and Workmanships.
And let him that is endued with mind, know himself to be immortal; and
that the cause of death is the love of the body, and let him learn all things
that are.
39. When he had thus said, Providence by Fate of Harmony, made the
mixtures and established the Generations, and all things were multiplied
according to their kind. And he that knew himself, came at length to the
Superstantial of every way substantial good.
40. But he that thro the error of Love loved the Body, abideth
wandering in darkness, sensible, suffering the things of death.
41. Trism. But why do they that are ignorant, sin so much, that they
should therefore be deprived of immortality?
42. Pim. Thou seemest not to have understood what thou hast heard.
43. Trism. Peradventure I seem so to thee; but I both understand and
remember them.
44. Pim. I am glad for thy sake if thou understoodest them.
45. Trism. Tell me why are they worthy of death, that are in death?
46. Pim. Because there goeth a sad and dismal darkness before its
body; of which darkness is the moist nature, of which moist nature the
Body consisteth in the sensible world, from whence death is derived.
Has thou understood this aright?
47. Trism. But why, or how doth he that understands himself, go or
pass into God?
48. Pim. That which the Word of God said, say I: Because the Father
of all things consists of Life and Light, whereof man is made.
49. Trism. Thou sayest very well.
50. Pim. God and the Father is Light and Life, of which Man is made.
If therefore thou learn and believe thyself to be of the Life and Light,
thou shalt again pass into Life.
51. Trism. But yet tell me more, O my Mind, how I shall go into Life.
52. Pim. God saith, Let man, endued with a mind, mark, consider, and
know himself well.
53. Trism. Have not all men a mind?
54. Pim. Take heed what thou sayest, for I the mind come unto men
that are holy and good, pure and merciful, and that live piously and
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/2216/clsctexts/2ndBook.htm (6 of 11)30/11/2005 12:04:18
.......... .
This page hosted by
commanded him; and there were made four-footed things, and creeping
things, and such as live in the water, and such as fly, and every fruitful
seed, and Grass, and the Flowers of all Greens, all which had sowed in
themselves the Seeds of Regeneration.
8. As also the Generations of Men, to the Knowledge of the Divine
Works, and a lively or working Testimony of Nature, and a multitude of
men, and the dominion of all things under Heaven, and the Knowledge
of good things, and to be increased in increasing, and multiplied in
multitude.
9. And every Soul in Flesh, by the wonderful working of the Gods in the
Circles, to the beholding of Heaven, the Gods Divine Works, and the
operations of Nature; and for signs of good things, and the Knowledge of
the Divine Power, and to find out every cunning Workmanship of good
things.
10. So it beginneth to live in them, and to be wise according to the
operation of the course of the circular Gods; and to be resolved into that
which shall be great Monuments and Rememberances of the cunning
Works done upon earth, leaving them to be read by the darkness of
times.
11. And every Generation of living Flesh, of Fruit, Seed, and all
Handicrafts, though they be lost, must of necessity be renewed by the
renovation of the Gods, and of the Nature of a Circle, moving in
number; for it is a Divine thing that every worldly temperature should
be renewed by Nature; for in that which is Divine is Nature also
established.
The End of the Fragments of the Third Book, THE HOLY
SERMON.
Next:
The Fourth Book,
Called THE KEY.
.......... .
This page hosted by
17. For the knowledge of it is a Divine Silence, and the rest of all the
senses; for neither can he that understands that, understand anything
else, nor he that sees that, see anything else, nor hear any other thing,
nor in sum move the Body.
18. For shining steadfastly upon and round the whole mind, it
enlighteneth all the Soul; and loosing it from the Bodily senses and
motions, it draweth it from the Body, and changeth it wholly into the
Essence of God.
19. For it is possible for the Soul, O Son, to be deified while yet it lodgeth
in the Body of Man, if it contemplate the beauty of the Good.
20. Tat. How does thou mean deifying, Father?
21. Trism. There are differences, O Son, of every Soul.
22. Tat. But how dost thou again divide the changes?
23. Trism. Hast thou not heard in the general Speeches, that from one
Soul of the universe are all those Souls which in the world are tossed up
and down, as it were, and severally divided? Of these Souls there are
many changes, some into a more fortunate estate, and some quite the
contrary; for they which are of creeping things are changed into those of
watery things; and those of things living in the water, to those of things
living upon the Land; and Airy ones are changed into men, and human
Souls, that lay hold of immortality, are changed into Demons.
24. And so they go on into the Sphere or Region of the fixed Gods; for
there are two choirs or companies of Gods, one of them that wander,
and another of them that are fixed; And so this is the perfect glory of
the Soul.
25. But the Soul entering into the body of a Man, if it continue evil, shall
neither taste of immortality, nor is partaker of the Good.
26. But being drawn back the same way, it returneth into creeping
things; And this is the condemnation of an Evil Soul.
27. And the wickedness of a Soul is ignorance; for the Soul that knows
nothing of the things that are, neither the Nature of them, nor that
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/2216/clsctexts/4thBook.htm (3 of 11)30/11/2005 12:08:37
which is good, but is blinded, rusheth and dasheth against the bodily
passions; and unhappy as it is, and not knowing itself, it serveth strange
bodies and evil ones, carrying the Body as a burden, and not ruling but
ruled: And this is the mischief of the Soul.
28. On the contrary, the virtue of the soul is Knowledge; for he that
knows is both good and religious, and already Divine.
29. Tat. But who is such a one, O Father?
30. Trism. He that neither speaks nor hears many things; for he, O Son,
that heareth two speeches, or hearings, fighteth in the shadow.
31. For God, and the Father, and Good, is neither spoken nor heard.
32. This being so in all things that are, are the Senses, because they
cannot be without them.
33. But Knowledge differs much from Sense; for Sense is of things that
surmount it, but Knowledge is the end of Sense.
34. Knowledge is the gift of God; for all Knowledge is unbodily, but
useth the Mind as an instrument, as the Mind useth the Body.
35. Therefore, both intelligible and material things, go both of them into
bodies; for, of contraposition, that is, setting one against another, and
contrariety, all things must consist. And it is impossible it should be
otherwise.
36. Tat. Who, therefore, is this Material God?
37. Trism. The fair and beautiful World, and yet it is not good; for it is
material, and easily passible, nay, it is the first of all passible things; and
the second of the things that are, and needy or wanting somewhat else.
And it was once made, and is always, and is ever in generation, and
made, and continually makes, or generates things that have quantity and
quality.
38. For it is moveable, and every material motion is generation; but the
intellectual stability moves the material motion after this manner.
39. Because the World is a Sphere, that is, a head, and above the head
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/2216/clsctexts/4thBook.htm (4 of 11)30/11/2005 12:08:37
51. There are therefore, these three, God the Father, and the Good, the
World, and Man. God hath the World, and the World hath Man; and
the World is the Son of God, and Man as it were the offspring of the
World.
52. For God is not ignorant of Man, but knows him perfectly, and will
be known by him. This only is healthful to man, the knowledge of God:
This is the return of Olympus; by this only the soul is made good, and
not sometimes good, and sometimes evil, but of necessity Good.
53. Tat. What meaneth thou, O Father?
54. Trism. Consider, O Son, the Soul of a Child, when as yet it hath as
yet received no dissolution of its body, which is not yet grown, but is
very small: how then if it look upon itself, it sees itself beautiful, as not
having been as yet spotted with the Passions of the Body, but as it were
depending yet upon the soul of the World.
55. But when the Body is grown, and distracteth the Soul, it engenders
forgetfulness, and partakes no more of the Fair and the Good, and
Forgetfulness is evilness.
56. The like also happeneth to them that go out of the Body: For when
the soul runs back into itself, the Spirit is contracted into the blood, and
the Soul into the Spirit. But the Mind being made pure, and free from
these clothings; and being Divine by Nature, taking a fiery body, rangeth
abroad in every place, leaving the soul to judgment, and to the
punishment it hath deserved.
57. Tat. Why dost thou say so, O Father, that the Mind is separated
from the Soul, and the Soul from the Spirit? When even now thou saidst
that the Soul was the clothing or apparel of the Mind, and the Body of
the Soul.
58. Trism. O Son, he that hears must co-understand, and conspire in
thought with him that speaks; yea, he must have his hearing swifter and
sharper than the voice of the speaker.
59. The disposition of these clothings or Covers is done in an Earthly
Body; for it is impossible that the Mind should establish or rest itself,
naked, and of itself in an Earthly Body; neither is the Earthly Body able
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/2216/clsctexts/4thBook.htm (6 of 11)30/11/2005 12:08:37
other. For none of the things in Heaven will come down upon Earth,
and leave the limits of Heaven, but a Man ascends up into Heaven, and
measures it.
91. And he knoweth what things are on high, and what below, and
learneth all other things exactly.
92. And that which is the greatest of all, he leaveth not the Earth, and
yet is above: So great is the greatness of his Nature.
93. Wherefore we must be bold to say, That an Earthly Man is a mortal
God, and that the Heavenly God is an immortal Man.
94. Wherefore, by these two are all things governed, the World and
Man; but they and all things else of that which is One.
THE END OF THE FOURTH BOOK, Called THE KEY.
Next:
The Fifth Book,
THAT GOD IS NOT MANIFEST,
AND YET MOST MANIFEST.
.......... .
This page hosted by
..
Workman; rather, it is the best Name of all the Names of God, to call
him the Father of all, for so he is alone; and this is his work to be the
Father.
28. And if thou will force me to say anything more boldly, it is his
Essence to be pregnant, or great with all things, and to make them.
29. And as without a maker it is impossible that anything should be
made, so it is that he should not always be, and always be making all
things in Heaven, in the Air, in the Earth, in the Deep, in the whole
World, and in every part of the whole, that is or that is not.
30. For there is nothing in the whole World that is not himself; both the
things that are, and the things that are not.
31. For the things that are he hath made manifest, and the things that
are not he hath hid in himself.
32. This is God that is better than any name; this is he that is secret; this
is he that is most manifest; this is he that is to be seen by the Mind; this
is he that is visible to the Eye; this is he that hath no body; and this is he
that hath many bodies; rather, there is nothing of any body which is not
he.
33. For he alone is all things.
34. And for this cause he hath many Names, because he is the One
Father; and therefore he hath no Name, because he is the Father of all.
35. Who therefore can bless thee, or give thanks for thee, or to thee?
36. Which way shall I look when I praise thee? upward? downward?
outward? inward?
37. For about these there is no manner nor place, nor anything else of
all things that are.
38. But all things are in thee; all things from thee; thou givest all things,
and takest nothing; for thou hast all things; and there is nothing that
thou hast not.
39. When shall I praise thee, O Father, for it is neither possible to
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/2216/clsctexts/5thBook.htm (4 of 6)30/11/2005 12:09:31
.......... .
19. And I give thanks unto God, that, concerning the knowledge of
good, put this assurance in my Mind, that it is impossible it should be in
the World.
20. For the World is the fulness of Evilness; but God is the fulness of
Good, or good of God.
21. For the eminencies of all appearing Beauty, are in the Essence more
pure, and more sincere, and peradventure they are also the Essences of
it.
22. For we must be bold to say, Asclepius, that the Essence of God, if he
have an Essence, is that which is fair or beautiful; but no good is
comprehended in this World.
23. For all things that are subject to the eye, are Idols, and as it were
Shadows; but those things that are not subject to the eye, are ever,
especially the Essence of the Fair and the Good.
24. And as the Eye cannot see God, so neither the Fair and the Good.
25. For those are the parts of God, that partake the Nature of the whole,
proper, and familiar unto him alone, inseparable, most lovely, whereof
either God is enamoured, or they are enamoured of God.
26. If thou canst understand God, thou shall understand the Fair, and
the Good, which is most shining, and enlightening, and most enlightened
by God.
27. For that Beauty is above Comparison, and that Good is inimitable,
as God himself.
28. As, therefore, thou understandest God, so understand the Fair and
the Good; for these are incommunicable to any other living creatures,
because they are inseparable from God.
29. If thou seek concerning God, thou seekest or asketh also of the Fair,
for there is one way which leadeth to the same thing, that is Piety, with
Knowledge.
30. Wherefore, they that are ignorant, and go not in the way of Piety,
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/2216/clsctexts/6thBook.htm (3 of 5)30/11/2005 12:10:22
dare call Men Fair and Good, never seeing so much as in a dream, what
good is; but being infolded and wrapped upon all evil, and believing that
the Evil is the Good, they, by that means, both use it insatiable, and are
afraid to be deprived of it; and therefore they strive, by all possible
means, that they may not only have it, but also increase it.
31. Such, O Asclepius, are the good and fair things of Men, which we
can neither love nor hate; for this is the hardest thing of all, that we have
need of them, and cannot live without them.
The End of the Sixth Book....
THAT IN GOD ALONE IS GOOD....
Next:
The Seventh Book,
HIS SECRET SERMON IN THE MOUNT OF REGENERATION,
AND THE PROFESSION OF SILENCE.
.......... .
This page hosted by
..
doubtful.
6. Herm. The Will of God, O Son.
7. And what manner of Man is he that is thus born? for in this point, I
am clean deprived of the Essence that understandeth in me.
8. Herm. The Son of God will be another. God made the universe, that
in everything consisteth of all powers.
9. Tat. Thou tellest me a Riddle, Father, and dost not speak as a Father
to a Son.
10. Herm. Son, things of this kind are not taught, but are by God, when
he pleaseth, brought to remembrance.
11. Tat. Thou speakest of things strained, or far fetched, and
impossible, Father; and therefore I will directly contradict them.
12. Herm. Wilt thou prove a Stranger, Son, to thy Fathers kind?
13. Tat. Do not envy me, Father, or pardon me, I am thy Natural Son;
discourse unto me the manner of Regeneration.
14. Herm. What shall I say, O my Son? I have nothing to say more
than this, That I see in myself an unstrained sight or spectacle, made by
the mercy of God; and I am gone out of myself into an immortal body,
and am not now, what I was before, but was begotten in Mind.
15. This thing is not taught, nor is it to be seen in this formed element;
for which the first compounded form was neglected by me, and that I
am now separated from it; for I have both the touch and the measure of
it, yet am I now estranged from them.
16. Thou seest, O Son, with thine eyes; but though thou never look so
steadfastly upon me, with the Body, and the Bodily sight, thou canst not
see nor understand what I am now.
17. Tat. Thou hast driven me, O Father, into no small fury and
distraction of mind, for I do not now see myself.
18. Herm. I would, O Son, that thou also wert gone out of thyself, like
them that Dream in their sleep.
19. Tat. Then tell me this, who is the Author and Maker of
Regeneration?
20. Herm. The Child of God, one Man by the Will of God.
21. Tat. Now, O Father, thou hast put me to silence for ever, and all my
former thoughts have quite left and forsaken me; for I see the greatness
and shape of things here below, and nothing but falsehood in them all.
22. And so thence this mortal form is daily changed, and turned by time
into increase or diminution, as being falsehood: What therefore is true,
O Trismegistus?
23. Trism. That, O my Son, which is not troubled, nor bounded; not
coloured, not figured, not changed, that which is naked, high.
Comprehensible only of itself, unalterable, unbodily.
24. Tat. Now I am mad indeed, O Father, for when I thought me to
have been made a wise man by thee, with these thoughts, thou hast quite
dulled all my senses.
25. Herm. Yet is it so as I say, O Son, He that looketh only upon that
which is carried upward as Fire, that which is carried downward as
Earth, that which is moist as Water, and that which bloweth, or is
subject to blast, as Air; how can he sensibly understand that which is
neither hard nor moist, nor tangible, nor perspicuous, seeing it is only
understood in power and operation? But I beseech and pray to the
Mind, which alone can understand the Generation which is in God.
26. Tat. Then am I, O Father, utterly unable to do it.
27. Herm. God forbid, Son, rather draw or pull him unto thee (or study
to know him) and he will come, be but willing and it shall be done; quite
(or make idle) the senses of the Body, purging thyself from the
unreasonable brutish torments of matter.
28. Tat. Have I any (revengers or) tormentors in myself, Father?
29. Herm. Yea, and those not a few, but many, and fearful ones.
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/2216/clsctexts/7thBook.htm (3 of 10)30/11/2005 12:11:01
42. And when that (Covetousness) is gone, I call Truth, and when she
cometh, Error and Deceit vanisheth.
43. See, O Son, how the Good is fulfilled by the access of Truth; for by
this means Envy is gone from us; for Truth is accompanied with the
Good, together also with Life and Light.
44. And there came no more any torment of Darkness, but being
overcome, they all fled away suddenly and tumultuously.
45. Thou hast understood, O Son, the manner of regeneration; for upon
the coming of these Ten, the Intellectual Generation is perfected, and
then it driveth away the Twelve; and we have seen it in the Generation
itself.
46. Whoseoever therefore hath of Mercy obtained this Generation,
which is according to God, he leaving all bodily sense, knoweth himself
to consist of divine things, and rejoiceth, being made by god Stable and
immutable.
47. Tat. O Father, I conceive and understand, not by the sight of mine
eyes, but by the Intellectual operation, which is by the Powers. I am in
Heaven, in the Earth, in the Water, in the Air; I am in Living Creatures,
in Plants, in the Womb, everywhere.
48. Yet tell me, further, this one thing, How are the Torments of
Darkness, being in number Twelve, driven away and expelled by the Ten
Powers? What is the manner of it, Trismegistus?
49. This Tabernacle, O Son, consists of the Zodiacal Circle; and this
consisting of Twelve numbers, the Idea of one; but all formed Nature
admit divers Conjugations to the deceiving of Man.
50. And though they be different in themselves, yet are they united in
practice (as, for example, Rashness is inseparable from Anger), and they
are also indeterminate. Therefore, with good reason do they make their
departure, being driven away by the Ten Powers; that is to say, by the
dead.
51. For the number of Ten, O Son, is the begetter of Souls. And there
Life and Light are united, where the number of Unity is born of the
spirit.
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/2216/clsctexts/7thBook.htm (5 of 10)30/11/2005 12:11:01
52. Therefore, according to Reason, Unity hath the number of Ten, and
the number of Ten hath Unity.
53. Tat. O Father, I now see the Universe and myself in the Mind.
54. Herm. This is Regeneration, O Son, that we should not any longer
fix our imagination upon this Body, subject to the three dimensions,
according to this, according to this speech which we have now
commented, that we may not at all caluminate the Universe.
55. Tat. Tell me, O Father, This body that consists of Powers, shall it
ever admit of Dissolution?
56. Herm. Good words, Son, and speak not things impossible; for so
thou shalt sin, and the eye of thy mind grow wicked.
57. The sensible body of Nature is far from the Essential Generation, for
that is subject to dissolution, but this is not; and that is mortal, but this
immortal. Dost thou not know that thou art born a God, and the Son of
the One, as I am?
58. Tat. How feign would I, O Father, hear that praise given by a
Hymn, which thou saidst thou heardest from the Powers, when I was in
the Octonary?
59. Herm. As Pimander said, by way of Oracle to the Octonary: Thou
dost well, O Son, to desire the Solution of the Tabernacle, for thou art
purified.
60. Pimander, the Mind of Absolute Power and Authority, hath
delivered no more unto me, than those that are written; knowing that of
myself, I can understand all things, and hear, and see what I will. And
he commanded me to do those things that are good; and therefore all the
powers that are in me sing.
61. Tat. I would hear thee, O Father, and understand these things.
62. Herm. Be quiet, O Son, and now hearken to that harmonious
blessing and thanksgiving; the hymn of Regeneration, which I did not
determine to have spoken of so plainly, but to thyself in the end of all.
76. All my Powers sing praise with me, and now, my Continence, sing,
praise my Righteousness by me; praise that which is righteous.
77. O Communion which is in me; praise the All.
78. By me the Truth sings praise to the Truth, the Good praiseth the
Good.
79. O Life, O Light, from us, unto you, comes this praise and
thanksgiving.
80. I give thanks unto thee, O Father, the operation or act of my
Powers.
81. I give thanks unto thee, O God, the Power of my operations.
82. By me the Word sings praise unto thee; receive by me this
reasonable (or verbal) Sacrifice in words.
83. The powers that are in me cry these things, they praise the All, they
fulfil thy Will; thy Will and counsel is form thee unto thee.
84. O All, receive a reasonable sacrifice from all things.
85. O Life, save all that is in us; O Light, enlighten, O God, the Spirit; for
the Mind guideth (or feedeth) the Word; O Spirit-bearing Workman.
86. Thou are God, thy Man cryeth these things unto thee through, by the
Fire, by the Air, by the Earth, by the Water, by the Spirit, by thy
Creatures.
87. From eternity I have found (means to) bless and praise thee, and I
have what I seek; for I rest in thy Will.
88. Tat. O Father, I see thou hast sung this song of praise and blessing,
with thy whole Will; and therefore have I put and placed it in my
World.
89. Herm. Say in thy Intelligible World, O Son.
90. Tat. I do mean in my Intelligible world; for by thy Hymn and song
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/2216/clsctexts/7thBook.htm (8 of 10)30/11/2005 12:11:01
.......... .
This page hosted by
..
thou wearest, the web of Ignorance; the foundation of all Mischief; the
bond of Corruption; the dark Coverture; the living Death; the sensible
Carcass; the Sepulchre, carried about with us; the domestical Thief,
which in what he loves us, hates us, envies us.
8. Such is the hurtful Apparel, wherewith thou art clothed, which draws
and pulls thee downward by its own self, lest looking upward and seeing
the beauty of Truth, and the Good that is reposed therein, thou shouldst
hate the wickedness of this Garment and understand the traps and
ambushes which it had laid for thee.
9. Therefore doth it labour to make good those things that seem, and
are by the senses, judged and determined; and the things that are truly,
it hides, and envelopeth in much matter, filling what it presents unto
thee, with hateful pleasure, that thou canst neither hear what thou
shouldst hear, nor see what thou shouldst see.
The End of the Eighth Book,
THE GREATEST EVIL IN MAN IS
THE NOT KNOWING GOD.
Next:
The Ninth Book,
A UNIVERSAL SERMON TO ASCLEPIUS.
.......... .
This page hosted by
..
11. Herm. And is it not solid, as filled with many great bodies, and
indeed with all the Bodies that are?
12. Asclep. It is so.
13. Herm. And is not the World a Body, and a Body that is moved?
14. Asclep. It is.
15. Herm. Then what a kind of place must it be, wherein it is moved,
and of what Nature? Must it not be much bigger, that it may receive the
continuity of Motion? And lest which is moved, should for want of
room, be stayed, and hindered in the Motion?
16. Asclep. It must needs be an immense thing, Trismegistus, but of
what Nature?
17. Herm. Of a contrary Nature, O Asclepius. But is not the Nature of
things unbodily, contrary to a Body?
18. Asclep. Confessedly.
19. Herm. Therefore the place is unbodily; but that which is unbodily is
either some Divine thing, or God himself. And by something Divine, I
do not mean that which was made or begotten.
20. If therefore it be Divine, it is an Essence or Substance; but if it be
God, it is above Essence; but he is otherwise intelligible.
21. For the first, God is intelligible, not to himself, but to us; for that
which is intelligible is subject to that which understandeth by Sense.
22. Therefore, God is not intelligible to himself; for not being any other
thing from that which is understood, he cannot be understood by
himself.
23. But he is another thing from us, and therefore he is understood by
us.
24. If therefore Place be intelligible, it is not Place but God; but if God
be intelligible, he is intelligible not as Place, but as a capable Operation.
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/2216/clsctexts/9thBook.htm (2 of 8)30/11/2005 12:12:15
it.
37. Asclep. Thou hast laid down a very clear example, Trismegistus.
38. Herm. Therefore, every motion is in station, and is moved of
station.
39. The motion, then, of the World, and of every material living thing,
happeneth not to be done by those things that are without the World,
but by those things within it, a Soul, or Spirit, or some other unbodily
thing, to those things that are without it.
40. For an inanimate Body doth not know, much less a Body if it be
wholly inanimate.
41. Asclep. What meaneth thou by this, O Trismegistus, wood and
stones, and all other inanimate things, are they not moving Bodies?
42. Herm. By no means, O Asclepius, for that within the Body, which
moves the inanimate thing, is not the Body, that moves both as well the
Body of that which beareth, as the Body of that which is born; for one
dead or inanimate thing cannot move another; that which moveth, must
needs be alive if it move.
43. Thou seest therefore how the Soul is surcharged, when it carrieth
two Bodies.
44. And now it is manifest that the things that are moved in something,
and by something.
45. Asclep. The things that are moved, O Trismegistus, must needs be
moved in that which is void, or empty vacuum, .
46. Be advised, O Asclepius, for all the things that are, there is nothing
empty, only that which is not, is empty and a stranger to existence or
being.
47. But that which is could not be if it were not full of existence; for that
which is in being or existence, can never be made empty.
48. Asclep. Are there not therefore some things that are empty, O
Trismegistus, as an empty Barrel, an empty Hogshead, an empty Will, an
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/2216/clsctexts/9thBook.htm (4 of 8)30/11/2005 12:12:15
not; for the things that are not, have not the nature to be able to be
made; and again, the things that are, have not the nature never to be, or
not to be at all.
63. Asclep. What dost thou then say at length that God is?
64. Herm. God is not a Mind, but the Cause that the Mind is; not a
spirit, but the Cause that the Spirit is; not Light, but the Cause that
Light is.
65. Therefore, we must worship God by these two Appellations, which
are proper to him alone, and to no other.
67. And this he is and nothing else; but all other things are separable
from the nature of Good.
68. For the Body and the Soul have no place that is capable of or can
contain the Good.
69. For the greatness of Good is as great as the Existence of all things
that are, both bodily and unbodily, both sensible and intelligible.
70. This is the Good, even God.
71. See, therefore, that thou do not at any time call ought else Good, for
so thou shalt be impious; or any else God, but only the Good, for so thou
shalt again be impious.
72. In Word it is often said by all men the Good, but all men do not
understand what it is; but through Ignorance they call both the Gods,
and some men, Good, that can never be, or be made so.
73. Therefore all the other Gods are honoured with the title or
appellation of God, but God is the Good, not according to Heaven, but
Nature.
74. For there is one Nature of God, even the Good, and one kind of them
both, from whence all are kinds.
75. For he that is Good, is the giver of all things, and takes nothing; and,
therefore, God gives all things, and receives nothing.
76. The other title and appellation, is the Father, because of his making
all things; for it is the part of a Father to make.
77. Therefore, it hath been the greatest and most Religious care in this
life, to them that are Wise, and well-minded, to beget children.
78. As likewise it is the greatest misfortune and impiety, for any to be
separated from men, without children; and this man is punished after
Death by the Demons, and the punishment is this: To have the Soul of
this childless man, adjudged and condemned, to a Body that neither
hath the nature of a man, nor of a woman, which is an accursed thing
under the Sun.
79. Therefore, O Asclepius, never congratulate any man that is
childless; but on the contrary pity his misfortune, knowing what
punishment abides, and is prepared for him.
80. Let so many, and such manner of things, O Asclepius, be said as a
certain precognition of all things in Nature.
The End of the Ninth Book,
A UNIVERSAL SERMON TO ASCLEPIUS.
Next:
The Tenth Book,
THE MIND TO HERMES.
.......... .
This page hosted by
..
56. For the friendship and commixture of contraries and unlike, become
Light shining from the Act or Operation of God, the Father of all Good,
the Prince of all Order, and the Ruler of the Seven Worlds.
57. Look also upon the Moon, the forerunner of them all, the
Instrument of Nature, and which changeth the matter here below.
58. Behold the Earth the middle of the Whole, the firm and stable
Foundation of the Fair World, the Feeder and Nurse of Earthly things.
59. Consider, moreover, how great the multitude is of immortal living
things, and of mortal ones also; and see the Moon going about in the
midst of both, to wit, of things immortal and mortal.
60. But all things are full of Soul, and all things are properly moved by
it; some things about the Heaven, and some things about the Earth; and
neither of those on the right hand to the left; nor those on the left hand
to the right; nor those things that are above, downward; nor those things
that are below, upwards.
61. And that all these things are made, O beloved Hermes, thou needst
not learn of me.
62. For they are Bodies, and have a Soul, and are moved.
63. And that all these should come together into one, it is impossible
without something to gather them together.
64. Therefore, there must be some such ones, and he altogether One.
65. For seeing that the motions are divers, and many, and the Bodies not
alike, and yet one ordered swiftness among them all; It is impossible
there should be two or more Makers.
66. For one order is not kept by many.
67. But in the weaker there would be jealousy of the stronger, and
thence also contentions.
68. And if there were one Maker, of mutable mortal living Wights, he
would desire also to make immortal ones, as he that were the Maker of
97. And yet this is not like unto him, for he is not sensible of pleasure,
for neither hath he any other Fellow Workman.
98. But being himself the only Workman, he is always in the work,
himself being that which he doth or maketh.
99. For all things, if they were separate from him, must needs fall and
die, as there being no life in them.
100. And again, if all things be living wights, both which are in heaven,
and upon earth, and that there be one Life in all things which are made
by God, and that is God, then certainly all things are made or done by
God.
101. Life is the union of the Mind and the Soul.
102. But death is not the destruction of those things that were gathered
together, but a dissolving of the Union.
103. The Image therefore of God, is Eternity; of Eternity, the World; of
the World, the Sun: of the Sun, Man.
104. But the people say, That changing is Death, because the body is
dissolved, and the Life goeth into that which appeareth not.
105. By this discourse, my dearest Hermes, I affirm as thou hearest.
That the World is changed, because every day part thereof becomes
invisible, but that it is never dissolved.
106. And these are the Passions of the World, Revolutions and
Occultations, and Revolution is a turning, but Occultation is
Renovation.
107. And the World being all formed, hath not the forms lying without
it, but itself changeth in itself.
108. Seeing then the World is all formed, what must he be that made it!
for without form, he cannot be.
109. And if he be all formed, he will be kept like the World, but if he
have but one form, he shall be in this regardless of the world.
110. What do we then say that he is? We will not raise any doubts by
our speech, for nothing that is doubtful concerning God is yet known.
111. He hath therefore one Idea, which is proper to him, which, because
it is unbodily, is not subject to the sight, and yet shows all forms by the
Bodies.
112. And do not wonder if there be an incorruptible Idea.
113. For they are like the Margents of the Speech, which is in writing;
for they seem to be high and swelling, but they are by nature smooth and
even.
114. But understand well this that I say, more boldly, for it is more
true: As man cannot live without life, so neither can God live not doing
good.
115. For this is, as it were, the Life and Motion of God, to Move all
things, and Quicken them.
116. But some of the things I have said, must have a particular
explanation; Understand then what I say.
117. All things are in God, not as lying in a place, for Place is both a
body and immoveable, and those things that are placed, have no motion.
118. For they lie otherwise in that which is unbodily, than in the
fantasie, or to appearance.
119. Consider him that contains all things, and understand that nothing
is more capacious, than that which is incorporeal, nothing more swift,
nothing more powerful, but it is most capacious, most swift, and most
strong.
120. And judge of this by thyself, command thy Soul to go into India,
and sooner than thou canst bid it, it will be there.
121. Bid it likewise pass over the Ocean, and suddenly it will be there;
not as passing from place to place, but suddenly it will be there.
122. Command it to fly into Heaven, and it will not need no wings,
neither shall anything hinder it, not the fire of the Sun, not the Aether,
not the turning of the Spheres, not the bodies of any other Stars, but
cutting through all, it will fly up to the last and furthest body.
123. And if thou wilt even break the whole, and see those things that are
without the world (if there be anything without), thou mayest.
124. Behold, how great power, how great swiftness thou hast! Canst
thou do all thee things, and cannot God?
125. After this manner, therefore, contemplate God to have all the
whole world to himself, as it were, all thoughts, or intellections.
126. If therefore thou wilt not equal thyself to God, thou canst not
understand God.
127. For the like is intelligible by the like.
128. Increase thyself unto an immeasureable greatness, leaping beyond
every Body, and transcending all Time, become Eternity, and thou shalt
understand God: If thou believe in thyself, that nothing is impossible,
but accountest thyself immortal, and that thou canst understand all
things, every Art, every Science, and the manner and custom of every
living thing.
129. Become higher than all height, lower than all depths, comprehend
in thyself the qualitites of all the Creatures, of the Fire, the Water, the
Dry, and Moist, and conceive likewise, that thou canst at once be
everywhere, in the Sea, in the Earth.
130. Thou shalt at once understand thyself, not yet begotten in the
Womb, young, old, to be dead, the things after death, and all these
together, as also times, places, deeds, qualities, quantities, or else thou
canst not yet understand God.
131. But if thou shut up thy Soul in the Body, and abuse it, and say, I
understand nothing, I can do nothing, I am afraid of the Sea, I cannot
climb up to Heaven, I know not who I am, I cannot tell what I shall be:
What hast thou to do with god? for thou canst understand none of those
Fair and Good things, and be a lover of the body and Evil.
132. For it is the greatest Evil, not to know God.
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/2216/clsctexts/10thBook.htm (10 of 12)30/11/2005 12:39:06
133. But to be able to know, and to will, and to hope, is the straight way,
and Divine way, proper to the Good, and it will everywhere meet thee,
and everywhere be seen of thee, plain and easy, when thou dost not
expect or look for it; it will meet thee waking, sleeping, sailing,
travelling, by night, by day, when thou speakest, and when thou keepest
silence.
134. For there is nothing which is not the Image of God.
135. And yet thou sayest, God is invisible; but be advised, for who is
more manifest than He?
136. For therefore hath he made all things, that thou by all things
mayest see Him.
137. This is the Good of God, this is the Virtue, to appear, and to be
seen in all things.
138. There is nothing invisible, no, not of those things that are
incorporeal.
139. The Mind is seen in understanding, and God is seen in doing or
making.
140. Let these things thus far forth, be made manifest unto thee, O
Trismegistus.
141. Understand in like manner, all other things by thyself, and thou
shalt not be deceived.
The End of the Tenth Book,
THE MIND TO HERMES.
Next:
The Eleventh Book,
OF THE COMMON MIND, TO TAT.
.......... .
This page hosted by
..
23. Tat. Here, O Father, that discourse of Fate of Destiny, which thou
madest to me, is in danger of being overthrown; for if it be fatal for any
man to commit Adultery or Sacrilege, or do any evil, he is punished also,
though he, of necessity, do the work of the Fate or Destiny.
24. Herm. All things, O Son, are the work of Fate, and without it can no
bodily thing, either Good or Evil, be done.
25. For it is decreed by Fate, that he that doth any evil, should also
suffer for it.
26. And therefore he doth it, that he may suffer that which he suffereth
because he did it.
27. But for the present, let alone that speech, concerning Evil and Fate,
for at other times we have spoken of it.
28. Now, our discourse is about the Mind, and what it can do, and how
it differs, and is in men such a one, but in brute Beasts changed.
29. And again in brute Beasts it is not beneficial, but in men by
quenching both their Anger and Concupiscences.
30. And of man, thou must understand, some to be rational, or governed
by reason, and some irrational.
31. But all men are subject to Fate, and to Generation, and Change, for
these are the beginning and end of Fate or Destiny
32. And all men suffer those things that are decreed by Fate.
33. But rational men, over whom, as we said, the mind bears rule, do
not suffer like unto other men; but being free from viciousness, and
being not evil, they do suffer evil.
34. Tat. How sayest thou this again, Father? An Adulterer, is he not
evil? A Murderer, is he not evil? and so of others.
35. Herm. But the rational man, O Son, will not suffer for Adultery, but
as the Adulterer not for Murder, but as the Murderer.
61. These, if any man use, or employ upon what he ought, he shall differ
nothing from the Immortals.
62. Yea, rather going out of the Body, he shall be guided and led by
them, both into the Choir and Society of the God, and blessed ones.
63. Tat. Do not other living creatures use speech, O Father?
64. Herm. No, Son, but only voice. Now, speech and voice do differ
exceeding much; for speech is common to all men, but voice is proper
unto every kind of living thing.
65. Tat. Yea, but the Speech of men is different, O Father; every man
according to his Nation.
66. Herm. It is true, O Son, they do differ: yet as Man is one, so is
Speech one also, and it is interpreted and found the same, both in Egypt,
Persia, and Greece.
67. But thou seemest unto me, Son, to be ignorant of the Vertue, or
Power and greatness of Speech.
68. For the blessed God, the good Demon said or commanded the Soul
to be in the Body, the Mind in the Soul , the Word, or Speech, or
Reason in the Mind, and the Mind in God, and that God is the Father of
them all.
69. Therefore, the Word is the Image of the Mind, and the Mind of God,
and the Body of the Idea, and the Idea of the Soul.
70. Therefore, of the Matter, the subtilest or smallest part is Air, of the
Air the Soul, of the Soul the Mind, of the Mind God.
71. And God is about all things, and through all things, but the Mind
about the Soul, the Soul about the Air, and the Air about the Matter.
72. But Necessity, and Providence, and Nature, are the Organs or
Instruments of the World, and of the Order of Matter.
73. For of those things that are intelligible, everyone is; but the essence
of them is Identity.
74. But of the Bodies of the whole, or universe, every one is many
things.
75. For the Bodies that are put together, and that have, and make their
changes into other, having this Identity, do always and preserve the
incorruption of the Identity.
76. But in every one of the compound Bodies there is a Number
77. For without Number it is impossible there should be consistence or
constitution, or composition, or dissolution.
78. But Unities do both beget and increase Numbers, and again being
dissolved, come into themselves.
79. And the Matter is One.
80. But this whole World, the great God, and the Image of the Greater,
and united unto him, and concerning the Order, and Will of the Father,
is the fulness of Life.
81. And there is nothing therein, through all the Eternity of the
Revolution, neither of the whole, nor of the parts which doth not live.
82. For there is nothing dead, that either hath been, or is, or shall be in
the World.
83. For the Father would have it, as long as it lasts, to be a living thing;
and therefore it must needs be God also.
84. How, therefore, O Son, can there be in God in the image of the
Universe, in the fulness of Life, any dead things?
85. For dying is Corruption, and corruption is destruction.
86. How, then, can any part of the incorruptible be corrupted, or of God
be destroyed?
87. Tat. Therefore, O Father, do not the living things in the World die,
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/2216/clsctexts/11thBook.htm (7 of 11)30/11/2005 12:39:50
.......... .
This page hosted by
..
9. For he divided Speech among all Men, but not Mind, and yet he
envied not any; for Envy comes not thither, but is abode here below in
the Souls of men, that have not the Mind.
10. Tat. But wherefore, Father, did not God distribute the Mind to all
men?
11. Herm. Because it pleased him, O Son, to set that in the middle
among all souls, as a reward to strive for.
12. Tat. And where hath he set it?
13. Herm. Filling a large Cup or Bowl therewith, he sent it down, giving
also a Cryer or Proclaimer.
14. And he commanded him to proclaim these things to the souls of
men.
15. Dip and wash thyself, thou that art able in this Cup or Bowl: Thou
that believeth that thou shalt return to him that sent this Cup; thou that
acknowledgest whereunto thou wert made.
16. As many, therefore, as understood the Proclamation, and were
baptized, or dowsed into the Mind, these were made partakers of
knowledge, and became perfect men, receiving the Mind.
17. But as many as missed of the Proclamation, they received Speech,
but not Mind; being ignorant whereunto they were made, or by whom.
18. But their Senses are just like to brute Beasts, and having their
temper in Anger and Wrath, they do not admire the things worthy of
looking on.
19. But wholly addicted to the pleasures and desires of the Body, they
believe that man was made for them.
20. But as many as partake of the gift of God; these, O Tat, in
comparison of their works, are rather immortal, than mortal men.
21. Comprehending all things in their Mind, which are upon Earth,
which are in Heaven, and if there be anything above Heaven.
22. And lifting up themselves so high, they see the Good, and seeing it,
they account it a miserable calamity to make their abode here.
23. And despising all things bodily and unbodily, they make haste to the
One and Only.
24. Thus, O Tat, is the knowledge of the Mind, the beholding of Divine
things, and the Understanding of God, the Cup itself, being Divine.
25. Tat. And I, O Father, would be baptized and drenched therein.
26. Herm. Except thou first hate thy body, O Son, thou canst not love
thyself, but loving thyself, thou shalt have the Mind, and having the
Mind, thou shalt also partake the Knowledge or Science.
27. Tat. How meanest thou, O Father?
28. Herm. Because it is impossible, O Son, to be conversant about
things Mortal and Divine.
29. For the things that are, being two Bodies, and things incorporeal,
wherein is the Mortal and the Divine, the Election or Choice of either is
left to him that will choose: For no man can choose both.
30. And of which soever the choice is made, the other being diminished
or overcome, magnifieth the act or operation of the other.
31. The choice of the better, therefore, is not only best for him that
chooseth it, by deifying man, but it also shewth Piety and Religion
towards God.
32. But the choice of the worst destroys a man, but doth nothing against
God, save that as Pomps or Pageants, when they come abroad, cannot do
anything themselves but hinder; after the same manner also do these
make Pomps and Pageants in the World, being seduced by the pleasures
of the Body.
33. These Things being so, O Tat, that things have been, and are so
plenteously ministered to us from God, let them proceed also from us,
without any scarcity or sparing.
34. For God is innocent or guiltless, but we are the causes of Evil,
preferring them before the Good.
35. Thou seest, O Son, how many Bodies we must go beyond, and how
many Choirs of Demons, and what continuity and courses of Stars, that
we may make haste to the One, and only God.
36. For the Good is not to be transcended, it is unbounded and infinite,
unto itself, without beginning, but unto us, seeming to have a beginning,
even our knowledge of it.
37. For our Knowledge is not the beginning of it, but shews us the
beginning of its being known unto us.
38. Let us, therefore, lay hold of the beginning, and we shall quickly go
through all things.
39. It is indeed a difficult thing to leave those things that are
accustomable and present, and turn us to those things that are ancient,
and according to the original.
40. For these things that appear, delight us, but make the things that
appear not, hard to believe, or the things that appear not, are hard to
believe.
41. The things most apparent are Evil, but the Good is secret, or hid in,
or to the things that appear, for it hath neither Form nor Figure.
42. For this cause it is like to itself, but unlike everything else, for it is
impossible that anything incorporeal should be made know, or appear to
a Body.
43. For this is the difference between the like and the unlike, and the
unlike wanteth always somewhat of the like.
44. For the Unity, Beginning, and Root of all things, as being the Root
and Beginning.
45. Nothing is without a beginning, but the Beginning is of nothing, but
of itself, for it is the Beginning of all other things.
46. Therefore it is, seeing it is not from another beginning.
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/2216/clsctexts/12thBook.htm (4 of 6)30/11/2005 12:40:23
47. Unity therefore being the Beginning, containeth very number, but
itself is contained of none, and begetteth every number, itself being
begotten of no other number.
48. Everything that is begotten (or made), is imperfect, and may be
divided, increased, diminished.
49. But to the perfect, there happeneth none of these.
50. And that which is increased, is increased by Unity, but is consumed
and vanished through weakness, being not able to receive the Unity.
51. This Image of God, have I described to thee, O Tat, as well as I
could, which if thou do diligently consider, and view by the eyes of they
Mind, and hear, believe me, Son, thou shalt find the way to things above,
or, rather, the Image itself will lead thee.
52. But the spectacle or sight, hath this peculiar and proper: Them that
can see, and behold it, it holds fast and draws unto it, as they say, the
Loadstone doth Iron.
The End of the Twelfth Book,
HIS CRATER OR MONAS.
Next:
The Thirteenth Book,
OF SENSE AND UNDERSTANDING.
.......... .
This page hosted by
..
things.
33. And therefore like a good Husbandman of Life, when things are
dissolved or loosened, he affords, by the casting of Seed, renovation to all
things that grow.
34. There is nothing that it (the World) doth not beget or bring forth
alive, and by its Motion, it makes all things alive.
35. And it is at once, both the Place and the Workman of Life.
36. But the Bodies are from the Matter, in a different manner, for some
are of Earth, some of Water, some of Air, some of Fire, and all are
compounded, but some are more compounded, and some are more
simple.
37. They that are compounded, are the heavier, and they that are less,
are the higher.
38. And the swiftness of the Motion of the World, makes the varieties of
the qualities of Generation, for the Spiration of Influence being most
frequent, extendeth unto the Bodies qualities, with infulness, which is of
Life.
39. Therefore, God is the Father of the World, but the World is Father
of the things in the World.
40. And the World is the Son of God, but things in the World, are the
Sons of the World.
41. And, therefore, it is well called the World, that is, an Ornament,
because it adorneth and beautifieth all things with the Variety of
Generation, and indeficiency of Life, which the unweariedness of
Operation, and the swiftness of Necessity, with the mingling of Elements,
and the order of things done.
42. Therefore, it is necessarily and proper called the World.
43. For all living things, both the sense and the Understanding, cometh
into them from without, inspired by that which compasseth them about,
and continueth them.
44. And the World receiving it once from God as soon as it was made,
has it still, whatever it once had.
45. But God is not as it seems to some who Blaspheme through
superstition, without Sense, and without Mind, or Understanding.
46. For all things that are, O Asclepius, are in God, and made by him,
and depend of him, some working by bodies, some moving by a Soul,
like Essence, some quickening by a Spirit, and some receiving the things
that are weary, and all very fitly.
47. Or rather, I say, that he hath them not, but I declare the Truth, he is
all things, not receiving them from without, but exhibiting them
outwardly.
48. And this is the Sense and Understanding of God, to move all things
always.
49. And there shall never be any time, when any of these things that are,
shall fail, or be wanting.
50. When I say the things that are, I mean God, for the things that are,
God hath, and neither is there anything without him, nor he without
anything.
51. These things, O Asclepius, will appear to be true, if thou understand
them, but if thou understand them not, incredible.
52. For to understand, is to believe, but not to believe, is not to
understand; For my speech or words reach not unto the Truth, but the
Mind is great, and being led or conducted for a while by Speech, is able
to attain to the Truth.
53. And understanding all things round about, and finding them
consonant, and agreeable to those things that were delivered, and
interrupted by Speech, believeth, and in that good belief resteth.
54. To them, therefore, that understand the things that have been said
of God, they are credible, but to them that understand them not,
incredible.
55. And let these, and thus many things, be spoken concerning
Understanding and Sense.
The End of the Thirteenth Book,
OF SENSE AND UNDERSTANDING.
Next:
The Fourteenth Book,
OF OPERATION AND SENSE.
.......... .
This page hosted by
..
7. After the same manner also, if some Pismires did so, and some not,
thou mightest well say, they gather their Food according to Science and
Art.
8. But being, they are all led by Nature, to the same thing, even against
their Wills, it is manifest they do not do it by Science or Art.
9. For operations, O Tat, being unbodily are in Bodies, and work by
bodies.
10. Wherefore, O Tat, in as much as they are unbodily, thou must needs
say, they are immortal.
11. But inasmuch as they cannot act without Bodies, I say they are
always in a Body.
12. For those things that are to anything, or for the cause of anything
made subject to Providence or Necessity, cannot possibly remain idle of
their own proper operation.
13. For that which is, shall ever be, for both the Body, and the Life of it,
is the same.
14. And by this reason, it follows, that the Bodies also are always,
because I affirm: That this corporeity is always by the Act and
Operation, or for them.
15. For although Earthly Bodies be subject to dissolution, yet these
bodies must be the Places, and the Organs, and Instruments of Acts or
Operations.
16. But acts or Operations are immortal, and that which is Immortal is
always in Act, and therefore also Corporification if it be always.
17. Acts or operations do follow the Soul, yet come not suddenly or
promiscuously; but some of them come together with being made man,
being about brutish or unreasonable things.
18. But the purer operations do insensibly in the change of time, work
with the oblique part of the Soul.
19. And these operations depend upon Bodies, and truly they that are
Corporifying, come from the Divine Bodies into Mortal ones.
20. But every one of them acteth both about the Body and the Soul, and
are present with the Soul, even without the Body.
21. And they are always Acts or operations, but the Soul is not always in
a Mortal Body, for it can be without a Body, but Acts or Operations
cannot be without Bodies.
22. This is a sacred Speech, Son; the Body cannot consist without a Soul.
23. Tat. How meanest thou that, Father?
24. Herm. Understand it thus, O Tat: When the Soul is separated from
the Body, there remaineth that same body.
25. And this same Body, according to the time of its abode, is actuated,
or operated in that it is dissolved and becomes invisible.
26. And these things the Body cannot suffer without act or operation,
and consequently there remaineth with the Body, the same act or
operation.
27. This then is the difference between an Immortal Body and a Mortal
one, that the Immortal one consists of one Matter, and so doth not the
Mortal one, and the immortal one doth, but this suffereth.
28. And every thing that acteth or operateth is stronger, and ruleth, but
that which is actuated or operated, is ruled.
29. And that which ruleth, directeth, and governeth as free, but the
other is rules, a servant.
30. Acts or Operations, do not only act or operate, living or breathing,
or insouled Bodies, but also Breathless Bodies, or without Souls,
Wood and Stones, and such like, encreasing and bearing fruit, ripening,
corrupting, rotting, putrifying and breaking, or working such like
things, and whatsoever inanimate Bodies can suffer.
31. Act or Operation, O Son, is called, whatsoever is, or is made or done,
and there are always many things made, or rather all things.
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/2216/clsctexts/14thBook.htm (3 of 7)30/11/2005 12:41:51
32. For the World is never widowed or forsaken of any of those things
that are, but being always carried or moved in itself, it is in labour to
bring forth the things that are, which shall never be left by it to
corruption.
33. Let, therefore, every act or operation be understood to be always
immortal, in what manner of Body soever it be.
34. But some Acts or Operations be of Divine, some of corruptible
bodies, some universal, some peculiar, and some of the generals, and
some of the parts of everything.
35. Divine Acts or Operations, therefore, there be, and such as work or
operate upon their proper Bodies, and these also are perfect, and being
upon or in perfect Bodies.
36. Particular are they which work by any of the living Creatures.
37. Proper be they that work upon any of the things that are.
38. By this Discourse, therefore, O Son, it is gathered that all things are
full of Acts or Operations.
39. For if necessarily they be in every Body, and that there be many
Bodies in the World, I may very well affirm, that there be many other
Acts or Operations.
40. For many items in one Body, there if one, and a second, and a third,
besides these universal ones that follow.
41. And universal operations, I call them that are indeed bodily, and are
done by the Senses and Motions.
42. For without these, it is impossible that the Body should consist.
43. But other operations are proper to the Souls of Men, by Arts,
Sciences, Studies, and Actions.
44. The Senses also follow these Operations, or rather are the effects or
perfections of them.
.......... .
This page hosted by
..
7. But the other things are Falsehood and Deceit, O Tat, and opinions,
like the Images of the fancy of appearance.
8. And when the fancy hath an influence from above, then it is an
imitation of Truth, but without the operations from above, it is left a lie.
9. And as an Image shews the Body described, and yet it is not the Body
of that which is seen, as it seems to be, and it is seen to have eyes, but it
sees nothing, and ears, but it hears nothing at all, and all other things
hath the picture, but they are false, deceiving the eyes of the beholder,
whilst they think they see the Truth, and yet they are indeed but lies.
10. As many, therefore, as see not falsehood, see the Truth.
11. If, therefore, we do so understand, and see every one of those things
as it is, then we see and understand true things.
12. But if we see or understand anything besides, or otherwise, than that
which is, we shall neither understand, nor know the Truth.
13. Tat. Is Truth, therefore, upon Earth, O Father?
14. Herm. Thou dost not miss the mark, O Son; Truth indeed is
nowhere at all upon Earth, O Tat, for it cannot be generated, or made.
15. But concerning the Truth, it may be that some men, to whom God
will give the Good seeing power, may understand it.
16. So that unto the Mind and Reason, there is nothing true indeed upon
earth.
17. But unto the true Mind and Reason, all things are fancies, or
appearances, and opinions.
18. Tat. Must we not, therefore, call it Truth, to understand and speak
the things that are?
19. Herm. But there is nothing true upon Earth.
20. Tat. How then is this true: that we do not know anything true?
How can that be done here?
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/2216/clsctexts/15thBook.htm (2 of 6)30/11/2005 12:42:36
21. Herm. O Son, Truth is the most perfect Virtue, and the highest Good
itself, not troubled by Matter, not encompassed by a Body, naked, clear,
unchangeable, venerable, unalterable Good.
22. But the things that are here, O Son, are visible, incapable of Good,
corruptible, passible, dissolvable, changeable, continually altered, and
made of another.
23. The things therefore that are not true to themselves, how can they be
true?
24. For everything that is altered, is a lie, not abiding in what it is, but
being changed it shews us always, other and other appearances.
25. Tat. Is not man true, O Father?
26. Herm. As far forth as he is a man, he is not true, Son, for that which
is true, hath of itself alone its constitution, and remains and abides
according to itself, such as it is.
27. But man consists of many things, and doth not abide of himself, but
is turned and changed, age after age, Idea after Idea, or form after form,
and this while he is yet in the Tabernacle.
28. And many have not known their own children after a little while, and
many children likewise have not known their own Parents.
29. Is it then possible, O Tat, that he who is so changed, as is not to be
known, should be true? No, on the contrary, he is Falsehood, being in
many Appearance of changes.
30. But do thou understand the True to be that which abides the Same,
and is Eternal, but man is not ever, therefore not True, but man is a
certain appearance, and Appearance is the highest Lie or Falsehood.
31. Tat. But these eternal bodies, Father, are they not true, though they
be changed?
32. Herm. Everything that is begotten, or made, and changed, is not
true; but being made by our Progenitor, they might have had true
matter.
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/2216/clsctexts/15thBook.htm (3 of 6)30/11/2005 12:42:36
33. But these also have in themselves, something that is false, in regard
to their change.
34. For nothing that remains not in itself, is true.
35. Tat. What shall one say then, Father, that only the sun, which
besides the Nature of other things, is not changed, but abides in itself, is
Truth?
36. Herm. It is Truth, and therefore is he only intrusted with the
Workmanship of the World, ruling and making all things, whom I do
both honour, and adore his Truth; and after the One, and First, I
acknowledge him the Workman.
37. Tat. What, therefore, dost thou affirm to be the first Truth, O
Father?
38. Herm. The One and Only, O Tat, that is not of Matter, that is not in a
Body, that is without colour, without Figure, or Shape, Immutable,
Unalterable, which always is, but Falsehood, O Son, is corrupted.
39. And corruption hath laid hold upon all things on Earth, and the
Providence of the True encompasseth, and will encompass them.
40. For without corruption there can no generation consist.
41. For corruption followeth every generation, that it may again be
generated.
42. For those things that are generated, must of necessity be generated of
those things that are corrupted, and the things generated must needs be
corrupted, that the Generation of things being, may not stand still or
cease.
43. Acknowledge, therefore, the first Workman, by the Generation of
things.
44. Consequently the things that are generated of Corruption are false,
as being sometimes one thing, sometimes another: For it is impossible,
they should be made the same things again, and that which is not the
.......... .
This page hosted by
..
20. Now the third living Wight is Man, made after the Image of the
World, and having by the will of the Father, an mind above other
earthly Wights.
21. And he hath not only a sympathy with the second God, but also an
understanding of the first.
22. For the Second God, he apprehends as a Body, but the first, he
understands as Incorporeal, and the Mind of the Good.
23. Tat. And doth not this living Wight perish?
24. Herm. Speak advisedly, O Son, and learn what God is, what the
World, what an Immortal Wight, and what a dissolveable one is.
25. And understand that the World is of God, and in God, but Man of
the World, and in the World.
26. The Beginning, and End, and Consistence of all, is God.
The End of the Sixteenth Book,
THAT NONE OF THE THINGS THAT ARE CAN PERISH.
Next:
The Seventeenth Book.
TO ASCLEPIUS, TO BE TRULY WISE.
.......... .
This page hosted by
..
19. For neither is it possible that the Maker should be without the thing
made, for either of them is the self-same thing; therefore cannot the one
of them be separated from the other, no more than a thing can be
separated from itself.
20. For if he that makes be nothing else but that which makes alone,
simple, uncompounded, it is of necessity, that he makes the same thing to
himself, to whom it is the Generation of him that maketh to be also All
that is made.
21. For that which is Generated or made, must necessarily be generated
or made by another, but without the maker, that which is made, neither
is made, nor is; for the one of them without the other, has lost his proper
Nature by the privation of the other.
22. So if these Two be confessed, That which maketh, and that which is
made, then they are One in Union, this going before, and that following.
23. And that which goeth before, is, God the Maker; and that which
follows, is, that which is made, be it what it will.
24. And let no man be afraid because of the variety of things that are
made or done, lest he should case an aspersion of baseness, or infamy
upon God; for it is the only Glory of him to do, or make all things.
25. And this making, or Facture, is as it were the Body of God; and to
him that maketh, or doth, there is nothing evil or filthy to be imputed, or
there is nothing thought evil, or filthy.
26. For these are Passions that follow Generation, as Rust doth Copper,
or as Excrements do the Body.
27. But neither did the Coppersmith make the Rust, nor the Maker of
the Filth, nor God the Evilness.
28. But the vicissitude of Generation doth make them, as it were, to
blossom out; and for this cause did make change to be, as one should
say, The Purgation of Generation.
29. Moreover, is it lawful for the same Painter to make both Heaven,
and the Gods, and the Earth, and the Sea, and Men, and brute Beasts,
and inanimate things, and Trees; and is it impossible for God to make
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/2216/clsctexts/17thBook.htm (3 of 5)30/11/2005 12:44:08
these things? O the great madness, and ignorance of men in things that
concern God!
30. For men that think so, suffer that which is most ridiculous of all; for
professing to bless, and praise God, yet in not ascribing to him the
making or doing of All things, they know him now.
31. And besides their not knowing him, they are extremely impious
against him, attributing unto him Passions, as Pride, or Oversight, or
Weakness, or Ignorance, or Envy.
32. For if he do not make, or do all things, he is either proud, or not able,
or ignorant, or envious, which is impious to affirm.
33. For god hath only one Passion, namely, Good; and he that is good, is
neither proud, nor impotent, nor the rest, but God is Good itself.
34. For Good is all Power, to do or make all things, and everything that is
made, is made by God, that is, by the Good, and that can make or do all
things.
35. See, then, how he maketh all things, and how the things are done,
that are done, and if thou wilt learn, thou mayest see an Image thereof,
very beautiful and like.
36. Look upon the Husbandman, how he casteth seeds into the Earth,
here wheat, there barley, and elsewhere some other seeds.
37. Look upon the same Man, planting a vine, or an apple tree, or a fig
tree, or some other tree.
38. So doth God in Heaven sow Immortality in the Earth, Change in the
whole Life and Motion.
39. And these things are not many, but few, and easily numbered; for
they are all but four, God and Generation, in which are all things.
The End of the Seventeenth Book,
TO ASCLEPIUS, TO BE TRULY WISE.
(End of the Divine Pymander1650)
.......... .
This page hosted by