POIMANDRES, THE VISION OF HERMES
The Divine Pymander of Hermes Mercurius Trismegistus is one of the
earliest of the Hermetic writings now extant. While probably not in its original
form, having been remodeled during the first centuries of the Christian Era and
incorrectly translated since, this work undoubtedly contains many of the
original concepts of the Hermetic cultus. The Divine Pymander consists of
seventeen fragmentary writings gathered together and put forth as one work. The
second book of The Divine Pymander, called Poimandres, or The
Vision, is believed to describe the method by which the divine wisdom was
first revealed to Hermes. It was after Hermes had received this revelation that
he began his ministry, teaching to all who would listen the secrets of the
invisible universe as they had been unfolded to him.
The Vision is the most: famous of all the Hermetic fragments, and
contains an exposition of Hermetic cosmogony and the secret sciences of the
Egyptians regarding the culture and unfoldment of the human soul. For some time
it was erroneously called "The Genesis of Enoch," but that mistake has now been
rectified. At hand while preparing the following interpretation of the symbolic
philosophy concealed within The Vision of Hermes the present author has
had these reference works: The Divine Pymander of Hermes Mercurius
Trismegistus (London, 1650), translated out of the Arabic and Greek by Dr.
Everard; Hermetica (Oxford, 1924), edited by Walter Scott; Hermes, The
Mysteries of Egypt (Philadelphia, 1925), by Edouard Schure; and the Thrice-Greatest Hermes (London, 1906), by G. R. S. Mead. To the material
contained in the above volumes he has added commentaries based upon the esoteric
philosophy of the ancient Egyptians, together with amplifications derived partly
from other Hermetic fragments and partly from the secret arcanum of the Hermetic
sciences. For the sake of clarity, the narrative form has been chosen in
preference to the original dialogic style, and obsolete words have given place
to those in current use.
Hermes, while wandering in a rocky and desolate place, gave himself over to
meditation and prayer. Following the secret instructions of the Temple, he
gradually freed his higher consciousness from the bondage of his bodily senses;
and, thus released, his divine nature revealed to him the mysteries of the
transcendental spheres. He beheld a figure, terrible and awe-inspiring. It was
the Great Dragon, with wings stretching across the sky and light streaming in
all directions from its body. (The Mysteries taught that the Universal Life was
personified as a dragon.) The Great Dragon called Hermes by name, and asked him
why he thus meditated upon the World Mystery. Terrified by the spectacle, Hermes
prostrated himself before the Dragon, beseeching it to reveal its identity. The
great creature answered that it was Poimandres, the Mind of the
Universe, the Creative Intelligence, and the Absolute Emperor of all.
(Schure identifies Poimandres as the god Osiris.) Hermes then besought
Poimandres to disclose the nature of the universe and the constitution of the
gods. The Dragon acquiesced, bidding Trismegistus hold its image in his
mind.
Immediately the form of Poimandres changed. Where it had stood there was a
glorious and pulsating Radiance. This Light was the spiritual nature of the
Great Dragon itself. Hermes was "raised" into the midst of this Divine
Effulgence and the universe of material things faded from his consciousness.
Presently a great darkness descended and, expanding, swallowed up the Light.
Everything was troubled. About Hermes swirled a mysterious watery substance
which gave forth a smokelike vapor. The air was filled with inarticulate
moanings and sighings which seemed to come from the Light swallowed up in the
darkness. His mind told Hermes that the Light was the form of the spiritual universe and that the swirling
darkness which had engulfed it represented material substance.
Then out of the imprisoned Light a mysterious and Holy Word came forth and
took its stand upon the smoking waters. This Word--the Voice of the Light--rose
out of the darkness as a great pillar, and the fire and the air followed after
it, but the earth and the water remained unmoved below. Thus the waters of Light
were divided from the waters of darkness, and from the waters of Light were
formed the worlds above and from the waters of darkness were formed the worlds
below. The earth and the water next mingled, becoming inseparable, and the
Spiritual Word which is called Reason moved upon their surface, causing
endless turmoil.
Then again was heard the voice of Poimandres, but His form was not revealed:
"I Thy God am the Light and the Mind which were before substance was divided
from spirit and darkness from Light. And the Word which appeared as a pillar of
flame out of the darkness is the Son of God, born of the mystery of the Mind.
The name of that Word is Reason. Reason is the offspring of Thought and
Reason shall divide the Light from the darkness and establish Truth in the midst
of the waters. Understand, O Hermes, and meditate deeply upon the mystery. That
which in you sees and hears is not of the earth, but is the Word of God
incarnate. So it is said that Divine Light dwells in the midst of mortal
darkness, and ignorance cannot divide them. The union of the Word and the Mind
produces that mystery which is called Life. As the darkness without you
is divided against itself, so the darkness within you is likewise divided. The
Light and the fire which rise are the divine man, ascending in the path of the
Word, and that which fails to ascend is the mortal man, which may not partake of
immortality. Learn deeply of the Mind and its mystery, for therein lies the
secret of immortality."
The Dragon again revealed its form to Hermes, and for a long time the two
looked steadfastly one upon the other, eye to eye, so that Hermes trembled
before the gaze of Poimandres. At the Word of the Dragon the heavens opened and
the innumerable Light Powers were revealed, soaring through Cosmos on pinions of
streaming fire. Hermes beheld the spirits of the stars, the celestials
controlling the universe, and all those Powers which shine with the radiance of
the One Fire--the glory of the Sovereign Mind. Hermes realized that the sight
which he beheld was revealed to him only because Poimandres had spoken a Word.
The Word was Reason, and by the Reason of the Word invisible things were made
manifest. Divine Mind--the Dragon--continued its discourse:
"Before the visible universe was formed its mold was cast. This mold was
called the Archetype, and this Archetype was in the Supreme Mind long
before the process of creation began. Beholding the Archetypes, the Supreme Mind
became enamored with Its own thought; so, taking the Word as a mighty hammer, It
gouged out caverns in primordial space and cast the form of the spheres in the
Archetypal mold, at the same time sowing in the newly fashioned bodies the seeds
of living things. The darkness below, receiving the hammer of the Word, was
fashioned into an orderly universe. The elements separated into strata and each
brought forth living creatures. The Supreme Being--the Mind--male and female,
brought forth the Word; and the Word, suspended between Light and darkness, was
delivered of another Mind called the Workman, the Master-Builder,
or the Maker of Things.
"In this manner it was accomplished, O Hermes: The Word moving like a breath
through space called forth the Fire by the friction of its motion.
Therefore, the Fire is called the Son of Striving. The Workman passed as
a whirlwind through the universe, causing the substances to vibrate and glow
with its friction, The Son of Striving thus formed Seven Governors, the
Spirits of the Planets, whose orbits bounded the world; and the Seven Governors
controlled the world by the mysterious power called Destiny given them by
the Fiery Workman. When the Second Mind (The Workman) had organized
Chaos, the Word of God rose straightway our of its prison of substance, leaving
the elements without Reason, and joined Itself to the nature of the Fiery
Workman. Then the Second Mind, together with the risen Word, established Itself
in the midst of the universe and whirled the wheels of the Celestial Powers.
This shall continue from an infinite beginning to an infinite end, for the
beginning and the ending are in the same place and state.
"Then the downward-turned and unreasoning elements brought forth creatures
without Reason. Substance could not bestow Reason, for Reason had ascended out
of it. The air produced flying things and the waters such as swim. The earth
conceived strange four-footed and creeping beasts, dragons, composite demons,
and grotesque monsters. Then the Father--the Supreme Mind--being Light and Life,
fashioned a glorious Universal Man in Its own image, not an earthy man but a
heavenly Man dwelling in the Light of God. The Supreme Mind loved the Man
It had fashioned and delivered to Him the control of the creations and
workmanships.
"The Man, desiring to labor, took up His abode in the sphere of generation
and observed the works of His brother--the Second Mind--which sat upon the Ring
of the Fire. And having beheld the achievements of the Fiery Workman, He willed
also to make things, and His Father gave permission. The Seven Governors, of
whose powers He partook, rejoiced and each gave the Man a share of Its own
nature.
"The Man longed to pierce the circumference of the circles and understand the
mystery of Him who sat upon the Eternal Fire. Having already all power, He
stooped down and peeped through the seven Harmonies and, breaking through the
strength of the circles, made Himself manifest to Nature stretched out below.
The Man, looking into the depths, smiled, for He beheld a shadow upon the earth
and a likeness mirrored in the waters, which shadow and likeness were a
reflection of Himself. The Man fell in love with His own shadow and desired to
descend into it. Coincident with the desire, the Intelligent Thing united Itself
with the unreasoning image or shape.
"Nature, beholding the descent, wrapped herself about the Man whom she loved,
and the two were mingled. For this reason, earthy man is composite. Within him
is the Sky Man, immortal and beautiful; without is Nature, mortal and
destructible. Thus, suffering is the result of the Immortal Man's falling in
love with His shadow and giving up Reality to dwell in the darkness of illusion;
for, being immortal, man has the power of the Seven Governors--also the Life,
the Light, and the Word-but being mortal, he is controlled by the Rings of the
Governors--Fate or Destiny.
"Of the Immortal Man it should be said that He is hermaphrodite, or male and
female, and eternally watchful. He neither slumbers nor sleeps, and is governed
by a Father also both male and female, and ever watchful. Such is the mystery
kept hidden to this day, for Nature, being mingled in marriage with the Sky Man,
brought forth a wonder most wonderful--seven men, all bisexual, male and female,
and upright of stature, each one exemplifying the natures of the Seven
Governors. These O Hermes, are the seven races, species, and wheels.
"After this manner were the seven men generated. Earth was the female element
and water the male element, and from the fire and the æther they received their
spirits, and Nature produced bodies after the species and shapes of men. And man
received the Life and Light of the Great Dragon, and of the Life was made his
Soul and of the Light his Mind. And so, all these composite creatures containing
immortality, but partaking of mortality, continued in this state for the
duration of a period. They reproduced themselves out of themselves, for each was
male and female. But at the end of the period the knot of Destiny was untied by
the will of God and the bond of all things was loosened.
"Then all living creatures, including man, which had been hermaphroditical,
were separated, the males being set apart by themselves and the females
likewise, according to the dictates of Reason.
"Then God spoke to the Holy Word within the soul of all things, saying:
'Increase in increasing and multiply in multitudes, all you, my creatures and
workmanships. 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, for he who has recognized himself enters into the state of Good.'
The name Hermes is derived from "Herm," a form of CHiram, the
Personified Universal Life Principle, generally represented by fire. The
Scandinavians worshiped Hermes under the name of Odin; the Teutons as Wotan, and certain of the Oriental peoples as Buddha, or Fo. There are two theories concerning his demise. The first declares that
Hermes was translated like Enoch and carried without death into the presence of
God, the second states that he was buried in the Valley of Ebron and a great
treasure placed in his tomb--not a treasure of gold but of books and sacred
learning.
"And when God had said this, Providence, with the aid of the Seven Governors
and Harmony, brought the sexes together, making the mixtures and establishing
the generations, and all things were multiplied according to their kind. He who
through the error of attachment loves his body, abides wandering in darkness,
sensible and suffering the things of death, but he who realizes that the body is
but the tomb of his soul, rises to immortality."
Then Hermes desired to know why men should be deprived of immortality for the
sin of ignorance alone. The Great Dragon answered:, To the ignorant the body is
supreme and they are incapable of realizing the immortality that is within them.
Knowing only the body which is subject to death, they believe in death because
they worship that substance which is the cause and reality of death."
Then Hermes asked how the righteous and wise pass to God, to which Poimandres
replied: "That which the Word of God said, say I: 'Because the Father of all
things consists of Life and Light, whereof man is made.' If, therefore, a man
shall learn and understand the nature of Life and Light, then he shall pass into
the eternity of Life and Light."
Hermes next inquired about the road by which the wise attained to Life
eternal, and Poimandres continued: "Let the man endued with a Mind mark,
consider, and learn of himself, and with the power of his Mind divide himself
from his not-self and become a servant of Reality."
Hermes asked if all men did not have Minds, and the Great Dragon replied:
"Take heed what you say, for I am the Mind--the Eternal Teacher. I am the Father
of the Word--the Redeemer of all men--and in the nature of the wise the
Word takes flesh. By means of the Word, the world is saved. I, Thought (Thoth)--the Father of the Word, the Mind--come only unto men that are holy and
good, pure and merciful, and that live piously and religiously, and my presence
is an inspiration and a help to them, for when I come they immediately know all
things and adore the Universal Father. Before such wise and philosophic ones
die, they learn to renounce their senses, knowing that these are the enemies of
their immortal souls.
"I will not permit the evil senses to control the bodies of those who love
me, nor will I allow evil emotions and evil thoughts to enter them. I become as
a porter or doorkeeper, and shut out evil, protecting the wise from their own
lower nature. But to the wicked, the envious and the covetous, I come not, for
such cannot understand the mysteries of Mind; therefore, I am unwelcome.
I leave them to the avenging demon that they are making in their own souls, for
evil each day increases itself and torments man more sharply, and each evil deed
adds to the evil deeds that are gone before until finally evil destroys itself.
The punishment of desire is the agony of unfulfillment."
Hermes bowed his head in thankfulness to the Great Dragon who had taught him
so much, and begged to hear more concerning the ultimate of the human soul. So
Poimandres resumed: "At death the material body of man is returned to the
elements from which it came, and the invisible divine man ascends to the source
from whence he came, namely the Eighth Sphere. The evil passes to the
dwelling place of the demon, and the senses, feelings, desires, and body
passions return to their source, namely the Seven Governors, whose natures in
the lower man destroy but in the invisible spiritual man give life.
"After the lower nature has returned to the brutishness, the higher struggles
again to regain its spiritual estate. It ascends the seven Rings upon which sit
the Seven Governors and returns to each their lower powers in this manner: Upon
the first ring sits the Moon, and to it is returned the ability to increase and
diminish. Upon the second ring sits Mercury, and to it are returned
machinations, deceit, and craftiness. Upon the third ring sits Venus, and to it
are returned the lusts and passions. Upon the fourth ring sits the Sun, and to
this Lord are returned ambitions. Upon the fifth ring sits Mars, and to it are
returned rashness and profane boldness. Upon the sixth ring sits Jupiter, and to
it are returned the sense of accumulation and riches. And upon the seventh ring
sits Saturn, at the Gate of Chaos, and to it are returned falsehood and evil
plotting.
"Then, being naked of all the accumulations of the seven Rings, the soul
comes to the Eighth Sphere, namely, the ring of the fixed stars. Here, freed of
all illusion, it dwells in the Light and sings praises to the Father in a voice
which only the pure of spirit may understand. Behold, O Hermes, there is a great
mystery in the Eighth Sphere, for the Milky Way is the seed-ground of souls, and
from it they drop into the Rings, and to the Milky Way they return again from
the wheels of Saturn. But some cannot climb the seven-runged ladder of the
Rings. So they wander in darkness below and are swept into eternity with the
illusion of sense and earthiness.
"The path to immortality is hard, and only a few find it. The rest await the
Great Day when the wheels of the universe shall be stopped and the immortal
sparks shall escape from the sheaths of substance. Woe unto those who wait, for
they must return again, unconscious and unknowing, to the seed-ground of stars,
and await a new beginning. Those who are saved by the light of the mystery which
I have revealed unto you, O Hermes, and which I now bid you to establish among
men, shall return again to the Father who dwelleth in the White Light, and shall
deliver themselves up to the Light and shall be absorbed into the Light, and in
the Light they shall become Powers in God. This is the Way of Good and is
revealed only to them that have wisdom.
"Blessed art thou, O Son of Light, to whom of all men, I, Poimandres, the
Light of the World, have revealed myself. I order you to go forth, to become as
a guide to those who wander in darkness, that all men within whom dwells the
spirit of My Mind (The Universal Mind) may be saved by My Mind in you,
which shall call forth My Mind in them. Establish My Mysteries and they shall
not fail from the earth, for I am the Mind of the Mysteries and until Mind fails
(which is never) my Mysteries cannot fail." With these parting words,
Poimandres, radiant with celestial light, vanished, mingling with the powers of
the heavens. Raising his eyes unto the heavens, Hermes blessed the Father of All
Things and consecrated his life to the service of the Great Light.
Thus preached Hermes: "O people of the earth, men born and made of the
elements, but with the spirit of the Divine Man within you, rise from your sleep
of ignorance! Be sober and thoughtful. Realize that your home is not in the
earth but in the Light. Why have you delivered yourselves over unto death,
having power to partake of immortality? Repent, and change your minds.
Depart from the dark light and forsake corruption forever. Prepare yourselves to
climb through the Seven Rings and to blend your souls with the eternal
Light."
Some who heard mocked and scoffed and went their way, delivering themselves
to the Second Death from which there is no salvation. But others, casting
themselves before the feet of Hermes, besought him to teach them the Way of
Life. He lifted them gently, receiving no approbation for himself, and staff in
hand, went forth teaching and guiding mankind, and showing them how they might
be saved. In the worlds of men, Hermes sowed the seeds of wisdom and nourished
the seeds with the Immortal Waters. And at last came the evening of his life,
and as the brightness of the light of earth was beginning to go down, Hermes
commanded his disciples to preserve his doctrines inviolate throughout all ages.
The Vision of Poimandres he committed to writing that all men desiring
immortality might therein find the way.
In concluding his exposition of the Vision, Hermes wrote: "The sleep
of the body is the sober watchfulness of the Mind and the shutting of my eyes
reveals the true Light. My silence is filled with budding life and hope, and is
full of good. My words are the blossoms of fruit of the tree of my soul. For
this is the faithful account of what I received from my true Mind, that is
Poimandres, the Great Dragon, the Lord of the Word, through whom I became
inspired by God with the Truth. Since that day my Mind has been ever with me and
in my own soul it hath given birth to the Word: the Word is Reason, and Reason
hath redeemed me. For which cause, with all my soul and all my strength, I give
praise and blessing unto God the Father, the Life and the Light, and the Eternal
Good.
"Holy is God, the Father of all things, the One who is before the First
Beginning.
"Holy is God, whose will is performed and accomplished by His own Powers
which He hath given birth to out of Himself.
"Holy is God, who has determined that He shall be known, and who is known by
His own to whom He reveals Himself.
"Holy art Thou, who by Thy Word (Reason) hast established all things.
"Holy art Thou, of whom all Nature is the image.
"Holy art Thou, whom the inferior nature has not formed.
"Holy art Thou, who art stronger than all powers.
"Holy art Thou, who art greater than all excellency.
"Holy art Thou, who art better than all praise.
"Accept these reasonable sacrifices from a pure soul and a heart stretched
out unto Thee.
"O Thou Unspeakable, Unutterable, to be praised with silence!
"I beseech Thee to look mercifully upon me, that I may not err from the
knowledge of Thee and that I may enlighten those that are in ignorance, my
brothers and Thy sons.
"Therefore I believe Thee and bear witness unto Thee, and depart in peace and
in trustfulness into Thy Light and Life.
"Blessed art Thou, O Father! The man Thou hast fashioned would be sanctified
with Thee as Thou hast given him power to sanctify others with Thy Word and Thy
Truth."
The Vision of Hermes, like nearly all of the Hermetic writings, is an
allegorical exposition of great philosophic and mystic truths, and its hidden
meaning may be comprehended only by those who have been "raised" into the
presence of the True Mind. . . . . Go to: Thoth Hermes Index