Library / Hermeticism / Corpus Hermeticum 1: Poimandres ← Section 1c Section 1e → Thou seem'st, He said, O thou, not to have given heed to what thou heardest.
Did I not bid thee think?
Yea do I think, and I remember, and therefore give Thee thanks.
If thou didst think [thereon], [said He], tell me: Why do they merit death who are in Death?
It is because the gloomy Darkness is the root and base of the material frame; from it came the Moist Nature; from this the body in the sense-world was composed; and from this [body] Death doth the Water drain.
21.
Right was thy thought, O thou!
But how doth "he who knows himself, go unto Him", as God's Word (Logos) hath declared?
And I reply: the Father of the universals doth consist of Light and Life, from Him Man was born.
Thou sayest well, [thus] speaking.
Light and Life is Father-God, and from Him Man was born.
If then thou learnest that thou art thyself of Life and Light, and that thou [happen'st] to be out of them, thou shalt return again to Life.
Thus did Man-Shepherd speak.
But tell me further, Mind of me, I cried, how shall I come to Life again...for God doth say: "The man who hath Mind in him, let him learn to know that he himself [is deathless]." 22.
Have not all men then Mind?
Thou sayest well, O thou, thus speaking.
I, Mind, myself am present with holy men and good, the pure and merciful, men who live piously.
[To such] my presence doth become an aid, and straightway they gain gnosis of all things, and win the Father's love by their pure lives, and give Him thanks, invoking on Him blessings, and chanting hymns, intent on Him with ardent love.
And ere they give up the body unto its proper death, they turn them with disgust from its sensations, from knowledge of what things they operate.
Nay, it is I, the Mind, that will not let the operations which befall the body, work to their [natural] end.
For being door-keeper I'll close up [all] the entrances, and cut the mental actions off which base and evil energies induce.
23.
But to the Mind-less ones, the wicked and depraved, the envious and covetous, and those who mured do and love impiety, I am far off, yielding my place to the Avenging Daimon, who sharpening the fire, tormenteth him and addeth fire to fire upon him, and rusheth upon him through his senses, thus rendering him readier for transgressions of the law, so that he meets with greater torment; nor doth he ever cease to have desire for appetites inordinate, insatiately striving in the dark.
24.
Well hast thou taught me all, as I desired, O Mind.
And now, pray, tell me further of the nature of the Way Above as now it is [for me].
To this Man-Shepherd said: When the material body is to be dissolved, first thou surrenderest the body by itself unto the work of change, and thus the form thou hadst doth vanish, and thou surrenderest thy way of life, void of its energy, unto the Daimon.
The body's senses next pass back into their sources, becoming separate, and resurrect as energies; and passion and desire withdraw unto that nature which is void of reason.
25.
And thus it is that man doth speed his way thereafter upwards through the Harmony.
§ Ask Guru about this passage → Themes
Anthropomorphismtheology Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.
God is referred to as Father and Man is said to be born from Him.
All passages → Cosmic Dualismtheology Ontological opposition between two primal principles (light/darkness, truth/lie, spirit/matter) as the fundamental structure of reality.
[auto] The passage establishes a fundamental opposition between Light/Life and Darkness/Death/Matter.
All passages → Demiurgecosmology A secondary creator deity—often ignorant or malevolent—responsible for fashioning the material world, distinct from the supreme transcendent God.
The 'gloomy Darkness' is described as the root of the material frame, hinting at a secondary principle distinct from the Father-God.
All passages → Divine Lighttheology The uncreated luminous quality of the divine, sometimes experienced directly in mystical states; illumination as revelation.
[auto] The Father-God is explicitly defined as consisting of Light and Life.
All passages → Divine Sparkscosmology Fragments of divine light or spirit trapped inside material bodies, awaiting liberation and return to their source.
[auto] Man is described as being born from the Father-God who consists of Light and Life, implying a divine origin within humanity.
All passages → Emanation Hierarchycosmology A chain of divine beings or principles flowing downward from a single transcendent source (the One or the Father), each level less perfect than the one above.
[auto] The text describes a flow from Father-God (Light/Life) to Man, and from Darkness to Moist Nature to Body.
All passages → Gnosis Direct Knowledgesoteriology Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.
[auto] Salvation is explicitly tied to learning to know oneself rather than faith or ritual.
All passages → Hidden Sayingssoteriology Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.
The dialogue format suggests esoteric instruction reserved for those who can think and remember.
All passages → Inner Lightanthropology The divine spark or luminous quality residing within the human person, potentially recognisable through introspection.
[auto] Since Man is born from Light and Life, this divine quality resides within the human person.
All passages → Kenomacosmology The void or emptiness outside the pleroma; the realm of matter, ignorance, and deficiency.
The gloomy Darkness is described as the root of the material frame and deficiency, contrasting with the divine Light.
All passages → Kingdom Withinanthropology The claim that the divine realm is present inside the individual, accessible without external mediation.
[auto] Reaching the Good is achieved through internal self-knowledge rather than external action.
All passages → Living Godtheology The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.
God is characterized by Life and Light rather than abstract static principles.
All passages → Logoscosmology The divine reason, word, or ordering principle through which the universe was created; mediates between the transcendent God and the material world.
[auto] The passage explicitly references God's Word (Logos) as declaring how one goes unto Him.
All passages → Monadcosmology The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.
The Father of the universals is presented as a singular source from which Man was born.
All passages → Mystical Unionsoteriology The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity.
[auto] The goal is described as reaching the Good and going unto Him through self-knowledge.
All passages → Pneumatic Electsoteriology A spiritual elite who possess the divine spark and are predestined for salvation, contrasted with psychic (faithful) and hylic (material) persons.
[auto] A distinction is drawn between those who know themselves and the ignorant who remain in Darkness.
All passages → Return To Sourcesoteriology The soul's journey back to its divine origin, reversing the fall into matter through stages of purification or illumination.
[auto] The text asks how he who knows himself goes unto Him, implying a journey back to the divine origin.
All passages → Self Examinationpraxis Daily review of thought and action as spiritual practice.
[auto] Knowing oneself is presented as the primary method for reaching the Good.
All passages → Self Knowledgesoteriology The recognition of one's own true divine nature as the primary path to liberation; 'know thyself' as soteriology.
[auto] The central theme is that learning to know oneself leads to the Good and deathlessness.
All passages → Unity Of Beingtheology The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.
The connection between Man and Father-God implies an underlying ontological unity.
All passages → Related passages · 15 of 26 parallels
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Shared concept: Logos — The divine reason, word, or ordering principle through which the universe was created; mediates between the transcendent God and the material world. (derived)
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The trend of man's evolutionary growth is ever toward his own essent…”
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Shared concept: Return To Source — The soul's journey back to its divine origin, reversing the fall into matter through stages of purification or illumination. (derived)
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Shared concept: Gnosis Direct Knowledge — Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone. (derived)
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This fifth stage of evolution, called exoterically "Creation," may be viewed in both the Primary and Secondary periods, one as the Spiritual and C…”
Shared concept: Demiurge — A secondary creator deity—often ignorant or malevolent—responsible for fashioning the material world, distinct from the supreme transcendent God. (derived)
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Shared concept: Divine Sparks — Fragments of divine light or spirit trapped inside material bodies, awaiting liberation and return to their source. (derived)
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“But he whose initiation is recent, and who has been the spectator of many glories in the other world, is amazed when he sees any one having a godlike face or form, which is the expression of divine beauty; and at first a shudder runs throug…”
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Shared concept: Self Examination — Daily review of thought and action as spiritual practice. (derived)
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Shared concept: Self Examination — Daily review of thought and action as spiritual practice. (derived)
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Shared concept: Self Examination — Daily review of thought and action as spiritual practice. (derived)
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Shared concept: Self Examination — Daily review of thought and action as spiritual practice. (derived)
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Shared concept: Self Examination — Daily review of thought and action as spiritual practice. (derived)
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“9, 900) 3.
Le Papyrus de Neb-Qued , ed.
Devéria, Paris, 1872.
M.
Pierret, its translator, says, "Il appartient la plus ancienne époque des exemplaires sur papyrus." 4 Papyrus Égyptien Funéraire Hiéroglyphique (t.
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Shared concept: Self Examination — Daily review of thought and action as spiritual practice. (derived)
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