Corpus Hermeticum 1: Poimandres · 5 of 6 · tr. G.R.S. Mead
Section 1e
To the first zone he gives the Energy of Growth and Waning; unto the second [zone], Device of Evils [now] de-energized; unto the third, the Guile of the Desires de-energized; unto the fourth, his Domineering Arrogance, [also] de-energized; unto the fifth, unholy Daring and the Rashness of Audacity, de-energized; unto the sixth, Striving for Wealth by evil means, deprived of its aggrandizement; and to the seventh zone, Ensnaring Falsehood, de-energized.
26.
And then, with all the energisings of the harmony stript from him, clothed in his proper Power, he cometh to that Nature which belongs unto the Eighth, and there with those-that-are hymneth the Father.
They who are there welcome his coming there with joy; and he, made like to them that sojourn there, doth further hear the Powers who are above the Nature that belongs unto the Eighth, singing their songs of praise to God in language of their own.
And then they, in a band, go to the Father home; of their own selves they make surrender of themselves to Powers, and [thus] becoming Powers they are in God.
This the good end for those who have gained Gnosis - to be made one with God.
Why shouldst thou then delay?
Must it not be, since thou hast all received, that thou shouldst to the worthy point the way, in order that through thee the race of mortal kind may by [thy] God be saved?
27.
This when He'd said, Man-Shepherd mingled with the Powers.
But I, with thanks and belssings unto the Father of the universal [Powers], was freed, full of the power he had poured into me, and full of what He'd taught me of the nature of the All and of the loftiest Vision.
And I began to preach unto men the Beauty of Devotion and of Gnosis: O ye people, earth-born folk, ye who have given yourselves to drunkenness and sleep and ignorance of God, be sober now, cease from your surfeit, cease to be glamoured by irrational sleep!
28.
And when they heard, they came with one accord.
Whereon I say: Ye earth-born folk, why have ye given yourselves up to Death, while yet ye have the power of sharing Deathlessness?
Repent, O ye, who walk with Error arm in arm and make of Ignorance the sharer of your board; get ye out from the light of Darkness, and take your part in Deathlessness, forsake Destruction!
29.
And some of them with jests upon their lips departed [from me], abandoning themselves unto the Way of Death; others entreated to be taught, casting themselves before my feet.
But I made them arise, and I became a leader of the Race towards home, teaching the words (logoi), how and in what way they shall be saved.
I sowed in them the words (logoi) of wisdom; of Deathless Water were they given to drink.
And when even was come and all sun's beams began to set, I bade them all give thanks to God.
And when they had brought to an end the giving of their thanks, each man returned to his own resting place.
30.
But I recorded in my heart Man-Shepherd's benefaction, and with my every hope fulfilled more than rejoiced.
For body's sleep became the soul's awakening, and closing of the eyes - true vision, pregnant with Good my silence, and the utterance of my word (logos) begetting of good things.
Malevolent planetary rulers or demiurgic powers that govern the material world and obstruct the soul's ascent.
[auto] The seven zones are associated with specific vices and evils (Device of Evils, Guile, Arrogance) that the soul must leave behind, corresponding to malevolent planetary rulers.
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 outlines a structured cosmology with seven zones, an Eighth Nature, and Powers above it.
Gurdjieff and Ouspensky's claim that ordinary human beings live in a state of waking sleep, reacting mechanically without unified will or consciousness, and that the spiritual path begins with recognising this condition.
People are described as given to drunkenness, sleep, and ignorance of God.
The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy.
The soul becomes Powers and is in God, indicating transformation into the divine nature.