Section 1b

Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.

The First God is described as 'bodiless,' using negation to define the divine nature.

The Hermetic axiom that the structure of the cosmos is reflected at every scale — 'as above, so below; as within, so without' — making each level a legible map of the others.

The relationship between Man and Cosmos implies that the structure of the larger whole is reflected in the human being.

Ontological opposition between two primal principles (light/darkness, truth/lie, spirit/matter) as the fundamental structure of reality.

The text distinguishes between 'bodiless' and 'body,' and between life that 'cannot die' and life 'subject to dissolution.'

A secondary creator deity—often ignorant or malevolent—responsible for fashioning the material world, distinct from the supreme transcendent God.

The Cosmos is identified as the 'second God' distinct from the supreme Father, functioning as a secondary creator or mediator.

Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity.

The 'Father's will' is cited as the cause for Man having mind, indicating divine ordering of affairs.

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 passage explicitly outlines a descending chain from the Father (First God) to the Cosmos (Second God) to Man (Third Life).

Augustinian and Plotinian doctrine that evil has no positive being of its own but is a lack, distortion, or absence of the good — denying ontological dualism while preserving moral seriousness.

The passage opens with 'Privation... of sense is brought about,' framing spiritual lack rather than positive substance.

Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.

Hermes instructs Tat to 'understand' and emphasizes 'conception' of the divine as the path to knowing what cannot die.

Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.

The instruction 'Hush, son! and understand' suggests esoteric teaching reserved for the initiated.

The divine spark or luminous quality residing within the human person, potentially recognisable through introspection.

Man is described as having 'mind' and 'conception of the first,' implying an internal capacity for divine knowledge.

The practice of stilling the mind and speech to open receptivity to divine knowledge or presence.

Hermes commands Tat to 'Hush,' indicating a need for quietude to receive knowledge.

The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.

God is described as having a 'will' and being the active 'constitution of all things,' rather than an abstract principle.

The divine reason, word, or ordering principle through which the universe was created; mediates between the transcendent God and the material world.

The 'Mind' and 'Good Mind' are described as the means by which Man conceives of the bodiless First God, acting as a mediating principle.

The human being as a small-scale image of the entire cosmos; the body, soul, and intellect mirroring the structure of the heavens and the divine — distinct from correspondence in that it makes the human the privileged mirror.

[auto] The text states that Man is made 'after the image of the Cosmos,' positioning the human as a reflection of the cosmic structure.

The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.

God is described as the singular 'source and limit and the constitution of all things,' indicating a unified first principle.

Numbers, proportions, and mathematical relationships as the underlying structure of divine reality.

The hierarchy is explicitly numbered as First (God), Second (Cosmos), and Third (Man).

Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight.

The statement that privation of sense is brought about 'not loss of bodies' presents a counter-intuitive teaching.

Division of the human being into three principles: spirit (pneuma), soul (psyche), and body/matter (hyle or soma).

The text distinguishes between 'sense,' 'bodies,' and 'mind' as distinct aspects of human existence.

The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.

The statement 'Cosmos is by God and in God' suggests an ontological unity between the creator and creation.