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Corpus Hermeticum 11: The Hymn · 1 of 5 · tr. G.R.S. Mead

Section 1a

Mind Unto Hermes <This complex text is written as a revelation from the divine Mind - the "Man-Shepherd" of CH I - to Hermes, concerning the nature of God and the universe. Difficult enough in its own right, it has been made rather more so by some of Mead's most opaque prose. I have tried to insert clarifications where these are most needed. <Some notes on terminology may also be useful. The term Aeon here, as in many of the so-called "Gnostic" writings, refers to the timeless and spaceless realm of ideal being. The word cosmos means both "order" and "beauty" - the same root appears in the word "cosmetic". Additionally, the words genesis and becoming in the translation are the same word in the Greek original. 1. Mind: Master this sermon (logos), then, Thrice-greatest Hermes, and bear in mind the spoken words; and as it hath come unto Me to speak, I will no more delay. Hermes: As many men say many things, and these diverse, about the All and Good, I have not learned the truth. Make it, then, clear to me, O Master mine! For I can trust the explanation of these things, which comes from Thee alone. 2. Mind: Hear [then], My son, how standeth God and All. God; Aeon; Cosmos; Time; Becoming. God maketh Aeon; Aeon, Cosmos; Cosmos, Time; and Time, Becoming <or Genesis>. The Good - the Beautiful, Wisdom, Blessedness - is <the> essence, as it were, of God; of Aeon, <the essence is> Sameness; of Cosmos, Order; of Time, Change; and of Becoming, Life and Death. The energies of God are Mind and Soul; of Aeon, lastingness and deathlessness; of Cosmos, restoration and the opposite thereof; of Time, increase and decrease; and of Becoming, quality. Aeon is, then, in God; Cosmos, in Aeon; in Cosmos; Time; in Time, Becoming. Aeon stands firm round God; Cosmos is moved in Aeon; Time hath its limits <or is accomplished> in the Cosmos; Becoming doth become in Time. 3. The source, therfore, of all is God; their essence, Aeon; their matter, Cosmos. God's power is Aeon; Aeon's work is Cosmos - which never hath become, yet ever doth become by Aeon. Therefore will Cosmos never be destroyed, for Aeon's indestructible; nor doth a whit of things in Cosmos perish, for Cosmos is enwrapped by Aeon round on every side. Hermes: But God's Wisdom - what is that? Mind: The Good and Beautiful, and Blessedness, and Virtue's all, and Aeon. Aeon, then, ordereth [Cosmos], imparting deathlessness and lastingness to matter. 4. For its beginning doth depend on Aeon, as Aeon doth on God. Now Genesis <or Becoming> and Time, in Heaven and upon the Earth, are of two natures. In Heaven they are unchangeable and indestructible, but on the Earth they're subject unto change and to destruction. Further, the Aeon's soul is God; the Cosmos' soul is Aeon; the Earth's soul, Heaven. And God <is> in Mind; and Mind, in Soul; and Soul, in Matter; and all of them through Aeon. But all this Body, in which are all the bodies, is full of Soul; and Soul is full of Mind, and Mind of God.
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Themes
Aeonscosmology

Divine archetypal beings or eternal attributes dwelling within the Pleroma, often arranged in male-female syzygies.

The translator's notes define the term 'Aeon' as a timeless realm of ideal being, referencing its usage in Gnostic writings.

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Anthropomorphismtheology

Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.

The divine Mind addresses Hermes as 'My son' and is addressed as 'Master', attributing human relational roles to the divine.

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Correspondencecosmology

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 structure implies reflection between levels, such as the Cosmos' soul being Aeon and Aeon's soul being God.

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Cosmic Dualismtheology

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

The text distinguishes between Heaven (unchangeable/indestructible) and Earth (subject to change/destruction) as two natures of Genesis and Time.

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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 passage explicitly outlines a descending chain of being: God makes Aeon, Aeon makes Cosmos, Cosmos makes Time, and Time makes Becoming.

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Gnosis Direct Knowledgesoteriology

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

Hermes requests truth and knowledge from Mind, framing the text as a revelation of divine reality rather than faith-based instruction.

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Hidden Sayingssoteriology

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

The passage contrasts the divine sermon with the many things said by ordinary men, implying exclusive esoteric instruction.

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Living Godtheology

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

The divine Mind speaks in the first person ('I will no more delay'), presenting itself as an active, personal reality.

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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 text explicitly identifies the divine speech as a 'sermon (logos)' to be mastered by Hermes.

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Meditationpraxis

Disciplined inward attention — sitting, focused, or open-awareness practice — as a stand-alone term that umbrellas active_contemplation, inner_silence, and dhyana-style sitting.

Hermes is instructed to 'Master this sermon... and bear in mind the spoken words', implying contemplative practice.

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Paradox As Teachingethics

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

The passage presents the paradox that Cosmos 'never hath become, yet ever doth become' to describe its ontological status.

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