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

Section 1e

And, thus, think from thyself, and bid thy soul go unto any land, and there more quickly than thy bidding will it be. And bid it journey oceanwards; and there, again, immediately 'twill be, not as if passing on from place to place, but as if being there. And bid it also mount to heaven; and it will need no wings, not will aught hinder it, nor fire of sun, nor auther, nor vortex-swirl, nor bodies of the other stars; but, cutting through them all, it will soar up to the last Body [of them all]. And shouldst thou will to break through this as well, and contemplate what is beyond - if there be aught beyond the Cosmos; it is permitted thee. 20. Behold what power, what swiftness, thou dost have! And canst thou do all of these things, and God not [do them]? Then, in this way know God; as having all things in Himself as thoughts, the whole Cosmos itself. If, then, thou dost not make thyself like unto God, thou canst not know Him. For like is knowable unto like [alone]. Make, [then,] thyself to grow to the same stature as the Greatness which transcends all measure; leap forth from every body; transcend all time; become Eternity <literally, Aeon>; and [thus] shalt thou know God. Conceiving nothing is impossible unto thyself, think thyself deathless and able to know all - all arts, all sciences, the way of every life. Become more lofty than all height, and lower than all depth. Collect into thyself all senses of [all] creatures - of fire, [and] water, dry and moist. Think that thou art at the same time in every place - in earth, in sea, in sky; not yet begotten, in the womb, young, old, [and] dead, in after-death conditions. And if thou knowest all these things at once - times, places, doings, qualities, and quantities; thou canst know God. 21. But if thou lockest up thy soul within thy body, and dost debase it, saying: I nothing know; I nothing can; I fear the sea; I cannot scale the sky; I know not who I was, who I shall be - what is there [then] between [thy] God and thee? For thou canst know naught of things beautiful and good so long as thou dost love thy body and art bad. The greatest bad there is, is not to know God's Good; but to be able to know [Good], and will, and hope, is a Straight Way, the Good's own [Path], both leading there and easy. If thou but settest thy foot thereon, 'twill meet thee everywhere, 'twill everywhere be seen, both where and when thou dost expect it not - waking, sleeping, sailing, journeying, by night, by day, speaking, [and] saying naught. For there is naught that is not image of the Good. 22. Hermes: Is God unseen? Mind: Hush! Who is more manifest than He? For this one reason hath He made all things, that through them all thou mayest see Him. This is the Good of God, this [is] His Virtue - that He may be manifest through all. For naught's unseen, even of things that are without a body. Mind sees itself in thinking, God in making. So far these things have been made manifest to thee, Thrice-greatest one! Reflect on all the rest in the same way with thyself, and thou shalt not be led astray.
Themes
◆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 instruction to reflect 'in the same way' establishes a structural parallel between divine action (God in making) and human cognition (Mind in thinking).

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◆Hidden Sayingssoteriology

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

The phrase 'So far these things have been made manifest... Reflect on all the rest' suggests a graded revelation of esoteric truths.

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◆Inner Lightanthropology

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

The statement 'Mind sees itself in thinking' implies an internal luminous capacity for self-recognition and truth.

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◆Living Godtheology

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

Describing God as active 'in making' portrays the divine as a dynamic and present reality rather than an abstract principle.

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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.

The practice of reflecting 'with thyself' constitutes a disciplined inward attention characteristic of meditation.

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◆Microcosm Macrocosmcosmology

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.

The text draws a direct analogy between the human Mind seeing itself and God seeing Himself in making, positioning the human intellect as a mirror of the divine.

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◆Monadcosmology

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

Refers to 'Him who doth contain them all' as a single comprehensive source.

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◇Active Contemplationpraxis

A form of meditation that uses imagery, imagination, or symbolic thought rather than purely empty stillness.

[auto] The reader is instructed to actively think and bid their soul to journey mentally to various places.

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◇Body As Obstacleanthropology

The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return.

[auto] The bodiless is contrasted with the manifest, and the soul cuts through bodies to reach higher realms.

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◇Gnosis Direct Knowledgesoteriology

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

[auto] Salvation or understanding is achieved through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature via introspection.

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◇Kingdom Withinanthropology

The claim that the divine realm is present inside the individual, accessible without external mediation.

[auto] The divine power and cosmos are reflected within the human soul, accessible through introspection.

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◇Mystical Unionsoteriology

The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity.

[auto] Knowing God as having all things in Himself implies a union through knowledge.

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◇Paradox As Teachingethics

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

[auto] The claim that 'naught's unseen, even of things that are without a body' uses a paradoxical statement to challenge ordinary perceptions of visibility.

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◇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 passage implies the soul's capacity to return beyond the Cosmos to the divine source.

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◇Self Knowledgesoteriology

The recognition of one's own true divine nature as the primary path to liberation; 'know thyself' as soteriology.

[auto] The passage culminates in the instruction to know God by examining one's own soul's power and swiftness.

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◇Spiritual Ascentpraxis

A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source.

[auto] The text describes the soul's ability to mount to heaven and break through the cosmos to contemplate what is beyond.

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◇Unity Of Beingtheology

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

[auto] God is described as containing all things within Himself as thoughts, including the whole Cosmos.

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Related passages · 9 parallels
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 4, Section 1o
“And herein the Divine Yearning showeth especially its beginningless and endless nature, revolving in a perpetual circle for the Good, from the Good, in the Good, and to the Good, with unerring revolution, never varying its centre or directi…”
Both passages emphasize the transcendence of the divine and the human soul's potential to connect with the divine through contemplation and yearning. They share a mystical focus on the unity and omnipresence of the divine, as well as the idea that the soul can transcend physical limitations to achieve this connection.
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Mystical Theology|Chapter Ia
“Wheat is the Divine Gloom. T rinty, which exceedeth all Being, Deity, and Goodness! 514 514 Lit. “Super-Essential, Supra-Divine, Super-Excellent.” Thou that instructeth Christians in Thy heavenly wisdom! Guide us to that topmost height…”
Both passages emphasize the transcendence of the divine and the need for the soul or mind to transcend physical limitations to know God. They also stress the importance of mystical contemplation and the limitations of human understanding.
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Mystical Theology|Chapter Ib
“They are useful and necessary up to a point, but the Truth lies beyond them and is to be apprehended to a supernatural manner by what later writers call “infused” contemplation. The sum of the whole matter is that God is incomprehensible.…”
Both passages emphasize the transcendence of the divine and the need for the individual to transcend their physical and mental limitations to comprehend the divine. They also share the idea that the divine is beyond human understanding and can only be known through a process of purification and union.
◆gnosticism|Gospel of Thomas|Logion 5
“Jesus said, "Recognize what is in your sight, and that which is hidden from you will become plain to you . For there is nothing hidden which will not become manifest."…”
Both passages emphasize the idea that understanding what is visible or apparent will lead to the revelation of hidden or deeper truths. They share a common theme of inner knowledge and manifestation.
◆greek_mystery|Orphic Hymns|Hymn X (part 2)
“For the World is one, and only-begotten. Opusc. Mythol. p. 203. 131:17 Ver. 17] The sportive nymphs . This is because Pan rejoices in the exhalations produced from humid substances; without which the world cannot subsist. Phurnutus…”
Both passages emphasize the omnipresent and all-encompassing nature of the divine. The Corpus Hermeticum passage encourages the individual to transcend physical limitations to know God, while the Hymn to Pan describes Pan as the substance of the whole, encompassing all parts of the world.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 356
“Section 36 36. The Universe is immensely varied, the container of all the Reason-Principles and of infinite and diverse efficacies. In man, we are told, the eye has its power, and the bones have their varied powers, and so with each separat…”
Both passages explore the nature of the divine and the human soul's relationship to it. They emphasize the omnipresence and omnipotence of the divine, and the potential for the human soul to transcend physical limitations to understand the divine. However, they come from different mystical traditions, Hermeticism and Neoplatonism, respectively.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 360
“Section 40 40. But magic spells; how can their efficacy be explained? By the reigning sympathy and by the fact in Nature that there is an agreement of like forces and an opposition of unlike, and by the diversity of those multitudinous powe…”
Both passages explore the concept of the divine as an all-encompassing entity that permeates all aspects of existence. They also emphasize the idea that understanding the divine requires a transformation of the self, either through the soul's journey (Passage A) or through recognizing the interconnectedness of all living things (Passage B).
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 646
“Section 7 7. But if it is by becoming evil and inferior that the soul produces the animal nature, the making of ox or horse was not at the outset in its character; the reason-principle of the animal, and the animal itself, must lie outside…”
Both passages emphasize the transcendence and immanence of the divine, the unity of all existence, and the potential for human beings to attain a higher understanding or unity with the divine through contemplation and self-transcendence.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 710 (part 1)
“Section 6 6. In what sense, then, do we assert this Unity, and how is it to be adjusted to our mental processes? Its oneness must not be entitled to that of monad and point: for these the mind abstracts extension and numerical quantity an…”
Both passages emphasize the transcendence and omnipresence of the divine, and the idea that the soul can attain a direct experience of the divine through a process of transcendence and self-transformation. They also share a focus on the limitations of human language and reasoning in describing the divine.