Eternal Hermes by Antoine Faivre

Author:Antoine Faivre
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Phanes Press

C. The Liber de Causis and other Scenarios

Apollonius and Hermes return to the scene together in the Book of Causes of Apollonius the Wise, otherwise called the Book of the Secrets of Creation. Written at the latest in 750, and at the earliest in the sixth century, it must have been known to Geber. The copy of 1266 contains a third Arabic version of the Emerald Tablet. Another copy, the oldest, dates from 934. Its introductory scenario closely resembles that of Crates, but now transported onto Egyptian soil. Here is an extract from it, in which the speaker is Apollonius:

I will now make known to you my ancestry and my origins. In my native land I was an orphan, and lived in a town called Tuwana. I was destitute. Now there was there a stone statue upon a golden column, on which was written: “Behold! I am Hermes, he who is threefold in Wisdom. I once placed all these marvelous signs openly before all eyes; but now I have veiled them by my Wisdom, so that none should attain them unless he be a sage like myself.” On the breast of the statue, one could read in the original language (Syriac): “Let him who would learn and know the secrets of creation and of nature look beneath my foot.” But none could understand what this signified: they would look under his foot, and find nothing there.

I was still young and timid; but when my spiritual nature became stronger, I read what was written on the breast of the statue, reflected on what this might mean, and started to dig beneath the plinth. And behold, I came into an underground chamber, so dark that not a single ray of sunlight could penetrate it, though the sun was right overhead, and in which winds arose and blew without ceasing…. Because of the darkness I could go no further, and no torch could bum in these winds. I was impotent and gnawed by chagrin; I could not sleep while my heart was so full of care and worry about the difficulties into which I had brought myself.

It was then that an old man appeared, resembling myself in build and appearance. He said to me “O Balinus! Rise, and enter into this chamber to gain knowledge of the secrets of creation, so as to obtain a representation of nature!” I replied: “I can see nothing in that darkness, and the winds that blow there put out every flame.” Then he said to me: “0 Balinus! Put your light into a glass vessel…” I said: “Who are you that allows me to profit from your favor?” He said to me: “I am your own being, perfect and subtle.” Then I awoke full of joy, set a light inside a glass just as my spiritual being had told me to, and entered the chamber. And there I found an ancient man seated on a golden throne, holding in his hand an emerald tablet on which was written: “This is the secret of the world and the knowledge of nature.

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