1.1. After I had long stood in inner doubt between the many diverse
and contrary opinions of both ancients and moderns regarding the road that
leads to life,’ and had asked myself in what way our inconstant and wavering
faith could in this life become certain regarding the conquest of felicity; and
whilst I had poured out many an anxious prayer to God, many a sigh from my
breast, and many a true tearfrom my eyes, at last the heavenly help did not for¬
sake me from him who stretched out a helping hand to the drowning Peter,4
who created the earth before all time, who by his sacrifice restored this world
when it was failing under the burden of sin, who as the Messenger of Great
Counsel illuminates our minds with true Light, who as the Prince of Peace*
conciliates man and God, whom we profess to be truly God and truly Man,6
and whom we expect as the Father and Judge of the Coming Age.
i.i.He that was Pimanderin the mind of Hermes,7 has deigned to take up res¬
idence within me as Christ Jesus, and has consoled me by illuminating my
mind with the light of Truth, being the everlasting Consoler.
1.3.And I thought you worthy, King Ferdinand, to come and share this hap¬
piness of mine: you who in these latter days of your life have left the reins of
government to your eldest son Alfonso and, intent on contemplation and pi¬
ous works, have devoted yourself to attaining peace of mind.
2.1. You seem to be at leisure now, and capable of examining the things that
I will speak with you about; nor do I wish to exclude Pontano* from our dis¬
cussion, if such be your pleasure. I will not exclude from my secrets someone
whom you have accepted as your principalsecretary.
2.2. pont. Do not mind me. If my presence causes problems I would rather
go. lazz.I beg you, please stay. You will add spice to our dinner, as the saying
goes. ferd. You are a very good speaker, Lazzarelli. By these splendid words
of yours you have made my mind so willing and so anxious to learn, and have
so much awakened my curiosity, that there is nothing I would rather hear.
lazz.I am not out to seek verbal elegance here, Your Majesty, like the ancient
Greeks, but to express the active power of the words, like the wise Egyptians*
It is the active power of a word and not its harmoniousness that will make us
realize by which road we can reach out to the good. If we were to speak of ora¬
tory here, it would rather be a matter for Pontano, who is the most eloquent of
men. feud.Well then, continue. Tell us what we have to do in order to obtain
that felicity of yours.
1.3. lazz.You know that, according to ancient tradition, a man who had asked
the Delphic Apollo what way will lead to happiness received the following an¬
swer: “If you get to know yourself,” and on the front of his temple was written
yvcbOi oEauTov, that is, “know thyself.’'10 ferd.So you are saying we should be¬
lieve the Delphic Apollo? lazz. Not in all things, but we do when he speaks
according to the truth; and he hassaid many true things in his oracles. If you
would have a look at Porphyry's Philosophy of the Oracles you would know
that for a fact.
2.4. But to leave the rest aside: I would like to call your attention to an ora¬
cle he gave about the blessed life, which I could quote according to the Greek
verse, but for the sake of brevity will express in Latin:
3.1 Very hard is the road, and closed by bronze-clad gates,
that openslife to us and gives us bliss;
nor is it easy to tell in words
or to make clear whereto it leads.
The first of those who began to pass on the tradition
were those who drank the clear waves of the Nile. From there
it passed to the Phoenicians, and also was dear to the Assyrians;
but most famously of all, the Hebrew nation knew and received it.11
And what could be more true than this oracle? ferd.It seems so. But tell me,
please, have these Egyptians tasted something of the truth? lazz. They not
only tasted it, they were practically gorged with it.
3.1.To leave the rest for what it is, what shall we say of Hermes? He explored
the whole way of wisdom, and left monuments of true wisdom to posterity,
that are scanty in words but immense in meaning;so I venture to suggest that
it was by way of him that wisdom reached the Hebrews.12 For Moses, who was
a Hebrew born in Egypt, transferred it to the Hebrews by way of his Penta¬
teuch, and we read in the Acts of the Apostles that he was most learned in all
the arts of the Egyptians.11
4.1. pont.You seem to be an hermetist, Lazzarelli; you give the man so much
praise that no one would be wiser, lazz. I am a Christian, Pontano, but I am
not ashamed to be an hermetist as well. If you would study his teachings, you
would find that they do not clash with Christian doctrine.
4.2.This is the man, my most learned of Poets, whom the poets of Antiquity
said was born of Maia:** the interpreter of the gods, the god of eloquence,1* the
inventor of the lyre,’* and perfect in many arts. All of ancient theology takes
its origin from him. For even if we do not speak of many of his works which
are now lost, what godlier books could we find than those we do possess, in
which he givessuch a consummate expression of God’s triune nature1’that he
who understands him rejoices to have found the truth?
4.3,That is why I would like tocall this dialogue of ourstheChalice ofChrist
as much asthe Mixing-Bowl of Hermes.*8 For everything that we shall here in¬
vestigate regarding true felicity, we will draw not only from the doctrine of
the Gospel, but also from the teachings of Hermes, pont.So please go on; I am
burning to hear what you have promised to tell us. I, being a Christian, hope
to become an hermetist as well, just like you. Perhaps Your Majesty could tell
us what you would like to hear first?
5.1.ferd.Let us come right to the point and leave aside what issuperfluous. So
tell me please, how would I be able to know myself? lazz.When he was asked
that question, Pimander answered Hermes:‘"Embrace me with your mind, and
I will teach you everything you wish to know?19
And Truth itself has said: “Without me you can do nothing*;20 and the
Prophet said: “In thy light shall we see the light?21 So first of all we will pray
to God, that he may shine his light upon us: the ancients ordained that there
should be prayer at the beginning of everything, and in his book on the Names of God Dionysius the Areopagite required this to be done especially in mat¬
ters of theology.12
5.3.Therefore,since we will be speaking about a mystery of theology we shall
first of all say grace. May I please have your attention? Let us open up our
minds whilst I invoke God with the following words.
You who sit above the cherubim,2’
who resides upon the highest throne,
and fairly judge everything;
You who live in heaven, I direct my
prayers now to you,
with humble wordsfrom a humble breast.
Invincible God of Hosts,14
Father of gods and men,ls
lend me a charitable ear.
Do not take away, I beseech you,
the rays of yoursplendor:
Thou King,Thou God of Israel,
descend and fill this house of yours
with your brightest light.
Make it a fitting dwelling-place,
drive away the darkness, and chase from me
the pests of Hell.
Make this image wholly clear:
as a vapor is drawn upwards by the sun
and the magnet attracts steel,26
so am I transported by your flames.
Join yourself to me, O Father:
soon I will be drawn deeply into you
and thereby be made one;
just as the moon is made to shine
with the rays she borrows from her brother,
I willshine by virtue of your countenance.27
Take away the Tree of Good and Evil,
call back the erring feet:
feed me from the Tree of Life,2*
that I may taste with you
the inviolable and eternal Good,
and never will be turned back,
yea,shall profoundly enjoy you;
you who alone are good, the Good
besides which there is no good.2’
Give that I may see today
your Light by your Light,10
and may reveal that Light to your children.
Ishudder at my lack of piety,
but your parental love is greater
and calls “Be not afraid, go on!
I am here to justify the sinners,
have mercy on the human race,
and take away the burden of itssins.
To know God is the only salvation,
it is the only justification,
the only road to the regions above.
See, you are my son,
in whom I am well pleased:11
be bold and judge everything.
See, I give you my words,
that will make a new heaven
and will renew the vastness of the sea.
The clouds will obey you,
fishes and birds will tremble
at your voice.
Plant your houses in the sky
and build the axes of the earth;11
Zion will call you its Lord,
the mountains of Sinai and Tabor,
and Jordan’s agile waters will
call you God’s offspring.”
Behold, my kingdom will come soon;
reign under the guidance of Christ
who willsanctify the saints that remain.
Do not let your destiny discourage you:
a steadfast faith will suffice,
bound together by wisdom."
Ishall rejoice in my Lord
who on the throne of David installed
hisservant as his King.
6.x.So, now we have prayed. Perhaps Your Majesty could repeat what in par¬
ticular you wanted me to speak about? ferd.That prayer of yours, that was so
rich with holy sayings, has so distracted my mind that I would first like to un¬
derstand many of the things you said in it. pont.The student of divine myster¬
ies mentioned things in this prayer that we should better look up in those Fas¬
ti of his, which he recently dedicated to Your Majesty.5* lazz.When we have
come to the end of the discussion that we are about to start, you will under¬
stand these things clearly, and many others as well. But now we are at the be¬
ginning, and to bring that back to mind I will repeat what I have just said. But
let me say this, to make clear that I do not take an oracle of Apollo as my point
of departure, but the teachings of Hermes.
6.2. Hermes says that God, having created all things in the beginning, ex¬
claimed: “Increase, grow up and multiply, all you seeds and works of my hands.
And you, who have been given an inheritance of mind, recognize your origin
and take heed of your immortal nature, and know that love of the body is the
cause of death.”55 And that matches what Moses says in the book of Genesis.56
These words of Hermes contain the tree of life, by which we live, aswell asthe
tree of the knowledge of good and evil,’7 which brings us death.” And as you
see, the main point of this precept is that we should know ourselves.”
«.3. FERDi I must turn away from the question that I asked you. To begin with
I would like you to tell me, if that is possible, what was the tree of life and what
was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. One finds hardly any explana¬
tion of these things in the expositors of the Holy Bible, or else an extremely in¬
volved one; and it really amazes me thatsomething on which the ruin of our en¬
tire race would seem to depend, and which is basic to all of Holy Writ, would
remain wholly unknown and undefined, pont.You might add, Your Majesty,
that that commandment has devolved from Adam (in whom we were in our be¬
ginning) upon us, his kin, so that the same penalty for disobedience threatens
us. For we cannot avoid what we do not know. We read in the Holy Book that
that tree was corporeal (like all other trees),3740 But it does not say what kind of
a tree it was, nor do we read that God withdrew the commandment after it was
broken.
7.1. lazz. I on the other hand have read a statement in Philo of Alexandria’s
first book On Agriculture,41 Pontano, which contradicts what you just referred
to, and says: “The cultivation of the plants of Paradise, too, is consistent with
what we have just said. For it is said:‘the Lord God planted Paradise eastward
of Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.'4’Therefore, to think
that these were vines and olive trees or apple trees or pomegranates, or trees
like that, issheer and incurable folly."4’
7.».This Philo was a Jew and very wise and, according to Saint Jerome in his
Lives of Illustrious Men, he lived around the time of the Apostles; he was a close
acquaintance of the prince of the Apostles, Peter, and of Mark the Evangelist.
He says that because of his deep speculative doctrine the Greeks had a saying:
d nXdrwv <piXwvi(£t q 6 OiXwv nXar(uvi(eu either Plato is following Philo,
or Philo isfollowing Plato,44 and his entire investigation on the foundations of
philosophy is based upon the oracles of Sacred Scripture.
7.3. But Your Majesty compels me to investigate things that the learned have
left undecided (because human knowledge tends to err when it touches upon
things divine),so I would like to make clearfrom the start that in these things,
as in others that may follow, I wish to assert only what the Church will ap¬
prove of. pont.You are absolutely right. For if Plato ordains us in his Laws not
to add innovations to any of the things that were received from the oracles of
Delphi, Dodona, or Ammon, or that have been asserted by an ancient tradi¬
tion based upon visions and divine inspirations,44 how much less then should
we innovate the things that have been handed down by the prophets and elect
of the true God, or even by Jesus himself, who is truly God and truly Man!
Again, if he admonishes us in the Timaeus that it would be impossible not to
trust these men whom he calls the sons of gods, even if their sayings are not
proved by necessary or even likely reasons,4* then should we not have even
more faith, without doubt or reservations, in the oracles of Jesus himself, the
true God, and in the precepts of the prophets and elect?
8.x. ferd. Dear Pontano, you might even add that it is only fair that we should
submit all our words and deeds to the Church, as God has given us so many
boons and blessings through her and her servants. But you, Lazzarelli, pro¬
ceed with what you intended to tell us. lazz.You will often have heard and,
no doubt, read in Holy Scripture that God created all things for the benefit of
man, but man for himself.*7 ferd.Indeed, I have heard that more than once,
and often read it.
8.2. lazz.So, as God has created man for himself, that he would follow God’s
will, he has given him an inheritance of divine intellect,*’ that through its
workings he should contemplate the divine,** and through that contemplation
draw the rays of its transcendentsplendor down unto himself, by way of which
he would inherit wisdom as well as eternal life.*0 And thisis what mystics alle¬
gorically call their “beloved,” and Moses calls the “tree of life.” ferd.It seems
to me that you say something essential here. What do you think, Pontano?
pont. Not just essential, but even pious and in accordance with the truth. No
wise person would ever disapprove of this. ferd.So you say that the tree of life
isthe contemplation and knowledge of things divine,Lazzarelli? lazz.That is
indeed my opinion, and I do not doubt it for a moment.
8.5. ferd.And what benefit did man get from that contemplation, apart from
happiness of mind? lazz.No small thing. For apart from the happiness of mind
that came from this wisdom, he had made himself into a pure and worthy tem¬
ple in which the spirit of God could dwell, and had the shining angels as his life’s companions. And by virtue of this fact he could, by God’s grace, eternal¬
ly have evaded the death that was his natural condition, and could have always
attained whatever he wanted. Many other good things were dependent upon it
as well, which can be found in the Holy Scriptures, ferd.These were tremen¬
dous things, dear Lazzarelli, and such as everybody should wish for. But be¬
cause we have lost them by tasting from the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil, as Holy Scripture says, I would next like to know what was this tree, so
full of doom.
9.1. If you understand what the tree of life is, you can easily understand by
yourself what was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil: when one of two
contrariesis explained, the other is explained as well. ferd.Yes, I think I can
more or less see it, but I expect you to make me understand it more clearly.
lazz.Well, listen then.
9.1.Just as the love, the contemplation, and the knowledge of things divine
is the tree of life, so the desire for and searching after imperfect and material
things may be called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. ferd.I do not
think that is sufficiently clear: I find it difficult to believe and wholly incredi¬
ble that God would have forbidden man to look at things He created Himself.
No artisan would prohibit his works from being seen, considered, and cher¬
ished; and I find it even harder to believe that because of that interest man
might have incurred death. What do you think, Pontano?
9.3. pont.Exactly my opinion, lazz. But the Creator God has not forbidden
man to look at his works, but to focus on them only, and to cherish them as the
ultimate goal.Thus the ancients called the heaven and the sun, the moon and
the stars, the elements and even some animals gods. But the Almighty wants
and ordains usto look intelligently at all these things, in such a way that by de¬
grees, as it were, our mind will finally form an image of him,” and the human
soul eventually comes to an eternal rest in the consideration of his divine be-
ing.” For, as the Apostle says, eversince the creation of the world, the invisible things of God, as well as his eternal power and divinity, are perceived by the
intellect by way of the things that are made.’*
9.4. And Hermes says: “So if you want to see God, look at the Sun, my son,
watch the course of the Moon, look at the order of the rest of the stars."” Dio¬
nysius spoke likewise in his book Of Divine Names, where he says: “Perhaps it
is correct to say that we do not know God from His own nature (for that is un¬
known and goes beyond all reason and sensation), but that we ascend, accord¬
ing to our best ability, from the orderly structuring of all things as it has been
created by him and shows certain images and likenesses of his divine exem¬
plars, thusforming a way and an order, to that which transcends all things."5456
That is the way the Supreme Artisan wants us to look at the things he has cre¬
ated, and thusthe correct ordershall be served;for, to recall ourstarting-point,
the Almighty created all thingsfor the benefit of man, and man for Himself.”
xo.l. ferd. Now I see what you mean, and completely approve of your asser¬
tion. But perhaps you could provide some testimonies of wise men (if you have
any), so that what you have said will stick more firmly in my mind. lazz.We
have many such testimonies, hidden in allegorical speech, and if I would be¬
gin to commemorate them all I would bore you to death, and the Sun would
go down while I would still be speaking. But I will name a few. ferd. You
should do it in such a way as is required by the time,the place, and the present
business of those who are dependent on us. If we wish to please God, who has
shown us the way, we must keep our eyes on our subjects like a shepherd on
his flock, that they may be governed in the best and most equitable way. But
I do not want you to omit anything that we have to know to reach true happi¬
ness:so we shall postpone everything for this business.5* 10.2. lazz.In Proverbs Solomon says this of divine Wisdom: “She is a tree of
life for those who lay hold upon her:and happy is he that retaineth her."” And
he calls her the wife of our youth, saying: "Let thy fountain be blessed: and
rejoice with the wife of thy youth."*60 For in the beginning man lived happi¬
ly enjoying eternal life, like a man conjoined with his woman. And the same
source said: “Say to wisdom, you are my sister’; and call understanding your
beloved: that she may keep you from the strange woman and the one who be¬
longs to another, the woman who flatters with her words."61
10.3. And elsewhere he says as follows: "That you may be delivered from the
woman who belongs to another, the stranger, who usessweet words, and who
has forsaken the guide of her youth, and has forgotten the covenant of her
God. For her house inclines unto death, and her paths unto the gates of hell.““
You can also read there that wisdom had built a house and had hewn out her
seven pillars, she had sacrificed animals, mingled her wine, prepared her ta¬
ble,6’ and said: “Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine I have mixed for
you. Leave behind childishness and live";64 and a bit further on:
xo.4. “A foolish and clamorous woman,full of illicit lures, and knowing noth¬
ing at all, sits at the door of her house on a seat in the high places of the city,
to call to passers-by on the road, and to those pursuing their way:‘let the little
ones come to me,' and she foolishly says:‘Stolen waters are sweeter, and bread
eaten in secret is more delicious;’ but then he6’ knows not that there are giants
down there, and that her guests are in the depths of hell"; 66 for he who goes in
to her descends to the depths, and he who turns away from hershall be saved.
10.5. So Solomon calls divine wisdom the tree of life and the wife of our
youth; the wisdom of the flesh and the contemplation of material things he
calls a foolish and clamorous woman,full of illicit lures, who knows nothing
at all, a foreign and adulterous whore. Therefore the Apostle exclaims and ad¬
monishes us: “If you live according to the flesh, you shall die: but if you mor¬
tify the deeds of the body by way of the spirit, you shall live.”67 And Hermes tells us: “Ihe love of the body is the cause of death"6* For he who clings to
the body, with ill-directed love, will err in the dark, and harvests the evils of
death 69 For that wisdom, which Solomon introduces as having built a house
and secured it with pillars, is the love and contemplation of things divine, and
the wife of our youth, which Moses thinks of as the tree of life. And therefore
she is said to have exclaimed: “Leave behind childishness and live.”70
io.6. The stupid and clamorous woman, who is allegorically introduced as
calling out in the high places of the city to everyone, is the concentration on
created and material things: the wisdom of the flesh, an adulterous and for¬
eign whore, of whom the Apostle has said “For the knowledge of the flesh is
foolishness with God,”71 and whom Moses calls the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil, which is why Adam was told of it "The day that you eat of it, you
shall surely die.”72 And he who turns towards her will go down to the depths
of hell.7’ And in the Psalms it is said: "For behold, they that stray from thee
shall perish; thou hast destroyed all of those that go a-whoring from thee.”74
xx.x. ferd.With the above you have established a sufficiently strong connec¬
tion between your opinion and the Scriptures, so that I am convinced and no
longer in doubt; but if possible I would like to understand what the stolen wa¬
ter is and what the bread eaten in secret, and why the stupid woman is said to
call out in front of her house to everyone, lazz.I would gladly go into this, but
we would be led too far from the subject.
xi.2.ferd.I would like you to do it anyway. We have all the time in the world,
and do not let the waiting crowd influence you: their business wil be dealt
with tomorrow.7’ After we have gone into this a little further we shall quick¬
ly return to the subject. So explain what I asked you. lazz.Solomon admon¬
ishes us in Proverbs that we should remain steadfast in divine wisdom, with
these words: “Drink the waters from your own cistern, and running waters
from your own well.”76 So when the knowledge of things divine is our wife and our well, going in to a strange one would give usstolen waters and bread
eaten in secret; for adultery is called theft, and the water of our cistern is the
understanding of divine wisdom.
11.3.The stolen waters represent the intelligence of carnal wisdom, as else¬
where both kinds are symbolized by wine. And the wine of divine wisdom is
the one the Messiah offers us, of which Zechariah speaks asfollows: “For what
is his goodness, and what is his beauty, if not the corn of the elect and the wine
that sprouts virgins?"77 For thereby made virgins and not defiled with women
we shall follow the Lamb wherever it goes, and we alone will be able to sing a
hymn, as issaid by John in Revelation.7* But the Apostle forbids us to taste of
somebody else’s wine: “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess.”7* For
just as we are made chaste and turned into virgins by the wine of wisdom (for
chaste is the procreation of those that seek the Lord),80 we are made adulterers
and fornicators by the wine of the stranger.
xi.4.So she who issaid to be calling out in front of her house wants to be re¬
puted wise even though she knows nothing at all, because she is striving after
the wisdom of the flesh. Therefore she cries out in public and holds disputa¬
tionsin the squares, armed with tricky sophisms; but he who speaks as a soph¬
ist is hateful, and will be thwarted in all things.8' He does not receive God’s
grace, for he is bereaved of all wisdom, as we read in Ecclesiasticus.81
11.5. But please let us notstray any further, Your Majesty, but rather return to
the subject. For I am burning, Sir, to reveal to you at the end of our discussion
the greatest of all secrets, which is the ultimate and perfect fruit of the tree of
life,so that there is nothing more a man could wish for in thislife.
xx.x.ferd.That would be great and I am quite eager for it. But not to leave un¬
finished the little that remains, would you please explain what those giants are who accompany the whore, and who are these women with whom the vir¬
ginsshould not defile themselves? lazz.Those who follow divine wisdom are
called pygmies, that is to say little ones. St.Jerome has interpreted this as fol¬
lows: “Pygmies known toGod or knowingGod,of whom the Savioursaid:‘Suf¬
fer the little ones to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven’*’.”*4
And in the Psalms it issaid: “The disclosure of thy words illuminates and gives
understanding to the little ones.”95 And by way of contrast those who cling to
material things are in a true sense giants.
X2.X. Therefore it is said in Proverbs: “The man who strays from the path of
understanding shall dwell in the congregation of the giants.”96Those were the
ones who built the Tower of Babel; of whom the poets said that they heaped
mountains on mountains97 and tried to conquer the kingdom of heaven; who,
when finally defeated, were crushed by those same mountains; those of whom
it is said in Ecclesiasticus: “They did not pray for their sins, the old giants,
who were destroyed while they relied upon their own strength."** And Isaiah
speaks as follows: “O Lord our God, other lords beside you have had domin¬
ion over us: but only in you will we remember your name. They are dead, and shall not live; they are giants, and shall not rise again.Therefore you have visit¬
ed and destroyed them, and wiped out all memory of them."**That is why they
are depicted asserpent-footed,8990 for they are tied to things of the senses, to ma¬
terial things, only creeping on the ground, not flying upwards towards the di¬
vine. They believe things to be true only when they are approved by the testi¬
mony of the senses.
12.3. ferd. Well, I am fully convinced. How about you, Pontano? You look
so lost in thought, pont.All the things that he has told us seem so wondrous
to me, Your Majesty, that I am not only astounded, but completely at a loss
for words. Not only do I now understand what those giants are and why they
are serpent-footed; I have even found a way to understand the myth handed
down by the poet Hesiod, of the woman Pandora, who opened the pot given
her by Jupiter, from which all good things flew away, so that only expectancy
remained on the rim of the pot.91 What else can Pandora (that is to say, every¬
one's gift) mean, if not the knowledge of material and sensual things: a knowl¬
edge that, when it opens the pot of our brain and takes up residence there,
causes all good thingsto fly away,so that nothing is left but expectancy, that is
to say, hope?” For we are always hoping for good things to happen, but never
get what we hope for: for through her93 we are estranged from the tree of life.
12.4. lazz.That is a very good interpretation, Pontano; although I have spo¬
ken differently in my Fasti, where it issaid:
Not Epimethea,94 who took the lid off the jar, brought
disaster, but Eve, who believed the snake.95
But there I asserted it not in an absolute or dogmatic manner, but only because
I wanted to allude to the myth of Hesiod, pont.I cannotstop marveling at the
way the myths of the poets correspond with the truths of theology. 13.X. lazz.Small wonder, Pontano. For Hermes, the king of ancient theolo¬
gy, wanted theological truth to be hidden in such myths. Nowadays everybody
just sees them as mere fables. And foreseeing that that would happen, Hermes
gave a rueful prophecy and said: "O Egypt, Egypt, of your religion only stories
will remain, and these will be incredible to your own children! Only words
cut in stone willsurvive to tellof your pious deeds.”9**
13.2. Even the holy theologians of the Christian religion, whom we call
prophets, have made use of poetical myth. You would see that this is true if
you would go through the oracles of these prophetssome time, of which Saint
Dionysiusspeaks as follows, at the beginning of his book on the Celestial Hi¬
erarchy: "So that we too may not be misled by the error of the common crowd,
and think indiscriminately that the celestial spirits (who are endowed with an
image of the divine) have many legs and many faces. We must not be so stu¬
pid as to start to imagine that they are formed after the stolidity of oxen or the
fierceness of lions, or with hooked beaks after the image of eagles, or with the
variegated plumage of birds, or like fiery wheels and material seats, which the
divine principle would apparently be in need of to sit himself down above the
heavens.97 Or like many-colored horses and armed escorts and captains and
more of the kind, as we were told in a visible and expressive variety of signs
in most holy sayings. For theology constantly uses such poetical fables to de¬
scribe these spirits, being aware (as we have said) of the weakness of the hu¬
man mind, and benignly provides an appropriate and natural way for it, by
which it is led upwards, clearing us a route for such an ascension in the Holy
Scriptures, that isfitted to its capacity.””
13.3. So far Dionysius. And Rabbi Moses of Egypt99 seems to say the same
thing in his book called Mallachim, when he says: “The prize above all priz¬
es, and the good beyond which there is no good.100 that which all the pro¬
phets craved for, Holy Scripture calls by many names,such asthe mind ofGod,
the tabernacle of God, his Holy Place, the Holy Mountain, the Hall of God,
the Sweetness of God, the Temple of God, the House of God, the Gate of God: the learned call it the Supper, or the Coming Age.”101 And Macrobius, in On
the Dream of Scipio, also hints at the same things with these words: “Divinities
have always preferred to be known and worshipped in the fashion assigned to
them by ancient popular tradition, which made images of beings that had no
physical form, represented them as of different ages, although they were sub¬
ject neither to growth nor decay, and gave them clothes and ornaments, al¬
though they had no bodies. In this way Pythagoras himself, and Empedocles,
Parmenides, and Heraclitusspoke of the gods.’’102
13.4. But as our soul, as this same Dionysius says, is moved by spiritual ac¬
tions up to the intelligibles, Pontano, the senses are quite assuperfluous asthe
things that can be sensed.10’ pon. Now I remember that Jupiter, whom the po¬
ets call the father and king of gods and men, issaid in the myths to bring with
him the clouds as companions, rainstorms, winds, flashes, thunder and light¬
ning, and the rest that is said in ancient myths about the otherso-called gods;
all of which I think will have been said not without a certain hidden meaning.
lazz.You are quite right. For as Plato says in the Alcibiades,the whole of nature
itself is a poem full of enigmas, and not just anybody can read her correctly.10*
Perhaps you have read, Pontano, whence the art of poetry was born.Just asthe
ancient and wise men wanted the temples of the gods to be built in a grander
style than the dwellings of men, they wanted the manner of speech in which
the hymns and praises of the gods were sung to be loftier than daily speech.
And it was thus, they say, that poetry was invented, in which a certain truth
lies hidden, although covered by the colors of fable, pon. I have often heard
this, and read it in the ancients, ferd. How pleasant, entertaining, and illumi¬
nating is the conversation we have today: it makes the day to me seem shorter than it is in midwinter (although the Sun is already in Gemini,105 so that the
day is quite long). So go on,Lazzarelli. Now that you have explained who those
giants are, tell us as well in what manner we shall understand the women who
were mentioned.
lazz.The women with whom those that follow the Lamb have not de¬
filed themselves are the seductive enticements of the senses and the various
passions, that Moses in his book of Genesis calls the daughters of men, unto
whom the sons of God
—or angels’06
—came in.’07 And the human soul, that
had distanced itself from the monad and divided itselfinto innumerable parts,
as Philo says,108 gave birth to these daughters with great pain. For through the
eyesshe bringsforth deceptive images and colors and desires, and through the
earsshe gives birth to words ofseduction. Thus she is oppressed by the multi¬
tude of daughters surrounding her, and at that stage the sons of God—or an¬
gels
—came in unto her.
14.2. For as long as the pure rays of wisdom shine into the soul, by which we
perceive God and his powers, no messenger of lies will enter the understan¬
ding, but allsuch will be forced out towards the place of purgation. But when
through the increasing distance from the essential One the dim light of our
mind is made weaker, the companions of darkness seize the opportunity and
couple with the effeminate and broken passions, that Moses calls the daugh¬
ters of men.
14.3. These however give birth for themselves, and not for God. Our spir¬
it however has been ordered to give birth for God and not for itself, just like
Abraham begat his son Isaac for God and not for himself, and therefore was
willing to offer him to God as a sacrifice.10’ But Adam, leaving the tree of life
(that is to say the contemplation of the monad) for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (that is the investigation of sensual things), fathered many
daughters, and thus having lapsed from justice and dignity, incurred the cor¬
ruption of death.110
14.4.Therefore Moses asserts that God spoke of him as follows: “See, Adam
has become like one of us, knowing good and evil,”1,1 and in the book of
Psalms it is said: “A man who is in honor does not understand, he is like the
stupid beasts of burden and has become like them."1’1
14.5.And Hermessays in the Pimander: “And when in hisfather he had seen
the procreation of all things, man wanted to create something too, and thereby
he hasfallen from the contemplation of the father into the sphere of generati¬
on;"111 and a bit further down: “Man is above the cosmic harmony, but having
fallen into that harmony he has become a slave.”1’4
15.1. ferd. You would not believe how much I am pleased by this explana¬
tion of yours. How about you, Pontano? pont.It pleases me too, and I approve of it with all my heart. For although many other pious and excellent interpre¬
tations could be given, it seems to me that this is the marrow of the Scrip¬
tures, indeed their very soul. ferd.A great longing has been born in me here,
to ask you questions about many things, but 1 will abstain from it,so that we
may not wander too far from the subject of our discussion, lazz.We should
indeed abstain, Your Majesty, if we wish to attain the goal we first intended.
For this present discussion is like the Hydra of Lerna: whenever you cut off
one head, many others appear.115 We could also find occasion here to ask what
Adam was, or Eve, or the serpent, and so on; but let us leave all those things
aside and return to our point of departure, if you agree.
15.1. ferd.Indeed, that is what we will do, if first you tell us this one thing:
how is it that man incurred death by eating from the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil? lazz. When man was a radiant temple in which dwelled the
spirit of the Lord,114 of whose presence came immortality
—not by nature (for
he was composed of discordant elements) but by grace (for the indwelling di¬
vine splendor imposed peace upon the elements)
—it came to pass that where
the light withdrew, offended as it was by our transgressions, darkness took its
place. And so the temple of the shining virtues has become a dwelling of dark¬
ness.
15.5. So that not only the discord of the elements is given free rein but, due
to the impure powers, we are galloping head over heels into perdition. Count¬
less illnesses were born at that time, as well as old age.117 So that Moses can de¬
scribe how shortly after their transgression man used to live to a very great
age;1,8 but when in the subsequent period, spurred on by the darkness, one
transgression was heaped upon the other, life has become much shortened.
15.4.That is why Moses makes God say: “My spirit shall not alwaysstay with
man, for he is flesh. And his days shall be a hundred and twenty years."1” But now, my king, the life of man has shrunk so much that, alas!, almost no
one reaches his hundredth year. Yes, even so, throughout our lifetime (miser¬
able creatures that we are!) the companions of darkness dwell in us, and the
remedy of circumcision has not been able to deliver us.110 And although bap¬
tism redeems us from the impure powers
—when the priest breathes upon us
and says: "Go out from him, thou impure spirit, and make way for the Holy
Ghost"111
—still by our sinful acts they move back in,1” and almost forcibly
compel us to all kinds ofscandalous acts.
15.5.Hermesforesaw this,which is why he exclaimed in his prophecy: “There
will be a mournful exodus of the gods from mankind, only the baleful angels
will remain, who, when they mingle with humans, seize the wretches and
drive them to all kinds of outrageous crimes
—war, looting, and all sorts of
things that are contrary to the nature of souls."1M
16.1. ferd. Do you think that man shall ever return to his original state of
happiness? lazz, When we speak of eternal life many unbelievers are scan¬
dalized and draw back, and so Truth itself Christ Jesus, has said: "Does that of¬
fend you, if the Son of Man will return to where he was before? 16.1. And Rabbi Joseph affirms in the Sepher Zohar, that is to say the Book of
Splendor: "We would in no way know death if Adam had not sinned. But be¬
cause he listened to the serpent, he brought death in both of its forms12’ upon
himself, his children, grandchildren and descendants. Because of that sin the
creation has remained imperfect, and she shall not know consummation un¬
til the coming of the King Messiah. And then the stain ofsuch great disobedi¬
ence and intemperance will vanish away, and men will return to their pristine
nature,such as the divine Mind intended it.”126 So I think that mankind will
indeed return to itsformer bliss. But in the meantime we poor creatures have
to carry the weight of the original crime as well as of our own sins.
16.3. ferd.So the unhappy state of man istruly to be deplored, for what is in¬
nate in us by the act of Adam, is made actual by our own activities. We all eat
daily from the forbidden tree. There is no one who looks upon God, no one
who seeks Him: "no one,” as the prophet says, "no, not one."117 lazz.It is most
deplorable, as you say, and truly worth tears and a sad complaint.So may I have
your attention, please, whilst I sing thissad complaint.
How futile men’s labors and how vainly bestowed,
now that they have left their God!
How forgetful they are of their former glory
that once they possessed by the Father’s gift!
How willingly the image divine that they took from heaven118
is defiled by them under the shadows of Hell.
The slanting shadow they see as their parent,
and do not remember the nourishing light
that truly begat them and once was their mother.
They have fallen from their mind's dignity
and perform no good deeds
—none, not even one.119
No one searchesfor his God with the mind;
no one honors hislegitimate Father.
Alas!All now follow idols
and give themselves over to their fleshly vanity.
They are all bound to the city of Babel,
and all have left the Holy City;
imbibing the wine of that whore1’0
they refuse to embrace the virgin.
Zion’s virgin calls, and is asking for her children,1’1
mourning and destitute as a widow:1”
“Why do you, allured by the babbling of that whore,
place your necks under the heel of death,
while leaving better things behind?
Oh!Recognize the lurid venom
hidden under that mellifluous honeycomb!
She gives you heady wine to drink,
and turns you into thieves and fornicators;
she leads you unto hidden snares
and cruelly ambushes you to the death.
Her companions are the savage giants
that heap up mountains and build up Babel,
fighting a war against the stars.
But finally they were smitten by the three-forked fire,1”
and all eat theirsupper in a very deep pool.
At first it issweet, but the end is bitter.11*
Call yourselves back to me,
who am still your mother and yourspouse,
who have raised you with the milk of my own breasts.
See, I mingle the wines of purity for you,
which yet will make the pure and pious pupils
and the holy servants of God to be installed
on the throne of the Kingdom to come.
These are ourfinal admonitions,
which I bid you, please, to take note of:
obtaining the light in the light of ChristJesus,115
keep your light away from the hideouslight.”
Butshe isstill calling and calling and calling;
and while she offers her sweetfull breasts like a mother,
they all play deaf, and tarry,
and do not take the road back,
but wallow in the mire of their dinner, like a pig,
swallowing the mucky waters of the marsh,
and refuse to drink the clear water.
17.2. Well, Sir, we have reached the end of our complaint; could you please re¬
peat the question you have asked me at the start of our discussion?
18.1. ferd. I remember it well and have it firmly in mind: you told us that
knowledge of one’sself isthe road to happiness, and I wanted to understand in
which way we could know ourselves.
18.2. lazz.So please give me your attention.Just as we cannot recognize the
image we see in a mirror or on a coin if we do not first know from where it
takes its origin or to whom it refers, likewise unless we know God we cannot
in any way know ourselves: for these things are interconnected,so that when
you do not know the one you do not know the other. For we are the image of
God, as may be read in the Sacred Scriptures11*
—although many people assert
that there is a difference between being after an image and being an image:
but I have discovered that they mean the same thing, ferd. Perhaps you could
adduce some proof of that, if you have it.
18-3.lazz.Already we have strayed too far from oursubject, and now that we
have just regained our course you want us to digress again. You should really
take me at my word, Sir, if you still want to hear the secret that I mean to tell
you. For I have given much thought to these matters, digested what I thought
out, and finally stored the results in the treasury of my mind. And you have
to believe in order to learn, as almost everyone has said.117 ferd.Of course I
believe, but if I would hear some testimonies of the ancients your discourse
would more firmly take root, and my soul would find a richer pasture:so after
you have fulfilled this one request we will return to the subject at once.
18.4.lazz.When Philo, in hissecond book On Agriculture, explainsthe words
of Moses: “Let us make man after our image and likeness," he says: “But the
great Moses has called human nature a speciessimilar to no other creature: he
calls it the image of the invisible and divine, of God."1” And Paul wrote to the
Corinthians: “For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, for he is the im¬
age and glory of God."1”
18.5. And because both Moses and Paul have spoken by the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit cannot contradict himself, when Moses says
that man is after the image, whereas Paul says that he is the image of God, no
doubt they want to say the same thing.In this connection you should also see
what Hermessays in the Pimander: “But the Father of all, the Intellect, who is
life and splendor, brought forth a man in likenessto himself, and loved him as
his own child.’’140 And elsewhere he says this,speaking of God: “Whose name
is all names and whose image is all of nature."141 So if all of nature is an image
of God,so much more is man, because of whom all things were made.141 19.1. pont.This argument seems superfluous and irrelevant to me. I suggest
that we leave those commonplaces for what they are, and return to the ques¬
tion of His Majesty, for the ability to know God seems problematical to me,
and beyond the powers of the human mind. For Truth itself has said: "No one
knows the Son but the Father, and no one knows the Father but the Son, and
he to whom the Son has chosen to reveal him."141 lazz. What you are saying
there, Pontano, isjust a partial response to what I have said earlier: that is, that
if we do not know God, we cannot know ourselves. You on the other hand af¬
firm,supported by Holy Writ, that God cannot be known.
19.2. But I am not sitting here, my dear Pontano, as a poet, on the tripod of
the Muse, half-wittedly pouring out whatever comes to my mind; no, I strolled
every day through the woods and shades of Mount Zion and the flowering
meadows of the Tempe valley,144 as befits a Christian, and was instructed in
these divine precepts, so that I have come to know everything that I will tell
you here, first by reason, and then by manifest experience as well.14’ I am well
aware that nothing ofthe things we experience through oursenses can be pos¬
itively said about God. For everything that human intelligence knows by mak¬
ing things definite, is infinite in God.
19.3. So I do notsay here that we should be able to know God in his transcen¬
dent being, in his all-encompassing enclosure of himself within himself, or as
he is in the extreme and solitary retractedness of the profoundest depth and
darkness of his divine being,146 or that we could know what is his essence:
that is exceedingly difficult, indeed impossible, for the human intellect can¬
not reach that high.
19.4. When Plato tried this
—although it is beyond the powers of the human
mind
—and finally beheld the inexpressible excellence of God, he fell into a
terrible and deadly error, namely by chiming that God does not mingle with
humans.147 If that were true, unhappy human nature would shrivel away, left
alone in the grip of darkness. But the whole of our Christian faith contradicts
this:for we professthat God has become flesh, takes part in us, and is intimate¬
ly connected with us. 19.5.Therefore we should know God in such a way as Dionysiustells usin his
book On Divine Names: “For all divine things that are laid open to us can only
be known by participation. For no sense can perceive how they are in their or¬
igin and in their own foundation; no substance and no knowledge can pene¬
trate that far. So, whether we call thistranscendent, hidden God the Life or the
Sustainer or the Light or the Word, we understand nothing but the participa¬
tions and forces that emanate from Him to us, whereby we are lifted up into
God, and that give us substance or life or wisdom.”148 There are many divine
things, as he also says in the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy,*14’ which are unknown to
man but have very venerable causes that are known to the more exalted or¬
ders of beings. And many things are hidden even from those most exalted sub¬
stances,which are known to the life-giving God alone. Human knowledge has
been set steps and limitations, which we cannot overstep.
zo.i.ferd.All very true, but I would still like you to tell me in which way we
should know God. lazz. As God is an incomprehensible intellect that is be¬
yond anything, as Dionysius says in his Mystical Theology,”0 inexpressible be¬
yond any speech, beyond any determination or exclusion, affirmation or ne¬
gation, we should firmly believe and simply profess that God is One in his
Trinity and Three in his Unity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
30.2. Even the Hebrew sages agree with us in this, as we read in the Beresit
Rabba of Rabbi Moses Adersan: “God, the origin of all things, the light, eter¬
nity, the holy one, who is called Ab, that is to say Father, the Lord your God,
depth, wisdom, the fountain out of which all things are made and brought
forth, alsogoesforth from the first origin and is called Ben, which means God
the Son, the root of the heart and the fulfilment of the will, or one will for
both, and he is called the congregation of the vision of God; and all are of the
same perfection and one amongst themselves, nor do they differ from each
other, but they are all one."”1
20.}.See how clearly in these words the Holy Trinity is asserted. Some of the
Hebrews, however, either overcome by ignorance or driven by malice in mat¬
ters divine, pertinaciously attack theTrinity: but we must firmly proclaim her,
if we wish to follow theTruth and reach immortality.” 20.4. And we should believe all the things about the divinity that are defined
by the holy Fathers by way of their established teachings, and if we would wish
to call those to mind here and now, this would become a very long speech.
But it would make usfit and perfectly disposed to hear the mystery that I am
about to reveal, to contemplate that God is the cause of all things, and the ere*
ator of all things, which he created because of the divine and primary living
being
—that is to say, man?” For, as Hermes says, when God formed man he
conceded all his worksto his use, because he was enamored of his own form,”*
and amongst all living things he revealed himself to man alone.
20.5. Therefore, struck with admiration the prophet exclaimed: “Lord, what
is man that thou shouldst notice him, and what is the son of man that thou
shouldst be mindful of him?”1” God has magnified man”6 so much that He
descended from eternity into time and, taking on a covering of flesh, has be¬
come man. So God magnified man, the work of His hands, for He is worthy
to be magnified: that very great craftsman is well aware how much His handi¬
work isto be esteemed. For just as by their image
—that is, light
—the heavens
accomplish things that even fire can scarcely effect by its natural quality, so
God by his image
—that is, man
—perfects things that the world itself cannot
accomplish by itsinnate power: thus Moses and Joshua and Elijah and the oth¬
er prophets and saints of God were resplendent with the greatest powers.
22,1. ferd.What you say is quite true, but tell me, if you please, what is the
soul of man. lazz.I shall not give you the answer according to the opinion of
Aristotle, that it is the form of the organic body;”7 nor according to the vari¬
ous opinions of the philosophers, that it is the essence, or a moving number,
or a harmony, or an idea, or the five senses acting in harmony amongst them¬
selves, or a subtle spirit that is dispersed through the whole body, or a vapour,
or a spark of the essence of the stars, or a spirit that is blended with the body,
or a spirit that dwells in the atoms, or fire, or air, or blood, or something con¬
sisting of the fifth essence, or of both earth and fire, or of earth and water or of
air and fire. Perhaps even all these things are true in their various respects.”*
21.2. But 1, Your Majesty, as I have ascertained it and know it for sure, will an¬
swer you according to the Hebrew mecubales or kabbalists, that the Light of God is the soul of man, or as Philo putsit in his book On Agriculture, that the
soul of man is made after the image of the Word, the cause of causes and first
exemplar, and that it isshaped by the substance and seal of God, the imprint of
which is the everlasting Word.1’9
21.3. Or I shall give you a precise answer with the same words that Pimander
spoke to Hermes: “What sees and hears in you is the Word of the Lord; your
mind however is God the Father (and there is no distance between them):
their union is Life."1*0 ferd,These are stupendous things, and rarely heard of.
lazz.Indeed, these are stupendous things, and definitely true, and you will
know them to be so, when you will have clearly and perfectly understood my
whole discourse, ferd.I hope I will, and eagerly wish for it; but please go on.
lazz.I would like you, excellent King, to ponder these things in your mind,
and come to see how they are connected with one another in such a way that
from the knowledge of God you can descend to knowledge of yourself.
2X.4. Thus you will come to understand the excellence of your own essence,
and will in no way disparage yourself, despise yourself, will not trample in
your own supper,1*1 but you will rise up out of the body,free from yourself and
from all the things of the senses, ascending absolutely and purely, to fly to that
transcendent and most shining darkness where Cod dwells,1*1 to take your
place among the number of the Powers;1*’ and having been received among
the Powers you shall enjoy God, and henceforth begetting a divine offspring,
you will procreate for God and not for yourself. Because like is always pro¬
duced by like.1*4 ferd.But indeed I do that, and shall do it often.
21.5. lazz.And I, pious king, will seriously admonish you to firmly persist in
thissacred work
—but not after the manner of the priests, who sign the popu¬
lace with ashes and say: “Remember, man, that you are dust and shall return to
dust”1*’ (for they admonish the exterior and worldly man, and compel them to¬
wards good works by fear, asif they were slaves). I will win you over according to your interior and essential humanity, as a son of God, with enormous love,
using these words of Hermes: “Remember, man, remember that light and life
are God, and the Father, from whom man is born. Therefore if you see your¬
self as being composed out of light and of life, you will again ascend to light
and life."1**
22.x.ferd.I feel wholly changed by your wordstoday, Lazzarelli, wholly in ec¬
stasy, wholly beyond myself. How about you, Pontano? pont.I feelso changed
by today's discussion, my gracious king, as Glaucus in Antedon of Euboia must
have felt when he ate dog's-grass(as they say) and felt how he was being changed
into a sea god.*167 lazz. You experience an excellent transformation today, for
you are gradually being regenerated by the divine light and transformed into
true men; and the true man, as Hermessays, is even greater than the gods that
dwell in heaven, or at least as powerful.1**
22.2.ferd.But who can truly be called a true man? lazz.Someone who does
not break the divine order, and reaches the goal of his creation: one such as
Abraham was, who in a book that the Hebrews call Aboda Zara issaid to have
started at the age of fifty-two as a true man and worshipper of truth to teach in
the city of Harran the true observance and the cult of God, and taught it for
eight consecutive years.1*9 And Dionysiusin hisletter to the priestCaiusspeaks
about our Lord Christ Jesus as follows: “We do not see Jesus by human reason
—for he is not just a man, nor could anyone be transcendent who would be
just a man—but he is a true man."1”
22.3. In order to reach this truth, you, Sir, and you too, Pontano should pur¬
sue these divine things for a long time, with frequent wonder, prayer, praise,
and contemplation; and Hermes says that it was in order to make it easier for
man to reach that goal that the Muses descended to man.171 So direct all the powers of your Muses towards that goal, Pontano, and you, blessed king, apply
thereunto all your spirit’s strength. Pray, wonder, praise, and contemplate the
divine; thus you will prepare yourself in the right way for the tremendous and
god-creating mystery that I am about to tell you. Even heaven and its inhabi¬
tantstake pleasure in these things, as Hermessays.171
23.1. ferd.We will do as you say, and will be found adequately prepared for
the god-creating ray which the Almighty pours down upon us. lazz. So be
present with all the longing of your mind, whilst I sing the hymn of contem¬
plation. Consider its words and perceive their meaning with intense medita¬
tion. ferd.Carry out your intention: we will be with you and are waiting anx¬
iously, with all our mind's powers.
23.2. LAZZ.
Up then, my mind, and now reflect
upon tremendous miracles.
Who was it that made all thingsfrom nothing?
Only the word spoken by God the Father.1”
Blessed be
the word of the father.
Say praise to the Word,
all ye things.
Who gave the shining faces of the sky
their eternal course,
for them to vary the course of the world?
Only the Mind that was born of God.
So let Pimander
be praised,172174
the image of that Mind.’75
Sing, mind, the Mind!
Who made the shining Sun, that image
of the sacred light,
and set up a stairway for the searchers?
Only the light that flows from the Father.
Blessed be
the nourishing light of the Father.
My light,sing
the light maternal.’”
Who ordered the Moon
and the rest of the stars in the sky
to borrow theirsplendourfrom the Sun?
God, whogives the other things their light.
Blessed be
the origin of light.
Let all the stars
sing songsfor Him.
Who twice has told two bodies
to turn backwards, and also
return to their mutual order?177
Only God, the world’s Creator.
Blessed be
the maker of the world.
All ye bodies
sing Him praise.
Who inciteslife
into composite bodies, and who
giveslife to incorporeal beings?
God, who is life for all other things.
Blessed be
the life of the Father.
May all that lives
express its joy.
Who,favoring him over all living beings,
ordered man to raise
his eyes unto the sky?
The Father that begat us.
Blessed be He
that begat us.
Speak, all ye that are born,
a hymn of songs.
Who, when others were given a voice,
gave man a mind and speech,
as a truthful image of the Father?
He who is the Mind and Word of the Father.178
Blessed be
the Mind and the Word.
These two
have made the world.
Who, while he perfects all things,
exalted only man,
draws him in and turns him into God?
Ourspirit-giving God.
Praise to him.
So let ussing
for him, who fills
all the world with spirit.
Who purifies us with his holy breath
from the disease of corporeality,
by putting away the outer man?
The God that dwells in his holy place.17*
Blessed be He
whose temple we are.180
Sing his praises,
thou flock of the faithful.
Who, when the first man
went astray and reached a dead end,
put him back on the right track?
The Son born of a virgin.
Blessed be
the Virgin’s child.
Sing odes, O man,
for the son of the Virgin.
Who, when man again defiled
the sacred image,
reached out a saving hand?
The Holy and Righteous of Israel.
So blessed be
the Redeemer.
Behold, twice He restored
his domain.
Who, when all things are old
and buried in a place ofstench,
restores a new age unto us?
The almighty mind of God alone.
Blessed be
the Mind of the Father,
all ages will sing Him
resounding hymns.
Behold, who is He that finally restores us,
who had fallen, to the throne ofsplendor,
submitting all thingsto the Son?
The Counsel of the Father on High.
So rise again, my mind,
and break all the chains
of the deeds
of the flesh.
Sing for the rightful Father,
sing, my mind,for the Son,
and sing for the Holy Spirit,
offer them sweet-sounding tunes.
Blessed be He
who moveth all,
but is Himself all
three and one.
23.3. lazz.Until now we have been theorizing, but now we will turn our at¬
tention to what remains. 24.x. ferd.By that hymn of yours I have been set afire with an enormous love
of God, who has privileged man with such blessings. Do you not feel the same,
Pontano? pont.I am not just burning with love, but almost in ecstasy too, by
a stupor similar to what people experience who happen to touch an electric
fish. This hymn is such that, in my opinion, it far excelsTynnichos of Chalcis’s
hymn in praise of Apollo.1*1 It is not just inspired by the Muses, as they use to
say, but by the true divinity of God, so that I am overwhelmed by both love
and amazement.
24.2. lazz. Henceforth we must take care that that love persists and grows
stronger every day. For such love turns inferior to superior things, and both
unites and connects them to each other. In truth, first contemplation excites
love, and then love turns the human mind to God; and, having been turned,
it is molded by God in such a way that it reassumes its innate vigor, which it
had lost by its chasing after material things, and by its wholly restored pow¬
er performs even greater and more wondrous things than the heavenly nature
itself, ferd. We shall persist in the love of God, as you urge us; but tell me
please, what works can be done by a human mind thus molded?
24.3. lazz. A very sensible question, Your Majesty, for no one will correct¬
ly perform a thing he is ignorant of. So please give me all your attention now,
that you, whom God has constituted a king while in this body, may remain a
kingeven in the kingdom of eternity, when you will have flown from the body
by death. Now we are in the outer court of the darkness where God dwells. So
listen, that you may freely enter God’s most lucid darkness.1*2 ferd. I am lis¬
tening, and burning for you to hasten my entering there.
24.4. lazz. It behooves us to understand that God is fertile beyond anything
else, for he is the maker and begetter of all things. That is why Hermes calls
him of both sexes and overflowing with fertility.183 Orpheus too asserts that
he is both male and female;1** but, $0 that you may believe this more strongly,
listen to what he says of himself through Isaiah: “Shall I, who cause others to give birth, not give birth myself? Shall I, who make others bear offspring, be
sterile myself? sayeth the Lord thy God."18’
24.5.Likewise, Dionysiussays in his book On Divine Names: “For because in the
beginning love was most excellently in the good, it never permitted itself to re¬
main infertile within itself, but moved itself to operation, generating everything
through its excellence.”186 ferd.Who will doubt that it is as you say, Lazzarelli?
But what, most of all, do we gain from this knowledge of divine fertility?
25.1. lazz. You shall soon hear it, good King. Now that you have come to
understand and know the fertility of God, the next thing you should under¬
stand is that, since mankind is the glory and the image of God, it too is fur¬
nished with the fecundity of both sexes, as Hermes puts it. ferd. But every¬
body knows that from common experience. Not just mankind, but all other
living beings as well, are seen to be fertile.187 If it were otherwise their race
would not have lasted through so many generations.
25.2. lazz.This indeed everybody knows, as you say. But what I am now try¬
ing to make you understand is hardly known to anyone, ferd. But what is it?
Come on, hurry up and tell us; I am very excited, and almost unable to bear
even the smallest delay, lazz.I am notspeaking about the fertility of the body
which you have mentioned, but about the fertility of the mind, which also af¬
fects the body. ferd.But what is that fertility of the mind? lazz. Now, please,
direct all your intelligence to what I am about to say, otherwise my words will
be completely lost on you. ferd.I will do all I can; you, go on now.
25.3. lazz.Because the human mind is the image of the first mind, it has re¬
ceived from the latter not only fertility, but also immortality: these two main
gifts are given by that mind itself to its image, that is to say, to the word. That
is why Hermessays that the mind and the word are as precious asimmortality,
and why he admonishes us that whoever uses these gifts the way he should is
in no way different from the immortals —he even says that through them he isfinally brought into the choirsof the blessed.188 These two things combined,
Your Majesty, bring forth a divine offspring.
25.4. ferd.1 do not doubt that is true, Lazzarelli, if you mean to suggest that
the sciences and arts are children of the mind, which were first conceived by
the mind and (as a kind of childbirth) are passed on to the exterior senses by
the word, finally to be preserved for posterity by writing, lazz.Both arts and
sciences are indeed children of the mind, but they are produced by generation
in a metaphorical sense only. But I am speaking here of a literal generation of
the mind, the way a son is identical with hisfather. For it is literally true that
like is always produced from like.18* ferd.I beg you: what do you mean? Stop
beating about the bush!
26.x. lazz.Consider this, Your Majesty, if the body has so much power that
it can produce a body similar to itself, what could prevent a mind from gen¬
erating a mind, since it is more excellent than the body?1*0 ferd. Perhaps you
mean to say that the mind of the son proceeds from the mind of the father,
Lazzarelli? lazz.That is not what we are talking about. We are speaking of
that generation of the mind that quite dumbfounded Asclepius, when Hermes
revealed it to him, because of the thing's incredible magnificence—causing him to exclaim that he was greatly confused, and making him say that he con¬
sidered humankind most fortunate to have received such a gift.1*’
26.2. ferd,It is not necessary to strain my mind with such circumlocutions,
Lazzarelli,for quite like a barrel filled with new wine and lacking an outlet the
pressure almost makes me burst asunder. So hurry up and say what you mean!
lazz.Behold, good King, beloved of God: I admonish you not to lend your ear
toSocrates' daemon, but to the spirit ofJesus Christ, who dwells in those who
worship him; and I will not exclude you, Pontano.
See, both of you are called to the supreme felicity of mind. Behold, now
the joys of paradise are opened to you, the heavenly city stands revealed: the
road is clear that leads to the mountain, the tabernacle, and the house of God.
Behold, the kingdom of Israel, which poets call the Golden Age and for which
Christ Jesus taught his disciples to pray,’” is set before your eyes.The six days
of work and labor have gone by, the Sabbath day of rest is drawing near, and
truth and wisdom are quickly coming to meet us. See,from the groves of wis¬
dom the treasure of immortality is dug up for you. Look, the nectar, the am¬
brosia, the manna, the sacrifices, and the feast of the Lamb, to which the birds
of heaven congregate, will feed you as guests and invited friends.1**The tree of
life shall henceforth be an aromatic balm to you. You willsuffer no more, nor
will yoursoul know weariness.
26.4. So be attentive with all yoursouls powers, whilst I sing the hymn of di¬
vine generation, compelled by the spirit of God. For thus will you be made
partners in the ineffable mystery, ferd.We are ready with both ears and mind,
and ready to meditate.
27.X. LAZZ,
Where do You transport me, Father, full of You?1’4
Is this not the place whereto pious aged Enoch went,
in whom You took delight
because he followed in Your footsteps?
Are these the summits of Mounts Horeb or Sinai,1*6
where theTishbite1’7 or where horned Moses1’8
hid himself, to give to the people
the sacred precepts of the Ancient Law?
Or isthis the sacred river of the word-begotten God,1”
where he immersed himself to purge the body’s sins?100
Or is it, rather, the holy mountain of Tabor301
where man knew such splendor,
that he overcame the luminous circles of the Sun?
See, he shone in clothes brighter than snow
and appeared whiter than the clouds,
from where your voice was heard.
Your voice was heard from there, bearing witness that he
was yourson, begotten before time began,
and in his appointed time, as foresaid by the Scriptures, was covered
with a bodily house,301 to redeem the race of man.
See, love tears me asunder, or rather, the fury
that is incited in me by your fire thatshines on me,
that opens to me secrets long unknown,
and the heavens to your children.
Nothing humble will I ask, no small trifle,
nothing mortal orsmall shall I sing,
butsomething wondrous to the souls of many,
and notsung by other lyre of late.
What was forbidden to the ancients,
and could scarcely be told in parables of yore,
you now allow me to tell in verses clear,
that the people may be easily taught.
Thus it is sung in the sacred sayings, Father,
that in the latter days
you shall be revealed to everyone: then they shall reign,
your docile and pious people.
Hark, now I begin: be silent, all,
that all may hear with willing ear
my words, pregnant with speech divine.
Hear, I put my fingers to the lyre.
This is certainly the newest novelty of novelties20’
and a miracle far greater than all others,
that man has discovered the nature of God204
and knows how to make it.20S
For just as the Lord or God the begetter
generates the celestials and procreatesthe angels
who are the forms of things, the heads,106
and first exemplars of all,
just so the true man creates divine souls
which the ancient host used to call gods of the earth,
who are glad to live close to humans
and rejoice at the welfare of man.
They give prophetic dreams, they offer help
in man's need, they punish the godless,
and splendidly reward the pious.
Thus they fulfil the command of God the father.
They overcome the trials of fate
and chase away destructive illness,
thereby fulfilling the words of the prophets.
They create the Word of God.207
That is why the Begetter has given man
a mind like his own, and speech,10*
that he, like the gods, may bring forth gods,
fullfilling the decrees of the Father.
Most happy is he that knows the gifts offate;
he will gladly fulfil it,
for he is to be reckoned among the gods,
he is not inferior to the gods above.
18.1. lazz. You have heard what has been revealed by God's inspiration: this
may certainly be called the secret of secrets, as we read in the Holy Books
of the Sabbath of Sabbaths, the Holy of Holies, and the Song of Songs. I am
not only convinced of it through the authority of the sages and by reasonable
proofs, but I know it from tangible experience. And if you do not give up, you
will clearly know this too. But in the meantime I beg you to keep enclosed
within your conscience what emanatesfrom the pure well of truth,so that no
unbelieving, unqualified, or profane person may hear it.
18.2. pont.We must do as you ask, Lazzarelli. For it issaid that the Eleusinian
goddesses were angered at the philosopher Euvenius20* because, in his curiosi¬
ty for hidden things, he had stepped out in public to interpret the mysteries of Eleusis; and so much the more would the Supreme Craftsman be scandalized
(if one may say so) if his secret mysteries would be spread all over the place.
ferd.What shall I say now, Lazzarelli? I am so overwhelmed with love, admi¬
ration, and joy that I am almost besides myself in ecstasy, and do not know
where I am. lazz. No wonder, happy king. For if every new thing, however
small, has an impact on oursenses, this will be done all the more, and in a more
excellent way, by a thing that not juststrikes oursenses, but also strikes
—and
fully numbs
—the mind’s eye with its extraordinary sublimity.
28.3. ferd.I would like you to tell me, Lazzarelli,in case you know, whoamong
the ancient or modern sages have spoken about this matter, lazz.Just as,from
the beginning, only a few have been granted such an enormous gift by God,
likewise only a few have been able to speak about it. For nobody can teach clear¬
ly and fittingly what he does not know. ferd.But who are these few?
29.I. lazz. I will mention the ones I know. To start with, Hermes covertly
speaks about these things in all the dialogues that we now have of him. But in
the dialogue with Asclepius, called the teXeioc; Xoyoc;, he speaks of them more
openly.210 Likewise, the wise men of the Hebrews say that Enoch in a book he
wrote211 makes mention of the higher and the lower king; and the one who
unites them both will daily harvest the gladnessfrom above. And in my opin¬
ion that is exactly the heart of this mystery.
29.2. Abraham too,in his book entitled Sepher Izira212—that is to say the Book
of Formation
—teaches that this is how new men are formed: one must go to a
desolate mountain,where no beasts of burden graze, and from its midst one must dig up Adama, that is to say red and virginal earth; then a man must be formed
from it, and letters must be ritually inscribed on his limbs. In my interpretation
this must be understood asfollows: the desolate mountains are the godly sages,
who are desolate because they are despised by the multitude, according to the
words of Wisdom: “We fools have esteemed theirlives insanity."111
29.3. And Hermessays: “Those who in this world devote themselvesto wisdom
do not like the multitude, nor does the multitude like them: they are consid¬
ered insane and are laughed at; at times they may even be hated, maltreated, or
murdered.”114
29.4. And Plato speaks as follows in his Phaedrus: “Standing apart from the
busy doings of mankind, and cleaving to the divine, he is abused by the mul¬
titude as if he were out of his mind. But it escapes them that he is full of
God."lls
29.5. According to the interpretation of Philo the beasts of burden are the cor¬
poreal senses, who he says are seven in number.116 These beasts of burden do
not graze on the mountains:for the godly sages are not tempted by the lures of
the senses. And Adama, the red and virginal earth, is the mind of the wise it¬
self, that has been made virginal by the wine of the Messiah, that germinates
virgins.1*7 A new man having been created in this manner, he is brought to life
by a mystical disposition of letters on his limbs. Tor the divine generation is
most perfectly accomplished by a mystic utterance of words, composed of the
letters of the alphabet. That is why they are the mountains we must visit for
the divine formation. For only the minds of the wise are capable of divine gen¬
eration.In my opinion it is in this way that Abraham preserved this great mys¬
tery for posterity in the form of a riddle.
29.6. But far above all others our Lord Jesus Christ, the true Messiah, taught
this by his words and accomplished it in his deeds, as was prophesied of him
by Asaph: “I will open my mouth in parables, and will utter dark sayings of
old.”dig up Adama, that is to say red and virginal earth; then a man must be formed
from it, and letters must be ritually inscribed on his limbs. In my interpretation
this must be understood asfollows: the desolate mountains are the godly sages,
who are desolate because they are despised by the multitude, according to the
words of Wisdom: “We fools have esteemed theirlives insanity."111
29.3. And Hermessays: “Those who in this world devote themselvesto wisdom
do not like the multitude, nor does the multitude like them: they are consid¬
ered insane and are laughed at; at times they may even be hated, maltreated, or
murdered.”114
19.7.And it is said in the Book Brescith Raba of Rabbi Moses Adersan21’ that
there was held a debate on sacred things amongstsomeTalmudists, and when
RabbiJonah mentioned thissecret, basing himself on the authority of Enoch,
Rabbi Symeon both laughed and cried, and finally said: “This is the will of
God, which he does not want to be revealed to any generation until the King
Messiah has come, who will give permission for these mysteries to be re¬
vealed."Thus more than all others Jesus Christ has revealed this secret, as we
have already said.
29.8. But the day is near that in the fullness of time he will make it manifest
more clearly, so that may be fullfilled what he himself has spoken of: “And I
have othersheep which are not of this fold: them also I must bring. And there
shall be one fold and one shepherd.”*220 In all the sacred books of the Old and
the New Testament you could find something on thissubject, be it with quite
some difficulty. Apart from these, Your Majesty, I do not remember having
read anybody who hasspoken of this either explicitly orin a veiled manner.
30.x. ferd.If it does not go against God’s will, I would like you to explain in
what way and by what means such a great work will be accomplished, lazz.
Thistoo Iintend to do,so that you may have of me the complete consummation
of the divine work. For thisis a divine and royal thing, and it befits a divine and
pious king like yourself. For if, as Plato tells us,221 there have been times when
the kingsof Persia were brought upin the service of the gods(that is tosay were
taught Zoroastrian magic), then should not theChristian kings all the more be
taught the true and realservice of God, that is opposed to the false one?
30.2. But the Sun is already declining towards the western sea, Your Majesty,
and a great many conditions must be observed in what you ask; and if I would
go on and enumerate them it would take a long time,so that the night would
wholly surround us. And already my mind isso tired by the length of the pres¬
ent discussion and the magnitude and difficulty of the whole subject that it
craves rest. So we will postpone it until some other time, in a more secluded
and solitary place, after the fashion of the Hebrew sages.
30.3. For about the saying in Genesis: “And Abraham gave all that he had to
Isaac, but to the sons of the concubines he gave gifts,"222 the kabbalistssay that
what was given to the sons of the concubines were the Scemoth Sceltoma, that is to say the names of impurity, namely the magical arts.11* But the things that
were given to Isaac were certain divine secrets, which they call Kabbalah (be¬
cause they are passed down from mouth to mouth). And that name is begin¬
ning to be known to some people in our days. But the way it works is whol¬
ly hidden from everyone, with the exception of one only.11* But you, blessed
king, and you too, my dear Pontano, keep faithfully in mind what I have said
and at the end of our present discussion give thanks to God, who has by my
mediation called us unto so great a gift. ferd.That would seem to be some¬
thing for you, Pontano, excelling as you do in eloquence.
30.4. pont.1will do as you command, Your Majesty, but in this act of thanks¬
giving I will use not my words but those of Jesus Christ, so that our prayers
may be more pleasing to God himself, and more sacred, ferd. Do as you think
fit. pont. I thank you, O Lord Jesus Christ, that thou hast hid these things
from the prudent and the wise, and hast revealed them unto us babes.115 And
it would seem fitting, Lazzarelli, if you, too, would end your teaching by some
hymn of praise, as you have done throughout all our discussion today, lazz.I
will do as you wish, Pontano, especially on this occasion. I never ger enough of
saying thanksto God,so Iwill praiseChristJesus under the name of Pimander,
which is explained by Hermes as the Mind and the Word of divine power.116
You however, be intent of mind, and in all humility adore with me the creator
of all things, the Word itself, ferd. We are already on our knees, and stretch
out our folded hands to heaven, waiting until you begin to speak.
50.5. LAZZ.
Light of the Father, radiant Word, Pimander,
Mind that was begotten from all eternity,
Fountain and maker of all things;
Praise to thee, power, honor and triumph,
glory and dominion, beauty and strength.
With your feet you tread on and dissolve
the horrid shadows coiling in a slanting curve like a snake
and making a wailing roar*127
Praise to thee, power, honor and triumph,
glory and dominion, beauty and strength*
You revive humid nature with the warmth of your Word,23*
as birds will hatch their eggs,
and from there flow out all the elements*
Praise to thee, power, honor and triumph,
glory and dominion, beauty and strength*
You perform all the work in all things*
All that enjoys life you beget
by fire, water, air, or earth*
Praise to thee, power, honor and triumph,
glory and dominion, beauty and strength*
You command the race of man to be joined to light divine
and, reconnecting them to yourself, you turn them
into gods, and dissolve the darkness.
Praise to thee, power, honor and triumph,
glory and dominion, beauty and strength.
When man had lost his powers,
having become flesh you recalled him to the stars
by inwardly joining yourself to the virgin’s child.
Praise to thee, power, honor and triumph,
glory and dominion, beauty and strength.
And see, after he had fallen again,
you again cast your eyes on the doings of man,
as wassung by the prophets of old.
Praise to thee, power, honor and triumph,
glory and dominion, beauty and strength.
As is read in oracles of yore,
great and smallshall know thee together;
the world will not need to be admonished again.
Praise to thee, power, honor and triumph,
glory and dominion, beauty and strength.
The six days of works will give way to your Servant.
The stillness of the Sabbath of Light will spread over the earth:
behold, the mind is joined to man.
Praise to thee, power, honor and triumph,
glory and dominion, beauty and strength.
Everyone will give voice to the mouth of God,
and the sound from the mouth of man will cease;
then the gods will be frequent guests on earth.119
Praise to thee, power, honor and triumph,
glory and dominion, beauty and strength.
All things will rise again in theirformersplendor;
behold, the kingdom of God (for which you have already
told man to pray with your own words110) isfast drawing near.1*1
Praise to thee, power, honor and triumph,
glory and dominion, beauty and strength.
What once was two, now is one flock.
Behold, one shepherd reigns over them,1’1
and leadsthem to green pastures, where the grass is sweet.
Praise to thee, power, honor and triumph,
glory and dominion, beauty and strength.
Behold, they will drink the living waters of the well;1”
neither wolf nor lion will harm them;
no thorn will tear theirsnow-white coats.
Praise to thee, power, honor and triumph,
glory and dominion, beauty and strength.
30.6. When this effusion of praise had been concluded the king withdrew
into the royal chambers, more cheerful and happy due to the discussion; and
he prayed that anothersun might give him another day like this. But Lazzarelli,
having reverently greeted the king (as good manners demand), promised his
assistance for another occasion, and left deep in the night.