LXXX. 1. And [finally] kuphi^ is a mixture com-

posed of sixteen ingredients: — of honey, and wine, and raisins, and cyperus;' of pine-resin, and myrrh,
^ The reainoua gam of an Arabian tree ; probably a kind of acacia.
* This was also used as a medicine.
> KWf (pov, — Cyperus comatm, an aromatic plant used in embalm- ing, a sweet-smelling marsh plant Cf. F. cyphrt and K eyprm.
THE MYSTERIES OF ISIS AND OSIRIS 365
and aspalathus,^ and seseli;^ and further of mastich,' and bitumen/ and nightshade,' and sorrel; and in addition to these of both junipers* (of which they call the one the larger and the other the smaller), and cardamum, and sweet-flagj
2. And these are not compounded in a haphazard way, but with the sacred writings being read aloud * to the perfume-makers when they mix them.
3. And as to their number,— even though it has all the appearance of square from square, and [that too] the only one of equally equal numbers that has the power of making the perimeter equal to the area,' it must be said that its serviceableness for this purpose at least is of the slightest
4 But the majority of the ingredients, as they possess aromatic properties, liberate a sweet breath and healthy exhalation, by which both the air is changed, and the body being gently and softly moved by the vapour, falls asleep^' and loosens the distressing strain of the day's anxieties, as though they were knots, [and yet] without any intoxication.
^ l^voKdBov, — a prickly shrub yielding a fragrant oil; mentioned in the Apocrypha and in some old herbaliBta. Cf. " I gave a sweet smell like cinnamon and aspalathus" — Ecdna xziv. 16. It was not the Omiita acarUhockuia,
* 0'c0'^Xf»i, — the Tordyliwn officinale; formerly called in English also ^* cicely."
' tf-xlrow,— or may be " squilL"
* e^Vy — or may be " rush."
* Lit, juniper-berries.
7 ic It is to be noticed that the ingredients are arranged in four sets of four each.
' That is to the sound of mantrdh^ as a Hindu would say.
* Cf, xliL 2 and figure in note.
>® The kuphi being used at sundown.
366 THRICE-OREATEdT HKRlflCS
5. Moreover, they poliah ap the image-makiiig md receptive organ of dreams like a mirror, and make it clearer, no less than the playing on the lyre whieh the Pythagoreans used to nse before sleep, thus away and sanifying the passionate and reaaon-les nature of the souL
6. For things smelt call back the failing aenae, and often, on the other hand, doll and qoiat it by [their] soothing [effect], when their exhalations are Hiffny^ through the body ; just as some of the phyaiciaos say that sleep is induced when the vaporisation of the food, as it were creeping gently round the inward parts and groping about, produces a kind of tickling^
7. And they use kuphi both as draught and mixtme; for when it is drunk it is thought to purge the intestines, [but when applied externally ^] to be an emollient
8. And apart from these [considerations], resin is a work of the sun ; and myrrh [comes from] the exuda- tion of the trees under the sun-beat; while of the ingredients of kuphi, some flourish more at night, like all things whose nature it is to be nourished by oool breezes and shade and dew and damp.
9. Seeing that the light of day is one and single^ and Pindar tells us that the sun is seen ''through empty sther";' while air is a blend and mixture of many lights and properties, as it were of seeds dropped from every star into one [field].
10. Naturally, then, they use the former as inoenses by day, as being single and having their birth from the sun ; and the latter when night sets in, as being mixed and manifold in its qualities.
^ A lacuna of 8 or 9 letters ooeors here in E. « Olymp., i. e.
THE MYSTERIES OF ISIS AND OSIRIS 367
Aftirwobd
So ends this exceedingly instructive treatise of Plutarch, which, in spite of the mass of texts and monu- ments concerning Asar and Ast which have already been deciphered by the industry of Egyptologists, remains the most complete account of the root mystery-myth of ancient Egypt The myth of Osiris and Isis goes back to the earliest times of which we have record, and is always found in the same form. Indeed the " Kitual," the " Book of the Dead," which should rather be called the "Book of the Living," might very well be styled "The Gospel of Osiris."
It would be out of place here to seek for the historical origin of this Great Mystery ; certainly Osiris was originally something greater than a " water sprite," as Budge supposes. Osiris and Isis were and are originally y as I believe, cosmic or super-cosmic beings; for the Elder and Younger Horus, regarded macrocos- mically, were the Intelligible and Sensible Worlds, and, regarded microcosmically, pertained to the mystery of the Christ-stage of manhood.
It may, of course, be denied that the ancient Egyp- tians were capable of entertaining any such notions; we, however, prefer the tradition of our Trismegistic tractates to the " primitive-culture " theories of anthro- pological speculation. That, however, such views were entertained in the first centuries is incontrovertible, as may be seen from a careful study of Philo of Alexandria alone. Thus to quote one passage out of many with regard to the two Horoi :
" For that this cosmos is the Younger Son of God, in that it is perceptible to sense. The Son who's older than this one, He hath declared to be no one [perceptible by sense], for that he is conceivable by mind alone.
368 THRICE-GRSATB8T HSRMSS
But haTing judged him worthy of the Elder's li^ts, He hath determined that he should remain with Hiin alone.- 1
When, moreover, we speak of the CSirist-stags of manhood, we mean all that mystery that lies beyond the normal stage of man, including both the super-nun stage and that of the Christ
In any case, Plutarch is of the greatest aervioe for understanding the atmosphere and environment in which the students of the TrismegiBtic tradition moTcd, and we have therefore bestowed more care upon him than perhaps the general reader may think necessary.
' Quodlkuilm^^^; lLl,S77,P.»8(Riii7«,73).
X
"HERMAS" AND "HERMES"
An Antioipation
Whin, in a recent book,^ I was treating of the Early Church document The Shepherd of Eermas, in con- nection with the ancient and mTsterious Book of Elxai^ which, according to Epiphanius, circulated among the Essenes, Nazorenes, Ebionites, and Sampsaeans, I wrote as follows :
" It is also of very great interest to notice the many intimate points of contact between the contents of the Apocalyptic Hennas and the teaching of the Early ' Shepherd of Men ' tractate of the mystic school who looked to Hermes the Thrice-Greatest as their inspirer, that is to say, the earliest deposit of the Trismegistic literature. But that is another story which has not yet been told."
At the same time, all unknown to me, Seitzenstein must have written, or have been writing, his learned pages on *' Hermas and Poimandres," coming to practi- cally the same conclusion as I had in cruder form expressed several years earlier, when commenting on Hilgers' theory^ that the "Shepherd of Men" was
1 Did Jenu Live 100 B.C. f^An Enquiry ifUo the Talmud Jeiui Stortee, the Toldoth Jeechu^ and Some Curious StaUmenU cf Bpiphaniui (London, 1903), pp. 365 ff.
* See Hilgen (J.), De Hermetii TriemsgitU Poimandro Com- m§nUUio (Bonn, 1866).
VOL. I. 869 24
370 THRICE-OREATEST HKRIfK8
written in opposition to the "Shepherd of Hennas," and suggesting that if there were any dependence of one on the other, it was in exactly the reverse soDse to that of Hilger's assumption.^
The Hiohir Criticibm of " Tsi Shxphkbd of Hermas*
like all the other extant extra-canonical docomentB of the Early Church, and especially the AntUegomma, as Eusebius calls them, that is to say books disputed in his day but earlier admitted by wide circles into the canon, The Shepherd of Hermas has been submitted to the most searching analysis by modem crituasm. Though its unity is still strenuously deteoded by some scholars, the majority are convinced of its composite nature; and I follow Hilgenfeld,* who detects in the present form of this document three elements, or, so to say, three deposits : (i.) The Apocalyptic — ^Vis& L-iv. ; (iL) The Pastoral— Vis. v.-Sim. vii ; (iii) The Secondary, or appendix of the latest redactor-— Simm. viiL-x. ** Hermas i." and '' Hermas iL" cite nothing from any of the canonical books of the New Testament, and tfaii should be, for most scholars, a striking indication of their early date.
ThX iNTRODUCnON OF THI "PASTORAL HSBlCilS"
"Hermas iL," the "Pastoral Hermas^" b^ins as
follows : *
1. " Now when I had prayed in my house, and sat me
> See Th4 Theoiophieal BivUw, xxiy. SOS, 903 (June lB»y * Hilgenf eld (AX Hermm Padar (Snd ed. : Leiptig, 1881). ' *Av«ic
document, which for all we know may haye stood ftnt is
earlier " 80urce."
" HERMAS " AND " HERMES " 371
down upon my couch, there entered a man of glorious appearance, in the guise of a Shepherd, clad in a white skin,^ with a wallet on his shoulders, and a staff in his hand. And he embraced me, and I embraced him.'
2. *' And straightway he sat down by my side. He saith to me: I am sent by the most Sovereign Angel, that I may dwell with thee for the rest of the days of thy life.
3. " I thought that he had come to tempt me ; ' and I say unto him : Who art thou ? For I do know (say I) into whose charge I have been given. He saith to me : Dost thou not know ? Nay — answer I. I am (saith he) the Shepherd ^ into whose charge thou hast been given.
4. " E'en as he spoke, his aspect changed, and I knew him, that it was he to whom I had been given in charge."
C!0HPARI80N WITH OUR '' PCEMANDRES "
If we now compare the Greek text of this interesting passage with that of the introductory paragraphs of the " Pcamandres," it will be found impossible to refer their striking similarities merely to a common type of ex- pression; the verbal agreements are too precise, and
1 Presumably a sheep's skin of white wool.
s Compare the Story of the Spirit Double who came down unto Jesus when a boy, as told by Mary the Mother, in the Pidii Sophia, 121 : " He embraced thee and kissed thee, and thou also didst kiss him ; ye became one." Compare this with the common mystic belief of the time in the possibility of union with such a spiritual presence ; and also the possession by a daimon (xn^is 9ai/ioros), which is treated of at length by Reitzenstein, and particularly referred to this pasage in Hermas (R. 230).
^ Compare PiHia Sophia, 120 : " I was in doubt and thought it was a phantom tempting me.''
* On this G^bhardt and Hamack, in their edition (Leipzig, 1877), can only comment : " In viiiominu angeUetu patUnr nutquam
872 THRICS-ORKATEST Wttitms^
Stand out conTincingly at the first glance, withoat need- ing the assistanoe of the large tjrpe in which Beitienstwn (pp. 11, 12) has had them printed in his reproduction of the texts.
Most remarkable of all, however, is the similaritj of ideas ; for " Hennas " as f or ** Hermes " the Shepherd is not only a shepherd but a '* shepherd of men,** eren as in a different connection but in the same circle of ideas Peter and others were to become ** fishers of men." ^
Now, not only on general grounds is it diflScult for any one who has carefully studied the two documents, to believe that the writer of the j^ilosophic-mystical treatise not only had the Christian apocalyptic writing before him but took it as his point of departure ; but, even if we are still strongly dominated by what hss hitherto been the traditional riew in all such qnestioni, and cling to the theory that when ^ere ia similarity the Christian scripture must necessarily have been first in the field, it is very difficult to believe that a copier of " Hennas " should have left no traces of an acquaint- ance with the very distinctive feature of the robe and staff and wallet of the shepherd, and of the conversation which follows in what, on this theory, would be the presupposed original
Tn Popular Stmbouo Rifrisintatioh or THS Shiphud
The mystical representation and thought«tmospheie of the writer or redactor of our present " Poemandres* are far removed from any direct traces of contact with the folk-consciousness, in which the appurtenances men- tioned by " Hermas " were the typical literary description
^ Compftre the intereeting inacription from Sakkba qaolid from Erman (note, below).
'^HERMAS AND "HERMES 373
of a shepherd since the time of Theocritus ; ^ not only 80, but this was the symbolic representation of the " Shepherd of Men " in the general Hellenistic religious consciousness. Indeed, we find unquestionable proofs that Hermes was pre-eminently regarded as the " Grood Shepherd," and a figure of him with staff and wallet and single robe was a great favourite in the popular cult^
In one passage ^ in which mention is made of this wallet and staff, further details are given showing that these simple symbols were well imderstood. The right hand is raised, and the left holds staff and wallet Moreover, the staff has a serpent entwined round it, and Hermes is clad in a single robe. like Isis, he stands upon the world-sphere, which has also a serpent twined round it Hermes here represents the Mind or Logos, the father-mother (staff and wallet) force of nature ; with the " left " he brings into generation, with the " right " he leads souls out of genesis, either to death, or regeneration. In this prayer, Hermes (as the sun) is called " the Shepherd who hath his fold in the West"*
It is to be further remarked that Hermes is in the dress of the ** Poor,"*^ and of the " Naked."*
1 R. 11, n. 3.
> Compare Wessely, Denkschr. d. K. K. Akad. (1888X 103, 2369 ff.
» Ibid,, 104, 2373.
« Erman (AgypUn, 515) ref^s to an inscription from Sakk&ra, in which a mystical shepherd says to his flock : " Your Shepherd is in the West with the fishes,"— an interesting conjimction of ideas for students of archaic Christian symboUsm. The idea is also Babylonian, the Star-flocks of the Qods being fed beyond the Ocean in the West
^ Compare the dress of the Essenes, and the account of the send- ing forth of the disciples, Matt. x. 9 b Mark vi. 8 s Luke ix. 3. The direct contradiction of the account in Mark to the statements in Matthew and Luke, makes it exceedingly probable that not only the one robe, and staff, but also the wallet, were the typical signs of those who went forth to *' raise the dead."
* He is clad in the w%pi(mfiUf the working dress (or apron),
374 THRICE-GREATEST HBRMBS
Thi Name '"Hebmas"
But to return to Hemuu. Why * Hermas " of all names in the world in this oonnection ? We haTe a large literature in which " Hermes " plajs the part cl seer, and prophet, and revealer, and writer of sacred scriptures; in it, moreover, he figures as the belored disciple of the Heavenly Mind, the Shepherd of Men. But what have we in Christian tradition to explain the name ** Hermas " ? Nothing, absolutely nothing, but contradictory hypotheses which try to discover a historic Hermas so as to authenticate the provenance of what is manifestly, like nearly every similar document of the time, pseudepigraphic In my opinion, indeed, the very name Hermas betrays more clearly than anything else the "Hermes'* source of the Christian writer's setting of part of his most interesting apocalyptic "Hermas" is because of ''Hermes," rather than ''Hermes" in answer to "Hermas," as Hilgers would have it
An Early Form of the " Pcemaxdres "
This, however, does not mean to say that " Hermas ' took the setting of the introduction of hia Pastoral apocalypses from precisely the same text of the " I\Bmandre8 " which now lies before us, for our present text is manifestly the redaction of an earlier form ; so that if we could recover the other form we should in all probability find some additional verbal agreement of " Hermas " with " Hermea"
in which men weie said to work ^naked" (fnutiu, ywtt.w4t) that IB, dad in one robe. See also note on the Kntenoe : ** And naked I sought the Naked," in treating of the Qymnosophiflts (or Nakad PhilosophersX in my ApMmiut
"HBRMAS and "HERMES 375
That the ideas of the " Poemandres " treatise were the mystical and philosophical side of much that appears in the popular cult of the time, may be seen by an inspection of the prayers from the Magic Papyri which we have translated.^ In them the Mind, as the Shepherd of Men, and the Revealer of the light, is clearly set forth. Reitzenstein's view (p. 32), ac- cordingly, is that the Christian writer must have taken his description of the Shepherd from what originally was a fuller text of the *' Poemandres " than the one preserved to us, and that this will account for several features which would otherwise be peculiar to " Hennas." This text was in closer verbal agreement with the general language of the popular Hermes religion as preserved to us in the Hermes-Prayers.'
The Holy Mount
But the direct points of contact between '* Hermas ** and the Trismegistic literature are not confined to the "Pcemandres" document. As the original writer of " Hermas *' was dependent on " Hermes " for the setting of the introduction to his Pastoral apocalypses, so also it is highly probable that the redactor was influenced by a lost treatise referred to in the introduction of ** The Sacred Sermon on the Mountain," CJff., xiiL (xiv.).
In this treatise reference is made to one of the now lost " General Sermons,"^ the scene of which also took
1 See **The Popular Theurgic Hermes Colt in the Greek Magic Papyri."
' Compare Htrmoi, Vis. v. 2 : ''I am sent . . . that I may dwell with thee for the rest of the days of thy life," with Prayer i. 10 : **for all the length of my life's days'* ; and v. 3 : '* I know into whose charge I have been given," with Prayer iL 7: **l know thee, Hermes."
' ir rtiis y%9*itoh»
876 THRICE-0REATB8T WEBMEB
pUoe on a mountain. For in oonnection with it mention is made by Tat of his paaring over a moon- tain, or ascending a mountain, at the beginnixig ct his noTiciate, when he became a * suppliant * ; ^ while it is further stated by Tat that at that stage the doctrine was not clearly explained, but rather hidden in riddles ; for that as yet he was not sufficiently purified, and made ''a stranger to the world-iUusion."
Now, it is remarkable that " Hermas," in the appendix to the book (Sim. ix.), tells us that after these rerela- tions the Shepherd came to him again, and told him that much had not been explained because of his ** weakness in the flesh"; but now that he has been strengthened by the Spirit, the Shepherd will explain all " with greater clearness.'' He then takes him away into Arcadia (a very unexpected locali^ for a Chris- tian writer in Rome to choose), to a ** breast-like moun- tain," where he has the further teaching revealed to him.
But, strangely enough, it was precisely in Arcadia that the chief Hellenic cult of Hermes existed, as stated by Lactantius, basing himself on the oommon belief at Rome ;' and from Arcadia it was that Hermes, according to a tendency-legend that even at Rome went back at least to the second century B.a, set forth to teach the Egyptians.
''Onostig'* Bluomts
Moreover, '* Hennas " is throughout strongly tinged with "Gnostic" elements. As I wrote in my last book,' it is practically one of the very numerous
' A term need by Philo as a synonym of Thermpeut ' Div. Imtitt^ L 6— as cited among Evidenoet from the Fathen^ where see my note on Pheneufl. * Op. iup. cU^ p. 365.
AND " HERMES " 377
permutations and combinations of the Sophia-mythus — one of the many settings-forth of the mystic lore and love of the Christ and the Sophia, or Wisdom, of the Son of Grod and His spouse or sister, the Holy Spirit, of the King and Queen, of the Lord and the Virgin Church. In its most instructive series of visions are depicted the mystic scenes of the allegorical drama of man's inner nature— the mystery-play of all time.
But when we say *' Gnostic" we mean much that is also Hellenistic mysticism, and therefore much that is also " Hermetic," for in the Trism^iBtic literature there is set forth a Gnosis of a far simpler type than in any of the Christian systems technically called ** Gnostic"
The Vices and Virtues
A striking example of the similarity of ideas of this nature is found in comparing the list of twelve vices and ten (seven and three) virtues, given in C. H., xiiL (xiv.) 7-10,1 with " Hermas," Sim. ix. 15, 1-3, where twelve '* virgins," each bearing the name of a virtue, are set over against twelve " women clothed in black," each bearing the name of a vice ; and with " Hermas," Vis. iii. 8, 7, where seven women, each in turn the mother of the other, are called by the names of seven virtues.
We need not, of course, necessarily suppose any direct contact in this case, though it is curious that the list of virtues occurs precisely in the sermon "On the Mountain'; but both writers clearly move in, or are influenced by, the same circle of ideas, and that, too, ideas of a very special nature.
The above points are sufficient for our purpose, and throw a most interesting light on one element in the
' Theveiy treatise to which we have previously referred in connection with the ^ mountain."
378 THRICK-GRBATEST HKRmB
oompodtbii of the rerj ftodant Chmtian AMgwn— it whose excluBum from ttte eanon, after enjoTing for ao meny yean practically caponical authority, is to bt regretted.
Thi Eablt Date or thi Obioqial " HmuLs "
Now, ''Apocalyptic Hennas* is distinctly "anti- PaaliDe,** and perhaps this more than anything ebe accounts for the final exclusion of the book from the canon ; it is therefore in vain to seek in it quotations from any of the Proline Letters. But what is still moie remarkable, neither it nor the " P^tftoral Hermaa * quote from any of the Canonical Groepels. This argoes a Teiy early date.
If, then, we are inclined to accept the statement of the writer of the Muratorian Fragment (e. 170 ajx) that " Hennas " was written at Some daring the bishop- ric of Pius (140-c 155 A.aX this most refer to the completed work of the last redactor who is held re- sponsible for "Hermas iii^" and who was acquainted with several books of the canon. The ''Pastoral Hermas" may thus be fairly pushed back to the be- ginning of the first century.
We have also to remember — a point which Beitaan- stein does not seem to have taken into consideration — not only that the Greek original of our form of " Hermas " is lost, but that the Old Latin version has also disappeared, and that we possess only a Ghreek retranslation from the Latin.^ Under these circnm- stances, it is still more surprising that such strong traces of direct literary dependence on the original form of the " PoBmandres " introduction should still remain in our •* Hermas."
1 See Gebhardt and Hamaok, op. oiL^ Prelagg. xi a. H
HERMAS " AND '' HERMES " 379
The Depkndknck Theory to be used with Caution
It would, however, in my opinion be a grave miBtake to push the theory of literary dependence too far, and to seek to account for the main content of " Hermaa " on any theory of direct borrowing from allied sources, or even solely of direct external conditioning by the mystical and theological ideas of the time. There is no d priori reason against the high probability that the original writer was recording some genuine inner experiences, however much, as was the fashion of the time, and of other times and climes, they may have been expanded, interpolated, and polished by literary art.
It is true that all such inner experiences would be strongly conditioned by the prior conceptions, thought- tone, and theological beliefs of the writer, and by the current and traditional types of such experiences known in his day. Indeed, it is very difficult anywhere to meet with the record of visions or apocalyptic utterances which are not so conditioned. The Buddhist seer, sees in the mode of traditional Buddhist conceptions of the unseen ; the Hellenic mantis and sibyl find themselves in an invisible world of the familiar nature known to them from the mythologists, and poets, and mystery- traditions; the I^ptian prophet moves amid the familiar topography and schematology of the Amenti of his nation ; even an Ezekiel sees in the symbols of the Babylonian cultus; while the Christian mystic invariably finds himself in the conventional heaven of the saints and the hell of the sinners.
It is not, therefore, necessary to follow Seitzenstein (pp. 8-11) in detail, when he seeks to show the strong influence of heathen mystical literature on the early
380 THRICB-6REATE8T HKRMB8
Christian document we are diflciUBing, and to point to striking parallels between the setting of the first four visions of " Hermas," and the visions of Zommas, as preserved in the fragments of his " Acts," ^ or the " Visit to Hades" of Setme and Si-Osiri, and their passing through the Seven Halls,* as partially preaeryed in the Demotic "Tales of Khamuas."*
It is true that Zosimus, who flourished towards the end of the third century, was a member of the Pcemandres community, and, therefore, what he has to say is of great interest to us, for doubtless his visions were strongly conditioned by the Trismegistic tradition and especially by the Isis-type of its literatoie, and the cognate Egyptian "Books of Hermes"; but the points on which Seitzenstein lays stress seem somewhat too general to allow of our drawing any direct conclusion with regard to "Hermas" and " Hermes."
There is a certain similarity; but our information is too scanty to permit of any precise drawing ol general conclusions. There is, however, a valuable piece of information which prevents us from attribut- ing all the similarities which may be noticed purely to the general thought-atmosphere of the times. In one particular at least, we can be more definite.
Thi Visions of Cratb
Zosimus is not the only follower of Thrice-greatest Hermes whose visions are still on record. Grates also
1 The texts are given by Berthelot (M. P. a), Lm
s Griffith (F.UXStorMfo/ 1900X ppi 45 ff.
"HERMAS" AND ** HERMES " 381
has left an account of his mystic experiences, though unfortunately transmitted to us only in Arabic transla- tion from the original Greek.^
Crates leaves his body and enters the unseen world. "While I was praying," he writes, "I felt myself suddenly carried into the airs [of heaven], following the same path as the sun and moon." Here he meets with Thrice-greatest Hermes in the guise of " an old man, the most beautiful of men, seated on a chair ; he was clad in white raiment, and held a book in his hand resting on the arm of the chair."
Compare this with "Hennas" (Via il 2, 2): "I see opposite me a chair, and on it a covering of wool white as hail;^ then came there an old woman, in shining white raiment, having a book in her hand, and sat down alona"
After this revelation, and when the "old woman" had ceased reading from the book, four young men came and carried off the chair, and departed with it to the East (ibid,, 4, 1).
Here again it is of interest to compare this with the introduction to a magical " light-ritual," where the seer has a vision of four men with crowns on their heads who bring in the " throne of the god." *
Crates is taught from the book and bidden to write what he is told. " Make thy book according to the instructions which I have given ; and know that I am with thee and will never leave thee till thou hast accomplished all."
So also "Hermas"; compare also the last sentence
1 Berthelot (M. P. S.X La Chdmu au Moyen Age, iii. 44 ff., 268, n. 1 ; R. 361.
' According to the Ethiopic translation. See The ApoetoUc Fathen, p. 325, n. 4, in the " Ante-Nicene Christian Library," vol. i. ^inburgh, 1867).
3 Kenyon (F. Q.\ Greek Paip. Cat., p. 66 ; R. 280, n. 3.
882 THRICE-QREATBST HKRMES
with the i^rmse in the Introduction to the ** Butonl Hermas": "I am tent . . . that I may dwell with thee for the rest of the days of thy lifsL**
In another vision, Crates is instructed in a dialogue which strongly reflects the s^le and substance of our Trismegistic sermona And in yet another be mores in the psychic reflection of the setting of the now for the most part lost Isis-type of the literature, which has a more strongly Egyptian colouring. He is transported to yet another heaven and firmament, and there sees the temple of Ptah (HephsstusX and the statue of Venus (IsisX which holds converse with him.
He was then evidently saturated with the Tris- megistic tradition, and had access to treatises which are now, unfortunately, lost to us, for it is just this type of the literature which shows signs of the more direct influence of Egyptian ideas, and the mention of the temple of Ptah is a striking confirmation thmt Beitnn- stein is on the right track in his analysis of the oldest deposit of the '^ Ptemandres," which he connects with the Ptah-tradition.
Thi Gkniral Christiam "Mant" ahd thk Gnostic "Few"
That the end and aim of the later Egyptian religion, and of all Hellenistic religious circles in general, was a Gnosis, or definite mystical experience in the form of visions and apocalypses, is manifest on all sides ; and that this also was the chief interest of very numerous circles in the Early Church is a fundamental fact in the study of Christian origins which should not be impatiently brushed on one side, or minimised almost to extinction as of no real importance, but which should be restored to the first rank in seeking
'' HERMAS " AND " HERMES " 383
an explanation of the many obscure problems of these early days which no purely objective considerations will solve.
That the Greneral Christian of these days, as of all subsequent centuries, had naturally much to learn in these matters from the trained Mystic, whether of his own faith or of another, is saying nothing to his dis- credit, for he naturally belonged to the ** many " who were striving to become the "few." General Chris- tianity, however, spread so rapidly that the definite cultivation of the spiritual faculties practised by the early contemplatives of the faith soon gave place to a fanatical enthusiasm for a misunderstood monkdom, which swamped the monasteries with a flood of the •• many," who were often without any true vocation for the holy life, and not unfrequently quite ignorant of the elements of contemplation.
We need not speak of the wild fanaticism of warrior monkdom let loose with pick and hatchet and fire-brand to destroy the treasures of religious art throughout the beautiful Hellenic world, but even among the quiet and peaceable brethren there was much ignorance. How unknowing some of these good folk were, we may learn from a naive story, the very simplicity of which convinces the reader of its genuineness.
Perhaps some one may here interject: But this has nothing to do with ** Hermas *' ! Perhaps not ; but it has a great deal to do with a proper understanding of the history of the development of General Christianity and its relationship to the deeper religious conscious- ness of the first centuries. When, then, I read the Greek text of this simple story, as reproduced by Keitzenstein,^ I thought that some who could not read
^ R. 34 — from ApopJUheffmtUa Patntm, in Coteleriiu^ EotUm Qrtteot MonwrncrUa^ i 582.
384 THRICE-GRKATE8T HERMES
Greek, but who take a very deep interest in such matters, might like to hear it, and so I have set it down in Kngliah
Tn Stokt or Abbot Oltmpiub
The story runs as follows :
" Abbot Olympius^ said that one day a priest of the [Heathen] Greeks came down to Scetis ; ' he came to my cell and passed the night there.
*" Seeing the manner of life of the monks, he saith to me : ' Living in this way, do ye not enjoy visions from your God ? ' • Nay ! ' I answer.
" Then saith the priest to me :' So long as we dnly serve our God with holy deeds, he hideth nought from us, but revealeth unto us his mysteries. And ye, in spite of all your great labours — watchings, keep- ing silence, disciplines — sayest thou, ye see nought? Assuredly, then, if ye see nought, ye have let evil reasonings come into your hearts which shut yon from your God ; and 'tis for this cause his mysteries are not revealed to you.'
"And I went and told the elder [brethren] the words of the priest; and they were astonished and agreed that so it was. For impure reasonings do shut off Grod from man."
I do not exactly understand what is the predse meaning of Xoyur/Aoi^, which usually means ** reason-
^ I do not know who this Olympiiii waa, unlewi, perdisnoe, be may have been the monk referred to by Nilna QL 7T\ the famous aaoetic of Sinai, who flooriahed in the fint quarter of the fifth oentory.
' Again, I can find no information about thia place ; it waa, however, preaumably in the Nitriote nome aouth of the IMta— for the priett '* came down."
" HBRMA8 " AND " HERMES " 385
ings/' and seems on the face of it to suggest that the monks' intellectual grasp of the matter was at fault. It may, however, mean simply that their " thoughts " were impure. But this is not any more satisfactory, for the monks must have known already that impure thoughts were to be driven out
What is clear is that the *' priest of the Greeks " had personal experience of these pious exercises, and came from a circle where such things were normally practised ; he, moreover, knew what was the reason for the monks' non-success in contemplation. He knew that it all depended on thought, and that, too, on " good thought," so that the ''Oood" might descend on the " good," as the Hermes-Prayer (L 9, 13) says. But he knew more than this; he knew that there was also need of '' right thought," of Onosis as well as of faith, of the proper use of the intelligence and the driving out of erroneous ideas with regard to the nature of GkxL
A Final Word
But for a final word on "Hennas." This early document was written at Home ; so all are agreed. It would, then, seem necessary to allow of sufficient time for a wide circulation of the older form of the " Poem- andres," before it could reach Some from Egypt This time could not have been short, for it must be reckoned not by geographical considerations, which are hardly of any consequence in this connection, but by the fact that the '' Poemandres " was the gospel of a school that laid the greatest possible stress on secrecy. How, then, could a Christian writer have got possession of a copy 7 Had the pledge of secrecy already by this time been removed? This is not credible, for later Trismegistic documents still lay the greatest stress upon it
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386 THRICB-GRSATSST HKRMIW
Were, then, the early ChiietiAn mystical writers in intimate reUtionship with such circles as the Paomaii- dres-community ? Some Gnostios ondoubtedly were; was the writer of " Hermaa" f Was there onoe friend- ship where subsequently was bitter strife 7
Such and many other most interesting qnestioDfl arise, but there is little hope that any satisfactosy answer will be given them until the work on the mystical religious environment of the time has been pushed forward to such a point, that men may gradually become accustomed to the view that much of the secret id the Origins lies concealed in that very environments
In any case, the way is cleared for pushing back the earlier " Poamandres " document well into the first cen- tury, and for ranking it, therefore, as at least con- temporary with the earliest of the New Testament writings.
XI
CONCERNING THE ^ON-DOCTRINE
" HsiLB then, my son, how standeth God and All. God ; -fion ; CosmoB ; Time ; Becoming." — C, JBT., xi (xii) 1.
The Scope of our Essay
While rigidly excluding any consideration of the amazing elaboration of Christo-Gnostic seonologj, it may not be unserviceable to offer a few notes in connection with the simpler idea of the Moil The subject really requires a treatise in itself, but that would, of course, be too lengthy an undertaking for these Prolegomena.^
Let us, then, first turn to a striking passage which purports to give us the Orphic tradition of the Genesis of the World-E^, and of the relation of its Glorious Progeny to the iEon,
The passage is of great interest for us in our present enquiry, for if it is not a direct quotation from Apion, the Alexandrian savant, and bitter opponent of the Jews and of Philo, during the first half of the first
> From Prof. Montet's report {Anaiic Qr. JBev., Oct 1904) of the "Proceedings of the Second International Congress of the History of Religions" (BftleX Aug. 20-Sept. 2, 1904, I see that Reitzenstein presented a monograph on the ''Aion*' to the Congress. I do not^ however, know whether this has jet been published.
388 THRICB-OBKATSST mntMMg
century ajx, it at anyrate loproacntB the view of tbe Hellenistic theology of that period.
Tbe paaBage is found in one of the aoarees of the composite and overworked document known as the ClemetUifu Homiliu} and runs as f oUowb :
Thi Orphic TRADrnoN or thi Gtarasis oy thi Wosld-Ego