I. An Invocation to Herhxs as ths Good Mind^

[BeriMd text, B. 15-18 ; Leemaiui (C), Papyri Orm. Mub. AnL Pub. Lug, Bat. (Leyden, 1886X IL 141, 14 £, and V. 27, 27 fL ; Dieterich (A.X Ahraxtu (Leipzig, 1891), 196, 4 ff. ; and Jahrhikkm' f. dan. P^f{.,lSuppL XYI. 808 ff. (Papyntf Mag. Mut. Lug. BaL).]
1. Come unto me, O thou of the four winds,* al- mighty one,' who breathest spirit into men to give them life;
2. Whose name is hidden, and beyond the power of men to speak ; * no prophet [even] can pronounce it ; yea, even daimons, when they hear thy name, are fearful !
3. O thou, whose tireless eyes are sun and moon,^ — [eyes] that shine in the pupils ^ of the eyes of men !
4. 0 thou, who hast the heaven for head, sether for body, [and] earth for feet, and for tiie water round thee ocean's deep!^ Thou the Gkxxl Daimon art, who art the sire of all things good, and nurse of the whole world.'
5. Thy everlasting revelling-place' is set abova
6. Thine the good emanations ^^ of the stars, — those daimons, fortunes, and those fates by whom are given
^ I have supplied the tdtleB.
' Perhaps originaUy spirits or breaths.
' wtarroMpdrmp, used of Hermee, Arith. P., append^ 282.
* Oompaie Lactantius, L 6 (Frag. II.); and especially iv. 7 (Frag. VI.).
6 The *' eyes and light of Horus^" according to Plutarch, D$ Ib. d Ot,y lii. ; mystically, the higher and lower ** ego " and much dae.
^ h reus icipais — compare the dissertation on the meaning of the title of our treatise generally translated "Virgin («^) of the World," in the commentary thereto.
7 Sc. the Ocean of Space, the " Great Qreen " of the Ritual
* That is, father-mother of the unirerse.
* mmfutaripiw — that is, heaven. See vn. 3 below.
>® hwdppotmi — or personified influences. See Plutarch, Ih It. d Ot., xxxviii, liiL, IviiL ; and especially PidU Sophia^ where it occurs over and over again. Compare also K.K^l; Stob., p. 406, 17 (W.).
THE POPULAR TH8TJBOI0 HSRME8-0ULT 85
wealth, good blend [of nature],^ and good children, good fortune, and good burial For thou art lord of life, —
7. Thou who art king of hearens and earth and all that dwell in them ;
8. Whose Bighteousness is nerer put awaj ; whose Mosea hymn thy glorious name; whom the eight Wardens guard, — thou the possessor of the Truth ' pure (rfaUliel
9. Thy Name and Spirit rest upon the good.'
10. 0 mayst thou come into my mind and heart for all the length of my life's days, and bring unto accomplishment all thii^ my soul desires!
11. For thou art I, and I am thou.* Whatever I speak, may it for ever be ; for that I have thy Name ^ to goATd me in my heart^
1 €hmpmw(m — refsrring apparently to tiie compoiitioii of "body" and «8ouL"
' That Ib, the Pleroma or Mem. (see vi. 8 below). Beitzen- •tein (p. 18) Bays rightly, as we have seen, that EgyptologirtB liave long recogniaed that the Qod here identified with Agatho- daimon was originally the Hermes or Thoth of Hermopolis Ifagna, Lord of the E^t Wardens (the Ogdoad^ symbolised by apes, hymned by the Muses ( ? the Nine or EnneadX and spouse of Isis-Rif^teonsness {rf, Plut, De It, et 0$^ iiL).
' See 13 below.
* Compare the extra-canonical logoi\ ''I stood on a lofty moontain and saw a gigantic man, and another, a dwarf ; and I heard as it were a voice of thunder, and drew nigh for to hear ; and He spake unto me and said : I am thou, and thou art I ; and wheresoever thou mayest be 1 am there. In all am I scattered [that is, the Logos as seed or *' members "], and whencesoever thou wiliest, thon gatherest Me; and gathering Me, thou gatherest Thyself." (From the Ootpel o/Eve, quoted by Epiphanius, Hearu,, xxvL a) Cf. n. 7.
* In the I^^tian sense — that is, thy true ^person" or ** presence." See R. 17, n. 6, for many references to this funda- mental concept of Egyj^ian religion.
* fmkaitrtpim^^ht^ as a phylactery or amulet See R. 18, n. 8, lor Egyptian origin of Jewish phylaeteriaa.
86 THRIOB-OREATBST HERMB8
12. And every serpent^ roused shall have no power o'er me, nor shall I be opposed by any spirit, or daimonial power, or any plague, or any of the evils in the Unseen World ; * for that I have thy Name within my soul.
13. Thee I invoke ; come unto me, Good, altogether good, [come] to the good,' — thou whom no magic can enchant, no magic can control,^ who givest me good health, security,'^ good store, good fame, victory, [and] strength, and cheerful countenance ! ®
14. Cast down the eyes of all who are against me, and give me grace on all my deeds ! ^
IL An Invocation to Lord Hkbhxs
[Beviaed and mtored tezti stripped of later overworkings, B. 80, SI. WeeKly (C), Denkichnftm dtr kaiiorUcken Ahademie d&r Wiuenichafim^ " Neue griechi«die Zaaberpapyri " (Vienna, 1893), vol. xliL p. 55 ; Kenyon (F. Q,\ Greek Papyri in the Britith Museum (London, 18d3), i. 116.]
1. Come unto me. Lord Hermes, even as into women's wombs [come] babes ! *
2. Come unto me. Lord Hormes, who dost collect the food of gods and men ! ^
3. Lord Hermes, come to me, and give me grace,
' if^ — here the Rymbol of any hostile elemental force. Compare K. ^.,— Stob., 402, 22 (W.).
3 See 9 above.
" amrnploM^ or salvation.
® See n. 2 below.
7 Compare with this prayer for the desoent of the Mind into the heart, the ascent of the man into the Mind of (7. H^ xiiL (xiii) 3.
* This is an echo of spiritoal rebirth or regeneration.
* In its highest sense the heavenly food, or wisdom, the ^'snper- substantial bread," or " bread of life."
THB POPULAR TREITKOIC HERMES-CULT 87
[and] food, [and] victory, [and] health and happiness, and cheerful countenance,^ beauty and powers in sight of aUl
4 I know thy Name that shineth forth in heaven ; I know thy forms* as well; I know thy tree;* I know thy wood^ as well
5. I know thee, Hermes, who thou art, and whence thou art, and what thy city is.
6. I know thy names in the Egyptian tongue,^ and thy true name as it is written on the holy tablet in the holy place at Hermes' city, where thou dost have thy birth.
7. I know thee, Hermes, and thou [knowest] me; [and] I am thou, and thou art I.^
8. Come unto me ; fulfil all that I crave ; be favour- able to me together with good fortune and the blessing of theOood.7