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Thrice-Greatest Hermes, Vol. 2 · 14 of 51

VII. (VIII.) The Greatest Ill Among Men is Ignorance of God

CORPUS HERMETICUM VII. (VIII.)

THE GREATEST ILL AMONG MEN IS IGNORANCE OF GOD

(Text: P. 54, 55; Pat. 18a.)

1.Whither stumble ye, sots, who have sopped up the wine of ignorance unmixed, and can so far not carry it that ye already even spew it forth?

Stay ye, be sober, gaze upwards with the [true] eyes of the heart! And if ye cannot all, yet ye at least who can!

For that the ill of ignorance doth pour o’er all the earth and overwhelm the soul that’s battened down within the body, preventing it from fetching port within Salvation’s harbours.

2.Be then not carried off by the fierce flood, but using the shore-current, ye who can, make for Salvation’s port, and, harbouring there, seek ye for one to take you by the hand and lead you unto Gnosis’ gates.

Where shines clear Light, of every darkness clean; where not a single soul is drunk, but sober all they gaze with their hearts’ eyes on Him who willeth to be seen.

No ear can hear Him, nor can eye see Him, nor tongue speak of Him, but [only] mind and heart.

But first thou must tear off from thee the cloak which thou dost wear,—the web of ignorance, the ground of bad, corruption’s chain, the carapace of darkness, the living death, sensation’s corpse, the tomb thou carriest with thee, the robber in thy house, who through the things he loveth, hateth thee, and through the things he hateth, bears thee malice.

3.Such is the hateful cloak thou wearest,—that throttles thee [and holds thee] down to it, in order that thou may’st not gaze above, and, having seen the Beauty of the Truth, and Good that dwells therein, detest the bad of it; having found out the plot that it hath schemed against thee, by making void of sense those seeming things which men think senses.

For that it hath with mass of matter blocked them up and crammed them full of loathsome lust, so that thou may’st not hear about the things that thou should’st hear, nor see the things that thou should’st see.

Footnotes

120:1 Lit. back or up-current.

120:2 Cf. C. H., iv. (v.) 11; ix. (x.) 10; x (xi.) 2; R. 23, n. 5.

Asked of Guide

Why does the text call ignorance a 'cloak' and how must one remove it to reach Gnosis?

The chapter names ignorance a “cloak” because it conceals the soul and binds it to matter: “the web of ignorance, the ground of bad, corruption’s chain, the carapace of darkness, the living death.” That image shows ignorance as something worn and imposed, stuffing the senses with “loathsome lust” so the soul cannot “hear” or “see” spiritual truth.

Removal happens by turning inward and upward with the “true eyes of the heart,” finding a guide to lead you to Gnosis’ gates, and making for “Salvation’s port” using the shore-current. This fits Hermes’ wider claim in the Corpus Hermeticum that salvation is salvific vision and inward knowledge, a theme echoed in Mead’s translation and in the Hermetic emphasis on inner illumination.

Guide is the guide inside the Gnosis app, where every book on these shelves is free to read. Guide is the part you pay for — your guide has read all of them, and answers about the passage you’re actually on. Ask your guide your own question.