{"collection":"Gnosticism","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/gno/th3/th310.htm","path":"gno/th3/th310.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/gno/th3/th310.htm","text":"Thrice-Greatest Hermes, Vol. 3, by G.R.S. Mead, [1906]\n(Patrizzi (p. 38b) does not give the first third of the text (\u00a7\u00a7 1-5), and his title, \u201cOf the Stars,\u201d is evidently incomplete; it is followed by \u201cTo the Same [i.e. Tat].\u201d\nText: Stob., Phys., xxi. 9, under the heading: \u201cOf Hermes from the [Sermon] to Tat,\u201d pp. 184-190; M. i. 129-133; W. i. 189-194.\nM\u00e9nard, Livre IV., No. vi. of \u201cFragments from the Books of Hermes to his Son Tat,\u201d pp. 242-247, under the sub-heading, \u201cOf the Decans and the Stars.\u201d)\n1. Tat. Since in thy former General Sermons (Logoi 1), [father,] thou didst promise me an explanation of the Six-and-thirty Decans, 2 explain, I prithee, now concerning them and their activity. 3\nHer. There\u2019s not the slightest wish in me not to do so, O Tat, and this should prove the\nmost authoritative sermon (logos) and the chiefest of them all. So ponder on it well.\nWe have already spoken unto thee about the Circle of the Animals, or the Life-giving one, 1 of the Five Planets, and of Sun and Moon, and of the Circle 2 of each one of these.\n2. Tat. Thou hast done so, Thrice-greatest one.\nHer. Thus would I have thee understand as well about the Six-and-thirty Decans,\u2014calling the former things to mind, in order that the sermon on the latter may also be well understood by thee.\nTat. I have recalled them, father, [to my mind].\nHer. We said, [my] son, there is a Body which encompasses all things.\nConceive it, then, as being in itself a kind of figure of a sphere-like shape; so is the universe conformed.\nTat. I\u2019ve thought of such a figure in my mind, just as thou dost describe, O father [mine].\n3. Her. Beneath the Circle of this [all-embracing] frame 3 are ranged the Six-and-thirty Decans, between this Circle of the Universe and that one of the Animals, determining the boundaries of both these Circles, and, as it were,\nholding that of the Animals aloft up in the air, and [so] defining it.\nThey 1 share the motion of the Planetary Spheres, and [yet] have equal powers with the [main] motion of the Whole, 2 crosswise 3 the Seven.\nThey\u2019re 4 checked by nothing but the All-encircling Body, for this must be the final thing in the [whole grades of] motion,\u2014itself by its own self.\nBut they speed on the Seven other Circles, because they 5 move with a less rapid motion than the [Circle] of the All.\nLet us, then, think of them as though of Watchers stationed round [and watching] over both the Seven themselves and o\u2019er the Circle of the All,\u2014or rather over all things in the World,\n[paragraph continues] \u2014holding together all, and keeping the good order of all things.\n4. Tat. Thus do I have it, father, in my mind, from what thou say\u2019st.\nHer. Moreover, Tat, thou should\u2019st have in thy mind that they are also free from the necessities laid on the other Stars.\nThey are not checked and settled in their course, nor are they [further] hindered and made to tread in their own steps again 1; nor are they kept away from 2 the Sun\u2019s light,\u2014[all of] which things the other Stars endure.\nBut free, above them all, as though they were inerrant Guards and Overseers of the whole, they night and day surround the universe.\n5. Tat. Do these, then, also, further exercise an influence 3 upon us?\nHer. The greatest, O [my] son. For if they act in 4 them, 5 how should they fail to act on us as well,\u2014both on each one of us and generally? 6\nThus, O [my] son, of all those things that happen generally, the bringing into action 7 is from these 8; as for example,\u2014and ponder what I say,\u2014downfalls of kingdoms, states\u2019 rebellions,\nplagues [and] famines, tidal waves [and] quakings of the earth; no one of these, O son, takes place without their action. 1\nNay, further still, bear this in mind. If they rule over them, and we are in our turn beneath the Seven, dost thou not think that some of their activity extends to us as well,\u2014[who are] assuredly their sons, or [come into existence] by their means?\n6. Tat. What, [then,] may be the type 2 of body that they have, O father [mine]?\nHer. The many call them daimones; but they are not some special class of daimones, for they have not some other kind of bodies made of some special kind of matter, nor are they moved by means of soul, as we [are moved], but they are [simple] operations 3 of these Six-and-thirty Gods.\nNay, further, still, have in thy mind, O Tat, their operations,\u2014that they cast in the earth the seed of those whom [men] call Tan\u0115s, some playing the part of saviours, others being most destructive. 4\n7. Further the Stars 1 in heaven as well do in their several [courses] bear them 2 underworkers 3; and they 4 have ministers and warriors 5 too.\nAnd they 6 in [everlasting] congress with them 7 speed on their course in \u00e6ther floating, fullfilling [all] its 8 space, so that there is no space above empty of stars.\nThey are the cosmic engine of the universe, 9 having their own peculiar action, which is subordinate, however, to the action of the Thirty-six,\u2014from whom throughout [all] lands arise the deaths of [all] the other lives 10 with souls, and hosts of [lesser] lives that spoil the fruit.\n8. And under them 11 is what is called the\n[paragraph continues] Bear, 1\u2014just in the middle of the Circle of the Animals, 2 composed of seven stars, and with another corresponding [Bear] 3 above its head.\nIts energy is as it were an axle\u2019s, setting nowhere and nowhere rising, but stopping [ever] in the self-same space, and turning round the same, giving its proper motion 4 to the Life-producing Circle, 5 and handing over this whole universe from night to day, from day to night.\nAnd after this 6 there is another choir of stars, to which we have not thought it proper to give names; but they who will come after us, 7 in imitation, will give them names themselves. 8\n9. Again, below the Moon, are other stars, 9 corruptible, deprived of energy, which hold together for a little while, in that they\u2019ve been exhaled out of the earth itself into the air above the earth,\u2014which ever are being broken up, in that they have a nature like unto [that of] useless lives on earth, which come into existence for no other purpose than to die,\u2014such as the tribe of flies, and fleas, and worms, and other things like them.\nFor these are useful, Tat, neither to us nor to the world; but, on the contrary, they trouble and annoy, being nature\u2019s by-products, 1 which owe their birth to her extravagance. 2\nJust in the same way, too, the stars exhaled from earth do not attain the upper space.\nThey cannot do so, since they are sent forth from below; and, owing to the greatness of their weight, dragged down by their own matter, they quickly are dispersed, and, breaking up, fall back again on earth, affecting nothing but the mere disturbance of the air about the earth.\n10. There is another class, O Tat, that of the so-called long-haired [stars], 3 appearing at their proper times, and after a short time, becoming once again invisible;\u2014they neither rise nor set nor are they broken up.\nThese are the brilliant messengers and heralds of the general destinies of things 4 that are to be.\nThey occupy the space below the Circle of the Sun.\nWhen, then, some chance is going to happen to the world, [comets] appear, and, shining for some days, again return behind 5 the Circle of the Sun, and stay invisible,\u2014some showing in\nthe east, some in the north, some in the west, and others in the south. We call them Prophets. 1\n11. Such is the nature of the stars. The stars, however, differ from the star-groups. 2\nThe stars are they which sail 3 in heaven; the star-groups, on the contrary, are fixed in heaven\u2019s frame, 4 and they are borne along together with the heaven,\u2014Twelve out of which we call the Z\u014ddia. 5\nHe who knows these can form some notion clearly of [what] God is; and, if one should dare say so, becoming [thus] a seer for himself, [so] contemplate Him, and, contemplating Him, be blessed.\n12. Tat. Bless\u00e8d, in truth, is he, O father [mine], who contemplateth Him.\nHer. But \u2019tis impossible, O son, that one in body 6 should have this good chance.\nMoreover, he should train his soul beforehand, here and now, that when it reacheth there, [the space] where it is possible for it to contemplate, it may not miss its way.\nBut men who love their bodies,\u2014such men will never contemplate the Vision of the Beautiful and Good.\nFor what, O son, is that [fair] Beauty which hath no form nor any colour, nor any mass? 1\nTat. Can there be aught that\u2019s beautiful apart from these?\nHer. God only, O [my] son; or rather that which is still greater,\u2014the [proper] name of God.\nThe earlier editors of Stob\u00e6us (apparently following the mistake of Patrizzi) have Asclepius instead of Tat as the second person of the dialogue, which is clearly wrong according to the text itself (see the first sentence given to Hermes, and \u00a7\u00a7 9 and 10). 2\nThe excerpt is from a sermon in the Collection to Tat. It belongs to the further explanation of things referred to only generally in the General Sermons; it is, therefore, again probably from one of the Expository Sermons, in which series already a sermon has been given on the Zodiacal Twelve and on the Seven Spheres.\nSeeing also that it is stated that this sermon is \u201cmost authoritative and the chiefest of them all,\u201d we must suppose that it came at the end of one of the Books of the Expository Sermons.\nWe seem to have the beginning of the sermon, but not the end, for Stob\u00e6us breaks off in an aimless and provoking fashion in the midst of a subject.\nFor a list of the Egyptian names of the Decans, with their Greek transcriptions and symbols, see Budge, Gods of the Egyptians, ii. 304-308.\n45:1 \u1f10\u03bd \u03c4\u03bf\u1fd6\u03c2 \u1f14\u03bc\u03c0\u03c1\u03bf\u03c3\u03b8\u03b5\u03bd \u03b3\u03b5\u03bd\u03b9\u03ba\u03bf\u1fd6\u03c2 \u03bb\u03cc\u03b3\u03bf\u03b9\u03c2. Cf. C. H., x. (xi.) 1 and 7; xiii. (xiv.) 1; and Ex. xviii. 1.\n45:2 These are the \u201cHoroscopes\u201d of P. S. A., xix. 3. Cf. also Origen, C. Cels., viii. 58; R. 225, n. 1.\n45:3 Or energy.\n46:1 The zodiac; \u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u1f76 \u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6 \u03b6\u03c9\u03b4\u03b9\u03b1\u03ba\u03bf\u1fe6 \u03ba\u03cd\u03ba\u03bb\u03bf\u03c5 \u1f22 \u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6 \u03b6\u03c9\u03bf\u03c6\u03cc\u03c1\u03bf\u03c5,\u2014of which the second member is probably a gloss; but see \u00a7 8 below.\n46:2 Or sphere.\n46:3 Or body.\n47:1 That is, the Decans.\n47:2 Or Universe.\n47:3 This refers to the astronomical system underlying the Pythagoreo-Platonic tradition, as, for instance, set forth allegorically and symbolically by Plato in the famous passage in The Tim\u00e6us (36 B, C). \u201cThe entire compound he (the Demiurge) divided lengthways into two parts, which he joined to one another at the centre like the letter X, and bent them into a circular form, connecting them with themselves and each other at the point opposite to their original meeting point; and, comprehending them in a uniform revolution upon the same axis, he made the one the outer and the other the inner circle. Now the motion of the outer circle he called the motion of the same, and the motion of the inner circle the motion of the other or diverse\u201d (Jowett\u2019s Translation, iii. 454, 455). The X symbolizes the \u201ccrosswise,\u201d which in terms of motion may be translated as \u201cinverse to.\u201d\n47:4 Sc. the Decans.\n47:5 The Decans.\n48:1 Referring, presumably, to the fixed stars and the planets.\n48:2 Reading \u1f00\u03c0\u1f78 for \u1f51\u03c0\u1f78,\u2014referring to eclipses.\n48:3 Or energy.\n48:4 Or energize.\n48:5 That is, the Seven Spheres.\n48:6 The rest of the fragment is also found in Patrizzi (p. 38b) under the title \u201cOf the Stars.\u201d\n48:7 Or energy.\n48:8 Sc. the Decans.\n49:1 Cf. C. H., xvi. 10.\n49:2 \u03c4\u1f7a\u03c0\u03bf\u03c2. The question concerning the spiritual and other spaces and their inhabitants, \u201cOf what type are they?\u201d\u2014occurs with great frequency in the Bruce and Askew Gnostic Codices.\n49:3 Or energies.\n49:4 \u1f45\u03c4\u03b9 \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u03b5\u1f30\u03c2 \u03c4\u1f74\u03bd \u03b3\u1fc6\u03bd \u03c3\u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03af\u03b6\u03bf\u03c5\u03c3\u03b9\u03bd \u1f03\u03c2 \u03ba\u03b1\u03bb\u03bf\u1fe6\u03c3\u03af \u03c4\u03ac\u03bd\u03b1\u03c2, \u03c4\u1f70\u03c2 \u03bc\u1f72\u03bd \u03c3\u03c9\u03c4\u03b7\u03c1\u03af\u03bf\u03c5\u03c2, \u03c4\u1f70\u03c2 \u03b4\u1f72 \u1f40\u03bb\u03b5\u03b8\u03c1\u03b9\u03ce\u03c4\u03b1\u03c4\u03b1\u03c2. Neither Patrizzi nor Gaisford, nor Meineke, nor Wachsmuth, nor M\u00e9nard, has a word to say on this most interesting passage. I would suggest in the first place that the text is faulty, and that we should read \u201c\u03bf\u1f53\u03c2 \u03ba\u03b1\u03bb\u03bf\u1fe6\u03c3\u03b9 \u03a4\u03ac\u03bd\u03b1\u03c2, \u03c4\u03bf\u1f7a\u03c2 \u03bc\u1f72\u03bd \u03c3\u03c9\u03c4\u03b7\u03c1\u03af\u03bf\u03c5\u03c2, \u03c4\u03bf\u1f7a\u03c2 \u03b4\u1f72 \u1f40\u03bb\u03b5\u03b8\u03c1\u03b9\u03c9\u03c4\u03ac\u03c4\u03bf\u03c5\u03c2\u201d; and in the second that \u03a4\u03ac\u03bd\u03b1\u03c2 is a shortened form of \u03a4\u03b9\u03c4\u1fb6\u03bd\u03b1\u03c2 or Titans. \u03a4\u03ac\u03bd\u03b1\u03c2 (? from \u03a4\u1fb6\u03bd) is connected with \u03c4\u03b1\u03bd\u03b1\u03cc\u03c2, \u201cstretched out,\u201d from \u221a\u03c4\u03b1\u03bd, just as \u03a4\u03b9\u03c4\u1f70\u03bd is connected with \u03c4\u03b9\u03c4\u03b1\u03af\u03bd\u03c9,\u2014\u03a4\u03b9\u03c4\u1fb6\u03bd\u03b5\u03c2 thus signifying the Stretchers or Strivers. It may, however, also be connected with \u03c4\u03af\u03c4\u03b1\u03c2 (\u03c4\u03af\u03c4\u03b7\u03c2)\u2014from \u03c4\u03af\u03bd\u03c9, and so mean Avengers. Cf. J. Laurent. Lydus, De Mensibus, iv. 31 (W. 90, 24), as given in note to P. S. A., xxviii. 1.\n50:1 The planetary spheres, presumably.\n50:2 Sc. the Decans.\n50:3 \u1f51\u03c0\u03bf\u03bb\u03b5\u03b9\u03c4\u03bf\u03c5\u03c1\u03b3\u03bf\u03cd\u03c2\u2014a \u1f05\u03c0\u03b1\u03be \u03bb\u03b5\u03b3\u03cc\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd\u03bf\u03bd. The term \u03bb\u03b5\u03b9\u03c4\u03bf\u03c5\u03c1\u03b3\u03bf\u03af, however, is of frequent occurrence in the Askew and Bruce Codices. See, for instance, Pistis Sophia (Schwartze\u2019s Trans.), p. 10: \u201cAtque \u03b4\u03b5\u03ba\u03b1\u03bd\u03bf\u03b9 \u1f00\u03c1\u03c7\u03bf\u03bd\u03c4\u03c9\u03bd eorumque \u03bb\u03b5\u03b9\u03c4\u03bf\u03c5\u03c1\u03b3\u03bf\u03b9\u201d\n50:4 The Decans.\n50:5 \u03c3\u03c4\u03c1\u03b1\u03c4\u03b9\u03ce\u03c4\u03b1\u03c2\u2014soldiers; one of the most famous of the degrees of the Mithriac mysteries was that of the Soldier. See Cumont (F.), Textes et Monuments Figur\u00e9s relatifs aux Myst\u00e8res de Mithra (Bruxelles; 1899), i. 315, and especially 317, n. 1.\n50:6 The Star-spheres.\n50:7 The Decans.\n50:8 \u00c6ther\u2019s.\n50:9 \u03c3\u03c5\u03b3\u03ba\u03bf\u03c3\u03bc\u03bf\u1fe6\u03bd\u03c4\u03b5\u03c2 \u03c4\u1f78 \u03c0\u1fb6\u03bd.\n50:10 Or animals.\n50:11 The Decans.\n51:1 The Great Bear. Compare \u201cBehold the Bear up there that circles round the Pole.\u201d\n51:2 The zodiac.\n51:3 The Little Bear.\n51:4 Lit. energy.\n51:5 Cf. \u00a7 1 above.\n51:6 Sc. the Bear.\n51:7 Cf. P. S. A., xii. 3; xiv. 1.\n51:8 That is, apparently, invent them out of their own heads haphazard.\n51:9 Referring, presumably, to the phenomena of \u201cshooting stars.\u201d\n52:1 \u03c0\u03b1\u03c1\u03b1\u03ba\u03bf\u03bb\u03bf\u03c5\u03b8\u03ae\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b1\u2014sequell\u00e6.\n52:2 See the same idea in Plutarch, De Is. et Os., iv. 5, concerning lice.\n52:3 The comets\u2014\u03c4\u1ff6\u03bd \u03ba\u03b1\u03bb\u03bf\u03c5\u03bc\u03ad\u03bd\u03c9\u03bd \u03ba\u03bf\u03bc\u03b5\u03c4\u1ff6\u03bd.\n52:4 \u1f00\u03c0\u03bf\u03c4\u03b5\u03bb\u03b5\u03c3\u03bc\u03ac\u03c4\u03c9\u03bd.\n52:5 Lit. below.\n53:1 \u03bc\u03ac\u03bd\u03c4\u03b5\u03b9\u03c2, seers or diviners.\n53:2 \u1f00\u03c3\u03c4\u03ad\u03c1\u03b5\u03c2 \u03b4\u1f72 \u1f04\u03c3\u03c4\u03c1\u03c9\u03bd \u03b4\u03b9\u03b1\u03c6\u03bf\u03c1\u1f70\u03bd \u1f14\u03c7\u03bf\u03c5\u03c3\u03b9\u03bd. The \u1f00\u03c3\u03c4\u03ad\u03c1\u03b5\u03c2 are the planets, aerolites and comets; the \u1f04\u03c3\u03c4\u03c1\u03b1 are the sidera, signs of the fixed stars or constellations.\n53:3 Or float (\u03b1\u1f30\u03c9\u03c1\u03bf\u03cd\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd\u03bf\u03b9), lit. are raised aloft.\n53:4 Or body.\n53:5 The zodiac; lit. the animal signs, or signs of lives.\n53:6 Cf. Ex. i. 6.\n54:1 Or body.\n54:2 M\u00e9nard and Wachsmuth have Tat. For other changes of a similar nature cf. Exx. i. and viii., and C. H., ii. (iii.), and xvii.","title":"Thrice-Greatest Hermes, Vol. 3: I. Excerpts by Stob\u00e6us: Excerpt IX. Of the Decans and the Stars","type":"page"}