Hermes Trismegistus, floor mosaic, Siena Cathedral, via Wikipedia
‘I will build the Zodiac…
The lives of men,
from birth to final destruction,
shall be controlled
by the hidden workings of this mechanism.’
Destiny and Necessity are cemented together.
Destiny sows the seed.
Necessity compels the result.
Few can escape their fate
or guard against
the terrible influence of the Zodiac…
If, however,
the rational part of a man’s soul
is illuminated…
… the working of these gods is as nothing.
But such men are few.
Most are led and driven by the gods
which govern earthly life…
To my way of thinking, however,
it is our duty not simply to acquiesce
in our human state,
but, through intense contemplation
of divine things,
to detach ourselves from our merely mortal nature.
Hermes Trismegistus in The Hermetica, as translated by Timothy Freke & Peter Gandy
Borrowed from the library of Dr Neel Burton
Compiled thousands of years ago at the time of the Pharoahs, is there any more prescient statement of Man’s current condition?
Beyond the mortal influences of genetic nature (Destiny) and environmental nurture with its unconscious influence on behaviour (Necessity), lies choice.
It is up to us to choose to think, to act freely, to gain insight, and so also gain Enlightenment.
Few make that choice.
Ah, Freke and Gandy, those infernal modern-day gnostics!!
Are they not yet burning in that special concentration camp in Hell that Christ allegedly has ready for them? Quite liked their musings on the Nature of Christ in Jesus Mysteries and Jesus and the Goddess. Haven’t read their translation of Hermes, must get around to it. Mind you, may as well write our own….a copy of Aion by Jung, the Dhammapada, Meister Eckhart and a tab of acid should do it!!
Hope you are well, Chris!
Very well, thank you John!
I recommend you only try your Hermetic experiment on a day off. Fresh ideas would be terribly destructive at work.
What a dismal (if eloquent) view of our existence! While some may say ‘Inshallah’ and others ‘it is our custom’ still others have discovered how to tap into the power that created the universe and revel in their God-given role in bringing all things to completion. Yet as you say, it’s a choice not everyone makes.
Dismal? Interesting; I found it rather uplifting. It puts the onus on each of us to want something else other than that which fate has allocated to us. We may no achieve it, but isn’t there’s something liberating in having the chance to choose?
“Few make that choice.” Well, it’s hard work, innit?
“Beyond the mortal influences of genetic nature (Destiny) and environmental nurture with its unconscious influence on behavior (Necessity), lies choice.”
I do immensely admire the concise way you’ve laid this out: so clear, so easy to understand and explain. (Often I understand things myself, intuitively, but then have the devil of a time trying to explain them to anyone else.)
Concise it may be, but I realise from your kindly-corrected quote that I have to correct a couple of spelling errors in my original post, which I will do after posting this reply.
This rather reminds me of a pair of school reports I once had. One teacher wrote that I was the envy of other classmates, for my ability to compress answers into the least possible words, thus saving time. Another, in that very same term, wrote that my brevity and speed led to slapdash errors. Still, I think concision remains the higher skill and I adhere to the Humpty-Dumpty approach to spelling errors: words mean precisely what I _choose_ them to mean!
It certainly wasn’t intended to remind you of something so dismal! (Your association, Necessity at work?)
I am simply constitutionally unable not to correct a spelling error, an old proofreading trait. (Necessity AND Destiny at work)
BUT you have thereby diverted attention from what I was actually commenting on: your enviable ability to compress things into the least possible and most memorable words — almost aphorisms, eminently quotable.
Not to flame or anything, but THIS IS A VERY VERY GOOD THING. It means you really understand what you’re saying, you help me understand the thought, and you help me transmit the thought in my turn. A triple play.
What could be bad??????