The Pimander of Hermes Trismegistus

Thus he spoke again to me: "Have you seen in your mind the first form, prevailing with infinite power?" Something of this sort Poimandres said to me. But I said to him: "From where did the elements of nature flow?"

PIMANDER. "From the will of God; which, having embraced the Word original: "verbum". Here, the creative Logos or divine Reason. and having looked upon the beautiful world, decorated the rest [of the world] according to its own pattern with its own elements and life-giving seeds.

Moreover, the Mind original: "mens". The supreme divine intellect, often referred to as the Nous. who is God—being most full of the fecundity of both sexes, being both life and light—brought forth with his Word another Mind, the Craftsman original: "opificem". The Demiurge or world-builder., who is the god of fire and the power of the spirit. Next, he fashioned seven Governors original: "gubernatores". These represent the seven planetary spheres (Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon) which were believed to rule over destiny., who encompass the sensible world in circles; their arrangement is called Fate.

The same Word of God linked itself with the elements that were held below; the pure artistry of nature was united with the Craftsman Mind. For they were of the same substance original: "consubstantiale". Sharing the same divine essence.. And the elements of nature, falling downward, were left without reason original: "sine ratione". Lacking the divine Logos/Intellect., so that they became as mere matter.

Indeed, the Craftsman Mind, together with the Word, containing the circles and turning them with swift speed, bent his machine toward himself, and commanded it to revolve from the beginning to the end without end. For it always begins there where it finishes. The rotation of all these things, just as the Mind itself willed, forged living creatures original: "animalia". Literally "animated beings." from the lower elements—beings devoid of reason, for he did not grant them reason.

The air brought forth winged creatures; the water brought forth swimming things. Likewise, the water and the earth were separated from each other in the way that pleased the Mind. Afterward, the earth brought forth the living things she had within her: namely, quadrupeds, serpents, wild beasts, field animals, and domestic animals alike.

But the Father of all, the Intellect, existing as life and radiance..."