MER.

and to instruct Tat Tat was the son and disciple of Hermes Trismegistus in the Hermetic dialogues. One cannot teach divine things if they have not learned them; and by human ingenuity alone, we cannot discover those things which are above nature. Therefore, there is a need for divine light, just as we can only behold the sun itself by the sun’s own light.

Indeed, the light of the divine mind is never poured into the soul unless that soul (like the moon facing the sun) is turned completely toward the mind of God. The soul is not turned toward the mind unless she herself also becomes "mind" Mens: in the Neoplatonic philosophy of Ficino's circle, this refers to the 'intellect,' the highest part of the soul capable of direct spiritual intuition, distinct from mere reason. But she does not become "mind" until she has cast aside the deceptions of the senses and the mists of the imagination Phantasia: the faculty that creates mental images from sensory input; Ficino argues these images must be cleared to perceive pure spiritual truth.

For this reason, Mercury Hermes Trismegistus has just now stripped off the darkness of the senses and imagination, withdrawing himself into the inner sanctuary original: "adytum," a Greek-derived word for the most sacred, restricted part of a temple of the mind. Soon, Pimander—that is, the Divine Mind—flows into him. From there, he contemplates the order of all things: both those existing within God and those flowing forth from God. Finally, he explains to other men those things which have been revealed by the divine power. This, then, is the title of the book; this is its purpose and its arrangement. As for you, fortunate Cosimo: read with joy, and live long, so that our fatherland may also live long.