¶ The Book of Hermes Trismegistus original: "Mercurij Trismegisti" on the Power and Wisdom of God: translated from Greek into Latin by Marsilio Ficino the Florentine: to Cosimo de' Medici, Father of the Fatherland, the Pimander

While I was thinking about the nature of things and raising the sharp focus of my mind to the heavens—the senses of my body already having been lulled to sleep, just as usually happens to those who are heavy with sleep due to overeating or exhaustion—suddenly I seemed to see someone of immense bodily size, who, calling me by name, cried out in this way: "What is it, O Hermes original: "Mercuri"; Ficino uses the Latin name Mercury for the Greek Hermes, that you desire to hear and behold? What is it that you wish to learn and understand?" Then I said, "Who are you?" He replied, "I am Pimander Also known as Poimandres, often interpreted as "The Shepherd of Men", the Mind of divine power; look now to what you wish, for I shall be present with you everywhere." I said, "I desire to learn the nature of things and to know God." To this he said: "Embrace me with your mind, and I will instruct you in all that you have wished for."

When he had said these things, he changed his form, and suddenly revealed all things. For I beheld a certain immense spectacle—namely, all things converted into light, exceedingly sweet and pleasant, which wonderfully delighted me as I gazed upon it. A little later, a certain dreadful shadow glided down in an oblique revolution, and it changed into a moist nature Humid nature: in Hermetic thought, this represents the primordial, watery chaos from which the material world is formed, then agitated with an unspeakable countenance. From there, a certain great smoke burst forth into a sound; from the sound came a voice, which I judged to be the voice of light; from this voice of light, a Word original: "verbum," corresponding to the Greek "Logos," signifying the divine reason or creative order came forth. Standing by this moist nature, the Word cherished it. Then, from the depths of the moist nature, a pure and light fire immediately flew out and sought the heights.