PREFACE.

...lived original: vixerunt (the final syllable of the verb from the previous page) Bezaleel The artisan and architect of the Tabernacle mentioned in the Book of Exodus, known for being filled with the Spirit of God in wisdom and understanding., Joshua, David, Solomon, and all the Prophets: whose wisdom was also imitated by several of the ancient Philosophers, among whom Hermes original: Mercurius Trismegistus A legendary Hellenistic figure, "Thrice-Greatest Hermes," to whom various mystical, alchemical, and philosophical writings are attributed. seems to take and claim the first place for himself. His Sacred Discourses original: Sermones ejus sacri (referring to the Hermetica) and his knowledge in the Emerald Tablets original: tabulis Smaragdinīs; a foundational text of Hermeticism and alchemy. have vividly depicted for us his wondrous knowledge of things above and things below. Nor certainly can the praises of Apollonius the Pythagorean, so celebrated by Philostratos, be covered or overwhelmed by the forgetfulness or silence of men; by his authority it was made known that he understood all secrets, recalled the dead to life, cured diseases by touch alone, excelled original: polluisse (likely a typo for pollere, to be powerful/strong) in holiness after his own fashion, and abounded in every happiness of this world. From him we also learn that a brotherhood of Wise Men flourished at that time in India, to whom it was granted to predict future events for men, and to read and divine their conditions, parents, fortunes, and names, as if they were carved into their faces by the secret characters of nature. The wisdom of the Egyptians and Ethiopians must also be committed to eternal monuments of memory, from whose fountains and springs Plato is said to have drawn the Idea of his divine knowledge. All these men, without doubt (if they were free from diabolical superstitions), reached the highest and most royal peak of happiness and worldly wisdom. Therefore, thinking upon these things with concern again and again, I perceived that nothing in this world is more eagerly to be sought by men than happiness, and nothing...