The Hermetic Writings, Volume 1

ASCLEPIUS

See Philo’s account of the Therapeutae: "A holy chamber, which is called a shrine or monastery, in which they, being alone, perform the mysteries of the holy life."

sanctoque illo... conpleto praesentia. (That holy place being filled with the pious awe of the four men). It is better to take sancto as a participle meaning "having been consecrated."

((ex ore Hermu)) divinus Cupido sic est orsus dicere. (Divine Eros thus began to speak). "Divine Eros" (θεῖος ἔρως) is a reference to Plato's Phaedrus and Symposium. Eros here represents the "desire for God," a longing implanted in man by God. This desire is a manifestation of the deity—a divine power indwelling the human soul. Because this is not merely a human teacher speaking, but a higher power acting through him, the phrase "Eros spoke through the lips of Hermes" is used.

Asclepius I

2 a. omnis humana inmortalis est anima : sed non uniformiter cunctae . . . ; non enim omnis unius qualitatis est anima. (Every human soul is immortal, but not all in the same way; for not every soul is of one quality.) This obscure passage means that human souls are immortal, unlike the souls of lower animals, which are mortal. The animal soul is distinct from the four corporeal elements but is subject to nature (physis). It is generated by the entrance of the finer elements (fire and air) into a body of the grosser elements (earth and water).