Chapter 13

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Thus saith Pymander: “This is the mystery that to this day was hidden. Nature being mingled with the Heavenly Man [Elohim, or Dhyânis], brought forth a wonder ... seven Men, all males and females [Hermaphrodite] ... according to the nature of the seven Governors” (ii. 29), or the seven Hosts of the Pitris or Elohim, who projected or created him. This is very clear, but yet, see the interpretations of even our modern theologians, men supposed to be intellectual and learned. In the Theological and Philosophical Works of Hermes Trismegistus, Christian [?] Neoplatonist, a work compiled by John David Chambers, of Oriel College, Oxford, the translator wonders “for whom these seven Men are intended?” He solves the difficulty by concluding that, as “the original pattern Man [Adam Kadmon of Genesis i] was masculine-feminine, ... the seven may signify the succeeding patriarchs named in Genesis” (p. 9). A truly theological way of cutting the Gordian knot!