The hidden mystery — the seven androgynous men
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Καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα νοῦς ὁ ἐμός, Καὶ αὐτὸς γὰρ ἐρῶ τοῦ λόγου. Ὁ δὲ Ποιμάνδρης εἶπε, Τοῦτό ἐστι τὸ κεκρυμμένον μυστήριον μέχρι τῆσδε τῆς ἡμέρας. ἡ γὰρ φύσις ἐπιμιγεῖσα τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ ἤνεγκέ τι θαῦμα θαυμασιώτατον. ἔχοντος γὰρ αὐτοῦ τῆς ἁρμονίας τῶν ἑπτὰ τὴν φύσιν, οὓς ἔφην σοι, ἐκ πυρὸς καὶ πνεύματος, οὐκ ἀνέμενεν ἡ φύσις, ἀλλ' εὐθὺς ἀπεκύησεν ἑπτὰ ἀνθρώπους, πρὸς τὰς φύσεις τῶν ἑπτὰ διοκητόρων ἀρρενοθήλεας καὶ μεταρσίους. Καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα, Ὦ Ποιμάνδρη, εἰς μεγάλην γὰρ νῦν ἐπιθυμίαν ἦλθον, καὶ ποθῶ ἀκοῦσαι. μὴ ἔκτρεχε. Καὶ ὁ Ποιμάνδρης εἶπεν, Ἀλλὰ σιώπα· οὔπω γάρ σοι ἀνήπλωσα τὸν πρῶτον λόγον. Ἰδοὺ σιωπῶ, ἔφην ἐγώ.
And after this my own Mind said: For I too am in love with the discourse. And Poimandres said: This is the mystery hidden until this very day. For Nature, mingling with Man, brought forth a wonder most wonderful: since he had the nature of the harmony of the seven — whom I told you were of fire and breath — Nature did not wait, but at once brought forth seven men, according to the natures of the seven Governors, androgynous and lofty. And after this I said: O Poimandres, for now I have come into a great longing and I long to hear; do not run ahead. And Poimandres said: But be silent, for I have not yet unfolded to you the first discourse. Behold, I am silent, I said.
Hermes's own Mind confesses it too longs for the teaching. Poimandres names what has just happened as 'the mystery hidden until this day': Nature, mingled with Man, brought forth a marvel — seven androgynous men, answering to the natures of the seven Governors, from fire and breath. Hermes begs to hear more; Poimandres bids him be silent, for the first discourse is not yet complete.
The narrator's frame breaks the surface for a moment: 'my own Mind' — Hermes's νοῦς — speaks up to say it, too, is in love with the discourse, a quiet sign that the Nous in the pupil is waking to answer the Nous that teaches. Then Poimandres names the whole descent a μυστήριον, a mystery 'hidden until this day' — the disclosure itself is the initiation.
What the mystery contains is the birth of the first humanity: not begotten in pairs but brought forth by Nature all at once, seven androgynous men answering to the seven planetary Governors, made of fire and breath. And then the exquisite discipline of the mysteries — Hermes, aflame with longing, is told to be silent. The teaching is rationed on purpose; 'the first discourse is not yet complete.' To receive it, the initiate must first learn to hold still.
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Corpus Hermeticum CH1.16 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/hermetica/CH1.16/