The ascent — a vice given back at each of the seven zones
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καὶ οὕτως ὁρμᾷ λοιπὸν ἄνω διὰ τῆς ἁρμονίας, καὶ τῇ πρώτῃ ζώνῃ δίδωσι τὴν αὐξητικὴν ἐνέργειαν καὶ τὴν μειωτικήν, καὶ τῇ δευτέρᾳ τὴν μηχανὴν τῶν κακῶν, καὶ τὸν δόλον ἀνενέργητον, καὶ τῇ τρίτῃ τὴν ἐπιθυμητικὴν ἀπάτην ἀνενέργητον, καὶ τῇ τετάρτῃ τὴν ἀρχοντικὴν ὑπεριφανίαν ἀπλεονέκτητον, καὶ τῇ πέμπτῃ τὸ θράσος τὸ ἀνόσιον καὶ τῆς τόλμης τὴν προπέτειαν, καὶ τῇ ἕκτῃ τὰς ἀφορμὰς τὰς κακὰς τοῦ πλούτου ἀνενεργήτους, καὶ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ ζώνῃ τὸ ἐνεδρεῦον ψεῦδος.
And so it rushes upward then through the harmony, and to the first zone it gives up the energy of increase and of decrease; and to the second, the machination of evils, its guile now inactive; and to the third, the deceit of desire, now inactive; and to the fourth, the arrogance of rulership, no longer grasping; and to the fifth, unholy audacity and the rashness of daring; and to the sixth, the evil impulses of wealth, now inactive; and to the seventh zone, the ensnaring falsehood.
The soul rushes up through the harmony, and at each of the seven planetary zones it surrenders the vice that belonged to it: to the first, the energy of increase and decrease; the second, evil scheming and guile; the third, the deceit of desire; the fourth, the arrogance of rule; the fifth, unholy audacity and rash daring; the sixth, the evil impulses of wealth; and to the seventh, the ensnaring falsehood.
This is the most famous single passage of the Poimandres and the exact answer to McKenna's second pillar — escape from Fate. The soul rises back through the seven planetary zones it fell through, and at each it hands back the vice that zone had lent it on the way down: the Moon's ebb and flow, Mercury's scheming and guile, Venus's deceiving desire, the Sun-sphere's arrogance of rule, Mars's unholy audacity, Jupiter's greed for wealth, Saturn's ensnaring lie.
The undercurrent is that salvation is subtraction, not acquisition. One rises by giving up — each sphere reclaims what was always only on loan, and the ascending self grows lighter, freer, more itself with every vice surrendered. The interlinear can keep each vice's precise name (μηχανὴ τῶν κακῶν, ἐπιθυμητικὴ ἀπάτη, ἀρχοντικὴ ὑπερηφανία…), so the reader sees the moral anatomy of the planets — a map of exactly what must be shed to be free of Fate.
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Corpus Hermeticum CH1.25 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/hermetica/CH1.25/