Deification — “this is the good end: to become god”
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καὶ τότε γυμνωθεὶς ἀπὸ τῶν τῆς ἁρμονίας ἐνεργημάτων γίνεται ἐπὶ τὴν ὀγδοατικὴν φύσιν τὴν ἰδίαν δύναμιν ἔχων, καὶ ὑμνεῖ σὺν τοῖς οὖσι τὸν πατέρα. συγχαίρουσι δὲ οἱ παρόντες τῇ τούτου παρουσίᾳ, καὶ ὁμοιωθεὶς τοῖς συνοῦσιν ἀκούει καί τῶν δυνάμεων ὑπὲρ τὴν ὀγδοατικὴν φύσιν οὐσῶν φωνῇ τινι ἡδείᾳ ὑμνουσῶν τὸν θεόν. καὶ τότε τάξει ἀνέρχονται πρὸς τὸν πατέρα, καὶ αὐτοὶ εἰς δυνάμεις ἑαυτοὺς παραδιδόασι, καὶ δυνάμεις γενόμενοι ἐν θεῷ γίνονται. τοῦτό ἐστι τὸ ἀγαθὸν τέλος τοῖς γνῶσιν ἐσχηκόσι, θεωθῆναι. λοιπόν, τί μέλλεις; οὐχ ὡς πάντα παραλαβὼν καθοδηγὸς γίνῃ τοῖς ἀξίοις, ὅπως τὸ γένος τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος διὰ σοῦ ὑπὸ θεοῦ σωθῇ;
And then, stripped of the workings of the harmony, it comes to the ogdoadic nature, having its own power, and hymns the Father with those who are there. Those present rejoice at its coming; and, made like those with him, he hears also the powers above the ogdoadic nature hymning God with a certain sweet voice. And then, in order, they ascend to the Father, and give themselves over into powers, and becoming powers they come to be in God. This is the good end for those who have attained knowledge: to be deified. For the rest — why do you delay? Should you not, having received all, become a guide to the worthy, so that the race of humanity may be saved through you by God?
The climax of the Poimandres. Stripped of the harmony's workings, the soul enters the ogdoadic nature with its own power and hymns the Father; the blessed there rejoice, and it hears the powers above the Ogdoad hymning God with a sweet voice. Then, in order, they ascend to the Father, give themselves into powers, and becoming powers come to be in God. This is the good end of those who have knowledge: to be deified. And the commission: become a guide, that humanity may be saved through you.
Here the whole book arrives. Stripped bare of every borrowed vice, the soul reaches the Ogdoad 'having its own power' (τὴν ἰδίαν δύναμιν) — what is truly its own, left when all that was on loan has been given back. It joins the hymn, is made like the blessed, hears the powers above, and then ascends into the Father: 'they give themselves into powers, and becoming powers, come to be in God.' The end is stated without flinching — τὸ ἀγαθὸν τέλος … θεωθῆναι, 'the good end … is to be deified.' McKenna's first pillar, the divinity of man, reaches its terminus: the human being becomes God.
And then the turn that keeps this from being mere private mysticism. Poimandres rounds on Hermes — 'why do you delay?' — and commissions him: having received all, become a καθοδηγός, a guide to the worthy, 'so that the race of humanity may be saved through you by God.' Deification is not an exit but a debt: the one who has known must turn back to lead others up. The vision ends by sending the seer down again as a teacher — which is exactly what the rest of the book (I.27-29) shows him becoming.
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