Simon Magus Part 11

Thus when we are brought face to face with the recital of magical wonders as attributed to Simon in the patristic legends, it is not sufficient to sweep them on one side and ticket them with the contemptuous label of "superst.i.tion." We must recognize that whether or not these things were actually done by Simon, the ancient world both Pagan and Christian firmly believed in their reality, and that if our only att.i.tude towards them is one of blank denial, we include in that denial the possibility of the so-called "miracles" of Christianity and other great religions, and therewith invalidate one of the most important factors of religious thought and history. That the present att.i.tude of denial is owing to the absurd explanation of the phenomena given by the majority of the ancient worthies, is easily admissible, but this is no reason why the denial of the possibilities of the existence of such things should be logical or scientific.

As to the wonders ascribed to Simon, though extraordinary, they are puerile compared to the ideals of the truly religious mind, and if Simon used such marvels as proofs of the truth of his doctrine, he unduly took advantage of the ignorance of the populace and was untrue to his better nature.

Again, setting aside all historical criticism, if Simon, as the _Acts_ report, thought to purchase spiritual powers with money, or that those who were really in possession of such powers would ever sell them, we can understand the righteous indignation of the apostles, though we cannot understand their cursing a brother-man. The view of the Christian writer on this point is a true one, but the dogma that every operation which is not done in the name of the particular Master of Christendom is of the Devil--or, to avoid personifications, is evil--can hardly find favour with those who believe in the brotherhood of the whole race and that Deity is one, no matter under what form wors.h.i.+pped.

Finally, to sum up the matter, we have cited our authorities, and reviewed them, and then endeavoured to sift out what is good from the heap, leaving the rubbish to its fate. Removed as we are by so many centuries from the fierce strife of religious controversy which so deeply marked the rise of Christianity, we can view the matter with impartiality and seek to redress the errors that are patent both on the side of orthodoxy and of heterodoxy. It is true we cannot be free of the past, but it is also true that to identify ourselves with the hates and strifes of the ancients, is merely to retrogress from the path of progress. On the contrary, our duty should be to identify ourselves with all that is good and beautiful and true in the past, and so gleaning it together, bind it into a sheaf of corn that, when ground in the mills of common-sense and practical experience, may feed the millions of every denomination who for the most part are starving on the unsatisfying husks of crude dogmatism. There is no need for a new revelation, in whatever sense the word is understood, but there is every need for an explanation of the old revelations and the undeniable facts of human experience. If the Augean stables of the materialism that is so prevalent in the religion, philosophy and science of to-day, are to be cleansed, the spiritual sources of the world-religions can alone be effectual for their cleansing, but these are at present hidden by the rocks and overgrowth of dogma and ignorance. And this overgrowth can only be removed by explanation and investigation, and each who works at the task is, consciously or unconsciously, in the train of the Hercules who is pioneering the future of humanity.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 96: _Julius Caesar_, III. ii. 106-8.]

[Footnote 97: _Op. cit._ i. 4. Compare the Diagram and explanation of the Middle Distance _infra_. The Moon is the "Lord" of the lower plane of the Middle Distance, the Astral Light of the medieval Kabalists. This is a doctrine common to the Hermetic, Vedantic, and many other schools of Antiquity.]

[Footnote 98: xi. 37.]

[Footnote 99: _Philos._, ix. 10.]

[Footnote 100: _Zohar_, i. 50_b_, Amsterdam and Brody Editions: quoted in Isaac Myer's _Qabbalah_, pp. 376, 377.]

[Footnote 101: See Cory's _Ancient Fragments_, 2nd ed.; not the reedited third edition, which is no longer Cory's work.]

[Footnote 102: [Greek: eisi panta puros henos ekgegaota]--_Psell.

24--Plet. 30._]

[Footnote 103: _Proc. in Theol._ 333--_in Tim._ 157.]

[Footnote 104: [Greek: paegaious krataeras]--I have ventured the above translation for this difficult combination from the meaning of the term [Greek: paegae], found elsewhere in the Oracles, in the metaphorical sense of "source" (compare also Plato, _Phaed._ 245 C., 856 D., [Greek: paegae kai archae chinaeseos]--"the source and beginning of motion"), and also from the meaning of [Greek: krataer] (_crater_), as "a cup-shaped hollow."

The idea of this Crater is interestingly exemplified in the Twelfth Book of Hermes Trismegistus, called "His Crater, or Monas," as follows:

"10. _Tat._ But wherefore, Father, did not G.o.d distribute the Mind to all men?

"11. _Herm._ Because it pleased him, O Son, to set that in the middle among all souls, as a reward to strive for.

"12. _Tat._ And where hath he set it?

"13. _Herm._ Filling a large Cup or Bowl (Crater) therewith, he sent it down, giving also a Cryer or Proclaimer.

"14. And he commanded him to proclaim these things to the souls of men.

"15. Dip and wash thyself, thou that art able, in this Cup or Bowl: Thou that believeth that thou shalt return to him that sent this cup; thou that acknowledgest whereunto thou wert made.

"16. As many, therefore, as understood the Proclamation, and were _baptized_, or dowsed into the _Mind_, these were made partakers of knowledge, and became perfect men, receiving the Mind."

This striking pa.s.sage explains the mystic "Baptism of Fire," or Mind, whereby man became one with his Divine Monas, which is indeed his "Mother Vortex" or Source.]

[Footnote 105: _Proc. in Parm._]

[Footnote 106: _Proc. in Theol. Plat._, 171, 172.]

[Footnote 107: _Proc. in Tim._, 167.]

[Footnote 108: _Proc. in Theol._, 321.]

[Footnote 109: _Proc. in Crat._]

[Footnote 110: _Dionys._, xiv.]

[Footnote 111: _Praep. Evan._, i. 10.]

[Footnote 112: The names of these seven flames of the Fire, with their surface translations, are as follows: Kali, Dark-blue; Karali, Terrible; Mano-java, Swift as Thought; Su-lohita, Deep-red colour; Su-dhumra-varna, Deep-purple colour; Ugra or Sphulingini, Hot, Pa.s.sionate, or Sparkling; Pradipta, s.h.i.+ning, Clear. These are the literal meanings; the mystic meanings are very different, and among other things denote the septenary prismatic colours and other septenaries in nature.]

[Footnote 113: _Hibbert lectures_, 1887: "Lecture on the Origin and Growth of Religion as ill.u.s.trated by the Religion of the Ancient Babylonians," pp. 179, 180.]

[Footnote 114: See Schwartze's _Pistis-Sophia_ and Amelineau's _Notice sur le Papyrus Gnostique Bruce_.]

[Footnote 115: _De Mysteriis Liber_, vii. 4.]

[Footnote 116: Compare also _Herodot._ ii, 54--[Greek: phonae anthropaeiae].]

[Footnote 117: _Lib._ v.]

[Footnote 118: _Psel._ 7.]

[Footnote 119: _Psel. Schol. in Orac. Magic_, p. 70.]

[Footnote 120: Theodoret gives [Greek: ennoia].]

[Footnote 121: A. Aphthartos Morphe. B. Nous ton Holon. c. Epinoia Megale. D. Eikon. a. Nous. b. Phone. c. Logismos. d. Enthumesis. e.

Onoma. f. Epinoia.]

[Footnote 122: xi. 47.]

[Footnote 123: _Ibid._, xi. 18, 38.]

[Footnote 124: Wilson's Trans. i. pp. 55 _et seqq._]

[Footnote 125: Prabhavapyaya: Pra-bhava=the forth-being or origin, and Apy-aya=the return or reabsorption. It is the same idea as the Simonian Treasure-house.]

[Footnote 126: Ayana simply means "moving."]

[Footnote 127: _Manava-Dharma Shastra_, i. 10.]

[Footnote 128: _Op. cit._, iv. 251.]

[Footnote 129: 14.]

[Footnote 130: This Gnostic gospel, together with the treatises ent.i.tled, _The Book of the Gnoses of the Invisible_ and _The Book of the Great Logos in each Mystery_ (the Bruce MSS.), is especially referred to, as, with the exception of the _Codex Nazaraeus_, being the only Gnostic works remaining to us. All else comes from the writings of the Fathers.]