CH I: Poimandres

The Poimandres is the most famous treatise of the Corpus Hermeticum, providing a cosmogonic revelation from the 'Mind of Absolute Power' (Poimandres) to Hermes. It describes the creation of the world from Light and Darkness, the fall of the Primal Man (Anthropos) into Nature, and the subsequent ascent of the soul through the seven planetary spheres to return to the Father.

Key Scholarly Note

Fowden emphasizes that the Poimandres reflects a fusion of Platonic, Stoic, and Jewish ideas with a distinctively Egyptian priestly perspective on the 'Nous'.