About Truth

Hermes:

It is impossible for a human being, an imperfect creature, to presume to speak about truth, since he is composed of imperfect members and, with regards to his sheath, is constituted of an assemblage of foreign bodies. But what is possible and correct to say, I will say: namely that Truth only exists in eternal bodies, the elements of which are also true: in fire, which is once and forever fire and nothing else; in earth, which is once and forever earth and nothing else; in air, which is once and forever air and nothing else; in water, which is once and forever water and nothing else.

Our bodies, on the other hand, are composed from all these elements together; they contain fire, and also earth, and furthermore water and air; yet they are neither fire, nor earth, nor water, nor air, nor anything whatsoever that is True.

If then, from the beginning, Truth is foreign to the physical constitution, how shall it behold or express Truth? It will only be able to understand Truth if God wills.

The things of this earth are not the Truth, but the imitations of Truth; and not all are even that, but only a few of them. The rest are lies and error; illusion which only consists of phantoms. When, however, such an illusion receives an influx from above, it becomes a replica of the Truth. Without this superior influence it remains a lie, an untruth. It is the same with a portrait that is an image of a body: the painting is not the body it represents. It has eyes , but they see nothing, ears, but they hear nothing. The painting also shows all the other parts, but it is all an illusion that deceives the sight of the observers. They think they see the Truth whereas reality is a mere lie.

I think and I proclaim that everything is illusion and delusion.

One must think and proclaim things as they are: on earth, there is nothing True. This is true, that here, below, there is no truth. And how is that possible? Truth is the supreme magnificence, the absolute Good which is not obscured by matter, nor encompassed by a body. Truth is the naked, luminous, unassailable, exalted, immutable Good.

Things which are here below are unable to receive this Good. For they are perishable, subject to suffering, soluble, mutable, forever changing, passing from form to form. How could these things be the Truth, since they are in themselves not true? Everything that changes is illusion, because it does not remain in its essence, but passes from form to form and thus presents new appearances all the time.

What then, may we call true?

The Sun alone can be called True. While everything else changes, the Sun does not. That is the reason the Sun is entrusted to give form to everything in the world, to reign over and create everything.

Then what is the primordial Truth?

The One and Only - He who is not made of matter, nor exists in a body; who has neither color, nor form, who changes not, nor is changed, but who always IS.

Corpus Hermeticum - Book 17 - The Egyptian Arch-Gnosis - Jan Van Rijckenborgh