Thrice-Greatest Hermes, Vol. I — G. R. S. Mead (1906)

With this it is of service to compare the Vision of Hades seen by Thespesius (Aridaeus), and related by Plutarch. Thespesius' guide in the Unseen World draws his attention to the " colours " and " markings " of the souls as follows :

" Observe the colours of the souls of every shade and sort : that greasy, brown-grey is the pigment of sordidness and selfishness ; that blood-red, inflamed shade is a sign of a savage and venomous nature ; wherever blue-grey is, from such a nature incontinence in pleasure is not easily eradicated; innate malignity, mingled with envy, causes that livid discoloration, in the same way as cuttle-fish eject their sepia.

"Now it is in earth-life that the vice of the soul (being acted upon by the passions, and re-acting upon the body) produces these discolorations ; while the purification and correction here have for their object

1 De Spec. Leg., § 7 ; M. ii. 275, P. 774 (Ei. v. 15, 16).

2 De Som., i. § 35 ; M. i. 651, P. 595 (Ri. iii. 257).

the removal of these blemishes, so that the soul may become entirely ray-like and of uniform colour." x

Again.ingivingtheallegoricalmeaning of the primitiveculture story of Tamar,2 Philo not only interprets it by the canon of the Sacred Marriage, but also introduces other details from the Mysteries. Thus he writes :

" For being a widow she was commanded to sit in the House of the Father, the Saviour ; for whose sake for ever abandoning the congress and association with mortal [things], she is bereft and widowed from [all] human pleasures, and receives the Divine quickening, and, full-filled with the Seeds of virtue, conceives, and is in travail with fair deeds. And when she brings them forth, she carries off the trophies from her adversaries, and is inscribed as victor, receiving as a symbol the palm of victory." 3

And every stage of this divine conception is but the shadow of the great mystery of cosmic creation, which Philo sums up as follows :

" We shall, however, be quite correct in saying that the Demiurge who made all this universe, is also at the same time Father of what has been brought into existence; while its Mother is the Wisdom of Him who hath made it — with whom God united, though not as man [with woman], and implanted the power of genesis. And she, receiving the Seed of God, brought forth with perfect labour His only beloved Son, whom all may perceive 4 — this Cosmos."5

1 De Ser. Num. Vind., 565 c. ; ed. Bern. iii. 459. See, for a
translation of the whole Vision, my "Notes on the Eleusinian
Mysteries," Theosophical Review (April, May, June, 1898), xxii.
145 ff., 232 ff., 312 ff.

2 Gen. xxxviii. 11 ff.

3 Quod Deus Immut., § 29 ; M. i. 293, P. 313 (Ri. ii. 94). * Lit., " sensible."

6 De Ebriet., § 8 ; M. i. 361, P. 244 (Ri. i. 189).

CONCERNING THE LOGOS

The idea of God found in Philo is that of the more enlightened theology of his time. God is That which transcends all things and all ideas. It would, of course, be a far too lengthy study to marshal the very numerous passages in which our philosopher sets forth his view on Deity; and so we shall select only two passages simply to give the reader who may not be acquainted with the works of the famous Alexandrian, some notion of the transcendency of his conception. For, as he writes :

" What wonder is it if That-which-[really]-is transcends the comprehension of man, when even the mind which is in each of us, is beyond our power of knowing? Who hath ever beheld the essence of the soul?"1

This Mystery of Deity was, of necessity, in itself ineffable ; but in conception, it was regarded under two aspects — the active and the passive causative principles.

" The Active Principle, the Mind of the universals, is
absolutely pure, and absolutely free from all admixture ;
It transcendeth Virtue ; It transcendeth Wisdom ; nay,
It transcendeth even the Good Itself and the Beautiful
Itself.

" The Passive Principle is of itself soulless and motionless, but when It is set in motion, and enformed and ensouled by the Mind, It is transformed into the most perfect of all works — namely, this Cosmos." 2

This Passive Principle is generally taken by commentators to denote Matter; but if so, it must be equated with Wisdom, which we have just seen was regarded by Philo as the Mother of the Cosmos.