The disciple asks for the eighth
James Brashler / Peter A. Dirkse / Douglas M. Parrott (composite) · Public domain / scholarly composite. Reproduced for educational and religious commentary.
1My father, you have promised to lead me up to the Eighth and the Ninth. I have prepared myself by silence. I have purified my body. Now lead me.
2Hermes said, My son, blessed is the one who knows. Blessed is the one who is silent. Blessed is the one who is empty.
3Lift up your mind. Pass through the seven spheres. The seven are the spheres of the planets — they hold the soul in chains. They are the powers of fate.
4Pass beyond the seventh, and you shall reach the Eighth. The Eighth is the sphere of the fixed stars. It is the place of the soul-at-rest, the soul that has cast off fate.
5Beyond the Eighth is the Ninth. The Ninth is the dwelling of the Mind, the dwelling of the Father. There the soul becomes Mind. There you shall become god.