(5) But the different, since Almighty God is present to all providentially, and becomes all in all, for the sake of the preservation of all, resting upon Himself, and His own identity within Himself, standing, as beseems an energy, one and ceaseless, and imparting Himself with an unbending power, for deification of those turned to Him. And we must suppose that the difference of the manifold shapes of Almighty God, during the multiform visions, signifies that certain things are different from the phenomena under which they appear. For, as when language depicts the soul itself, under a bodily form, and fashions bodily members around the memberless, we think differently of the members attributed to it, as befits the soul's memberless condition; and we call the mind head, and opinion neck,--as intermediate between rational and irrational--and anger, breast; and lust, belly; and the constitution, legs and feet; using the names of the members as symbols of the powers. Much more then, as respects Him, Who is beyond all, is it necessary to make clear the difference of forms and shapes by reverent and God-becoming, and mystic explanations. And if you wish to apply the threefold shapes of bodies to the impalpable and shapeless God, you must say, that the Progression of Almighty God, which spreads out to all things, is a Divine extension; and length, the power extending itself over the whole; and depth, the hiddenness and imperception incomprehensible to all creatures. But, that we may not forget ourselves, in our explanation, of the different shapes and forms, by confounding the incorporeal Divine Names with those given through symbols of objects of sense, we have for this reason spoken concerning these things in the Symbolic Theology. But now, let us suppose the Divine difference, as really not a sort of change from the super-immovable identity, but as the single multiplication of itself, and the uniform progressions of its fecundity to all.

(35) Now when the heavenly music of the angel riseth up, then in the heavenly pomp, in the divine Salitter, there rise up all manner of vegetations, springings or sprouts, also all manner of figures, shapes or ideas, and all manner of colours; for the Deity presenteth, sheweth or discovereth itself in endless and unsearchable varieties of kinds, colours, ideas, forms and joys.

(43) And yet every Form has its own Height, Source, [or Quality,] and Perception; and [yet] the divine [Source] has not so mixed, that [thereby] it is the less; but what it was, that it continues to be; and that which it was not, that it is, without severing from the divine Substance; and the Word abode in the Father; and the natural Humanity, in this World, in the Bosom of the Virgin Mary. Of the three Regions of the [Incarnation, or] becoming Man; the forming [or imaging] of the Lord Jesus Christ.

(45) But that there are so many formings, figurings or framings in him, is caused by his eternal birth or geniture, which first is threefold, and out of or from that Trinity or Ternary it generateth itself infinitely, immeasurably or inconceiveably.

(122) So when thou standest in such a form, then thou art as heaven and earth are, or as the whole Deity is with its births or genitures in this world.

(134) Whereby in the heavenly pomp such fair beauteous forms, ideas, figures and vegetations always spring up, as also various colours and fruits; and this the qualifying or fountain spirits of God do in God, as a holy play, sport or scene. Now behold!

(40) And after that I saw thousands of thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand, I saw a multitude beyond number and reckoning, who stood before the Lord of Spirits.

(1) Let us, however, now proceed to the appearances of the Gods and their perpetual attendants, and show what the difference is in their appearance. For you inquire, “ by what indication the presence of a God, or an angel, or an archangel, or a dæmon, or a certain archon [i. e. ruler ], or a soul, may be known .” In one word, therefore, I conclude that their appearances accord with their essences, powers, and energies. For such as they are, such also do they appear to those that invoke them, and they exhibit energies and ideas consentaneous to themselves, and proper indications of themselves. But that we may descend to particulars, the phasmata, or luminous appearances, of the Gods are uniform; those of dæmons are various; those of angels are more simple than those of dæmons, but are subordinate to those of the Gods; those of archangels approximate in a greater degree to divine causes; but those of archons, if these powers appear to you to be the cosmocrators, who govern the sublunary element, will be more various, but adorned in order; but if they are the powers that preside over matter, they will indeed be more various, and more imperfect, than those of the archons [properly so called]; and those of souls will appear to be all-various.

(3) But if any one should blame the descriptions as being incongruous, by saying that it is shameful to attribute shapes so repugnant to the Godlike and most holy Orders, it is enough to reply that the method of Divine revelation is twofold; one, indeed, as is natural, proceeding through likenesses that are similar, and of a sacred character, but the other, through dissimilar forms, fashioning them into entire unlikeness and incongruity. No doubt, the mystical traditions of the revealing Oracles sometimes extol the august Blessedness of the super-essential Godhead, as Word, and Mind, and Essence, manifesting its God-becoming expression and wisdom, both as really being Origin, and true Cause of the origin of things being, and they describe It as light, and call it life. While such sacred descriptions are more reverent, and seem in a certain way to be superior to the material images, they yet, even thus, in reality fall short of the supremely Divine similitude. For It is above every essence and life. No light, indeed, expresses its character, and every description and mind incomparably fall short of Its similitude. But at other times its praises are supermundanely sung, by the Oracles themselves, through dissimilar revelations, when they affirm that it is invisible, and infinite, and incomprehensible; and when there is signified, not what it is, but what it is not. For this, as I think, is more appropriate to It, since, as the secret and sacerdotal tradition taught, we rightly describe its non-relationship to things created, but we do not know its superessential, and inconceivable, and unutterable indefinability. If, then, the negations respecting things Divine are true, but the affirmations are inharmonious, the revelation as regards things invisible, through dissimilar representations, is more appropriate to the hiddenness of things unutterable. Thus the sacred descriptions of the Oracles honour, and do not expose to shame, the Heavenly Orders, when they make them known by dissimilar pictorial forms, and demonstrate through these their supermundane superiority over all. material things. And I do not suppose that any sensible man will gainsay that the incongruous elevate our mind more than the similitudes; for there is a likelihood, with regard to the more sublime representations of heavenly things, that we should be led astray, so as to think that the Heavenly Beings are certain creatures with the appearance of gold, and certain men with the appearance of light, and glittering like lightning, handsome, clothed in bright shining raiment, shedding forth innocuous flame, and so with regard to all the other shapes and appropriate forms, with which the Word of God has depicted the Heavenly Minds. In order that men might not suffer from this, by thinking they are nothing more exalted than their beau tiful appearance, the elevating wisdom of the pious theologians reverently conducts to the incongruous dissimilarities, not permitting our earthly part to rest fixed in the base images, but urging the upward tendency of the soul, and goading it by the unseemliness of the phrases (to see) that it belongs neither to lawful nor seeming truth, even for the most earthly conceptions, that the most heavenly and Divine visions are actually like things so base. Further also this must particularly be borne in mind, that not even one of the things existing is altogether deprived of participation in the beautiful, since, as is evident and the truth of the Oracles affirms, all things are very beautiful.

(2) Thou seest N. uttering words to the Glorified, for he is the great form who will not rule (?) over them if thou art not among them. Thou seest the head of N. as a ba (ram); his horns are like those of a sacrificed victim, those of a black ram, born of the ewe who bare him, and suckled by four sheep

(2) Thou art the lord of forms, with numerous colours, who conceals himself within his eye to his children

(4) And even as birds uprisen from the shore, As in congratulation o'er their food, Make squadrons of themselves, now round, now long, So from within those lights the holy creatures Sang flying to and fro, and in their figures Made of themselves now D, now I, now L. First singing they to their own music moved; Then one becoming of these characters, A little while they rested and were silent. O divine Pegasea, thou who genius Dost glorious make, and render it long-lived, And this through thee the cities and the kingdoms, Illume me with thyself, that I may bring Their figures out as I have them conceived! Apparent be thy power in these brief verses! Themselves then they displayed in five times seven Vowels and consonants; and I observed The parts as they seemed spoken unto me. 'Diligite justitiam,' these were First verb and noun of all that was depicted; 'Qui judicatis terram' were the last. Thereafter in the M of the fifth word Remained they so arranged, that Jupiter Seemed to be silver there with gold inlaid.

(65) For behold, the total holy Trinity has with its moving composed, compacted or figured a body or image out of itself, like a little god, but not so fully or strongly going forth as the whole Trinity, yet in some measure according to the extent and capacity of the creatures.

(40) And after that this high princely angelical Creature, in the Twinkling of an Eye, in the Word and Holy Ghost (in the holy Element) was figured, [fashioned, formed, or made] a self-subsisting Creature (with perfect Life and Light) in the Word; then also in the same Twinkling of an Eye the four Elements (with the Dominion of the Sun and Stars) in the Tincture of the Blood, together with the Blood and all human Essences, which were in the Body of the Virgin Mary in her Matrix (according to the Counsel of God) in the Element, received the Creature, wholly and properly, as one [only] Creature, and not two.

(11) But now seeing he was so beauteously and gloriously imaged or formed as a king in nature, his beauteous form and feature tickled him, and so he thought with himself, I am now God, and formed or framed out of God, who can vanquish me? Or who can alter or change me? I myself will be lord, and with my sharpness rule in all things, and my body shall be the image which shall be worshipped; I will prepare and erect for myself a new kingdom: for the whole circumference, extent or region is mine, I alone am God, and none else.

(44) The Forming of this highly worthy Person is severally [done;] first there is the Word, or the Deity, which has had its Forming from Eternity in the Father; and assumed in the becoming Man no other Forming [or Image,] but continued in the Father, as it was from Eternity, in its Seat.

(41) I cannot describe unto thee the whole Deity by the circumference or extent of a circle, for it is immeasurable; but to that spirit which is in God's love it is not incomprehensible: That spirit comprehends it well, yet but in part; therefore take one part after another, and then you will see the whole. See Cont of this B., par. 39 et seq., and Ch. 21, par. 66.

(107) And he said unto him: 'I have begotten a strange son, diverse from and unlike man, and resembling the sons of the God of heaven; and his nature is different and he is not like us, and his eyes are as the rays of the sun, and his countenance is glorious.

(3) The one who appeared was a countenance of the Father and of the harmony. He was a garment (composed) of every grace, and food which is for those whom the Logos brought forth while praying and giving glory and honor. This is the one whom he glorified and honored while looking to those to whom he prayed, so that he might perfect them through the images which he had brought forth.

(12) But All-Father Mind, being Life and Light, did bring forth Man co-equal to Himself, with whom He fell in love, as being His own child; for he was beautiful beyond compare, the Image of his Sire. In very truth, God fell in love with his own Form; and on him did bestow all of His own formations.