(63) Thus spake the Lord of Spirits: 'This is the ordinance and judgement with respect to the mighty and the kings and the exalted and those who possess the earth before the Lord of Spirits.'

(36) Now, that qualifying or fountain spirit in the Deity which does shew itself then specially or more distinctly with its rising up and love-wrestling, as if it had become the prince or chief of them, that very angelprince belonging to it beginneth instantly his heavenly music with his own legions, according to his quality, with singing, ringing forth piping melody, and in all the manners of heavenly skill and art, which riseth up in the spirits of God.

(147) In this rising up the armies or companies of all the angels of the whole heaven become triumphant and joyful, and that melodious TE DEUM LAUDAMUS (WE PRAISE THEE O GOD) riseth up.

(112) And all holy angels, together with all holy men, will eternally triumph above them, below them and round about them, and for great joy, delight and pleasantness will sing of God's holiness, of their royal kingly government or regimen, and of the gracious, amiable, blessed fruit of the heavenly spring or vegetation; and that will go forth according to the qualities of the seven spirits of God, in many various voices.

(4) The god has said this: thy words are those of the father of the gods, thy name will be triumphant before the gods; they exalt thee and the cycle of the gods give thee their hands

(4) This, then, according to my science, is the first rank of the Heavenly Beings which encircle and stand immediately around God; and without symbol, and without interruption, dances round His eternal knowledge in the most exalted ever-moving stability as in Angels; viewing purely many and blessed contemplations, and illuminated with simple and immediate splendours, and filled with Divine nourishment,--many indeed by the first-given profusion, but one by the unvariegated and unifying oneness of the supremely Divine banquet, deemed worthy indeed of much participation and co-operation with God, by their assimilation to Him, as far as attainable, of their excellent habits and energies, and knowing many Divine things pre-eminently, and participating in supremely Divine science and knowledge, as is lawful. Wherefore the Word of God has transmitted its hymns to those on earth, in which are Divinely shewn the excellency of its most exalted illumination. For some of its members, to speak after sensible perception, proclaim as a "voice of many waters," "Blessed is the glory of the Lord from His place" and others cry aloud that frequent and most august hymn of God, "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of Sabaoth, the whole earth is full of His glory." These most excellent hymnologies of the supercelestial Minds we have already unfolded to the best of our ability in the "Treatise concerning the Divine Hymns," and have spoken sufficiently concerning them in that Treatise, from which, by way of remembrance, it is enough to produce so much as is necessary to the present occasion, namely, "That the first Order, having been illuminated, from this the supremely Divine goodness, as permissible, in theological science, as a Hierarchy reflecting that Goodness transmitted to those next after it," teaching briefly this, "That it is just and right that the august Godhead -- Itself both above praise, and all-praiseworthy--should be known and extolled by the God-receptive minds, as is attainable; for they as images of God are, as the Oracles say, the Divine places of the supremely Divine repose; and further, that It is Monad and Unit tri-subsistent, sending forth His most kindly forethought to all things being, from the super-heavenly Minds to the lowest of the earth; as super-original Origin and Cause of every essence, and grasping all things super-essentially in a resistless embrace. Next: Caput VIII. Sacred Texts | Christianity « Previous: The Works of Dionysius the Areopagite: On the Heavenly Hi... Index Next: The Works of Dionysius the Areopagite: On the Heavenly Hi... » Sacred Texts | Christianity

(61) On that day shall raise one voice, and bless and glorify and exalt in the spirit of faith, and in the spirit of wisdom, and in the spirit of patience, and in the spirit of mercy, and in the spirit of judgement and of peace, and in the spirit of goodness, and shall all say with one voice: "Blessed is He, and may the name of the Lord of Spirits be blessed for ever and ever."

(38) As this lord commanded, so his subjects obeyed; when he elevated himself, and would be God, his angels, seeing it, followed their lord, doing as he did, all made a proffer to assault and storm the Deity.

(70) And it came to pass after this that his name during his lifetime was raised aloft to that Son of Man and to the Lord of Spirits from amongst those who dwell on the earth.

(118) If thou sayest any other thing than this, which heaven and earth and all the creatures testify, then thou liest; nay, the whole Deity testifieth against thee, that God created thee for his praise out of himself, to be a prince and king of God, as he did prince Michael, and prince Uriel. Now observe:

(40) The first voice blesses the Lord of Spirits for ever and ever.

(11) ... all [...] angels [...] word and the sound of a trumpet, he will proclaim the great complete amnesty from the beauteous east, in the bridal chamber, which is the love of God the Father [...], according to the power which [...] of the greatness [...], the sweetness of the [...] of him, since he reveals himself to the greatnesses [...] his goodness [...] the praise, the dominion, and the glory through [...] the Lord, the Savior, the Redeemer of all those belonging to the one filled with Love, through his Holy Spirit, from now through all generations forever and ever. Amen.

(1) BUT since whatever we have to say on these matters has reached, in my opinion, a fitting conclusion, we must sing Him of endless names, both as Holy of Holies and King of Kings; and as ruling eternity and for ever and beyond, and as Lord of Lords, and God of Gods. And first we must say, what we think Holiness Itself is; and what Kingdom, and what Lordship, and what Divinity, and what the Oracles wish to denote by the duplication of the names.

(1) (Now these are the names which I will give from the Boundless onward. Write them with a sign, that the Sons of God may be revealed from here on. This is the name of the Immortal: aaa , ōōō ; and this is the name of the Voice, for the sake of which the Perfect Man hath set himself in motion: iii . And these are the interpretations of the names of these mysteries: the first [name], which is aaa , its interpretation is fff ; the second, which is mmm or ōōō, its interpretation is aaa ; the third, which is ps ps ps , its interpretation is ooo ; the fourth, which is fff , its interpretation is nnn ; the fifth, which is ddd , its interpretation is aaa . He on the throne is aaa . This is the interpretation of the second: aaaa , aaaa , aaaa ; this is the interpretation of the whole name.)

(20) [For] Thou art God, Thy Man thus cries to Thee through Fire, through Air, through Earth, through Water, [and] through Spirit, through Thy creatures. 'Tis from Thy Aeon I have found praise-giving; and in thy Will, the object of my search, have I found rest. Tat: By thy good pleasure have I seen this praise-giving being sung, O father; I have set it in my Cosmos too. Hermes: Say in the Cosmos that thy mind alone can see, my son. Tat: Yea, father, in the Cosmos that the mind alone can see; for I have been made able by thy Hymn, and by thy Praise-giving my mind hath been illumined. But further I myself as well would from my natural mind send praise-giving to God.

(10) When he finished praising, he called out, "Father Trismegistos, what shall I say? We have received this light, and I myself see this same vision in you. I see the eighth, and the souls in it, and the angels singing a song to the ninth and its powers. I see the one with the power of them all, creating those in the spirit."

(39) In those days I praised and extolled the name of the Lord of Spirits with blessings and praises, because He hath destined me for blessing and glory according to the good pleasure of the Lord of Spirits.

(130) Therefore he has set upon him the crown of honour, of might, power and authority, so that there is in heaven no higher nor more excellent nor mightier than he is, except God himself in his Ternary. And this is one king, rightly described, with a true ground in the knowledge of the spirit. Of the second King LUCIFER, now so called, because of his Fall.

(69) And through that oath the stars complete their course, And He calls them by their names, And they answer Him from eternity to eternity. ⌈22. And in like manner the spirits of the water, and of the winds, and of all zephyrs, and (their) paths from all the quarters of the winds.

(52) In this the tone should rise up and sound, with singing and ringing forth, in praising and jubilating: also all the qualities should rejoice therein, and every spirit should exercise or practise its divine work or labour, as God the Father himself does.