From the book
Centuries of Meditations
Thomas Traherne · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordMercurius Trismegistus is the Latin form of Hermes Trismegistus, the sage to whom Hermetic writings were traditionally attributed.
- In TraherneThe claim that man is a great miracle provides a second witness beside Abdala’s reply about the most admirable thing in the world.
- In this editionThe 2026 note identifies the saying with Asclepius 6 and explains “Asclepi” as an address to a pupil.
- A place to beginThe saying about humanity’s miraculous character is quoted through the discussion of Pico.
Meaning
Mercurius Trismegistus is the Latin form of Hermes Trismegistus, the sage to whom Hermetic writings were traditionally attributed. Traherne names him within his rendering of Pico’s praise of humanity.
Use in the book
The claim that man is a great miracle provides a second witness beside Abdala’s reply about the most admirable thing in the world. Yet it is a beginning rather than the full account of human dignity. The meditation proceeds through humanity’s mediating powers toward the more surprising freedom developed in the following sections. Hermes thus belongs to a chain of received philosophical testimony that Traherne makes serve his own enquiry into created excellence. The name does not establish that every statement in the sequence derives directly from a Hermetic text independently read at that moment.
Places to read
- IV.74The saying about humanity’s miraculous character is quoted through the discussion of Pico.
In this edition
The 2026 note identifies the saying with Asclepius 6 and explains “Asclepi” as an address to a pupil. It also records a corrected reading. These source details are editorial identifications, not explanations made by Traherne in the passage.
Source note
Primary text: IV.74; Hermetic source, name, and textual explanation: 2026 edition note to IV.74.