Lucius Apuleius (c.124–c.170) was a Roman philosopher, orator and romance-writer, ofBerber North African origin. Apuleius' best-known work is hisMetamorphoses, usually known in English asThe Golden Ass.
En adsum tuis commota, Luci, precibus, rerum naturae parens, elementorum omnium domina, saeculorum progenies initialis, summa numinum, regina manium, prima caelitum, deorum dearumque facies uniformis, quae caeli luminosa culmina, maris salubria flamina, inferum deplorata silentia nutibus meis dispenso: cuius numen unicum multiformi specie, ritu vario, nomine multiiugo totus veneratus orbis.
Behold me, Lucius; moved by thy prayers, I appear to thee;I, who am Nature, the parent of all things, the mistress of all the elements, the primordial offspring of time, the supreme among Divinities, the queen of departed spirits, the first of the celestials, and the uniform manifestation of the Gods and Goddesses; who govern by my nod the luminous heights of heaven, the salubrious breezes of the ocean, and the anguished silent realms of the shades below: whose one sole divinity the whole orb of the earth venerates under a manifold form, with different rites, and under a variety of appellations.
Bk. 11, ch. 5; p. 226.
Nam cum coeperis deae servire, tunc magis senties fructum tuae libertatis.
For when you have once begun to serve the Goddess, you will then in a still higher degree enjoy the fruit of your liberty.
Bk. 11, ch. 15; p. 233.
Accessi confinium mortis et calcato Proserpinae limine per omnia vectus elementa remeavi, nocte media vidi solem candido coruscantem lumine, deos inferos et deos superos accessi coram et adoravi de proximo.
I approached the confines of death, and having trod on the threshold ofProserpine, I returned therefrom, being borne through all the elements. At midnight I saw the sun shining with its brilliant light; and I approached the presence of the Gods beneath, and the Gods of heaven, and stood near, and worshipped them.
Excerpt fromAsclepius III contained in the CorpusHermeticum, from Latin documents by Apuleius,Full text
And in that day men will be weary of life, and they will cease to think the universe worthy of reverent wonder and ofworship. And soreligion, the greatest of allblessings, for there is nothing, nor has been, nor ever shall be, that can be deemed a greaterboon, will be threatened with destruction; men will think it a burden, and will come toscorn it.
They will no longer love this world around us, this incomparable work ofGod, this glorious structure which He has built...
Darkness will be preferred to light, and death will be thought more profitable than life; no one will raise his eyes toheaven.
No word ofreverence orpiety, no utterance worthy of heaven and of the Gods of heaven, will be heard or believed.
But when all this has befallen,Asclepius, then the Master and Father, God, the first before all, the maker of that God who first came into being, will look on that which has come to pass, and will stay the disorder by the counterworking of His will, which is the good.
He will call back to the rightpath those who have gone astray; He will cleanse the world fromevil, now washing it away withwater-floods, now burning it out withfiercest fire, or again expelling it bywar andpestilence.
And thus He will bring back His world to its former aspect, so that theCosmos will once more be deemed worthy ofworship and wondering reverence, and God, the maker and restorer of the mighty fabric, will be adored by the men of that day with unceasinghymns ofpraise andblessing.
Hermes Mercurius Trismegistus Siena Cathedral, Italy (1480s)
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