The Triple Trisagion ("Holy is God")
- Source: Corpus Hermeticum I.31–32 (Poimandres tractate), preserved in Greek manuscripts from the Byzantine era. Also referenced in Hermetic commentaries as a foundational hymn.
- Context: This hymn concludes the visionary revelation in Poimandres, where Hermes receives gnosis (divine knowledge). It praises God's holiness and creative power, reflecting alchemical themes of unity ("as above, so below") and the divine essence in all things. Alchemists might recite it during preparatory meditations to attune to cosmic order before lab work.
- Full Text (translated by Brian P. Copenhaver):
Holy is god, the father of all; Holy is god, whose counsel is done by his own powers; Holy is god, who wishes to be known and is known by his own people; Holy are you, who by the word have constituted all things that are; Holy are you, from whom all nature was born as image; Holy are you, of whom nature has not made a like figure; Holy are you, who are stronger than every power; Holy are you, who surpass every excellence; Holy are you, mightier than praises.
The Secret Hymn
- Source: Corpus Hermeticum XIII.17–22, from Greek manuscripts; part of Hermes' discourse to Tat on rebirth and the powers within.
- Context: This hymn is sung during a spiritual rebirth ritual, symbolizing the alchemist's inner transformation (nigredo to rubedo phases). It invokes cosmic elements and powers for enlightenment, aligning with alchemical circulation (ascent/descent of spirit). Recited "gently with great industry" during distillations or meditations to integrate divine forces.
- Full Text (translated by M. David Litwa):
Let every nature in the cosmos attend the hearing of the hymn. Open, O earth; let every lock that bars the torrent open to me; trees, be not shaken. I am about to sing a hymn to the lord of creation, to the universe and to the one. Open, you heavens, and be still, you winds. Let god's immortal circle attend my discourse. For I am about to sing a hymn to the one who created everything; who fixed the earth in place; who hung heaven above; who ordered the sweet water away from the ocean and toward land, the habitable and the uninhabitable, as the means of mankind's nourishment and creation; who ordered fire to shine on gods and humans for their every use. Together let us praise him, raised high above the heavens, creator of all nature. He is the mind's eye. May he accept praise from my powers.Powers within me, sing a hymn to the one and the universe. Sing together, all you powers within me, for I wish it. Holy knowledge, you enlightened me; through you, hymning the intellectual light, I take joy in the joy of mind. Join me, all you powers, and sing the hymn. You also, continence, sing me the hymn. My justice, through me hymn the just. My liberality, through me hymn the universe. Truth, hymn the truth. Good, hymn the good. Life and light, praise passes from you and to you. I thank you, father, energy of the powers. I thank you, god, power of my energies; through me your word hymns you; through me, O universe, accept a speech offering, by (my) word.
This is what the powers within me shout; they hymn the universe; they accomplish what you wish; your counsel goes forth from you, and to you the universe returns. Accept a speech offering from all things. Life, preserve the universe within us; light, enlighten it; god, {spiritualize} it. For you, O mind, are a shepherd to your word, O spirit-bearer, O craftsman. You are god! Your man shouts this through fire, through air, through earth, through water, through spirit, through your creatures. From your eternity I have won praise, and in your counsel I have found the rest I seek; I have seen, as you wished it.
This praise that you have told, father, I have also established in my cosmos. Say 'in the intellectual cosmos,' child. In the intellectual cosmos, father. I have the power; your hymn and your praise have fully illuminated my mind. I, too, wish to send praise to god from my own heart. Be not heedless, my child. I say what I see in my mind, father. To you, god, genarch of progeneration, I, Tat, send speech offerings. God - you, father; you, lord; you, mind - accept from me what speech you want. For everything is accomplished by your willing it.
My child, send an acceptable sacrifice to god, the father of all, but also add 'through the word.' I thank you, father, {for approving the prayers that I have made}.
The Prayer of Thanksgiving
- Source: Nag Hammadi Codex VI,7 (Coptic, ca. 4th century CE); also in Asclepius 41 (Latin version of Greek original) and PGM III.591–611 (Greek Magical Papyri). Attributed to Hermes Trismegistus.
- Context: This prayer thanks God for gnosis, mind, word, and illumination—core to alchemical enlightenment. In Asclepius, it's recited facing east at sunrise or south at sunset, followed by a vegetarian meal ("pure meal with no living thing"). Alchemists used it post-ritual for gratitude and integration, emphasizing spiritual rebirth.
- Full Text (composite from Coptic/Greek/Latin, translated by Brian P. Copenhaver):
We give thanks to you! Every soul and heart reaches up to you, O ineffable Name, Honored as "God" and praised as "Father," For to everyone and everything you have shown Fatherly kindness, affection, love, and sweetest activity, Granting to us mind, word, and knowledge: Mind, that we may understand you; Word, that we may call upon you; Knowledge, that we may know you. We rejoice, for we have been illuminated by your knowledge. We rejoice, for you have revealed yourself to us. We rejoice, for you have made us incarnate divine by your knowledge. The thanks of mankind to you is this alone: that we may know you. O Light of Mind, we know you. O Life of Life, we know you. O Womb of all nature, we know you. O eternal constancy of the fathering Mind, Thus we worship your goodness. One wish we ask: we wish to be sustained in knowledge. One protection we desire: that we not stumble in this life.