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GYÖRGY E. SZÖNYI
a desolate mountain, and from its midst one must dig up Adama, that is to say red
and virginal earth; then a man must be formed from it, and letters must be ritually
inscribed on his limbs. In my interpretation this must be understood as follows:
the desolate mountains are the godly sages, who are desolate because they are
despised by the multitude... (29.2, ibid., 259)
1his ritual is not actually included in the Sefer Yetzirah, and after a long
philological search, Gershom Scholem and Moshe Idel identified the source
in a commentary written by the thirteenth-century Jewish mystic Eleazar of
Worms (the research is reconstructed in Hanegraaff, 86ff). This allusion to
Hebrew esoterica asserts that an artificial man, a Golem, can be created from
“red and virgin earth,” and Lazzarelli supports the thesis by citing Hermes,
Plato, Philo Judaeus, and the example of Christ, because, parabolically
speaking, “Adama, the red and virgin earth, is the mind of the wise itself, that
has been made virginal by the wine of the Messiah, that germinates virgins.
A new man having been created in this manner...” (29.5, ibid.).
It is noteworthy that Lazzarelli intends to prove the ultimate truth
appearing in Jesus Christ by the authority of some Jewish rabbi and Enoch:
And it is said in the book Berescith Raba of Rabbi Moses Adersan that there was
held a debate on sacred things amongst some Talmudists, and when Rabbi Jonah
mentioned this secret, basing himself on the authority of Enoch, Rabbi Symeon
both laughed and cried and finally said: “This is the will of God, which he does not
want to be revealed to any generation until the King Messiah has come.” Thus more
than all others Jesus Christ has revealed his secret. [...] But the day is near that in
the fullness of time he will make it manifest more clearly... (29.7-8, ibid., 261)
No matter how inquisitive the king is, at this point, Lazzarelli decides
to postpone the teachings and closes his work with a hymn addressed to
the “Light of the Father, radiant Word, Pimander,” whom he finally identifies
with Christ.
What sort of esotericism can be thus inferred from the Crater Hermetis?
The origins and components of Renaissance Hermeticism as well as
the actual standpoints of its Italian representatives are subjects of ongoing
scholarly study and debate. Accordingly, Lazzarelli has been associated
with Platonism, Hermeticism, Jewish mysticism, and any combination
of the three. Undoubtedly, Lazzarelli shared Ficino’s enthusiasm for the
mystical teachings of Hermes, and like Pico, he was deeply influenced by
the teachings of the Hebrew scholars. His knowledge of Hebrew is verifiable
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