Oldal 156 [156]
GYÖRGY E. SZÖNYI
turn which boosted Enochs reputation was initiated by Pico della Mirandola,
who included a really radical idea among his famous 900 philosophical
conclusions: “There is no science that assures us more of the divinity of Christ
than magic and the Cabala” (9>9 in Farmer ed., 497). In order to prove this,
he used the concept of Metatron, the transfigured Enoch, about whom he could
learn, indirectly, via Abulafia and Mithridates, from 3 Enoch. Thus, Pico can
be considered the first modern gentile intellectual, who, although not directly
seeing the text, became aware of the secretively hiding Books of Enoch.
Lazzarelli’s case is perhaps even more complex. Above all, he must have
been influenced by the medieval Arabic-Jewish-Christian tradition, which
either strongly associated or even conflated Hermes and Enoch. This became
particularly important in the context of the Hermetic revival initiated by Ficino.
So, in a heated religious-psychological situation, triggered by the pageant of
the wondering apocalyptic prophet, da Correggio, Lazzarelli came to identify
himself as a reincarnated Enoch and da Correggio as Mercurius Hermes.
A couple of years later, already separated from his spiritual father, Lazzarelli
further developed his interest in a syncretic Christianized-Cabalistical¬
Hermetism and theorized about it in his Crater Hermetis. In it, Enoch is used as
an example and authority to attest to the possibility of exaltatio, the mystical¬
magical deification of man and the union with God. Thus, in that work he
endeavoured to offer an individual initiation into the mysteries.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BLADEL, Kevin van, The Arabic Hermes. From Pagan Sage to Prophet of
Science. Oxford University Press, 2009.
BRACH, Jean-Pierre, Umanesimo e correnti esoteriche in Italia: l’esempio
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Storia d'Italia Annali 25. Esoterismo. Torino: Giulio Einaudi editore, 2010,
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BRINI, Mirella, Lodovico Lazzarelli: Testi scelti. In E. Garin et al. eds. Testi
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BROEK, Roelof van den and Wouter Hanegraaff (ed.), Gnosis and Hermeticism
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Daréczi-Sepsi-Vassänyi_Initiation_155x240.indb 154 ® 2020. 06.15. 11:04:18