Testament of Orpheus

Orpheus Speaks to Musaeus

I speak to those who may lawfully hear. Leave and close the doors, all of you who are uninitiated, who avoid the laws of the righteous, the divine law established for all humankind. But you, child of the bright Moon, Musaeus, listen to me, for I have truths to tell. Do not let the old imaginings of your mind rob you of the precious, happy life. Look to the divine word and keep close to it, and use it to guide your heart’s understanding. Walk wisely in the way, and look only to the immortal Maker of the world.

An ancient saying tells us about him: He is one, perfect in himself, and all else is made perfect by him. He moves among his works, unseen by mortal souls, but seen by the mind alone. He does not turn good things into evil for mortals. Love and hatred both accompany him, and war and plague, and sorrow and tears. There is no other. You could easily understand everything, if you could see him. Until then, here on earth, my son, I will show you, whenever I see them, God’s footprints and his mighty hand. But I cannot see him, for a cloud surrounds him, hiding him from me, and ten times more from other people.

No mortal could see the ruler of humankind except one, a descendant of the ancient Chaldean people. He was skilled in tracing the sun’s bright path, and how the starry sphere turns around the earth each turning evenly in a circle on its own axis. He guides the winds through the air and over flowing water, and and reveals the bright blaze of mighty fire.

But God himself, high above the great heaven, sits firmly on his golden throne, with his feet resting on the broad earth. He stretches his right hand to Ocean’s farthest limits. The foundations of the mountains tremble deep within and cannot endure his mighty power. He is entirely heavenly, and brings everything on earth to completion, himself the beginning, the middle, and the end of all.⁠a This is what the ancients taught, as did the sage born among the bushes, who received God’s teaching on the two tablets of the law.

I am not permitted to say more. My limbs tremble at the thought. He rules everything from heaven in an orderly way. Come close to him in thought, my son, but control your tongue carefully, and keep this teaching in your heart.