Focus on Creation: Hermetica

Hermes Trismegistus. Corpus Hermeticum.
Amsterdam, N. van Ravenstein for Y. Rievertsz, 1643

One way to get to know the creator is through observing creation. (CH V): in van Beijerland's striking Dutch translation of the Corpus Hermeticum the creator - factor in his source - is termed the 'Werckmeester' ('workmaster'). The admiration for the maker is expressed in the discussion of the complexity of the human body in all its parts:

'... learn who is the workmaster, who made this beautiful and divine image of man? Who has painted his eyes? Who pierced nose and ears? Who opened up the mouth? Who stretched out the sinews and tied them down? Who formed channels for the veins? Who set the most honored parts in relief to make them visible but hid the shameful parts away? See! How many skills have been applied to the same material!'