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Hermetism was a religion based upon the Philosophical Hermetica, including the Corpus Hermeticum, Asclepius, Armenian Hermetic Definitions, and the literature inspired by the corpus; separated from Hermeticism, which encompasses other works centered upon Hermes Trismegistus. Hermetism has been described as part of the third pillar of Western culture which provides a balance between Greek rationality and biblical faith.
Etymology
Hermetism is derived from the name Hermes. Hermes Trismegistus is said to be the founder of Hermetism, and was known to the Egyptians as Thoth and the Greeks as Hermes. Hermes comes from the ancient Greek root herm which means "vitality" or "the active, positive, radiant principle of nature." To the Hermetists, herm would represent the Masculine aspect of the Universe.
History
Hermetism, according to traditional accounts, stems from the teachings of Hermes Trismegistus, who is purported to have given to all of the ancient world its spiritual truths hidden in myth, which are symbolized in Isis, and is said to be the founder of Egyptian learning.
Some scholars, such as the literary scholar Harold Bloom insist that the Hermetists date only to the first century CE. Bloom writes:
- "The Hermetists were Platonists who had absorbed the allegorical techniques of Alexandrian Jewry, and who developed the Jewish speculation concerning the first Adam, the Anthropos or Primal Man, called the Adam Kadmon in Kabbalah, and 'a mortal god' by the Hermetists...."
This claim however is not accepted by all, particularly those who study the occult roots of Hermetism. Such scholars claim that both Plato and Judaism were primarily influenced by Hermetism, not the other way around.
Moses, the patriarch of Judaism, is also claimed to have been initated into the Hermetic Mysteries.
Hermetism appears to have died off with Christianity's rise in Greece and Egypt following its adoption by the Roman Empire. However, some of its texts were rediscovered in 1460 CE, and were translated in 1471 CE by Marsilio Ficino as the Corpus Hermeticum. This resulted in the rebirth of Hermetism as Hermeticism, embodied by the likes of John Dee, Giordano Bruno, Tommaso Campanella, Johannes Trithemius, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, Robert Fludd, and Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim Paracelsus.
(For more information see Hermeticism#History)
Hermetic beliefs
Hermeticism encompasses both panentheism and Monistic-polytheism within its belief system, which teaches that there is The All, or one "Cause", of which we, and the entire universe, are all a part. Also it subscribes to the notion that other beings such as gods and angels, ascended masters and elementals exist in the Universe.
As above, so below
These words circulate throughout occult and magical circles, and they come from Hermetic texts. The concept was first laid out in The Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus, in the words "That which is Below corresponds to that which is Above, and that which is Above, corresponds to that which is Below, to accomplish the miracles of the One Thing."
In accordance with the various levels of reality: physical, mental, and spiritual, this relates that what happens on any level happens on every other. This is however more often used in the sense of the microcosm and the macrocosm. The microcosm is oneself, and the macrocosm is the universe. The macrocosm is as the microcosm, and vice versa; within each lies the other, and through understanding one (usually the microcosm) you can understand the other.
The phrase has been referenced in many rock songs by various artists: Forced Entry, Tool, Cradle of Filth, Neurosis, Behemoth, Klaxons, Tom Tom Club, Mr Bungle, Billy Bragg, Probot, Averse Sefira, Watain, Scar Symmetry, Yngwie J. Malmsteen, Bruce Dickinson and Jorge Ben Jor.
Reincarnation
There are mentions in Hermeticism about reincarnation. As Hermes states:
- "O son, how many bodies we have to pass through, how many bands of demons, through how many series of repetitions and cycles of the stars, before we hasten to the One alone?"
The Kybalion also refers to Herbert Spencer as being
- "...a reincarnation of an ancient philosopher who dwelt in ancient Egypt thousands of years ago, and who later incarnated as Heraclitus..."
Manly P. Hall also claims that there is a general acceptance among Hermeticists for constant reincarnation between both sexes, as in some way integral, but not absolutely vital, within Hermeticism.
Morality, good and evil
Hermes explains in Book 9 of the Corpus Hermeticum that Nous brings forth both good and evil, depending on if he receives input from God or from the demons. God brings good, while the demons bring evil. Among those things brought by demons are:
- "adultery, murder, violence to one's father, sacrilege, ungodliness, strangling, suicide from a cliff and all such other demonic actions."
This provides a clearcut view that Hermeticism does indeed include a sense of morality. However, the word good is used very strictly, to be restricted to use to the Supreme Good, God. It is only God (in the sense of the Supreme Good, not The All) who is completely free of evil to be considered good. Men are exempt of having the chance of being good, for they have a body, consumed in the physical nature, ignorant of the Supreme Good.
Among those things which are considered extremely sinful, is the focus on the material life, said to be the only thing that offends God:
- "As processions passing in the road cannot achieve anything themselves yet still obstruct others, so these men merely process through the universe, led by the pleasures of the body."
It is troublesome to oneself to have no "children". This is a symbolic description, not to mean physical, biological children, but rather creations. Immediately before this claim, it is explained that God is "the Father" because it has authored all things, it creates. Whether father or mother, one must create, do something positive in their life, as the Supreme Good is a "generative power". The curse for not having "children" is to be imprisoned to a body, neither male (active) nor female (thoughtful), leaving that person with a type of sterility, that of being unable to accomplish anything.
Creation legend
The tale is given in the first book of the Corpus Hermeticum by God's Nous to Hermes Trismegistus after much meditation. It begins as the ALL creates the elements after seeing the Cosmos and creating one just like it (our Cosmos) from its own constituent elements and souls. From there, the ALL, being both male (Divine Father) and female (Universal Mother), holding the Word (the logos), gave birth to a second Nous, creator of the world. This second Nous created seven powers, or deities, (often seen as Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the Sun and the Moon) to travel in circles and govern destiny.
The Word then leaps forth from the materializing elements, which made them unintelligent. Nous then made the governors spin, and from their matter sprang forth creatures without speech. Earth then was separated from Water and the animals (other than Man) were brought forth from the Earth.
The Supreme Nous then created Man, androgynous, in his own image and handed over his creation. Man carefully observed the creation of his brother, the lesser Nous, and received his and his Father's authority over it all. Man then rose up above the spheres' paths to better view the creation, and then showed the form of the ALL to Nature. Nature fell in love with it, and Man, seeing a similar form to his own reflecting in the water fell in love with Nature and wished to dwell in it. Immediately Man became one with Nature and became a slave to its limitations such as gender and sleep. Man thus became speechless (for it lost the Word) and became double, being mortal in body but immortal in spirit, having authority of all but subject to destiny.
The tale does not specifically contradict the theory of evolution, other than for Man, but most Hermeticists fully accept evolutionary theory as a solid grounding for the creation of everything from base matter to Man.
Interrelations
Main article: Hermetism, Hermeticism and other thought systemsHermetism and Hermetic thought has influenced and has been influenced by several different other religions and thought systems, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
References
- (Van den Broek "Gnosticism and Hermetism in Antiquity" from Gnosis and Hermeticism: from Antiquity to Modern Times p. 5)
- (Faivre "Western Hermeticism and the Concept of Western Esotericism" from Gnosis and Hermeticism: from Antiquity to Modern Times pp. 109-10)
- (Van den Broek and Hanegraaff p. vii)
- (Three Initiates pp. 17-8)
- (Hall The Hermetic Marriage p. 223)
- (Regardie p. 16)
- (Scully p. 321)
- (Garstin p. 35)
- (Way of Hermes p. 33)
- (Three Initiates The Kybalion Chapt. 6)
- (Hall The Hermetic Marriage p. 234)
- (Way of Hermes p. 42)
- (Way of Hermes p. 28)
- (Way of Hermes p. 47)
- (Way of Hermes pp. 32-3)
- (Way of Hermes p. 29)
- (Way of Hermes pp. 18-20)
Sources
- Abel, Christopher R. and Hare, William O. (1997). Hermes Trismegistus: An Investigation of the Origin of the Hermetic Writings. Sequim: Holmes Publishing Group.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Hall, Manly P. (date unknown). The Hermetic Marriage. Kessinger Publishing.
{{cite book}}: Check date values in:|year=(help)CS1 maint: year (link) - Hall, Manly P. (1928 (copyright not renewed)). The Secret Teachings of All Ages. San Francisco: H.S. Crocker Company.
{{cite book}}: Check date values in:|year=(help)CS1 maint: year (link) - Regardie, Israel (1940). The Golden Dawn. St. Paul: Llewellyn Publications.
- Three Initiates (1912). The Kybalion. Chicago: The Yogi Publication Society/Masonic Temple.
- Van den Broek, Roelof and Hanegraaff, Wouter (1998). Gnosis and Hermeticism: from Antiquity to Modern Times. Albany: State University of New York Press. 0=7914-3612-8.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)- Van den Broek, Roelof. "Gnosticism and Hermetism in Antiquity: Two Roads to Salvation". pp. 1-20
- Faivre, Antoine. "Renaissance Hermeticism and the Concept of Western Esotericism". pp. 109-124
- Yates, Frances A. Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition. University of Chicago Press 1964. Scholarly analysis of Hermetism and it's impact on the leading philosophers of the Renaissance.
See also
External links
- The Corpus Hermeticum & Hermetic Tradition: Texts of the Corpus Hermeticum, along with introductory material. Included here are three complete introductory works by G.R.S. Mead on Hermetic tradition (part of the Gnosis Archive website).
- Institute for Hermetic Philosophy: Based on the hermetic teachings of philosopher Dario Salas Sommer (aka. John Baines).