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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 is 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. This would mean that Hermetism reaches back at least many millennia BCE, into the era of prehistory. Manly P. Hall, occult and Hermetic scholar, does not stop there however. Hall takes credence in the stories of Atlantis, which is said to have passed through the Egyptians to Solon, and then to Plato. Hall was under the impression that the Atlanteans had, for the most part, fallen from the Path of Light and some of those still of the light fled Atlantis to settle in Egypt. These Atlanteans supposedly became the first "divine" rulers of Egypt and brought their teachings of the Light, which provided the basis for Hermetism. Texts of unverified age and questionable relation to The Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus do exist which purport to be the 36,000 year old work of Thoth the Atlantean
Hermes is usually equated with being the Egyptian god Thoth Manly P. Hall believed that Hermes Trismegistus was a man named Thoth who was raised to the status of a god and The Kybalion suggests the same, adding that he was not only deified by the Egyptians, but also the Greeks as the god Hermes. However, it is also claimed that Plutarch, in translating the account of Osirus and Horus, replaced the name Thoth with the name of Hermes, which may be much of the cause for this indistinction between the two. Hermes is said to have revealed to man the arts of "medicine, chemistry, law, art, astrology, music, rhetoric, magic, philosophy, geography, mathematics, anatomy, and oratory." This is probably embellished, especially since many may have taken the pen name of Hermes or Thoth because of a belief that Hermes was really the author of all books on philosophical and religious subjects, while the human authors merely wrote what he impressed on their minds. It should be noted, however, that Hermetists viewed Hermes as a man, not a god.
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.
Thomas Taylor, the first English translator of Plato's texts, believed that Plato was initiated into the Egyptian mystery schools at the age of 49, in one of the subterranean halls of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Plato's work was greatly criticized for revealing many of these Hermetic mysteries in his writings available to those outside the mystery schools. If these assertions are correct, then it would be correct to call Plato's work Hermetic and not the Hermetists Platonic.
Moses, the patriarch of Judaism, is also claimed to have been initated into the Hermetic Mysteries. The name משה, meaning Moses, may be an anagram for שמה, a name for the Sun. This is significant since many of the initiates into the Hermetic Mysteries were given names synonymous with the Sun to symbolize its powers of redemption and regeneration within them. (for more information see Hermeticism#Judaism)
It is hard to trace the Hermetic texts back all these millennia because of an event in 391 CE. In Alexandria, a woman named Hypathia, an initiate into the Hermetic Mysteries, took on the growing creed of Christianity head on. She had convinced the people of Alexandria that the beliefs of Christianity were all of pagan origin as well as that the miracles of Jesus of Nazareth were available to all by demonstrating the natural laws behind them. Though her murder didn't take place until 415 CE, it is an example of why the event in 391 CE happened. In that year, her works, along with most of the Hermetic texts, perished when the Great Library of Alexandria was burnt to the ground by the Romans.
The Romans and Christians both realized that so long as the Hermetic texts remained, Egypt could not be subjugated. Those books which survived the flames were subsequently buried in the desert in locations known only to those initiated in the mystery schools, and what has happened to them since is not public knowledge. Among those that may know today could be the Order of Freemasons which claims lineage to the Egyptian 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.
Manly P. Hall, an occult and Hermetic scholar, however, claimed that Hermeticism has foremost inspired three movements, the Illuminati, Freemasonry, and the Rosicrucians.
The All and reality
In the Hermetic belief system, all is in the mind of The All. Hermeticism acknowledges that there exist many gods, but that these deities, along with all other beings, exist within, and are created by, The ALL. As expressed in the Kybalion: "We have given you the Hermetic Teaching in regarding the Mental Nature of the Universe - the truth that 'the Universe is Mental - held in the Mind of THE ALL.'"
Everybody and Everything in the universe is part of this entity. As everything is mental, it is also a vibration. All vibrations vibrate from the densest of physical particles, through mental states, to the highest spiritual vibrations. In Hermeticism, the only difference between different states of physical matter, mentality, and spirituality is the frequency of their vibration. The higher the vibration, the further it is from base matter.
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.
Causation
One tenet of Hermeticism, which may be the sole work of The Kybalion is the tenet of causation. Causation is in a simplified form, simply cause and effect. Each cause has its effect and each effect has its cause. However, when brought up to Kybalion levels, this principle states that there is no such thing as chance, but rather that chance is undiscovered law, organization in the chaos.
The argument The Kybalion makes on this issue, is that The All is the Law, and as nothing can be outside of The All, nothing can be outside of the Law. The idea of something happening by chance would be, in their opinion, outside of the Law.
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)
- (Hall The Secret Teachings of All Ages pp. 125-6)
- (Hall The Secret Teachings of All Ages p. 82)
- (Hall The Secret Teachings of All Ages p. 85)
- (Doreal p. i)
- (Abel and Hare p. 5)
- (Hall The Hermetic Marriage p. 223)
- (Three Initiates pp. 17-8)
- (Abel and Hare p. 5)
- (Hall The Secret Teachings of All Ages p. 93)
- (Hall The Hermetic Marriage p. 224)
- (Hall The Secret Teachings of All Ages p. 162)
- (Hall The Secret Teachings of All Ages p. 40)
- (Regardie p. 16)
- (Hall The Secret Teachings of All Ages p. 428)
- (Hall The Secret Teachings of All Ages p. 650)
- (Hall The Secret Teachings of All Ages p. 96)
- (Hall The Hermetic Marriage p. 226)
- (Three Initiates p. 96)
- (Three Initiates p. 137)
- (Three Initiates pp. 138-47)
- (Scully p. 321)
- (Garstin p. 35)
- (Way of Hermes p. 33)
- (Three Initiates The Kybalion Chapt. 6)
- (Hall The Hermetic Marriage p. 234)
- (Three Initiates p. 171)
- (Three Initiates p. 173)
- (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).
- Online copy of Dr. M. Doreal's controversial translation of The Emerald Tablets of Thoth the Atlantean, commentary not included.