Tag Archives: Hermes Trismegistus

Practical Gnosis – Hermeticism

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We realize from our study of and, more importantly, our encounter with the figure of Hermes Trismegistus that the most difficult task we have as moderns who wish to pursue a spiritual path is that we cannot simply learn new information and fit it into our pre-existing World View, but we must learn a new World View, a new framework in which to fit the Hermetic knowledge. We are handicapped at every turn by the preconceptions we share of Reality, which are part of the Modern World View. The emphasis on the historical truth of Hermeticism, rather than its spiritual truth is but one trap. The attraction to endlessly “study” the area without actually engaging with the material or practicing the Hermetic arts is another. We do not follow this path because we wish to write a thesis or out of idle or abstract interest. Hermeticism is a means to an end and that end is union with the Divine.

So what is the method? Our first step is to learn and actually practice one or more of the Hermetic arts of astrology, magic and alchemy. At the same time we should study and meditate on the Hermetic philosophy that underlies these arts. We must constantly oscillate between theory and practice.

Practice without theory leaves us blindly following our sources and our limited experience. Practice alone also tempts us to focus on the results of our work, often material, leading us astray with the prospect of wealth, influence and power from our ultimate goal.

Theory without practice is essentially an endless series of mental games. By actually working with the Hermetic arts and obtaining results we can assure ourselves of the efficacy and correspondence to Reality of these arts and the philosophy that underlies them.

 

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In choosing to follow the traditional methods of practicing astrology, magic and alchemy, that is those methods used before 1700, we can do our best to avoid the simplifications typical of “New Age” spirituality and the distortions induced by the Modern World View. We do not accept the traditional Hermetic teachings merely because they are ancient, but because they are true.

As interesting and useful as it is to predict the future with astrology, to summon spirits with magic and to create the philosopher’s stone with alchemy, we find the true value in these arts is the transmutation that their successful mastery causes in our World View. This is not to say that these are purely psychological changes. No, astrology, magic and alchemy most assuredly do work and do causes changes of both a material and spiritual nature. Rather, by observing these changes and recognizing our ability to cause these results, we can know, by experience and for ourselves, that materialism and atheism are false and that the title of agnostic, literally one without knowledge, i.e. the ignorant, is properly bestowed on most moderns.

After having learned this knowledge intellectually, a slow process of assimilation takes place and we begin to internalize and to embody this knowledge. If astrology, magic and alchemy work, it can only be because the Cosmos is indeed one great unified Being bound together by myriad chains of spiritual sympathy and interconnection. Once we truly know this, once we have actually experienced the reality of this, then we have truly begun the process of Hermetic gnosis.

Source:  Sacred Texts

The Emerald Tablet (Tabula Smaragdina)

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1) It is true without untruth, certain and most true:

The Emerald Tablet

2) that which is below is like that which is on high, and that which is on high is like that
which is below; by these things are made the miracles of one thing.

3) And as all things are, and come from One, by the mediation of One, So all things are born
from this unique thing by adaption.

4) The Sun is the father and the Moon the mother.

5) The wind carries it in its stomach. The earth is its nourisher and its receptacle.

6 The Father of all the Theleme of the universal world is here. Its force, or power, remains entire,

7) You separate the earth from the fire, the subtle from the gross, gently with great industry.

8) It climbs from the earth and descends from the sky, and receives the force of things
superior and things inferior.

9) You will have by this way, the glory of the world and all obscurity will flee from you.

10) It is the power strong with all power, for it will defeat every subtle thing and penetrate
every solid thing

11) In this way the world was created.

12) From it are born wonderful adaptations, of which the way here is given.

13) That is why I have been called Hermes Tristmegistus, having the three parts of the
universal philosophy.

14) This, that I have called the solar Work, is complete.

Thoth Hermes Trismegistus and his Ancient School of Mysteries

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Thoth Hermes Trismegistus and his Ancient School of Mysteries

by KATRINA SISOWATH

Thoth Hermes Trismegistus is portrayed by the Egyptians as the moon god with the body of a man, head of an ibis, and a crescent moon over his head. His symbol was the winged serpent staff. He was the god of wisdom, letters, and time. But he was not only known to the Egyptians. To the Sumerians he was Ningizzida; he may have been Enoch to the Jews, Odin to the Scandinavians, Wotan to the Teutons, and some even suggest Buddha.

Thoth Hermes Trismegistus is portrayed by the Egyptians as the moon god with the body of a man, head of an ibis, and a crescent moon over his head. His symbol was the winged serpent staff. He was the god of wisdom, letters, and time. But he was not only known to the Egyptians. To the Sumerians he was Ningizzida; he may have been Enoch to the Jews, Odin to the Scandinavians, Wotan to the Teutons, and some even suggest Buddha.

Before he was revered as a god, he was the first great Egyptian philosopher and founder of the Ancient Mystery Schools, receiving his wisdom while in meditative trances, writing over 40 books including (allegedly) the Emerald Tablet, The Book of Thoth and The Divine Pymander, with the Book of Thoth only being given to his enlightened initiates of the Mysteries.

A reconstruction of what the Emerald Tablet is believed to have looked like by the International Alchemy Guild.

A reconstruction of what the Emerald Tablet is believed to have looked like by the International Alchemy Guild.  (Image source).

The topics he covered ranged from medicine, chemistry, law, art, music, rhetoric, magic, philosophy, geography, mathematics, anatomy, and oratory. To the Egyptians, his knowledge was so vast and all-encompassing that they first began to credit him as the communicator with the gods, eventually inducting him into the Egyptian pantheon.

Whether or not one agrees his is the hand that penned the books attributed to him, a quick perusal or in-depth study resounds in most readers, due to the similarity with Buddhism and Christianity. Perhaps the clearest examples are his teachings on reincarnation and the creation of the world.

Thoth, the ancient Egyptian god of wisdom, depicted with the body of a man, head of an ibis, and a crescent moon over his head.

Thoth, the ancient Egyptian god of wisdom, depicted with the body of a man, head of an ibis, and a crescent moon over his head. (Vladimiraz / Dreamstime.com)

Nothing is for certain about the Book of Thoth other than the fact that it was written in Egyptian Hieroglyphics.  It was kept in a golden box in the inner sanctuary of the temple and only the highest initiate of the Hermetic Arcanum Mystery School had the key to it. It is said the book described the Key to Immortality, the process achieved through awakening certain areas of the brain, similar to the Buddhist monks’ practices.  Gardner and other authors claimed the awakening of the brain was achieved through meditation, the use of a white powder, and the priestesses’ sacred essence.

The most powerful of the Mystery Schools was known as the Royal School of the Master Craftsmen at Karnak, founded by Pharaoh Thuthmosis III, though as with all the Mystery Schools, it is commonly believed that the true founders resided in Sumeria, emigrating to Egypt, which ties in to Sitchin’s claims that Enki and his sons (including Ningizzida) had Magan (Egypt) as their domain.

This school was also known as the Great White Brotherhood due to the members choice of raiment (white robes) and their dedication to producing the white powder known to the Mesopotamians as Shem-an-na, the High-Ward Fire Stone, or ‘white bread’ to the Egyptians. Pictures of it show it being offered to the Pharaohs, in the shape of a cone.

Man holding the Shem-an-na, white powder

Man holding the Shem-an-na, white powder (subtleenergies.com)

Petrie discovered on the top of Mount Sinai, an Egyptian Temple which contained a bewildering discovery:  laying some inches deep beneath heavy flagstones in a storeroom was a considerable supply of the finest pure white, unadulterated powder. Copper smelting and animal sacrifice were quickly ruled out.

Some of the mysterious powder was taken back to Britain for analysis and examination, but no results were ever published. The rest was left open to the elements after 3000 years to become a victim of the desert winds. What has become apparent, however, is that this powder was seemingly identical to the ancient Mesopotamian fire-stone or shem-an-na – the substance that was made into bread-cakes and used to feed the Babylonian kings and the pharaohs of Egypt. This, of course, explains the temple inscriptions denoting the importance of bread and light, while the white powder (the shem-an-na) has been identified with the sacred manna that Aaron placed in the Ark of the Covenant.

Petrie discovered a large quantity of pure white powder in a temple on top of Mount Sinai. ‘Ascent of the lower ranges of Mount Sinai’. Coloured lithograph by Louis Haghe after David Roberts, 1849.

Petrie discovered a large quantity of pure white powder in a temple on top of Mount Sinai. ‘Ascent of the lower ranges of Mount Sinai’. Coloured lithograph by Louis Haghe after David Roberts, 1849. (Wikimedia Commons)

Eventually the Mystery Schools went into decline as new Dynasties emerged. The initiates left Egypt and brought the Book of Thoth to another land. Where it is now, no one knows, though supposedly the chain of succession of Grand Master since Thoth, has remained unbroken. The Rosicrucians are said to be descended from his school while the Freemasons are descended from the school founded by Solomon.

As for Thoth? He has remained revered by philosophers, occultists, alchemists and healers through the ages, though many of the texts accredited to him were lost in the Great Fire of the Library of Alexandria. Who know how different history might have been had the knowledge contained in that library not been lost?

Hermes Trismegistus (Thoth). Floor inlay in the Cathedral of Siena Russian, 1480s

Hermes Trismegistus (Thoth). Floor inlay in the Cathedral of Siena Russian, 1480s (Wikimedia Commons)

Featured image: A figure of Thoth carved on the back of the throne of the seated statue of Rameses II. (Wikimedia Commons)

 

References:

Ancient Mystic Order of Noble Knowledge – AncientMonks.com. Available from: http://www.ancientmonks.com/

Genesis of The Grail Kings – Laurence Gardner. Available from: http://www.graal.co.uk/genesis_lecture_full_5.php

The Great White Brotherhood – Wes Penre. Available from: http://www.illuminati-news.com/great-white-brotherhood.htm

By Katrina Sisowath, Author of the Dragon Court series.

Read more: http://www.ancient-origins.net/history-famous-people/thoth-hermes-trismegistus-and-his-ancient-school-mysteries-002676#ixzz3e5EkMudx
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The Kybalion – The Ultimate Hermetic Introduction (Complete pdf)

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The teaching of Hermes have been here distilled into one text.

We take great pleasure in presenting to the attention of students and investigators of the Secret Doctrines this little work based upon the world-old Hermetic Teachings. There has been so little written upon this subject, notwithstanding the countless references to the Teachings in the many works upon occultism, that the many earnest searchers after the Arcane Truths will doubtless welcome the appearance of the present volume.

The purpose of this work is not the enunciation of any special philosophy or doctrine, but rather is to give to the students a statement of the Truth that will serve to reconcile the many bits of occult knowledge that they may have acquired, but which are apparently opposed to each other and which often serve to discourage and disgust the beginner in the study. Our intent is not to erect a new Temple of Knowledge, but rather to place in the hands of the student a Master-Key with which he may open the many inner doors in the Temple of Mystery through the main portals he has already entered.

There is no portion of the occult teachings possessed by the world which have been so closely guarded as the fragments of the Hermetic Teachings which have come down to us over the tens of centuries which have elapsed since the lifetime of its great founder, Hermes Trismegistus, the “scribe of the gods,” who dwelt in old Egypt in the days when the present race of men was in its infancy. Contemporary with Abraham, and, if the legends be true, an instructor of that venerable sage, Hermes was, and is, the Great Central Sun of Occultism, whose rays have served to illumine the countless teachings which have been promulgated since his time. All the fundamental and basic teachings embedded in the esoteric teachings of every race may be traced back to Hermes. Even the most ancient teachings of India undoubtedly have their roots in the original Hermetic Teachings.From the land of the Ganges many advanced occultists wandered to the land of Egypt, and sat at the feet of the Master. From him they obtained the Master-Key which explained and reconciled their divergent views, and thus the Secret Doctrine was firmly established. From other lands also came the learned ones, all of whom regarded Hermes as the Master of Masters, and his influence was so great that in spite of the many wanderings from the path on the part of the centuries of teachers in these different lands, there may still be found a certain basic resemblance and correspondence which underlies the many and often quite divergent theories entertained and taught by the occultists of these different lands today. The student of Comparative Religions will be able to perceive the influence of the Hermetic Teachings in every religion worthy of the name, now known to man, whether it be a dead religion or one in full vigor in our own times. There is always a certain Correspondence in spite of the contradictory features, and the Hermetic. Teachings act as the Great Reconciler.

The lifework of Hermes seems to have been in the direction of planting the great Seed-Truth which has grown and blossomed in so many strange forms, rather than to establish a school of philosophy which would dominate the world’s thought. But, nevertheless, the original truths taught by him have been kept intact in their original purity by a few men in each age, who, refusing great numbers of half-developed students and followers, followed the Hermetic custom and reserved their truth for the few who were ready to comprehend and master it. From lip to ear the truth has been handed down among the few. There have always been a few Initiates in each generation, in the various lands of the earth, who kept alive the sacred flame of the Hermetic Teachings, and such have always been willing to use their lamps to re-light the lesser lamps of the outside world, when the light of truth grew dim, and clouded by reason of neglect, and when the wicks became clogged with foreign matter. There were always a few to tend faithfully the altar of the Truth, upon which was kept a light the Perpetual Lamp of Wisdom. These men devoted their lives to the labor of love which the poet has so well stated in his lines:

“O, let not the flame die out! Cherished age after age in its dark cavern — in its holy temples cherished. Fed by pure ministers of love — let not the flame die out!”

These men have never sought popular approval, nor numbers of followers. They are indifferent to these things, for they know how few there are in each generation who are ready for the truth, or who would recognize it if it were presented to them. They reserve the “strong meat for men,” while others furnish the “milk for babes.” They reserve their pearls of wisdom for the few elect, who recognize their value and who wear them in their crowns, instead of casting them before the materialistic vulgar swine, who would trample them in the mud and mix them with their disgusting mental food. But still these men have never forgotten or overlooked the original teachings of Hermes, regarding the passing on of the words of truth to those ready to receive it, which teaching is stated in The Kybalion as follows: “Where fall the footsteps of the Master, the ears of those ready for his Teaching open wide.” And again: “When the ears of the student are ready to hear, then cometh the lips to fill them with wisdom.” But their customary attitude has always been strictly in accordance with the other Hermetic aphorism, also in The Kybalion: “The lips of Wisdom are closed, except to the ears of Understanding.”

There are those who have criticised this attitude of the Hermetists, and who have claimed that they did not manifest the proper spirit in their policy of seclusion and reticence. But a moment’s glance back over the pages of history will show the wisdom of the Masters, who knew the folly of attempting to teach to the world that which it was neither ready or willing to receive. The Hermetists have never sought to be martyrs, and have, instead, sat silently aside with a pitying smile on their closed lips, while the “heathen raged noisily about them” in their customary amusement of putting to death and torture the honest but misguided enthusiasts who imagined that they could force upon a race of barbarians the truth capable of being understood only by the elect who had advanced along The Path.

And the spirit of persecution has not as yet died out in the land. There are certain Hermetic Teachings, which, if publicly promulgated, would bring down upon the teachers a great cry of scorn and revilement from the multitude, who would again raise the cry of “Crucify! Crucify.”

In this little work we have endeavored to give you an idea of the fundamental teachings of The Kybalion, striving to give you the working Principles, leaving you to apply them yourselves, rather than attempting to work out the teaching in detail. If you are a true student, you will be able to work out and apply these Principles — if not, then you must develop Yourself into one, for otherwise the Hermetic Teachings will be as “words, words, words” to you.

-The Three Initiates.

Written by three anonymous initiates the Kybalion is the first place any true master of alchemy must begin.

——-

Download the PDF for The Kybalion here.