Finding A Good Source For Hermetics Options

i really want to get into hermetics!
does anyone know of a book i could just go and pick up

also i like authors who don't constantly repeat themselves

help is appreciated.

i really want to get into hermetics!
does anyone know of a book i could just go and pick up

also i like authors who don't constantly repeat themselves

help is appreciated.

Barons Initiation into Hermetics . . . ?

Three Adepts Kybalion . . .

(both are available online and in bookstores/amazon)

(I kinda liked Necoumbs The New Hermetics)

hmmm . . . occult authors that don't repeat themselvs . . . now I'm clueless.

(how, exactly, are you defining Hermetics?)

well thats the thing
this subject is beyond new to me

and i started reading the initiation and was so lost

UGH

but thank you though

i needed a light introduction before i got into the heavy stuff
but i guess i can't do that

and yes occult writers
over and over again
except for scott cunninghamn
he is very good

Bleach,

What exactly do you mean by that? You are interested in the history, workings or the magic?

There's Israel Regardie's Golden Dawn book, Frater U.D. High Magic, or Kraig's Modern Magick...each has its own take on things. I like High Magick because it tried to let you decide on which framework you want to use. It teaches you the rituals but explaines them with alternates so you can decide. It also gives you a good exercise plan that will develop your abilties.

fiddler

Well, lets differentiate just a bit . . .

Hermetica - Corpus Hermeticum (Hermetic Corpus), an specific subset of Egyptian or Greek literature
Hermeticism - a religo-magickal movement stemming from the teachings of Hermes Trismegistus
Hermetic Kabalah - a syncretism of Kabalah within Hermeticism
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn - a rosicrucian based magickal order in the western Hermetic Kabalistic tradition

There is an enormous breadth of literature and practic within the above. Most of the Western Mystery Tradition is base (primarily) on the Golden Dawns work. But, Hermeticism itself is a very different beast from the cosmological / magickal tradition presented in the Golden Dawn.

Its sounds arbitrary; hermetics / western magickal traditions / Golden Dawn. Maybe it is . . .

This post has been edited by palindroem: Sep 22 2006, 02:30 PM

Greetings, Personaly I would start out slow. A easy to read book such as Modern Magick by Donald Kraig, or Initiation into Hermetics by Franz Bardon would be a good starting place. Initiation is a little dated, but it is a very good training guide. Modern Magick has the authors view, but he does encourage you to research and arive at your own opinion it will also help you to understand more advanced works such as Golden Dawn, Book 4, 777 ect..

Ave

Most of what claims to be "Hermetic" isn't as Hermetic as it claims to be, and most people tend to confuse Ceremonial Magic with "Hermeticism", and I've seen many who interchange the two. Hermeticism is a philosophy of the universe and it's forces. It is also said to be the root of all mysticism, magic, and religion. The main sources of Hermeticism are he Corpus Hermeticum (Body of Hermetics) , The Emerald Tablet, and the Kybalion. As for true Hermetic Magic, the Graeco-Egyptian Magical Papyri is the best source to consult. Most of what is called Hermeticism indeed had it's roots in Hermeticism, but during the Dark Ages, most of true Hermetic knowledge was lost to the world, so in the manner of word of mouth and passing of papers it came down to the late 19th century very distorted, like a centuries old game of telephone, until the Corpus Hermeticum was discovered, and then subsequently the Kybalion written (the Graeco-Egyptian Magical Papyri was discovered before the Corpus Hermeticum, but around the same time). The Emerald Tablet has been around, never really lost, but it's secrets are forever locked to the masses. Again, most magic systems and groups that call their magic Hermetic aren't lying or trying to mislead, it is simply that Hermeticism that came through the general channels in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was contaminated by many hands, or rather, evolved into a different creature than it's predecessor. Jason Newcomb's "New Hermetics" and Franz Bardon's "Initiation into Hermetics" are probably the best vistas to learn the Modern Hermetic Philosophy and Magic.

AND all but Newcomb's book can be found in .pdf files for free by googling.

Ad Scientiam

Greetings,

If you are totally new to the subject you probably wont gain much from the "direct" source material since all of this requires quite a lot of before hand knowledge. For hermetic philosophy I warmly recommend The Kybalion, since its written with a sort of humility and not the flamboyance of the late 1800s and early 1900s as Mathers, Waite, Wescott and the other Golden Dawn people(this is more over in the Ceremonial Magick department anyway). Although in my opinion a good place to start is getting a basic understanding of the gnostic works(The Nag Hammadi Library), and maybe even some of those touching protognosticism like Simon Magus by Mead. Furtermore Hermetic philosophy is akin to neoplatonism, so perhaps Thomas Taylors translations of the works of Plato.

But know that neoplatonism and gnostism aint exactly toilet reading, so it requires quite a lot of study.

Hope to have been to some assitance!

-Scientior Nox