Manly Palmer Hall
c/manly-p-hall
Master mystic and philosopher Manly P. Hall dedicated his life to uncovering ancient truths. Explore his legendary books, lectures, and timeless legacy.
c/manly-p-hall
Master mystic and philosopher Manly P. Hall dedicated his life to uncovering ancient truths. Explore his legendary books, lectures, and timeless legacy.
…form, a Greek form of the Latin Mercury, is itself or itself a personification of the soul. Therefore, it is said that Hermes was the author of 5,000 books, meaning actually that all writings come from the soul. Therefore, the psychic self is the author…
…of the nervous gangliated centers of the sympathetic glandular structure of the central nervous system. These two, like the caduceus of Hermes, two serpents wound around the spinal cord. as man unfolds these two are going to become one and the two nervous…
…mysteries or the alma mater, the mother of wisdom. And this thought, of course, is conveyed in the Hermetic tradition, where Hermes is referred to as the thrice-born one, or the thrice-greatest, and in honor of that was given the title Trismegistus, meaning…
…Hermetic rites, fire is calculated or held under the name Herm, which means flame. Therefore, your deity or your great teacher, Hermes, represents the principle fire. Now, in the same concept, for instance, we have another symbol which has occurred in your…
…the deity of goddess Aphrodite or Aphrodite the principle of water if therefore in the alchemical process you marry fire which is Hermes, to Aphrodite, which is water, or you achieve the marriage of the sun and moon, you produce what is called in alchemy…
…water, or you achieve the marriage of the sun and moon, you produce what is called in alchemy the hermaphrodite, the Hermes Aphroditus, which means the fire, water, the male, female, God, nature, heaven, earth. And the words themselves become of great…
…of the Black Book, which was said to have been the book, the mystery of kings, originally given to the world by Hermes Trismegistus. All this symbolism, however, like the symbolism of the meeting of the knights in Parzival and the great castle of the…
…Therefore we have the great hermetic statement of this law. supposed to have been found by Alexander the Great in the tomb of Hermes Trismegistus in the valley of Hebron and that is this great law was inscribed upon an emerald and it says that which is…
…came to the point where they could add nothing to their previous accomplishments and at that moment they ceased to exist. And so as Hermes says in the one of his great essays, that there must be nothing left of Egypt but ruins buried in the sand. Now…
…the world which is above. Similar thinking is represented in the Apocalypse of St. John, and also in the Divine Permanence of Hermes. But according to the Teresotian concept, there is a state or condition of life which we would call today cosmic or…
…the house of seven rooms, where within itself the heart contains seven distinct parts, or orifices. And in these, according to Hermes, the spirit first manifests its seven souls therefore Paracelsus likened the heart to a solar system with the sun in the…
…for a moment to these constellations growing in the meadows. These are plants. They are earth. And of these matters, this old switch Hermes was very well informed. He said, you go out in the field and you search for medicinal earth. How are you going to…
…so it is actually that which in a sense becomes the symbol or the presence of the divine in man in the books of Hermes it is written that the eternal power placed itself in the mysterious pyramid of the heart and that the pyramid in Giza was an…
…particular case, The assessors, or the jurors, present the various articles of the Mesopotamian text, or the herald of the court, St. Hermes, may himself read the sacred liturgy of the question. It is said that the Egyptians were proud men, or that he…
…of some type of symbolic card and one of the earliest names for the tarot cards was the book of Thoth Thoth was the Egyptian Hermes he was the deity that had charge of the books of life he was the one who spoke for the gods he was the messenger…
…The great order of the Gada was composed, theoretically and originally, of all the rulers of men, based upon the great books of Hermes on the deportment of kings. In the very engine of the mysterious right. And in the center of all the other rights,…
…world religion is concerned, the Church maintained a most favorable attitude toward Plato, and also took a most generous attitude toward Hermes and the Hermetic writings of the first second or third centuries, these early periods. This lack of a clear line…
…it he had spoken no English he had no idea what the book was about So I turned to the plate of the table of Hermes just in passing along through the book. You'll find it if you have it. And the old Indian stopped right there. It was Chaldean. He…
…Egyptians themselves at a very early time said that the Great Pyramid of Giza, pyramid number one was originally the tomb of Hermes and that in that building was the great key to the hermetic philosophy which was restored in Alexandria in the first…
…and that in that building was the great key to the hermetic philosophy which was restored in Alexandria in the first century now Hermes as the hermetic tradition tells us was the god of wisdom being known to the Greeks as Hermes known to the Romans as…
…Alexandria in the first century now Hermes as the hermetic tradition tells us was the god of wisdom being known to the Greeks as Hermes known to the Romans as Mercury known to the Egyptians as Thoth the god of writing and the last poem by the way of…
…known to the Egyptians as Thoth the god of writing and the last poem by the way of Longfellow was an ode to Hermes in which he said Trismegistus three times greatest how thy name sublime has descended to this latest progeny of time Hermes Trismegistus…
…Egyptians themselves at a very early time said that the great pyramid of Giza, pyramid number one was originally the tomb of Hermes and that in that building was the great key to the hermetic philosophy which was restored in Alexandria in the first…
…and that in that building was the great key to the hermetic philosophy which was restored in Alexandria in the first century now Hermes as the hermetic tradition tells us was the god of wisdom being known to the Greeks as Hermes known to the Romans as…
…Alexandria in the first century now Hermes as the hermetic tradition tells us was the god of wisdom being known to the Greeks as Hermes known to the Romans as Mercury known to the Egyptians as Soth the god of writing and the last poem by the way of…
…known to the Egyptians as Soth the god of writing and the last poem by the way of Longfellow was an ode to Hermes in which he said Trismegistus three times greatest how thy name sublime has descended to this latest progeny of time Hermes Trismegistus…
…Hermes in which he said Trismegistus three times greatest how thy name sublime has descended to this latest progeny of time Hermes Trismegistus the embodiment of all knowledge that is knowable of nature Hermes was the symbol of cosmic mind of absolute…
…Buddha or the cave of seven rooms in which the initiations into the mysteries of Buddhism were given to the candidates or neophytes. Hermes describes the heart as a pyramid and in a strange way it is a kind of inverted one. There seems much to suggest…
…body becomes the protector and administrator of the heart power. What then would be the nature of the consciousness in the heart? Hermes, in his discourse to his son Tatian, attempts to clarify this point, but probably lived a little too soon to have some…
…and an attempt toward the recovery of the ancient experiment of nature. This is followed by a Latin quotation attributed to Hermes. The book itself fulfills in every way the serious and scholarly title page which opens into it. The table of contents…
…transmutation in general and of the first matter of the stone. The second or third section is the golden treatise of Hermes Trismegistus concerning the physical secret of the philosopher's stone in seven sections. And so on through the entire book. And you…
…laboratory of the cosmos where whenever the rule is found actually and absolutely in one it will be applicable to the other whereas Hermes Trismegistus has written that which is above is the same as that which is below that which is the lesser is the…
…little face was nature, where he came upon the concept of analogy as given presumably in the Emerald Table of Hermes. that superiors and inferiors have a certain resemblance. The creation is the reflection of the creator. Maproprosopus, looking down into…
…the Buddhist initiation, the seven-roomed house of man, or the cave with the seven chambers within it. Or, as Tatian said to Hermes in his famous discourse, upon the diaphragm stands the pyramid of the Almighty, which is the heart. The heart therefore is…
…star. So that physically, He might be some Roman like the son of Glaucus or Claudius. But in the temple, he was the son of Hermes, or of Zeus, or of Juno, or of whichever of the orders of deities his father archetype belonged. For as a person, he was…
…another attribute. He is polyforminal. Instead of taking on, for instance, another god of the Greeks that we can mention would be Hermes, or Mercury. We know Hermes among the Greek arts mostly as a young man with winged heels and a winged hat carrying…
…polyforminal. Instead of taking on, for instance, another god of the Greeks that we can mention would be Hermes, or Mercury. We know Hermes among the Greek arts mostly as a young man with winged heels and a winged hat carrying a caduceus, or staff, and…
…toga and leaning upon a staff sometimes bound with a serpent and sometimes not thus there was what was called the old or aged Hermes and the young one the same is true of Dionysus who is represented as an old bearded man or as a very effeminate youth…
…own, but takes on whatever nature that comes to it because of employment. In other words, we are speaking now of Hermes, hermes representing the messenger or the communicator of the divine power hermes serves all the gods and becomes identified immediately…
…reason are not the same. but they are both interpreters, messengers. And like these messengers, they have several attributes. For Mercury, Hermes, is not only the one who becomes the guide, the Virgil to every Dante seeking to pass through the mysteries of…
…Of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Though we have also. One of our best known deities. And that is Mercury or Hermes. Mercury or Hermes was the communicator. In some mysterious way. The revelation of man's fountains. Of potential. Finally bring us into…
…Greeks and Romans. Though we have also. One of our best known deities. And that is Mercury or Hermes. Mercury or Hermes was the communicator. In some mysterious way. The revelation of man's fountains. Of potential. Finally bring us into the direct presence.…
…hearing, one tasting, one touching. All of these are aspects of a common energy, and this common energy was Mercury or Hermes. For this reason, and because of man's dependence upon the sensory perceptions which he possesses for what he terms knowledge,…
…comradeship of purposes all these problems and pressures the Greeks recognized and personified under the nature of the deity Mercury or Hermes this deity was also regarded as the god of thieves which is not particularly remarkable for it is not ingenuity…
…rooms. This place of seven rooms undoubtedly symbolized the human heart within which the initiation of consciousness must take place. Hermes, describing the great pyramid to his son Tatian in the Hermetic Dialogue, declares the pyramid to be a symbol of…
…that would not be answered directly. The Egyptians, especially the later Hermetic philosophers, were very skilled in analogy. The great Hermes is accredited with the statement, that which is above is like unto that which is below. The vast things and…
…see a little later. Now we can take another parallel to this, which can be of interest to us. In the Primandries of Hermes, one of the works of the Alexandria Hermetic School, about the beginning of the Christian era, we have the mysterious account of…
…said to have been inscribed on the emerald tablet found by Alexander the Great in the tomb of Alexander, in the tomb of Hermes. In this particular case, the law of analogy intrigues us to wonder what the relation may be between the world form the world…
…of some type of symbolic cards. And one of the earliest names for the tarot cards was the Book of Thoth. Thoth was the Egyptian Hermes. He was the deity that had charge of the books of life. He was the one who spoke for the gods. He was the…
…his own salvation. We find it in the Ten Commandments. We find it in the teachings of Jesus, in the Buddha, Zoroaster, Hermes, Confucius, Lao Tzu, Pythagoras. All of these great people who were the real teachers of mankind pointed out this inevitable truth…
…of the universe, the layers of which are the steps of a gigantic ladder. Now this ladder, if we are to believe Hermes, the great Egyptian mystic, the Thermiturgist, of whose life nothing is known. But anyway, in his Emerald Tablet, Hermes declares that…
…are to believe Hermes, the great Egyptian mystic, the Thermiturgist, of whose life nothing is known. But anyway, in his Emerald Tablet, Hermes declares that the above is like the below, the superior is like the inferior. The lesser is like the greater. The…
…be present to take care of those who make the attainment. When the disciple is ready, the teacher is there, says the axiom of Hermes. And this is it. And it always has been it. That only when the individual is capable of a complete dedication can he…
…significant purpose from the Alexandrian time we have the rise of things like the Hermetic philosophy a mysterious adept Hermes Mercurius Trismegistus a strange phantom-like figure was perhaps the first important western concept of the adept a mysterious power…
…adept a mysterious power the mind of God made flesh the wisdom of the eternal brought into a communicable form in the great teacher. Hermes was considered to be the author of all the books that were ever written in the world. No one ever saw him. No…
…does not arise from nothing. It has to have a core it has to have a motivating principle and this motivating principle as Hermes was invisible but the source of a tremendous visible transformation in the life of humanity so we find gradually the rise of…
…In the transition from Greece to Egypt of certain philosophical doctrines, possibly post-Pythagorean, there is the transition between Solt and Solt Hermes. And little by little, the Egyptian Solt came to be known even in Egypt as Hermes. As Hermes, he was…
…there is the transition between Solt and Solt Hermes. And little by little, the Egyptian Solt came to be known even in Egypt as Hermes. As Hermes, he was still essentially the scribe in the Book of the Dead. He was still the messenger and writer of the…
…the transition between Solt and Solt Hermes. And little by little, the Egyptian Solt came to be known even in Egypt as Hermes. As Hermes, he was still essentially the scribe in the Book of the Dead. He was still the messenger and writer of the gods. He…
…by the time we come to the cycle covered by our story this evening of Iamblichus and his work on the mysteries, Hermes had come forward and had equipped Isis and Osiris and Serapis. Hermes had become the principal patron of the late Egyptian restoration.…
…evening of Iamblichus and his work on the mysteries, Hermes had come forward and had equipped Isis and Osiris and Serapis. Hermes had become the principal patron of the late Egyptian restoration. And gradually, from this circumstance, there arose a new sect,…
…has brought together so many interested, mysterious students on a very remarkable, fabulous subject. The greatest of the books of Hermes is that which is called today the Divine Pymanda, It consists of 17 fragments. These fragments together cannot be said…
…have been produced. In broad structure, therefore, we have this work that has come down to us as the divine vision of Hermes Mercurius Trismegistus, who is described as a priest of the mysteries of Egypt, and whose writings, according to their own content,…
…writings, according to their own content, they are not the stamp of a man but the stamp of heaven. And in this work, Hermes is advanced as a prophet, as a minister and missionary of God, as one peculiarly and divinely favored to reveal an essential…
…of John, the general pattern of the recoding of a mystical experience which occurred to the principal person, in this case, Hermes. There is nothing whatever within the vision, as it is called, would give us any clue to the historical orientation of…
…There is nothing whatever within the vision, as it is called, would give us any clue to the historical orientation of Hermes, or his character and personality. There is no description of him. He simply appears as a person passing through an extraordinary…
…Christianity is the approach to deity, which strongly differentiates and distinguishes the teachings of this mysterious ex-personality we know as Hermes. In one of his earlier tracts, Hermes says the universe is composed of only two qualities, the Creator and…
…strongly differentiates and distinguishes the teachings of this mysterious ex-personality we know as Hermes. In one of his earlier tracts, Hermes says the universe is composed of only two qualities, the Creator and the works of the Creator. This statement not…
…But he certainly continued to exercise a strong influence in medieval thinking and even in modern religious thought. The concept as Hermes unfolds it conceives the universe to consist of only the attribute of one sovereign power. There is nothing but God.…
…be God are conditions of God. Deity in substance and in essence, absolute and indivisible, may not so be cognized by man, Hermes taught. Man, therefore, must observe the separate works of God, and by thus observing, he falls into a possible illusion, This…
…into a possible illusion, This illusion is that these works have a separate subsystem, a true and total existence in themselves. Hermes says this is not so. That all works have their existence and subsystems only in God. Extending this concept, Hermes also…
…books carried by the Egyptians and their religious professionals could not have been the present books that we now associate with Hermes. Fabricius would be inclined to follow the school with which he had greatest fondness, and take it for granted that the…
…stone was cut or prepared approximately 200 BC. The second point of interest is that this stone actually carries the name of Hermes. It is one of the words, of course, in the Egyptian form, folk. But it also carries another very interesting peculiarity by…
…by which we divide the Egyptian Gothic literature from the true Hermetic structure. We most of us realize or remember that Hermes is generally referred to in the Hermetic writings as Mercurius or Hermes Trismegistus. the thrice greatest. And in some of the…
…Hermetic structure. We most of us realize or remember that Hermes is generally referred to in the Hermetic writings as Mercurius or Hermes Trismegistus. the thrice greatest. And in some of the earlier works, this is modified a little, and he is called the…
…to Egypt would have justified a large part of the hermetic corpus. In other words, for the first time, the teachings of Hermes may well have become of interest to the average Egyptian who was beginning to be cultured in the philosophical speculations of…
…came into existence The corpus is composed or made up of a series of writings attributed to a mysterious person called Hermes and often referred to either as Hermes Trismegistus or Mercurius Termaximus in the Latin form. Several efforts have been made to…
…or made up of a series of writings attributed to a mysterious person called Hermes and often referred to either as Hermes Trismegistus or Mercurius Termaximus in the Latin form. Several efforts have been made to assume that this Hermes was the Egyptian…
…to either as Hermes Trismegistus or Mercurius Termaximus in the Latin form. Several efforts have been made to assume that this Hermes was the Egyptian deity Thoth, T-H-O-T-H, long associated with the concept of wisdom and considered by many to have become…
…Thoth, T-H-O-T-H, long associated with the concept of wisdom and considered by many to have become intermixed with the Greek Hermes, particularly during the period of the Grecian pharaohs of Egypt. That is the dynasty of the Ptolemies, the dynasty immediately…
…Ptolemies, the dynasty immediately preceding the beginning of the Christian era. There is no evidence of certainty, however, that the Hermes of the Hermetic school was actually the Egyptian soul. This, however, brings a further matter. Souls as a deity. was…
…Hermes in which he said Trismegistus three times greatest how thy name sublime has descended to this latest progeny of time Hermes Trismegistus the embodiment of all knowledge that is knowable of nature Hermes was the symbol of cosmic mind of absolute…
…sublime has descended to this latest progeny of time Hermes Trismegistus the embodiment of all knowledge that is knowable of nature Hermes was the symbol of cosmic mind of absolute knowledge he was described as having written all the books of the world…
…great pyramids certain hermetic books probably written about the first century but credited with the greater antiquity include a work written by Hermes presumably to his son Tatian and he says in this Druk to his son he says the day shall come when Egypt…
…necessary to have it if he is not he will not get it now there's an interesting story we don't hear much about also Hermes among the books which he is attributed as having written was one which is called the black book now the black book is another…
…sublime has descended to this latest progeny of time Hermes Trismegistus the embodiment of all knowledge that is knowable of nature Hermes was the symbol of cosmic mind of absolute knowledge he was described as having written all the books of the world…
…Great Pyramid certain hermetic books probably written about the third century but credited with a greater antiquity Include a work written by Hermes presumably to his son Tatian And he says in this book to his son, he says the day shall come When Egypt…
…to have it if he is not he will not get it now there is an interesting story we don't hear much about also Hermes, among the books which he is attributed as having written, was one which is called the Black Book. The Black Book is another legend.…
…Perlius Ashmole, back in the 17th century, the original laws and rules for the order were taken from the Black Book of Hermes on the deportment of kings. And the entire structure is so constituted and the thrones are so arranged that it represents really…
…of the lower mind is accumulation. In other words, the use of intellect to increase worldly goods or possessions. Whereas the old Hermes with the beard and leaning upon his ancient staff is like Gollum the aged guardian of the grail castle or Merlin the…
…below mind therefore is in this middle distance between all things and mind is consequently the hermetic principle When then we say that Hermes was the author of 80,000 books, all we are doing is saying that the mind is the author of all books. That the…
…the mind is the author of all books. That the mind is therefore the principle of ingenuity. That the great dialogues of Hermes to Tatian represent nothing more or less than the mind forever instructing the personality. but the mind itself is not enough…
…the child. He then returns to his own abode. And selecting according to one account. Athena. And according to the other account. Hermes. As his agent. Has this child carried away. To Nyssa the blessed. A land of mountains. In the distant region of things.…
…Gnostic and the Essene, and the divine pyromancer, the shepherd of men, and the great dialogues and discourses of Hermes. constitute a literature highly mystical with a considerable amount of Gnostic and Neoplatonic influence and also is borrowing obviously…
…attacked or defamed by the church, but were regarded as legitimate predecessors of the church philosophy, were Plato, Hermes, and the small original group of neopagans. These individuals were given particular consideration perhaps because St. Augustine of…
…which is herein contained and now he is following the hermetic story almost exactly may be traced or was traceable to Hermes, the god who presided over language, and was formerly very properly considered as common to all the priests. He explains, for…
…He explains, for example, that the wisdom which he is going to unfold in this study of the mystery is based upon the Hermes pillars, which were probably buried or hidden under the temple of Syes in Egypt. where Solon claimed to have seen them as a…
…seen them as a result of a trip through a subterranean lake to an island under the earth where the two pillars of Hermes, or as they are also alternately called by the non-Hermetic group, the pillars of Enoch, were said to have been standing since…
…the limitations imposed by every level of existence. This is precisely the burden of the divine pymander or the shepherd of Hermes. in which the individual, the initiate seeking the mystery ascends through the orbits of the seven planets and at each of…
…achieving to a dedication by means of which he went forth to share it with all who would listen. Thus the Hermes of the vision is a person without crystallized personality. He is an archetypal kind of person. Perhaps he represents all truth-seekers…
…the quiet internal meditation from the mystery of truth. Now in this meditation we are told in the vision, for example, that Hermes divides himself or separates himself from his body and his senses. This almost immediately gives us a certain hint of yoga…
…The presence of a discipline by means of which the conscious energies are directed away from objective things. It's clearly indicated. Hermes was following a formula or a pattern. He was performing a certain kind of devotion. And the implication further is…
…of the sun, and among the Chinese, of course, it was also the particular emblem of absolute sovereignty and royalty. Now, Hermes beholding this dragon gives us symbolically, almost in the form of pictures, a story that we must also give some consideration…
…it is beyond our knowledge and beyond our power to endure Thus we have in the vision the immediate clarification of this thing which Hermes is later to refer to as reason. That this is not the reason of the book man. This is not the reason of…
…injures nothing. The only way in which it hurts man is because it frightens him. It does nothing actually to injure him. Hermes, however, fearful of the tremendous impact of of this mind, in the form of the great dragon, beseeches reason to present itself…
…itself the power of the dragon, yet it is not of the same terrible and menacing appearance. This radiance then, to Hermes, obviously permeates all space, and reason takes upon itself the power of enlightenment. It is revealed as the enlightener, or the…
…takes upon itself the power of enlightenment. It is revealed as the enlightener, or the bringer of the light of the mind. And Hermes feels himself lifted up, and he is placed in the midst of this radiance, he stands there supported only by space and the…
…radiance to fade out. The radiance is dissolved into this mist. The mist becomes more and more dense and impenetrable. until at last Hermes finds himself standing only in the mist. Yet where he stands has been the radiance, but a water has put out the…
…mysterious fluid. And as this darkness finally caused the radiance to vanish into itself so that it was no longer apparent or visible, Hermes became aware of sighing and of moaning and of strange sounds coming out of the mist. And in the midst of all of…
…from below, a great column, a pillar. And this pillar became a great radiant thing, standing in the midst of the mist. And Hermes heard the voice of reason. great invisible dragon that was no longer to be seen. And the invisible dragon declared that this…
…shall stand. This column represents the presence of reality in the midst of all things. In fact, the great mind instructs Hermes that this tower is the certainty in the midst of the darkness. It is the ever-present and indestructible monument, the…
…eternal foundations, arising as a column out of the darkness. Now, the great reason, in power of faith, then further explains that Hermes has beheld the descent of the eternal into the darkness of illusion. That the darkness in the midst of which rises…
…given the power to carve out holes in space. And these holes become suns and planets and worlds. Here's an interesting point that Hermes makes, namely that these are not bodies in space but homes in space, and that what we call the solidness of a…
…hammer, or in the form of the active we find there emerging out of space the seven children of friction, called by Hermes the sons of striving. And these are the seven deities, or the seven planetary gods. And together these gods constitute what Hermes…
…Hermes the sons of striving. And these are the seven deities, or the seven planetary gods. And together these gods constitute what Hermes calls the second mind. Therefore there is the first mind, or the reason which is the dragon. And there is the second…
…concept of the emergence of a universe, of a solar system, or of a power. Now in the midst of these procedures, Hermes beholds something still further. He beholds rising out of the deepness and darkness of things, Anthropos, the divine man. Anthropos seems…
…Christian figure. This does not mean that it is opposed to Christianity, but it cannot be said that this archetypal man of Hermes is simply patterned upon the Christ concept, nor could it be faithfully said that the Christ concept could have been patterned…
…upon the rings of the seven governors, or the masters of the planet. and gazing downward into the mystery of the unknown." Hermes tells us then also a very interesting fact that I believe has become quite a point in Jungian psychology, namely that in…
…is gradually brought into orientation in the material universe. Thus we find in the Paimanda, or the great vision, that Hermes describes a multiplication of this primordial man, having become absorbed into the mystery of material diffusion. This man becomes…
…the sky, this becomes a totality. which is broken up within itself to produce the seven men. Now it is pretty obvious that Hermes is now telling us the story of the archetypal man by which we shall say humanity, the totality, humanity as one. Later, by…
…natures, by which we seem to see or feel the presence of a tremendous and enduring power. But this power is purely symbolic. Hermes then beseeches the great mind, reason, which is the eternal dragon, to reveal to him something more. He has now learned of…
…third of the stars of the heavens, carried them forth into the abyss. We have again a biblical parallel. Now, according to Hermes, comes the greater mystery of it all. How then, how this infinite number of separate inesses shall finally be reconciled? How…
…from the base metals and substances of nature the infinite mind shall be rescued and restored and revived? And reason explains to Hermes that all these forms and bodies set up in nature are merely the instruments of its own purpose, and that its purpose…
…from the exploration of the not-self it shall be restored to the equilibrium of the self-knowing. And the great mind, or reason, tells Hermes that the course of this is a vast cycle of which the death of man is a miniature representation or replica. And…
…this is a vast cycle of which the death of man is a miniature representation or replica. And the reason says to Hermes that man is separate from truth, because of the various deflections which affect its minds, which affect its attitudes, and particularly…
…matter into the sidereal world of the divine machinery, moves first upward through the gate of the moon. And there, as Hermes says, it relinquishes the power to increase and decrease. In other words, it ends the moods, or renounces its strange allegiances…
…the guardian or the worker of the gate in its own way Those things which belong to the world of Mercury. And Hermes says that these include all manner of deceit. All manner of false thinking. All schemes. All plots and strategies. All brilliant…
…from the strange whirling rings of Saturn. And the soul which has ascended above the seven governors, then enters into what Hermes calls the blessed state of the eighth sphere. This eighth sphere, which in the old astronomical system corresponded with the…
…of reason either as philosophical or as theological. It is now simply the total knowing of the total thing to be known. Hermes, having received this part of the revelation, brings to us another interesting situation for us to consider. He asks the great…
…cases, a dogmatic way which is not clearly practical, at least not in its first presentation. First of all, the reason assures Hermes that the secret of the final liberation of all things is that the same reason which in its substance overshadows and…
…if any, opportunity in the confusion of our outward living to achieve its proper and purposeful end. Therefore, the divine reason tells Hermes very simply that the course of procedure, much as in the biblical parables, is that Hermes shall go forth and sow…
…end. Therefore, the divine reason tells Hermes very simply that the course of procedure, much as in the biblical parables, is that Hermes shall go forth and sow the seeds of reason that he shall bring the message and the message shall fall upon fertile…
…way that he can. And if it shall happen. That a man shall not come. To know the reason of the world. Because the voice of Hermes has not reached him. Or the voice of other prophets sent by God have not come to him. Or men have so diluted the words…
…the eternal state of all knowing, but liberated from the great illusions which is self-knowing. This concept gives certain comfort to Hermes, who then declares himself as willing to accept it. He also declares that it has come upon his consciousness that he…
…He has fulfilled the terrible journey which began at the siege of Troy and ends when he reaches the land of his birth. Hermes then conceiving these things meditates upon them And he tries to give us a certain further insight as to the meaning of…
…It is a word that we have to use. Perhaps some of the things we have said have indicated its extra intellectual dimension. Certainly Hermes did not mean rationality as we use it. He did not mean the reasoning power as we have it. He meant rather the…
…works, but perhaps nowhere evolved and developed with as much dramatic insight as in the Hermetic legend or fable. Also, Hermes accepts this reason as a kind of complete and total insight without conditions. In other words, reason implies complete freedom…
…Sometimes also in the subtle radiance with which that dragon later enveloped its power so that it was more easily cognizable by Hermes. But in this pure reason is pure knowing, the knowing of causes, the knowing of things not by their names but by…
…the utter cognition of total existence, total life, total energy, total God. And this cognition, by its very nature, as Hermes himself realizes, moves the individual gradually from his own existence to something else. Hermes fully realized that this ultimate…
…cognition, by its very nature, as Hermes himself realizes, moves the individual gradually from his own existence to something else. Hermes fully realized that this ultimate state of reason could not belong to man. This perfection of cognition, this total…
…of which all things observed and contemplated have their intervals removed. This man cannot achieve by his own reason. So Hermes, following the Eastern mystics, Buddha and others, realized that at the last step Human reason simply ceases. And something else…
…of itself in time and eternity. He has been only the custodian, the guardian of something he could never own. This is Hermes' concept of reason. Namely, that this reason which man disciplines, tutors, and uses for so many diverse purposes was never his…
…vain. And that his waves breaking against reality are themselves broken. But reality stands unmoved. Thus in the return to reason Hermes points out that eternal reason speaking through him, Hermes, gave its message To his disciples who are also recent. That…
…themselves broken. But reality stands unmoved. Thus in the return to reason Hermes points out that eternal reason speaking through him, Hermes, gave its message To his disciples who are also recent. That one speaking to another is one speaking to the same.…
…who reject. But those who have accepted. Have shortened the sorrow of their own journey. And have found their way back. And so Hermes having seen the nature of his ministry. That his ministry is merely to pass along that road. To teach. And to go his…
…be the silence and the return to the stars. And having more or less put this full pattern in order in his own consciousness. Hermes then raises his voice to him this eternal reason. And his words of praise are the words of the priest. For in this…
…Hermes says this is not so. That all works have their existence and subsystems only in God. Extending this concept, Hermes also thought that the manifested or obvious parts of creation even if brought together in all their diversified and apparently…
…the substance, therefore, of all things knowable, all things known, and all things which have an existence but are unknown or unknowable. Hermes then gives us a statement which is very reminiscent of a familiar one, namely that in deity, or in God, men…
…thought that man shares with creation an immediate participation in the creator. The total of things knows must include man. And Hermes tells us that not only that man which is visible to the sensory perceptions, but that man which is invisible. Not…
…man which is invisible. Not only that man which is the son of earth, but that man which is the son of mind. Thus Hermes gives us the relationship of parent and child. as far as this can be applied to an abstract theological concept. Deity is parent,…
…and child. as far as this can be applied to an abstract theological concept. Deity is parent, total parent, father-mother. Hermes pointed out that deity is androgynous, namely possessing within itself the qualities of father-mother. But more than this partakes…
…generations And these later generations are like the original creation in God and of God. Throughout this entire concept, Hermes is essentially teaching a monotheistic theology. Yet he differs from some other schools in recognizing that monotheism in itself…
…that monotheism in itself and by itself is not adequate to explain the phenomenal existence which we call creation. Therefore, to Hermes it was necessary to assume that from the original and creating power, and still embraced within the love, wisdom, and…
…Thus by descent, creation falls away from the center of its own creative power and falls into the circumference of that power. Hermes conceived the center of this power to be will, or the tremendous dynamic of life, and the circumference of this power to…
…subject of the final lecture of this series, which will deal with the great hermetic book, The Shepherd of Men. Hermes, therefore, like the Gnostics, envisioned a hierarchy, a universe of power, principalities, angels archangels thrones and dominions he saw…
…road to an extreme demonism based upon the daemonism of the classical world of thought. In the course of this thinking, Hermes made a series of statements which perhaps are indicative of a phase of our problem. These statements have been examined, analyzed,…
…us see just exactly what these statements may mean. In attempting to support and sustain the faith of his disciple Asclepius, Hermes explained, that not only are living creatures possessed by divine powers, so that all men are not only gods in themselves,…
…rise of medieval science and made much of the groundwork for modern science. This thought carries with it an interesting speculation. Hermes pointed out that images erected to sanctified persons or to deities may have power to heal the sick. In what degree…
…In what degree does this essentially differ from the modern concept of images in many departments and divisions of the Christian Church? Hermes does not tell us that these images are gods, nor that they are false gods. Nor that they should be worshipped…
…are gods, nor that they are false gods. Nor that they should be worshipped as equivalent to or equal to God. Hermes tells us that these images are symbols, emblems, figures, bearing witness to man's veneration of invisible powers. Proximate statues in honor…
…truth, using this symbol only as a means of centering his attention upon something which is otherwise beyond the cognition of his senses Hermes clearly makes this point and we can scarcely deny that it has survived to it however in the course of time a…
…point and we can scarcely deny that it has survived to it however in the course of time a point also made by Hermes came into general disrepute and was conveniently forgotten This point is to the effect that such images as are made under certain…
…religious but pertaining to sciences as yet but remotely sensed and practically without our general recognition. Thus, according to Hermes, if into a figure or into a symbol there shall be incorporated certain principles of mathematics, of universal procedure,…
…to examine its proportions in search for universal truths concealed behind the actual structure and form themselves. Thus, according to Hermes, anything which influences man cannot be dead. Furthermore, anything that influences man and is alive or has life of…
…of the physician, all these things are but the extensions of the creating power into the diversity of created attributes. Hermes therefore assumes that deity not only causes to come from himself forms and lives, but also relationships, patterns, interplays of…
…and reasonable extensions of the divine power, which may extend itself in ways and on levels utterly beyond human cognition. Hermes also held that because one power animated all things that there was a continuous and endless interrelationship of things. Man…
…project visible or semi-visible semblances of themselves. The next point that I think is important to us is the opinion of Hermes concerning the nature of what we term the Messiah. The Egyptians certainly had a Messianic tradition. We know that in the…
…a part in the rise of Christian philosophy, as this philosophy was unfolded by men like Thomas Aquinas. According to Hermes, that which is eternal, that which has of itself everlastingness, enduring unto all generations, that which has neither a thought…
…into any possible antagonism with its own cause, but a power which is a somewhat restricted manifestation of totality. That power Hermes calls the divine mind. He calls it also universal reason. He says that the firstborn of the infinite is the extension…
…Hermetic philosophy, becomes the only begotten of the Father. It becomes, strangely, both the only begotten and the firstborn. And in this Hermes is in no more difficulty than some other schools. For we refer to Jesus as the only begotten and at the same…
…refer to Jesus as the only begotten and at the same time assume that deity is the creator also of ourselves. Therefore Hermes begins to ponder the problem of the difference between the begotten and the created. Also the difference in a kind of generation,…
…comes under the protection and under the shepherding of pure cognition. We cannot say, therefore, that pure cognition was the God of Hermes. But we can say that it was definitely the primary symbol, the first cognizable image of that which is beyond all…
…with life itself so that man understands not only intellectually but by the impact of a factual significance upon himself. Hermes therefore points out that this mind possesses numerous saving attributes if we wish to regard them as saving. But salvation…
…It is the path leading by means of love through wisdom back to the one which is the sovereign of all experiences. Hermes thus divides this wisdom into a spiritual, a semi-divine, a sidereal, and a terrestrial wisdom. He has special terms for these kinds…
…of knowing, marked or sealed upon creation itself. These kinds of knowing become the parents of creatures. And according to Hermes, there are men in whom are embodied the cognition principle. other men in whom the reflection principle is especially strong,…
…their appearances or in their functions. We may, however, declare that all appearance and all function is suspended itself from identity. Hermes then goes on to explain that in man's world, in the human world of things, The universal or divine mind becomes…
…to explain that in man's world, in the human world of things, The universal or divine mind becomes embodied in man himself, and Hermes divides man into two essential patterns. The first of these is the archetypal man, the total man. This total man is an…
…and mind. Therefore we have a break, in a sense, between the older concepts of archetype And the modern ones. The archetype of Hermes. Is not merely a design. Upon a trestle ball. Nor is it a thought. Arising in the divine mind. Because in his…
…we have difficulty in finding a life inside of man, we may have difficulty in assuming a macrocosmic life also with intelligence. Hermes, of course, goes on to say that every species, every nation, every unit that exists in society must have an archetypal…
…archetypal entities in human affairs. One of the strongest examples of such an entity is nationalism, or again, racialism. And Hermes would say also sectarianism. These isms are actually not merely man-created things. They are things which come into existence…
…do not do this. It is the archetype behind the form that exercises this influence. It is not then particularly remarkable that Hermes should use this philosophy of archetypes to a measure as Amlicus did in his development of his treatise on the gods and…
…of archetypes to a measure as Amlicus did in his development of his treatise on the gods and of the Egyptians. To Hermes such archetypes might appear to be gods. They might appear to be sovereignties, and sovereignties of this kind might well reveal the…
…each having a certain allotment. We know that the Athenians regarded Pallas Athena as the patron deity of their city. To Hermes, this would have been an archetypal assignment. In other words, Athena, or Minerva, was the archetype of the Athenians. The…
…from this sense of belonging were uneasy and dissatisfied. We may have a thousand other explanations for this condition today, but to Hermes the basic meaning of this belonging was that they were within archetype, and that to what what we call the folk or…
…functions as a preserving force. It may also be merit to worship this mind, to adore it, to venerate it. For to Hermes, worship was merely a profound statement of acceptance. Worship implied that the individual agreed with the object of his worship. that…
…And this motion is the thing which must take place In order for a condition or level of experience to be changed. Thus to Hermes the search for truth must involve a motion. It must involve a movement. We can think of this motion as spiritual. We can…
…mind. He has hoped that perhaps He could leave this body behind like some empty shell upon the shores of the sea of time. Hermes says, no, the body cannot be left behind. The body is the younger brother who must be carried along. We must take the body…
…it is not necessarily true that the body can make no contribution to this larger purpose. In his discourse to his son Tatian, Hermes explains that the humblest of things must not be left out. For as surely as the great may contribute to the greatness of…
…that which is least of all, must likewise contribute, or completeness cannot follow. What then can the body contribute? And here Hermes gives us a few more. a rather interesting point is. Body can contribute symbolism. It can contribute a kind of action.…
…said if man would be wise, he must study his own body, for the proper study for mankind is man as a total experience. Hermes was convinced that the body was a kind of magical formula, and that those who could read it rightly and use it properly…
…another empire over which he is master. Let us assume for a moment the Hermetic axiom, which is derived from the Babylonian Hermes, Nebo, who was called the god of the writing table. This deity paralleled very much the thinking of the famous hermetic…
…and liberation suitable to themselves, all the life that is dependent upon him, and upon which he must bestow a sacred obligation. So Hermes ties man to the body. He ties man to the degree that man cannot escape except by perfection. He also implies that…
…physiology or even anatomy, are really sciences by which man learns to become a good and just ruler of his own empire. Thus Hermes, in his book for the instruction of kings, writes not merely for those who rule nations, but for those who seek to…
…Growth toward God. Is a gradual removal of interval. Through realization. Through understanding. And through the unfoldment. Of conscious powers. Hermes then. gives us a universe in which all things are moving toward the completeness of their own parts. And…
…because we have an obligation to universal life, and we want to meet this obligation in every possible way that we can. Hermes then tells us something about punishment and reward, and here again we may see traces and evidence Of a relationship between.…
…something about punishment and reward, and here again we may see traces and evidence Of a relationship between. Old doctrines and new. Hermes had no concept of hell. The Egyptians did not know it. As we understand the term. Most peoples of antiquity. Had…
…surfaces of themselves. Their deeper and more mystical schools. nearly always recognized symbolical meaning rather than literal meaning. To Hermes, as to Plato, hell or perdition or punishment represented the condition of a soul in bondage. It represented the…
…the power through the unfolding of rational consciousness to become more in the sense of having more awareness of that which is. Hermes then considers redemption or the saving power of grace, as a kind of victory, not only of reason or rationality over…
…relaxed, and allowed to escape from the driving power of necessity, which is its principal motivation. Ego, according to Hermes, was driven by necessity, an outrageous goddess. Necessity, in turn, forcing ego to certain attainments, ultimately forces ego to…
…under the pressure of will, ego becomes a pernicious circumstance. The relinquishing of ego, therefore, becomes the higher discipline of Hermes as it was in India, Egypt, China, Greece, and many other areas. The relinquishment of ego is the gradual breaking…
…of the ego, he finds an ever-present agent working for him and with him. And this agent is love. And love according to Hermes is one of the primary fields of the divine nature. For love of all things forces upon man the importance of the not-self.…
…and later embraces by an inevitable gesture of his own desire. These in substance represent certain phases of the doctrine of Hermes which have to a measure Christian parallels. Parallels which are not always obvious but I think we have selected those…
…are expressed in the Hermetic writings and which prepare the way for the shepherd of men or the great discourse in which Hermes, coming into the presence of universal reason, receives from reason The revelation which is the light of the world. And I think…
…to Europe or reached Europe in a blaze of glory. It became one of the great fashions and fads of the time. And Hermes grew in stature to such extent that he eclipsed even Aristotle for a while. And that was a considerable problem in eclipsing. Actually,…
…philosophy began to change its shape, change its presentation. Much of its so-called broadness was lost. The original books of Hermes came to be regarded as merely the outer surface of a larger literature, and the entire subject gradually emphasized its…
…of madmen. They were a devout person. serious scholars, deep thinkers. And in their thinking and in their speculation, Hermes became their patron saint. And this ancient philosophical personality ultimately dissolved to become the symbolic figure of mercury,…
…philosophical personality ultimately dissolved to become the symbolic figure of mercury, quicksilver, a chemical element. So in these long journeys, Hermes passed from a demigod of Egypt to a medieval element. Now that was quite a trip. And in the course…
…this literature arose from original sources, perhaps not earlier than 1400 A.D., and as late as 1500. But the name of Hermes began to appear on the titles, pages, and among the emblemata of alchemy. He became accredited with the preparation of chemical…
…there were some who carried the symbols of medicine, chemistry, and other arts. Upon perhaps this very slender foundation, Hermes was elevated to become the patron genius of medieval hermeticism. This hermeticism divided very definitely into two schools. One…
…destiny of man. These mystical goal-makers then immediately began to reduce the chemical symbols and tracts and writings attributed to Hermes and other authors into metaphysical textbooks, books inclined to reveal that transmutation was a kind of yoga, a kind…
…being the alchemical retort in which these marvelous changes might take place. And these same mystics assume that Hermes, representing Mercury, Quicksilver, representing this mysterious agent in which all elements can be reconciled, that Mercury therefore…
…Atwood, one of the outstanding rarities of the last century. A very deep and serious study of the metaphysics of Hermes, the metaphysics of the great alchemical traditions represented in Europe by several thousand valuable books. A tradition that rose…
…such as the number 42 given to us by Clement, or perhaps the allegorical numbers of earlier writers who attributed to Hermes anywhere from 10,000 to 40,000 volumes or more, these numbers are not represented by any available literature. The hermetic fragments…
…This, again, is represented only by a meager circle of authority or traditional remains. How then shall we examine the books of Hermes out of the knowledge that we have of them? I think the answer lies in one direction only namely that the hermetic…
…Hermetic writing, we find the basic Hermetic concepts beginning to influence thought outside of the school itself. We are told that Hermes, for example, wrote upon astronomy. And we can only pause to realize that Ptolemy of Alexandria, who was perhaps the…
…astrological speculation, that Ptolemy's works move from the same premise of that of the Hermetic revelation. In other words, Hermes' universe is rather closely associated with the later development of Ptolemy. The concepts of geography and navigation are those…
…into man is man. God moving into nature is nature. Namely, the identity of the creation and its creating power. We also have Hermes giving to us one of the great principles, which was later to influence all our knowledge. and that is the great concept…
…ago it is said that Alexander the Great, while king of Macedonia, went out into the desert to visit the tomb of Hermes, a tomb which has apparently disappeared from our present knowledge, although there are reported locations for it even now. opening this…
…forms of all humanity one mind for the accomplishment of its own works. Thus the Hermetic philosopher, if he wishes to assume that Hermes is this mind personified, may well say that this mind is the author of all books, the author and original of all…
…life, and makes possible all other good things, so that not only man but all nature enjoys a wonderful fecundity and prosperity. Hermes tells us, either as the person or as the embodiment, that all things are under the sovereignty of their superiors, and…
…masters used to so quaintly state it, in vicinity. That is, close to each other in some way, but not achieving any internal union. Hermes then gives us the mind as the wonder work. He tells us that mind, because it is superior to body, is master of…
…all things must obey superiors. Therefore, mind is the messenger, the instrument, the intermediary, and in this sense becomes the Greek Hermes and the Latin Mercury, the messenger of the gods, the winged being that can travel into all spheres and spaces,…
…the messenger of the gods, the winged being that can travel into all spheres and spaces, carrying the words of the gods. Hermes, as the messenger of God, therefore is associated with this concept of Mercury. He is associated with the quickness of this…
…things less than itself. And in the natural nature of its own being it becomes the useful and inevitable servant Even Hermes was aware that there is nothing more dismal than unemployment, and therefore that the mind, escaping from the burden of ignorance…
…It can never rest. It must always move, and in its motion it must always be adventuring toward the solution of mystery. Hermes then points out that there is no mystery, except the mystery of ignorance, and that everything mysterious is merely something not…
…shall no longer be mystery, that there shall be no question that is not answered, no riddle that is not solved. This concept Hermes carries also to another level, namely the power of mind in the sense of its imaging propensity. That the mind is not only…
…of the mature growth and development of the race, or of the tremendous social pattern to which we belong. In all things, therefore, Hermes points out, there is a lawful creativity in mind. We can imagine nothing that has no relation to a fact. We may…
…These dreams are sometimes handed on from one to another before they are realized. But dreams realized now or later, according to Hermes, belong in the fact that there is a creative dimension in the mind. That the mind not only buffets itself against the…
…solving the unsolved problems of its own necessities. This mind then carries still further implications. And on this ground. Hermes approaches that section of his work. Which is essentially religious. Hermes now identifies. This mind. With a series of…
…then carries still further implications. And on this ground. Hermes approaches that section of his work. Which is essentially religious. Hermes now identifies. This mind. With a series of situations. And he produces what is called the great hermetic confusion.…
…and laws, regarding these as innumerable powerful agencies, which it would like to control, direct, and use for its own purposes, whereas Hermes says the answer is to use them for their own purposes, which is something a little beyond us at the moment.…
…whereas Hermes says the answer is to use them for their own purposes, which is something a little beyond us at the moment. But Hermes does give us a monotheism, and in this he is not different from most other ancient peoples, for it is a great mistake…
…with motion, with power, this life must either be God, or else there is a life in nature apart from God. which Hermes would not accept. Consequently, we live in the substance of a monotheism. As human beings, divinely ensouled, we are polytheism. And as…
…his natural growth. This motion is the releasing of his power to act as an intermediary between heaven and earth. For this reason, Hermes and many other hermitists and mystics do not accept the idea that man is simply an animal standing on its nine legs.…
…beyond his common nature. This was a very interesting point of argument, but it is very reminiscent of our Hermetic problem. For Hermes envisions this kind of a deity in whom no miraculous or exceptional action of any kind is necessary. For the common…
…it, which is present in everything, and help that seed to grow through art. Thus by art anticipating an advancing nature. Hermes would have said this, universal mind is locked in everything. Its lesser expressions are the habits and forces peculiar to…
…of deification was given to them by popular esteem. Plato declared that there were at least five persons by the name of Hermes in the Greek system. Therefore that somewhere along the descent of this name it was bestowed upon persons. Now two possibilities…
…names to indicate that they were Thoth-like, or Hermes-like. Also, there is something to recommend the idea that early writers, recognizing Hermes as the deity of universal mind, took the position that mind is the author of all works. Therefore, that behind…
…or illuminata who had received this name as an honorary title. Thus it is quite conceivable that the name of Thoth or Hermes, because of the peculiar sphere of influence over which this deity was said to rule could well have been associated with human…
…which is rather daring has not perhaps received too much consideration, but might be worth a second glance. Namely, that Hermes, or Pope Hermes, the final person with whom we are concerned, was actually a ritualistic personification. In other words, that…
…daring has not perhaps received too much consideration, but might be worth a second glance. Namely, that Hermes, or Pope Hermes, the final person with whom we are concerned, was actually a ritualistic personification. In other words, that this so-called…
…very well set forth in a rather literal, appearing relationship. That such may have been the case in the situation involving Hermes is not unreasonable, for we know that even Clement refers to the hermetic system as broadly and deeply ritualistic. Wherever…
…Egyptians, apart from their funereal texts. All these prove conclusively that the Thoth of ancient Egypt is not actually the Thoth Hermes of the Hermetic philosophy. We must come down to a more recent time in order to find the inspiration behind Hermeticism…
…it is so traditionally stated against this is the rather bizarre background in which it is affirmed that the writings of Hermes originally included 10,000 volumes This, I think again, must cause us to pause and assume that probably a symbolic meaning is…
…think again, must cause us to pause and assume that probably a symbolic meaning is intended. Here we have something to suggest Hermes as universal mind, the writer of all books. Even on this point, however, we must have a cautious attitude because we know…
…next point in connection with it, of course, is that up to the present time, very few of the so-called original works of Hermes have been known. We will in a later discussion go into these books, but for our orientation problem, We might say that up…
…pagan teachers with almost universal respect a little later they added a third the first two that they accepted were Plato and Hermes and the third who became popular a little later but retained his popularity beyond either of the others was Aristotle And…
…Platonic. But that these church fathers in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd centuries should not have resented either Plato or Hermes is itself an interesting point. means that they recognized in these systems certain truths or certain realities which could not…
…because it has been called a pantheistic monotheism. not a polytheistic, but a pantheistic. In other words, the one deity of Hermes and of Plato was a deity within creation, not a deity outside of or brooding over creation. The attitude of Hermes…
…one deity of Hermes and of Plato was a deity within creation, not a deity outside of or brooding over creation. The attitude of Hermes is the same as the attitude of Saint Paul, the God in whom or in which And we are told that probably the original…