Freethought & Rationalism Archive

ProNihil · 04-04-2003, 10:18 PM

I was wondering if anyone has read and studied the Corpus Hermeticum. I downloaded the thing and have slowly been attempting to make sense of it. This came about due to my previous fascination with the Occult, and subsequent attempts to dig down to the underlying philosophies behind some of the more structured practices.

The most I have really been able to glean from it's pages is that it was based on Platonic thought, and is an amalgamation of Naturalism and Pantheism with a, dare I say, simplistic and realistic view towards the nature of matter. As it talks of God quite a bit, I have taken this to be a metaphorical attempt at explaining the concepts in a manner easy to understand, and at the same time, quite convoluted so that perhaps only the worthy or "initiated" would be able to pull forth practical knowledge from it.

Taking, perhaps wrongly, Crowleys definition of magic... "the art and science of causing change to occur in conformity with will," I would think that there could be a rational scientific basis for further study through scientific means, of some of the not-so-flagrant hypothesis that spring from the study of occult metaphysics. (I'm sure there are not many)

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. Thanks.

Godot · 04-05-2003, 02:41 AM

In a history class I took during my undergrad we studied aspects of the CH without actually delving into it. Not that I wouldn't mind having a go at it. Where did you download from?
Anyways, part of why the hermetica came into such importance as it had was that early in the enlightenment, people had the mistaken belief that we were descended from an original Golden Age of the earth where the Gods strode upon it as mortals. The CH was believed to be the collected writings of one Hermes Trismegistus ('thrice great' if I recall correctly), a man who was supposedly a contemporary of Moses.
It was also a very useful text for alchemists involved in the search for the Philosopher's Stone. It turns out to have been written in the 3rd or 4th century AD.

ProNihil · 04-05-2003, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Godot
In a history class I took during my undergrad we studied aspects of the CH without actually delving into it. Not that I wouldn't mind having a go at it. Where did you download from?

It took a little searching, since I had wiped my HD since, but here it is.

http://www.hermetic.com/texts/index.html

Have fun and keep me updated!!

04-04-2003, 10:18 PM	#1
ProNihil Regular Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: USA Posts: 228	??? Corpus Hermeticum ??? I was wondering if anyone has read and studied the Corpus Hermeticum. I downloaded the thing and have slowly been attempting to make sense of it. This came about due to my previous fascination with the Occult, and subsequent attempts to dig down to the underlying philosophies behind some of the more structured practices. The most I have really been able to glean from it's pages is that it was based on Platonic thought, and is an amalgamation of Naturalism and Pantheism with a, dare I say, simplistic and realistic view towards the nature of matter. As it talks of God quite a bit, I have taken this to be a metaphorical attempt at explaining the concepts in a manner easy to understand, and at the same time, quite convoluted so that perhaps only the worthy or "initiated" would be able to pull forth practical knowledge from it. Taking, perhaps wrongly, Crowleys definition of magic... "the art and science of causing change to occur in conformity with will," I would think that there could be a rational scientific basis for further study through scientific means, of some of the not-so-flagrant hypothesis that spring from the study of occult metaphysics. (I'm sure there are not many) Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. Thanks.

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04-05-2003, 02:41 AM	#2
Godot Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Calgary Posts: 1,335	In a history class I took during my undergrad we studied aspects of the CH without actually delving into it. Not that I wouldn't mind having a go at it. Where did you download from? Anyways, part of why the hermetica came into such importance as it had was that early in the enlightenment, people had the mistaken belief that we were descended from an original Golden Age of the earth where the Gods strode upon it as mortals. The CH was believed to be the collected writings of one Hermes Trismegistus ('thrice great' if I recall correctly), a man who was supposedly a contemporary of Moses. It was also a very useful text for alchemists involved in the search for the Philosopher's Stone. It turns out to have been written in the 3rd or 4th century AD.

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