The Hermetica: The Lost Wisdom of the Pharaohs

The physical copy that I received is horrible. The book was cut improperly- on a slant. The ends of many sentences on many pages have simply been (literally) cut out. Check out the pics and see for yourself. Hey, at $5 ain't gonna take the time to return this unreadable copy; but, please avoid the mistake that I made and purchase elsewhere.

This book is basically a chop shop version of the Corpus Hermeticum and Asclepius, with translated excerpts taken from various sources including other authors who have been inspired by Hermeticism instead of the original source material itself. If that's what you're interested in, so much the better, but the title is really misleading. It would be more appropriate to say this book is a composite of Hermetic and Hermetically-inspired teachings.

Pros:

1) The intros are written in clear English that anyone with a high school level education should be able to understand. If you don't give a toss for footnotes, you'll like that.
2) There's a list of sources in the back for further reading, should you wish to take your Hermetic studies further.
3) There's also a list of where this book was excerpted from, which I appreciated. This book is so drastically different from the actual Hermetica that when I first opened it, I did a double-take.

Cons:

1) The most obvious: this is an assortment of excerpts FROM the Hermetica as well as ABOUT the Hermetica. It appears that the chapters are created by subject matter, which means Freke and Gandy pulled excerpts from various sources instead of keeping them in their original order (and in complete form instead of pulling excerpts and adding in stuff from other ancient authors). A glance at the source material in the back of the book confirmed this suspicion. I can't reiterate enough how much wisdom is lost in this version. It's a completely different document. In this book, you see what looks like poetry. The actual Hermetica is a series of conversations between Hermes and a god-being named Poimandres in a series of question-and-answer sessions, as well as between Hermes and his own students.

2) The decision to compile this book from a number of sources makes me question the translation, including the decision to refer to God as Atum. The authors claim it's because the concept of God is loaded in our society with certain conceptions that they wanted to avoid, but their translation choices almost completely change the original meaning.

I can't hate on this book, because at least it's gotten people's appetites whetted for Hermeticism - which sounds like the original goal of Freke and Gandy. I love the Hermetica, but I'll be the first to say that it can be dense reading when you first open it. What Freke and Gandy have created is, in essence, a weak overview, and of course such a thing will always be lacking to the original the same way you can't learn Macbeth just from reading Cliff's Notes.

If you're interested in the genuine article, you should check out Hermetica: The Greek Corpus Hermeticum and the Latin Asclepius in a New English Translation, with Notes and Introduction. It's the best English language translation available today. The original writings are only 90 pages, with the rest of the book composed of a history and footnotes.

I prefer going straight to the source when studying something rather than having an author chop things up and take translation and editorial liberties on my behalf as Freke and Gandy have, but that's me. Obviously many reviewers here have appreciated their approach, so whether you like this book will probably depend on which approach you prefer.

I do hope, though, that even if you read Freke and Gandy's book, you will continue on to the original source material with Copenhaver's translation. There is so much in there that is missing in Freke and Gandy's book; if you think their book blew your mind, go to the source! In fact, I suggest that if and when you read Compenhaver's book, do so with a pen in hand and underline passages that particularly interest you, as well as take notes and jot down questions as you go. Believe me, you'll have a lot of them.

I just started buying my books from the store instead of just collecting PDFs. I sadly have learned a lesson too late which is that you should always look at the 1 star reviews before buying, as people who have been mislead into buying the book will always shed light on why youre being taken for a ride. Many of the reviews suggest better books and explain why this one is simply a slap to the face. This was a huge let down.

I found this an interesting book. It begins with a history of the Hermetica, which is an ancient Egyptian religious/philosophical work, which gives an insight into the nature of God Man and the Universe. The analogies are very easy to follow and understand and give a new insight into what it's all about, and often fills many blanks left by other religions. The history also relates how the Greeks adopted the teachings and how during the last several thousand years the work has resurfaced from obscurity many times and each time caused a renaissance and advancement of mankind.
The original Hermetica is then presented in a condensed form which is designed to be easily read and accessable. This is a good method as it gives the reader the main ideas and if they like this form of philosophy they can then read the entire book Corpus Hermetica which is the whole teaching.
Despite being Egyptian texts, they predate the Isis/Osiris religion and are monothesist. It is surprising that few people are aware of the Corpus Hermetica which also predates the bible and old testament. Many ideas in more than one religion can be attributed to having roots in Hermetica. It is only beaten into first place as the oldest religious texts by the epic of Gilgamesh. Whilst many occult groups are referred to as being Hermetic, this does no justice to Hermetic thought which is easily compatable with most religions.
5 stars for making Corpus Hermetica easily accessable to the reader.

I think this book fulfills its purpose excellently. It provides a starting point for anyone who wants to examine the Hermetic teachings. I would never recommend this book for someone who is studying the Corpus Hermetica and its history itself, but for anyone who just wants an easy-to-read format of wisdom compiled from a daunting source, this is a great book. At the least, it is a good way to get someone who may know nothing at all about Hermetics to take a deeper interest. From reading it I feel like the authors had best interest at heart, it does not seem like an effort to obscure the hermetic teachings, but rather to make them much more accessible and appealing than they have been for years.

"...I, Thrice-Great Hermes, the first of men to attain All-Knowledge, have inscribed the secrets of the gods, in sacred symbols and holy heiroglyphs, on these stone tablets, which I have concealed for a future world that may seek our sacred wisdom."
Fast-forward 5000 years, to that 'future world'. These sacred writings, among many others, have been returned to us, presented in a poetic manner which invites revisiting again and again. The teachings of Hermes, although ancient, reveal a Divine Order beneath the noise and bustle of our present world.
Get quiet. Put some Space music on. Tuck in to this little book, and let it work on your mind and heart and Awaken you, too.

This work actually makes little or no sense unless you know the codes and the metaphors - and anyone who does isn't admitting it, not that I know of. Do you?

The Emerald Tablets and the Hermetica are entirely written in coded metaphors. For instance, God is the thesis or the creator, Kosmos the antithesis or the destroyer, and Space the synthesis between the first two or the preserver. They are a kind of metaphysical and dialectic version of topological triangulation. This is paralleled in the doctrine of the Trinity. Each vertex may also be described geometrically as a set of functions or their opposites. The Hermetica is really coded physics - and not the physics conventionally taught in our schools and universities but rather a hidden physics.

I myself have not learned much more than this very basic and simplistic code for a small part of the Hermetica. I also know there are at least 3 levels: the topological metaphor of the physical (deepest), the physics metaphor of the emergence of creation (less deep) and another physics metaphor of the astronomical machine of precession (least deep).

If anyone reading this knows more, or can direct us as to where to find more decoding, please add a comment to this review (there's a bit in Farrell's book "The Grid of the Gods").

Farrell's "Cosmic War" traces a cluster of names from ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt that are the same entity as (or very closely related to) Hermes-Thoth including: (An)Zu, Ninurta/Nimrod/Ninus/Enmer/Emerkar, Marduk/Merodach, Nergal, Baal/Osiris/Tammuz/Adonis/Dionysus/Bacchus, Enki/Ea/Eyah/Yahweh/Lucifer/Ra/Sungod/Lightbearer and even the Mason's Hiram Abiff. [Later note: Farrell's "Thrice Great Hermetica" provides even more insight into Hermetica.]

I would like to suggest, instead of Hermes, two of the greatest hermetic teachers in history: Thomas H Burgoyne's "The Light of Egypt: v. 1: The Science of the Soul and the Stars" - a great classic work of mystical enlightenment and Russell Walter's "A New Concept of the Universe". For those interested in truths, I also suggest Tsarion, a deep thinker of our time about ancient secrets, who shows (for example)how the Emerald Tablets actually refer to the tarot. Not in the variations the tarot is known of today, but its original form, involving a mixture of kabala, tarot, numerology and astrology, which he explains are sister disciplines. You can learn more about this (free) from Tsarion himself - there are hours and hours of Tsarion on youtube, mostly fascinating.

For much much more on the secrets of "pre"history than 99.99 per cent of us can possibly glean from this book, see Lana Cantrell's "Greatest Story Never Told" which is available free on the internet - verbose but amazing in parts. Also see Shannon Dorey's 3 books on the Nummo.

As for Jordan Maxwell's "The Brotherhood of the Illes" - another blow-your-mind book available free on the internet... and Santos Bonacci (starting with As Above so Below' (especially part 2) and with 'Sovereignty-Roman Law'... well you need to experience them for yourself. You may also benefit from Frank O'Collins' monumental body of work, available free from the Ucadia websites, the result of 26 years of work.

Although this book is a subset of the Corpus Hermeticum, it covers the essentials in a nice format with author synopses at the beginning of each section. Being a Christian, I found this book fascinating due to the many parallel teachings of the Bible. I found myself having a much deeper appreciation and respect for the Egyptian religious system (at least the first Egyptians). One cannot help but wonder where the two cultures strayed from each other considering the fundamental similarities. Although polytheistic, there is plenty of good, solid wisdom within these pages.

The original Hermetica is 17 books - a Greek translation from the Egyptian language. This rare treasure by Timonthy Freke and Peter Gandy brings you the best of the best in this 5000 year old ancient classic. Also starting with podcast #103, SuperWisdom.com Foundation hosts a podcast series centered on this book. My co-host and I are deeply touched by the profound and inspiring wisdom in this little book, and the highly readable way it is presented. The reader below who gave this a one star is way, way off base. Such treasures as this belong in the library of every serious spiritual seeker.

If you consider yourself already knowledgable of the occult and metaphysics reading this book will enhance the beginner only. If you would like insight on Kabbalah the authors donnot support the idea. Talks about how everything is mental & how we are basically living in the mind of God. If you are looking for "secrets", I do not think you will find any. this book is common knowledge

The authors play fast and loose with history. They appear to have a rather intense dislike of Christianity, and blame Christians for the destruction of Alexandria. At the same time, they venerate Islam, and portray it as the savior and repository of Ancient knowledge. This view is typical of Liberal intellectuals.

This book is the condensed crib-note version of the Hermetica. You can read it entirely on one cross town bus trip. It's enough to peak curiosity, but this is such a small extract of the entire Hermetica that it's nearly useless. It's just a sound-bite.

If you are curious about the Hermetica, and want a readable introduction to this system of beliefs, The Hermetica is a great book to get you started on your esoteric journey. I personally have never found a more accessible presentation of mystical concepts. It's Jet A fuel for the spirit.

I am sad to inform the readership that this treatise is sorely deficient as to a reasonable presentation of the ancient magic Eyptian literature of the inter-testamental period [200 BCE - AD 300].

The authors have no clue as to what contituted 'wisdom' in the ancient Semitic societies. They cetainly know nothing about Egyptian pharonic royalty and its scribal culture.

It is a deligthful book for the ignorant and the mad. Their self-deceptions will be nourished well by its colossal incompetence. The authors have made a contribution to inanity, thoughtlessness and mental laziness.

John E.D.P. Malin & James F.D.P. Malin
Informatica Corporation
Cecilia, LAZ 70521-0460

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With all the hype surrounding this ancient text in Hermetic circles, I felt it was a "must-read". Maybe I could find some new little nugget of sacred knowledge. I didn't.

If you're well read in other ancient sacred texts, you'll find the same old stuff churned out here. Some may marvel at the similarities between, say, the Tao te Ching and this work, but if you're looking for something new forgedaboutit!

Please note that I am not criticising the accuracy or editing of the translation (I am not knowledgable enough) I just think its one of those books that, after finishing, you cannot help but think: "Been there...Done that."