|
|
The
Corpus Hermeticum, though one of the cornerstones of most of what
has past in esoteric circles since its first European public airing
during the 15th century, is often quoted, but seldom understood.
Here, we present an annotated version of the Corpus Hermeticum.
We have used Mead’s translation as our basis, but have modernised
the language. We can only share Mead’s feeling, when he
stated that “the more one studies the best of these mystical
sermons, casting aside all prejudices, and trying to feel and
think with the writers, the more one is conscious of approaching
the threshold of what may well be believed to have been the true
adytum of the best in the mystery traditions of antiquity.”
The annotated versions of the treatises hopefully bring about
further clarification – though it is merely a first level
interpretation, in the hope that the readers themselves will unveil
the body of Hermes.
-
The
new Church of Florence
Cosimo
de Medici changed the world and specifically Mankind’s
vision of himself. From a slave, subjected to the will of
a faraway God, the Renaissance redefined a human being to
a divine spark waiting to be ignited through knowledge and
exploration of the universe.
-
Ficino:
The high priest of the Renaissance
Marisilio
Ficino was one of the most famous and influential people of
the Italian Renaissance… yet today, he is hardly a footnote
in history.
-
Preparing
for the New Age of Egypt
The Renaissance is remembered as an artistic style and
social movement. But at the core, it was a social and religious
programme of radical Reform, fought in several battles, to
bring “Egyptianism” to the core of a New Europe.
-
A
new continent for a new philosophy
The discovery of the New World has been seen as an initiative
of Columbus, aided by the Spanish throne. But in truth, the
seeds of his discovery was made possible by the Renaissance,
its scholars… and their belief in the existence of a
continent in the West, a belief they acquired by reading ancient
accounts.
-
The
Lament of Hermes the Egyptian
The Lament, part of the Asclepius, is a prophecy, describing
the end of the Egyptian civilisation. It is an insight into
a lost world, one which we are at pains to comprehend.
-
The
Song of Poliphili
Apart
from Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, another international
bestseller, The Rule of Four, has used an enigmatic Renaissance
document that in the end may be far more intriguing than any
of da Vinci’s paintings ever may be.
-
Art
of Memory
In
the modern age of books and internet, it is difficult to get
beyond the printed word; science has little faith in oral
communication – you might think that with Instant Messaging
and text messaging, there is an actual conspiracy against
speaking… We have thus lost an entire field of knowledge,
one of which is the so-called “art of memory”.
-
The
Book of Thoth: the original and true Grail?
The Book of Thoth was a legendary, magical book that lay
at the core of every Egyptian’s aspirations. But could
it also be the original story of the Grail?
|
