Hermetica, Vol. 1: The Ancient Greek and Latin Writings Which Contain Religious or Philosophic Teachings Ascribed to Hermes Trismegistus

Rating:
Summary: The core teachings of Gnosis
Review: I am going to review this volume because I read every single English word of it, cover-to-cover. I admit that I didn't read the corresponding original language text, because my Latin was never all that good, and I have no Greek. I wish that I did, though. Just in English translation I can see where these teachings transport you to an entirely different sort of mind-set, an entirely different world.

Indeed, you will either come to develop a sort of intuitive understanding of the spiritual principles being discused here, or you will simple give up in disgust and dismiss it as meaningless and incomprehensible. Perhaps it is incomprehensible to modern sensibility, but it is far from meaningless. If you are familiar with Plato and Plotinus it will help. I also find that a familiarity with the concept of the Tao helps with understanding what is meant by Kosmos. I suppose that there could be esoteric teachings encoded and hidden in the original text, but personally I find the exoteric spiritual and metaphysical speculations to be quite interesting and valuable in their own right.

There was a reason that these teachings were preserved through so many centuries, while so much else was consigned to flames or left to rot....

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good.
Review: This is a pretty fascinating book, containing the works attributed to Hermes in English as well as the non-translated version, revealing one version on one page and the other version on the next page; Thus, when one reads the book, they find the non-translated version on one page and the English version on the other page, with footnotes and stuff to help out. Overall, a good book, and it gives some understanding of the thinking of the ancient Magickians and other Occultists. Worth getting, overall.