Hermetica, Part 1: The Ancient Greek and Latin Writings Which Contain Religious or Philosophic Teachings Ascribed to Hermes Trismegistus [FACSIMILE] (Paperback)

~ Sir Walter Scott (Author) "Once on a time, when I had begun to think about the things that are, and my thoughts had soared high aloft, while my bodily..." (more)
Key Phrases: Discourses of Hermes, God the Father, Mental Substance (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Introduction, Texts and Translations. Volume 2 ISBN 1564594823, Volume 3 ISBN 1564594831, Volume 4 ISBN 156459484X.

From the Publisher

Kessinger Publishing reprints over 1,500 similar titles all available through Amazon.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 556 pages
• Publisher: Kessinger Publishing, LLC; Facsimile edition edition (January 7, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564594815
• ISBN-13: 978-1564594815
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 7.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,915,655 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The core teachings of Gnosis, June 16, 2002

By	OAKSHAMAN "oakshaman" (Algoma, WI United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Hermetica, Part 2: The Ancient Greek and Latin Writings Which Contain Religious or Philosophic Teachings Ascribed to Hermes Trismegistus (Paperback)

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....

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Dated and problematic, November 25, 2003

By	Christopher I. Lehrich (Quincy, MA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you just want to read the Hermetica, read Brian Copenhaver's translations, which are much better than Scott's. And of course, these aren't by Sir Walter Scott (of Ivanhoe fame) anyway, if you're interested in him for some reason, but by a quite different Walter Scott.

Scott's translations are still valuable for the specialist. You should be able to find used copies of the trade paperback edition (Hermes House, at one point), though, which are rather better bound than these Kessinger xeroxes.

If you have Copenhaver, you'll probably want these, although I'd recommend a different printing.