Talk:Hermetica
From Academic Kids
Can someone with more knowledge in this subject please write something about Hermes Emerald Tablet (or "Table") and how it relates to the Hermetica? The two confuse me all the time, is the Emerald Tablet part of the Hermetica or not? Nixdorf 19:31, 30 Mar 2004 (UTC)
Hi Jmabel. I saw two problems with the phrase:
- What's a lineage? Does it mean some kind of semi-organized sect? Or just a continuous stream of thought? And was Hermetic thought really that continuous? I thought we could be more precise.
- How appropriate is 'Gnosticism'? Seems to me there's some overlap in style of thought and audience, but in general:
- Hermetica is a literary phenomenon, Gnosticism is a sect/family of sects.
- Hermetica gets started ~1st cent. AD, Gnosticism ~2nd-3rd cent. AD.
- Hermetica stays as pagan as it can, Gnosticism happily incorporates Jewish/Christian themes.
Nevertheless, this does bear discussion in the article. Your point about "non-Christian" is good, and right now is under-emphasized. In fact, there's very little about the original context of the texts. Any improvements would be welcome. Bacchiad 13:04, 9 Jul 2004 (UTC)
In the recent major edits, was it deliberate to lose the remark about "a non-Christian lineage of Hellenistic Gnosticism"? If so, is this because it was considered false, or did someone just not like the remark? -- Jmabel 03:59, Jul 9, 2004 (UTC)
I'm not knowlegable enough to write too much here myself: what I know largely comes from reading Frances Yates on Giordano Bruno about 30 years ago, so I'm not going to be able to carry the ball. Nonetheless, I do think that it is important that part of the interest in the rediscovery of these works during the Renaissance came precisely from the fact that they were outside of Christian tradition. If someone is more solid on this, it would be good to get into the article. -- Jmabel 04:49, Jul 10, 2004 (UTC)
I've done some revisions that I think cover the Hermetica in antiquity better. If you want to pitch in some additional Yatesian stuff about the Hermetic/pagan revival in the Renaissance, that'd be great. Thanks for your comments. Bacchiad 07:14, 10 Jul 2004 (UTC)
"renaissance of syncretic thought"
I substituted "flourishing" because I thought "renaissance" in the general sense might lead to a confusion with "Renaissance" qua historical period. At least it did to my sleep-deprived eyes as I read it over just now. No biggy though. Bacchiad 19:49, 13 Nov 2004 (UTC)
Golden Dawn
Should we really have the recently added link Golden Dawn Research Center (http://www.golden-dawn.org)? Looks pretty crackpotty to me. -- Jmabel | Talk 19:16, Mar 10, 2005 (UTC)
- Hasn't Hermetica been a crackpot magnet for almost 2000 years? --Wetman 21:44, 10 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- I'm with you. What should be done? --Wetman 23:55, 10 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- I will move it to Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn if it is not already there. -- Jmabel | Talk 00:49, Mar 11, 2005 (UTC)
