๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐น๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ ๐น๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ป๐ด: To the Hermeticists, all of the world, including rocks and streams, is alive and possesses a soul. The physical world was believed to be made of four physical elements: earth, air, fire, and water. The elements would scatter, however, and the entire world would fall apart if they were not held together by the mysterious fifth element, the world soul, or Anima Mundi. This is in contrast with the modern scientific, materialist philosophy, which views the world as composed of nonliving matter.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ต๐๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ป๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ: Modern science is based on the assumption that there is no connection between the mind and physical reality. To the Hermeticist it is evident that they are connected. The mind, therefore, can cause physical changes and physical objects, such as talismans, can change the mind.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป: In scientific reasoning, the imagination may be useful for inspiration but once an experiment has begun it is considered a contaminant to be weeded out. It takes one out of reality. To the Hermeticist, the imagination is real. It is the door for entering the reality of the soul. Without imagination the soul is not perceptible. The skill at focusing the imagination is gained through the practice of meditation.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฎ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ: This is the Hermetic view that there is more than a symbolic connection between celestial and terrestrial objects or the Macrocosm and Microcosm. This is often stated as, โas above, so below.โ To the Hermeticist the planets are gods or angels and they are also alive in animals, minerals, and plants as well as in the heavens. The magician can use correspondences to harness the celestial powers in his or her ritual. For example, by including tin or yellow objects in his or her ritual and conducting it on Thursday, the magician can bring the energy of the god Jupiter to the action.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐ณ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐บ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป: To the Hermeticist the world is alive and the goal of all life is to grow and change to become a new and better being. Lead can be turned into gold and a common man into a sage. Ultimately, the goal of life and the greatest good is gnosis, or enlightenment, a mystical transformation that awakes one to the truth of spiritual oneness. The emanations are a spiritual ladder composed of stages or rungs that a magician can make use of to ascend to this goal.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ป๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฃ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ผ๐๐ผ๐ฝ๐ต๐: This is the belief that all cultures and religions share common traits or patterns. In its simplest form, it is the belief that all cultures stem from one culture which existed in an ancient golden age or that culture was taught to humans by the gods. In its most sophisticated form, it is the Jungian observation of archetypal patterns in all cultures.
๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฟ๐๐๐ต ๐ถ๐ ๐ด๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป: This idea stems from the ancient mystery tradition in which one received gnosis by undergoing a ritual initiation. As the initiates in the mysteries were sworn to secrecy, the idea that magical truths must only be shared with others on the same path is also part of this idea.
Comments
This is a good post explaining how Hermeticism is broken down into an understandable system.