The Eternal Hermes: From Greek God to Alchemical Magus

Hermes--the fascinating, mercurial messenger of the gods, eloquent revealer of hidden wisdom, and guardian of occult knowledge has played a central role in the development of esotericism in the West. Drawing upon many rare books and manuscripts, this highly illustrated work explores the question of where Hermes Trismegistus came from, how he came to be a patron of the esoteric traditions, and how the figure of Hermes has remained lively and inspiring to our own day.

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LibraryThing member ritaer

This is a useful book for the student of the history of magic in the West. Hermes begins as one of the Olympian gods, son of Zeus and Maia, god of thieves, merchants and travelers, messenger of the gods and conductor of souls. However Faivre concentrates on Hermes Trismegistus, the thrice greatest

magician and guide for magicians who was credited with the authorship of various hermetic and alchemical texts. The author traces the texts attributed to this figure and the many commentaries on them through the ages. One strand of commentary is that made by those who wish to use the material for their own practice of magic. A different strand is that of those studying beliefs about magic as part of a history of ideas. The book contains a section of plates, all black and white, of images of the mage--most of them illustrations from books, but a few paintings. While one chapter of the book explains each in image in detail it would be more helpful to have the images printed hear their explanatory text rather than grouped together. Some of the reproductions are also hard to make out, being either greatly reduced from their original size or perhaps losing detail in the process of being transferred from one medium to another. The book contains extensive quotations from cited sources and a comprehensive list of sources both original and secondary. I would recommend this book for anyone determined to plunge into the study of the history of hermeticism. It would not be useful as a guide to actual practice.

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