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The Corpus Hermeticum and Hermetic Tradition
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Archive Notes
The Hermetic tradition represents a non-Christian lineage of Hellenistic Gnosticism. The central texts of the tradition, the Corpus Hermeticum were lost to the West in classical times. Their rediscovery and translation during the late-fifteenth century by the Renaissance court of Cosimo de Medici, provided a seminal force in the development of Renaissance thought and culture. The fifteen tracts of the Corpus Hermeticum, along with the Perfect Sermon or Asclepius, are the foundation documents of the Hermetic tradition. The texts presented here are taken
from the translation of G.R.S. Mead, Thrice Great Hermes: Studies in Hellenistic Theosophy and Gnosis, 3 Volumes (London: Theosophical Publishing Society, 1906). See the introduction to the texts, below.
The texts of the Corpus Hermeticum represent only a portion of the surviving Hermetic literature. Mead's masterwork, Thrice Great Hermes provides the best compendium and reference to the larger collection of extant Hermetic literature.
If you come to this page wondering "What is the Hermetic tradition, and what did it teach?", we offer the following introductory resources to help:
- Begin with the introductory essay by Stephan A. Hoeller, On the Trail of the Winged God: Hermes and Hermeticism Throughout the Ages. Follow this with a reading of the small book by G.R.S. Mead, The Gnosis of the Mind (available complete here in the library) -- Mead wrote this meditation shortly after finishing his in-depth three volume work Thrice Great Hermes.
- In addition, our library collection contains the complete text of another brief work by G.R.S. Mead on the Hermetic tradition, The Hymns of Hermes. Also see Mead's Commentary on the Pymander for an evaluation the Poemandres, the key text in the Corpus Hermeticum.
- The Archive offers a lecture by Dr. Stephan Hoeller, on Hermes: The Thrice Great Hierophant of Gnosis that provides excellent introduction to this material. (This lecture is in RealAudio format and runs about 80 minutes).
The Corpus Hermeticum
Introduction to the Corpus Hermeticum (G.R.S. Mead Translation)
by John Michael Greer
Note: The historical important 1650 translation of the Corpus Hermeticum by John Everard is available at Adam McLean's Alchemy Web Site: The Divine Pymander in XVII books. London 1650. (Translated by Everard from the Ficino Latin translation, it is not now considered a satifactory rendition of the original textual material.)