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The Gnostic Society Library


Thrice-Greatest Hermes - Volume 1

by G.R.S. Mead


p. viii

p. ix

Contents

Preface

v

I. The Remains of the Trismegistic Literature

1-16

     Writer and Reader

1

     The Extant Trismegistic Literature

3

     The Original MS. of our Corpus

6

     Texts and Translations

8

II. The History of the Evolution of Opinion

17-46

     The Chief Points of Interrogation

17

     The Opinions of the Humanists

18

     The First Doubt

20

     The Launching of the Theory of Plagiarism

21

     The Only Argument Adduced

22

     The Theory of Hilgers

25

     The German Theory of Neoplatonic “Syncretismus”

26

     The French Theory of Egyptian Origin

27

     The Views of Ménard

27

     English Encyclopædism

33

     Chambers’ Opinion

34

     German Encyclopædism

35

     A Recent Article by Granger

36

     Reitzenstein and the Dawn of Right Views

40

     A Key to Egypt’s Wisdom

44

     The Answers to our Questions

44

III. Thoth the Master of Wisdom

47-81

     Thoth-Teḥuti

47

     Thoth according to Pietschmann

48

     The Three Grades of the Egyptian Mysteries

50

     Thoth according to Reitzenstein

51

     Thoth according to Budge

52

     His Deific Titles

53

     His Symbols and Name

54

     The Shrine of Thoth

56

     Thoth and his Company of Eight

57

     The “House of the Net”

58

     Thoth the Logos

63

     The Words of Thoth

63

     Thoth and the Osirified

65

     Thoth the Measurer

66

     The Title “Thrice-greatest”

66

     The Supremacy of Thoth

67

     The Views of a Scholar-Mystic

68

     The Spiritual Nature of the Inner Tradition of Egyptian Wisdom

69

     The Holy Land of Egypt and its Initiates

70

     Thoth the Initiator

71

     Some of the Doctrines of Initiation

73

     The Temples of Initiation

74

     The Mystery of the Birth of Horus

75

     “The Book of the Master”

77

     The Steps of the Path

79

     An Illuminative Study

80

IV. The Popular Theurgic Hermes-Cult in the Greek Magic Papyri

82-98

     The “Religion of Hermes”

82

     i. An Invocation to Hermes as the Good Mind

84

     ii. An Invocation to Lord Hermes

86

     iii. An Invocation to Lord Hermes

87

     iv. An Invocation to Thoth as Logos

90

     v. An Invocation to Hermes as the Spiritual Light

90

     vi. The Mystic Rite of the Flame

93

     vii. A Prayer of Consecration

97

V. The Main Source of the Trismegistic Literature according to Manetho High Priest of Egypt

99-127

     Hermes at the Beginning of the Hellenistic Period

99

     Petosiris and Nechepso

100

     Manetho the Beloved of Thoth

102

     The Letter of Manetho to Ptolemy Philadelphus

103

     The Importance of Manetho’s Statement in his “Sothis”

105

     Is “Sothis” a Forgery?

107

     The Arguments of Encyclopædism refuted

108

     The Seriadic Land

110

     The Stelæ of Hermes

112

     The Sons of Seth-Hermes

113

     The Epithet “Thrice-greatest”

116

     The Clue of Griffiths

118

     The Earliest Trismegistic Literature

121

     Philo Byblius

122

     Are his “Phœnician Histories” a Forgery?

123

     Sanchuniathon and the “Books of Hermes”

124

VI. An Egyptian Prototype of the Main Features of the Pœmandres’ Cosmogony

128-138

     The Higher Criticism of the “Pœmandres”

128

     A Prototype of its Cosmogenesis

129

     A Praise-giving to Ptah

131

     Ptah-Thoth the Wise One

132

     Egyptian Syncretism 1000 B.C.

135

     The Doctrine of “Pœmandres” Compared with that of its Prototype

136

     The Man-Doctrine

138

VII. The Myth of Man in the Mysteries

139-198

     The Gnostic Tradition

139

     The “Philosophumena” of Hippolytus

140

     The Naassenes

141

     Analysis of Hippolytus’ Account of the Naassene Document

142

     Hippolytus’ Introduction

146

     The Material for the Recovery of the Original Hellenistic Document

148

     Hippolytus’ Conclusion

186

     Conclusion of Analysis

192

     The Hellenist Commentator

193

     The Jewish and Christian Overwriters

194

     Zosimus and the Anthropos-Doctrine

196

     Philo of Alexandria on the Man-Doctrine

197

VIII. Philo of Alexandria and the Hellenistic Theology

199-254

     Concerning Philo and his Method

199

     The Great Importance of his Writings

204

     Concerning the Mysteries

205

     Concerning the Sacred Marriage

216

     Concerning the Logos

225

     The Son of God

226

     The True High Priest

227

     The Elder and Younger Sons of God

229

     Yet God is One

230

     The Logos is Life and Light

231

     The Divine Vision

233

     The Sons of God on Earth

233

     The City of God

235

     God’s Shadow

236

     The Mother-City of Refuge

237

     The True Shepherd

238

     The Apostles of God

239

     The Ladder of the “Words”

239

     The Logos the Spiritual Sun

241

     The Disciples of the Logos

243

     The River of the Divine Reason

244

     Jerusalem Above

245

     The Logos is as Manna and Coriander Seed

246

     The Logos is the Pupil of God’s Eye

247

     “Man shall not Live by Bread Alone”

248

     The Logos-Mediator

249

     The Yoga of Plotinus

251

     The Race of God

253

IX. Plutarch: Concerning the Mysteries of Isis and Osiris

255-368

     Foreword

255

     Concerning Isis and Osiris

261-366

     Address to Klea concerning Gnosis and the Search for Truth

261

     The Art of Knowing and of Divinising

262

     The True Initiates of Isis

263

     Why the Priests are Shaven and wear Linen

265

     Of the Refraining from Flesh and Salt and Superfluities

267

     On the Drinking of Wine

268

     On Fish Taboos

269

     The Onion and Pig Taboos

271

     The Kings, the Riddles of the Priests and the Meaning of Amoun

273

     Of the Greek Disciples of Egyptians and of Pythagoras and his Symbols

274

     Advice to Klea concerning the Hidden Meaning of the Myths

276

     The Mystery-Myth

278

     The Undermeaning, a Reflexion of a Certain Reason

291

     Concerning the Tombs of Osiris

292

     Concerning the Theory of Evemerus

295

     The Theory of the Daimones

298

     Concerning Sarapis

301

     Concerning Typhon

304

     The Theory of the Physicists

307

     Concerning Osiris and Dionysus

310

     The Theory of the Physicists Resumed

312

     The Theory of the Mathematici

318

     The Theory of the Dualists

328

     The Proper Reason according to Plutarch

333

     The Symbolism of the Sistrum

344

     The True “Logos” again according to Plutarch

345

     Against the Weather and Vegetation God Theories

346

     Concerning the Worship of Animals and Totemism

353

     Concerning the Sacred Robes

361

     Concerning Incense

363

     Afterword

367

X. “Hermas” and “Hermes”

369-386

     An Anticipation

369

     The Higher Criticism of “The Shepherd of Hermas”

370

     The Introduction of the “Pastoral Hermas”

370

     Comparison with our “Pœmandres”

371

     The Popular Symbolic Representation of the Shepherd

372

     The Name “Hermas”

374

     An Early Form of the “Pœmandres”

374

     The Holy Mount

375

     “Gnostic” Elements

376

     The Vices and Virtues

377

     The Early Date of the Original “Hermas”

378

     The Dependence Theory to be used with Caution

379

     The Visions of Crates

380

     The General Christian “Many” and the Gnostic “Few”

382

     The Story of Abbot Olympius

384

     A Final Word

385

XI. Concerning the Æon-Doctrine

387-412

     The Scope of our Essay

387

     The Orphic Tradition of the Genesis of the World Egg

388

     Commentary

392

     The Sethian Gnosis

393

     The Mithriac Æon

399

     Probable Date of Origin of the Hellenistic Æon-Doctrine

401

     Abraxas

402

     The Feast of the Æon

403

     The Quintessence and the Monad

403

     The Æon in Plato

404

     Concerning the Hellenistic Origin of Æonology

405

     The Æon the Logos

406

     The Roman Sæculum Cult derived from Egypt

407

     The Æonic Immensities of Egypt

407

     A Song of Praise to the Æon

408

     The Demiurgic Æon

410

     The Æon in Theurgic Literature

410

XII. The Seven Zones and their Characteristics

413-428

     Macrobius on “The Descent of the Soul from the Heights of Cosmos to the Depths of Earth”

413

     The Tradition of Servius

418

     Criticism of the Evidence

419

     The “Ophite” Hebdomad

421

     The Simpler Form of the Trismegistic Gnosis

423

     Concerning Leviathan and Behemoth

423

     The “Fence of Fire”

427

XIII. Plato: Concerning Metempsychosis

429-436

     The Soul and her Mysteries in the “Phædrus”

429

     Plotinus on Metempsychosis

434

     Proclus on the Descent of Souls into Irrational Natures

435

XIV. The Vision of Er

437-449

     Er Son of Armenius

437

     From the Mysteries

438

     The Cylinder

439

     The Vision

440

     Commentary

448

XV. Concerning the Crater or Cup

450-456

     The Crater in Plato

450

     In “Orpheus,” Macrobius, and Proclus

451

     The Vision of Aridæus

452

     The Origin of the Symbol to be sought in Orphic Tradition

456

XVI. The Disciples of Thrice-Greatest Hermes

457-481

     Ptah, Sekhet and I-em-ḥetep (Asclepius)

457

     Nefer-Tem

458

     Imhotep-Imuth-Asclepius

459

     Thāth-Tat

461

     The Incarnations of Thoth

463

     The Disciples of Lord Hermes in Petosiris and Nechepso

464

     Tosothros-Asclepius

465

     Imuth-Asclepius the Master-Mason and Poet

466

     Æsculapius the Healer

467

     Asclepius in Trismegistic Tradition

469

     Concerning Ammon

471

     Prophet and King

472

     Amenhotep-Asclepius

473

     The Sacred Group of Four

474

     James, John and Peter

475

     The Triad of Disciples

476

     Chnum the Good Daimon

477

     Osiris Disciple of Agathodaimon the Thrice-greatest

478

     Logos-Mind the Good Daimon

478

     Chnum Good Mind the Æon

480

     Isis, Lady of Wisdom, Disciple of Thrice-greatest Hermes

481


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