<< 1 >>
Rating:  Summary: Hermes Revealed Review: "The Way of Hermes" is a god send to students of Alexandrian Hermeticism! Taking their cue from the premise that Hermeticism is a living and vital practice as well as philosophy, the translators have given us an updated version that more closely expresses the actual meaning and intention of the principle Hermetic writings than preceding editions. Moving beyond the limits of dogmatic rationalism, "The Way of Hermes" expresses the mystical beauty and transcendental purpose for the very existence of 'The Corpus' - to help humanity to know itself, and to know God. Of exceptional value are the foreword, afterward, and preface in their expression of Hermetic philosophy and its impact on Western thought. The additional English translation of "The Definitions of Hermes Trismegistus to Asclepius" make this a must read volume for students and practitioners of Hermeticism and Western esotericism.
Rating:  Summary: Hermes Revealed Review: "The Way of Hermes" is a god send to students of Alexandrian Hermeticism! Taking their cue from the premise that Hermeticism is a living and vital practice as well as philosophy, the translators have given us an updated version that more closely expresses the actual meaning and intention of the principle Hermetic writings than preceding editions. Moving beyond the limits of dogmatic rationalism, "The Way of Hermes" expresses the mystical beauty and transcendental purpose for the very existence of 'The Corpus' - to help humanity to know itself, and to know God. Of exceptional value are the foreword, afterward, and preface in their expression of Hermetic philosophy and its impact on Western thought. The additional English translation of "The Definitions of Hermes Trismegistus to Asclepius" make this a must read volume for students and practitioners of Hermeticism and Western esotericism.
Rating:  Summary: Valuable but not quite definitive Review: This text has some insightful commentary and historical analysis regarding the degree to which the Corpus Hermeticum does or does not reflect Egyptian theory and practice as opposed to the merely Hellenic (which point, being academic, is therefore of no great moment). This new translation, however, should assist those relatively unfamiliar with hermetic literature to begin to see suggestions of praxis within the text whereas many other translations obscure such. As with any such endeavor, decision(s) surrounding what to include and what not to include seem rather arbitrary. Nevertheless, on the whole, a worthwhile effort. And at the price, it is a very solid choice.The newly translated 'definitions' are valuable to those otherwise unfamiliar with the larger body of hermetic literature, but will not offer any revelations to those familiar with the larger world of hermetic study (which makes use of Platonic and Neo-Platonic texts as well as various genuine alchemical remains in arabic, latin, german, french, english, etc.)
<< 1 >>
|