What Do We Mean by Hermetic? How the early printing of the Hermetica Shaped our Idea of Hermeticism

“Hermeticism“ and “Hermetic“ are exceedingly elastic concepts capturing a wide and disparate range of ideas - what explains the conceptual elasticity of the concept of something being “hermetic.“ This episode offers a suggestion that the some of the valances of the term are literally bound up with the texts that were often printed alongside the Corpus Hermeticum. Thus by exploring the printing history of the Corpus Hermeticum we may come to better understand how we conceive of what is and is not ’hermetic.’ Consider Supporting Esoterica! Patreon - Paypal Donation - Merch - @TheModernHermeticist - Is the Kybalion Really Hermetic? - Sam Block on the Kybalion - 1497 - 1516 - 1532 - 1549 - 1497 Reading List: 1) ’On the mysteries of the Aegyptians, Chaldeans, and Assyrians’ by Iamblichus (250-325 CE) (Iamblichus de mysteriis Aegyptiorum. Chaldærum. Assyriorum); 2) ’Commentary on Plato’s Alcibiades – on the soul and daimones’ by Proclus (412-84 CE) (Proclus in alcibiadem de anima atque dæmone); 3) ’On sacrifice and magic’ by the same author (Proclus de sacrificio et magia); 4) ’On deities and daimons’ by Porphyrius (c 234-c. 304 CE) (Porphyrius de diuinis atque dæmonibus); 5) ’On dreams’ by Synesius (5th century CE) (Synesius Platonicus de somniis); 6) ’On daimons’ by Michael Psellus (1018-78 CE) (Psellus de dæmonibus); 7) ’The commentary on Theophrastos’s On the senses’ by Priscian (6th century CE) and Marsilius (Expositio Prisciani et Marsilii in Theophrastum de sensu. phantasia et intellectu); 8) ’An introduction to the Philosophy of Plato’ by Alcinus (2nd century CE) (Alcinoi philosophi liber de doctoria Platonis); 9) ’On Plato’s Definitions’ by Speusippos, Plato’s disciple, (407 BCE-339 BCE) (Speusippi Platonis discipuli liber de Platonis difinitionibus); 10) ’Maxims’ and ’Symbols’ by Pythagoras (560 BCE-480 BCE) (Pythagoræ philosophi aurea uerba; Symbola); 11) ’On Death’ by Xenocrates (c. 396 BCE-34 BCE) (Xenocratis philosophi platonici liber de morte); and 12) ’On pleasure’ by Marcilius Ficino (Marcilius ficini liber de uoluptate). 16th Century Reading List: 1) ’On the mysteries of the Aegyptians, Chaldeans, and Assyrians’ by Iamblichus (250-325 CE) (Iamblichus de mysteriis Aegyptiorum. Chaldærum. Assyriorum); 2) ’Commentary on Plato’s Alcibiades – on the soul and daimones’ by Proclus (412-84 CE) (Proclus in alcibiadem de anima atque dæmone); (see O’Neill translation) 3) ’On sacrifice and magic’ by the same author (Proclus de sacrificio et magia); 4) ’On deities and daimons’ by Porphyrius (c 234-c. 304 CE) (Porphyrius de diuinis atque dæmonibus); 5) ’On daimons’ by Michael Psellus (1018-78 CE) (Psellus de dæmonibus) 6) ’Corpus Hermeticum, Asclepius’ by Hermes Trismegistus (early c’s CE) (Mercurii Trismegisti Pimander. Eiusdem Asclepius)