The Archive of Marked Pages | Real | The Hermetica: The Lost Wisdom of the Pharaohs, By Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy
The Hermetica, in this form, begins with a history lesson. The Hermetica in it's true form is not a single book, but a body of many works attributed to the ancient known as Thoth. A venerated sage whom transformed himself into a god, was regarded as among the most important and cherished of all in ancient Egypt.
You may know Thoth by another name. The ancient Greeks knew him as Hermes, and to the Jewish people, Enoch.
I will not summarize the history of these works here. The key takeaway for you at this moment;
"History shows that whenever the works of Hermes have been studied and venerated, civilization has flourished."
The following passages of this books stand out with a particular cadence. A ring.
Pure philosophy has been replaced by the teachings of clever intellectuals with no mystical understanding of life. People have ceased to see the universe as a source of wonder, and no longer revere it as the work of God. Spirituality has come to be dismissed by science as primitive superstition
From the final stanza of the poem, The Initiation of Hermes. To be understood as a message from God–The Universe;
So, listen, men of clay. If you do not pay keen attention, my words will fly past you, and wing their way back to the source from which they come
The Hermetica teaches that man has a role to play, and that the universe cannot be completed until the last line of man's story is written;
The arts and sciences invented by humanity complete the grand plan of Destiny, art completes what nature cannot finish.
The teachings of the zodiac play a deeply important role in the teachings contained in the Hermetica – learn not to overlook the stars.
As I see it, they were here before us. They will be here after us. Why would you assume, then, that they do not know things which you cannot?
Few can escape their fate, or guard against the terrible influence of the Zodiac – for the stars are instruments of Destiny, which brings all things to pass in the world of men.
On the concept of death, there are few writings I have found in my life which stand out as poignant and proud as the following passage;
I have seen a vision of souls about to be shut up in bodies. Some of them wailed and moaned. Some struggled against their doom, like noble beasts caught by crafty hunters and dragged away from their wild home. One shrieked, and looking up and down exclaimed: O' Heaven, source of being, bright shining stars and unfailing sun and moon, Light and Life-breath of the One, all you that share our home–how cruel it is that we are being torn away from such celestial splendor!
Among the last of the writings in this book is a poem titled, Secret Teachings. The dedication of The Susurrus is to the signal in the silence. The hand upon your back and the beckoning finger on every horizon. I know that you hear it, too – and hear this now;
These teachings have been set down in private to be read only by those whom Atum [God–The Universe] himself wills to know them.
I leave you on this final passage;
Language is inadequate. The gods sing a hymn of silence, and I am silently singing.
The Hermetica
The Hermetica: The Lost Wisdom of the Pharaohs, By Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
© 2025 The Susurrus Archive · Second Draft Company
Original work. Authorship lives off the record. Trace the signal, not the source.