Tuesday, August 10, 2021

God Beyond Religion: The Hermetica and Eclectic Spirituality

I am becoming increasingly convinced that Hermetic teaching is foundational to all spirituality and especially eclectic spirituality. It is made somewhat popular and better known by the Kybalion. However, the teaching that undergirds the Kybalion is very ancient. I think it is safe to say that it is much older than any of the other major religions. I have discovered an easy to read book entitled "The Hermetica, The Lost Wisdom of the Pharaohs" by Tim Freke and Peter Gandy. It gives an excellent look into ancient hermetic teaching and places it squarely within ancient Egyptian history. While under King James I, the Greek Scholar Casaubon, cast a shadow on the ancient origin of hermetic teaching, but that has since been refuted.

"When Casaubon was writing, very little was actually known about ancient Egypt. The hieroglyphs themselves were not translated until two centuries after his death. Consequently many modern scholars now believe that he was wrong to see the Hermetic philosophy as a second-century invention, especially since the discovery of the pyramid texts of Saqquara at the end of the last century. These hieroglyphs are over 5000 years old and yet contain doctrines that are identical to those expounded in the Hermetica.”

Freke, Tim. The Hermetica: The Lost Wisdom of the Pharaohs (p. 16). Tim Freke Publications. Kindle Edition.

Therefore one can rest assured that Hermetic Teaching is ancient and precedes all other world religions by at least 1,500 to 2,000 years. This is why I believe that it is foundational to eclectic spirituality. It is interesting because in the Hermetica, the one true God is portrayed as a loving Father and the word of the Father is a son, or the Son of God. The Father is the one great creative conscious mind and the word, Son is the creative force whereby the Father speaks his thoughts into material existence. 

"My Guide asked: 'Do you understand the secrets of this vision? I am that Light — the Mind of God, which exists before the chaotic dark waters of potentiality. My calming Word is the Son of God — the idea of beautiful order; the harmony of all things with all things. Primal Mind is parent of the Word, just as, in your own experience, your human mind gives birth to speech. They cannot be divided, one from the other, for life is the union of Mind and Word. Now, fix your attention upon the Light, and become One with it."

Freke, Tim. The Hermetica: The Lost Wisdom of the Pharaohs (p. 33). Tim Freke Publications. Kindle Edition.

The above quote concerning the word of God being the Son of God is interesting indeed considering that the Greeks claimed that it was Egyptian from at least 3,000 BCE. And when you see that there were hieroglyphics found to be from 5,000 BCE with essentially the same teachings, it becomes even more intriguing. The above quote bears a great resemblance to the first chapter of John's gospel and substantiates my view of John 1:10-13. I had stated in a previous blog post that I no longer believe that passage was referring to Jesus Jewish contemporaries. Rather it was referring to the fact that the Logos, God's word was in the world all along in the form of God consciousness. When John writes he came unto his own and was not received, he meant conscious souls, not contemporary Jews. The many that received were the mystics over the years. The unique thing that Jesus taught was that the word became incarnate in him, or in other words, he realized that he possessed the word as a human. He did not stop there however, he also proclaimed that we too could be the word incarnate.

It is easy for me to see that much of what Jesus taught was of hermetic origin. There is a hermetic teaching about spiritual rebirth and being born again.

“No one can be saved, until he is born again… He who is reborn communes with the All-Father who is Light and Life.”  

Freke, Tim. The Hermetica: The Lost Wisdom of the Pharaohs (p. 97-98). Tim Freke Publications. Kindle Edition.

The concept of being born from above and born from the spirit was first in the Hermetica. The concept was ancient. It was the way in which humans could be in community with the Father, and the father was light and life. You see here repeating themes that were present in the gospel of John. This is one of the reasons that I believe that the gospel of John is much more mystical and esoteric than the other gospels. Jesus said that unless one is born from above or in other words, born again spiritually she/he could not even see the kingdom of God. What he meant was that one has to be awakened to the fact that they are spiritually and mentally children of God. The thing that makes them God’s children is that they are created in the image of God, in other words, they are a conscious creative mind. There is no magic prayer one has to pray, but one must believe that they are truly divine and children of God to be able to take advantage of their heirship.

It should be apparent that being a Christ follower, and understanding and believing in hermetic principles are very compatible.

 

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