The Beliefs of Hermeticism

The Perennial Philosophy

The Hermeticism of the Hermetic Fellowship is also called the Western Esoteric Tradition, and embraces that essential outpouring of the Light known as the Philosophis Perennis, the Prisca Theologia, the Wisdom Tradition, and the Ageless Wisdom. Esoteric legend holds that this is a body of spiritual teachings that have been passed down through the millennia from generation to generation, teacher to student. The Tradition is said to have been the inner impetus for the blossoming of arts and sciences in many ages and the common inspiration of that which is truest in the world’s religions.

As we’ve seen even in the extremely brief history above, in the case of Hermeticism, the legend is at least partly true. While Hermeticism came into its own in the first millennium CE, it drew on yet more ancient Egyptian, Greek, and other traditions as its sources. In turn, it passed that knowledge on to most of the major Western esoteric movements of the past two thousand years. Furthermore, Hermeticism truly has inspired both artists and scientists throughout that period, from Botticelli to Dee to Newton to Cezanne.

Characteristics of Hermeticism

The Hermetic Tradition is not a single dogmatic school of thought or one particular spiritual system. Rather, it is a living body of knowledge and practice that springs from a common root while bearing a variety of blossoms. As in the original Hermetic schools, a stimulating diversity of views and experiences may be found in contemporary Hermeticism, although there are some broad characterizations that can be made.

The following particularly apply to the Hermeticism of the Hermetic Fellowship. Each of these characteristics has legitimate historical precedent and would be shared by many, but certainly not all, Hermetic groups operating today.

Eclecticism

Just as Alexandrian Hermeticism drew on a wide variety of religious and philosophical traditions, so modern Hermeticism explores a broad range of spiritual paths within the Hermetic, or Western Esoteric, Tradition. For the Hermetic Fellowship, these paths include — but are not limited to — the Ancient Mystery Religions, Qabalah, Alchemy, Rosicrucianism, Gnosticism and other types of esoteric Christianity, Theurgy, Wicca and Neo-Paganism, and the Grail Quest.

As a guiding metaphor, the Hermetic Fellowship has adopted the Pharos, the Lighthouse of Alexandria which shone its Light upon all the many different spiritual, magical, and religious paths which came together in that city, cross-fertilizing each other and producing an illuminating spiritual flowering. Accepting this multiplicity means that Hermetics must be able to entertain the paradoxical idea of multiple realities. Spiritual paradox is considered a Mystery to be understood, not necessarily a contradiction to be ruled out.

Although by definition we limit ourselves to exploring the Western Traditions, we honor all spiritual Paths, in so far as each contains a ray of that Divine Light which we seek.

Spiritual Curiosity

Hermetics are Seekers — Seekers of Divine Truth, Seekers of Wisdom, Seekers of Understanding, Seekers of Gnosis. Hermetic spiritual curiosity encourages openness and tolerance of the ways and spiritual paths of others. This curiosity may be partially satisfied through books. As a literate and literary tradition, Hermeticism holds that as seekers we can benefit through the recorded experiences and insights of others — as well as through the mediation of a living teacher and/or a group of fellow seekers.

But it is not enough to simply read about the spiritual. We will gain little without genuine, personal experience. Therefore, while we highly recommend personal study and teaching, we also stress the irreplacable value of participation in the spiritual through ritual, meditation, and other spiritual practices. The religious devotion of one’s choice will prove extremely valuable in one’s growth as well.

Polytheism & Ultimate Monotheism

Since it has its roots in the ancient Pagan traditions, we see Hermeticism as a generally polytheistic approach to spirituality. The Divine makes Itself known by many names and wears many faces. Many Goddesses and Gods — particularly those honored by the cultures that gathered at Alexandria under the Light of the Pharos — are important to Hermeticism. Yet underlying and uniting this polytheism, we posit an ultimate Divine Unity, an ultimate monotheism.

This concept extends to the Hermetic understanding of the Universe. The Universe is multiform and diverse, yet ultimately united in the One. Thus we can seek and discover the hidden connections leading to the revelation of the Unity behind the apparent diversity of the world. Hermetic Qabalah is one model for this: while each of the Sephiroth is an expression of the diversity of the Divine, all emanate from and are united in Kether, which Unity Itself is ultimately an Emanation from the Unmanifest En Soph.

As Above, So Below

Hermetics consider the Divine to be both immanent and transcendent. The Divine is within all things in the manifested Universe (notably including ourselves), and beyond them as well. Because of the interconnection between ‘above’ and ‘below,’ what happens on a spiritual level has consequences in the material. Conversely, what happens in the material can have consequences in the spiritual.

Creating equilibrium between all these things — matter and spirit, body and soul, within and without, night and day, in fact, all polarities — is pivotal to the spiritual Work of the Hermetic. Balance is the key to growth.

All is Divine

Since the Divine is in all things, all is Divine. Through contemplation and understanding of the Universe, including ourselves, through prayer, aspiration, and gnosis (or sacred ‘knowing’), human beings can become more ‘god-like’ and eventually come to reunite with the Divine. Many Hermetics do not believe this goal can be achieved during a single lifetime, and some hold that this ideal is not fully attainable while in the physical body. Attitudes toward reincarnation vary.

In the ancient Hermetica, you will find two different attitudes toward the Universe, which may be distinguished (as by Frances Yates) as optimistic and pessimistic. The optimistic attitude posits a Divine and basically good Universe — although it recognizes the many trials we and all things undergo. The pessimistic attitude sees matter as a distraction from spirit and because of this, qualitatively evil. The Hermeticism of the modern Fellowship is decidedly of the optimistic school.

Nature Reveals the Divine

To the modern Hermetic, Nature is the Divine teacher, the Revealer of the Mysteries. A Rosicrucian motto puts it this way, "Art is the Priestess of Nature." Thus, in order to accomplish his or her spiritual Art, the Hermetic must also serve Nature as a Priest or Priestess. The physical world is the manifestation or vessel of Divine Power and Love, and we are uniquely entrusted with caring for that vessel.

There is an esoteric tradition that when Adam (i.e.,Humanity) fell, in one sense Nature fell with him. By redeeming Adam through our own spiritual growth and development, we also redeem Nature. The converse is also true: by redeeming Nature, we redeem ourselves. This idea provides one basis for Hermetic environmentalism.

In return for our honor and our care, Nature reveals Her Divine Self as an infinitely profound symbol for the spiritual journey. In the rhythms of the Earth and the cycles of the Sun, the Moon, and the Planets, the awesome structure of the Universe, the complementary miracles of birth and death, the Hermetic finds the Divine unveiled — and celebrates.

The Will to the Light

Human beings have a unique place in the Divine pattern because of our Will. We have the ability to aspire to the Divine, and this we must do in order to attain to the Divine. A seeker must want to find. A philosopher must desire to know. And furthermore, she or he must use the power of Will to accomplish this. Hermeticism takes an optimistic view of the individual human being as well. Encouraged by Divine Love and through the use of the considerable human power of desire and Will, everyone has the ability to achieve union with her or his Higher Self, and eventually to reunite with the Divine.

Access to the Subtle Realms

Human beings have the ability to access the non-physical realms — the psychic, the mental, the spiritual. Furthermore, this is a natural, innate ability that can be more fully developed through a variety of spiritual techniques. One way to access the non-physical is through the practice of Theurgy, or working with the Divine through ritual. Ritual can be a particularly powerful practice in the Quest, as it can combine a variety of individual psychospiritual techniques into a powerful whole to put us in touch with the non-physical realms. As stated above, working in Theurgic harmony with the Divine, and through the law of As Above, So Below, works in the non-physical affect the physical — and vice versa.

The Great Work

The idea that humankind has fallen away from a previous state in which we were more blessed and more unified with the Divine is common to many religions and philosophies. Versions of the concept are to be found in the Egyptian, Greek, Gnostic, and Hebrew mythologies that are components of the Hermetic Current. Hermetics do not see the fall from unity as evil or as a punishment. Instead, it was necessary for spiritual growth. Just as a young person must leave home and truly experience life in order to grow and mature, so humanity as a whole had to ‘fall’ into experience. But our journey is not complete until we eventually return home and unite with the Divine once more for healing and regeneration.

The work that each Hermetic is called to undertake, though it is sometimes called the Tiqqun,, the Restoration, is not simply regaining our blessed, pre-fall state of Unity; it is the attainment of something new, for we -- and all of reality -- have been metamorphosized by our entry into the great cocoon of incarnation. When we return to Eden, it will not be simply the Garden we once left, but in the midst of the Garden will stand the Holy City, the highest attainment of the human spirit in creative Union with the Divine. This return to a new and transformed Unity with the Divine is the ultimate goal of the Hermetic work. This process is called both the Great Work and the Royal Art. It is the finding of the Stone of the Philosophers, True Wisdom, Perfect Happiness, the Summun Bonum.

This journey home may be understood as a process of renewing our links with the Divine through a system whose keys are the patterns of Nature. Each link is represented by an initiation. Different schools follow different natural patterns. For example, some might use a series of initiations based on the steps of an Alchemical operation; another might base their initiations on the development of the psyche and spirit; yet another on the cycles of the Moon.

Furthermore, instead of a spiritual journey that rejects all things material in order to re-attain the spiritual, the goal of the Hermetic is to embrace and balance all things. Hermeticism may be described as a poetic rather than an ascetic mode of Attainment. Hermes Trismegistos, quoting the Divine Mind, tells us:

Make yourself grow to immeasurable immensity, outleap all body, outstrip all time, become eternity, and you will understand God. Having conceived that nothing is impossible to you, consider yourself immortal and able to understand everything, all art, all learning, the temper of every living thing. Go higher than every height and lower than every depth. Collect in yourself the sensations of all that has been made, of fire and water, dry and wet; be everything at once, on land, in the sea, in heaven; be not yet born, be in the womb, be young, old, dead, beyond death. And when you have understood all these things at once — times, places, things, qualities, quantities — then you can understand God.