What is Hermeticism?

Bibliography:
Christian Bull, "The Tradition of Hermes Trismegistus," 2014.
M. David Litwa, "Hermetica II: The Excerpts of Stobaeus," 2018.
Wouter Hanegraaff, "Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism," 2006.

00:00 Intro
1:39 Hermetica explained
6:01 Hermetic and Platonic Cosmogony
10:09 Fate and the Hermetic Human Condition
12:08 Ascension, the Way of Hermes, and Rebirth
19:30 Was Hermetism a Religion?
24:48 I included a bonus section about baboons in the Nebula version of this vid

[ghafford]

The debut of Andrew's acting chops we've all been waiting for with that dialogue section and I'm here for it

[Caseyuptobat]

>video titled "what is hermeticism?"
>it's about hermetism

[colin-alexarobinson]

the conversational format when discussing socratic vs hermetic dialogue was fun!

[pumpkin]

It's crazy how consistently religion for breakfast can put out videos while still having incredible quality in production and research!

[jasonchahal]

Cameraman Andrew is my favourite character in the ReligionForBreakfast canon

[birkett]

I see what you did there. Turning the video into a dialogue when discussing the differences between Socratic and Hermetic dialogues. Very clever. Very meta.

[kovaxim]

I love this back-and-forth between professor Andrew and regular Andrew

[AlMuqaddimahYT]

Great video as always! I'd like to add that for all the things Christians and Muslims fought over, Greek thoughts and ideas were shared and revered by both. Hermes Trimegitus makes an appearance in Islamic philosophy as well as I talked about in my video on how Medieval Muslims saw Ancient Egypt (shameless plug, lol). It's interesting how this pagan figure made its way into the philosophy of these monotheistic religions and how their existence was justified by each.

[liquidpaper]

This seems surprisingly Dharmic, and specifically Buddhist. Escaping the cycle of rebirth by transcending, which is done by rejecting the material world and fate. I feel like I've heard this song before . . .

[ceejozz]

i was so obsessed with hermeticism when i was going through religious psychosis in 2021 😭 really good succinct video

[stanleygagner]

The term "hermetically sealed" comes from hermeticism. Alchemists believed that the hermetic texts contained the secrets to creating a perfect seal, and the term also related the secretive aspects of the philosophy.

[benrokh]

An amazing summary of such a complex topic! Researching the worldview of the hermetics must have been a herculean task, and you clearly succeeded in it!
Funnily enough, this summary is also applicable to kabbalistic thought and more surprisingly, to Hinduism in most of it's forms:
The supreme deity is the same as the Parabrahman, the demiurge is Tvastr, and the ogdoad is parallel to the ashtavasus. The concept of fate governed by the stars is parallel to karma as seen through jyotisha. The elevation of the higher self to unite with the divine is a parallel of moksha, or nirvana in Buddhism. And the greatest obstacle to that elevation is the desires of the flesh or the indriyas.

[aguspuig]

She Hermes on my Trismagistus until i obtain the hidden knowledge

[Carlos-lnfd]

I always say this but your scripwriting skills are just incredible

[Pooneil]

Nice overview. I got quite lost in Esoterica's deep dive. This helps a lot.

[babyruthless]

Omg I was literally just talking about Hermes with my husband 🤩

[ekmalsukarno]

Hi there ReligionForBreakfast, can you please make a video on Hinduism in Bali and how it differs from how it's practised in India. Thank you very much.

[CallloohCallay]

Andrew, I really like that quick bit you did. It was fun and really breaks up your monologue. I like your lectures no matter what, but that little bit was good. :) Good on you for breaking away from your older style and incorporating humour! Accademia needs more light-heartedness.

[anthonyp]

we are so back baby I am looking forward to this!

[monodragoon]

New Andrew lore just dropped: there's two Andrews. Werdna sweep!