Review (PDF) The Quest For Hermes Trismegistus: From Ancient Egypt To The Modern World
From the sands of Alexandria via the Renaissance palaces of the Medicis to our own time, this spiritual adventure story traces the profound influence of Hermes Trismegistus―the “thrice-great one”―on the Western mind. For centuries, his name ranked among the most illustrious of the ancient world. Considered by some a contemporary of Moses and a forerunner of Christ, this almost mythical figure arose in Alexandria during the fourth century B.C. from a fusion of the Egyptian god Thoth and the Greek god Hermes. Master of magic, writing, science, and philosophy, Hermes was thought to have walked with gods and to be the source of the divine wisdom granted to humankind at the dawn of time. Gary Lachman has written many books exploring ancient traditions for the modern mind. In The Quest for Hermes Trismegistus, he brings to life the mysterious character of this great spiritual guide, exposing the many theories and stories surrounding him, and revitalizing his teachings for the modern world. Through centuries of wars, conquests, and religious persecutions, the fragile pages of the teachings of Hermes Trismegistus have survived. This is a book for all thinkers and enquirers who want to recover that lost knowledge and awaken a shift in human consciousness.
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Floris Books (May 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 086315798X
ISBN-13: 978-0863157981
Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.9 x 9.1 inches
Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #164,029 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #50 in Books > History > World > Religious > New Age, Mythology & Occult #142 in Books > History > Ancient Civilizations > Egypt #157 in Books > History > Ancient Civilizations > Greece
I am a writer and a musician as Lachman. I first came across his literary output some ten years ago when I read his Turn Off Your Mind, which is a book about the sixties spiritual revival. The book was thorough but left me with a sense of disappointment which was hard to nail down. Having been what I like to think of as an ardent student of esoterica from my teens I somehow felt I had met one more disappointed reductionist who wanted to scythe down every new sprout of genuine insight that might be found in the overflowing dirtpot that was the counter-culture sixties spirituality. I felt that he had missed the essence of what the self-nominated followers of Gurdjieff, Castaneda, La Vey, Crowley, Timothy Leary et al. were all about. Then I came across his Quest for Hermes Trismegistus and found out just how wrong I had been about his true colors. This book is a delight. It is well constructed with impeccable research and scrupulous notation. The style Lachman has acquired during the years is almost dazzlingly amicable, sensible, yet fearless. He tackles his humunguous subject matter with grace and swift eloquence worthy of the less than tangible intellectual thicket he covers. The book tells no more, no less than the story of a great, now submerged network of potent ideologies with twists and turns to make it a bit like a detective story sprinkled with romance. And even more, he takes a stance which is for the re-enchantment of the world, and proposes an integratory curriculum for our tormented age. A rare voice, a fine scholar, a mighty storyteller, this book is a joy to read and offers spiritual nourishment for days, weeks and years to come. (And I definitely am going to read his other books on the occult too. Already started the one about Madame Blavatsky.)
While Gary Lachman latest book is less of a quest than a fascinating stroll through the Hermetic library, I thoroughly enjoyed the tour. Much of it involved familiar names - Plato, Pythagoras, Petrarch, Ficino, Pico, Bruno, John Dee, G.R.S. Mead - but to his credit Lackman does a great job of adding less familiar magi (Casaubon, Suhrawardi, Mavronmatis) in making for a compelling narrative. I appreciated his commentary, historical corrections, occasional insights and explanations of Hermeticism, keeping to the story line even when we headed down some dark corridors. This is above all a history book, one that could have been tedious, but Lachman's writing kept my interest. I especially liked the emphasis put on ancient Egypt and how Hermeticism naturally flows from the waters of the Nile, permeating everything in its wake from the Alexandrian Hermeticists to Freemasons to Bruno to Gurdjieff to Rudolf Steiner to Rilke ... I also very much appreciated his crediting Jeremy Naydler's reworking of Plato's instruction to "practice dying" and how it raises the likelihood that texts like the Book of the Dead were not simply used for funerary purposes, but as a vehicle for connecting the microcosm and macrocosm. This goal, given many names, is an essential theme that runs throughout the book. Lackman does a great job in describing the two paths of knowledge, gnosis and epistme, and he points to some exciting new possibilities, but the 'third path' is one that can only be experienced by someone willing to "interiorize" the world for themselves. Embodying Osiris: The Secrets of Alchemical Transformation
Gary Lackman, After I knew him as the bass player in the band Blondie, moved immediately into writing about the occult in all of its various forms. He has steadfastly produced work consistently and has improved as an Author. This is a very well written very well researched study of the infamous Hermes Trimegestis (thrice great Hermes – from home we get the phrase hermetically sealed tin can. To be a hermetic automatically implies hermitage and secrecy. No one fully knows the origin of this entity known as Hermes, but Mr Lachman has done an awfully good job at trying to find out. Hermes Trimegestis is attributed as the originator of the phrase "As above; so below" which has enthralled spiritual seekers since time immemorial, which is exactly where Hermes Trimegestis lives.Any study of such a complex and mysterious real or mythical personage requires great diligence and the earnest hard work Mister Lachman Has undertaken for all of his books. The only reason I can't say I love it is that the quest for Hermes Trimegestis will always turn in circles in the sand of Egypt – but then I like very much Mister Lackman's approach, so that I wish I could give it four and a half stars.
Well, if you are looking at this boob on , you already know a bit about Hermetic Thought and Philosphy. Lachman's book is OUTSTANDING: informative, wonderfully written, clear, speculative, precise, inspiring, amazing - gives a real boost to the brain heart and spirit.One of my favorite books of 2012 (and on beyond).
Gary Larson does a magnificent job tracing the history and significance of the "Thrice Great One". If you ever were curious about the role of Egypt in the western mystic tradition, or what is missing in our "dead" view of the universe, you need to read this book. The only fault I found was that sometimes I felt a little like I was drinking from a fire hose, information was coming so fast. Overall, a great book for the subject matter.
The Quest for Hermes Trismegistus: From Ancient Egypt to the Modern World Egyptian Mythology: Discover the Ancient Secrets of Egyptian Mythology (Egypt, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Civilizations, Gods, Pharaohs, Ra, Isis, Set) (Ancient Civilizations and Mythology) The Divine Pymander of Hermes Mercurius Trismegistus (Secret Doctrine Reference Series) Egyptian Gods: The Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt (Egyptian Gods, Ancient Egypt) History: Greatest Ancient Civilization History: (History Rome, Romans, Egypt, SPQR, Aztec, Ancient China, Ancient Greece, Julius Caesar, Jesus, Muhammed, Alexander the Great) Ancient Egypt: The Egypt of Nefertiti (Beauty of the Nile) Historia Del Antiguo Egipto/ History of Ancient Egypt (Historia Antigua / Ancient History) (Spanish Edition) Sumerians: Discover History's First Civilization: Everything You Need to Know About the Sumerians of the Ancient World (Ancient History, Ancient Civilizations Handbook) Tradition Book Order of Hermes *OP (Mage: The Ascension) The Emerald Tablet of Hermes The Emerald Tablet Of Hermes & The Kybalion: Two Classic Bookson Hermetic Philosophy The Archer's Tale (The Grail Quest, Book 1): Book One of the Grail Quest Quest: A Guide for Creating Your Own Vision Quest Quest on the Thorny Path: A True Caribbean Sailing Adventure (Quest and Crew Book 2) Lost Technologies of Ancient Egypt: Advanced Engineering in the Temples of the Pharaohs Ancient Egypt: A Very Short Introduction The Art and Architecture of Ancient Egypt Women in ancient Egypt Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt The Scents of Time: Perfume from Ancient Egypt to the 21st Century
