Saturday, April 18, 2026 · 天火 · tianmu.org
Hermetic
Texts from the Hermetic tradition, the Greco-Egyptian wisdom literature attributed to Hermes Trismegistus.
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Texts
A Hundred and Fourteen Experiments and CuresA collection of 114 medical case reports by Paracelsus, together with alchemical treatises by Bernard Penot, secrets of Isaac Hollandus, and the Spagyric Antidotary of Joseph Du Chesne — compiled by John Hester and printed in London, 1596.Alchemical CatechismA systematic catechism of alchemical philosophy in question-and-answer form, covering the nature of metals, the Philosophers' Stone, the role of Mercury and Sulphur, the three fires, and the method of the Great Work as an imitation of divine creation.An Alchemical MassA short anonymous alchemical liturgy cast in the form of a Christian Mass, fusing sacramental language with the stages of the Great Work — from the conjunction of Mercury and the generation of the Ethiopian to the resurrection of the Stone.Anima Magica AbsconditaThomas Vaughan's second treatise, published in 1650 under the pseudonym Eugenius Philalethes. A Hermetic and Rosicrucian discourse on the Universal Spirit of Nature — the anima mundi that animates all creation — and a fierce polemic against Aristotelian philosophy, arguing that direct experience of Nature's hidden fire surpasses all scholastic reasoning.Anthroposophia TheomagicaThomas Vaughan's first and most famous treatise, published in 1650 under the pseudonym Eugenius Philalethes. A Hermetic and Rosicrucian discourse on the nature of man, the process of creation, the state of the soul after death, and the hidden mysteries of Nature — dedicated to the Brethren of the Rosy Cross.Ars Notoria — The Notory Art of SolomonThe Ars Notoria — a medieval grimoire attributed to Solomon, promising mastery of all seven Liberal Arts through angelic orations, contemplation of sacred figures, and ritual purity. Translated from Latin into English by Robert Turner in 1657, here rendered into modern English by the New Tianmu Anglican Church.Aula LucisThomas Vaughan's 1652 Hermetic treatise on the nature of Light — a discourse on the secret fire at the heart of creation, the Philosopher's Stone, and the physical work of the Rosicrucian Brotherhood. Published under the pseudonym Eugenius Philalethes.AuroraJakob Boehme's first and most famous work — a cosmological vision of God, nature, the angels, and the fall, written by a Silesian cobbler who saw the divine signature in all things. Translated from German by John Sparrow (1656).Coelum TerraeThomas Vaughan's alchemical treatise on the First Matter and the Magician's Heavenly Chaos, from the 1919 Waite edition.Conjectura CabbalisticaHenry More's threefold Cabalistic interpretation of Genesis (literal, philosophical, mystical) with his Defence — a founding text of Christian Cabala, 1653Corpus HermeticumThe foundational scriptures of the Hermetic tradition — eighteen tractates attributed to Hermes Trismegistus on the nature of God, the cosmos, and humanity.Doctor Fludds Answer unto M. FosterRobert Fludd's passionate defense of the weapon-salve — the idea that a wound can be healed by treating the weapon that caused it — against the attacks of Parson William Foster, 1631.Enthusiasmus TriumphatusHenry More's landmark 1656 discourse diagnosing religious fanaticism as a disease of melancholy and imagination — a founding text of the Enlightenment critique of enthusiasmEuphratesThomas Vaughan's final Hermetic treatise (1655), written under the pseudonym Eugenius Philalethes — a philosophical discourse on the nature of first matter, the action of fire upon water, and the universal seed hidden in the elements. His most personal and confessional work, blending Scripture, alchemical philosophy, and hard-won experimental wisdom.Ficino — PimanderMarsilio Ficino's Latin rendering of the first book of the Corpus Hermeticum — the vision of Poimandres, the divine Mind — translated from the Lefèvre d'Étaples 1505 edition. The text that ignited the Renaissance revival of Hermeticism.Freher's Process in the Philosophical WorkA Christian-alchemical commentary tracing the parallel between the redemption of humanity through Christ and the transmutation of matter in the Philosophical Work, drawing extensively on the mystical philosophy of Jacob Boehme.Glory of the WorldAn anonymous alchemical treatise built around a translation of the Emerald Tablet of Hermes, expounding the creation and preparation of the Philosopher's Stone through the parable of Sun, Moon, wind, and earth.Hortulanus' Commentary on the Emerald TabletA medieval commentary by the alchemist Hortulanus on the Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus, explaining each clause of that foundational Hermetic text as a guide to the alchemical Great Work.Introduction to HermeticismA critical history of the Hermetic tradition — from the Egyptian temples of Thoth to the Renaissance courts of Florence and the modern rehabilitation of one of the Western world's most misunderstood intellectual traditions.Lazzarelli — Crater HermetisLodovico Lazzarelli's Renaissance Hermetic-Christian dialogue (c. 1490, pub. 1505) — a philosopher initiates a king into the mystery of the Cup of Hermes, tracing the path from Delphic self-knowledge to the divine birth of the true man who becomes a maker of souls.Lumen de LumineThomas Vaughan's visionary Hermetic discourse on the First Matter, the Secret Fire, and the Magical Mountain — framed as an encounter with Thalia, the ever-green spirit of Nature. Published in 1651 under the pseudonym Eugenius Philalethes.Magia AdamicaA treatise on the antiquity and divine origin of natural magic, tracing the art from Adam through the patriarchs, Moses, and the Egyptians to the Greeks.Mary the ProphetessA short alchemical dialogue between Aros the Philosopher and Mary the Prophetess, sister of Moses, on the secret of whitening the Stone in a single day, employing Kibric, Gumm, and the two fumes in the vessel of Hermes, concluding with a brief verse summarising her art.Mastix his Letter to a Private FriendHenry More's private letter defending his campaign against Hermetic enthusiasm — a wide-ranging meditation on Jacob Boehme, the Quakers, dreams, melancholy, and the proper relation of reason to religious experience.Mosaicall PhilosophyRobert Fludd's cosmological masterpiece — a complete system of Hermetic natural philosophy grounded in Moses and the eternal Wisdom, with practical demonstrations from the weather-glass.Mysterium MagnumJakob Boehme's monumental commentary on Genesis — the divine word manifested through the three principles of the divine essence, the creation of the world, the fall and restoration of man, and the covenant of grace from Adam through Joseph. Written in 1623 by the Görlitz shoemaker-mystic and first published in English in 1656.Observations upon Anthroposophia TheomagicaHenry More's point-by-point rebuttal of Thomas Vaughan's Anthroposophia Theomagica and Anima Magica Abscondita — one hundred and one observations dissecting the Hermetic alchemist's claims with Cambridge Platonist wit and Cartesian rigor.On the Philadelphian GoldAn anonymous alchemical dialogue between Philochrysus, lover of terrestrial gold, and Philadelphus, citizen of the heavenly Philadelphia, in which the nature of celestial versus earthly gold is debated through analogies of Gothic copper, Peruvian gold, and the paradisical metal — culminating in a theology of substance, body, spirit, and the curse upon creation.Signatura RerumJakob Boehme's mystical treatise on how all things in creation bear the signature of their divine origin, written in 1622 by the Teutonic Philosopher.The Book Concerning the Tincture of the Philosophers — ParacelsusA treatise by Paracelsus on the Tincture of the Philosophers, written against the sophists of his age, covering the matter, process, and perfection of the alchemical magistery for both the transmutation of metals and the renovation of men, with an appended Revelation of Hermes interpreted by Paracelsus.The Chaldean OraclesSurviving fragments of a Hellenistic mystery-poem in hexameter verse whose central symbol of Holy Fire profoundly influenced the entire Neoplatonic tradition from Porphyry to Proclus.The Chymical WeddingThe third of the three foundational Rosicrucian manifestos — a seven-day allegorical romance of alchemy, death, and resurrection at a royal wedding. Foxcroft's 1690 English translation from the German of Johann Valentin Andreae.The Dionysian ArtificersThe Dionysian Artificers by Hippolyto Joseph da Costa — a short 1820 essay arguing that the ancient Dionysian artificers were the predecessors of speculative Freemasonry: a guild of architects and builders in the ancient world who transmitted esoteric knowledge through architectural symbolism.The Divine Pymander — Hermes Trismegistus (Everard)The seventeen treatises of the Corpus Hermeticum in John Everard's landmark 1650 English translation, presenting the philosophical and mystical dialogues attributed to Hermes Trismegistus.The Emerald Tablet of HermesA compendium of translations and commentaries on the foundational text of Western alchemy, the Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus, including versions from Arabic, Latin, Renaissance, and modern sources, with extensive scholarly apparatus.The Fourth Book of Occult PhilosophyThe pseudo-Agrippan Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy (1655), containing five Renaissance magical treatises — geomancy, the Heptameron of Peter de Abano, the nature of spirits, astronomical geomancy, and the Arbatel of Magic — translated by Robert Turner.The Gnosis of the MindG.R.S. Mead's essay on the Hermetic tradition as a living mystical discipline of direct spiritual knowledge through intuition and illumination.The Golden Chain of HomerAn anonymous alchemical treatise presenting the generation and transmutation of all things through the interplay of the four elements, identifying nitre and salt as the universal sperm of nature, with practical experiments demonstrating the production of minerals, vegetables, and animals from rainwater.The Golden Tractate of Hermes TrismegistusAn alchemical treatise in seven sections attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, expounding the philosophical work through allegory and practical instruction, from the translation published in A Suggestive Inquiry into the Hermetic Mystery (1850).The Hermetic ArcanumAn anonymous seventeenth-century treatise on the Philosophers' Stone, presenting in 138 concise paragraphs the entire theory and practice of the alchemical Great Work — from the moral preparation of the adept through the creation of the Sulphur and the compounding of the Elixir.The Immortality of the SoulHenry More's philosophical demonstration of the soul's immortality through natural reason, in three books (1659)The Mirror of AlchemyRoger Bacon's foundational alchemical treatise with the Emerald Tablet, Hortulanus's commentary, and Bacon's discourse on Art and Nature — a cornerstone of Western alchemy, 1597The Mysteries of MithraG.R.S. Mead's scholarly study of the Mithraic mysteries, tracing Mithraism from ancient Iranian Mazdaism through Babylonian astral lore to its spread across the Roman Empire.The Mysteries of Mithra — CumontThe Mysteries of Mithra by Franz Cumont — the foundational scholarly study of Mithraism, the mystery religion of the Roman legions. Origins, doctrine, ritual, iconography, and the rivalry with early Christianity. Translated by Thomas J. McCormack.The Rosicrucian ManifestosThe founding manifestos of the Rosicrucian Brotherhood — the Fama Fraternitatis (1614) and the Confessio Fraternitatis (1615). The documents that launched one of the most influential esoteric movements in Western history, announcing a secret fraternity of adepts dedicated to the reformation of all arts and sciences.The Second Lash of AlazonomastixHenry More's extended polemic against Thomas Vaughan — the second and most devastating strike in the Cambridge Platonist's campaign against Hermetic enthusiasm, with commendatory verse, a defence of philosophical satire, and systematic refutation across eleven sections.The Six Keys of EudoxusA concise alchemical treatise attributed to Eudoxus, outlining six stages of the Great Work through the metaphor of keys that unlock the successive operations of philosophical Mercury.The Stone of the Philosophers — Edward KellyA systematic treatise by the Elizabethan alchemist Edward Kelly, written during his imprisonment in Bohemia, arguing that Mercury is the first matter of all metals and that the Philosophers' Stone is composed of gold, silver, and quicksilver.The Treasure of Treasures for Alchemists — ParacelsusA practical alchemical treatise by Paracelsus on the preparation of the Philosopher's Tincture, covering the Sulphur of Cinnabar, the Red Lion, and the Green Lion, with extensive endnotes drawn from across the Paracelsian corpus.The Way to ChristJakob Boehme's most accessible mystical work — six treatises on repentance, resignation, regeneration, and the super-sensual life, in John Sparrow's 1648 English translation from the German.
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