Masonic, Occult and Esoteric Online Library
Thrice-Greatest Hermes, Vol. 1
By G.R.S. Mead
Contents
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Preface |
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I. The Remains of the Trismegistic Literature |
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Writer and Reader |
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The Extant Trismegistic Literature |
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The Original MS. of our Corpus |
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Texts and Translations |
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II. The History of the Evolution of Opinion |
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The Chief Points of Interrogation |
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The Opinions of the Humanists |
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The First Doubt |
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The Launching of the Theory of Plagiarism |
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The Only Argument Adduced |
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The Theory of Hilgers |
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The German Theory of Neoplatonic “Syncretismus” |
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The French Theory of Egyptian Origin |
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The Views of Ménard |
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English Encyclopædism |
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Chambers’ Opinion |
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German Encyclopædism |
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A Recent Article by Granger |
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Reitzenstein and the Dawn of Right Views |
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A Key to Egypt’s Wisdom |
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The Answers to our Questions |
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III. Thoth the Master of Wisdom |
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Thoth-Te?uti |
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Thoth according to Pietschmann |
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The Three Grades of the Egyptian Mysteries |
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Thoth according to Reitzenstein |
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Thoth according to Budge |
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His Deific Titles |
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His Symbols and Name |
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The Shrine of Thoth |
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Thoth and his Company of Eight |
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The “House of the Net” |
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Thoth the Logos |
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The Words of Thoth |
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Thoth and the Osirified |
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Thoth the Measurer |
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The Title “Thrice-greatest” |
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The Supremacy of Thoth |
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The Views of a Scholar-Mystic |
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The Spiritual Nature of the Inner Tradition of Egyptian Wisdom |
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The Holy Land of Egypt and its Initiates |
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Thoth the Initiator |
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Some of the Doctrines of Initiation |
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The Temples of Initiation |
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The Mystery of the Birth of Horus |
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“The Book of the Master” |
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The Steps of the Path |
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An Illuminative Study |
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IV. The Popular Theurgic Hermes-Cult in the Greek Magic Papyri |
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The “Religion of Hermes” |
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i. An Invocation to Hermes as the Good Mind |
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ii. An Invocation to Lord Hermes |
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iii. An Invocation to Lord Hermes |
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iv. An Invocation to Thoth as Logos |
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v. An Invocation to Hermes as the Spiritual Light |
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vi. The Mystic Rite of the Flame |
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vii. A Prayer of Consecration |
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V. The Main Source of the Trismegistic Literature according to Manetho High Priest of Egypt |
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Hermes at the Beginning of the Hellenistic Period |
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Petosiris and Nechepso |
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Manetho the Beloved of Thoth |
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The Letter of Manetho to Ptolemy Philadelphus |
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The Importance of Manetho’s Statement in his “Sothis” |
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Is “Sothis” a Forgery? |
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The Arguments of Encyclopædism refuted |
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The Seriadic Land |
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The Stelæ of Hermes |
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The Sons of Seth-Hermes |
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The Epithet “Thrice-greatest” |
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The Clue of Griffiths |
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The Earliest Trismegistic Literature |
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Philo Byblius |
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Are his “Phœnician Histories” a Forgery? |
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Sanchuniathon and the “Books of Hermes” |
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VI. An Egyptian Prototype of the Main Features of the Pœmandres’ Cosmogony |
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The Higher Criticism of the “Pœmandres” |
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A Prototype of its Cosmogenesis |
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A Praise-giving to Ptah |
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Ptah-Thoth the Wise One |
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Egyptian Syncretism 1000 B.C. |
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The Doctrine of “Pœmandres” Compared with that of its Prototype |
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The Man-Doctrine |
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VII. The Myth of Man in the Mysteries |
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The Gnostic Tradition |
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The “Philosophumena” of Hippolytus |
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The Naassenes |
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Analysis of Hippolytus’ Account of the Naassene Document |
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Hippolytus’ Introduction |
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The Material for the Recovery of the Original Hellenistic Document |
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Hippolytus’ Conclusion |
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Conclusion of Analysis |
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The Hellenist Commentator |
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The Jewish and Christian Overwriters |
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Zosimus and the Anthropos-Doctrine |
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Philo of Alexandria on the Man-Doctrine |
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VIII. Philo of Alexandria and the Hellenistic Theology |
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Concerning Philo and his Method |
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The Great Importance of his Writings |
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Concerning the Mysteries |
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Concerning the Sacred Marriage |
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Concerning the Logos |
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The Son of God |
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The True High Priest |
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The Elder and Younger Sons of God |
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Yet God is One |
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The Logos is Life and Light |
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The Divine Vision |
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The Sons of God on Earth |
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The City of God |
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God’s Shadow |
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The Mother-City of Refuge |
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The True Shepherd |
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The Apostles of God |
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The Ladder of the “Words” |
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The Logos the Spiritual Sun |
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The Disciples of the Logos |
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The River of the Divine Reason |
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Jerusalem Above |
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The Logos is as Manna and Coriander Seed |
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The Logos is the Pupil of God’s Eye |
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“Man shall not Live by Bread Alone” |
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The Logos-Mediator |
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The Yoga of Plotinus |
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The Race of God |
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IX. Plutarch: Concerning the Mysteries of Isis and Osiris |
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Foreword |
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Concerning Isis and Osiris |
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Address to Klea concerning Gnosis and the Search for Truth |
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The Art of Knowing and of Divinising |
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The True Initiates of Isis |
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Why the Priests are Shaven and wear Linen |
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Of the Refraining from Flesh and Salt and Superfluities |
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On the Drinking of Wine |
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On Fish Taboos |
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The Onion and Pig Taboos |
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The Kings, the Riddles of the Priests and the Meaning of Amoun |
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Of the Greek Disciples of Egyptians and of Pythagoras and his Symbols |
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Advice to Klea concerning the Hidden Meaning of the Myths |
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The Mystery-Myth |
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The Undermeaning, a Reflexion of a Certain Reason |
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Concerning the Tombs of Osiris |
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Concerning the Theory of Evemerus |
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The Theory of the Daimones |
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Concerning Sarapis |
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Concerning Typhon |
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The Theory of the Physicists |
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Concerning Osiris and Dionysus |
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The Theory of the Physicists Resumed |
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The Theory of the Mathematici |
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The Theory of the Dualists |
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The Proper Reason according to Plutarch |
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The Symbolism of the Sistrum |
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The True “Logos” again according to Plutarch |
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Against the Weather and Vegetation God Theories |
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Concerning the Worship of Animals and Totemism |
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Concerning the Sacred Robes |
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Concerning Incense |
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Afterword |
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X. “Hermas” and “Hermes” |
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An Anticipation |
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The Higher Criticism of “The Shepherd of Hermas” |
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The Introduction of the “Pastoral Hermas” |
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Comparison with our “Pœmandres” |
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The Popular Symbolic Representation of the Shepherd |
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The Name “Hermas” |
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An Early Form of the “Pœmandres” |
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The Holy Mount |
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“Gnostic” Elements |
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The Vices and Virtues |
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The Early Date of the Original “Hermas” |
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The Dependence Theory to be used with Caution |
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The Visions of Crates |
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The General Christian “Many” and the Gnostic “Few” |
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The Story of Abbot Olympius |
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A Final Word |
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XI. Concerning the Æon-Doctrine |
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The Scope of our Essay |
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The Orphic Tradition of the Genesis of the World Egg |
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Commentary |
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The Sethian Gnosis |
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The Mithriac Æon |
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Probable Date of Origin of the Hellenistic Æon-Doctrine |
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Abraxas |
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The Feast of the Æon |
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The Quintessence and the Monad |
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The Æon in Plato |
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Concerning the Hellenistic Origin of Æonology |
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The Æon the Logos |
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The Roman Sæculum Cult derived from Egypt |
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The Æonic Immensities of Egypt |
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A Song of Praise to the Æon |
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The Demiurgic Æon |
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The Æon in Theurgic Literature |
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XII. The Seven Zones and their Characteristics |
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Macrobius on “The Descent of the Soul from the Heights of Cosmos to the Depths of Earth” |
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The Tradition of Servius |
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Criticism of the Evidence |
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The “Ophite” Hebdomad |
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The Simpler Form of the Trismegistic Gnosis |
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Concerning Leviathan and Behemoth |
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The “Fence of Fire” |
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XIII. Plato: Concerning Metempsychosis |
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The Soul and her Mysteries in the “Phædrus” |
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Plotinus on Metempsychosis |
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Proclus on the Descent of Souls into Irrational Natures |
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XIV. The Vision of Er |
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Er Son of Armenius |
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From the Mysteries |
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The Cylinder |
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The Vision |
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Commentary |
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XV. Concerning the Crater or Cup |
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The Crater in Plato |
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In “Orpheus,” Macrobius, and Proclus |
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The Vision of Aridæus |
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The Origin of the Symbol to be sought in Orphic Tradition |
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XVI. The Disciples of Thrice-Greatest Hermes |
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Ptah, Sekhet and I-em-?etep (Asclepius) |
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Nefer-Tem |
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Imhotep-Imuth-Asclepius |
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Thath-Tat |
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The Incarnations of Thoth |
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The Disciples of Lord Hermes in Petosiris and Nechepso |
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Tosothros-Asclepius |
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Imuth-Asclepius the Master-Mason and Poet |
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Æsculapius the Healer |
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Asclepius in Trismegistic Tradition |
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Concerning Ammon |
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Prophet and King |
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Amenhotep-Asclepius |
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The Sacred Group of Four |
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James, John and Peter |
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The Triad of Disciples |
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Chnum the Good Daimon |
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Osiris Disciple of Agathodaimon the Thrice-greatest |
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Logos-Mind the Good Daimon |
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Chnum Good Mind the Æon |
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Isis, Lady of Wisdom, Disciple of Thrice-greatest Hermes |
