In episode 339 Sam Block joins the show to talk about the ancient philosophy of Hermeticism and its relationship to Hellenistic astrology.

Hermeticism is a religious, philosophical, and mystical movement that arose in Hellenistic Egypt around the first century, and is attributed to the teachings and practices of Hermes Trismegistus.

It represents a popular synthesis of a number of philosophical and religious trends that were popular during the Hellenistic period, including Stoicism, Platonism, native Egyptian religion, and astrology.

The majority of what is known about this philosophical or religious school survives in the Corpus Hermeticum and a handful of other writings from that time period.

During the course of the episode we talk about what is known about the Hermetic philosophical tradition, and how it relates to the technical tradition of astrology that arose during the same time period.

Sam is the author of a series on Hermeticism on his website, which I would recommend checking out for more information on this topic:

https://digitalambler.com/about/hermeticism-posts/

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This episode is available in both audio and video versions below.

Timestamps

Timestamps for different topics covered and parts of the discussion:

00:00:00 Intro

00:01:07 What survives from ancient Hermeticism

00:06:12 Religions and philosophies that influenced Hermeticism

00:15:00 The Corpus Hermeticum

00:24:44 Excerpts from the Hermetica

00:34:00 Hermeticism vs. Gnosticism

00:37:00 Excerpts about planets, soul, and fate

00:50:40 Diagram of the spheres of the cosmos

00:52:26 Gnosis meaning

00:55:25 Excerpt about salvation of the soul

01:02:19 Passage from Introduction to Gnosticism

01:03:18 Why astrology recurs as a motif in Hermeticism

01:07:00 A Stoic prayer and fate

01:12:05 Philosophical Hermetica vs. practical Hermetica

01:19:37 Hermetic influence on Vettius Valens

01:24:52 Alchemist Zosimos on fate

01:29:46 The Hermetica had multiple authors

01:50:04 Thoth and Hermes

01:52:36 Hermes and Mercury

01:54:08 Planetary joys scheme originates from Hermetic text

02:01:27 House significations and the Hermetica

02:16:40 Eclecticism and accessibility of the Hermetica

02:27:56 Birth charts in Egyptian temples

02:31:06 Divination in the Mediterranean world

02:35:17 Astrology as divination

02:38:44 Why is Hermes called thrice great?

02:40:30 What is the Way of Hermes?

02:44:51 What to do with birth chart information?

02:49:49 Hermeticism and Christianity

02:52:41 How much of our fate can we change?

02:55:57 Resources about Hermeticism

03:02:59 Book 3 of the Hermetica and astrology

03:09:25 Patrons and sponsors

Watch the Video Version of This Episode

Watch the video version of this episode on Hermeticism here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KupaADzq88g

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Transcript

A full transcript of this episode is available: Episode 339 transcript

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