The New Hermetics

[PaganSpirit]

This has certainly caught my interest. Much of my spirituality tends to be influenced by Hermeticism, and I tend to learn things better when they're stripped down to basics. I have a Barnes and Noble gift card to spend and I think I'd be interested in buying this book.
Would anyone who's read this say it's an effective tool for attaining gnosis for a beginner?

[kaosxmage]

Originally Posted by PaganSpirit

This has certainly caught my interest. Much of my spirituality tends to be influenced by Hermeticism, and I tend to learn things better when they're stripped down to basics. I have a Barnes and Noble gift card to spend and I think I'd be interested in buying this book.
Would anyone who's read this say it's an effective tool for attaining gnosis for a beginner?

I've been an Occult explorer for years; and while I haven't finished this book yet, I would say it's an excellent place for one to get a start. I can highly recommend it based on what I've read so far.

--Kaos

[PaganSpirit]

I think I will check it out, then. I think I find myself in a "find the quickest way to get results" sort of mindset pretty often, which isn't a terribly good thing, especially considering many of my goals are things that require copious amounts of patience (such as meditating to achieve an altered state of consciousness/higher state of awareness, etc.), but if I understand the way my mind likes to work, and I think I do, to a good extent, if something feels like it's quick and easy, I'll probably be better motivated to continue with it.

I guess I'm thinking of all the times I've tried to understand the material in my copy of The Golden Dawn, and just about everything else I've ever read about Hermetic Qabala and alchemy, and how confusing I've always found it. And then I think about how reading The Kyballion helped me to understand the ideas behind Hermeticism so much better (although I am skeptical about some things, because it seems that parts of it are a little bit more inspired by New Thought ideas).

[sidhe]

Originally Posted by PaganSpirit

I guess I'm thinking of all the times I've tried to understand the material in my copy of The Golden Dawn, and just about everything else I've ever read about Hermetic Qabala and alchemy, and how confusing I've always found it. And then I think about how reading The Kyballion helped me to understand the ideas behind Hermeticism so much better (although I am skeptical about some things, because it seems that parts of it are a little bit more inspired by New Thought ideas).

Actually, it's kind of the opposite - a lot of New Thought is inspired by old Hermetic principles...just kind of misapplied. Looking at the tenets of New Thought (as supplied by Wikipedia)...

• Infinite Intelligence or God is omnipotent and omnipresent.
• Spirit is the ultimate reality.
• True human self-hood is divine.
• Divinely attuned thought is a positive force for good.
• All disease is mental in origin.
• Right thinking has a healing effect.

The first three are roughly Hermetic, then the last three are the specific practices of New Thought.

So far as The New Hermetics goes, it does have some things in it that will appeal to a quick-n-easy mindset. I should know. I have a quick-n-easy...okay...no...that's not a mindset. That's my bad reputation...sorry, got confused.