room
As a side gesture to understanding the cards, this is what I think about Hermeticism.
POSITIVE ASPECTS
I like the way it merges the physical with the spiritual, or tries to. Similar to many religions, it acknowledges the perennial longing of humans to ease the emotional and mental pain of those two polarities. There is a practical, common sense to this integration of divine and material. It makes us feel better and gives us inspiration and imagination as we marry intellect with intuition.
I've always thought Neoplatonism and Gnosticism were rather practical in essence, for this reason of uniting the physical and spiritual, which seems to be something, religious belief and influence aside, that humans long for from the time they can grasp the concept of separation.
What you call it doesn't matter:: microcosm and macrocosm, earth and heaven, real world and apparent world, the concept is an ever-present floater in human imagination and intellect. Oh how awful, I've used that terrible word "intellect" again. I must be burnt at the stake.
NEGATIVE ASPECTS
Inherently in the philosophy, none. In fact it has been responsible for a large part of our scientific knowledge and philosophical delight and growth over centuries. The negativity unfortunately occurs through the rituals and practice imposed on the philosophy by humans in various eras.
Why?
Because humans have a distasteful and innate penchant for self-righteousness and self-satisfaction. So we get the gimmickry of magic tricks that supposedly elevate people to fantasies of hierarchal levels in an "I know the secret and you don't nyah, nyah." parody of knowledge. You can see the attitude in most human endeavours. And somewhere, the purity of sense gets lost in imposed ritual and secrecy and the correct study of approved texts and attitudes.
SUMMATION
Leaving aside the foolishness of imposed practices, which might be useful as a memory game of symbols and secret codes, but doesn't seem to do much for the growth of the individual, intellectual or spiritual, I think there is an earth-shaking truth we've covered over with bubbling cauldrons, candles, and symbols.
Ask yourself, is true unity the product of drawing symbols and reciting words in secret rituals? Do you need such gimmicks to be part of the One? Does transmutation need a secret word to manifest itself? Why do people use ritual and secret societies in place of the idea? A group ritual is a strictly intellectual memory game, binding you to gestures and words created to signify meaning in place of meaning, or power in place of power, or intuition in place of intuition.
It is another by-product of being human that we often feel powerless and ineffectual, so we love rituals because they place us somewhere we feel power. It feels more powerful to be a persona who is magical than a mundane human. The pretense doesn't hold up though, it's an ephemeral place.
Hermeticism is a rip-roaring interesting concept, full of ideas garnered from Greek, Roman and Arabic civilization, plus European Renaissance traditions and ideas. Whew, what a glorious thing.
It's too bad we've allowed it to get buried under many coats of florid wallpaper.
Oh, and a proviso: I will not argue, defend, justify, prove my ideas, ridicule and browbeat you into submission, or otherwise ritualize my position. I might light a candle for you while intoning a secret word, but that is all.
POSITIVE ASPECTS
I like the way it merges the physical with the spiritual, or tries to. Similar to many religions, it acknowledges the perennial longing of humans to ease the emotional and mental pain of those two polarities. There is a practical, common sense to this integration of divine and material. It makes us feel better and gives us inspiration and imagination as we marry intellect with intuition.
I've always thought Neoplatonism and Gnosticism were rather practical in essence, for this reason of uniting the physical and spiritual, which seems to be something, religious belief and influence aside, that humans long for from the time they can grasp the concept of separation.
What you call it doesn't matter:: microcosm and macrocosm, earth and heaven, real world and apparent world, the concept is an ever-present floater in human imagination and intellect. Oh how awful, I've used that terrible word "intellect" again. I must be burnt at the stake.
NEGATIVE ASPECTS
Inherently in the philosophy, none. In fact it has been responsible for a large part of our scientific knowledge and philosophical delight and growth over centuries. The negativity unfortunately occurs through the rituals and practice imposed on the philosophy by humans in various eras.
Why?
Because humans have a distasteful and innate penchant for self-righteousness and self-satisfaction. So we get the gimmickry of magic tricks that supposedly elevate people to fantasies of hierarchal levels in an "I know the secret and you don't nyah, nyah." parody of knowledge. You can see the attitude in most human endeavours. And somewhere, the purity of sense gets lost in imposed ritual and secrecy and the correct study of approved texts and attitudes.
SUMMATION
Leaving aside the foolishness of imposed practices, which might be useful as a memory game of symbols and secret codes, but doesn't seem to do much for the growth of the individual, intellectual or spiritual, I think there is an earth-shaking truth we've covered over with bubbling cauldrons, candles, and symbols.
Ask yourself, is true unity the product of drawing symbols and reciting words in secret rituals? Do you need such gimmicks to be part of the One? Does transmutation need a secret word to manifest itself? Why do people use ritual and secret societies in place of the idea? A group ritual is a strictly intellectual memory game, binding you to gestures and words created to signify meaning in place of meaning, or power in place of power, or intuition in place of intuition.
It is another by-product of being human that we often feel powerless and ineffectual, so we love rituals because they place us somewhere we feel power. It feels more powerful to be a persona who is magical than a mundane human. The pretense doesn't hold up though, it's an ephemeral place.
Hermeticism is a rip-roaring interesting concept, full of ideas garnered from Greek, Roman and Arabic civilization, plus European Renaissance traditions and ideas. Whew, what a glorious thing.
It's too bad we've allowed it to get buried under many coats of florid wallpaper.
Oh, and a proviso: I will not argue, defend, justify, prove my ideas, ridicule and browbeat you into submission, or otherwise ritualize my position. I might light a candle for you while intoning a secret word, but that is all.
I have very recently started studying Hermetics more, it's been a lot on my mind and here is a wonderful AT discussion about it. 