Ursi's Eso Garden

Die Hermetik stammt aus der alt-ägyptischen Lehre des Hermes Trismegistos – so nannten die Griechen den ägyptischen Gott Thot, Hermes, Gott der Weisheit und Hermes der Götterbote. Dass die "wirklichen" Bücher, welche als Corpus Hermeticum bezeichnet werden, nicht früher als im 1. vorchristlichen Jahrhundert entstanden sein konnten, wurde von Isaac Casaubon 1614 durch philologische Argumente nachgewiesen.

This Principle embodies the truth that "everything is dual"; "everything has two poles"; "everything has its pair of opposites," all of which were old Hermetic axioms. It explains the old paradoxes, that have perplexed so many, which have been stated as follows: "Thesis and antithesis are identical in nature, but different in degree"; "opposites are the same, differing only in degree"; "the pairs of opposites may be reconciled"; "extremes meet"; "everything is and isn't, at the same time"; "all truths are but half truths"; "every truth is half-false"; "there are two sides to everything," etc., etc., etc.

Esoterica - The Journal of esoteric studies by Collge of Arts and Letters - Michigan State University.

Our primary emphasis in Esoterica is the scholarly investigation of esoteric spiritual traditions, with a special emphasis on Western esotericism. Western esoteric traditions are of a remarkable variety, ranging from Gnosticism and Hermeticism to alchemy, magic, Christian mysticism, Kabbala, Rosicrucianism, Freemasonry, and other secret or semi-secret societies. Investigation in this field is by nature transdisciplinary, drawing upon such diverse disciplines as history, religious studies, and literature, without belonging solely to any of these.

The twentieth Century marked a period of spiritual awakening in Western society, as traditional Christian teachings were freed from literal interpretation to reveal the compelling power of their greater truth.

Nobody was more influential to this transformation than Neville Goddard (1905 - 1972). Indies, Neville began writing and lecturing on metaphysics in the United States in the 1930s, sharing his profound insight into the power of consciousness to pierce the veil that hides our true natures.

THE Hermetic Mystery- upon the higher interpretation of which I have spoken at considerable length in the previous paper and have created an analogy between its hidden meaning and that which I should term the centre of the Religions Mystery in Christendom- is the only branch of mystic and occult literature which lent itself to the decorative sense. I suppose that there are few people comparatively who at this day have any notion of the extent to which that sense was developed in the books of the adepts. It will be understood that in speaking now upon this subject I am leaving my proper path, but though the fact does not seem to have been registered, it is so utterly curious to note how a literature which is most dark and inscrutable of all has at the same time its lighter side- a side, indeed, of pleasant inventions, of apologue, of parable, of explicit enigma, above all of poetry. The fact is that alchemy presented itself as an art, its books were the work of artists; and for the sympathetic reader, even when he may understand them least, they will read sometimes like enchanting fables or legends. When in this manner some of the writers had exhausted their resources in language, they had recourse to illustrations, and I wonder almost that no one has thought to collect the amazing copper-plates which literally did adorn the Latin and other tracts of the seventeenth century.

Heinrich Khunrath, Amphitheatrum sapientiae aeternae [Hamburg: s.n., 1595] is an alchemical classic, the best known of Heinrich Khunrath's works. The work is infused with a strange combination of Christianity and magic, illustrated with elaborate, hand-colored, engraved plates heightened with gold and silver. The tension between spirituality and experiment, and the rich symbolism of Khunrath's writings and their engravings brought condemnation of the book by the Sorbonne in 1625, and now attracts attention from scholars.

You can find information on alchemy and all its facets, with over 1300 sections, 1700 images, and 200 complete alchemical texts in
The Alchemy Web Site.

I choosed for this post a illustration from Robert Fludd first book "Utriusque Cosmi Historia", 1619. Here is a very big view with all details:
"The mind of the microcosm".

More beautiful illustrations you will find here:
Adam McLean's Gallery of alchemical images.