When Games And History Clash :P

It's pretty late now where I am, and because I'm not really feeling sleepy, I decided to read up a little more on the development of hermetic ideas from the Roman period to medieval times.

Surprisingly, there are a lot of sites with "hermetic" as a theme. I guess, even though the current Golden Dawn does not have direct lineage with the original order... they have managed to make hermetic philosophy and ideas popular enough for there to be thousands of google-able sites.

Most recent... when I say "recent" I mean in the last 300 - 400 years ... historical personages of note in hermetic and ceremonial magic are pretty well known to most practitioners in this field... from figures like Eliphas Levi to Aleister Crowley and McGregor Mathers (not his real name by the way)

However, when you get a little further back in history, the names and dates get hazier. Unfortunately, I'm not quite as proficient in this area as I'd like to be. :P Well, this evening, I stumbled onto a site which seemed to contain an interesting writeup about Roman-era priests and magicians who have allegedly contributed to the ideas current in today's ceremonial magic. It was pretty interesting at first, until I scrolled downwards and chanced across a name which made me reconsider the validity of the article.

The name "Tremere" was listed as the name of a wizard of note. Now, I honestly think that the writer of this article meant for the article to be an actual historical timeline... because he also wrote other articles on magical theory and history.

If not for the fact that as an avid gamer I have heard of both Ars Magica and White Wolf, I would have thought that "Tremere" was a real historical person. :P Because both Ars Magica and White Wolf have a tendency to use actual historical characters in their games, I have actually looked up "Tremere" ... as a sort of "just in case" ... The result, not surprisingly, is that there is NO historical reference of this name in all academic and actual ceremonial magic - related websites.

I'm a little annoyed by this incident because it seems the popularity of the games combined with a lack of actual research have resulted in some people at least thinking that made up characters are real :P

This reminds me of an incident some years ago. When I was still working in IT, there was this rather manipulative young guy who liked to frequent chatrooms. He would go to wiccan chatrooms and claim that he was a mage who could cast such Dungeons & Dragons related spells like Fireball, Invisibility and the like. And would you believe it... quite a lot of young Singaporean people who ... at that time thanks to "Charmed" ... wanted to try out the whole witchcraft thing... actually believed he was what he claimed to be???!!!

Honestly... Fireball???? Invisibility???? Recently, an actual ceremonial magic related lodge (man... I really feel ashamed when I say this) claimed in its recruitment brochure to have "Invisibility" as a spell in one of its temple levels... I found that incredibly hilarious....:( Honestly, if I had read that part when I was standing in front of the recruiter, I would have asked the guy to demonstrate "invisibility" to me :P

Whatever happened to brains?! What about empirical evidence?! Heck, just 'cos we believe in magic, it doesn't mean we completely abandon reason :(

I'm right now wondering if this is just a Singaporean phenomena. I mean, at the end of the day, we can blame it on our educational system. :(

What On Earth Do You Mean When You Say... "Hermetic"?

When I started exploring alternative spirituality, I did not do it with the intent to practice magic. In fact, my own background is that of a skeptic. I was brought up with a strong sense of what logical thinking means and the need to provide proof for claims made. I think one of my clearest childhood memories was of my father talking about the concept of Logic to my much older cousins.

I'm a little surprised that few people have actually asked me what I mean when I say I am a "hermetic" magician. They mostly just nod and say "oh". I figure some people just assume what that means is some variety of Wiccan belief... or associate it with something they probably saw in "Charmed". It's only recently that I have had people who have asked me what that meant. I guess its about time now that I make some attempt to define what it is that I do... I mean after all the bellyaching that I do on this blog about magic.

When I started along this path, I did not really assign a terminology to what I did. I was drawn to the Western esoteric tradition and to ceremonial magick in terms of the circles, seals and other symbols that were used. However, at that time, I felt I did not know enough to really say that I am a practitioner of ceremonial magick. So like all people who are trying to find out about stuff, I did my reading and research to try to understand the traditions I felt drawn to.

At the core of all of this searching... I realised eventually that I wasn't truly drawn to the iconography of the Western esoteric tradition per se... I was drawn to the person of Hermes Trismegistus (in actuality the Egyptian Thoth) and what he represented.

I found out through my own meditative exploration... (and this is my own personal belief)... that Hermes / Thoth isn't a god, and not even an ascended master (as so many people claim he is today)... but a man. A man who is likely a scholar and a magician, but who like all of us has reincarnated and continues to reincarnate in the world today. I felt alone in my beliefs until I met the only reader that ever convinced me she had real psychic abilities. Strangely enough, this reader held the same belief. She also claimed she knew the truth about Hermes because she was once his disciple...

Now I don't know about her other claims, but when I heard her say, "I know he didn't ascend... he is still reincarnating today..." I felt a great sense of affirmation and I actually hugged her.

Till today, I have not heard a single reader or channeller say the same thing to me. In fact, I have met and talked to channellers of the ascended master "Lord Hermes"... now, I have to admit, there is a side to me that is just a bit naughty... when I do meet someone who claims to channel Hermes, I'll ask the channeller a question that is related to something esoteric or about magic... presumably...IF the being really IS Hermes, he would have no problem answering the question, since... allegedly... the Western esoteric tradition is based on learning that originated from ancient Egypt and Thoth/Hermes is a god of magic.

To date, I have not met anyone who has convinced me that they are channelling the real deal, in fact in one colourful moment, one of the beings (the channeller here was speaking on the being's behalf) that was channelled asked me what my opinion was on a particular magical question which I posed to it as a test... :P I mean, can you imagine Hermes asking an apprentice what his view is about some topic in magic? I suppose the real deal would only do that if he were trying to see if I knew my stuff... but being a mighty ascended being, wouldn't he already know what I was thinking? I honestly expected either a tongue lashing for my audacity at daring to question the being's authority.

I guess the channeller knew I was testing... yes, I was THAT obvious. Instead of an admonishment... (no they would rather not admonish you publically because they are all supposedly filled with "love and light")... I was given a rather general answer that wasn't really explained well. :(

I suppose some channellers overseas are more widely read than the channellers in this country... Because just through pure observation alone, I do NOT think that the channellers here are well read in the subject that they are supposedly experts in... :P Of course, the claim is that the knowledge channelled is from some higher being... but I beg to defer since most of the beings channelled seem to only have the same level of knowledge as the channeller... and surely... as multi-millennial entities, SOME ought to AT LEAST have a standard of verbal expression that surpasses the normal Singaporean... :P

Okay... yes... I am being horribly nasty :P And in part, that stems from the fact that I'm at times, terribly arrogant... and in part from my frustration that the name of a person I honour and respect is being brandied about just like... that. I think what galls me is the fact that some of these people are entirely genuine in their belief... so the better part of me can't bring myself to shatter their cherished notions... haiz.

Anyways... back to the topic... over time I decided to call myself a "hermetic magician / wizard" in part, so as to differentiate myself from the Wiccans.

So what do I mean by the terminology I use then?

Well, when I realised that I was drawn to the person of Hermes, I decided to read up as much as I could about him and if possible, find stuff that he wrote ... if any ... or taught. Naturally, like a lot of new age people, I stumbled upon works like "The Emerald Tablets of Thoth the Atlantean" (some people believe Thoth was the last priest/magician of Atlantis)... however, I also tried to find out WHERE the work came from... my own research into the matter led me to a rather shady figure called Dr Doreal... who allegedly was the one who compiled the work from "ancient sources"... but likely (and again, this is my belief, based on my own research and observation)... WROTE the dang thing.

Being unable to find any credible works attributed to Hermes Trismegistus among the more common new age publications, I turned to stuff written by the founding members of modern ceremonial magick... (ie. Golden Dawn... etc) At first, what they wrote sounded impressive... however... when I did my reading into how the ideas evolved, I was highly disappointed to find out that the source of their ideas weren't quite as ancient as they claimed, and in fact, some of these turn of the century practitioners went so far as to forge documentation to substantiate their beliefs... or claim that they were in contact with some otherworldly entities... (some modern occult writers have expressed doubt as to the authenticity of these supernatural contacts)

So there, my search for Hermes again runs up dry...

I'm now at the stage where I am looking at some old hermetic texts... and to be honest... what I am turning up isn't promising either. In the latest book I read about hermeticism, it turns out that a lot of ancient texts were likely written by other ancient authors ... not Hermes... but often attributed to an important historical or divine personage (like Hermes or Thoth) so as to er... give the book a sense of authority... or in some other cases dedicate the writing of the book to a certain patron or god.

I'm not quite done in that area, so who knows I might find something interesting...

I used to call myself a "ceremonial magician" when I was trying to figure out stuff from the early twentieth century mystics... but it really doesn't feel right since I think that most of the "magick" written in those texts are really just attempts by some writers to complicate ideas... make them SOUND impressive. I mean, I have asked myself this... just because I accidentally leave out a symbol or two when drawing out an uber-complicated summoning circle .. will that cause my magic to fail? And how do we know that such and such a symbol is necessary anyway? Is it because somebody from the impressive sounding hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn says it is necessary?

This reminds me of an incident where some young people who were practicing magic commented to me that the Enochian language was "powerful" stuff because it can be used to call upon and talk to angels... I said, "What... you think archangel Michael cannot understand English?"

Well, I think I'll stop calling myself a "ceremonial magician" since i don't really subscribe to the teachings of the mystics who came up with modern "magick". By the way, I am still a little bit fascinated by different practices of the magical orders... 'cos some of their rituals are cool-looking examples of a kind of modern mystery play and really great theatre. :)

So why... why "hermetic"...you might ask, since I do not subscribe to the teachings of any of the "hermetic" magical orders?

Well, there are some beliefs which I hold to that are a part of hermetic tradition... such as the use of the 4 elements of earth, water, air and fire, the concept of "as above so below" and the idea of reincarnation... and the belief in a supreme being that made all.

Link: What is Hermeticism?

However, I don't really subscribe to ALL of the typical hermetic or gnostic beliefs... in part because I'm still reading and evaluating them... and because here too some of the ideas that are embraced as part of modern hermeticism (and therefore attributed directly or indirectly to Hermes) sound as if the originators of the ideas are trying to make simple concepts sound grand and impressive...:P

At the end of the day, I find that my best source of information about Hermes / Thoth and what the ancients believed about him and practiced is from historical or archeological sources. I feel that it is my search for the real Hermes, my belief in him and his knowledge that puts the "hermetic" in my definition of what I am doing.

By the way, you likely won't get the same views from someone else if you googled "hermetic magician"... in fact most of my similarly-termed contemporaries might either think I am insane, misguided or a total fraud.