Collectanea Hermetica (Westcott)
Overview
A collected edition of primary Hermetic and related texts edited by W. Wynn Westcott (Supreme Magus of the Societas Rosicruciana). Includes the Corpus Hermeticum, the Chaldean Oracles, and the Golden Verses of Pythagoras — the essential library of the Western esoteric tradition in a single volume.
The epub source for this text was scan-based (page images only). No body text could be extracted. For the Corpus Hermeticum content included in this collection, see Corpus Hermeticum - Mead. For the Emerald Tablet, see Emerald Tablet of Hermes.
Contents (from the physical edition)
- The Divine Pymander — the Corpus Hermeticum in an older translation
- The Chaldean Oracles of Zoroaster — theurgic fragments closely related to Neoplatonic practice; Plotinus and his successors treated them as scripture
- The Golden Verses of Pythagoras — moral precepts attributed to the Pythagorean school
- Commentary on the Isiac Tablet — analysis of the Mensa Isiaca, an ancient bronze tablet depicting Egyptian mysteries
Westcott’s collection represents the core reading list of the Victorian-era Western esoteric revival. The Chaldean Oracles in particular bridge hermeticism and neoplatonism, sharing the same emanationist cosmology and the same goal of the soul’s return to the One through direct knowledge.
Connections
- hermeticism — the tradition
- hermes-trismegistus — the attributed author of the core texts
- corpus-hermeticum — the Hermetic treatises included
- Corpus Hermeticum - Mead — Mead’s standalone translation
- neoplatonism — the Chaldean Oracles belong to this stream
- Emerald Tablet of Hermes — included with commentary
- alchemy — the practical dimension of Hermeticism