Hermetica II

As a student of early Christianity and it's cultural milieu, I inevitably came across Hermeticism. An esoteric religious movement that revolves around the revelations and teachings of Hermes Trismegistus. Dr.David Litwa is to be commended for having produced this magnificent volume. As its name indicates, it is the continuation to the Hermetica volume that was produced by Brian P. Copenhaver in the 1990s, which translated into English the Corpus Hermeticum and the Latin Asclepius. For decades this was the only reliable English translation that was available, done with modern scholarly standards. It had been a major desideratum to have access to reliable translations of other known Hermetica literature, such as Stobaeus' excerpts of Hermetic literature or testimonies from ancient authors about Hermes Trismegistus. Well, at last that wait is over. Now, we have Litwa's Hermetica II to aid us in our study of Hermeticism. Not only did he include the Stobean excerpts and an large collection of testimonies about Hermes Trismegistus, but he also included the Oxford and Vienna manuscript fragments, which are here translated into English for the very first time. Finally, the English-speaking world has adequate access to the ancient Hermetica in scholarly translations.There are other two major components of the Hermetica that are not included in Hermetica II, but luckily they can be easily accessed in other scholarly translations. These are "The Discourse on the Eighth and Ninth", "The Prayer of Thanksgiving", and the fragment of the Coptic version of "Asclepius" found in the Nag Hammadi Codices. And last, but not least are "The Definitions of Hermes Trismegistus to Asclepius", which have been preserved in Armenian. To access these works you'll have to get the books below:"The Nag Hammadi Scriptures" by Marvin W. Meyer, et al. ISBN-13: 978-0061626005"The Way of Hermes" by Clement Salaman, et al. ISBN-13: 978-0892811861

important theological text in easy to read format. Nicely printed.

As a practicing Hermetist, I have found this book to be invaluable to my path. I am very grateful for Dr Litwa, and for everyone else involved in making these source materials available in English. There is a wealth of knowledge and practice to be found here, and I will be studying this material for years to come. Highly, highly recommended.

His book is absolutely brilliant. He's a gifted translator who is not a mere academic, but he actually possesses important spiritual insights regarding the teachings of this ancient text. I removed one star however, but the reader who reads very brilliantly in some places but in others, engages in the most ridiculous fake accents of various persons in whose voice he is attempting to read. When he's good - speaking like a normal human being - he's one of the best audiobook speakers I've heard. But he makes up all these other crazy voices that in other parts of the book render the audiobook unlistenable. That said, I'm grateful to the author but from now on, will leave the Audible book for others with a lot more patience, and stick to the physical copy of the book.

Great insight...can only recommend it.

Invaluable addition to Hermetica or Classical Greek literature collection. I have the paperback and audiobook. The audiobook is great for getting to familiarize yourself with the material when your doing something like driving on a trip or you prefer to listen. The book is great because of the added notes that give extra bits of context, explanation and cross-references to the Corpus Hermeticum and other Classical Greek works as you're reading.

An invaluable addition to any student of Hermeticism. You won’t find these translations anywhere else.

A good book, but I received the product damaged.