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Welcome to Hermetic Traditions
Welcome to Hermetic Traditions.
In the first centuries of the common era, in Roman Egypt, writers produced a series of dialogues in which a sage named Hermes Trismegistus, Hermes the Thrice-Great, teaches his students about God, the cosmos, and the soul’s return to its divine source. These writings, the Hermetica, were later believed to be older than Moses, and in the Renaissance they inspired philosophers, artists, magicians, and even early scientists.
This course traces Hermetic thought from its Egyptian and Greek roots through Islamic and medieval alchemy and astrology, the Renaissance, and modern movements such as the Golden Dawn and The Kybalion. You will meet women alchemists and initiates who are often left out of the story, and you will learn to separate real history from the legends that surround it.
How This Course Works
| Topic | Details |
|---|---|
| Prerequisite | None. Titles and degrees begin with ordination through the Ordination Orientation. |
| Pace | Self-paced. Most students finish in four to six weeks, studying about four to five hours a week. There are no deadlines. |
| Structure | Eight modules. Each module has a lesson, a reading assignment, and a ten-question quiz. |
| Book report | Read one of the books offered, pass its ten-question quiz, and write a one-paragraph summary, after Module 8. |
| Final exam | Fifteen multiple-choice questions and one essay of 1,500 to 2,000 words, taken after Module 8. |
| Credit | 3 credit hours toward further titles and degrees. |
Grading
| Part | To pass |
|---|---|
| Module quizzes (8) | Pass each with 70% or higher. Retakes allowed. |
| Book report quiz (10 questions) | Pass with 70% or higher. Retakes allowed. |
| Book report summary (one paragraph) | Approved by the school |
| Final exam, Part 1 (multiple choice) | Pass with 70% or higher. Retakes allowed. |
| Final exam, Part 2 (one essay, 1,500 to 2,000 words) | Approved by the school |
Required texts
- Hermetica, translated by Brian P. Copenhaver
- The Way of Hermes, translated by Clement Salaman and others
- Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition, Frances A. Yates
Many of these books are available from public libraries, used bookstores, and as ebooks.
What you will study
Module 1: Hermes Thrice-Great Module 2: The Corpus Hermeticum Module 3: Alchemy: The Great Work Module 4: Astrology and Astral Magic Module 5: The Renaissance of Hermes Module 6: Hermes, Science, and the Magus Module 7: Modern Hermeticism Module 8: Hermetic Wisdom and Ministry
Book report choices
Hermetica, Brian P. Copenhaver, translator; Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition, Frances A. Yates
Academic honesty
All written work must be your own. You may quote and discuss the course readings and other sources, but you must say where the words and ideas came from. Submitting work written by someone else, including work generated entirely by AI tools, is not permitted.