What is Hermeticism?

The Powerful Western Widsom Tradition

tree-of-lifeHermeticism is the Western wisdom teaching providing answers to the fundamental questions of life:

  • Who am I?
  • Why does the world exist?
  • What is the purpose of my existence?
  • Is there a relief of the misery in this word?
  • Do we continue to exist after our physical being has fulfilled its purpose?

The term “Hermeticism” originates from Hermes. In the Greek mythology, Hermes is the intermediary between mind and matter. Hermeticism is the Western wisdom teaching that has been passed on continuously within the initiates’ circle for thousands of years. It retains methods to develop spiritual abilities and to master life.

It assists in viewing the world from a higher perspective and in unfolding the personality.

The Western Mystery Tradition

For thousands of years, mystery schools have been a manifestation of the Western mystery tradition. Among the best-known of these places of initiation are those of Isis and Osiris, Zarathustra, Dionysus, Mithras, Eleusis, the Gnostics, Essenians, Sufis, Knights Templar, and Rosicrucians.

EMacGregor_Mathersastern metaphysics, meditation techniques, and occult teachings were brought to the West in large part through Helena Petrovna Blavatsky’s theosophy. The term “Western mystery tradition” was coined in the last century by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, co-founder of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and member of the initiatory Rosicrucian society Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia (SRIA). In using this term, MacGregor Mathers intended to convey that a millennia-old Hermetic and mystic tradition exists which is attuned to the needs of the Western man. Hermeticism is the supreme discipline of the Western mystery tradition and an authentic path of return.

The Hermetic Academy is a contemporary school of mysteries which preserves the timeless teachings of the Western mystery tradition.