I am currently rebuilding an Etteilla Tarot Deck. I am also deep-diving into The Divine Pymander (one of the Corpus Hermeticum versions). Etteilla is said to have been obsessed with this text and gave it a lot of sacred authority.
To make a proper Etteilla deck I decided to get familiar with the text he placed so much emphasis on.
(Kinda, like Eliphas Levi’s request that I first access the Key of Solomon to gain entry to Eliphas Levi- the hyperlinked Key of Solomon will allow you to download a free text file)
For ease of reference, I combined the 1650 Everard translations of the Divine Pymander with the 1906 Mead translations of the Corpus Hermeticum tractates into one book. These texts are from the 2nd century AD or earlier. They are discourses in the format of Socratic dialogues about the nature of God (divinity), the mind, alchemy and astrology. There will be a lot of overlap with Gnostic doctrine.
According to my knowledge, the Pymander is the same as the corpus hermeticum, but there are more tractates (or books) in the Pymander that there are in Mead’s 1906 translation. You can do your research since both are included in the compiled book. You will also find a few inserts that I have included in this text download from the Nag Hammadi, which was discovered in 1945 and has been added to the Hermetic corpus.
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N O T E S
There are some recurring characters in the text.
Hermes Troismegistus : Also: Thoth–Hermes . Referred to throughout the text as Hermes, once King of Egypt; a philosopher king and high priest. Syncretization of the Egyptian god Thoth, and the Greek god Hermes. He is the author of the Corpus Hermeticum.
Pymander: Also: Poimandres, Poemander, or Pimander. The mind of the Great LORD, the greatest and most powerful Emperor, the Pharaoh among pharaohs. Possibly the personification/deification of the inner Higher Self. The Mind of God is described as being both male and female, composed of light. Hermes lists some epithets of Pymander: The Mind of Absolute Power, Authority and God with the Truth, Lord of the Word, Shepherd of Men and God with the Truth.
Tat: Hermes Trismistus assumes the role of teacher, lecturer and wise man to talk with Tat. Through the Socratic dialogues, Tat receives divine wisdom from Hermes Trismegistus. Tat refers to Hermes as “O Father” when addressing him, and Hermes to Tat is “O Son”.
Asclepius: Hermes Trismistus talks to Asclepius through question and answer. They discuss the nature of God, the human condition, and other topics. Sometimes Asclepius gives knowledge to Hermes and answers her questions, while other times Hermes shares knowledge with Asclepius. Hermes lecturing to Asclepius in other tractates.
These notes may provide context for the books or tractates I have mentioned. However, these notes are not included with the text download as you may not agree with my assessment. If you find the following points useful, you will need to add them manually into the text’s end notes. You can add notes to the lined pages at back.
Pymander is the Shepherd of Men/The Second Book, Called Pymander
Hermetic vision of the creation and revelation of the universe
Commentary on the nature and purpose of the human condition
Each human contains a seed from God. The divine seed descends from Heaven above the firmament (Empyreus), and then it passes through seven planetary bodies, including Saturn, Jupiter, Mars and Mercury. It reaches the earthly plane before it is planted in the body. Destiny and Fate are formed by the influence of the divine seed as it traveled through seven planetary realms.
Our inherent divinity is the root cause of our tendency to evil.
To Ascelpius [Corpus]
Commentary on the celestial realms and the cosmogony which distinguishes between the physical and metaphysical worlds
Influence of the fixed stars
Humanity’s search for its Higher Good
The Sacred Sermon
Revisiting Creation of the Universe and Nature of the Human Condition
Seven planet rulers control life, death and regeneration as well as rebirth.
The Cup and Monad
This text is cited by Hermetic scholars as a great summary and overview of Gnostic doctrine and Hermetic philosophy.
Commentary on the division of divine Mind and impure body
There are speculations about connections to the Holy Grail
No Existing Things Will Perish
The influence of natal Astrology, i.e. the energetic influences or seeds of the seven planet rulers embedded in our spirit as the fragment descended from Heaven through the celestial realms to earth to become part us upon birth.
The cyclical nature of astrology, global events and history – history is set to repeat itself in cycles
The Key
Knowledge and memory are related to the afterlife, life, and rebirth
Personal gnosis vs. epistemological knowledge
Mind unto Hermes
Concerning God’s nature
To keep silent (To Keep Silence), is the best way to attain wisdom.
Forces that are incorruptible and immutable in Heaven are corruptible and mutable on Earth. This is the double nature many forces.
Continued discussion on knowledge and personal gnosis
Secret Sermon on the Mountain
Capstone for the entire Corpus Hermeticum
Communicates the most important elements of Hermetic philosophy
This includes the text of a ritual prayer that you can recite daily at sunrise and sunset (“The Secret Hymnody”)