Preface
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I. The Remains of the Trismegistic Literature
| 1-16
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Writer and Reader
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The Extant Trismegistic Literature
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The Original MS. of our Corpus
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Texts and Translations
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II. The History of the Evolution of Opinion
| 17-46
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The Chief Points of Interrogation
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The Opinions of the Humanists
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The First Doubt
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The Launching of the Theory of Plagiarism
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The Only Argument Adduced
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The Theory of Hilgers
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The German Theory of Neoplatonic “Syncretismus”
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The French Theory of Egyptian Origin
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The Views of Mé nard
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English Encyclopæ dism
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Chambers’ Opinion
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German Encyclopæ dism
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A Recent Article by Granger
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Reitzenstein and the Dawn of Right Views
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A Key to Egypt’s Wisdom
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The Answers to our Questions
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III. Thoth the Master of Wisdom
| 47-81
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Thoth-Teḥ uti
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Thoth according to Pietschmann
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The Three Grades of the Egyptian Mysteries
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Thoth according to Reitzenstein
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Thoth according to Budge
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His Deific Titles
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His Symbols and Name
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The Shrine of Thoth
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Thoth and his Company of Eight
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The “House of the Net”
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Thoth the Logos
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The Words of Thoth
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Thoth and the Osirified
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Thoth the Measurer
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The Title “Thrice-greatest”
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The Supremacy of Thoth
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The Views of a Scholar-Mystic
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The Spiritual Nature of the Inner Tradition of Egyptian Wisdom
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The Holy Land of Egypt and its Initiates
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Thoth the Initiator
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Some of the Doctrines of Initiation
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The Temples of Initiation
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The Mystery of the Birth of Horus
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“The Book of the Master”
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The Steps of the Path
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An Illuminative Study
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IV. The Popular Theurgic Hermes-Cult in the Greek Magic Papyri
| 82-98
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The “Religion of Hermes”
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i. An Invocation to Hermes as the Good Mind
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ii. An Invocation to Lord Hermes
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iii. An Invocation to Lord Hermes
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iv. An Invocation to Thoth as Logos
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v. An Invocation to Hermes as the Spiritual Light
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vi. The Mystic Rite of the Flame
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vii. A Prayer of Consecration
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V. The Main Source of the Trismegistic Literature according to Manetho High Priest of Egypt
| 99-127
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Hermes at the Beginning of the Hellenistic Period
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Petosiris and Nechepso
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Manetho the Beloved of Thoth
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The Letter of Manetho to Ptolemy Philadelphus
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The Importance of Manetho’s Statement in his “Sothis”
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Is “Sothis” a Forgery?
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The Arguments of Encyclopæ dism refuted
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The Seriadic Land
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The Stelæ of Hermes
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The Sons of Seth-Hermes
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The Epithet “Thrice-greatest”
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The Clue of Griffiths
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The Earliest Trismegistic Literature
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Philo Byblius
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Are his “Phœ nician Histories” a Forgery?
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Sanchuniathon and the “Books of Hermes”
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VI. An Egyptian Prototype of the Main Features of the Pœ mandres’ Cosmogony
| 128-138
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The Higher Criticism of the “Pœ mandres”
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A Prototype of its Cosmogenesis
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A Praise-giving to Ptah
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Ptah-Thoth the Wise One
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Egyptian Syncretism 1000 B. C.
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The Doctrine of “Pœ mandres” Compared with that of its Prototype
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The Man-Doctrine
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VII. The Myth of Man in the Mysteries
| 139-198
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The Gnostic Tradition
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The “Philosophumena” of Hippolytus
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The Naassenes
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Analysis of Hippolytus’ Account of the Naassene Document
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Hippolytus’ Introduction
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The Material for the Recovery of the Original Hellenistic Document
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Hippolytus’ Conclusion
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Conclusion of Analysis
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The Hellenist Commentator
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The Jewish and Christian Overwriters
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Zosimus and the Anthropos-Doctrine
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Philo of Alexandria on the Man-Doctrine
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VIII. Philo of Alexandria and the Hellenistic Theology
| 199-254
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Concerning Philo and his Method
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The Great Importance of his Writings
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Concerning the Mysteries
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Concerning the Sacred Marriage
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Concerning the Logos
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The Son of God
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The True High Priest
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The Elder and Younger Sons of God
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Yet God is One
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The Logos is Life and Light
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The Divine Vision
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The Sons of God on Earth
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The City of God
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God’s Shadow
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The Mother-City of Refuge
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The True Shepherd
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The Apostles of God
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The Ladder of the “Words”
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The Logos the Spiritual Sun
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The Disciples of the Logos
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The River of the Divine Reason
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Jerusalem Above
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The Logos is as Manna and Coriander Seed
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The Logos is the Pupil of God’s Eye
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“Man shall not Live by Bread Alone”
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The Logos-Mediator
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The Yoga of Plotinus
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The Race of God
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IX. Plutarch: Concerning the Mysteries of Isis and Osiris
| 255-368
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Foreword
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Concerning Isis and Osiris
| 261-366
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Address to Klea concerning Gnosis and the Search for Truth
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The Art of Knowing and of Divinising
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The True Initiates of Isis
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Why the Priests are Shaven and wear Linen
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Of the Refraining from Flesh and Salt and Superfluities
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On the Drinking of Wine
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On Fish Taboos
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The Onion and Pig Taboos
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The Kings, the Riddles of the Priests and the Meaning of Amoun
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Of the Greek Disciples of Egyptians and of Pythagoras and his Symbols
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Advice to Klea concerning the Hidden Meaning of the Myths
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The Mystery-Myth
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The Undermeaning, a Reflexion of a Certain Reason
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Concerning the Tombs of Osiris
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Concerning the Theory of Evemerus
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The Theory of the Daimones
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Concerning Sarapis
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Concerning Typhon
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The Theory of the Physicists
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Concerning Osiris and Dionysus
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The Theory of the Physicists Resumed
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The Theory of the Mathematici
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The Theory of the Dualists
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The Proper Reason according to Plutarch
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The Symbolism of the Sistrum
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The True “Logos” again according to Plutarch
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Against the Weather and Vegetation God Theories
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Concerning the Worship of Animals and Totemism
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Concerning the Sacred Robes
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Concerning Incense
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Afterword
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X. “Hermas” and “Hermes”
| 369-386
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An Anticipation
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The Higher Criticism of “The Shepherd of Hermas”
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The Introduction of the “Pastoral Hermas”
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Comparison with our “Pœ mandres”
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The Popular Symbolic Representation of the Shepherd
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The Name “Hermas”
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An Early Form of the “Pœ mandres”
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The Holy Mount
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“Gnostic” Elements
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The Vices and Virtues
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The Early Date of the Original “Hermas”
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The Dependence Theory to be used with Caution
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The Visions of Crates
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The General Christian “Many” and the Gnostic “Few”
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The Story of Abbot Olympius
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A Final Word
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XI. Concerning the Æ on-Doctrine
| 387-412
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The Scope of our Essay
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The Orphic Tradition of the Genesis of the World Egg
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Commentary
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The Sethian Gnosis
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The Mithriac Æ on
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Probable Date of Origin of the Hellenistic Æ on-Doctrine
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Abraxas
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The Feast of the Æ on
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The Quintessence and the Monad
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The Æ on in Plato
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Concerning the Hellenistic Origin of Æ onology
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The Æ on the Logos
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The Roman Sæ culum Cult derived from Egypt
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The Æ onic Immensities of Egypt
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A Song of Praise to the Æ on
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The Demiurgic Æ on
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The Æ on in Theurgic Literature
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XII. The Seven Zones and their Characteristics
| 413-428
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Macrobius on “The Descent of the Soul from the Heights of Cosmos to the Depths of Earth”
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The Tradition of Servius
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Criticism of the Evidence
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The “Ophite” Hebdomad
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The Simpler Form of the Trismegistic Gnosis
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Concerning Leviathan and Behemoth
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The “Fence of Fire”
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XIII. Plato: Concerning Metempsychosis
| 429-436
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The Soul and her Mysteries in the “Phæ drus”
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Plotinus on Metempsychosis
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Proclus on the Descent of Souls into Irrational Natures
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XIV. The Vision of Er
| 437-449
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Er Son of Armenius
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From the Mysteries
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The Cylinder
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The Vision
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Commentary
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XV. Concerning the Crater or Cup
| 450-456
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The Crater in Plato
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In “Orpheus, ” Macrobius, and Proclus
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The Vision of Aridæ us
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The Origin of the Symbol to be sought in Orphic Tradition
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XVI. The Disciples of Thrice-Greatest Hermes
| 457-481
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Ptah, Sekhet and I-em-ḥ etep (Asclepius)
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Nefer-Tem
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Imhotep-Imuth-Asclepius
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Thā th-Tat
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The Incarnations of Thoth
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The Disciples of Lord Hermes in Petosiris and Nechepso
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Tosothros-Asclepius
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Imuth-Asclepius the Master-Mason and Poet
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Æ sculapius the Healer
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Asclepius in Trismegistic Tradition
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Concerning Ammon
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Prophet and King
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Amenhotep-Asclepius
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The Sacred Group of Four
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James, John and Peter
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The Triad of Disciples
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Chnum the Good Daimon
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Osiris Disciple of Agathodaimon the Thrice-greatest
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Logos-Mind the Good Daimon
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Chnum Good Mind the Æ on
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Isis, Lady of Wisdom, Disciple of Thrice-greatest Hermes
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p. xvi
. . . . . .
xvi: 1 This poem is dated January 1882. Chambers (p. 155, n. ) says: “It is noteworthy that the last poem of Longfellow was a lyrical ode in celebration of Hermes Trismegistus. ”