The Emerald Library
Canonical treatises and manuscript lineages.
Compact Directory
PRIMARY SOURCES
Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic TraditionHermes Latinus (Brepols Series)Amphitheatrum Sapientiae AeternaeAtalanta FugiensAurora ConsurgensCH I: PoimandresCH I: PoimandresCH II: To HermesCH III: A Sacred DiscourseCH IV: The Mixing Bowl (Krater)CH IV: The Mixing Bowl (Krater)CH IX: On Thinking and SenseCH V: God is ManifestCH VI: God is the GoodCH VII: The Greatest EvilCH VIII: Nothing is LostCH X: The KeyCH X: The KeyCH XI: Mind to HermesCH XII: On the Common MindCH XIII: On RebirthCH XIII: The Secret Discourse on the MountainCH XIV: To TatCH XVI: Definitions of AsclepiusCH XVII: To a KingCH XVIII: Praise of KingsChaeremon: FragmentsChymical Wedding of Christian RosenkreutzClement of Alexandria: StromataCorpus HermeticumCrater HermetisDe Occulta PhilosophiaDe sex rerum principiisDefinitions of Hermes to Asclepius (Armenian)Dictionary of Gnosis and Western EsotericismEsotericism and the AcademyEusebius: Praeparatio EvangelicaFama FraternitatisHermetic Fragments in Cyril of AlexandriaHermetic Fragments in LactantiusIamblichus: De MysteriisIatromathematica of HermesKitāb Sirr al-KhalīqaKore Kosmou (Virgin of the World)Lactantius: Divinae InstitutionesLiber HermetisLiber Hermetis (25 Chapters)Liber Vaccae (The Book of the Cow)Liber XXIV philosophorumLiber XXIV philosophorumLiber de CausisLiber de stellis beibeniisManetho: AegyptiacaMonas HieroglyphicaMushaf al-Suwar (The Book of Pictures)PGM VII: The Stele of HermesPicatrix (Ghayat al-Hakim)Psychology and AlchemyRosarium PhilosophorumSecretum Secretorum (Secret of Secrets)Sefer YetzirahSirr al-Khaliqa (The Secret of Creation)Splendor SolisThe AsclepiusThe Brontologion of HermesThe Centiloquium (Hermetic)The City of the SunThe Cyranides (Kyranides)The Discourse on the Eighth and NinthThe Emerald TabletThe Golden Tractate (Tractatus Aureus)The Prayer of Thanksgiving (NHC VI, 7)The SalmeschoiniakaThe Seven Chapters of HermesThe Stobaean Fragments (SH 1-29)The Vienne FragmentTheatrum Chemicum BritannicumTurba PhilosophorumDe Maximis Theologiae (Regulae Theologiae)De Occulta Philosophia Libri TresLiber de spiritu et animaPicatrix (Latin Translation)MODERN SCHOLARSHIP
Access to Western EsotericismDictionary of Gnosis and Western EsotericismGiordano Bruno and the Hermetic TraditionHermetica: The Greek Corpus Hermeticum and the Latin AsclepiusHermetism from Late Antiquity to HumanismSpiritual and Demonic Magic: From Ficino to CampanellaThe Alchemical Amphitheatre: Heinrich Khunrath and the Magical CitadelThe Arabic Influences on Early Modern Occult PhilosophyThe Egyptian Hermes: A Historical Approach to the Late Pagan MindThe Secret History of Hermes TrismegistusThéorie et pratique dans l'AsclepiusWestern Esotericism: A Brief History of Secret KnowledgeWhite Magic, Black Magic in the European RenaissanceHermetic Spirituality and the Historical ImaginationPRIMARY SOURCES
Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition
Frances Yates's seminal work creating the Yates Paradigm....
Hermes Latinus (Brepols Series)
The critical edition series published by Brepols (Corpus Christianorum Continuatio Mediaevalis) collecting all Latin texts attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, edited by Lucentini, Porreca, and others....
Amphitheatrum Sapientiae Aeternae
Khunrath's masterpiece of theosophical alchemy....
Atalanta Fugiens
Michael Maier's emblematic and musical alchemical work....
Aurora Consurgens
Illuminated alchemical manuscript attributed to Aquinas....
CH I: Poimandres
The opening revelation of the Corpus Hermeticum....
CH I: Poimandres
The foundational revelation of the Corpus Hermeticum....
CH II: To Hermes
A discourse where Hermes explains the nature of the cosmos as a container and God as the container of all....
CH III: A Sacred Discourse
A brief, highly dense cosmogony describing the emergence of the elements and the zoidia (zodiac)....
CH IV: The Mixing Bowl (Krater)
Treatise on the immersion in the Mind....
CH IV: The Mixing Bowl (Krater)
Treatise describing the baptism of the mind in a divine mixing bowl....
CH IX: On Thinking and Sense
Distinguishes between divine thinking (noesis) and human sense perception (aisthesis)....
CH V: God is Manifest
A treatise arguing that God, though invisible, is manifest through the order and beauty of his creation....
CH VI: God is the Good
Explores the philosophical identity of God with the concept of the absolute Good....
CH VII: The Greatest Evil
A polemical discourse against ignorance, which is described as the greatest evil among men....
CH VIII: Nothing is Lost
Arguments for the immortality of the soul and the permanence of the cosmos....
CH X: The Key
Hermetic treatise summarizing the entire philosophy and mapping the descent of the soul....
CH X: The Key
A comprehensive summary of Hermetic doctrine....
CH XI: Mind to Hermes
A revelation from the Mind (Nous) to Hermes about the infinity of God and the cosmos....
CH XII: On the Common Mind
Discusses the presence of the 'Common Mind' in all rational beings....
CH XIII: On Rebirth
A ritual-dialogue on the secret discourse of the mountain....
CH XIII: The Secret Discourse on the Mountain
Hermes initiates Tat into the mystery of spiritual rebirth....
CH XIV: To Tat
A summary discourse from Hermes to his son Tat on the nature of the creator....
CH XVI: Definitions of Asclepius
A collection of definitions regarding God, matter, and the sun, translated from an 'original' Egyptian source....
CH XVII: To a King
A brief fragment of a discourse addressed to a king (likely of Egypt) regarding the worship of God....
CH XVIII: Praise of Kings
A rhetorical panegyric that utilizes Hermetic themes to praise earthly rulers....
Chaeremon: Fragments
The writings of the Stoic priest-philosopher of Alexandria, key for the Egyptian-Greek synthesis....
Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz
The third Rosicrucian manifesto, an allegorical romance....
Clement of Alexandria: Stromata
A key early Christian source that preserves descriptions of the Hermetic procession and books....
Corpus Hermeticum
A collection of 17 Greek treatises on Hermetic philosophy....
Crater Hermetis
A 15th-century dialogue by Lodovico Lazzarelli that synthesizes Hermetic regeneration with Christian theology....
De Occulta Philosophia
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa's monumental three-book synthesis of occult knowledge (1533)....
De sex rerum principiis
A 12th-century cosmological treatise, often associated with the School of Chartres....
Definitions of Hermes to Asclepius (Armenian)
A collection of Hermetic definitions preserved in Armenian, reflecting an early stage of the tradition....
Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism
Edited by Wouter Hanegraaff....
Esotericism and the Academy
Key historiographical work by Wouter Hanegraaff....
Eusebius: Praeparatio Evangelica
A massive work preserving numerous fragments of lost pagan and Hermetic works....
Fama Fraternitatis
The first Rosicrucian manifesto....
Hermetic Fragments in Cyril of Alexandria
Fragments preserved in Cyril's 'Against Julian', often providing Greek originals for texts known only in translation....
Hermetic Fragments in Lactantius
Quotes and summaries of lost Hermetic works preserved in the Divine Institutes of the Christian apologist Lactantius....
Iamblichus: De Mysteriis
On the Mysteries of the Egyptians, Chaldeans, and Assyrians. A key defense of theurgy....
Iatromathematica of Hermes
A collection of Hermetic texts on medical astrology, linking planetary decans to bodily ailments....
Kitāb Sirr al-Khalīqa
The earliest source of the Emerald Tablet....
Kore Kosmou (Virgin of the World)
Massive Stobaean fragment where Isis teaches Horus the secrets of cosmic animation....
Lactantius: Divinae Institutiones
The Divine Institutes, where Hermes is cited as an ancient prophet of monotheism....
Liber Hermetis
An extensive Latin Hermetic astrological treatise on the decans and lots....
Liber Hermetis (25 Chapters)
A Latin translation of a Greek Hermetic astrological work focusing on the decans and their physical effects....
Liber Vaccae (The Book of the Cow)
A notorious Late Antique/Medieval work of 'astral' and 'natural' magic attributed to Hermes, involving extreme biological operations....
Liber XXIV philosophorum
A 12th-century Latin collection of 24 ontological definitions of God attributed to various ancient philosophers....
Liber XXIV philosophorum
A Medieval Latin text containing 24 definitions of God, often cited for the Hermetic definition of God as an infinite sphere....
Liber de Causis
An Arabic adaptation of Proclus's Elements of Theology, falsely attributed to Aristotle in the Middle Ages. A major vehicle for Neoplatonic emanationism in Latin scholasticism....
Liber de stellis beibeniis
A foundational Hermetic text on the 'beibian' stars (fixed stars of magical significance)....
Manetho: Aegyptiaca
The History of Egypt, used as a primary source for Egyptian chronological and religious transmission....
Monas Hieroglyphica
John Dee's esoteric mathematical symbol....
Mushaf al-Suwar (The Book of Pictures)
A famous Arabic alchemical work attributed to Zosimos, filled with Hermetic allegorical illustrations....
PGM VII: The Stele of Hermes
A Greek magical papyrus containing a ritual invocation of Hermes as the 'Lord of the World'....
Picatrix (Ghayat al-Hakim)
The Latin translation of the Arabic 'Ghāyat al-Ḥakīm' (The Goal of the Wise)....
Psychology and Alchemy
A major work by Carl Jung connecting alchemical symbolism to psychoanalysis....
Rosarium Philosophorum
16th-century compilation of early alchemical authority....
Secretum Secretorum (Secret of Secrets)
A pseudo-Aristotelian work that includes Hermetic medical, astrological, and alchemical lore....
Sefer Yetzirah
The 'Book of Creation', foundational text of Jewish esotericism mapping creation via language....
Sirr al-Khaliqa (The Secret of Creation)
The earliest Arabic text to preserve the Emerald Tablet, attributed to Balinas (Apollonius of Tyana)....
Splendor Solis
One of the most beautifully illustrated alchemical manuscripts....
The Asclepius
A dialogue on the nature of the cosmos and theurgy....
The Brontologion of Hermes
A Late Antique technical treatise on thunder-divination attributed to Hermes Trismegistus....
The Centiloquium (Hermetic)
A collection of 100 astrological aphorisms attributed to Hermes....
The City of the Sun
Campanella's utopian vision of a society governed by astral magic and Hermetic priests....
The Cyranides (Kyranides)
A massive compendium of Hermetic natural magic, lapidaries, and herbalism....
The Discourse on the Eighth and Ninth
A Coptic Hermetic text from Nag Hammadi (NHC VI, 6) describing a ritual initiation....
The Emerald Tablet
The foundational text of the alchemical tradition....
The Golden Tractate (Tractatus Aureus)
One of the most widely circulated medieval alchemical texts attributed to Hermes Trismegistus....
The Prayer of Thanksgiving (NHC VI, 7)
A liturgical prayer found at Nag Hammadi, also known from the Latin Asclepius and a Greek papyrus....
The Salmeschoiniaka
An ancient Egyptian-Hermetic work on the decans and their influence on human fate and health....
The Seven Chapters of Hermes
An ancient alchemical work detailing the seven steps of the Great Work....
The Stobaean Fragments (SH 1-29)
A collection of 29 fragments of Hermetic treatises preserved by the 5th-century anthologist John of Stobi (Stobaeus)....
The Vienne Fragment
A Greek fragment of a Hermetic treatise discovered in Vienne, dealing with the nature of the soul....
Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum
Extensive collection of English alchemical poetry compiled by Elias Ashmole....
Turba Philosophorum
The 'Assembly of the Philosophers', translating Arabic alchemy into a Greek philosophical framework....
De Maximis Theologiae (Regulae Theologiae)
134 theological maxims with commentary by Alain de Lille, containing the earliest printed transmission of the 'infinite sphere' definition from the Liber XXIV Philosophorum....
De Occulta Philosophia Libri Tres
Agrippa's massive synthesis of natural, celestial, and ceremonial magic....
Liber de spiritu et anima
A pseudo-Augustinian 12th-century mystical psychology of the soul that cites Hermes. Circulated widely in scholastic miscellanies alongside the Asclepius and Liber XXIV....
Picatrix (Latin Translation)
The Latin translation of the Arabic Ghayat al-Hakim, produced in Castile c. 1256 under Alfonso X. The definitive manual of astral magic in the Latin...
MODERN SCHOLARSHIP
Access to Western Esotericism
Scholarly work by Antoine Faivre....
Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism
Scholarly work by Wouter Hanegraaff....
Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition
Scholarly work by Frances Yates....
Hermetica: The Greek Corpus Hermeticum and the Latin Asclepius
Translated and introduced by Brian P. Copenhaver....
Hermetism from Late Antiquity to Humanism
Scholarly work by Lucentini, Parri, Perrone Compagni (Eds.)....
Spiritual and Demonic Magic: From Ficino to Campanella
Scholarly work by D.P. Walker....
The Alchemical Amphitheatre: Heinrich Khunrath and the Magical Citadel
Scholarly work by Peter Forshaw....
The Arabic Influences on Early Modern Occult Philosophy
Scholarly work by Liana Saif....
The Egyptian Hermes: A Historical Approach to the Late Pagan Mind
Scholarly work by Garth Fowden....
The Secret History of Hermes Trismegistus
Scholarly work by Florian Ebeling....
Théorie et pratique dans l'Asclepius
Scholarly work by Jean-Pierre Mahé....
Western Esotericism: A Brief History of Secret Knowledge
Scholarly work by Kocku von Stuckrad....
White Magic, Black Magic in the European Renaissance
Scholarly work by Paola Zambelli....
Hermetic Spirituality and the Historical Imagination
A groundbreaking monograph by Wouter J. Hanegraaff arguing that the Hermetica describe experiential spiritual practices rather than abstract philosophy....