La Gnose Hermétique

Catalogue of an exhibition at the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica

Author: Frank van Lamoen 

Gnosis is the individual experience of God in the face of organized religion. The gnostic urge to direct experience is of all times – and so was the repression by the official creeds. 

This catalogue of one of the earliest exhibitions made for the EFM’s Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica Collection explores the relation between Gnosis and Hermetica, and the enduring influence of Gnosis on works of a Hermetic nature. ‘More and more people are nowadays asking themselves the classic gnostic question: ‘”Where do I come from, why am I here, what is the aim and destination of human beings?”’, according to Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica founder Joost Ritman in his preface to the catalogue. The nearly 50 books described in this catalogue mainly date from the 16th and 17th centuries. Each description provides insightful connections with the Hermetic tradition as well as briefly characterizing the works themselves.

Keywords: Gnosis, Hermetic philosophy, Platonism, alchemy and mysticism.