# Hermeticism Vs Orthodox Christianity

While trying the dormition fast, I have studied the liturgical
calendar and the Orthodox life in general. And I have realised.

If you love Greek mythology, you should go for the Orthodox Church.
If you love Pythagoras and Plato, you should go for Hermeticism.

This might seem unintuitional. Because the Orthodox Church is the
orthodox. Though it is mystical and Platonic. Hermeticism has been
traditionally associated with the occult. But let me explain.




The Orthodox Church is the result of how Romans tried to understand
Christianity. It is a cultural heritage directly descending from
the Roman empire.

Romans had believed in Greek mythology since the beginning. Though
there were also many esoteric religions. But after the propagation
of the early church, Constantine the Great legalised Christianity
and Theodosius made it the state religion.

As they had been trying to accept Christianity, they used already
familiar concepts to understand it. For example, they used Platonism.
Because it was the closest thing to Christianity in Greek philosophy.

For another example, there had been many festivals to celebrate
deities in Greek mythology. Since there were a lot of them, those
festivals made a calendar to follow. Even after they accepted
Christianity, they did the exact same thing. They just celebrated
apostles, saints and angels instead of those deities.

Worshipping is heresy but celebrating is not a problem. And they
are not god at all. Along with following the lives of Christ and
Virgin Mary, these form the liturgical calendar that is full of
fasts and feasts.

Of course many heretics occured at that time because of these
tryings. Many were expelled. But also many that were compatible
with Christianity have survived. Those still continue today.

Also just see the designs of mosaics and icons. It definitely came
from Greek mythology. The crucifixion of Christ icons feel like
Prometheus.


Greek mythology didn't have a proper theology. Though someone like
Proclus tried to offer. So the deities are revealed through the
lives of believers themselves. Practice is everything.

With that regard, people still do the almost same practices. So
that means Greek mythology is still half alive in the Orthodox
Church. Though it is only the part that is compatible with
Christianity.

Hence ironically it is way closer to Greek mythology than so called
"paganism" reconstructed by modern minds. It is a living tradition.
I highly respect that as a Greek mythology lover.

I think many people who are inclined to paganism would be far better
if they just believed in the Orthodox Christianity. It is not a
paganism itself. But it successfully has preserved a lot of the
pagan culture that people actually believed.

So how I think of Christian denominations is like this:

Orthodox: Ancient Greek-Roman + Slavic in those countries
Catholic: Medieval Latin-Germanic
Protestant: Modern Germanic-Anglo






In contrast, Hermeticism is essentially rational. Though it also
emphasises Gnosis. Of course it is not "rational" in the modernist
sense. It is rational rather in the Platonic sense.

Although it contains a lot of esoteric practices, an undeniable
thing is that the theology comes first. The esoteric practices are
its applications. The theology agrees with Neoplatonism so much.

I guess this is because Hermeticism and Pythagoreanism share ancient
Egypt as their common source. While they successfully follow the
Greek traditions. Pythagoreanism heavily influenced Platonism.

And even those applications are highly mathematical. Think of the
ouroboros or "As above, so below". As an inherently algebraic
person, I can't think of them not mathematically.

Practices like alchemy are highly scientific. Though it is also
not "scientific" in the modernist sense. But for Renaissance
scholars, that was sufficient. It is somewhat Aristotelian. It is
not at all surprising that many people who participated in the
scientific revolution were heavily influenced by Hermeticism. Also
note that how much Paracelsus influenced medical science.

Also think of Hegel who is argued as a Hermetic thinker by Glenn
Magee. Though as a Hermetic thinker, I prefer Jung far more than
Hegel.

I think this is why it could influence the occult so much. Because
the base is rational. So it could be a strong foundation for the
occult.




So while there are many intersections between them, I feel a huge
gap between their starting points.

But I like both of them anyway. While I follow Hermeticism, I accept
Prisca Theologica. Every religion is a descendant of the one true
theology. Though there is how distant a religion is from it.

Since both are traditions that descend from ancient times, they
are both great in that regard.