ABSTRACT 0510NF TR GREAVES, ed.
[email protected] Echoes From The Gnosis, G.R.S. Mead, 1907; London, the Theosophical Publishing So-ciety.
The tattered edition of this rare work which is in this reviewer?s hands, includes the fol-lowing headings: A Mithraic Ritual, the Gnostic Crucifixion, the Chaldaean Oracles, and the Hymn of the Robe of Glory. In Mead?s words: ?Under this general title is now being published a series of small volumes drawn from, or based upon, the mystic, theosophic, and Gnostic writings of the ancients?.? Mead was surely the most credible scholar to emerge from, or associate himself with, the Theosophical movement initiated near the end of the 19th century by H.P. Blavatsky and that old reprobate C.W. Leadbeater. Mead?s Thrice-greatest Hermes and Fragments of a Faith Forgotten are major produc-tions of permanent value. The texts, fragments, and excerpts he presents were among those targeted for destruction by the Catholic Authority soon after its ascent to power via Constantine. By luck, some few copies escaped the flames, but to this day they remain rare and obscure. Few appreciate the ancient Mediterranean for the spiritual melting pot- the Mulligan stew- it became following Alexander?s enforced ?unification? of the region. Indeed, Alexandria Aegyptos was not only the scene of the earliest mass conversions to Christianity; it was also the Alma Mater of Gnosticism. It had a thriving Jewish Quarter, where much of the Kabbalah probably originated. Moreover, the earliest Christian monasteries were established in Egypt. Many rivers of the spirit emptied into the Medi-terranean basin and syncretism was in the air. Some ?super religion?, incorporating the best of all of them, would inevitably emerge. This turned out to be Roman Catholicism, with catholic meaning ?universal?, though ?eclectic? applies equally well. Harry Potter fans (the ones that read grown-up books without pictures) may be interested to learn what Magick was like in its heyday around the time of Christ,- a time of wonders, portents, or-acles, ignorance and impostors. Few books offer so true a glimpse.
KEYWORDS
Gnosticism/ magic/ Mithras/ Hermes/ Egypt/ theosophy/ mysticism/ Chaldaea/ the Gnostic Jesus/ Proclus/ allegorical geography/ invocation/ evocation/ the True Sun/
Zosimus the Alchemist/ the Pistis Sophia/ the Corpus Hermeticum
