Chasing Hermes
http://chasinghermes.com
Chasing Hermes: The Hermetic And Metaphysical Podcast

#15: Magic in Ancient Greece [43:14]

Episode 15: Magic in Ancient Greece

What is more righteous - to accept your fate, or to choose your own destiny? The clash between sorcery and mainstream religion can be followed through the ages back to Ancient Greece. An upright member of Greek society should not meddle with magical forces, or else they might dishonor the gods and bring misfortune upon all of society. Furthermore, sorcerers were unruly, unpredictable and unstable.

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#14: Magic in Ancient Egypt [40:43]

Episode 14: Magic in Ancient Egypt

The life of a magician in Ancient Egypt was tough. He had to get up early in the morning, wash, shave every hair from his body, pick up his magician's toolbox and go to work. Both the poor and the wealthy required his services: staving off evil warlocks, prescribing remedies to common illnesses, carving amulets and talismans, and providing enough mojo to the dearly departed to last them an eternity in the afterlife.

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#13: Guardian on the Threshold (34:07)

Episode 13: The Guardian on the Threshold

Sometimes our quest for light takes us to some pretty dark and austere places. The Guardian on the Threshold, sometimes called the dweller, the watcher, or the lurker on the threshold, is the personification of your fears that appears as a gestalt, often during times of spiritual trials.

It was Lord Edward Bulwer Lytton who first put the dweller on the threshold into the literary world. Later authors such as Rudolf Steiner and C.G. Jung borrowed from Lytton's imagery to illustrate the concept of the shadow self, those undesired aspects of our past that we don't wish to acknowledge.

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#12: Astral Projection, part 2 - Listener Feedback (38:28)

Episode 12: Astral Projection - Listener Feedback

What is sleep paralysis and how does it work? Can you create your own characters and interact with them in your dreams? Close your eyes and prepare to slide deeper into the world of lucid dreaming and astral projection! In this episode we answer some of the listener feedback that we received on episode 06 and our take on the astral projection phenomenon. Thank you everyone who wrote in with your comments and questions - keep 'em coming.

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#11: Good and Evil (34:42)

Episode 11: Good and Evil

How can God allow evil to exist in the world? This question has riddled the minds of the philosophers for millennia. Leibniz coined this dilemma the theodicy problem: if God is omnipotent and benevolent, why does he not eradicate evil and suffering?

In this episode of Chasing Hermes, we take a look at the Hermetic writings for clues to their understanding of the nature of evil and the sources of human suffering.

Welcome back to a new season of Chasing Hermes.

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#10: Seven Alchemical Principles, part 2 (40:10)

Episode 10: Seven Alchemical Principles, Part 2

Our sojourn into the world of practical alchemy continues with a plunge into the last four of the seven alchemical principles - Conjunction, Fermentation, Distillation and Coagulation. These four stages represent the coagula process which must follow after the completion of the first three solve stages that we discussed in episode nine.

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#09: Seven Alchemical Principles, part 1 (33:52)

Episode 09: Seven Alchemical Principles, Part 1

We are back with a fresh new show straight out of our kitchen laboratory! In this episode, we get our hands dirty with some practical experiments while we discuss the first three of the seven classical alchemical principles: Calcination, Dissolution and Separation.

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Update: Gone to the lab



Waiting for the new episode of Chasing Hermes? We're out in the lab right now where we've got a couple of fresh new episodes brewing.

We know it's been a long while, but in our defense Sean caught a nasty cough that made recording impossible. When the new episode was finally taped we had technical problems that have delayed the mixing. Without a doubt this is the work of an evil warlock!

Keep sending us your comments and suggestions and you'll hear from us again real soon.

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#08: Axis Mundi or the Center of the World (26:40)

Episode 08: Axis Mundi or the Center of the World

From Mount Olympus to the Pyramids, people of all ages have felt the urge to return to the center of the world, the Axis Mundi. Traditions in virtually all cultures speak of a nave, a central axis, a mystical place where the four directions in space meet in a unified point. Here, heaven and earth meet, enabling the mystic to travel into the heavenly spheres. In this sacred space, the Divine resides with mankind and we are permitted to return to innocence, into a paradisical state.

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Suggestion box


Dear Chasing Hermes.
Suggestion box

We are open to suggestions! With seven episodes under our belt, and dare we say some great ones on the way, the time has come for us to hang up the suggestion box outside our office and to give you, dear listener, a chance to influence the show. Give us your most-wanted topics and we'll do our very best to service your needs in spiritual entertainment.

Slip us your suggestions in the comments to this entry, or send us an email at info@chasinghermes.com. Be sure to let us know whether or not you want your name mentioned on the show! We look forward to your comments.

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#07: The Emerald Tablet of Hermes (33:56)

Episode 07: The Emerald Tablet of Hermes

"Truly, without deceit, certain and most veritable." For over 2.000 years, the Emerald Tablet has been the back bone of hermeticism and has inspired countless of derivative works. It captured the imagination of such brilliant minds as Roger Bacon, Isaac Newton, and Carl Gustav Jung, the father of analytical psychology. Today, the Tablet's influence can clearly be seen in popular books such as The Secret and The Law of Attraction.

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#06: Astral Projection (32:09)

Episode 06: Astral Projection, Lucid Dreaming and Traveling in the Spirit Vision

Whether entranced saints or dreaming sages, mystic literature is riddled with references to lucid dreaming, out-of-body experiences and nightly apparitions. Rising through the planes of existence, the skilled mystic leaves the material plane and aspires towards the source of all things to seek council from the universal mind.

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#05: Corpus Hermeticum (31:48)

Episode 05: Corpus Hermeticum


Springing from the Alexandrian mix of Greek, Roman, Jewish, Christian and Gnostic traditions, the Corpus Hermeticum tells us about the great philosophical frameworks in which the early Hermetic philosophers were operating.

After having been lost for almost a millennium, the Corpus Hermeticum caused a great stir when it was rediscovered in 1460 and became widespread with the introduction of Gutenberg's printing press. Once believed to be older than the writings of both Plato and Socrates, the Corpus Hermeticum influenced many of the Renaissance thinkers and have forever shaped the western mystery tradition.

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#04: Psychic Attack (33:07)

Evil warlock?
Episode 04: Psychic Attack


Can bad events in your life be attributed to someone elses ill-willed thoughts about you? Some people seem convinced this happens to them all the time. On what grounds may we accept or reject such a world view?

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#03: The Four Elements (26:14)

Episode 03: The Four Elements

The four classical elements - earth, air, water and fire - dates back to the sixth century B.C.E. It was believed that all of nature consisted of these four basic building blocks, each of which displaying the properties hot or cold, dry or wet. Today, we know much more about the inner workings of matter, but these four elements continue to play an important role as they have forever influenced classical philosophy, psychology, astrology, alchemy and magic.


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#02: Microcosm and Macrocosm (27:07)

Episode 02: Microcosm and Macrocosm

Did you ever consider this fact: Everything you have ever experienced about the world has been signals sent to your brain from your senses.

The ancient Greeks thought of the human experience as one of being on the inside, looking out. Man is his own little kingdom inside a larger kingdom; a microcosm inside the macrocosm. The Emerald Tablet of Hermes states that the things that are within are a reflection of the things that are without. Can the outside world influence the world within - and vice versa?

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#01: Introductory Episode (9:25)

Episode 01: Introductory Episode

In this very first episode of the podcast, we introduce ourselves and our intentions with the show. We also touch on the significance of the show's title and introduce some of the concepts we are going to discuss in later episodes.

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Chasing Hermes


Welcome to Chasing Hermes!

We are finally live with the website and with the first two episodes of the podcast. This blog and podcast are dedicated to the pursuit of Mercury, the elusive principle of nature which quickens the spirit and inspires the mind to contemplate divine realms. Thoth, Hermes, Mercury, the Essence... whatever name we choose it remains nameless and eternal.

We have a couple of great shows lined up for you. Be sure to subscribe to the RSS feed to get automatic updates as each show is published. If you subscribe with iTunes, the latest episodes will be download automatically to your mp3 player.

If you like the show, why not go over to podcastalley.com {pca-1983685510c77ca911bd7527b0abb65d} or podfeed.net and write a review!

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