Good evening,

One possible understanding of 'Hermes, Petosiris, Nechepso' might be symbolic, initiatic:

- Initiate -> Herm?s (ancient Greek for Mercury)

- Priest -> Petosiris

- King -> Nechepso

One finds such triads in several traditions, ex. gr. Islamic:

- Wal? (Friend [of Allah], Initiate)

- Nab?' (Prophet, endowed with prophetic capacities like true visions and dreams)

- Ras?l (brings changes to legal system, Messenger)

Using the metaphor of an entire almond, initiation is compared to the oil, priesthood to the nut and kingship to the shell. The planetary correspondences for the latter two were not uniform.

A symbolic understanding of Herm?s, Petosiris and Nechepso does not preclude their manifestations in specific individuals. To establish a tradition or, better, to cast tradition into a new mould, for example the establishment of Hellenistic horoscopic astrology, the concurrence of all three domains is usually considered prerequisite.

Historians are generally accustomed to horizontal (time as a linear coordinate instead of a spiral) rather than vertical, analogical thought.

Best regards,

lihin

It is also possible that Nechepso and Petosiris were pen-names for astrologers writing more recently than the 5th century BC, whose work was picked up either directly or indirectly by the Hellenistic authors who have come down to us.

You find similar pseudonyms for Hermes/Thoth in the Hermetic literature, which has a kinship with the emerging Hellenistic astrology.

For example, Firmicus Maternus, in his preface to book 3, attributes the Thema Mundi to "those divine men...Petosiris and Nechepso, who approached the very secrets of divinity.." "Petosiris and Nechepso in this doctrine followed Aesculapius and Hanubius. To them Most Powerful Mercury entrusted the secret." ( Cf his preface to book 4, 4: XXII.20, preface to book 7.)

We know that Imhotep and Necho II actual lived, but long prior to any evidence of horoscopic astrology in Egypt. One was deified and the pharoah was already understood to be a god-king. Aesclepius we know as the god of medicine, and Hanubius was probably the Egyptian mortuary god Anubis. Mercury was Mercury.

Firmicus Maternus seems to be pointing to religious, mythical origins for the Thema Mundi. Which might well have suited the purposes of the authors upon which he drew.

We get an indication of one of these authors when FM cites, "the book of Aesculapius which is called Myriogenesis." Possibly this was the author's given name, but given the contextual associations, it seems likely that this author took on an assumed name.

At the end of book 6 and beginning of book 7, we find some surprising hints that FM actually thought of learning astrology as initiation into a mystery cult, similar to the Orphic mysteries of ancient Greece. However, the frequent mention of Egyptian figures suggests to me that Egyptian beliefs, however hybridized or Hellenized, were intended. Egyptian temple ritual had its share of privileged esoteric knowledge, as well.

Thanks very much for the article Margherita. Extremely useful information.

I dont know how you manage to dig up these pieces of research but I am grateful you can share them with us here.

Mark

Good morning,

Mr Waybread wrote: "At the end of book 6 and beginning of book 7, we find some surprising hints that FM actually thought of learning astrology as initiation into a mystery cult, similar to the Orphic mysteries of ancient Greece."

Can one really be so sure that things have changed so much since, that astrology might not still be, at least at some stage, a kind of initiation? Vettius Valens required oaths of secrecy at some levels from his students. Several have noted that the quintile and the bi-quintile were not included in 'exoteric' Hellenistic astrology although they express divisions of the zodiac by whole numbers. Knowledge of the Five (leading to the 'divine proportion', an irrational number [heresy!]) was restricted to initiatic orders. One also finds references to it for example in Liber Hermetis, parts of which have been included in the astrology software 'Placidus'.

Best regards,

lihin

Make that Ms. Waybread. Or Mrs.

I don't think you will find quintiles in Hellenstic astrology. However we might get a bit of Pythagorean number theory, Egyptian style, with the sequence 1, 3, 5, 9. These might refer to favourable houses, although the 11th gets left out.

Shamanic Egyptian Astrology: Your Planetary Relationship to the Gods is best book to learn egyptian astrology.

Thanks, but the ancient Egyptian religion was not shamanic-- this sounds like a New Age edition.