Gnosticism, Hermeticism, and Ancient Astrology

Scholar M. David Litwa joins the podcast to explore the intersections of Gnosticism, Hermeticism, and ancient astrology.

David is a historian of early Christianity and Greco-Roman religions who recently published a new translation of the Corpus Hermeticum. Together, we trace how these esoteric traditions developed and interacted in the ancient world, particularly in the cultural melting pot of Alexandria.

We discuss the emergence of Hermeticism as a synthesis of Egyptian religion and Greek philosophy, and how early Christian Gnosticism subsequently adapted many of these cosmological frameworks. A major focal point is how ancient astrology, including the ascent and descent of the soul through the planetary spheres, was integrated into these religious movements. We contrast the Gnostic view of the planets as restrictive archons keeping the soul imprisoned with the more sympathetic Hermetic view of the visible cosmos as a second God and part of divine providence.

We also ta…