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INITIATION IN THE HERMETICA ee ENDRE ÁDÁM HAMVAS ABSTRACT In this paper, I discuss the function of initiation into the mysteries in the Hermetica. In the first half of the 20" century, Richard Reitzenstein proposed that the Hermetic texts can be interpreted in the ritual context of a religion rooted in the Hellenistic Egyptian religious communities, like the magical papyri. Later, he modified this suggestion and applied his widely known theory of “LeseMysterium” to explain the Hermetica as a Hellenistic mystery-religion. In his voluminous book La revelation d’Hermes Trismegiste, AndreJean Festugiere contested this theory, suggesting that any references to initiative practices in the corpus are literary cliches without real religious content. In his opinion, the Hermetic texts were written with didactic purposes under the influence of the contemporary school-philosophy. In the present paper, I intend to show that Reitzenstein’s view can serve as a good foundation, with modifications, for further research, and that it is possible to reconstruct a real mystical father-son relationship in the Hermetica. The teacher in the texts is the mystagogue, while the pupil and the reader are the initiates. The Hermetica is, hence, a real initiation in this sense. 1. THE DEFINITION OF HERMETIC INITIATION In my paper, I outline the nature of Hermetic initiation. I first draft a conceptual frame for my research on the basis of W. Burkert’s definition! of mysteries, and I then demonstrate with examples how this concept of ! Walter Burkert, Ancient Mystery Cults, Cambridge, Harvard University Press 1987. About the Greek mysteries see: Michael B. Cosmopoulos (ed.), Greek Mysteries: The Archaeology and Ritual of Ancient Greek Secret Cults, London-New York, Routledge, 2013. +13 + Daréczi-Sepsi-Vassänyi_Initiation_155x240.indb 13 6 2020.06.15. 11:04:09
