On Thursday May 22nd, 2014 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will

present a review on a very important recent book on the Hermetic Tradition

by Dutch author Jacob Slavenburg titled: "The Hermetic Link." Reviewing this

book will be a team effort between the host and our esteemed guest Frater

Ophis (Freeman Presson) who beat us to the punch and reviewed Slavenburg's

book on his website two years ago. How did we miss it? No excuse because it

should not have been missed. Certainly there have been other surveys of the

Hermetic Tradition, usually combined with other related elements such as

Kabbalah, Rosicrucianism, magick, etc. but this is the best and most

complete tracing of the great Hermetic Gnosis from ancient Egypt, through

Alexandria, Harran, the Dark Ages, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the

so-called "Enlightenment" and the present modern age. Slavenburg takes us

from Zosimus to the Kybalion in a sympathetic, very thoughtful and

comfortably philosophical style. He quotes Peter Kingsley ("Reality")

frequently and does as good a job as Kingsley in getting across the deepest

meaning of the Hermetic Mystery (the Great I AM) - perhaps he does it better

in that he uses excerpts from Hermes to reveal the treasure we ardent

Hermetic devotees hold so dear, whereas Kingsley in Reality depended on

pre-Hermetic Parmenides and Empedocles. If all this is Greek to you, it

shouldn't be and Slavenburg goes a long way toward establishing the true and

enduring magnificence of our venerable Tradition. Tune in and get yourself

Hermetically sealed. (Preserved for the next incarnation.)