Altered states of knowledge: the attainment of gnosis in the Hermetica
The International Journal of the Platonic Tradition January 1, 2008 W. Hanegraaff 85 citations
The article examines how Hermetic writings describe a hierarchy of knowledge, where the highest understanding (gnōsis) is achieved only during ecstatic or altered states of consciousness that transcend rationality. Earlier scholarship dismissed these references as literary fictions, while more recent work takes them seriously as reflecting actual ritual practices. Through close reading of three core texts and challenging existing translations, the author argues that Hermetic teachings are not unsystematic or confused but contain a precise doctrine: initiates can move from rational discourse through several trans-rational stages to direct experiential knowledge, thereby progressing from the temporal material world to the eternal realm of Mind.