Feast day of Hermes Trismegistus
Art Neuendorffer
http://www.wilsonsalmanac.com/book/may24.html
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We live in a world of fantasy where Disney has won, the fantasy of
Disney. It's all fantasy. That's why I think that if a writer has
something to say he should say it at all costs. The world is real.
Fantasy has become the real world. Whether we realise it or not.
Bob Dylan, born on May 24, 1941, (The Rome Interview, July 23, 2001)
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May 24 is the 144th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar
(145th in leap years), with 221 days remaining.
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Feast day of Hermes Trismegistus, ancient Greece
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Hermes is the patron of alchemy and also god of boundaries, guardian
of graves and patron of shepherds, patron of thieves and bringer of
good fortune. He carried the kerykeion (caduceus), a magical herald?s
staff with two snakes twined around it, given to him by Apollo.
He is the Greek equivalent of Roman mythology?s Mercury.
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From Wikipedia: Hermes Trismegistus (Greek for "Hermes the
thrice-greatest", Greek: ????? ? ????????????) is the syncretism of the
Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian Thoth. In Hellenistic Egypt the god
Hermes was given as epithet the Greek name of Thoth. He has also been
identified with Enoch. Other similar syncretized gods include Serapis
and Hermanubis.
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Hermes Trismegistus might also be explained in Euhemerist fashion as a
man who was the son of the god, and in the Kabbalistic tradition that
was inherited by the Renaissance it could be imagined that such a
personage had been contemporary with Moses, communicating to a line of
adepts a parallel wisdom. (Occultist etymology has connected the two,
making of Moses a truncated name and positing a full name, Thothmoses.
This is presented in the royal hostage thesis below.) A historian,
however, would leave such speculation to the history of alchemy and the
19th-century history of occultism.
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Both Thoth and Hermes were gods of writing and of magic in their
respective cultures. Thus the Greek god of interpretive communication
was combined with the Egyptian god of wisdom as a patron of antique
pseudosciences of astrology and alchemy. In addition, both gods were
psychopomps, guiding souls to the afterlife.
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The majority of Greeks, and later Romans, did not accept Hermes
Trismegistus in the place of Hermes. The two gods remained distinct from
one another. Cicero noted several individuals referred to as 'Hermes':
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the fifth, who is worshipped by the people of Pheneus [in Arcadia?],
is said to have killed Argus, and for this reason to have fled to
Egypt, and to have given the Egyptians their laws and alphabet:
he it is whom the Egyptians call Theyn [Thoth].
The Hermetic literature added to the Egyptian concerns with conjuring
spirits and animating statues that inform the oldest texts, Hellenistic
writings of Greco-Babylonian astrology and the the newly developed
practice of alchemy (Fowden 1993: pp65?68). In a parallel tradition, a
Hermetic philosophy rationalized and systematized religious cult
practices and offered the adept a method of personal ascension from the
constraints of physical being, which has led to confusion of Hermetism
with Gnosticism, which was developing contemporaneously Dan Merkur,
"Stages of Ascension in Hermetic Rebirth".
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As a divine fountain of writing, Hermes Trismegistus was credited with
tens of thousands of writings, of immense antiquity and high standing.
Plato's Timaeus and Critias state that in the temple of Neith at Sais
there were secret halls containing historical records which had been
kept for 9,000 years. Clement of Alexandria was under the impression
that the Egyptians had forty-two sacred writings by Hermes,
encapsulating all the training of Egyptian priests. Siegfried Morenz has
suggested (Egyptian Religion) "The reference to Thoth's authorship... is
based on ancient tradition; the figure forty-two probably stems from the
number of Egyptian nomes, and thus conveys the notion of completeness."
The Neo-Platonic writers took up Clement's "forty-two essential texts".
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The so-called "Hermetic literature", the Hermetica is a category of
papyri containing spells and induction procedures. In the dialogue
called the Asclepius (after the Greek god of healing) the art of
imprisoning the souls of demons or of angels in statues with the help of
herbs, gems and odors, is described, such that the statue could speak
and prophesy. In other papyri, there are other recipes for constructing
such images and animating them, such as when images are to be hollow so
as to enclose a magic name inscribed on gold leaf.
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During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the writings attributed to
Hermes Trismegistus, known as the Hermetica enjoyed great credit and
were popular among alchemists. The "hermetic tradition" therefore refers
to alchemy, magic, astrology and related subjects. The texts are usually
distinguished in two categories the "philosophical" and "technical"
hermetica. The former deals mainly with issues of philosophy, and the
latter with magic, potions and alchemy. Among other things there are
spells to magically protect objects, hence the origin of the term
"Hermetically sealed".
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The texts that were traditionally written at the dawn of time, the
classical scholar Isaac Casaubon in De Rebus sacris et ecclesiaticis
exercitiones XVI (1614) showed, by the character of the Greek, to be
more recent: most of the "philosophical" Corpus Hermeticum can be dated
to around AD 300.
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Modern occultists continue to suggest that some of these texts may be of
Pharaonic origin, and that "the forty two essential texts" that
contained the core work of his religious beliefs and his life philosophy
remain hidden away in a secret library.
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In some of the readings of Edgar Cayce, Hermes or Thoth was an engineer
from the submerging Atlantis and that he built or designed or directed
the construction of the Pyramids of Egypt. Hermes Trismegistus is said
to be an incarnation of Jesus.
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"Hermes is credited with writing 20,000 books by Iamblichus (ca. 250-300
BC), a Neo-platonic Syrian philosopher, and over 36,000 books by Manetho
(ca. 300 BC), an Egyptian priest who wrote the history of Egypt in
Greek, perhaps for Ptolemy I.
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"The combined myths of these gods report that both Thoth and Hermes
revealed to humankind the healing arts, magic, writing, astrology,
science, and philosophy. Thoth wrote the record of the weighing of the
souls in the Judgment Hall of Osiris. Hermes led the souls of the dead
to Hades.
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"The English occultist Francis Barrett in Biographia Antiqua wrote that
Hermes "communicated the sum of the Abyss, and divine knowledge to all
posterity"
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"According to legend Hermes Trismegistus is said to have provided the
wisdom of light in the ancient mysteries of Egypt. 'He carried an
emerald, upon which was recorded all of philosophy, and the caduceus,
the symbol of mystical illumination. Hermes Trismegistus vanquished
Typhon, the dragon of ignorance, and mental, moral and physical perversion.'
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"Surviving Hermes Trismegistus is the wisdom of the Hermetica,
42 books that have profoundly influenced the development
of Western occultism and magic."
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Hermes carried the caduceus, or kerykeion, when he flew through the air
on his messages and adventures. The medical profession took this emblem,
which is a staff with two snakes twining around it, as their symbol,
recognised internationally.
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When the scientists James Watson and Francis Crick discovered DNA, a
substance which will increasingly form a key part of medical science,
it was observed that like the snakes around the staff, the form of
the DNA model is a double helix, as illustrated. Could it just be
coincidence, or perhaps some snippet of genetic knowledge, hidden
deep within the collective unconscious, emerged in the tales of
the ancients and in the logo choice of the medical profession.
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. La Fête des Saintes Maries, France (May 24 - 25)
. A Roma (Gypsy) festival
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The three Marys of Christian tradition (also known as the Three Marys
of the Sea) may be related to the earlier, pagan, Triple Goddess.
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Thousands of gypsies make an annual pilgrimage to the village of
Les-Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in France, honouring their patron
St Sarah (Sara; Sara-la-Kali; Sarah the Black) and
Saints Marie Jacobe and Marie Salome.
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According to traditions, after the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ, Mary
Salome (wife of Zebedee and mother of John the Apostle and James the
Greater), Mary Jacobe (wife of Cleofas, mother of apostle St James the
Less, and possibly sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus), and Mary
Magdalene were cast adrift in a boat that arrived off the coast of what
is now France. (Also on board were Martha and her brother Lazarus.) Some
say that the boat arrived in 42 CE, and they were accompanied by St
Joseph of Arimathea and the Holy Grail. Sarah was the black Egyptian
servant of Mary Salome and Mary Jacobe according to some, servant to
Mary Magdalene according to others. Sarah may be associated with the
Indian goddess Kali. Though it was traditionally believed that the Roma
came from Egypt, it is now believed that they came from India between
the 8th and 14th centuries.
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According to the novel The Da Vinci Code Saint
Sarah was the child of Mary Magdelene and Jesus.
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?On foot they come. In cars, trucks, and campeurs they come.
Tens of thousands of Gypsies flock to the Provençal town of
Les-Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer to keep their annual appointment with a
black-faced wooden lady who wears rhinestones and candy-pink satin.
Hardly a bigwig on the biblical social register, the woman now known as
Saint Sara was the Egyptian servant (so they say) of the Three Maries ?
Mary Magdalene, Mary Jacob, and Mary Salome (Jesus' aunt). According to
legend, they all arrived here in a small boat (along with Saint Lazarus
and the Magdalene's sister, Saint Martha) soon after the Crucifixion.
While her fellow passengers went on to slay dragons and such, Sara was
never noted for any feats at all. And yet ....
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?For some reason, her statue, enshrined here in a pale stone church, is
the object of passionate year-round devotion. Rows of votive candles
pulsate in the darkness of Sara's crypt. Once in May and again in
October, the Gypsies come. They park their vehicles along the seawall.
Then, in the crypt, they convene with the statue, commencing a ritual
that was long scorned by Catholic officials and finally approved in
1933. The Gypsies fasten layer upon layer of satin raiments around
Sara's neck, and then with riotous veneration
they carry her down to the beach.?
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?First held in 1999, Prague's Khamoro festival brings the most
vibrant gypsy sounds, rhythms and culture from around Europe
to the Czech capital.
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?The travelling peoples of Europe ? the Romanies or gypsies ? have a
unique itinerant culture which the hard-and-fast geographical boundaries
of modern states have found it difficult to accommodate. The ongoing
purpose of this festival is to show Romany culture from around the whole
world, to create a better dialogue and greater understanding between the
gypsy minorities and the majority of the Czech Republic's population, as
the country moves towards being assimilated into the European Union.
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?Each year there is a wealth of traditional music, classical music,
gypsy jazz, films, theatre, literature, dance, painting and photographs,
as well as workshops.?
Rose festival, Pergamum, Roman Empire (May 24 - 26; see Rosalia, May 23)
Feast day of St Afra
Feast day of Ss Cyril & Methodius (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Slovakia)
Also known as 'Day of Culture and Literacy' (local name: Den na
azbukata, kulturata i prosveshtenieto), is a national holiday in
Bulgaria celebrating Bulgarian culture and the invention of the
cyrilic alphabet by the brothers Saints Cyril and Methodius.
These saints were brothers, known as "the apostles of the Slavs". They
are patron saints of the Danubian countries and of unity between the
Eastern and Western Churches. Cyril and Methodius were two Bulgarians
brothers born in Thessaloniki in the Byzantine Empire in the 9th
century, who became missionaries of Christianity in Khazaria and Great
Moravia. They are believed to have devised and spread the Glagolitic
alphabet used for Slavonic manuscripts before the development of the
Cyrillic, an alphabet derived from Glagolitic, which with small
modifications is still used in a number of Slavic languages. May 24
(qv) is a widely celebrated national holiday in Bulgaria, the Feast
day of Ss Cyril and Methodius celebrating Bulgarian culture and
the invention of the Slavic (Glagolitic) alphabet by the brothers.
The brothers' feast day can be a little confusing: they are commemorated
on February 14 in the Western Church, including Catholic, Evangelical
Lutheran and Anglican Church. The Eastern Orthodox Church has a
commemoration day for Cyril on February 14 and for both brothers on
May 11. In the Czech lands and Slovakia, the two brothers were
originally commemorated on March 9, but Pope Pius IX changed this
date to July 5. May 24, believed to be the date of the arrival of the
two brothers to Great Moravia in 863, is a national holiday in the
Czech Republic, a national holiday in Slovakia and a national holiday
in Bulgaria. The day is widely celebrated by Bulgarians; in Sofia
people put flowers in front of the monument of St Cyril and St Methody
(Methodius) which is situated in front of the National Library.
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Feast day of St David I, King of Scotland
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Feast day of Ss Donatian and Rogatian
Feast day of St Gerard de Lunel
Feast day of St Jessica
Feast day of St Joanna
Feast day of St John del Prado
Feast day of St John of Montfort
Feast day of St Manahen
Feast day of St Marciana
Feast day of St Meletius
Feast day of St Nicetas of Pereaslav
Feast day of Our Lady, Help of Christians
Feast day of St Palladia
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Feast day of St Patrick
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Feast day of St Robustian
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Feast day of St Simeon Stylites the Younger
Born at Antioch in 521, he died there on May 24, 597.
Formerly his feast day was September 3.
?Simeon?s father died when the boy was five years old, and he became
the ward of a monk named John who lived nearby. When Simeon was seven,
the two moved onto platforms at the top of pillars in order to ensure
their solitude. Word spread about the sanctity and wisdom of the pair;
they attracted so many pilgrims and would-be disciples that at age 20,
Simeon came down from his pillar to hide in the mountains. Ten years
later there were more would-be students, and this time Simeon decided
to help them; he built a monastery for them, and in it placed a pillar
for himself. Ordained at age 35; the bishop climbed onto the platform
to impose his hands. Simeon celebrated Mass on his platform, and the
monks climbed a ladder to receive Communion. Healer and miracle
worker, he spent 69 of his 76 years living off the ground.?
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And another Simeon Stylites
?Simeon Stylites III, another pillar hermit, who also bore the name
Simeon, is honoured by both the Greeks and the Copts. He is hence
believed to have lived in the fifth century before the breach which
occurred between these Churches. But it must be confessed that very
little certain is known of him. He is believed to have been struck
by lightning upon his pillar, built near Hegca in Cicilia.?
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Feast day of St Susanna
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Feast day of St Vincent of Lerins (Vincentius of Lérins)
(Monkey poppy, or Oriental poppy, Papaver orientale
[see pictures], is today?s plant, dedicated to this saint.)
Gallic author of early writings on Christianity. He reacted against
some of St Augustine of Hippo's views concerning predestination,
and adopted some semi-Pelagian tenets that were later considered
unorthodox, though his views were supported
by such as St Robert Bellarmine. Died c. 445.
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Feast day of St Vincent of Porto
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Feast day of St Zoellus
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Formerly (British) Commonwealth Day
(Now celebrated Commonwealth-wide on the second Monday in March.)
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Formerly Empire Day, today commemorates the birth of Queen Victoria,
May 24, 1819. Coincidentally, it?s the birthday of Jan Christian Smuts
(1870), originator of the concept of the British Commonwealth. It is
observed in Canada on the first Monday preceding May 25. Australia used
to celebrate a half holiday on which children (until approx 1965) came
home from school at lunchtime and customarily built a bonfire for that
evening?s fireworks celebrations. (Evans Wentz, Tibetan Book of the
Dead, p. 116) "The late Lama Kazi DawoSandup told me that, because
Tibetans saw the likeness of Queen Victoria on English coins and
recognized it as being that of Dolma, there developed throughout Tibet
during the Victorian Era a belief that Dolma had come back to birth
again to rule the world in the person of the Great Queen of England; and
that, owing to this belief, the British representatives of the Queen
then met with an unusually friendly reception in their negotiations with
Lhassa, although probably unaware of the origin of the friendship."
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Almaniac Barbara Holmes writes:
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Empire Day is the 24th May
Empire Day is the 24th May
Empire Day is the 24th May
as we go marching by
Glory Glory Halleluiyea
Glory Glory Halleluiyea
Glory Glory Halleluiyea
as we go marching on.
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Guess the tune?
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We had tin cans and we used to rattle them to collect pennies
in the as the parade when round the streets.
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Victoria Day, Canada
In Quebec, it is known as Patriots Day (Journée nationale des
patriotes). May 24 is Canada's first long weekend of the summer season.
It is tradition in many places, especially Newfoundland and Labrador,
to go camping during this weekend, or celebrate by drinking.
The holiday is often referred to as 'the May Two-Four' ?
a 'two-four' being slang for a case of beer (24 bottles or cans).
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Bermuda Day, Bermuda
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Clear Rain Day, in the Mansfield and Trinity areas of Hawick, Scotland
Celebrated on this day (and the weekend preceding it). It is rumoured
that two people found some unknown power and were able to use it on many
things, mental and physical, on this night, and it also rained when it
was clear (hence the name).
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Last Monday in May (Memorial Day), annual Bobfest, Avon, Colorado, USA
An annual gathering of men named Bob (those who go by ?Robert? may not
participate) in this town of fewer than 4,000 population. It began in
1992; by 1995 the number of Bobs at the meet numbered approximately
10,000. Competitive activities include lawnmower racing and dashing to
the refrigerator.
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Sydney Morning Herald, ?Stay in Touch? column, May 29, 1995
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Crawfish Festival, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, USA, Memorial Day
This is an annual Memorial Day (last Monday in May) fest at Breaux
Bridge, a Louisiana town of 30,000. This is Cajun country, so the
freshwater crawfish (or, crayfish), which are similar to their
Australian cousins, yabbies (only much smaller), are cooked in a
multitude of tasty ways, to the delight of the many tourists who come.
The festival includes a crawfish eating competition - in 1994 the winner
ploughed his way through 32 lbs of the clawed morsels. Visitors and
locals alike also take part in crawfish derbies and - this being America
- a street parade (with human, not crustacean, participants).
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Today is a public holiday all states except South Carolina and Virginia.
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___ Born on May 24
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15 BCE Germanicus (Julius Caesar Claudianus Germanicus; d. October 10,
19 CE), member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty of the early Roman Empire
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1544 William Gilbert (d. 1603)
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1616 John Maitland, Duke of Lauderdale, (d. 1682)
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1619 Philips Wouwerman, painter (d. 1668)
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1650 John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough
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1686 Gabriel Fahrenheit (d. September 16, 1736),
German physicist who invented the mercury thermometer
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1743 Jean-Paul Marat (d. 1793), French politician,
journalist and physician
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1810 Abraham Geiger, rabbi and scholar (d. 1874)
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1816 Emanuel Leutze, painter of Washington Crossing the Delaware
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1819 Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom (d. 1901) was born
at Kensington Palace, London. There were eight assassination
attempts on Queen Victoria.
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1831 Richard Hoffman, pianist
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1864 George Washington Carver (exact year of birth unknown), American
scientist, teacher and humanitarian, who advanced African-American
education in the USA; known for the development of peanut products
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1870 Benjamin Cardozo, US jurist (d. 1938)
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1893 Walter Baade, astronomer
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1938 Tommy Chong, one half of Cheech and Chong,
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1941 Bob Dylan (Shabtai Zisel ben Avraham v'Rachel Riva;
Robert Allen Zimmerman) American folk-rock musician
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1944 Patti LaBelle, American singer
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1944 Frank Oz, puppeteer, writer, producer, actor, director
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1945 Priscilla Presley, widow of Elvis and an actress.
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1955 Rosanne Cash, American singer
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____ May 24 events
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592 Death of St Simeon Stylites the Younger.
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1153 Malcolm IV became King of Scotland on the death of King David I.
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1218 The Fifth Crusade left Acre for Egypt.
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1276 Magnus Ladulås was crowned King of Sweden in Uppsala Cathedral.
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1487 Impostor Lambert Simnel was crowned as 'King Edward VI' at Dublin.
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1543 The first copy of Polish astronomer Canon Nicolaus Copernicus?s
(1473 - 1543) book on astronomy, De Revolutionibus (On the Revolutions
of the Heavenly Spheres), which claimed that the Earth and planets
revolve around the sun, was brought to him on his deathbed.
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1612 Death of Robert Cecil (b. 1563), 1st Earl of Salisbury.
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1626 Peter Minuit bought Manhattan.
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1689 The Act of Toleration passed the English Parliament
protecting Protestants (Roman Catholics were intentionally excluded).
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1738 At the age of 35, John Wesley, although he had already been a
missionary to the natives of America, was converted to Christianity
(ie, he gained true belief) at about 8.45 pm in a meeting in Aldersgate
St, London, while listening to the reading of Martin Luther's preface
to the Epistle of Romans. Thus it might be said that
today the Methodist Church was established.
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1848 Death of Annette von Droste-Hülshoff (b. 1797), German author.
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1787 The United States Constitutional Convention was convened after
a quorum of delegates arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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1794 French revolutionary leader Maximilien Robespierre cheated death
a 2nd time when Cécile Renault failed in her assassination attempt.
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1798 Irish nationalists rebelled against British occupation forces,
. believing that French troops were going to invade Ireland.
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1809 The establishment of England's Dartmoor Prison,
. to house French prisoners of war.
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1814 Pope Pius VII returned to Rome following exile imposed by Napoleon.
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1810 Argentina began its revolt against Spain.
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1822 Battle of Pichincha: Simón Bolívar secured the Quito independence.
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1833 The official opening of New York's Brooklyn Bridge.
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1844 USA: First electrical telegram was sent by Samuel Morse from
Baltimore, Maryland to Washington, DC, saying 'What hath God wrought'.
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1846 General Zachary Taylor captured Monterrey, Mexico.
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1856 Five slavery advocates were massacred at Pottawatomie Creek
. by Free-Staters led by abolitionist John Brown.
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1861 American Civil War: Union troops occupied Alexandria, Virginia.
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1861 Leo Tolstoy, visiting Ivan Turgenev, was shown proofs of
Fathers & Sons. Tolstoy, after skimming a few pages, fell asleep.
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1862 Westminster Bridge over the Thames was opened.
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1883 Brooklyn Bridge was opened to traffic.
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1892 Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi), Indian leader
& proponent of civil disobedience, commenced law practice in Bombay.
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1895 Henry Irving : the first person from British theatre to be knighted
1895 Playwright Oscar Wilde convicted on a morals charge in London.
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1899 First public parking garage in the U.S. opened in Boston.
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1900 Boer War: The United Kingdom annexed the Orange Free State.
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1906 British suffragist Dora Montefiore protested the lack of women's
vote by refusing to pay taxes & barricading her house against bailiffs.
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1915 World War I: Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary.
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1921 The beginning of the trial of Sacco and Vanzetti,
. anarchist labor organizers, in Massachusetts, USA.
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1929 Début of the first Marx Brothers movie: 'The Cocoanuts'
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1930 Amy Johnson landed her Gypsy Moth in Darwin, Australia,
becoming the first woman to fly from England to Australia.
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1940 Sikorsky : the first successful single-rotor helicopter flight.
1941 German battleship Bismarck sank the HMS Hood.
. Nearly 1,400 were killed in the tragedy.
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1943 Josef Mengele became chief medical officer in Auschwitz.
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1944 Winston Churchill proposed a world peace organisation.
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1961 Freedom Riders were arrested in Jackson, Mississippi
for 'disturbing the peace' after disembarking from their bus.
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1962 Scott Carpenter orbited the Earth three times in Aurora 7.
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1973 In Britain, Earl Jellicoe and Lord Lambton resigned from Parliament
over a prostitution scandal. The Sunday tabloid The News of the World
had exposed both as using prostitutes, and published photographs of
Lambton naked in bed with two "call-girls" smoking a cannabis cigarette.
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1976 Washington, DC, USA, Concorde flights began.
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1982 Heaviest known viable baby, South Africa (22lbs 6oz).
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1988 Snow fell on the Syrian desert and Damascus
for the first time in half a century.
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1993 Eritrea gained its independence from Ethiopia.
1993 Microsoft unveiled Windows NT
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2001 Mountain climbing: 15-year-old Sherpa Temba Tsheri became the
youngest person to climb to the summit of Mount Everest.
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2001 The Versailles wedding hall collapsed in Jerusalem, Israel, kills
23 and injured more than 200 in Israel's worst-ever civil disaster.
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Art Neuendorffer