The Hermetic Revival

A project for the future

In recent decades, we have witnessed a profound convergence between science and mysticism, significantly informed by quantum physics. Many leading physicists of the 20th century espoused ideas that closely echo the insights of Eastern and Western mystics. They discussed concepts such as the participatory nature of the universe, the mental basis of the universe, and the idea of a unified consciousness that exists prior to materialization. For example, Max Planck wrote, “I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness.”

Experimental evidence over several generations has lent increasing credibility to these perspectives, with the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to experiments demonstrating the non-local reality of the universe, implying the integral role of consciousness in the ongoing co-creation of physical reality from quantum flux and energetic potential.

Bernardo Kastrup's analytic idealist philosophy, presented in his books such as Why Materialism is Baloney, represents a key development in these discussions, also explored by other thinkers, such as the physicist Amit Goswami in The Self-Aware Universe, and Robert Lanza in Biocentrism. Kastrup makes a compelling case against reductive materialism, positing instead that consciousness is the fundamental reality. This paradigm shift toward understanding consciousness as the foundational element of existence, they believe (and I agree), will eventually supersede the obsolete materialist paradigm, though it remains uncertain how long this transition will take. Eventually, this will have reverberations across every aspect of human culture.

This paradigm shift could inspire a revival of the Western Hermetic tradition, which focuses on the correspondences between the microcosm and the macrocosm, and the capacity of the individual to rise to a God-like condition through dedication and sacrifice. Both quantum physics and rigorous analytic philosophy seem to validate aspects of the Hermetic perspective. This includes the idea that reality can be interpreted through allegorical and symbol, as opposed to a strictly literal and material interpretation, which sees events as arbitrary and accidental. As Kastrup discusses, if the universe is actually a projection of an instinctive, unified consciousness, then it makes perfect sense to consider the symbolic and allegorical aspects of everything that occurs, just as we can analyze the symbols in a dream or in a visionary text. This meshes with the beliefs of animistic and shamanic cultures, who see Nature as a book of signs to be read, revealing invisible forces and intelligences.

The shift to idealism is still ahead of the mainstream thinking, with materialism still the prevailing ideology in institutional settings, mainstream media, and academia. However, I would argue that the inevitable collapse of the reductive materialist — an ultimately nihilist worldview — is on the horizon.