The Secret Source: The Law of Attraction Is One of Seven Hermetic Laws: Here Are the Other Six

by Maja D'Aoust and Adam Parfrey

Book Overview

Here's the radical history behind "The Source" and centuries of other hermetic doctrines. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1934170070
• ISBN13: 9781934170076
• Release Date: November 2007
• Publisher: Process
• Length: 182 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.6" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

a rare find

This book was like candy for me. I spent years chasing down Hermetic sources to piece together a mental model of the Hermetic teachings, whereas if I'd found this comprehensive outline when I was a teenager, my research would have been cut out for me. There are several caveats involved with this book. First of all, it's in need of revision for purely typographical reasons. Also the presentation is a bit scattershot; first it's historical, then thematic, then some admixture of the two with some loss of the thread along the way. And finally there is not a clear relationship drawn between the "Law of Attraction" and its corresponding Hermetic law, nor is there any original interpretation of what the actual meaning of the given Hermetic laws (per the Kybalion) actually mean. However, please regard the fact that this book is perhaps the only simplified account of the relationships among Hermeticism, New Thought, and Jewish and Christian mysticism. As such it is a work that fills a niche of understanding that is crucial to both practitioners as well as dilettantes of these philosophies. And the authors write with a sense of humor and candidness that is lacking in books of this subject. I laughed out loud when reading the depiction of Adam Kadmon as a "freakish superhero" of which the angels were jealous. To be sure, "The Secret" and its concomitant materialism receives the solid thrashing it deserves. These principles are meant for spiritual evolution, not material comfort. Thanks, Maja and Adam!

secret source

The book; "The Secret Source: The Law of Attraction is One of Seven Ancient Hermetic Laws: Here Are The Other Six" is a book that needed to be written. I was delighted when I looked it over and found so many images and references that I had pored over as a child and young woman, seeking for a spiritual tradition that could be a counter to fundamentalist Christian dogma. There is a long tradition in the Western world that has existed for thousands of years and I have felt resentful at all the hype and marketing around "The Secret"--as if it is new-- and to treat it as if one person could discover it and market it as their own is an insult to the thousands of years that the Western Esoteric Tradition has been comforting and teaching and assisting people toward a truer life. This is an important and very delightful, timely, and wisely written book. Thank you to the authors for writing it.

Excellent Guide to Further Evolution

What a beautiful book! Maja has coauthored a mind-opening history of the Hermetic Laws and presented powerful information in a concise and highly readable work. This book has tied in several questions I have had pertaining to the presence of the Hermetic Teachings in contemporary America. This book has also lead me to discovering some amazing works that had been previously unknown to me. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is exploring the Law of Attraction, the history of esoteric philosophy, and to everyone who is seeking greater spiritual wisdom. Thank You Maja & Adam!

Enligthening about the Law of Attraction and the other Hermetic Laws!

This book is an excellent introduction the seven hermetic laws and their place in cultural history. It is written in order to allow readers to expand their knowledge, not only about the so famous now Law of Attraction, but about all hermetic laws. One of those laws, the law of attraction, was recently commercially popularized by the book and movie The Secret (which I didn't read, I confess), and caused rave and controversy. This controversy is addressed in the book, not only the ev.benefits, but also dangers which Law of attraction attracts. The author starts the book writing about The Secret, as the introduction to a cultural phenomenon, which has strong appeal to many.But the readers are told that there are seven hermetic laws, not only the law of attraction, and we are enlightened that they transpired through millenia to Judaism, Christianity and its Gnostic version,Islam and to the Greek writers. From there this knowledge trickled down to Prosperity Consciousness, New Thought, New Age, and finally recently got commercialized as The Secret. What is explained in this book as relating to hermetic laws: we have here Mesmerism (animal magnetism), ideas by Mesmer which were studied by medical community in earlier days, spiritualism, Christian Science, mind cure ideas, to name some.Among names we have, in addition to Mesmer:Phineas Quinby, Emmanuel Swedenborg,Warren Felt Evans, and few others. Also the seven laws are traced to the Rosacrucians, and other Hermetic brotherhoods, like for example OTO or Golden Dawn. Kybalion, the text which explains hermetic laws,( and you can read it in this book), is connected to the Prosperity Consciousness. In the third section, we have cultural and religious history of Hermes, with tracing his identity in ancient Egypt, Israel, Greece and Rome, and the section four goes even deeper, tracing where this information originated first, section five is dealing with hermetic writings. The book is very well researched, plus has nine pages of bibliography.It is quite a treat for curious minds.I highly recommend this book: very informative and fluently written. It is serious, but also accessible.Intelligent read about Law of Attraction and the other ones,I tell you it was such a nice thing to read it after watching the movie The Secret, which appeared like infomercial to me.

Unveiling the Secret

The book The Secret Source might at first appear to be a outright criticism of the book The Secret or perhaps a book hoping to sell it's own brand of self help to confused consumers who mistake one title for the other but as good fortune would have it, it's neither. What The Secret Source offers is a highly detailed history of Prosperity Consciousness, the New Thought movement, Alchemy, Rosicrucianism, even Mesmerism and others and how they all can be traced back to Hermetic origins. It gets better though, the true story and recurring trend of Prosperity Consciousness doesn't exist in a historical bubble, the Secret Source shows the interlinked timeline of how it's Hermetic roots are bound within Christian, Judaic and Islamic history as well. The research in this book is highly detailed with all the major players, important texts, and movements laid out. The level of detail presented in this book is commendable and I'm sure in another life D'Aoust and Parfrey were detectives. One of the books strength is it's academic approach rather than being a self help book. Over 100 footnotes are present to site for anyone who would like to follow up with their own investigation. One criticism I would offer, though a very minor one at that, is that the order of some of the information in the early chapters seems to be not as well organized as it could have been for maximum comprehension. There is a lot of dense material to cover in the beginning of the book and for someone not completely acquainted with the subject there are a lot of names and connections to keep straight. Most chapters read like one major epiphany after the other. The authors make amazing connections and trace almost unbelievable timelines of major religious intrigue. I won't spoil it for the potential reader but I think one of my favorite things about this book is when it finally comes to the question of where do Hermetic Laws come from? Every great detective wants to peel away the layers of the onion but what happens when you get to the very last layer? What is the secret source of the secret source? It doesn't matter if you have never read The Secret to enjoy this book. You don't even have to know anything about hermeticism or the occult . Readers that like real life mysteries, history, religious study or anyone remotely curious about the self help trends they see in the media today can fully appreciate this book.