The Dream of Scipio (Somnium Scipionis)

First published as vol. V of the 'Collectanea Hermetica' series, 1894. The Dream, or Vision, of Scipio is an epitome of the cosmology that formed the basis of both Neoplatonism and the Hellenic Mystery Schools. As such it is an essential text for the understanding of the speculative thought of all later Hermetists, from the time of Plotinus to the Occult Revival of the nineteenth century. In this edition it was placed by W. Wynn Westcott in conjunction with The Golden Verses of Pythagoras, so much revered by Madame Blavatsky, and thus illustrates the two parallel streams of thought in the Occult Revival — the Theosophical and the Hermetic. For this new edition Robert Temple, author of The Sirius Mystery, relates the Somnium Scipionis to Neoplatonic thought, through the Commentary of the philosopher Macrobius.