The Chaldean Oracles of Zoroaster

First published as vol. VI of the 'Collectanea Hermetica' series, 1895. For two thousand years The Chaldean Oracles have preserved the most ancient strands of the Western Mystery Tradition, encapsulating the magical philosophy that lies behind even the oldest texts of the Hebrew Qabalah. They are more than the philosophy of a vanished people: transmuted by the Neoplatonists, they have survived as a shining light of the Mystery Tradition, influencing Renaissance Hermetists, Platonists of Thomas Taylor's school and the magicians of the Golden Dawn. Westcott's edition, skilfully drawn from the translation of Thomas Taylor, is among the most significant for it was this text that exerted such a powerful influence on the work of W. B. Yeats — an influence placed here in its proper context by Kathleen Raine, a distinguished authority on both Yeats and the Neoplatonic tradition.