The Hermopolis Symposium
2025
New Hermopolis
Tuna El Gebel, Minia, Egypt
27–30 October 2025With Digital Presentations
via the Arcanvm Channel
Hermes between Egypt and Italy:
Towards a New Renaissance
The motif of rebirth pervades the classical Hermetica as the path of return from the realm of birth and death into primordial immortality. Hermetism itself as a historical phenomenon has also been subject to its own share of births, deaths, and rebirths. To study the Hermetic “tradition” thus invites historical but also hiero-historical perspectives. Historically: the origin, reception, and renaissance of Hermetism in Græco-Egyptian, Islamicate, and European cultural contexts remains vital. Hiero-historically: the potential presence of a deeper Hermetic “current” underpinning its historical appearances and disappearances also deserves to be explored in a responsible manner. The coordination of both exoteric and esoteric perspectives is encouraged in order to illuminate the continued presence and florescence of the Hermetic vision.
Hermes Between Egypt and Italy: Towards A New Renaissance
Conference Programme
Arrival and Welcome
27 October 2025
17:30–19:30 Reception and exhibition
Antonela Leoni
19:30 Dinner
Day One
28 October 2025
9:30–10:00Opening and Welcome
Mervat Abdel-Nasser
10:00–13:00Session 1: Thoth, Hermes, and Hermes Trismegistus
(Pre-recorded)
This session will take place at the Prestigious Accademia dei Rozzi, Siena, 5th September 2025, as a prelude to the Hermopolis Symposium. A recording of the papers will be presented in this session.
10:00–10:30Hermes of Siena Cathedral: Humanistic Culture and Initiatory Paths in the Renaissance
Vinicio Serino
10:30–11:00Ficino, Hermes, and the Hermetica
Leonardo Lovari
11:00–11:30Ficino and the Neo-Platonic Academy of Florence
Nicola Bizzet
11:30–12:00 Tea break
12:00–12:30The Penetration of Hermeticism into the Catholic World
Alfredo Franchi
12:30–13:00Hermes, Hermeneutics, and the Integrated Third
Mervat Abdel- Nasser
13:00–14.30 Lunch
14:30–18:00Session 2: Hermes in Mythology, Art, and Literature
Live presentations commence.
14:30–15:00The Mystery of the Messenger: Phenomenal, Noumenal, Liminal
Leon Conrad
15:00–15:30The Multiverse, Bruno, and his Hermetic World
Luca Valentini
15:30–16:00 Tea Break
16:00–16:30Thoth/Hermes in Theban Art
Alberto Siliotti
16:30–17:00Leonardo, Hermetic Mysteries, and the Quadrivium
Julia Cleave
17:00–17:30Emblems of Hermes and the Renaissance Literary Imagination
Siri Vevle
17:30–18:00Luigi Pericle’s and his Hermetic Odyssey
Zsófia Johanna Szőke
New Hermopolis, Egypt
Day Two
29 October 2025
9:30–11:00Session 1: The Hermetic Soul and the Art of Rebirth
9:30–10:00An Expanded View of Human Nature: Corpus Hermeticum in the Renaissance
David Fidler
10:00–10:30The Hermetic Soul of Marsilio Ficino: ‘As Above, So Below’
Angela Voss
10:30–11:00The Arabic Hermes and the Sufi Renaissance
Okasha El-Daly
11:00–11:30 Tea Break
11:30–12:00Hermes and the Morning of the Soul: Philosophical Death and Rebirth in the Western Esoteric Culture
Ike Baker
12:00–12:30Hermes, Plotinus, and the Land of Rising to the Stars
Charles Stang
12:30–13:00Hermes Trismegistus and the Hadith of the Hidden Treasure Aaron Cheak
13:00–14:00 Closure and Lunch
14:00–16:00 Organised trip: Hermopolis West, Tuna El-Gebel Antiquities
16:00–19:30 Roundtable Discussion
19:30 Dinner followed by musical performance.Patrons
His Excellency Michele Quaroni
Italian Ambassador, Egypt
Professor Giuseppe Cecere
Italian Archaeological Centre, Italian Cultural Institute, Cairo
Professor Vinicio Serino
Professor of Anthropology, University of Siena
Organizing Committee
Conference Organiser
Mervat Abdel-Nasser in collaboration with
Vinicio Serino and Leonardo Bovari
Design and Publication
Aaron Cheak
Media, Transmission, and Promotion:
Ike Baker
New Hermopolis
Minya Governorate, 2313012, Egypt
New Hermopolis is an Eco-village founded by Dr Mervat Abdel-Nasser with the mission of harnessing Middle Egypt’s heritage towards the cultural and economic development of this region. Our founding is connected to the thought and philosophy of Ancient Hermopolis with its belief in harmonious living and the regenerative power of human creativity.