Hermetica: Myths, Legend, Poems by Paul Kiritsis--Author spotlight

About the book:

Hermetica: Myths, Legends, Poems is a homeric journey into the night where the world of dreams and symbols has sculpted our mythological past.

Using the language of alchemy, astrology and magic this tome seeks to reconstruct the lost bonds between old myths contained in the oral folklore of Ancient Egypt; stories which once served as the backbone of a religion centred around Osirian ritual - the cosmic cycles of death, dismemberment and resurrection.

It also contains a sequel to the popular Middle Egyptian tale, The Story of the Shipwrecked Sailor; a visual and dramatic interpretation of the passion of Osiris; an astrological allegory of the war between the heavenly bodies and a hermetic saga between a white witch and her mirror. The accompanying collection of poetry is a homage to the alchemy of love.

Read the Reviews:

Kiritsis is a very creative and talented writer. He obviously is wonderfully educated in the subjects he writes of and this definitely shines through in his stories. Not unlike ancient oral and written literature, Kiritsis’ stories also have lessons to teach. His words will whisk you back to a time long ago and keep you there until the last page is turned. - Rebecca Reads

Experienced author & poet Paul Kiritsis is back with "Hermetica: Myths, Legends, Poems". A look at the ancient world, filled with the history and legends of how these ancient traditions came into being, and the mourning that due to certain circumstances, some of these ancient traditions and literature are lost. A deftly composed and compiled collection, "Hermetica: Myths, Legends, Poems" is a top pick for literature readers in general, and for community library collections catering to them. Teardrop: I hid your essence, that small bundle of boy, As the vowel in a harmonic minor, And floated it along the scale/ of my silent consonants-//Seducing midnight/with folk songs/Of love found/And love lost.//Warming her heart/with bittersweet words/That delivered us/As a teardrop/From her eye. - Midwest Book Reviews

About the author:

On the 15th July 1979, under the protective lap of the Cancerian sky, Paul Chris Kiritsis was born in the jewel called Melbourne, Terra Australis. At the age of 26, he can say that only now does he feel that he has started to come into his own. With a background in the behavioural sciences and arts, the cosmos within the human mind and the ways by which it defines itself are what interest him the most.

There is nothing in this universe more interesting than us humans; period. Through the ever-changing ebbs and flows of his life, many things have come and gone though one thing has remained constant - his writing. This love affair between pen, paper and soul comes as naturally to him as what swimming might to our intellectual counterparts in the ocean, dolphins. The introverted nature of most poets, songwriters and authors is balanced by the written form, a vehicle of external expression through which psychic equilibrium is maintained. Writing is an outlet by which they express themselves silently to audiences who at that creative moment do not exist. Despite that it is an ongoing process of personal and spiritual development, in itself it is evolutionary and marks important events in the life of the individual.

On the top left-hand corner of the website’s home page you will see his logo, Isidus Entertainment. It is quite simply a symbolic representation of his own nature; in other words, it is he. In the centre of the logo is a scarab or dung beetle representing two concepts. The first of these is the astronomical constellation of Cancer, as in the ancient world it was envisioned as a beetle and not a crab. The second is rebirth, stemming from the Ancient Egyptian conception of the sun's daily renewal as the morning child-god and depicted as a scarab with outstretched wings. Dung beetles were seen to emerge during the Nile inundation, a time when ‘life’ came back to Egypt after the drought and that is why they came to be so closely associated with rebirth.

Protecting the spirit of Cancer is the circle or round of life symbolic of eternity. On each side of the circle there are two lions. They are both metaphors of the solar force and the double horizon. On the left stands the lion of the past and on the right the future. Underneath their torsos the moon is depicted in its two extreme phases. Why the moon? It is his planetary ruler and the heavenly body which most represents his life. He have written many pieces on the moon. Why these two phases in particular? Humanity, at the individual and collective level, is in constant evolution. The full moon shines with the visual expression of cosmogenesis and the dark moon with the unseen forces at work that have brought it into being.

Underneath are the Greek letters, ‘ISIDUS’, referring directly to the cult of the Egyptian Goddess Isis – why Isis? His soul is Egyptian. Isis is not only a feminine representation of providence, she is the creative principle in the universe personified. Why in Greek letters? His blood is Hellenistic. The whole logo is guarded by the serpents of eternity. A serpent sheds its skin and re-emerges anew. This is exactly the way ideas change through time, altering in form but never in essence.

The whole logo looks exactly like a set of scales that could tip either towards yesterday or tomorrow – history repeats itself.

Within academic study, his favourite areas are mythology, theosophy, history, philosophy and English literature. He has completed degrees in the behavioural sciences and professional writing. He hopes to continue onto a Phd in English in the not too distant future.

Many of his poems have appeared in periodic anthologies. Origin: Poems from the crack of dawn is his first collection of poetry. Hermetica: Myths, Legends, Poems marks his first literary collection. The upcoming Shades of Aphrodite due out in late 2008 is a memoir/autobiography. His interests outside of the academic arena are plentiful and include fitness instruction,body sculpting, music, thrillseeking, travelling and meeting seductive people from all walksoflife.

The HERMETICA VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR '08 will officially begin on August 4 and end on August 29. You can visit Paul's tour stops at www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com in August to find out more about him and his book!

As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author with a recent release or a $25 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on any of our authors' blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they become available. The winner will be announced on our main blog at on August 31!

This virtual book tour has been brought to you by: