Reddit reviews Hermetic Magic: The Postmodern Magical Papyrus of Abaris

You have to remember that there is no single form of Hermeticism - it's not an organized religion. Historically speaking, it is a syncretic tradition. Each person ultimately creates his own internal religion/practice based on personal experience and the teachings of many authors from many time periods. Bardon's material consists of HIS version of Hermeticism, and his terminology is somewhat non-standard. Even so, his first book contains a wealth of exercises for the Hermetic student to develop his mind and energetic capabilities. The Kybalion is actually a modern text (most likely written by William Walker Atkinson) with links to the New Thought movement of the 19th c. It presents a few rather useful building blocks of philosophy in layman's terms to help the beginning student in constructing a new magickal worldview. The reinterpretation of one's self and the reframing of events around you in light of Hermetic principles is a requirement for walking this path. It's not easy to reinterpret every negative event in such a way so as to extract the lessons learned from it or to find the useful challenge/opportunity it presents.

To get an idea of how a more ancient form of Hermetic magick might look, here's Stephen Flowers' take on it based on the Greek Magical Papyri. That book provides interesting food for thought if you've never encountered the ancient texts before. There are plenty of books that discuss magickal practices from 2,000+ years ago. I highly recommend reading, cross-referencing, and looking for the common threads. You'll see many 'Hermetic' themes that keep popping up in every incarnation of Hermeticism.

Here's a book list I made some time ago that will help you make sense of the material and get started. There's a lot of ground to cover, and not everything is specifically 'Hermetic', but the practices/methods those books teach will definitely prove useful in Hermetic magickal work.

If you find yourself getting too confused, just pick up a copy of The Golden Dawn and study the knowledge lectures. Their practices will give you a good foundation for whatever you want to learn later, whether it be the works of Aleister Crowley, Renaissance Grimoires, Qabalah, or Enochian magick. They covered it all in some manner, though other authors (such as John Michael Greer) may be more helpful in providing practical examples.

Edit: Don't forget to read the earliest texts of the Corpus Hermeticum. Modern books are easier to digest, but the ancient texts are where it all started.

I would recommend Hermetic Magic:
http://www.amazon.com/Hermetic-Magic-Postmodern-Papyrus-Abaris/dp/0877288283

Full of Graeco-Egyptian stuff plus translations and commentaries of the actual Papyri.

It depends on which hermeticism you mean. There are numerous iterations and branches.

I really enjoyed studying
Hermetic Magic by Flowers. Additionally, the Betz translation of The Greek Magical Papyri is indispensable.