Hermeticism

Hermeticism or the Western Hermetic Tradition is a set of philosophical and religious beliefs based primarily upon the Hellenistic Egyptian pseudepigraphical writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus who is the representation of the conflation of the Egyptian god Thoth with the Greek Hermes. These beliefs have heavily influenced the Western Esoteric Tradition and were considered to be of great importance during the Renaissance.

The term Hermetic is from medieval Latin hermeticus, which in turn is derived from the name of the Greek god Hermes. It is attested in English since the 17th century as the adjective Hermetic (as in "Hermetic writers" e.g. Franz Bardon). The synonymous Hermetical also occurs in the 17th century. Sir Thomas Browne in his Religio Medici of 1643 wrote

The term Hermetic is from the Greek word Herm, which refers to a pillar or post used in pre-classical Greece "of square shape, surmounted by a head with a beard. The square, limbless "Hermes" was a step in advance of the unwrought stone." The origin of the word Hermes relates to a stone pillar used to communicate with the deities and the use the names beginning with Herm in Greece dates from at least 600 BC. The God Hermes is a generic term used by the pre-classical Greeks for any deity, and was only later associated with the God of Knowledge in Athens in the 2nd Century AD. The word Hermetic was used by Dr. Everard, 1650 in the English translation of The Pimander of Hermes. Mary Anne Atwood mentioned the use of the word Hermetic by Dufresnoy in 1386.

In Late Antiquity, Hermetism emerged in parallel with Gnosticism, Neoplatonism and early Christianity, "characterized by a resistance to the dominance of either pure rationality or doctrinal faith".

The extant Greek texts dwell upon the oneness and goodness of God, urge purification of the soul, and defend pagan religious practices, such as the veneration of images. Many lost Greek texts, and many of the surviving vulgate books, contained discussions of alchemy clothed in philosophical metaphor. And one text, the Asclepius, lost in Greek but partially preserved in Latin, contained a bloody prophecy of the end of Roman rule in Egypt and the resurgence of pagan Egyptian power.

In 1614 AD Isaac Casaubon, a Swiss philologist, analyzed the Hermetic texts for linguistic style and claimed that the Hermetic writings attributed to Trismegistus were not the work of an ancient Egyptian priest but in fact dated to the Christian Era. Walter Scott places their date shortly after 200 AD, while Sir W. Flinders Petrie places them between 200 and 500 BC. Plutarch's mention of Hermes Trismegistus dates back to the first century AD, and Tertullian, Iamblichus, and Porphyry are all familiar with Hermetic writings.

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