Hermes Trismegistus: The Ancient Prophet of the New Age

What do physicist Isaac Newton, psychologist C.G. Jung, generations of alchemists, and fans of the New Age teachings of the "Law of Attraction" have in common? A mysterious figure known as Hermes Trismegistus, lost in mythology and antiquity, whose secret works (at least works attributed to him) are available on the Internet.

We do not have dates of birth and death for Hermes Trismegistus, because he comes from between history and mythology. Hermes Trismegistus may have been an ancient king, perhaps a contemporary of Abraham in the Old Testament. Today, Hermes Trismegistus is considered to be a combination of Thoth, the Egyptian god of wisdom, science and magic and the similar Greek god Hermes, one of the sons of Zeus, who invented the flute, the alphabet, astronomy and other arts. Thoth and Hermes, who brought civilization and culture to their people, are combined in the figure of Hermes Trismegistus in a process known as syncretism (definition).

Hermes Trismegistus (the thrice-great) is a mythical character with characteristics of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth. In some traditions, he is also a contemporary of Abraham, from the Bible.

Hermes Trismegistus and early Christians

Early Christians had no problem accepting the "Hermetic" books, texts attributed to the mysterious god-man Hermes Trismegistus, seeing in them the secret teaching of a pre-Christian but natural theology that God has taught to all people in all religions. In fact, at times, Hermes Trismegistus was identified with Abraham, whose public personality was recorded in the Hebrew scriptures of the Old Testament, and whose secret personality and teachings were handed down from master to disciple, making up the Corpus Hermeticum, the body of secret texts (now available on the Internet) attributed to Hermes Trismegistus.

Hermes Trismegistus in the Middle Ages and Renaissance

For some medieval thinkers, Hermes Trismegistus was a pagan prophet who foretold Christianity, discovered alchemy, and wrote a number of texts outlining a metaphysical philosophy. Due to lack of evidence that he ever existed, the "historical" character of Hermes Trismegistus is not as important as the ideas that he represents.

During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus were held in high esteem and were popular among sometimes rogue seekers of truth. The "hermetic tradition" therefore, is associated with alchemy, astrology , magic, and related subjects. The tradition of works attributed to Hermes Trismegistus has two branches: the philosophical, which is the underlying ideas, and the technical, which is the "practical" application of spells to protect objects, the origin of the term "hermetic seal."

Hermes Trismegistus: A Hoax?

Those ancient teachings, supposedly written in the earliest days of humankind, were called into question in the early 1600s by a classical scholar named Isaac Casaubon. Rigorously examining the texts attributed to the ancient Hermes Trismegistus, he demonstrated that the teachings of Hermes Trismegistus actually were written during the Christian era and he dismissed them largely as forgeries.

A later scholar, Ralph Cudworth, rehabilitated Hermes Trismegistus by arguing that the texts, as they had survived, were not the scriptures, the origins of the hermetic philosophy, but were a transcription of a much older oral tradition. In other words, the writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus were the results of many centuries of philosophical speculation and experimentation, not the cause of the tradition of hermetic teachings.

Hermes Trismegistus: the New Age and the ongoing fascination

Although today, hardly anyone would take seriously the claim that the teachings of Hermes Trismegistus date to the times of the pharaohs of ancient Egypt, the texts continue to fascinate. Sir Isaac Newton translated the "Emerald Tablet" of Hermes Trismegistus, a text that is fundamental to many "New Age" teachings, including the "Law of Attraction." The psychologist C.G. Jung saw the teachings of alchemy as a metaphor: not to change baser substances into gold but to change the baser elements of our own personalities into something higher.

You can access online a three-volume translation of the teachings of Hermes Trismegistus (here). Traditionally, students of Hermeticism turned to brotherhoods in which to study. A number of those brotherhoods continue to exist, and you can find more about them (here).

Wikipedia has an index of forty pages related to Hermeticism, the teachings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus (here).

Update

I write articles about a variety of spiritual traditions and beliefs, such as Buddhism (here), Christianity (here), and Gnosticism (here), among others. I always write these articles objectively, with an emphasis on the tradition I am writing about, not to try to convert anyone but simply to provide information. Having said that, I will emphasize that comments left on this article are not by me.