Hermetic Books

Hermetic Books, the sacred canon of the ancient Egyptians, consisted of forty-two books, divided into six sections. They constitute what is virtually an encyclopedia of Egyptian wisdom, in that they treat of religion, the arts, and science—the nature of the gods, laws, liturgical rites and ceremonies, hymns, hieroglyphics, geometry, astronomy, medicine, and cosmography. The name 'hermetic' comes from Hermes Trismegistus ('Hermes Thrice-greatest'), the Greek name of the Egyptian god Thoth, who was regarded as the originator of Egyptian culture, the god of writing, of religion, and of the arts and sciences. Neither the time at which these books were actually written, nor the author or authors who wrote them, can now be determined. They are evidently based upon the Egyptian mythology, but at a time when it was beginning to feel the influence of Hellenistic culture, since traces of Neoplatonist ideas can be discerned in them, as also indications of the influence of the Jewish philosopher Philo. The Greek and Latin texts of the hermetic books exist, but only fragmentarily, in the writings of such writers as Stobæus, Cyrrillus, Suidas, and Lactantius. The greater part of these pieces have been published by Parthey (Hermetis Trismegisti Poemander, 1854), and again by Ménard (Hermès Trismégiste, 1866). The Papyrus Ebers (1875) is generally accepted as being one of the medical books of the series. The teachings of Thoth were at first regarded as esoteric doctrines, and as such jealously guarded by the sages and from them transmitted to their pupils, these depositions of the sacred lore making what was called the hermetic chain. Thoth was also the inventor of magic and alchemy, whence the latter was sometimes called the hermetic art, and whence are derived the terms hermetic medicine, hermetic freemasonry, and hermetically sealed, this last to signify the closing of a box or jar or other receptacle in such a way as to exclude absolutely the atmosphere.