Hermeticism refers to a philosophical and esoteric current born in Greco-Egyptian Antiquity, whose writings are attributed to a legendary figure, Hermes Trismegistus. Associated with the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth, Hermes Trismegistus was revered as a sage who received a primordial revelation and was capable of bringing spiritual salvation to his disciples. The Hermetic tradition has since had a considerable influence on magical arts. Introduction.
The Origins of Hermeticism in Greco-Egyptian Antiquity
Hermes Trismegistus, whose name means "Hermes thrice great," appears in the context of Hellenistic and Roman Egypt as the syncretism of the Greek god Hermes – divine messenger and guide of souls – and the Egyptian god Thoth – master of knowledge and writing. Ancient authors did not consider Hermes Trismegistus as a historically attested individual but as the legendary embodiment of ancient wisdom. From the 3rd century BCE, mystical and technical writings circulated under his authority in Alexandria. These early texts – called popular hermeticism – mainly deal with astrology, alchemy, magic, and occult disciplines, reflecting the meeting of Egyptian knowledge and Greek philosophy.
Alongside the occult writings, from the 1st century CE, a learned hermeticism of philosophical character developed. This consists of a set of religious and cosmological dialogues written in Greek, featuring Hermes teaching his disciples about God, the cosmos, and the soul. The main collection of these treatises is known as the Corpus Hermeticum, composed of about ten short dialogues probably written between the 1st and 3rd centuries CE. Added to this are the famous Asclepius – a Latin hermetic text – as well as fragments reported by later authors (such as the Anthology of Stobaeus around 490) and some writings discovered in Coptic at Nag Hammadi in 1945. Throughout these works, Hermes Trismegistus delivers a theology and cosmology marked by syncretism: influences from Platonism (notably Plato’s Timaeus), Stoicism, and even Jewish or Persian reminiscences are found. The hermetic treatises describe the world as a creation ordered by a single supreme God, source of all things, and man as an intellect derived from divine intelligence. In some hermetic dialogues (such as Poimandres or the Perfect Discourse), Hermes teaches the existence of a transcendent God, creator of the world by his thought, and urges the human soul to purify itself to ascend toward the divine. These ideas bear striking similarities to emerging Neoplatonic philosophy. Indeed, the Neoplatonic philosophers of late Antiquity knew the hermetic writings: Iamblichus in the 4th century and Proclus in the 5th century refer to them in their works, showing that hermetic thought was integrated into the intellectual landscape of the time.
Beyond pagan philosophical circles, early Christian authors also showed interest in Hermes Trismegistus. Some saw him as a monotheistic pagan sage whose writings could announce Christian truths. Around 300, the apologist Lactantius called the "Egyptian Hermes" a very ancient scholar "filled with all wisdom" and claimed that Hermes proclaimed in his books the majesty of the one supreme God, whom he called "God the Father." Lactantius, in his Divine Institutes, even quotes a passage from the Asclepius where Hermes mentions a "Son of God" creator of the world, an interpretation he saw as a veiled prophecy of Christ. Although Saint Augustine criticized these texts (he saw them as demonic deceptions in The City of God), the idea of Hermes Trismegistus as holder of a premise of Christian revelation helped transmit some hermetic writings into Latin culture. In particular, the Perfect Discourse or Asclepius – a hermetic dialogue of theological inspiration – was translated early into Latin (possibly as early as late Antiquity) and widely copied in the Middle Ages. This Asclepius would remain for centuries the main source of knowledge of philosophical Hermeticism in the West, even as most Greek texts of the Corpus Hermeticum fell into oblivion.
Hermeticism in Late Antiquity and Its Transmission to the Middle Ages
During late Antiquity, Hermeticism suffered from the decline of paganism but found unexpected carriers. As Christianity established itself in the Roman Empire, pagan hermetic circles disappeared, but their writings were partially preserved by learned Christian readers. We have seen that Lactantius and Augustine quoted excerpts. Others, like Bishop Thierry of Chartres in the 12th century, still commented on the Asclepius, showing the survival of this tradition in medieval monasteries and schools. Moreover, Hermeticism experienced a remarkable legacy outside the Christian Empire, in the emerging Islamic world.
Hermeticism in the Medieval Arab-Muslim World
With the advent of Islam in the 7th century, the figure of Hermes Trismegistus was reinterpreted within a monotheistic framework. Muslim scholars, seeking to integrate the philosophical heritage of Antiquity, identified Hermes as a prophet of pre-Islamic Antiquity. According to the tradition reported by the Persian astronomer Abu Ma`shar (Albumasar) in the 9th century, there were actually three successive Hermes figures. The first Hermes, assimilated to the biblical prophet Enoch (called Idris in the Quran), would have lived before the Flood and built the monuments of ancient Egypt (including, legend says, the pyramids) to preserve his knowledge before the catastrophe. The second Hermes would have lived after the Flood, in Babylonia, and transmitted knowledge in medicine, astronomy, and philosophy; the third Hermes would have returned to Egypt and been the inventor of alchemy. Of these three, it is Hermes-Idris – the antediluvian Hermes – whom Muslim authors consider a true prophet inspired by God. Although no sacred scripture is attributed to him, it was believed that this Hermes transmitted to humans the primordial arts and sciences. This Islamic appropriation of Hermes fits into a broader medieval Egyptomania among Arab-Muslim authors, who saw ancient Egypt as a venerable source of wisdom.
In the early centuries of Islam, a particular group – the Sabians of Harran (in Mesopotamia) – explicitly claimed Hermes Trismegistus. Hellenized pagans threatened by Islamic expansion, the Harranians sought to have their religion recognized as "monotheistic" by presenting Hermes not as a polytheistic god but as an ancestral prophet. They produced writings said to be revealed by Hermes himself, including a Letter on the Soul attributed to Hermes, and the astrologer-scholar Thābit ibn Qurra (died 901), from this community, wrote in Syriac the Institutions of Hermes (now lost) which he translated into Arabic. These Muslim hermetic works, though tinged with pagan esotericism, circulated in Islamic intellectual circles, especially among some Shiite Neoplatonic philosophers. As noted by Islamologist Henry Corbin, Shi’ism was more receptive to Hermeticism because its theology admitted the existence of wise prophets who were not legislators like Hermes, and its gnosis valued inner revelations accessible to initiates (the awliyâ’) beyond canonical prophecy. In contrast, orthodox Sunni Islam was wary of Hermeticism. Hermetic doctrines such as animating idols by "divine essence" through prayers or the idea that the soul can ascend to God without prophetic revelation contradicted Sunni theology, preventing Hermeticism from being officially integrated into Muslim religion.
Despite these reservations, hermetic thought deeply influenced occult sciences in the Muslim world. Many treatises attributed to Hermes were translated into Arabic, covering astrology, talismanic arts, and especially alchemy. The bibliographer Ibn al-Nadim, in his Fihrist (circa 987), lists 22 hermetic works in Arabic, including 5 on astrology, 4 on talismanic magic, and 13 on alchemy. Among these writings, some have survived in whole or in fragments – for example, the Kitâb al-Isṭamākhīs and the Kitâb al-Malâṭîs, alchemical treatises under Hermes’ name. Medieval Muslim alchemist-scholars, such as the legendary Jābir ibn Hayyān (Geber) or the pseudo-Majrītī, frequently referred to Hermes in their works. A very popular grimoire of astrology and magic, the Ghâyat al-Hakîm ("The Aim of the Sage") compiled in the 10th century and later attributed to Majrītī, incorporates many hermetic elements; translated into Latin in the 13th century as Picatrix, this text had great influence in medieval Europe. Likewise, the famous Emerald Tablet (Tabula Smaragdina) – a short hermetic text in Arabic proclaiming the principle "That which is above is like that which is below" – first appears in a 9th-century treatise (Kitâb sirr al-khalîqa, "Book of the Secret of Creation"). Translated into Latin as early as the 12th century, this alchemical text of Hermes became a cornerstone of Western alchemy. Finally, several prestigious Muslim philosophers mentioned Hermes with respect: the philosopher al-Kindī (9th century) admired how Hermes expressed the ineffable transcendence of God, confessing that "a Muslim like [him] could not have expressed it better." Later, theosophists like Suhrawardī (12th century) or the Andalusian mystic Ibn Sab‘īn explicitly claimed Hermes’ heritage in their quest for wisdom. Throughout medieval Islamic civilization, Hermeticism thus served as a bridge between science, magic, and philosophy, preserving the memory of Hermes Trismegistus as the mythical founder of occult knowledge.
Reception of Hermeticism among Medieval Jewish Thinkers
Jewish communities in the Middle Ages, especially in Islamic lands and southern Europe, were also exposed to hermetic ideas through Arabic transmission. Scientific and astrological works from the hermetic tradition were translated from Arabic into Hebrew from the 12th to the 14th century. One of the most notable medieval Jewish intellectuals, Abraham Ibn Ezra (1089-1164), an astronomer and biblical exegete from Spain, incorporated elements of hermetic astrology into his writings. Ibn Ezra, who extensively commented on the Pentateuch, also wrote astrological treatises in Hebrew where he cites the teachings of "Hermes" several times, showing the prestige of this name as a source of ancient wisdom in the science of the stars. He considered that some doctrines attributed to Hermes could illuminate the interpretation of the Bible while remaining consistent with monotheism. However, this attempt to marry hermetic knowledge and Jewish thought sparked criticism from other Jewish authorities. The most famous Jewish philosopher of the Middle Ages, Moses Maimonides (1138-1204), a staunch supporter of Aristotle and rationality, strongly condemned astrology and the superstitions he believed were introduced by authors like Ibn Ezra. Maimonides rejected the idea that stars or talismans could have mystical influence over human destinies and advised Jews against studying occult writings attributed to Hermes or other pagans. This debate illustrates the ambivalence of Hermeticism’s reception in Jewish thought: on one hand, a fascination for a philosophia perennis predating the Bible (of which Hermes would be a pagan witness), on the other, the suspicion of rationalist currents toward these esoteric contributions. In any case, by the end of the Middle Ages, the hermetic heritage had penetrated Jewish esoteric literature – echoes are found in some works of emerging Kabbalah – while remaining on the margins of rabbinic orthodoxy.
Hermeticism in Medieval Christian Europe
In medieval Latin Europe, philosophical Hermeticism was less known than in Islamic lands due to the loss of original Greek texts. The Corpus Hermeticum itself remained unknown in the West until the Renaissance. However, medieval scholars had two major sources related to Hermes Trismegistus: on one hand, the Asclepius in Latin, and on the other, a series of occult and alchemical treatises claiming him. The Asclepius – believed to be translated from Greek by Apuleius of Madaura – was read by some scholastic theologians. Saint Augustine had quoted excerpts, and passages are found commented on by 12th-century thinkers like Thierry of Chartres or Alain of Lille. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the direct influence of Hermeticism on medieval philosophy was limited – it was often discussed secondhand via the Church Fathers.
On the other hand, the esoteric impact of the figure of Hermes in medieval Western Europe was considerable. Many Latin grimoires and alchemy treatises circulated under the name of Hermes Trismegistus, perpetuating his aura as master of nature’s secrets. Texts like the Liber de secretis naturae or the Tractatus aureus (Golden Treatise on the Secret of the Philosopher’s Stone) were attributed to him and highly prized by alchemists. A collection of astrological magic recipes, the Liber imaginum (Book of Images), also attributed to Hermes, was known to scholars such as Albert the Great in the 13th century. This manual taught how to make talismans by engraving figures under different phases of the Moon to produce occult effects (destroy crops, provoke love, etc.). The prestige of Hermes’ name thus served as a guarantee for a whole body of medieval magical literature. Among the pseudo-hermetic works of this period, one stands out: the Liber XXIV philosophorum (Book of the 24 Philosophers). Written in Latin in the 12th-13th centuries by an anonymous author, this short treatise offers 24 cryptic definitions of God, including the famous formula: "God is an intelligible sphere whose center is everywhere and circumference nowhere." These metaphysical aphorisms deeply influenced mystical theology – they are cited by thinkers like Alain of Lille, Thomas Aquinas, and even later Renaissance authors like Nicholas of Cusa or writers like Pascal. Although the Liber XXIV philosophorum does not explicitly mention Hermes, tradition linked it to Hermeticism because of its esoteric character and oracular style. All these elements show that during the Middle Ages, Hermeticism survived in the West mainly as an occult tradition (in alchemy, astrology, magic) rather than as an open philosophy. Hermes Trismegistus appeared as a mythical sage, patron of alchemists and symbol of esoteric knowledge transmitted only to initiates – this is also the origin in French of the common meaning of the word "hermetic" to describe an impenetrable secret or an obscure text reserved for "very few initiates."
The Renaissance: Rediscovery and Peak of the Hermetic Tradition
Marsilio Ficino, Pico della Mirandola, and the Renaissance of Hermeticism
It was during the Renaissance, in the 15th century, that Hermeticism made a triumphant return to European thought. In 1460, a monk from Macedonia brought to Florence a Greek manuscript containing fourteen hermetic treatises previously unknown in the West. The patron Cosimo de’ Medici, passionate about late Antiquity texts, immediately entrusted the translation of this treasure to his young protégé, Marsilio Ficino – even before Ficino had finished translating Plato. In less than three years, Ficino completed the Latin translation of the whole, which he titled Pimander (or Poimandres, after the first treatise). Published in 1471, this translation of the Corpus Hermeticum was a resounding success and sparked enthusiasm throughout cultivated Europe for the wisdom of Hermes Trismegistus.
Ficino himself, in the preface to his translation, expresses the intellectual euphoria caused by this rediscovery. Relying on the authority of Saint Augustine, he proclaims Hermes Trismegistus the "first theologian" of humanity – the oldest sage who contemplated divine truths. According to Ficino, Hermes lived at the time of Moses or shortly after and transmitted his sacred doctrine to the Greeks: he imagines a chain of wisdom from Hermes to Orpheus, then to Pythagoras, and finally to Plato. This idea fits into the humanist concept of prisca theologia, the "primordial theology" revealed by God to the first men and of which all subsequent philosophies are but reflections. For Ficino, Hermeticism offered proof that the ancient Egyptians had known a form of pre-Christian divine truth. He was all the more exalted as he read in the hermetic writings prophecies of Christianity: Hermes would announce the end of the old idolatrous religion, the coming of a new monotheistic faith, and even the incarnation of the Divine Word. Indeed, a passage of the Asclepius symbolically mentions a savior son of God (already cited by Lactantius). Ficino emphasizes that Hermes "would have predicted the birth of Christ, the Last Judgment, the resurrection." These providential correspondences reinforced the idea of harmony between ancient wisdom and Christian truth, making Hermeticism even more attractive to Renaissance thinkers.
Soon, other humanists became enthusiastic about Hermes Trismegistus. Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, philosopher and kabbalist, considered hermetic revelations complementary to Hebrew Kabbalah for accessing universal truth. In 1486, in his famous 900 Theses, Pico proposed ten theses "according to the ancient doctrine of Mercury Trismegistus the Egyptian" which he intended to defend publicly. His famous Oration on the Dignity of Man, a manifesto of Platonic humanism, opens with a quotation from the Asclepius. In Pico’s eyes, Hermes and Moses, Kabbalah and Hermeticism, converge toward the same perennial wisdom willed by God – an idea central to his project of reconciling all traditions. The enthusiasm was such that representations of Hermes Trismegistus appeared in Christian Renaissance art. A striking example is found in Tuscany: on the pavement of Siena Cathedral was inlaid in 1488 a large mosaic depicting Hermes Trismegistus teaching, with an inscription presenting him as "contemporary of Moses." This work (attributed to Giovanni di Stefano) symbolically welcomes the faithful at the cathedral entrance, signifying that the wisdom of the Ancients – embodied by Hermes – led in a way to the threshold of Christian revelation.
Other Florentine and Italian scholars extended Ficino’s work. Lodovico Lazzarelli, a hermetic poet and philosopher, appropriated Hermes’ doctrine to the point of considering himself his direct disciple. In 1494, Lazzarelli composed the Crater Hermetis ("The Cup of Hermes"), an allegorical account of an initiation where a master transmits to his disciple a hermetic spiritual regeneration experience. Lazzarelli also translated into Latin an additional Greek hermetic treatise – the Definitions of Asclepius to King Ammon – published in 1507. Meanwhile in France, the scholar Lefèvre d’Étaples published in 1505 the commented edition of Ficino’s Pimander, accompanied by the Asclepius. Lefèvre saw in Hermes an asset for Christian apologetics (he also emphasized the hermetic prophecies of Christ) but took care to condemn the pagan magical elements of the corpus to remain orthodox. Throughout the 16th century, hermetic texts were edited and disseminated across Europe. A printed Greek edition of the Corpus Hermeticum was produced in Paris in 1554 by Adrien Turnèbe, followed by a new French translation in 1574 by François de Foix, lord of Candale. The latter, in his preface, stressed Hermeticism’s affinity with Pythagoreanism and claimed that Hermes lived before Moses, possessing knowledge of divine realities superior to that of Hebrew prophets. Even leading Christian thinkers incorporated Hermes into their philosophical debates: Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa in the 15th century and philosopher François Patricius (Franciscus Patrizi) in the 16th invoked the authority of the Trismegistus to support a Platonic vision against Aristotelianism. In 1591, Patrizi, in his work Nova de universis philosophia, went as far as compiling all known hermetic fragments to build a universal philosophy diverging from Aristotle.
Hermeticism’s influence in the Renaissance was not limited to theology and academic philosophy – it also permeated the learned occultism of the time. Figures like Cornelius Agrippa (1486-1535), author of De occulta philosophia, or Paracelsus (1493-1541), medical reformer, claimed the hermetic tradition. Agrippa cited Hermes Trismegistus as an authority in his exposition of occult sciences, and Paracelsus called his own approach to medicine "hermetic philosophy," referring to alchemy and the hidden correspondences between man (microcosm) and the universe (macrocosm). Hermeticism also nourished literary creation: the English writer Philip Sidney alluded to hermetic ideas, and the Italian poet Giordano Bruno (1548-1600), best known for his infinite cosmology, was deeply influenced by Hermeticism. In his dialogues in Italian, Bruno praised Hermes Trismegistus and Egyptian magic, which he combined with his own pantheistic vision of the universe, developing the idea of an animated world spirit – a concept partly inherited from hermetic texts (Bruno had fervently read Ficino and the Asclepius). Modern historian Frances Yates even called Bruno a "champion of the hermetic tradition" and saw Hermeticism as one of the cornerstones of the Renaissance intellectual revolution.
Thus, for a little over a century (circa 1460-1600), Hermeticism enjoyed extraordinary prestige in Europe. It was seen as the oldest theology, the Egyptian source of the wisdom of Pythagoras and Plato, and a missing link between pagan wisdom and Christianity. Its influence was felt in diverse circles: esoteric and astrological groups, Neoplatonic philosophical academies, Christian theologians (both Catholic like Lefèvre d’Étaples and some Reformed thinkers), artists, and poets. One can speak of a true Hermetic Renaissance: Egyptian symbols flooded art and architecture (obelisks, apocryphal hieroglyphs), and Hermes appeared alongside Moses or Orpheus in frescoes celebrating the concord of sages of all times.
From the Classical Age to the 19th Century: Survivals and Occult Revival
After the Renaissance, Hermeticism continued to influence European thought, but more covertly. The 17th century saw the development of alchemy and what would later be called hermetic sciences. It is no coincidence that alchemy of this era is called "hermetic": alchemists of the Grand Siècle, such as Michael Maier, Robert Fludd, or Thomas Vaughan, claimed intellectual descent from Hermes Trismegistus, opposing official science inherited from Aristotle and Galen. Hermes became almost synonymous with alchemist. The Corpus Hermeticum itself, now recognized as more recent, was no longer emphasized, but the hermetic spirit – the search for hidden correspondences and spiritual transformation of man – permeated alchemical treatises. 17th-century alchemical theories called themselves hermetic precisely to mark their attachment to a mythical tradition founded by Hermes, independently of scholastic science doctrines. It should be noted that for these authors, claiming Hermes was as much symbolic as a real lineage: they saw Hermes as the patron of occult knowledge they sought to defend as an integral part of understanding the world. Although emerging modern science eventually eclipsed alchemy, it is striking that several great scholars of the time remained fascinated by Hermeticism: Isaac Newton himself intensely practiced alchemy and annotated hermetic-alchemical texts throughout his life, seeking in matter and ancient doctrines the secret of nature’s unity – a testimony to the enduring appeal of the hermetic ideal of a sacred science of nature.
At the same time, Hermeticism fueled the esoteric myths of secret societies. At the very beginning of the 17th century, the Rosicrucian manifestos emerged in Germany (1614-1616), telling of the discovery of the tomb of the mystic Christian Rosenkreutz and the revelation of his teachings. These manifestos, though originally parodic, drew on hermetic themes: the renovation of human knowledge by occult wisdom from the East, the call to "unknown philosophers" bearing hidden light. Hermes Trismegistus is implicitly present as the archetype of the sage holding pre-Christian secrets. Authors like Michael Maier (1568-1622), alchemist and promoter of Rosicrucian ideas, published treatises mixing hermetic allegories and Rosicrucian references. Likewise, speculative Freemasonry emerging in the 18th century developed founding legends including Hermes: Knight Andrew Michael Ramsay, in his 1736 Discourse to Parisian Masonic lodges, traced Freemasonry back to ancient mysteries citing the wisdom of Hermes and Pythagoras. An allegorical novel he wrote even features Hermes Trismegistus guiding a hero on the path of knowledge. This reference shows the persistence of Hermes’ prestige as a symbol of hidden initiation, even at the dawn of the Age of Enlightenment.
In the 18th century, Enlightenment Europe oscillated between attraction and rejection of Hermeticism. On one hand, the rationalist and critical spirit distrusted these occult legacies: Enlightenment philosophers classified alchemy and astrology as superstitions of a bygone era. Voltaire and Diderot gently mocked hermetic mysteries. But on the other hand, a current of historical-philosophical scholarship sought to understand these traditions. Scholars undertook to write the history of alchemy and Hermeticism: Lenglet Du Fresnoy, in 1742, published History of Hermetic Philosophy, one of the first synthesis essays on the subject. The great German historian Johann Jakob Brucker, in his Historia Critica Philosophiae (1742-1744), devoted a substantial chapter to Hermes Trismegistus and "hermetic philosophy," situating it in the history of thought. Moreover, the taste for emerging Egyptology and occultism persisted in some enlightened circles: the so-called illuminism current (Saint-Martin, etc.) or mystical Freemasons kept alive interest in hermetic-kabbalistic symbolism. Around 1770, the French occultist Antoine Court de Gébelin claimed to decipher the Egyptian origin of the Tarot deck in his work The Primitive World, and his disciple Etteilla (Jean-Baptiste Alliette) published an "Egyptian" Tarot claiming it was the restored book of Thoth-Hermes. As we see, on the eve of the 19th century, Hermeticism remained an active esoteric vein, present on the margins of official culture, ready to resurface.
It is precisely in the 19th century that a major occult revival took place, with Hermes Trismegistus again an emblematic figure. While positivist sciences triumphed, an esoteric reaction organized itself, claiming the heritage of ancient traditions. The great occultists of this era resolutely turned to Hermeticism to draw legitimacy and inspiration. In France, Éliphas Lévi (real name Alphonse-Louis Constant, 1810-1875), a central figure of modern occultism, titled one of his works The Key of the Great Mysteries according to Enoch, Abraham, Hermes Trismegistus, and Solomon (1859), grouping Hermes alongside biblical figures as holder of the secrets of "High Science." In the United States, the esoteric Paschal Beverly Randolph published in 1851 a translation-adaptation of Hermes’ Divine Pimander (Hermes Mercurius Trismegistus: His Divine Pymander), helping spread hermetic spirituality in American spiritualist and Rosicrucian circles. In England, hermetic influence peaked with the founding of explicitly hermetic initiatory societies. The mysterious Hermetic Order of Luxor, active around 1884, claimed to transmit occult teachings from ancient hermetic Egypt. Above all, the famous Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, founded in London in 1888, integrated Hermeticism at the heart of its symbolic and ritual system. The Golden Dawn’s rituals invoke Hermes and Thoth, and the study of the Corpus Hermeticum as well as Kabbalah, astrology, and the Tarot (called "of Thoth") holds an important place. This flourishing context shows that by the end of the 19th century, Hermeticism had become synonymous with Western esoteric Tradition par excellence – the very term "hermeticism" came to designate the entire Western esoteric corpus, to the point of being used almost as a synonym for "occultism" or "esotericism."
It is significant that at the same time (late 19th – early 20th century) the scientific study of these subjects was born: researchers like Louis Ménard or Gustave Parthey edited hermetic texts in Greek and Latin, while historian A.-J. Festugière later published (between 1944 and 1954) a monumental four-volume study, The Revelation of Hermes Trismegistus, which remains authoritative. Hermeticism thus passed from the status of a living esoteric tradition to that of a historical and philosophical object of study.
The myth of Hermes has had a performative power in the history of thought: it inspired the creation of entire libraries of texts, stimulated currents of ideas, and sparked an esoteric imagination that still endures. In this sense, Hermeticism, born from the encounter between Egypt and Greece, has become a constitutive element of Western culture. But has it really revealed its secrets?
