Hermeticism
Hermes TrismegistosMarsilio FicinoIsaac Casaubon
This page delivers no verdict; it presents claims and evidence with their sources. No theory in science is absolute. Method
For everyone
Hermeticism is a tradition based on texts attributed to "thrice-great Hermes" (Hermes Trismegistus). With the principle "as above, so below" it sets up a correspondence between cosmos and human. In the Renaissance these texts were thought to be as old as Moses; in 1614 Casaubon showed by linguistic analysis that they belong to the 2nd–3rd centuries CE. In Islamic tradition Hermes has sometimes been identified with the prophet Idris.
For specialists
The Corpus Hermeticum consists of religio-philosophical treatises written in Greek in Hellenistic Egypt; Ficino translated them into Latin in 1463. The Emerald Tablet (Tabula Smaragdina) first appears in Arabic sources (Sirr al-khalīqa, 9th century) and became a foundational text of the alchemical tradition. Yates's thesis on the role of Hermeticism in Renaissance science was later criticised and qualified.
Claims
- Cosmos and human mirror one another ("as above, so below"); hidden knowledge leads to knowledge of nature and God.[1]
Evidence
Supporting
—
Challenging
Casaubon showed that the texts' language and concepts belong to the post-Christian Hellenistic period and so cannot date from the age of Moses.[2]
Positions
- Some authors in the Islamic tradition
- Hermes is the same person as the prophet Idris, who first wrote with the pen and taught astronomy and wisdom.[3]
Connections
Sources
- Book (1992). Hermetica: The Greek Corpus Hermeticum and the Latin Asclepius. Cambridge University Press
- Article (1983). Protestant versus prophet: Isaac Casaubon on Hermes Trismegistus. Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 46, 78–93
- Encyclopediaİdrîs. TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisiislamansiklopedisi.org.trarchive
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Cite this page
Athena contributors. (2026). Hermeticism. Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Retrieved November 1, 2026, from https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/hermetizm/
@misc{athena_hermetizm,
title = {Hermeticism},
author = {{Athena contributors}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/hermetizm/}},
note = {Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Accessed: 2026-11-01}
}Added: September 27, 2026 · Last changed: September 27, 2026 · Page history