Hermes Trismegistus

The Greek name given to the Egyptian god Thoth, believed by them to be the inventor of writing. Arising out of the art of writing were such arts as magic, medicine and astronomy and so Thoth became the patron god of these arts also.

The Hermes-Thoth works were wide ranging, covering such popular subjects as astrology and “occultism” on the one hand and learned matters such as theology and philosophy.

The works of Hermes-Thoth are of particular interest to students of theosophy because of the emphasis on cosmic unity and the interdependence of all things in Creation. The principle theological writings are the 17 treatises of the Corpus Hermeticus; substantial fragments in Joannes Stobaeus’ anthology (5th century CE); Latin translation of Asclepius, found among the works of Apuleius which date, probably, during the first three centuries CE. See also HERMETICISM.

P.S.H.

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