Glossary - exWitch Australia (formerly 'Born Again Pagan')

HERMES TRISMEGISTUS

Hermes Trismegistus (also known as Hermes Logos)is the Latin for "Hermes the thrice-greatest" and is in turn derived from the Greek name of the Egyptian god Tehuti (Thoth) - the god of wisdom and writing - but others (no doubt influenced by the Kabbalah) have claimed that he was either Adam or Adam's grandson. His importance in Magick is due to the so-called Emerald Tablet which succinctly sets out the 'as above, so below' principle on which most magical theory is based. He was also the fabled author of forty-two books about the life and philosophy of ancient Egypt.

He is sometimes referred to as a god, and sometimes as a man who was the son of the god.

The ancient Greeks associated Hermes with Thoth so closely that the two became inseparable. "Thrice greatest" refers to Hermes Trismegistus as the greatest of all philosophers; the greatest of all kings; and the greatest of all priests.

Both Thoth and Hermes were associated with sacred writings. As scribe of the gods, Thoth was credited with all sacred books. In some Egyptian writings, he was described as "twice very great" and "five times very great." Hermes was credited with the authorship of 20,000 books by lamblichus (ca. 250-300 B.C.), a Neo-Platonic Syrian philosopher, and more than 36,000 by Manetho (ca. 300 B.C), an Egyptian priest who wrote the history of Egypt in Greek, perhaps for Ptolemy I. According to myth, both Thoth and Hermes revealed to mankind the healing arts, Magick, writing, .Astrology, sciences and philosophy. Thoth recorded the weighing of souls in the Judgment Hall of Osiris. Hermes conducted the souls of the dead to Hades. Hermes, said Francis Barrett in Biographia Antiqua, "...communicated the sum of the Abyss, and the divine knowledge to all posterity..."

During the middle-ages and later, a series of writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, known as the Corpus Hermeticum were popular. The texts are usually referred to as the "philosophical" and "technical" Hermetica. The former deals mainly with issues of philosophy, and the latter with Magick, Potions and Alchemy.

In some of the readings of Edgar Cayce, he is claimed to be an engineer from the submerged Atlantis and that he built or designed or directed the construction of the Pyramids of Egypt. According to Cayce, Hermes Trismegistus is said to also be an Incarnation of Jesus. However, few apart from devotees of Cayce's taake these claims very seriously.

During the Middle ages and the Renaissance, the Hermetic scriptures enjoyed great credit and were popular among men of Alchemy. The "HermeticTradition" therefore refers to a synthesis of Alchemy, Magic, Astrology and related subjects.

The surviving wisdom of Hermes Trismegistus is said to be the Hermetica, 42 books that profoundly influenced the development of Western occultism and Magick

see also: HERMETIC TRADITION, CORPUS HERMETICUM

PLEASE NOTE:
One of the major problems with 'defining' Paganism and/or its beliefs and practices is that it is an 'organic' movement, in that it is undergoing constant change and re-evaluation from within, and as such any 'one-size-fits-all' approach to understanding Paganism will be found wanting.

Due to the very 'organic' nature of Paganism, and the many differing Paths and Traditions within it, in many cases no one definition may be universally accepted by all Pagans. Therefore, where such cases of possible conflicting and/or contradictory meanings of certain terms occur I have endevoured to give not only the generally accepted meaning, but also any major 'variations' in belief and/or practice.

Christians who believe this difference in meaning of certain key terms, beliefs and practices to be unique to Paganism need to remember that such conflicts also arise within the Body of Christ - the Church. Take for instance the differing practices amongst Christians concerning Baptism and the different attitudes towards women in the clergy.

- Jean-Luc