As a result of carbon-dating and other factors, most historians to agree that several authors are created with creating the Corpus Hermeticum or Hermetic Corpus.
Hermes Trismegistus or "thrice-great Hermes" is purported as author of the Hermetic Corpus, a series of sacred texts, which are the basis of Hermeticism. During the Renaissance, writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, enjoyed great prestige. The "hermetic tradition" refers to alchemy, magic, astrology and related subjects. The texts are usually divided into two categories: the philosophical and the technical. Versions of the Hermetic Corpus deal with philosophy, along with recommended uses of practical magic, potions and alchemy. Later, secret, wax-sealed, written documents, sent through a messenger, originated the term "hermetically sealed."
For Neo-Platonist, the Hermetic Corpus was essential reading. As a divine source of wisdom, Hermes Trismegistus was credited with a massive number of writings, reputed to be of immense antiquity. In Timaeus, Plato claims secret halls contained thousands of historical records, describing the Hermetic Corpus. The Roman Catholic Church considered Hermes Trismegistus a pagan prophet, who foresaw Christianity.
Increasing through 2nd Century CE, the number of illustrations and texts linked to Hermes Trismegistus, makes him remarkable. Most images are symbol intensive and depict him with a book. In this medieval image, he balances a mystical astrolabe, upon a single finger. An astrolabe was used to predict astrological phenomenon, such as planetary positions. In other portrayals, he holds a book with astrology signs. Images imply his book affords mystical influence, over climatic occurrences.
Early Christians believed Hermes Trismegistus predicted Christ; but this Magi is a concocted myth.
In the 7th Century BCE, Greeks began moving into Egypt. Known as "the Father of History," Herodotus visited Egypt and claimed Greeks were the first foreigners to relocate there. After Alexander the Great invaded, in 332 BCE, Greeks introduced bibliomancy and deities, including several – associated with divination – into Egyptian culture.
The Greeks in Egypt or Egyptiotes had a thriving presence in the country from the Hellenistic Period, until the aftermath of the Egyptian Revolution in 1952 CE, when most were forced to leave. By 323 BCE, Ptolemy I Soter, a Greek general, became Pharaoh and established the Great Library of Alexandria (destroyed by fire) and the. Ptolemaic Dynasty, which lasted nearly 300 years. A unique relationship between the civilizations began after Alexander occupied Egypt. Cultural and academic contributions of Egyptian and Greek civilizations to each other are well documented and agreed upon by historians and other academics. Astrology, which occultists claim was invented by Trismegistus, is one of them.
Hermes Trismegistus is apparently a representation of the combination of the Greek Messenger God, Hermes and the Egyptian God of Scribes, Thoth. In Hellenistic Egypt, relocated Greeks noticed a similarity in their messenger god to Thoth, because both deities were associated with teaching humanity lessons. Subsequently, two gods were worshipped as one, in a previous Temple of Thoth, in Khemnu, which the Greeks renamed Hermopolis.
Thoth and Hermes were gods of teaching and writing, in their respective cultures. Eventually, the Greek god combined with the Egyptian god to become a patron of astrology and alchemy. Most Greeks did not accept Hermes Trismegistus in the place of Hermes. Predictably, early Egyptian worshippers were also reluctant to replace Thoth with this new deity.
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