The Corpus Hermeticum and other Hermetica

Topics Addressed by the Hermetica

Hermeticism has always valued not only oral teaching, but spiritual knowledge passed on by teachers through the medium of books. The original Hermetic books, those attributed to Hermes Trismegistos, are called the Hermetika (usually Latinized as Hermetica). They address a wide range of topics, including discussions of the cosmic principles, the nature and orders of Being and beings, the human yearning to know the Divine, mysticism, magic, astrology, alchemy, and medicine. Scholars generally place the individual texts of the Hermetica, somewhat arbitrarily, in one of two camps: the ‘philosophical’ and religious Hermetica, or the ‘technical’ — that is, magical or theurgic — Hermetica.

Dating of the Hermetica

The main philosophical Hermetic texts which have come down to us are contained in the Corpus Hermeticum, a collection of approximately 17 treatises originally composed in Egypt and written in the Greek language. The exact date for the composition of the texts is unknown, but most scholars place at least the main texts of the Corpus in the second or third centuries CE. Technical Hermetica range more broadly, and are tentatively dated to a period spanning the first century BCE to the fourth century CE. It is quite possible, however, that at least some of the texts were based on significantly earlier models. Inscriptions prove that Hermes Trismegistos was already a name for Thoth at Saqqara as early as the second century BCE.

Other Hermetica

In addition to the texts contained in the Corpus there are many other writings ascribed to Hermes Trismegistos, and as such, are by definition, Hermetica. Among these are the famous Asclepius (originally entitled The Perfect Discourse), which is both philosophical and magical, and texts such as The Ogdoad Reveals the Ennead, which is a philosophical and mystical Hermetic text not in the original Byzantine anthology translated by Ficino, but added to the Hermetic collection after being discovered in the Gnostic library at Nag Hammadi. There are also a significant number of the Græco-Egyptian Magical Papyri said to be the work of Hermes Trismegistos. It may even be, given Thoth’s position as Great Divine Magician, that the first Hermetica were not the philosophical texts such as those in the Corpus Hermeticum and the Nag Hammadi find, but were technical, that is, magical texts. The structure of the Hermetic texts, whether philosophical or technical, are often in the form of dialogues between a teacher and one or more students.

The Hermetica as Sacred Texts

The Hermetica form one of the bases for the philosophy, beliefs, and values of modern Hermeticism, along with many other texts of the Western Tradition. While the Hermetica are considered sacred texts in that they provide important information on matters of a sacred nature and can be extremely profound and valuable guides on the spiritual path, neither they nor any other text are considered infallible or without contradiction.