«
'Hermes' never was the name of a man, but a generic title, just as the term
Neo-Platonist was used in former times, and “Theosophist” is being used in the
present. »
(CW
11, p.534)
And that is
why this title was also associated with wisdom and with the god Thoth who in
Ancient Egypt is the god of wisdom.
«
It is the
personification of Wisdom. »
(IU
2, p.508)
«
Thoth Hermes
is an emblem of secret wisdom. »
(TG,
p.92)
«
What in fact is known about Hermes Trismegistos, “thrice-greatest”?
Less than we know of Abraham, his wife Sarah and his
concubine Agar, which St. Paul declares to be an allegory.
Even in the time of Plato, Hermes was already
identified with the Thoth of the Egyptians. But this word thoth does not only
mean “Intelligence”; it also means “assembly” or school. In reality
Thoth-Hermes is simply the personification of the voice (or sacred teaching) of
the sacerdotal caste of Egypt; the voice of the Great Hierophants [who were the chiefs of the priests]. »
(CW
11, p.534)
The Greeks
were influenced by Egyptian teachings, and that is why ancient Greece copied
this concept from Egypt, declaring that Hermes was the god of wisdom.
«
The Memphis
Thoth, and the Greek Hermes, were all gods of esoteric wisdom. »
(CW
11, p.257)
The Romans
in turn were influenced by the Greeks, and that is why ancient Rome copied this
concept to Greece declaring that Mercury was the god of wisdom.
«
Mercury
Trismegistus speaks about the four worlds: the Archetypal, the Spiritual, the
Astral, and the Elementary. »
(CW
14, p.46)
The Romans
influenced all of Europe and it may be from them that the god of wisdom of the
druids came:
«
Ogmius is
the god of wisdom and eloquence of the Druids, hence Hermes in a sense. »
(TG)
The Jewish
people were also influenced by the ancient Egyptians, but since Judaism is a
monotheistic religion, they associated it not with a god but with the biblical
character Enoch.
«
Enoch and
Hermes Trismegistus are identical in their esoteric sense. »
(SD
1, p.532)
«
There are
three different [Enochs] in the Bible. »
(CW
14, p.86, note)
The ancient
Egyptians in turn were influenced by ancient Indian teachings:
«
Ganesa (name
from Sanskrit) is the same as the Egyptian Thoth-Hermes, and Anubis or
Hermanubis (q.v.). The legend shows him as having lost his human head, which
was replaced by that of an elephant. »
(TG)
The
Egyptians and the Greeks also associated it with other gods, for example with
the god of death, but who is esoterically the guardian of the mysteries of our
planet:
«
Hermanubis
(name from Greek and Egyptian) or Hermes Anubis is "the revealer of the
mysteries of the lower world" — not of Hell or Hades as interpreted, but
of our Earth (the lowest world of the septenary chain of
worlds). »
(TG)
And they
also associated him with the god of knowledge:
«
Imhot-pou or
Imhotep (name from ancient Egyptian) is the god of learning (the Greek
Imouthes). He was the son of Ptah, and in one aspect Hermes, as he is represented
as imparting wisdom with a book before him. »
(TG)
And
Blavatsky summarizes all this in her Theosophical Glossary:
«
Hermes
Trismegistus (name from Greek) means the "thrice great Hermes", the
Egyptian. The mythical personage after whom the Hermetic philosophy was named.
In Egypt the God Thoth or Thot. A generic name of many ancient Greek writers on
philosophy and Alchemy.
Hermes
Trismegistus is the name of Hermes or Thoth in his human aspect, as a god he is
far more than this. As Hermes-Thoth-Aah, he is Thoth, the moon, i.e., his
symbol is the bright side of the moon, supposed to contain the essence of creative
Wisdom, "the elixir of Hermes ". As such he is associated with the Cynocephalus,
the dog-headed monkey, for the same reason as was Anubis, one of the aspects of
Thoth. (See "Hermanubis")
The same
idea underlies the form of the Hindu God of Wisdom, the elephant-headed Ganesa,
or Ganpat, the son of Parvati and Siva. (See "Ganesa")
When he has
the head of an ibis, he is the sacred scribe of the gods; but even then he
wears the crown atef and the lunar diSk.He is the most mysterious of gods. As a
serpent, Hermes Thoth is the divine creative 'Wisdom. The Church Fathers speak
at length of Thoth-Hermes. (See "Hermetic"). »
(TG)
And
Blavatsky also mentioned something about Hermes that I don't quite understand
but I'll pass it on to you:
«
There were
two Hermes: the oldest was the Trismegistus, and the second was an emanation,
or “permutation” of himself; friend and instructor of Isis and Osiris. »
(IU
2, p.xxxiii)
The oldest
Hermes is the one I mentioned above, but the second Hermes I don't get who it
is.
This custom
of naming the great sages and priests of an ancient civilization with the name
of the god of wisdom of this civilization, we also find it in other regions,
for example:
«
Pot-Amun is
said to be a Coptic term and the name of an Egyptian priest and hierophant who
lived under the earlier Ptolemies. Diogenes Laertius tells us that it signifies
one consecrated to the "Amun", the god of wisdom and secret learning,
such as were Hermes, Thoth, and Nebo of the Chaldees.
This must be
so, since in Chaldea the priests consecrated to Nebo also bore his name, being called
the Neboїm, or in some old Hebrew Kabbalistic works, "Abba Nebu".
The priests
generally took the names of their gods. Pot-Amun is credited with having been
the first to teach Theosophy, or the outlines of the Secret Wisdom-Religion, to
the uninitiated. »
(TG)
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