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HERMES TRISMEGISTUS EXPLAINED BY BLAVATSKY


 
Blavatsky explained that Hermes Trismegistus was not a person but the way in which in Antiquity the group of Egyptian priests who were initiated into the archaic teachings were designated.
 
« '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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