Hermeticism
Occult philosophical tradition
Hermeticism is a philosophical and spiritual tradition rooted in writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, a legendary figure blending the Greek god Hermes with the Egyptian god Thoth.
The tradition emphasizes hidden knowledge, the unity of all things, and the correspondence between macrocosm and microcosm—as above, so below.
Hermeticism influenced alchemy, astrology, and Western esoteric thought through the Renaissance and beyond.
The adjective hermetic, meaning airtight or sealed, derives from the tradition's association with secret, inaccessible knowledge.
Experiential sacred understanding
- theurgyRitual invoking gods
- initiationFormal admission ceremony
- revelationSurprising disclosed truth
- illuminationProvision of light
contemplation · spiritual ascent · divine union · regeneration · rebirth · henosis · apotheosis · transcendence
Understood by few
- occultConcealed from view
- secretConcealed information
- hiddenKept out of sight
- mysterySomething unexplained or unknown
initiate · adept · cryptic · veiled · sealed · oral tradition · symbolic · allegorical
Egyptian god of wisdom
- AsclepiusAncient medicine deity
- AlexandriaEgyptian Mediterranean port
- RenaissanceEuropean cultural reawakening
- Giordano BrunoRenaissance cosmological heretic
Agrippa · Freemasonry · Theosophy · Golden Dawn · perennial philosophy · Neoplatonism
Complete change of form
- philosopher's stoneLegendary substance enabling transmutation
- elixir of lifeLegendary immortality concoction
- magnum opusCreator's supreme achievement
- mercuryLiquid metallic element
sulfur · salt · quintessence · alembic · crucible · calcination · dissolution · coagulation
Something that flows out
- macrocosmUniverse as totality
- microcosmMiniature representation of larger whole
- celestial spheresAncient cosmos's rotating layers
- pneumaGreek vital spirit
world soul · archons · aeons · correspondences · demiurge
gnosis
Experiential sacred understanding
- theurgyRitual invoking gods
- initiationFormal admission ceremony
- revelationSurprising disclosed truth
illumination · contemplation · spiritual ascent · divine union · regeneration · rebirth · henosis · apotheosis · transcendence · vision
arcane
Understood by few
mystery · initiate · adept · cryptic · veiled · sealed · oral tradition · symbolic · allegorical · cipher
Thoth
Egyptian god of wisdom
- AsclepiusAncient medicine deity
- AlexandriaEgyptian Mediterranean port
- RenaissanceEuropean cultural reawakening
Giordano Bruno · Agrippa · Freemasonry · Theosophy · Golden Dawn · perennial philosophy · Neoplatonism
transmutation
Complete change of form
- philosopher's stoneLegendary substance enabling transmutation
- elixir of lifeLegendary immortality concoction
- magnum opusCreator's supreme achievement
mercury · sulfur · salt · quintessence · alembic · crucible · calcination · dissolution · coagulation · conjunction
emanation
Something that flows out
- macrocosmUniverse as totality
- microcosmMiniature representation of larger whole
- celestial spheresAncient cosmos's rotating layers
pneuma · world soul · archons · aeons · correspondences · demiurge
- religionsChristianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism
- Italian LiteratureDante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Machiavelli, Dante Alighieri
- ancient religionsGreek religion, Zoroastrianism, paganism, mystery cults, Norse paganism
- ancient wisdomVedas, proverb, Upanishads, maxim, Epicureanism
- magical practiceswitchcraft, sorcery, folk magic, ceremonial magic, hoodoo
- mysticismmystic, gnosis, divine union, divine spark, mystical
Hermeticismstate religion
Government-backed official faith
organized religion · Sunni Islam · folk religion · Confucianism · secular humanism
Hermeticismempiricism
Knowledge through observation
rationalism · physicalism · naturalism · skepticism · reductionism
Hermeticismmaterialism
Prioritizing goods over spirit
physicalism · atomism · disenchantment · nihilism · determinism
alchemy, alchemist, Hermes, alchemical, alchemists, hermetically