Hermeticism & The Craft
by Bro. Taylor Nauta, PM
Part 1: Alchemy & Hermeticism
A
lchemy, which is often described as The Art of Transformation, has taken on many forms throughout the centuries. It was practiced by the ancient Chinese, the ancient Egyptians, the medieval Arab nations, and others. But the biggest contributor of alchemical ideas into the Western World was undoubtedly Egypt. In fact, the word “alchemy” is derived from the words “al kemet”; meaning “the Black Land”. Kemet was an ancient name for Egypt. Some suppose that the darkness of the fertile soil throughout the Nile River Delta is the reason why Egypt was anciently referred to as Kemet. Regardless of whether the origin of that word is true or not, however, one thing is certain: Egypt was a crossroads of learning and culture from ancient times all the way up to the Hellenistic Period; and alchemy was a science that the Egyptians had been developing for millennia. Hellenistic Alexandria, in particular, was widely known as a repository of alchemical knowledge. The most important alchemical texts from Hellenistic Egypt are the “Emerald Tablet” and the “Corpus Hermeticum”; a collection of texts attributed to “Hermes Trismegistus”, who is considered by many to be the Father of Alchemy. Those books have influenced alchemical philosophy in the Western World more than any other works known to man. Hermeticism is a syncretic philosophy that likely emerged in Hellenistic Egypt during the 3rd century AD, being a mixture of various concepts found in the popular religions and philosophies of that same time period; such as early Christianity, Gnosticism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Neoplatonism, Orphism, and Pythagoreanism. Hermes Trismegistus, the key figure of Hermeticism, was a mythological character whom I believe to be an amalgamation of the Greek Hermes, the Roman Mercurius, the Hebrew Enoch, and the Egyptian Thoth. Some have even compared him to Moses, since they are both teachers and liberators who communicated with God and relayed His message to the people, both freeing their respective peoples from a form of bondage. 6
Engraving of Hermes Trismegistus by Pierre Mussard, Historia Deorum Fatidicorum, Venice, 1675
In the “Poimandres”, which is the first book in the “Corpus Hermeticum”, you’ll find a dialogue between Hermes Trismegistus and a deity referring to itself as the Nous, or Omnipresent Mind. In this dialogue, an interesting Creation Story is told. To briefly summarize the Hermetic Creation Myth, the All-Mind showed Hermes Trismegistus a vision of Creation. In the beginning, there was infinite and limitless Light, from which came forth an intense Darkness that became moist matter; the Primordial Matter. Out of this First Matter sprang forth the four elements of Fire, Air, Water, and Earth. At this point, all matter existed in a form of chaos. It was simply moist nature, formless and unorganized. But then the All-Mind, who was the Limitless Light and the Will behind all causes, spoke a Word(Logos) into the chaos. That The Louisiana Freemason // Winter 2019
