Who was Hermes trismegistus?

Thoth, also known to the Greeks as Hermes Trismegistus, “the thrice-greatest,” is not just a mythic figure but a metaphysical cornerstone in the temple of ancient wisdom. He's the philosopher-mage behind what we call the Hermetic Tradition, which isn't just a dusty shelf of esoteric books — it's a blueprint for reality itself, a divine user manual hidden in plain sight. His teachings are the roots of alchemy, astrology, sacred geometry, magic, and spiritual psychology.

the god of wisdom

In the Egyptian pantheon, Thoth was the ibis-headed god of wisdom, writing, and magic. He was the divine scribe who recorded the judgments of souls, invented hieroglyphs, and maintained the cosmic order (Ma’at). To the Greeks, this same archetype evolved into Hermes, the messenger of the gods, god of language, speed, and the bridge between worlds. But Hermes Trismegistus is the fusion of the two — a metaphysical entity representing the divine mind that bridges heaven and earth, spirit and matter, the seen and the unseen.

He’s called “Trismegistus” — thrice great — because he mastered the three realms of wisdom: alchemy (the body), astrology (the cosmos), and theurgy (the soul). You could say he’s the spiritual lovechild of Einstein, Da Vinci, and a shaman on mushrooms — except he predated all of them by millennia.

The Core Teachings

At the heart of Hermes Trismegistus’s work is the Hermetic Corpus, a series of mystical texts written in Greek and Coptic between roughly 200 BCE and 400 CE. The most famous of these is the Kybalion, a summary of The Seven Hermetic Principles, which form the metaphysical scaffolding of reality:

  1. The Principle of Mentalism – “All is Mind.” The universe is a mental projection, not a physical accident. Your thoughts aren’t in the universe — the universe is in your thoughts.

  2. The Principle of Correspondence – “As above, so below; as within, so without.” Everything is a fractal. Your body is a temple because it is literally designed after the cosmos.

  3. The Principle of Vibration – “Nothing rests; everything moves.” Atoms, emotions, thoughts — everything vibrates. Your job? Learn to tune yourself like an instrument.

  4. The Principle of Polarity – “Everything is dual.” Hot and cold, love and hate, light and dark — all are the same energy at different degrees. Mastery means transmuting, not avoiding.

  5. The Principle of Rhythm – “Everything flows in and out.” Life breathes like a pendulum. If you understand rhythm, you stop fearing the low tide.

  6. The Principle of Cause and Effect – “Nothing escapes the law.” There are no coincidences. You are both the domino and the hand that pushes it. Karma is not punishment; it’s geometry.

  7. The Principle of Gender – “Gender is in everything.” Creation requires both masculine (projecting, activating) and feminine (receiving, nurturing) forces — in thought, energy, and action.

His Theory of the Universe

Hermes taught that the entire universe is one unified, conscious organism — a living, breathing mind — and that man, made in the image of this cosmic mind, is a microcosm of the macrocosm. Therefore, the key to mastering reality isn’t out there — it’s within you. You don’t “attract” your reality. You generate it by aligning with the eternal principles.

He didn’t teach passive spirituality. This was applied gnosis — using sacred knowledge to transmute base instincts into divine wisdom. That’s where the famous alchemical metaphor comes in: turning lead (ignorance, ego) into gold (illumination, divine will). But this wasn’t about melting metals in a lab — it was about refining the soul.

Why It Still Matters

Hermes Trismegistus is the spiritual grandfather of every mystery school, magician, philosopher, and enlightened misfit that came after. The Emerald Tablet, attributed to him, has been quoted by alchemists and mystics for over a thousand years — including Isaac Newton. He is the thread that ties together ancient Egyptian temples, Gnostic Christianity, Sufism, Kabbalah, and the Renaissance occult revival.

In short? If you’re trying to understand manifestation, the soul, the cosmos, or how to hack this divine simulation — Hermes is your guy. Not because he gives you answers, but because he hands you the tools and says, “Here. Build your temple.”