What are the Hermetic Writings?
The specific body of literature referred to by the term “Hermetic writings” is, like most things having to do with Hermeticism, hard to define concisely. Much like the nature of Hermes Trismegistus, there will be different answers from different sources. For example, in attempting to define something as simple as the number of “Hermetic books”, opinions include (Stock, 626-627) • 36,525 books, a number assigned by an Egyptian priest and having significance in relation to the the duration of the dynasties of Egypt, or • 20,000 books, according to a Roman historian, or • 42 “essential books” according to Clement of Alexandria, or • Simply “many books” according to another Roman historian. The exact number is not known, but there is a general consensus on the structure of the Hermetic literature. The Hermetic writings can be divided into two main sections: writings on sciences, especially those of occult significance, and writings on philosophy, presenting the Hermetic doctrine and view o
