"As above, so below."?

"That which is Below corresponds to that which is Above,
and that which is Above corresponds to that which is Below,
to accomplish the miracle of the One Thing".

O son, how many bodies we have to pass through,
how many bands of demons,
through how many series of repetitions and cycles of the stars,
before we hasten to the One alone?
Hermes Trismegistus

The alleged teacher the magical system known as Hermetism of which high magic and alchemy are thought to be twin branches. The name Trismegistus means thrice greatest Hermes, and is the title given by the Greeks to the Egyptian god Thoth or Tehuti, a lord of wisdom and learning. At one time the Greeks thought two gods inseparable. Thoth governed over mystical wisdom, magic, writing and other disciplines and was associated with healing, while Hermes was the personification of universal wisdom and the patron of magic.

The myths go further. Both gods are associated with sacred writings.

According to legend Hermes Trismegistus is said to have provided the wisdom of light in the ancient mysteries of Egypt. "He carried an emerald, upon which was recorded all of philosophy, and the caduceus, the symbol of mystical illumination.




Hermeticism or the Western Hermetic Tradition is a set of philosophical and religious beliefs or gnosis based primarily upon the Hellenistic Egyptian pseudepigraphical writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus who is the representation of the conflation of the Egyptian god Thoth with the Greek Hermes. These beliefs have heavily influenced the Western Esoteric Tradition and were considered to be of great importance during the Renaissance and Reformation.

Most of the writings were lost with the fire and destruction of the Ancient Library of Alexandria[1]

Yet, there are three major works which are widely believed texts for Hermetic beliefs:

• The Corpus Hermeticum is the body of work most widely known and is the aforementioned Greek texts. These eighteen books are set up as dialogues between Hermes and a series of others. The first book involves a discussion between Poimandres (also known as Nous and God) and Hermes, supposedly resulting from a meditative state, and is the first time that Hermes is in contact with God. Poimandres teaches the secrets of the Universe to Hermes, and later books are generally of Hermes teaching others such as Asclepius and his son Tat.

• The Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus is a short work which coins the well known term in occult circles "As above, so below." The actual correct text of that maxim, as translated by Dennis W. Hauck is

"That which is Below corresponds to that which is Above, and that which is Above corresponds to that which is Below, to accomplish the miracle of the One Thing"

. The tablet also refers to the three parts of the wisdom of the whole universe. Hermes claims his knowledge of these three parts is why he received the name Trismegistus (thrice-great, or Ao-Ao-Ao meaning "greatest"). As the story is told, this tablet was found by Alexander the Great at Hebron supposedly in the tomb of Hermes.

• The Kybalion: Hermetic Philosophy is a book published in 1912 CE anonymously by three people calling themselves the "Three Initiates." Many of the Hermetic principles are explained in the book.
The "Three Initiates" who authored The Kybalion chose to remain anonymous. William Walker Atkinson is popularly held to be one (if not all) of the Three Initiates who anonymously authored The Kybalion, which certainly resembles Atkinson's other writings in style and subject matter. Atkinson's two co-authors in the latter venture, if they even existed, are unknown, but speculation often includes names like Mabel Collins, Michael Whitty, Paul Foster Case, and Harriett Case.

[1] The Royal Library of Alexandria, or Ancient Library of Alexandria, in Alexandria, Egypt, was the largest and most significant great library of the ancient world. It flourished under the patronage of the Ptolemaic dynasty and functioned as a major center of scholarship from its construction in the 3rd century BC until the Roman conquest of Egypt in 30 BC.



Ancient and modern sources identify four possible occasions for the partial or complete destruction of the Library of Alexandria:

• Julius Caesar's fire in the Alexandrian War, in 48 BC;
  
• the attack of Aurelian in the 3rd century AD;
  
• the decree of Coptic Pope Theophilus in AD 391; and
  
• the Muslim conquest in 642 AD or thereafter.