The Secret Teachings of all Ages:
Iamblichus averred that Hermes was the author of twenty thousand books;
Manetho increased the number to more than thirty-six thousand (see James Gardner)— figures which make it evident that a solitary individual, even though he be overshadowed by divine prerogative, could scarcely have accomplished such a monumental labor.
Among the arts and sciences which it is affirmed Hermes revealed to mankind were medicine, chemistry, law, arc, astrology, music, rhetoric, Magic, philosophy, geography, mathematics (especially geometry), anatomy, and oratory.
Orpheus was similarly acclaimed by the Greeks.
In his Biographia Antiqua, Francis Barrett says of Hermes:
"* * * if God ever appeared in man, he appeared in him, as is evident both from his books and his Pymander;
in which works he has communicated the sum of the Abyss, and the divine knowledge to all posterity;
by which he has demonstrated himself to have been not only an inspired divine, but also a deep philosopher, obtaining his wisdom from God and heavenly things, and not from man."
His transcendent learning caused Hermes to be identified with many of the early sages and prophets.
In his Ancient Mythology, Bryant writes:
"I have mentioned that Cadmus was the same as the Egyptian Thoth; and it is manifest from his being Hermes, and from the invention of letters being attributed to him. "
(In the chapter on the theory of Pythagorean Mathematics will be found the table of the original Cadmean letters.)
Investigators believe that it was Hermes who was known to the Jews as "Enoch," called by Kenealy the "Second Messenger of God."
Hermes was accepted into the mythology of the Greeks, later becoming the Mercury of the Latins.
He was revered through the form of the planet Mercury because this body is nearest to the sun:
Hermes of all creatures was nearest to God, and became known as the Messenger of the Gods.
In the Egyptian drawings of him, Thoth carries a waxen writing tablet and serves as the recorder during the weighing of the souls of the dead in the judgment Hall of Osiris— a ritual of great significance.
Hermes is of first importance to Masonic scholars, because he was the author of the Masonic initiatory rituals, which were borrowed from the Mysteries established by Hermes.
Nearly all of the Masonic symbols are Hermetic in character.
Pythagoras studied mathematics with the Egyptians and from them gained his knowledge of the symbolic geometric solids.
Hermes is also revered for his reformation of the calendar system.
He increased the year from 360 to 365 days, thus establishing a precedent which still prevails.
The appellation "Thrice Greatest" was given to Hermes because he was considered the greatest of all philosophers, the greatest of all priests, and the greatest of all kings.
It is worthy of note that the last poem of America's beloved poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, was a lyric ode to Hermes.
(See Chambers ' Encyclopedia.)
