The Hermetic Way: An Egyptian Religious Movement

Christian Hervigbol's book challenges the prevailing view that the Hermetica were purely a literate phenomenon and suggests that there was an Egyptian religious movement behind them. He identifies a consensus among scholars, including Jean-Pierre Mayé and Garth Hauden, that there was a community behind these texts. The texts themselves refer to the "way of immortality" and indicate the existence of hymns and internal references, suggesting a community. Scholars like David Rudgley associate these texts with Egyptian priests who were well-versed in philosophy. Hervigbol highlights the importance of the ritual aspect in the Hermetica, in which the disciples were born again and made immortal. The discourse on statues in the Asclepius reveals a deep knowledge of Egyptian temple cults, emphasizing the role of statues as a conduit for divine presence. He also notes the Egyptian belief in a future decline of cults and the departure of gods from Egypt, as depicted in the Asclepius. Overall, Hervigbol argues that there is evidence of an Egyptian religious influence in the Hermetica, challenging the notion that they were solely a Greek phenomenon.