Twenty-Three

THE INFLUENCE OF THE EAST

1. Hermeticism

In 1462 or 1463, Cosimo de’Medici sent a manuscript of the Corpus Hermeticum that he had received from the monk Leonardo da Pistoia to Marsilio Ficiino, founder of the Platonic Academy in Florence. Ficino translated the work, and published it in 1471. By the end of the century 16 editions of this book existed, not counting translations and works that developed its contents.1 This clearly shows that Hermeticism evoked great interest among Renaissance intellectuals and strongly influenced them. The Corpus Hermeticum was consisted of two groups of writings: (1) The “Asclepius” or “De voluntate divina” (“On Divine Will”) and (2) the “Pimander” or “De sapientia et potestate Dei” (“On God’s Wisdom and Power”), and the “Definitiones Asclepii,” which consisted of 15 short dialogues written in Greek.2 Apart from the Asclepius and fragments of the dialogues, the Corpus Hermeticum had been unknown in the West. Until the early seventeenth century, most followers of this tradition thought that Hermes Trismegistus, whom Plato identified with the Egyptian god and king Thoth, was the author of the Corpus Hermeticum. Hence, the work bore the name “Hermes.” They also thought that Hermes was the original source of the teachings of Egyptian, Jewish, and Greek wise men. Other followers of this tradition have occasionally regarded Hermes Trismegistus as a more recent Moses. This tradition lists the following as Ancient theologians: Adam, Enoch, Abraham, Noah, Zarathustra, Moses, Hermes Trismegistus, the Brahmans, the Druids, King David, Orpheus, Pythagoras, Plato, the Sybil, and the New Testament. Roger Bacon presented a somewhat different genealogy. He also thought that Adam received philosophy from God. But, after the Fall, Zarathustra received philosophy. Then Prometheus, Atlas, Mercury, Hermes, Apollo ,and Asclepius. Philosophy’s rebirth occurred in the time of Solomon and came to maturity in the time of Aristotle. Bacon thought that the Greeks were the students of the Hebrews and shared imperfectly in the Revelation of the Word, and they even recognized to some degree the mystery of the Trinity. Their opinion facilitated the spread of Hermeticism in Western thought and influenced the change in the conception of science.3 In 1614, Isaac Casaubon’s laborious research showed that the Corpus Hermeticum had been written in the second or third century A.D.. So, it could not have been the original source of wisdom (prisca sapientia).4 Nevertheless, the influence of Hermeticism remained strong in the seventeenth century, and many thinkers still respected the Corpus Hermeticum. Martin Bernal notes that Europe 140 SCIENCE IN CULTURE published more alchemical books during the 1750s than it did in the entire pre- ceding century. 5 From the temporal perspective, we can say that the Corpus Hermeticum was a Hellenistic amalgam of Platonism, Stoicism, Judaism, and Christianity presented in a framework of magic and gnosticism.6 This syncretism gave the impression of a primordial body of wisdom containing the beginnings of different religions and philosophies. In reality, these common elements evince that Hermeticism derived from those religions and philosophies. It was not their ultimate source. Researchers think that Hermeticism, an important influence on the change in the conception of science, infected most Renaissance intellectual schools, and especially the heralds of the new conception of science. In his many works, Francis A. Yates has played a major role in showing Hermeticism’s influence upon Western thought.7 Hermeticism put high value on knowledge as power, knowledge that provided mastery of the forces of nature and empowered people to exploit those forces. André-Jean Festugière’s four-volume work on Hermeticism shows that, in the Hellenistic world, especially in Egypt, the Aristotelian ideal of knowledge for the sake of knowledge declined and gave way to the ideal of knowledge for the sake of practical benefits.8 The Corpus Hermeticum maintained that the Egyptians knew how to make statues, which, by the infusion of the World Spirit, could move and speak.9 In Alexandria the Egyptian god Thoth was identical with Hermes. Thoth was the patron god of magic arts and occult knowledge. He was the “Mysterious” and the “Unknown.” Thoth had the role of the Demiurge in the production of the world. By his voice he had created things. He was also the patron of inventions and clever minor arts. The Alexandrians identified Thoth with Hermes because Hermes was the patron of similar arts. But they also identified him with Moses.10 Some ideas in Hermeticism had quite a broad appeal. Most people would like to live longer than the normal life span. Hermeticism promised that it was about to discover the secret for prolonging life. Most people would like to know the future. Hermeticism promised them this ability. Most people desire wealth. Hermeticism claimed to be on the verge of solving the mystery of transmuting other metals into gold. No wonder that the fantastic promises of Hermeticism attracted the masses, learned men, and statesmen alike. Magic consists in the skilful manipulation of hidden relations of sympathy between material substances, demons, planets, and gods. Ancient magicians supposedly possessed secret knowledge of these relations and thought that their knowledge had come from the gods. To obtain the desired result magicians would use a specific terminology and utter different incantations.11 Empedocles was an Ancient Greek philosopher who came close to being a magician. His theory of the four elements (water, fire, earth, and air) and two forces (love and hatred) and of a primevel fire constitued part of a wider vision that proclaimed Empedocles a god.12