From old Egypt have come the fundamental esoteric19esoteric 비전적(秘傳的)인, 심오한 — 소수에게만 전해지는 내밀한 가르침 and occult teachings which have so strongly influenced the philosophies of all races, nations and peoples, for several thousand years. Egypt, the home of the Pyramids and the Sphinx, was the birthplace of the Hidden Wisdom and Mystic Teachings. From her Secret Doctrine20Secret Doctrine 비밀 교의 — 대중에게 공개되지 않는 헤르메스주의 핵심 가르침 all nations have borrowed. India, Persia, Chaldea, Medea, China, Japan, Assyria, ancient Greece and Rome, and other ancient countries partook liberally at the feast of knowledge which the Hierophants21Hierophants 비의 사제들 — 고대 비의 종교에서 신성한 가르침을 전하는 사제 and Masters of the Land of Isis so freely provided for those who came prepared to partake of the great store of Mystic and Occult Lore which the masterminds of that ancient land had gathered together.

In ancient Egypt dwelt the great Adepts22Adepts 달인들, 경지에 오른 수행자들 — 오랜 영적 훈련으로 높은 경지에 이른 자들 and Masters who have never been surpassed, and who seldom have been equaled, during the centuries that have taken their processional flight since the days of the Great Hermes. In Egypt was located the Great Lodge of Lodges of the Mystics. At the doors of her Temples entered the Neophytes23Neophytes 수련생들, 초심자들 — 비의 전통에 입문한 초보 학도들 who afterward, as Hierophants, Adepts, and Masters, traveled to the four corners of the earth, carrying with them the precious knowledge which they were ready, anxious, and willing to pass on to those who were ready to receive the same. All students of the Occult recognize the debt that they owe to these venerable24venerable 존경할 만한, 덕망 높은 Masters of that ancient land.

But among these great Masters of Ancient Egypt there once dwelt one of whom Masters hailed as “The Master of Masters.” This man, if “man” indeed he was, dwelt in Egypt in the earliest days. He was known as Hermes Trismegistus25Hermes Trismegistus 헤르메스 트리스메기스토스 — ‘세 번 위대한 헤르메스’, 헤르메스주의의 전설적 창시자. He was the father of the Occult Wisdom; the founder of Astrology26Astrology 점성술 — 별과 행성의 움직임이 인간사에 영향을 미친다는 학문; the discoverer of Alchemy27Alchemy 연금술 — 헤르메스 철학에서는 물질 변환이 아닌 정신적 변환의 상징. The details of his life story are lost to history, owing to the lapse of the years, though several of the ancient countries disputed with each other in their claims to the honor of having furnished his birthplace—and this thousands of years ago. The date of his sojourn28sojourn 체류, 머무름 — 일정 기간 어떤 곳에 머무는 것 in Egypt, in that his last incarnation on this planet, is not now known, but it has been fixed at the early days of the oldest dynasties of Egypt—long before the days of Moses. The best authorities regard him as a contemporary of Abraham, and some of the Jewish traditions go so far as to claim that Abraham acquired a portion of his mystic knowledge from Hermes himself.

As the years rolled by after his passing from this plane of life (tradition recording that he lived three hundred years in the flesh), the Egyptians deified Hermes, and made him one of their gods, under the name of Thoth29Thoth 토트 — 이집트 신화의 지혜와 글쓰기의 신, 헤르메스와 동일시됨. Years after, the people of Ancient Greece also made him one of their many gods—calling him “Hermes, the god of Wisdom.” The Egyptians revered his memory for many centuries—yes, tens of centuries—calling him “the Scribe of the Gods,” and bestowing upon him, distinctively, his ancient title, “Trismegistus,” which means “the thrice-great”; “the great-great”; “the greatest-great”; etc. In all the ancient lands, the name of Hermes Trismegistus was revered, the name being synonymous with the “Fount of Wisdom.”

Even to this day, we use the term “hermetic” in the sense of “secret”; “sealed so that nothing can escape”; etc., and this by reason of the fact that the followers of Hermes always observed the principle of secrecy in their teachings. They did not believe in “casting pearls before swine,” but rather held to the teaching “milk for babes”; “meat for strong men,” both of which maxims30maxims 격언, 금언 — 간결하게 진리를 표현한 짧은 말 are familiar to readers of the Christian scriptures, but both of which had been used by the Egyptians for centuries before the Christian era.