baba-prague
Fulcanelli said:Perhaps If they were written as late as Yates suggests, there was no intention of deception, as your comment seems to imply.
Just a thought.
I was really joking when I said deception (did I actually say deception? - sorry must read my original post. Edited to add, no, I said "masquerading" - with the implication of something or someone wearing a mask - not always with the intent to deceive I think.) But it wasn't meant to be pejorative, more a piece of lightly intended irony. However, it does seem as though the Hermetica was a Greek work from 2-3 century AD that claimed to be much earlier, and Egyptian.
However, I haven't yet had time to read the information that John added, and as I understand it there is now a theory that the Hermetica as we know it may indeed have drawn from an earlier work. But as I say, I won't be able to read more for some time (very busy writing rather than reading right now).