The Thrice-Great

1.Tis true without lying, certain most true.
2.That which is below is like that which is above that which is above is like that which is below to do the miracles of one only thing.
3.And as all things have been arose from one by the mediation of one: so all things have their birth from this one thing by adaptation.
4.The Sun is its father, the moon its mother,
5.the wind hath carried it in its belly, the earth its nurse.
6.The father of all perfection in the whole world is here.
7.Its force or power is entire if it be converted into earth.
Separate thou the earth from the fire, the subtle from the gross sweetly with great industry.
8.It ascends from the earth to the heaven again it descends to the earth and receives the force of things superior and inferior.
9.By this means ye shall have the glory of the whole world thereby all obscurity shall fly from you.
10.Its force is above all force. for it vanquishes every subtle thing and penetrates every solid thing.
So was the world created.
11.From this are and do come admirable adaptations whereof the means (Or process) is here in this.
12.Hence I am called Hermes Trismegist, having the three parts of the philosophy of the whole world.
13.That which I have said of the operation of the Sun is accomplished and ended.

Here' another one that I didn't want to rush, but again, the days escape me pretty quickly.

Hermeticism stems from a document from the Middle Ages. It was attributed to an Egyptian priest, Hermes Trismegistus. The surname means “Thrice-Great,” implying that he was either the third incarnation of the god Thoth (or Tahuti), or because he was the greatest of all philosophers, the greatest of all priests, and the greatest of all kings. He is credited with teaching man the arts and sciences of medicine, chemistry, law, art, astrology, music, rhetoric, magic, philosophy, geography, mathematics and geometry, anatomy and oratory. Such tall claims make me think that one of two things happened; either they were referring to a composite character, giving one man credit for the accomplishments of many men, or that Hermes came from a more sophisticated civilization to share all of this with an undeveloped Egypt in antiquity.

Hermes Trisegistus is best known through a document that circulated in the 1100's that claimed to be translated from an Emerald Tablet that had been translated from it's original that was held by Persian Alchemists. It's alchemical instructions seized the imaginations of Europe's thinkers, and an early quote is still quoted by esoteric philosophers: “That which is above is as that which is below, and that which is below is as that which is above.” The idea that Heaven and Earth reflected each other opened lines of reasoning that inspires mystical reflections from then until now, as well as the admonishment to “separate the subtle from the gross.” He is widely recognized as the prime forerunner by Magi and Freemasons, and all manner of esoteric thinkers.