E. Cobham Brewer 18101897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Hermetic Books.
Egyptian books written under the dictation of Thoth (the Egyptian Herms), the scribe of the gods. Iamblichus gives their number as 20,000, but Manetho raises it to 36,525. These books state that the world was made out of fluid; that the soul is the union of light and life; that nothing is destructible; that the soul transmigrates; and that suffering is the result of motion.