Hermeticism 

Hermeticism may have developed in an attempt to break the code of the ancients.

It includes the concepts of:
    1) Cause and Effect
    2) Reincarnation
    3) Duality
    4) As above, so Below. (Central maxim of Hermeticism)

As with Freemasonry, Hermeticism cannot be easily explained because it can be interpreted differently by different people.

Hermeticism, like Freemasonry, has no main office and no detailed and generally accepted beliefs.

It, like Freemasonry, has no dogma.

Hermeticism is panetheist (all-in-God), that there is one God and one great cause, of which every human is a part.

It was often considered to be a form of magic during the Renaissance period.

Some claim it is based upon the writings of Hermes Trimegistus, or the Thrice-Great Hermes.

It also seems based upon the "Corpus Hermeticum" collection of Greek texts.

It is said that Manly P. Hall claimed that Hermeticism gave rise to Freemasonry.

Info between lines is from "Cracking the Freemasons Code" by Cooper, pages 40-41.

Hermeticism

During the Renaissance period it was considered to be a form of magic. 

It is assumed to be a set of religious and philosophical beliefs and ideas drawn from writing attributed to Hermes Trismegistus.

Manly P. Hall claimed that Hermeticism gave rise to Freemasonry in "The Hermetic Marriage." 

Hermeticism is based upon a number of Greek texts that were combined as the "Corpus Hermeticum" during the Italian Renaissance. 

(See "Cracking the Freemasons Code" by Cooper page 41)