This is a brand new few-page complete Hermetic history I wrote up for the Chronology project, but in that project it's all over the place and a bit buried (under ages headlines). I thought you might enjoy the seamless option her and as this is the first version, I haven't had any proof-readers yet so feel free to point out errors or issues - or something important I really should put in. Also bash me on the head if you feel like it 
The History of Hermetic Magic
The Age of Creation and Exile
"In the beginning, the world was formed by Divine decree, and all things were in harmony. Yet, from the first days, some among the angels rebelled, some among the humans defied, and some among the spirits refused to bow. Thus, the Realms of Power were sundered, and the great contest of wills began."
— unknown scholar of House Criamon
In the Before, the Eternal God, the One True Being of unchanging perfection, existing in perfect unity as the Holy Trinity, created the Celestial Host, angelic beings of pure spirit who were organized into the Nine Choirs. Among them, Lucifer, the Morning Star, was the most radiant, a Seraph of unmatched beauty, wisdom and might. Lucifer was flawless in all ways, but therein lay his doom. Pride took root in him - he desired not to serve but to rule. When God revealed His plan for humanity, that fleshly creatures, formed from the dust of the earth, would one day rise above even the angels - that through them, God would take on mortal form - Lucifer rebelled.
A third of the host followed him in defiance, and thus began the War in Heaven. The loyal angels, led by Michael the Archangel, clashed against the rebels in a battle that shook the pillars of creation. In the end, Lucifer was cast down, his brilliance twisted into ruin, his name forever cursed. His followers fell with him, stripped of their grace, becoming the first demons. Where they landed, Hell was formed - not by divine decree, but by their own corruption. The Infernal Realm, a prison of their own making, became their dominion, yet one from which they can never truly escape. Thus, before the world was shaped, the great division was set - Heaven above, Hell below, and the mortal realm yet to come, caught between them.
God forged the cosmos and brought forth Adam, establishing the first sacred Covenant with His creation. Yet, Adam and Eve were cast out of Eden, the flaming sword of the Cherubim sealing their paradise. Exiled to the harsh, barren lands of Nod, they struggled to survive by tilling unforgiving soil and building humble altars in remembrance of a lost perfection. As their descendants formed the first human lineages - marked by Cain’s cursed wanderings and the birth of Seth - the hidden realms of magic and faerie stirred in secret, echoing faint remnants of Eden in secluded, mystical places.
Meanwhile, the celestial order itself began to unravel. The Watchers, a host of 200 rebellious angels led by Shemihazah and Azazel, seduced by mortal beauty, descended upon Mount Hermon,, and took human wives, uniting with mortals to birth the Nephilim. These giants, endowed with unnatural strength and forbidden knowledge, unleashed an age of violence and dark arts. The prophet Enoch arose to challenge their dominion, and the archangels descended to bring judgment. The Nephilim were decimated and doomed to become demons upon death, while the Watchers were condemned to chthonic prisons for 70 generations. Corruption still reached its zenith - and culminated in Methuselah’s passing, so God decreed the Flood to purge the earth of its iniquities.
Some Hermetic scholars theorize that this early war of Heavenly retribution and its precursors led up to the eventual Sundering of the Realms: the Divine began to withdraw from direct governance, setting the framework for miracles and faith; the Magic Realm, once in harmony with the Divine, started to emerge as an independent Power; the Faerie Realm flourished amid the burgeoning wealth of human myths and fears; and the Infernal, ever watchful, strengthened by the newly cast down, scheming in the shadows to corrupt early sorcerers and kings.
A New Dawn and The Age of the First Magi (3500 - 1685 BC)
The Flood had passed, washing away the old world in divine judgment. The land, once ruled by giants, corrupted kings, and the whispers of the fallen Watchers, now lay silent beneath an unbroken sky. Yet the past was not so easily erased.
Noah’s descendants scattered, carving new nations from the mud - Sumer, Akkad, Egypt, and Elam - raising stones against the sky in defiance of time and fate. Misr, son of Ham, became Egypt’s first king, and his sons built cities that still bear their names.
But beneath the fields and altars of this new world, the remnants of the old stir. Buried ruins hide pre-Flood wonders - antediluvian mysteries - and the spirits of forgotten ages whisper to those who dare listen. In the distant reaches, are the children of Cain and the last of the ancient bloodlines walking unseen, their knowledge of lost magics undiminished? As the first cities rose along fertile riverbanks, mortal ambition merged with lingering fragments of ancient lore, fueling the earliest glimmers of organized magic.
The Tower of Babel collapses in ruin. Whether it was an affront to the Divine, a flawed magical experiment, or a forgotten bargain broken, the result is the same - language itself fractures, and humanity is scattered. The tongues of men are no longer one, and the unity of early sorcerers is lost to confusion and exile.
Some Bonisagus theorists claim the Tower was not merely an ambitious work of masonry but a vast Hermetic precursor, an attempt to stabilize the boundaries between realms or even elevate all of humanity into magical enlightenment. House Criamon interprets the event as a Turning Point in the Enigma, a moment when mortal hubris interrupted the natural flow of destiny. Meanwhile, Mercere scholars whisper that the loss of a universal language was not an act of Divine punishment but rather an act of sabotage, ensuring that magic would remain fragmented and controlled by hidden forces possibly the remnants of a lost Faerie power or the enigmatic Titans.
In Sumer, priest-kings consulted omens in star-strewn skies, forging the bedrock of astrological practices that would echo down the centuries. Pharaohs in Egypt built monuments that soared toward Heaven and boasted of hidden powers sealed within desert sands - Imhotep’s near-divine mastery of medicine and architecture a legend that still inspires House Bonisagus to this day. Meanwhile, mighty Gilgamesh led Uruk, rumored to possess a spark of divine blood, ever hunting the key to immortality.
Though the spark of Hermetic unity was centuries from fruition, this age ignited the first true flame of mage-craft. Word by word and rite by rite, mankind reclaimed forgotten wisdom. The new nations might have labored under the mortal yoke of agriculture and kingship, but their magi-in-the-making pulled threads of ancient power from every corner of the reborn world - laying the foundation for all Hermetic ages to come.
The Age of Hermetic Predecessors (1685-250 BC)
This era marks the twilight of myth and the dawn of structured magical thought, as divine wonders, arcane secrets, and philosophical inquiry intertwine. The ancient world is shaped by prophets, sorcerers, and scholars, whose legacies whisper through the corridors of time and echo in the foundations of Hermetic magic.
The Egyptian priesthood and Persian Magi wield vast mystical influence, blending celestial wisdom with sacred rites. The Hebrew prophet Moses, trained in the magic of Pharaoh’s court, performs wonders that challenge Egypt’s own priestly sorcerers, while in the East, the Zoroastrian Magi of Persia refine the art of astrology and cosmic divination.
Meanwhile, Greek mystery cults - the Orphics, Pythagoreans, and Eleusinians - seek enlightenment through ritual, purification, and secret knowledge. Their insights shape the philosophical frameworks of Plato and Aristotle, whose theories on the nature of reality, form, and essence will later become essential to Hermetic understanding.
The melting pot of Alexandria becomes the crucible of magical synthesis, where the wisdom of Hermes Trismegistus, Thoth, and the Hellenistic Mysteries converge. Scholars and magi exchange knowledge, laying the groundwork for the Cult of Hermes, a philosophical and magical lineage that will one day inspire the Order of Hermes itself!
Though the Age of Hermetic Predecessors ends with the rise of Rome, its legacy endures - preserved in hidden texts, lost temples, and the secret traditions that survive to shape the future of magic.
Rome and the Cult of Mercury (250 BC – AD 476)
As the Roman Empire spreads across the known world, so too does its magic, order, and ambition. The scattered mystery cults and arcane traditions of Greece, Egypt, and Persia are absorbed into a grand synthesis of magical practice, forming the Cult of Mercury - a vast, disciplined order of spellcasters who harness ritual magic to bolster Rome’s dominion.
The Mercurian magi, named for the swift-footed messenger god, master the art of large-scale magical ceremonies, empowering armies, foretelling omens, and maintaining the spiritual harmony of the Empire. Their magic is deeply entwined with civic and military life, granting them immense influence. Some Hermetic scholars claim that the Parma Magica itself has roots in their shielding rites, while others believe their magic was lost to the slow decay of Rome.
However, even as the Cult of Mercury thrives, other forces rise. The Mysteries of Mithras, Isis, and Dionysus challenge its dominance, offering secret initiations and personal enlightenment. The early Christian Church, growing from an underground sect into a force of divine authority, begins to denounce pagan magic as heretical, setting the stage for future conflict between the Dominion and the arcane.
As the Empire collapses under the twin pressures of barbarian invasion and civil war, so does the Cult. The sacking of cities, the corruption of rituals, and the crumbling infrastructure of the Empire shatter its cohesion. The Priests of Mercury were hard pressed to survive, much less record histories. The magic of the Cult of Mercury begins to change in this period, shifting from a communal activity to an individual craft. Each line develops an idiosyncratic understanding of magic, leading to vulgarization.
By the fall of the Western Empire in 476, the Cult of Mercury has all but vanished, leaving behind only fragments - a handful of secretive magi, lost texts, and rituals that will one day be rediscovered by the founders of the Order of Hermes. Though Rome has fallen, its magic is not truly dead - merely waiting for a new age to rise.
The Dark Age of Magic (AD 476–731)
With the fall of Rome, the once-great magical traditions of the Cult of Mercury collapse, leaving Europe in chaos and darkness. The structured rites and grand rituals of old are forgotten, their secrets buried beneath the ruins of the Empire. In their place, magic becomes scattered, localized, and feared, as hedge wizards, cunning folk, and lone practitioners struggle to survive in a world increasingly hostile to the arcane.
The rising power of the Christian Church brands many forms of magic as heresy or diabolism, forcing magi into secrecy. Druids, Norse seidhr-workers, and Romano-Celtic sorcerers cling to their traditions in isolated pockets, but their numbers dwindle. Meanwhile, the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire preserves fragments of Hermetic wisdom, though its scholars focus more on Divine and alchemical studies than practical spellcraft.
The once-mighty magical centers of Alexandria, Athens, and Ravenna fade, their libraries lost to war, fire, and ignorance. The few remaining magi rely on whispered lore, stolen texts, and personal experimentation, but without a unified magical theory, they struggle to advance. Rivalries and suspicion deepen as the effects of The Gift drive practitioners apart, ensuring that magic remains fragmented.
Yet in the shadows, seeds of rebirth take root. Mystical lineages pass down ancient knowledge, safeguarding spells and techniques for a time when magic might rise again. In the east, the Arabs and Persians refine astrology and alchemy, keeping old wisdom alive. In the deep forests, mountain caves, and forgotten ruins of Europe, strange magics still stir—waiting for a new age of enlightenment.
The 6th century see a brief flowering of magic and heroic effort on the fringe of Europe. The Enchantment of Britain and the Court of King Arthur brings a thaw in the Winter of magic.
And in the early 8th century, a scholar named Bonisagus discovers Mercurian rituals in an abandoned well and begins work on a new magical theory, one that will unite the scattered magi of Mythic Europe and bring an end to the Dark Age of Magic forever.
The Hermetic Ascendancy (AD 731–832)
This century is the seed of the Order and the rebirth of magic. The majority of this century belonged to the pre-Founders: Guorna the Fetid, the Pater of two founders Tytalus and Tremere, as well as Pralix; Delendar the fire-magician, pater of Flambeau; the unknown forebears of Bjornaer and Diedne, the two barbarian magi who yet were inheritors of organized magical traditions. The final third of this century belongs to their heirs, the disparate schools brought together by the genius of Bonisagus, who likely only developed his Parma Magica to live in peace.
The Order might never have happened if not for the pivotal moment when two witches of Thessaly, the ambitious and politically astute Trianoma and the reclusive Viea, seek out the enigmatic scholar Bonisagus, who lives in seclusion deep in the Alps, working on his revolutionary magical theory. More than just a scholar, Bonisagus has also developed a new defense against hostile magic - the Parma Magica - a shield that not only protects against spells but also suppresses the instinctive distrust caused by the Gift, allowing Gifted individuals to cooperate without fear or paranoia. Viea soon departs, but Trianoma, recognizing the Parma Magica’s significance, becomes Bonisagus’ first apprentice. She learns the Parma, and with this powerful tool in hand, begins recruiting other magi, laying the groundwork for what will become the Order of Hermes.
For over three decades (732–767), Bonisagus’ alpine cave - and later, Durenmar, the Order’s first covenant - becomes the meeting place for Europe's greatest magical minds. Here, magi share their wisdom, contributing their own traditions to Bonisagus’ growing Hermetic Theory. Many disputes and rivalries are reconciled, as Trianoma persuades wizards of all traditions to embrace a common magical framework, mediated by the developing Code of Hermes.
By 767, the Order of Hermes is officially founded, with Twelve Houses, a set of laws, and Grand Tribunals held every 33 years. Bonisagus continues refining Hermetic Theory, though he is increasingly withdrawn from politics, focusing instead on pure magical research.
The founding magi brought their own strengths:
- Bonisagus obviously the Hermetic Theory and his greatest gift - the Parma Magica, making the Order possible.
- Trianoma, a divinatory and oracular witch of Thessaly, trained in prophecy and foresight, was the political architect of the Order.
- Guernicus codified the Periphery Code, ensuring the Order governs itself through law, not war.
- Mercere established the Redcap network, ensuring reliable communication and coordination between covenants. And he created Hermetic travel magic, refining spells and enchanted items to aid long-distance movement.
- Tremere advocated for centralized control and internal discipline, which helped prevent early schisms in the Order. Though he did not create the Code, he worked tirelessly to shape the Order’s political and martial structure, ensuring it would function as a disciplined society rather than a chaotic cabal of wizards.
- Flambeau created Hermetic Battle Magic, developed Creo Ignem to its peak of destructive power, making fire a feared weapon and ensuring that the Order had a martial tradition capable of defending its members.
- Tytalus also saw the need for conflict and pushed for a militant stance, but unlike Flambeau he emphasized psychological and social manipulation, shaping House Tytalus into rivals, provocateurs, and master manipulators. During the founding of the Order, he disrupted debates, questioned every authority, and pushed others to prove themselves through struggle. His rivalry with Tremere was legendary - where Tremere sought command, Tytalus mocked the very idea of rulership, believing that leaders should be challenged constantly.
- Bjornaer truly resisted integration, but agreed after Trianoma’s persuasion, she represented the wild, untamed magic of nature, proving that the Order could accommodate diverse non-Roman traditions.
- Merinita advocated for the protection of magical places, ensuring the Order preserved not just vis sources, but entire magical landscapes. She developed the first structured Hermetic techniques for understanding and manipulating regiones, which becomes crucial for covenants built in magical and faerie sites.
- Verditius provided the greatest system of enchanted item creation, shaping the Art of Magic Item Crafting into a precise science.
- Criamon introduced esoteric philosophy into the Order, ensuring that Hermetic magic could be more than just power—it could be enlightenment.
The Grand Tribunal of 832 marks the end of the Founders’ era. Bonisagus and Trianoma attend for the last time, their vision realized. The Order they built is no longer a fragile alliance of scholars but a powerful magical society. Yet, already, the seeds of ambition, intrigue, and conflict are taking root. The age of pioneers is over. The age of Hermetic politics and power struggles begins.
The Age of Ambition and Intrigue (AD 833–910)
With the last of the Founders departing from power, a new era begins—one of maneuvering, politicking, and hidden struggles. The unity of the Order remains intact, but the early vision of brotherhood among magi fades as covenants grow wealthy, secretive, and self-serving.
House Tremere rises in influence. No longer tempered by the Founders’ presence, Tremere’s successors begin consolidating power, using certamen, alliances, and legal rulings to control weaker magi.
The Great Houses compete for dominance. Tytalus magi weave intrigues, Jerbiton influence mundanes, and Flambeau and Bjornaer struggle over frontier covenants.
The first deep suspicions of House Diedne emerge. Their refusal to reveal their inner rites leads to whispers of dark pacts and hidden agendas.
By the late 9th century, Hermetic law is more defined than ever, but so are its loopholes, manipulations, and factional politics. The Grand Tribunal of 910 marks a turning point - major Tribunals have solidified, and many magi now view politics as a tool just as valuable as magic itself.
The Order is no longer just a society of scholars - it is a world of its own, filled with alliances, grudges, and the early signs of what will one day lead to war.
The Tides of Mars (AD 898–1018)
By the end of the 9th century, the last of the Founders had died or vanished into Twilight. The great names who once held sway were gone, leaving the Order in the hands of newly rising Primi and the recently recognized Archmagi who inherited much of the Founders’ social prestige. Outwardly, this seemed a time of relative calm: Hermetic law continued to be refined, new covenants appeared, and the unity of the Order of Hermes had endured. Yet beneath that surface, old resentments and new intrigues were growing into something far more dangerous.
Rumors of Damhan-Allaidh’s return rippled through Loch Leglean, spurring fears that the infamous “Spider” had not truly perished in 810. Meanwhile, Wizard’s Wars - once individualized affairs - began escalating into broader covenant conflicts. Tensions spiked when disturbing documents known as the Duresca Scrolls were discovered, raising doubts about the intentions of House Guernicus and shaking trust in the Quaesitores at precisely the moment the Order needed them most.
Amid the backdrop of rivalries and simmering tensions across the Order, House Tytalus plunged into its most perilous gambit. Always devoted to testing boundaries - and certain they could toy with diabolic forces as adroitly as they outwitted rival magi - a powerful faction drifted into outright diabolism, a practice they concealed for years using the same cunning that once saw Tytalus survive the Sundering. Their hubris caught up with them during the Special Tribunal of 961, when Quaesitores led a purge that nearly eradicated the entire House. Although Tytalus weathered this maelstrom, the scandal not only crippled the House for decades but also sent shockwaves through the entire Order and rekindled old suspicions fed by earlier crises, such as the Spider War and the first tremors of the Schism.
In the wake of this debacle, many within the Order regarded Tytalus’s “games” less as bold innovation and more as ruinous overreach - reminders that even the craftiest manipulator can be undone by the foes they presume to master.
Mistrust of House Diedne intensifies. Their once-tolerated secrecy and druidic rites invite suspicion of hidden sins, and paranoid whispers multiply among the Latin Houses, in particular Tremere, Flambeau, and Jerbiton. Tensions mount, propelled by rumors of twisted sacrifices and infernal bargains. Many covenants quietly close ranks, forging martial pacts or stockpiling vis, bracing for the war they sense is coming.
Even so, this era saw rapid growth of the Order. New covenants sprang up across Mythic Europe, House Ex Miscellanea integrated more hedge traditions, and promising young magi filled the gaps left by aging elders. But these gains came with growing pains. Heightened rivalries, Wizard’s Wars fought over unclaimed vis, and whispered accusations against Diedne rattled the fragile peace. Increasingly, disputes that might once have been settled by politics or Certamen now escalated into open conflict.
By the turn of the millennium, the Order’s outward prosperity masked a landscape of looming dread. Skirmishes erupt in border covenants, and the Quaesitores struggle to keep the peace. Some Houses clamor for an official condemnation of Diedne; others call for calm and proof. Yet, cooler heads are quickly drowned out as fear becomes the coin of Hermetic politics. Wizards’ War - once carefully declared in single grudges - now flares between rival covenants and entire factions.
The stage was set for the greatest crisis in Hermetic history: a fiery maelstrom of suspicion and violence - soon known as the Schism War - that would erupt in 1003 and forever reshape the Order of Hermes.
The accusations levied against House Diedne serve as the spark, but the true blaze of the Schism War is fueled by older feuds and unresolved betrayals. Over nine harrowing years, the Order tears at itself from within. The devastation culminates in the destruction of House Diedne. By 1018, the Order stands bloodied and hollow: once again united on parchment, but haunted by the echoes of an age when sodalis turned upon sodalis.
The Age of Faith and Fire (AD 1018-1160)
As the dust of the Schism War finally settles and the Order’s wounds begin to scar over, Mythic Europe enters a turbulent era defined by both spiritual fervor and expanding horizons. The mundane world is aflame with renewed religious zeal—monastic movements spread across the continent, and new pilgrimages or “holy” conflicts (such as the First Crusade) bring fresh opportunities and dire risks to magi who must decide how (or whether) to engage.
Within the Order, the trauma of the Diedne purges still casts a lingering shadow. Many covenants feel torn between renewed hope in a future free of internal strife and the ever-present paranoia that another hidden corruption might bring war once again. House Tremere’s power is met with wariness; House Guernicus struggles to repair its reputation for impartial justice. Even Tytalus, ostensibly restored after its diabolism scandals, finds acceptance slow in coming.
Yet these decades are also a time of unprecedented growth. New covenants sprout on old battlefields or near the booming trade routes of the Mediterranean. Scholars refine Hermetic theory, building on the achievements of Bonisagus, while Mystery Cults quietly expand their initiation rites. The Dominion likewise grows mightier as churches, shrines, and holy orders flourish, forcing magi to navigate the ascending power of bishops and kings. Many soon discover that the holy zeal of crusaders can be as lethal to a magus’s secretive research as any Hermetic feud.
By the mid-12th century, the Order stands at a crossroads: great promise for deeper cooperation and magical discoveries set against rising worldly entanglements and still-simmering suspicions. Whether these trials galvanize a stronger, more unified Order - or push it into fresh crises - remains uncertain. What is clear is that, in the Age of Faith and Fire, few magi can ignore the conflagration of beliefs, politics, and ambition blazing through Europe’s cathedrals and courts.
The Age of Dominion and Discovery (AD 1160- )
The first half of this century sees the continuance of relative calm, although tension mounts within the Order, and friction between Order and Church grows. This period also marks a disturbing trend in the Church of Crusading: the Third Crusade to the Levant, the Albigensian Crusade, the continuing Crusade in Iberia, and the Crusade in the Baltic point to increasing Papal involvement in temporal matters and willingness to use force. Furthermore, the Church spends much of its energy in conflict with the Empire and other mortal kings. Some magi become concerned that this violent bent will inevitably turn against the Order.
By the 1160s, Europe is firmly in the grip of strong monarchies and reform-minded Church authorities. Vast cathedrals rise above bustling market towns, while new monastic orders and crusading fraternities expand their influence from the Holy Land to the fringes of Christendom. As the Dominion’s aura spreads deeper into once-rural territories, covenants find their magical activities increasingly challenged by interference with spells or the draining presence of constant piety. Even so, these shifting mundane dynamics also open new opportunities for politically savvy magi to broker alliances with powerful nobles - and risk accusations of meddling under the Code of Hermes.
At the same time, learning flourishes in newly established universities (like Bologna and Paris), blending classical philosophy, theology, and even a faint whiff of the arcane. Young Jerbiton and Bonisagus magi, curious about the “outside” world of human learning, venture into these centers of study, forging strange partnerships with theologians, mathematicians, and proto-scientists. While some conservative Hermetic elders grumble at such openness, others see it as a wellspring of new insight - translating ancient Arabic or Greek texts on geometry, alchemy, and astronomy that could enrich Hermetic theory.
As the frontiers of Mythic Europe shift - be it the Reconquista in Iberia, the Crusades in the Holy Land, or voyages probing the Baltic and North Atlantic- entire covenants undertake bold forays into terra incognita. They seek unclaimed vis sites and magical beasts, returning laden with obscure knowledge. House Ex Miscellanea, in particular, expands as newly discovered hedge traditions join the Order - somewhat grudgingly. Yet these adventures carry risk: wizards’ skirmishes with distant sahirs, African magicians, or even rumored enclaves of lost Diedne rituals spark fear that a new crisis could erupt if caution is thrown to the wind.
Despite overall peace, not all is harmonious behind covenant walls. House Tremere fortifies its dominance through disciplined cooperative magic, while House Tytalus tries to purge lingering shadows of diabolic scandal from its ranks, pushing its young magi into ever more harrowing “trials” of cunning. House Guernicus grapples with how to enforce the Code in a world where cross-tribunal covenants, Mystery Cult manipulations, and complex mundane entanglements grow more common. Publicly, the Quaesitores remain the guardians of Hermetic law—privately, they fret that one wrong move could ignite a new conflagration.