Prayer Circle

The Corpus Hermeticum is a syncretic religious text from the 1st or 2nd century AD. The author was in all likelihood a greek Christian and tried to combine christian, jewish and greek religious ideas into something bigger. (That's why "neoplatonic".)

The Corpus Hermeticum contains a fictional character, an egyptian priest named Hermes Trismegistus. Later scholars misdated the text to have been written millennia ago, in ancient Egypt, during the Age of Moses. (That's why "Egyptian Neoplatonists".)

Throughout history the Corpus Hermeticum was taken at face value and misunderstood to tell the secrets of real egyptian magic-wielding priests. The Corpus Hermeticum's young age was eventually found out by a language-expert in the late Renaissance.



I can recommend the books of Frances A. Yates on this topic.