Old manuscripts from the ancient classical world were discovered and taken to Florence, the centre of Renaissance culture.

One of these manuscripts - the Corpus Hermticum - was thought to have been written in Egypt whilst under Greek rule. The text included work on astrology, alchemy and magic. Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499) translated both the Corpus Hermeticum and works by Plato.

Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494) introduced the idea of the Jewish mystical system the Kabbalah. Astrology, talismanic magic and alchemy were practiced during the Renaissance and the craze for images and the symbolic meaning of those images preoccupied the Renaissance thinkers and artists. The symbolic images on Tarot cards were to be found in all popular art of the time.

The Neo-Platonic Hermetic movement believed that man, was a great miracle, that he was in essence a microcosm of the greater universe. Self-knowledge was encouraged, believing knowledge of soul was knowledge of the divine.

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