Alchemy concerns historical approaches to material transformation and the interpretation of nature. Spiritual readings form part of its reception but should not replace the material history.
The Corpus Hermeticum is a collection of philosophical religious dialogues concerning mind, the divine, the cosmos, and human knowledge. It should be distinguished from later works marketed as Hermetic teaching.
Religious syncretism concerns the combination of ideas, figures, and practices from different traditions. Similarity of names or imagery alone does not establish identity or historical continuity.