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The Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus

By , About.com Guide

The Emerald Tablet has long been considered the basis of Western alchemy as well as hermetic thought. According to legend, it was originally inscribed on a tablet of emerald or green stone.

Age and Authorship:

Different sources give a wide range of sources of the original tablet. Some claim it was originally written in Syriac, Phoenician, or Chaldean. It's been suggested that Adam and Eve's third child, Seth, from whom all of humanity is descended, originally wrote it. It might have been contained within the Ark of the Covenant. Some modern students of the tablet have suggested Atlantis as the original source.

The first clear evidence of it is about 1000 years old in an Arabic document known as the Kitab Sirr al-Assar. It claims to be a translation of an ancient Greek document, although such a document no longer exists, if it existed at all. The Emerald Tablet is a small portion of the Kitab Sirr al-Assar.

Hermes Trismegistus:

Most commonly, authorship of the tablet is credited to the mythical Hermes Trismegistus. In the Middle Ages, Hermes was thought to be an ancient academic, a possible contemporary of Moses. He was highly respected as one of history's greatest scholars and considered by many to be a pagan prophet who foretold the coming of Christianity and its teachings. He was also considered the author of the Corpus Hermeticum, the basis of hermeticism.

In the 1600s, however, it was shown that the Corpus Hermeticum was actually composed around the 2nd century CE. Today, we accept that the texts were actually written my multiple anonymous authors, not a single one.

Text:

Different translations of the Emerald Tablet can read significantly differently. This is a modern English translation of the 12 century Latin version of the document. To compare multiple versions, visit here.
  1. [It is] true, without a lie, certain and most true,
  2. That which is below is as that which is above, and that which is above is as that which is below, to perform the miracles of the one thing.
  3. And as all things were from the one, by means of the meditation of the one, thus all things were born from the one, by means of adaptation.
  4. Its father is the Sun, its mother is the Moon, the Wind carried it in its belly, its nurse is the earth.
  5. The father of the whole world [or "of all of the initiates"?] is here.
  6. Its power is whole if it has been turned into earth.
  7. You will separate the earth from the fire, the subtle from the dense, sweetly, with great skill.
  8. It ascends from earth into heaven and again it descends to the earth, and receives the power of higher and of lower things.
  9. Thus you will have the Glory of the whole world.
  10. Therefore will all obscurity flee from you.
  11. Of all strength this is true strength, because it will conquer all that is subtle, and penetrate all that is solid.
  12. Thus was the world created.
  13. From this were wonderful adaptations, of which this is the means. Therefore am I named Thrice-Great Hermes, having the three parts of the philosophy of the whole world.
  14. It is finished, what I have said about the working[s] of the Sun.

Meanings:

As should be expected from esoteric texts, the meaning of the tablet is not straightforward, and different readers many interpret it differently.

As Above, So Below:

The most known line of the tablet is line 2, commonly abbreviated to "As above, so below." This reflects the concept of macrocosm and microcosm, the idea that the structure and workings of the universe are mirrored in a variety of smaller systems, including the human form. Understanding of one helps you with understanding the other. This principle is particularly important in alchemy. Alchemists were not looking to get rich quick by transmuting lead into gold. Thy were attempting to find a process that transmuted a crude common things into a perfect, rare thing. It's a metaphor for elevating the soul, for becoming closer to God.

Hierarchy of Elements:

Separating the fire from the earth is part of this same concept. Earth was considered the most base and crude of the four physical elements. Fire was the most rarefied. Lead is a very earthy metal, while gold - rare, brilliant, attractive, and strongly associated with the golden and fiery sun - was considered a metal of fire. To separate the fire from the earth is to separate the superior from the inferior.

Therefore Will all Obscurity Flee from You:

Occult pursuits are about knowledge and spiritual transformation. To understand the nature of higher things is to actually transform one's nature into a higher, more spiritual state. Thus, when you fully grasp how these forces work and how one exists within it, one will possess all the knowledge there is to know.

Thus was the World Created:

This is a spiritual understanding of the creation of the universe. ("World" was commonly used to mean the universe in pre-heliocentric texts.) To fully understand our origins is too fully understand everything that came forth from that creation.

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