The Legendary Emerald Tablet and its Secrets of the Universe
The origins of Western alchemy can be traced back to Hellenistic Egypt, in particular to
the city of Alexandria. One of the most important characters in the mythology of alchemy is
Hermes Trismegistus (Hermes the Thrice-Great). The name of this figure is derived from the
Egyptian god of wisdom, Thoth, and his Greek counterpart, Hermes. The Hermetica, which
is said to be written by Hermes Trismegistus, is generally regarded as the basis of Western
alchemical philosophy and practice. In addition, Hermes Trismegistus is also believed to be
the author of the Emerald Tablet.
Legends of the Emerald Tablet
The Emerald Tablet is said to be a tablet of emerald or green stone inscribed with the
secrets of the universe. The source of the original Emerald Tablet is unclear; hence
it is surrounded by legends. The most common story claims that the tablet was found in
a caved tomb under the statue of Hermes in Tyana, clutched in the hands of the corpse
of Hermes Trismegistus himself.
And the creator of the Emerald Tablet has been provided in myth as the Egyptian god
Thoth, who Armando Mei writes “divided his knowledge into 42 plates of emerald, codifying
the great scientific principles ruling the Universe. The legend tells that after the
gods’ fall, the Hermetic tablets were cleverly hidden so that no human being might find them.
Only Thoth, on his return to that dimension, was able to recover the mysterious book.”
Another legend suggests that it was the third son of Adam and Eve , Seth, who originally
wrote it. Others believed that the tablet was once held within the Ark of the Covenant
. Some even claim that the original source of the Emerald Tablet is none other than the
fabled city of Atlantis.
Spreading Stories of the Emerald Tablet While various claims have been made regarding
the origins of the Emerald Tablet, as yet no verifiable evidence has been found to support
them. The oldest documentable source of the Emerald Tablet’s text is the Kitab sirr
al-haliqi (Book of the Secret of Creation and the Art of Nature), which was itself a
composite of earlier works.
This was an Arabic work written in the 8th century AD and attributed to ‘Balinas’
or Pseudo-Apollonius of Tyana. It is Balinas who provides us with the story of how he discovered
the Emerald Tablet in the caved tomb. Based on this Arabic work, some believe that the
Emerald Tablet was also an Arabic text and written between the 6th and 8th centuries
AD, rather than a piece of work from Antiquity, as many have claimed.
While Balinas claimed that the Emerald Tablet was written originally in Greek, the original
document that he purportedly possessed no longer exists, if indeed it existed at all.
Some say the text burned up in the Library of Alexandria . Nevertheless, Balinas’ version
of the text itself quickly became well-known, and has been translated by various people
over the centuries.
For instance, an early version of the Emerald Tablet also appeared in a work called the
Kitab Ustuqus al-Uss al-Thani (Second Book of the Elements of the Foundation), which
is attributed to Jabir ibn Hayyan. It would, however, take several more centuries before
the text was accessible to Europeans. In the 12th century AD, the Emerald Tablet was translated
into Latin by Hugo von Santalla.
What’s Written on the Emerald Tablet? The Emerald Tablet would become one of the
pillars of Western alchemy. It was a highly influential text in medieval and Renaissance
alchemy, and probably still is today. In addition to translations of the Emerald Tablet, numerous
commentaries have also been written regarding its contents.
For instance, a translation by Isaac Newton was discovered among his alchemical papers.
This translation is currently being held in King’s College Library in Cambridge University.
Other notable researchers of the Emerald Tablet include Roger Bacon , Albertus Magnus, John
Dee , and Aleister Crowley . And today knowledge of the legendary Emerald Tablet (at least
one interpretation of it ) is reaching new audiences with its presence in the surreal
German-language series Dark.
The interpretation of the Emerald Text is not a straightforward matter, as it is after
all a piece of esoteric text . One interpretation, for instance, suggests that the text describes
seven stages of alchemical transformation – calcination, dissolution, separation,
conjunction, fermentation, distillation and coagulation. Yet, despite the various interpretations
available, it seems that none of their authors claim to possess knowledge of the whole truth.
Furthermore, readers are encouraged to read the text and try to interpret and find the
hidden truths themselves.