Secrets Unearthed: The Emerald Tablet Held by Hermes Trismegistus Reveals Universal Mysteries

The origins of Western alchemy can be traced back to Hellenistic Egypt, in particular to the city of Alexandria. One of the most important figures in alchemical mythology is Hermes Trismegistus (Hermes the Thrice-Great). This figure’s name is derived from the Egyptian god of wisdom, Thoth, and his Greek counterpart, Hermes. The Hermetica , said to have been written by Hermes Trismegistus, is generally regarded as the foundation of Western alchemical philosophy and practice. Additionally, Hermes Trismegistus is also believed to be the author of the Emerald Tablet.

Legends of the Emerald Tablet

The Emerald Tablet The Emerald Tablet is said to be a tablet of emerald or green stone on which are inscribed the secrets of the universe. The source of the original Emerald Tablet is unclear; hence it is surrounded by legend. The most common story states that the tablet was found in a tomb dug beneath the statue of Hermes at Tyana, clutched in the hands of the corpse of Hermes Trismegistus himself.

And the creator of the Emerald Tablet has been presented in myth as the Egyptian god Thoth, who, as Armando Mei writes, “divided his knowledge into 42 emerald plates, encoding the great scientific principles that govern the Universe. Legend has it that after the fall of the gods, the hermetic tablets were cleverly hidden so that no human being could find them. Only Thoth, upon his return to that dimension, was able to recover the mysterious book.”

Another legend suggests that it was Adam and Eve’s third son, Seth, who originally wrote it. Others believed that the tablet was once inside the Ark of the Covenant. Some even claim that the original source of the Emerald Tablet is none other than the legendary city of Atlantis.

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Spreading stories about the Emerald Tablet

While various claims have been made about the origins of the Emerald Tablet, no verifiable evidence has been found to support them as of yet. The earliest documentable source of the text of the Emerald Tablet is the Kitab sirr al-haliqi (Book of the Secret of Creation and the Art of Nature), which itself was a composite of earlier works.

This is an Arabic work written in the 8th century AD and attributed to ‘Balinas’ or Pseudo-Apollonius of Tyana. It is Balinas who tells us the story of how he discovered the Emerald Tablet in the excavated 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 work of antiquity as many have claimed.

While Balinas claimed that the Emerald Tablet was originally written in Greek, the original document he supposedly possessed no longer exists, if it ever existed. Some say the text was burned in the Library of Alexandria. However, Balinas’ version of the text quickly became well known and has been translated by several people over the centuries.

For example, an early version of the Emerald Tablet also appeared in a work called Kitab Ustuqus al-Uss al-Thani (Second Book of the Elements of the Foundation), which is attributed to Jabir ibn Hayyan. However, it would be several more centuries before the text became accessible to Europeans. In the 12th century AD, the Emerald Tablet was translated into Latin by Hugo von Santalla.

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What is written on the Emerald Tablet?

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 on its contents.

For example, a translation by Isaac Newton was discovered among his alchemical papers. This translation is currently housed in the library of King’s College, 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 series Dark.

An imaginative 17th-century depiction of the Emerald Tablet from the work of Heinrich Khunrath, 1606. ( Public domain)

Interpreting the Emerald Text is not a simple matter, as it is, after all, an esoteric text. One interpretation, for example, suggests that the text describes seven stages of alchemical transformation: calcination, dissolution, separation, conjunction, fermentation, distillation, and coagulation. However, despite the various interpretations available, it seems that none of its 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 for themselves.