The Emerald Tablet, or Tabula Smaragdina, is a legendary ancient text attributed to the mysterious Hermes Trismegistus. It's considered a foundational work of alchemy.
An imaginative portrayal of the Emerald Tablet in Heinrich Khunrath's Amphitheatrum Sapientiae Aeternae (1609). Source: Wellcome Collection.
At its core, it’s said to be a short, yet profoundly mysterious piece of writing, long associated with the ancient practice of alchemy - the ancient quest to transform base matter into noble substances and guide the seeker to spiritual enlightenment. While the original tablet - if it existed at all - has been lost for at least 1,200 years, its alleged contents have captivated alchemists, philosophers, and scholars for centuries.
The exact origin of the Emerald Tablet (ET) of Hermes lies shrouded in mystery. Opinions vary widely, from the scholarly theory that it originated in the early period of Arabic alchemy, to the speculative fantasy of an Atlantean origin. The original document has not survived and all we are left with are translations of it.
Origins and Authorship
Traditionally, the authorship of the Smaragdine Table has been attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, a famously elusive figure revered as a philosopher, prophet, and the father of Hermetic philosophy. Hermes himself is thought to be a composite of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth, and the emerald tablets are thought by some to be a small part of his lost collection of writing on esoteric wisdom, if they ever existed at all.
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Illustration of Hermes holding the tablet in a manuscript found in Topkapi Sarayi Ahmet III Library, Istanbul, Turkey. Source: Wikimedia Commons (user: Kildwyke).
There are hundreds of different versions of the text, and while the date of the original text has been lost to history (it may be as early as the second century BC), it’s believed the first documented source is from an Arabic text written around the eighth or ninth century AD.
Early Versions and Translations
Contrary to Renaissance beliefs, the work does not originate from ancient times: this short text has been traced back by German scholar Julius Ruska to 7th-9th century Arab treatise Kitab Balaniyus al-Hakim fi'l-`Ilal (The Book of Wise Balinas on the Causes). The text of the tablet was translated into Latin in the twelfth century by Hugo of Santalla.
Some Arabic versions contain lines that claim the ET to be the testament of a person named 'Balinas', who enters a cave and sees Hermes sitting there holding an "emerald" (meaning "green stone", not necessarily that it was specifically an emerald) tablet upon which were written certain words in ancient Syriac. Apparently, Balinas left the cave and subsequently wrote down what he saw engraved upon Hermes' tablet. Whether historically accurate or not, these lines present us with a valuable mythological image: the inner search for meaning.
Of greatest impact on western thought, have been three 12th century Latin versions.
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The Tablet probably first appeared in the West in editions of the psuedo-Aristotlean Secretum Secretorum which was actually a translation of the Kitab Sirr al-Asar, a book of advice to kings which was translated into latin by Johannes Hispalensis c. 1140 and by Philip of Tripoli c.1243. Holmyard was the first to find another early arabic version (Ruska found a 12th centruy recension claiming to have been dictated by Sergius of Nablus) in the Kitab Ustuqus al-Uss al-Thani (Second Book of the Elements of Foundation) attributed to Jabir.
Western chemistry started life in the Hellenistic world of Late Antiquity, developing in fizzing intellectual melting pots like Alexandria. For Western European scholars, alchemy became a branch of natural philosophy, a discipline which offered various methods to explore and understand the workings of the physical world.
In Western Europe, this new field of proto-chemistry was called alchimia, or alchemy, with the root of the word mapping exactly onto the discipline’s cultural history. However, unlike modern science, alchemy had a profoundly religious core. It was an act of devotion, enabling the alchemist to participate in divine creation. At the same time, it took place within a metaphysical framework in which purifications of substances in the laboratory were innately connected to spiritual refinements in the soul of the alchemist.
Alchemy did not feature in medieval or Enlightenment university curricula and was never an official branch of learning. However, that did not stop many great minds from poring over its texts and spending long hours drinking the smoke of furnaces and alembics. Two of the most influential practitioners were the Somerset friar and Oxford academic, Roger Bacon, and Cambridge’s Lucasian professor of mathematics, Isaac Newton.
10 Изумрудные Скрижали Тота Атланта дословный перевод
Key Concepts and Interpretations
The Emerald Tablet (ET) begins by stating that its words are universally true. There are many, many levels of Truth, and the ET here specifies that its words apply on all of these levels.
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The Emerald Tablet is the foundation of western Alchemical thought and practice as we know it today. There are quite a few different translations of the Emerald Tablet available, and I have chosen to use the 12th Century Latin translation from Steele and Singer (1928:p.492). I have however, constantly refered to my library of translations (14 in all) throughout my commentary, as each difference in wording produces a slightly different interpretation.
One of the most famous phrases from alchemy is taken from the Emerald Tablet.
Considered the foundation text for Western alchemy, the tabula smaragdina has been revered by alchemists throughout history. Its message emphasised the interconnectedness of all things and the principle of: “as above, so below,” which became a central tenet of alchemical thought.
Here are some key concepts and interpretations:
- "As Above, So Below": This phrase encapsulates the idea that the macrocosm (the universe) and the microcosm (the individual) are interconnected and reflect each other.
- The One Thing: The ET defines The One Thing as an Infinite Continuum. The term above (or any of its variant translations) establishes two concepts: 1) the starting point from which there is an above; and 2) an unlimited upwardness. The term below likewise, establishes: 1) the starting point from which there is a below; and 2) an unlimited downwardness. The statement that ABOVE IS LIKE WHAT IS BELOW, and vise versa, places them on a continuum of alikeness. In an Infinite Continuum, Center occurs any and every who, what, when, where and why. There is no point along the Continuum from which above and below do not extend infinitely, and thus, equally.
- The Creative Process: The ET posits the ONE as "All Mind" and states that all THINGS arise from the CONTEMPLATION (meditation) of this ONE. Each of these THINGS , within the Continuum of Self, are self-conscious aspects of the One, of the All Mind, mirroring the power of the One, and must follow the methods of the One. The imagery used is that of the human generative process (Father, Mother, Womb, Breast Fed), which is concurrently correlated to geo-centric symbols (Sun, Moon, Wind/Air, Earth).
- Force and Form: This is the archetype of Force (as opposed to Form), of light (as opposed to dark), of Fire (as opposed to Water), of thought (as opposed to physical matter). Force, energy, creative intent, Mind, Yod, whatever level of this archetype one employs, it always seeks expression in Form.
Notable Translations and Commentaries
The Emerald Tablet has since been studied and interpreted by numerous scholars and alchemists over the centuries. The tradition of direct commentary on the Tablet continued during the 17th century.
- Isaac Newton: Amongst those that sought to interpret the Emerald Tablet was Isaac Newton, who left his own English translation and Latin-language commentary in one of his alchemical manuscripts (Keynes MS 28). His work on mathematics, optics, forces, motion, sacred geography and alchemy were indivisible in his mind as routes to come closer to God through understanding the created universe.
- Hortulanus: In the Latin world, an influential commentary was that of the English alchemist John Garland, known as Hortulanus (14th century). The most widespread commentary accompanying the text of the Emerald Tablet is that of Hortulanus. He was an alchemist, who was likely active in the first half of the fourteenth century, about whom very little is known except for what he states about himself in the introduction of the text. Hortulanus, like Albertus Magnus before him, saw the tablet as a cryptic recipe that described laboratory processes using "deck names". This was the dominant view held by Europeans until the fifteenth century. In his commentary, Hortulanus, again like Albertus Magnus, interpreted the sun and moon to represent alchemical gold and silver. Hortulanus translated "telesma" as "secret" or "treasure".
- Johannes Trithemius: The Hermetic revival of the Renaissance brought the Emerald Tablet to widespread philosophical attention. The main person responsible for this was Johannes Trithemius, the Abbot of Sponheim (1462-1516).
Hermes Trismegistus with the tablet as portrayed in an Aurora consurgens manuscript, MS Rh. 172 in the Zürich Zentralbibliothek (3r). Source: e-codices Switzerland.
His work, The Silvery Water and the Starry Earth was later translated into Latin as Tabula chemica. It contained an iconic illustration of Hermes Trismegistus holding his tablet, an obvious reference to the Balinas text [image 2].
Influence on Science and Language
The exact meaning of the Emerald Tablet has always been ambiguous, placing it firmly in the category of ancient wisdom literature. Its opacity is one of the many reasons why it fascinated a thinker like Isaac Newton, for whom all intellectual endeavour was a path to understanding creation and praising God. In alchemy, he believed he had found the ancient wisdom that would enable him to unlock all the secrets of natural philosophy. His work on mathematics, optics, forces, motion, sacred geography and alchemy were indivisible in his mind as routes to come closer to God through understanding the created universe.
And the Vulgate text in Arundel MS 164 played a key role in that intellectual exploration, making it not only one of the core texts of alchemy, but also one of the foundational texts of modern, empirical, experimental science. This connection is not only part of the history of science. It is also hardwired into our language. The word ‘chemist’ is simply a version of ‘alchemist’, and ‘chemistry’ is merely ‘chemist’ plus the activity suffix -ry.
The Enigma of Telesmi
One notably unusual word in the Emerald Tablet is telesmi (or thelesmi in some manuscripts), which is not Latin. The phrase in which it appears reads ‘pater omnis telesmi mundi tocius’ (the father of all telesmi throughout the world).
The original Arabic of the Emerald Tablet has abu al-ṭilasmāt (أبو الطلسمات), the ‘father of talismans’. Translators perhaps left it because a famous story about the Emerald Tablet relates that the neo-Pythagorean philosopher Apollonius of Tyana originally discovered the text inscribed on a piece of emerald in the hands of an old man sitting on a golden throne in a vault under a statue of Hermes.
Modern Interpretations and Symbolism
Many interpret the tablet as a guide for personal spiritual growth and the awakening of higher consciousness. In essence, the Emerald Tablet is often said to be a concise yet profound text which aims to reveal the underlying principles of reality and provide a framework for understanding the nature of existence and transformation. However, the meaning and significance of the tabula smaragdina are entirely dependent on interpretation and there’s no obvious or self-evident meaning.
For one thing, the text is written in highly symbolic and allegorical language, which isn’t meant to be taken literally, and over the centuries alchemists, philosophers, and scholars have offered various interpretations, most of them being materially different from each other.
Table: Key Versions and Translations of the Emerald Tablet
| Version/Translation | Origin | Notable Features |
|---|---|---|
| Arabic Version (Kitab Balaniyus al-Hakim fi'l-`Ilal) | 7th-9th Century | Earliest known source, attributed to Balinas |
| Latin Translation by Hugo of Santalla | 12th Century | One of the earliest Latin translations |
| Latin Translation in Secretum Secretorum by Philip of Tripoli | 13th Century | Differs significantly from other Latin translations |
| Vulgate Latin Text | Medieval | Became the standard version, influenced later editions |
| English Translation by Isaac Newton | 17th Century | Part of Newton's alchemical studies |
The Emerald Tablet is one of the "root texts" of humanity... a bit of archetypal poetic symbolism, which presents a different glimmer of Wisdom to each who approaches it, each time it is approached.
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