Chapter III.

There are many translations of the inscription supposed to
have been found on the tablet, and these in varied Arabic and
Latin forms have been carefully studied by Ruska.1 The
earliest forms of the text are in Arabic, and the following is a
translation from an Arab collection of commentaries of the early
twelfth century known as The Emerald Table of Hermes:

True it is, without falsehood, certain most true. That which is
above is like to that which is below, and that which is below is like
to that which is above, to accomplish the miracles of one thing.
And as in all things whereby contemplation of one, so in all things
arose from this one thing by a single act of adoption.

The father thereof is the Sun, the mother the Moon.

1 Julius Ruska, Tabula Smaragdini (Heidelberg, 1926).

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LURE & ROMANCE OF ALCHEMY

The wind carried it in its womb, the earth is the source thereof.
It is the father of all works of wonder throughout the world.

The power thereof is perfect.

If it be cast on to earth, it will separate the element of earth
from that of fire, the subtle from the gross.

With great sagacity it doth ascend gently from earth to heaven.
Again it doth descend to earth and uniteth in itself the force from
things superior and things inferior.

Thus thou wilt possess the brightness of the world, and all
obscurity will fly far from thee.

This thing is the strong fortitude of all strength, for it over-
cometh every subtle thing and doth penetrate every solid substance.

Thus was this world created.

Hence will there be marvellous adaptations achieved of which
the manner is this.

For this reason I am called Hermes Trismegistus because I hold
three parts of the wisdom of the whole world.

That which I had to say about the operation of Sol is completed.

What is the meaning of this enigma? Albertus Magnus,
Roger Bacon, and other philosophers of the Middle Ages sought
to solve it, but their comments only point to a vague doctrine of
correspondence between heaven and earth, so that inanimate
nature answers to the planets and the heavenly bodies. It
obviously emphasizes the dependence of all earthly things on
the sun, thus following the idea of Aristotle that man is gene¬
rated from man and the sun. It refers to the action of the
moon upon the earth, the action of fire on a solid body, causing
distillation or sublimation, and the subsequent solution of a
rarer liquid. It is, indeed, a brief summary of the principles
of change in nature and the foundation of alchemical doctrine,
and shows the close connexion between alchemy and astrology.

One of the earliest doctrines of astrology was a belief in
a mysterious emanation from the heavenly bodies which in¬
fluenced man’s life in health and disease, and also affected all
minerals, plants, and flowers, their properties being derived
from the sun, the moon, and the planets.

Legends of the discovery of ancient stone tablets or documents

3*

MYSTERY OF THE EMERALD TABLET

are not infrequent ; another is provided by the story of the find¬
ing of the famous book on magic known as The Key of Solomon ,
which, according to tradition, was discovered secreted in an
ivory casket in a tomb.

In the account of the emerald tablet given by Roger Bacon
in the Secretum Secretorum it is stated that “These precious
sentences of Hermes were found by Galienus Alfachim the
physician, on a plaque of emerald in a cave, clasped in the hands
of the corpse of that mysterious legendary figure Hermes Tris-
megistus, The Thrice Great.” The reader is exhorted “to
preserve the strictest secrecy from all except men of goodwill,
this treasured text, even as Hermes himself had hidden it within
the cave.”

Another instance of a similar discovery is the story respecting
the treatise entitled Concerning the Seven , attributed to Alexius
Africanus, in which the seven herbs connected with the seven
planets are named. This document is said to have been found
enclosed within a monument with the bones of the first King
Kyrannides in the town of Troy.

Several early historians record that the lore of the Egyptians
was preserved in the stelae of their temples. Iamblichus, in the
fourth century, mentions “ancient stelae of Hermes in which all
science was written down ” ; while Olympiodorus, in the sixth
century, says, “The secret of the mystic art is inscribed on the
obelisks in hieroglyphics.”

The tradition that the text was inscribed on an emerald may
have arisen from the fact that in Graeco-Egyptian times the
name was applied to any green stone.

It may be well to quote another and freer translation of this
historic text; it can be judged more clearly from this that the
writer designed to teach the doctrines of alchemy that were
common in the early Christian era.

I speak not fictitious things, but that which is certain and most
true. What is below is like that which is above, and what is above
is like that which is below to accomplish the miracles of One

c 33

LURE & ROMANCE OF ALCHEMY

Thing. And as all things were produced by the One Word of
One Being, so all things were produced from the One Thing by
adaptation. Its father is the Sun, its mother the Moon, the wind
carries it in its belly, its nurse is the earth. It is the father of all
perfection throughout the world. The power is vigorous if it be
changed into earth. Separate the earth from the fire, the subtle
from the gross, acting prudently and with judgment. Ascend with
the sagacity from the earth to heaven, and then again descend to
the earth and unite together the powers of things superior and
things inferior. Thus you will obtain the glory of the whole world
and obscurity will fly far from you. This has more fortitude than
fortitude itself, because it conquers every subtle thing and can
penetrate every solid. Thus was the world formed. Hence pro¬
ceed wonders which are here established. Therefore I am called
Hermes Trismegistus, having three parts of the philosophy of the
whole world. That which I had to say concerning the operation
of the Sun is completed.

The authorship of this remarkable message still remains a
mystery, although philosophers have laboured for centuries to
prove its authenticity and to interpret its cryptic words. In the
Middle Ages it was regarded as a marvellous revelation full of
sublime secrets of great importance to mankind, but what these
secrets were none was able to reveal.

Ferguson enumerates forty-eight treatises and commentaries
on the Emerald Tablet, and remarks that we cannot well ignore
it — less perhaps now than ever in view of the discovery of
Egyptian writings like the medical Papyrus Ebers , which he calls
an hermetic treatise of 1550 B.c., a date coinciding with that
assigned to Hermes by Lambeck. Other researches have shown
that the belief in a person or persons of the name of Hermes has
been so widespread and persistent that the whole Hermes legend
forms a legitimate subject of inquiry as to its origin.

The text is certainly not modern; it has been assigned to
Hermes from the first, and its significance does not lie on the
surface. It is a profound mystery and remains a great puzzle.
Everything concerning it remains a problem ; its legendary and
romantic discovery, its author — whether one of the several per-

34

MYSTERY OF THE EMERALD TABLET

sonages of the name of Hermes or an anonymous writer who
ascribed it to him to give it authority — and its possible con¬
nexion with so-called hermetic writings of an earlier time. De
Sacy was of the opinion that the Emerald Tablet was the work
of Apollonius of Tyana, but gives no grounds for his conclusion.
The story of its discovery may be a myth, but we must remem¬
ber that the earliest Egyptian papyri dealing with medicine,
which are believed to date from 1550 B.c., were found reposing
between the legs of a mummy. The most that can be hoped
for is that some future discoveries may lead at least to a plausible
theory, if not to perfect certainty, regarding its origin.

35