History of Alchemy (IV). The Emerald Tablet
Before moving forward historically speaking in the development of alchemy, we believe it is necessary to make a brief pause in the definition of the Emerald Tablet or Tabula Smaragdina, in Latin, to which references are continually made.
The texts of the Emerald Tablet or referring to it appear for the first time in the treatise Sirr al-khalīqa wa-ṣanʿat al-ṭabīʿa or Secret of Creation and the Art of Nature, also known as the Book of Causes (Kitāb al-ʿilal), and were attributed to Apollonius of Tyana (I century), although they come from the 8th or 9th century. As a literary device, a certain Balinus claims to have found the text inscribed in a vaulted cavity under a sculpture of the god Hermes, where a corpse was sitting on a golden throne, embracing an emerald tablet.
Later, other legends arose attributing the discovery to Sara, the wife of the biblical Abraham, in a cave in Hebron, or to Alexander the Great himself, who snatched the tablet from the arms of the deceased "Hermes" after entering a cave under the pyramid of Giza. Its form also changed, since at first it was a tablet carved in emerald, then a larger text, and even authors and philosophers visualized it as an enormous carved mountain (see the engraving of Kunrath's work, 16th century)
The author of this text would have been Hermes Trimegistos (the three times great), according to some the hellenized version of the Egyptian god Thoth, according to others, a Theban king of great knowledge, who was somehow deified by it. The great majority of alchemists did not doubt the real existence of this character, although many think that it was not a single person, but that "trimegistos" was an honorary title given to certain wise men or priests.
Although the first translation into Latin is attributed to Hugo von Santalla (12th century), it was the Latin version of the Book of Hermes, originally in Arabic and renamed Liber Hermetis de alchimia or Liber dabessi (also 12th century), the most widely disseminated text of the Emerald Tablet, to the point of being called "the vulgate" of the Emerald Tablet. This text was the subject of progress in alchemical interpretation: Albertus Magnus (13th century) wanted to interpret the hermetic text as laboratory notes, in which it would be necessary to decipher the key words. Johannes Trithemius, for his part (16th century), identified the One with the Anima Mundi.
The Emerald Tablet also appears in the Secreta secretorum, a pseudo-Aristotelian work, although its text varies, and later translations into Latin will also add their own meaning. However, they all share enough similarities to deduce that they copied one from the other and that there was some source that set forth the basic principles. These principles would become "the sacred text" of both practical alchemy and spiritual alchemy. They were called the Precepts of Hermes, based on a text attributed to Jabir Ibn Hayyan.
What we cannot deny is the influence that the text had, being the most important for alchemical, hermetic, and occult culture in general. Although the texts and translations were partially varied, the deep meaning was maintained, although it is difficult to estimate its primitive symbolism, after so many twists and turns. We reproduce here a generic text, which serves to illustrate the interpretative complexity and the mystical and mysterious meaning of the text:
<< It is true, without any pretense, and very variable.
What is below is like what is above, and what is above is like what is below, to make miracles out of one thing.
And as all things have been and are coming from one, so all things have been born in this one thing by adaptation.
The sun is here the father, the moon is the mother, the wind has carried her in its womb, the earth is her food.
The father of all, the Thelema of the whole world is here.
Its force is complete if it becomes earth.
You will separate the earth from the fire, the subtle from the dense, prudently, with great skill.
Rise from the earth to heaven, and again descend to the earth, and receive the force of things above and below.
You will have, by this means, all the glory of the world, and all darkness will move away from you.
This is the force of all force because it will overcome every subtle thing and penetrate every solid thing.
Thus the world was created.
From this will be and will come innumerable adaptations whose means are here.
This is because I have been called Hermes Trismegistus, and I have the three parts of the philosophy of the world.
What has been said about the operation of the sun is fulfilled and finished.>>
Generally, precept I and XIII are eliminated, since they are the introduction and conclusion of the text. Regarding the others, there are various explanations, which we will try to summarize as best as possible in the following lines:
What is below is like what is above, and what is above is like what is below, to make miracles out of one thing. Understanding how the universe works through knowledge of that one thing allows miracles to be performed. Specifically, What is below is like what is above, and what is above is like what is below, has been the basis of many esoteric theories, in particular, a literal reflection of the cosmos, the macrocosm and the microcosm, and a whole system of correspondences, which is called melotesia. In addition, it is an allegory of higher knowledge, if one knows one of the parts, one is able to understand the whole.
And as all things have been and are coming from one, so all things have been born in this unique thing by adaptation. That unique thing is a creative and transforming power.
The sun is the father here, the moon is the mother, the wind has carried her in its womb, the earth is its food. Sun and Moon are gold and silver, but also masculine and feminine, principles of duality. The wind disperses the seeds of knowledge to the Earth, which nourishes them.
The father of all, the Thelema of the whole world is here. The "Father" as Creator is also the possessor of the Will (thelema). If the One is good, the world can become so.
Its power is complete if it becomes earth. The union of the spiritual with the material is necessary.
You will separate the earth from the fire, the subtle from the dense, prudently, with great skill. Literally, to distill and refine, separating what is crude (the earth) from the subtle (the fire). But also, the separation of the light from the thick, the ascension, or the "operation of the sun", have been the texts that have received the greatest attention and practically the fathers of material alchemy, as well as spiritual, especially for the ideas of glory, strength, and the defeat of darkness. Alchemy thus became a personal transmutation through the knowledge of natural transmutations. This rebirth of man is known as the Great Work, Magna Obra or Work of the Phoenix.
He rises from the earth to heaven, and again descends to earth, and receives the strength of higher and lower things. It is about the ascent and descent of the soul, of thought, the alchemist must move and cultivate himself in all spheres.
You will have, by this means, all the glory of the world, and all darkness will be removed from you. This is the strength of all strength because it will overcome all subtle things and penetrate all solid things. Glory is here the Greek areté, virtue, power. After the education of the mind, clarity and success appear, invention and inspiration. An alchemical mind, in the most scientific and spiritual sense of the word, symbolizes progress.
This is how the world was created. This is a comparison of alchemists with demiurges, as manipulators and creators of matter.
From this will be and will come innumerable adaptations whose medium is here. It refers undoubtedly to the alchemical text of the tablet, or to a possible larger text, of which the emerald tablet was only the introduction.
This is because I have been called Hermes Trismegistus, and I have the three parts of the philosophy of the world. As for the three parts of the philosophy that Hermes Trismegistus claims to possess, there are three major interpretations. The first one says that the three philosophies and the epithet "three times great" refer to the three cultures that the character unites in himself: the Greek, the Egyptian, and the Hebrew. The second interpretation indicates that these three knowledges are Heaven, Earth, and the Underworld. The third considers that it is a direct reference to the three great sciences of antiquity: astrology, alchemy and (probably) magic / theurgy.
Taking into account what was explained about the Emerald Tablet, that everything was summed up in the essence of the universe, and that everything ends up being One thing, the theories about metamorphosis made a lot of sense: something could be in different phases of the same process, and it would simply be necessary to move between phases to reach the desired material or objective. It is also the key to the hieroglyph or symbol of the Ouroboros, the serpent that devours itself.
To achieve this Great Work, and on the more physical level, to obtain the Philosopher's Stone, the elixir of immortality and the purification of both metals and the spirit, one would have to go through seven states, which are supposedly described in the text of the Emerald Tablet, namely: calcination, dissolution, separation, conjunction, fermentation, distillation and coagulation. This is only another of the many interpretations. On the spiritual side, there was talk of repair, calcination, sublimation, dissolution, distillation, coagulation and cooking.
Because it was a cryptic text, there were many who insisted that it was not so much a secret, but a message for certain "chosen ones", capable of admiring the message of its background on an alchemical and spiritual level. Realizing this knowledge hidden from others was the first step to begin to polish oneself.
The text of the Emerald Tablet would be intertwined with all the other texts listed in the Corpus Hermeticum, a Byzantine compendium, which, in addition to alchemy and spirituality, also dealt with topics of magic and astrology. These texts were thought of as a compendium of human knowledge prior to the Great Flood. However, attention to the Emerald Tablet varied in importance over time. It was considered lost, so the texts that referenced it or used it to promote themselves always attracted attention. Something that did not happen, for example, in places as far away as China, where a parallel alchemical tradition had emerged, as we will see in part IV.
Pietro V. Carracedo Ahumada – pietrocarracedo@gmail.com
Bibliography:
-Luck, G. Arcana Mundi. Magia y ocultismo en el mundo griego y romano. Alianza editorial, Madrid. 2023
-Iñigo Fernandez, L.E. Breve historia de la alquimia. Ed. Nowtilus. Madrid, 2010
-Magdalino, P. The Occult Sciences in Byzantium, La Pomme d'or, 2006
Related articles:
> History of alchemy (I). Egypt, Greece and Rome
> History of alchemy (II). Byzantine world and Islamic world.
> History of alchemy (III). The European Middle Ages.
