The Emerald Tablet
"The pagans believed that the zodiac formed the body of the Grand Man of the Universe. This body, which they called the Macrocosm (The Great World), was divided into twelve major parts, one of which was under the control of the celestial powers reposing in each of the zodiacal constellations. Believing that the entire universal system was epitomized in man's body, which they called the Microcosm (the Little World), they evolved that now familiar figure of 'the cut-up man in the almanac' by allotting a sign of the zodiac to each of twelve major parts of the human body."
- MPH, "The Microcosm"
"The Tablet probably first appeared in the West in editions of the pseudo-Aristotelian 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. Other translations of the Tablet may have been made during the same period by Plato of Tivoli and Hugh of Santalla, perhaps from different sources.
"The date of the Kitab Sirr al-Asar is uncertain, though c.800 has been suggested and it is not clear when the tablet became part of this work. Holmyard was the first to find another early Arabic version (Ruska found a 12th century 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."
- Jon Marshall, "The Emerald Tablet of Hermes -History of the Tablet"
0.) "Balinas mentions the engraving on the table in the hand of Hermes, which says:
1.) Truth! Certainty! That in which there is no doubt!
2.) That which is above is from that which is below, and that which is below is from that which is above, working the miracles of one.
3.) As all things were from one.
4.) Its father is the Sun and its mother the Moon.
5.) The Earth carried it in her belly, and the Wind nourished it in her belly,
7.) as Earth which shall become Fire.
7a.) Feed the Earth from that which is subtle, with the greatest power.
8.) It ascends from the earth to the heaven and becomes ruler over that which is above and that which is below.
14.) And I have already explained the meaning of the whole of this in two of these books of mine."
- From Jabir ibn Hayyan [Holmyard 1923]
"Shortly after Ruska found another version appended to the Kitab Sirr al-Khaliqa wa San`at al-Tabi'a (Book of the Secret of Creation and the Art of Nature), which is also known as the Kitab Balaniyus al-Hakim fi'l-'Ilal (Book of Balinas the Wise on the Causes). It has been proposed that this book was written may have been written as early as 650, and was definitely finished by the Caliphate of al-Ma'mun (813-33)."
- Jon Marshall, "The Emerald Tablet of Hermes -History of the Tablet"
From Schotus' Margarita Philosophica. |
"0) Here is that which the priest Sagijus of Nabulus has dictated concerning the entrance of Balinas into the hidden chamber... After my entrance into the chamber, where the talisman was set up, I came up to an old man sitting on a golden throne, who was holding an emerald table in one hand. And behold the following - in Syriac, the primordial language- was written thereon:
1) Here (is) a true explanation, concerning which there can be no doubt.
2) It attests: The above from the below, and the below from the above -the work of the miracle of the One.
3) And things have been from this primal substance through a single act. How wonderful is this work! It is the main (principle) of the world and is its maintainer.
4) Its father is the sun and its mother the moon; the
5) wind has borne it in its body, and the earth has nourished it.
6) the father of talisman and the protector of miracles
6a) whose powers are perfect, and whose lights are confirmed (?),
7) a fire that becomes earth.
7a) Separate the earth from the fire, so you will attain the subtle as more inherent than the gross, with care and sagacity.
8) It rises from earth to heaven, so as to draw the lights of the heights to itself, and descends to the earth; thus within it are the forces of the above and the below;
9) because the light of lights within it, thus does the darkness flee before it.
10) The force of forces, which overcomes every subtle thing and penetrates into everything gross.
11) The structure of the microcosm is in accordance with the structure of the macrocosm.
12) And accordingly proceed the knowledgeable.
13) And to this aspired Hermes, who was threefold graced with wisdom.
14) And this is his last book, which he concealed in the chamber."
- Another Arabic Version (from the German of Ruska) [Anon 1985]
"Scholars have seen similarities between this book and the Syriac Book of Treasures written by Job of Odessa (9th century) and more interestingly the Greek writings of the bishop Nemesius of Emesa in Syria from the mid fourth century. However though this suggests a possible Syriac source, none of these writings contain the tablet."
- Jon Marshall, "The Emerald Tablet of Hermes -History of the Tablet"
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