Davis, Tenney L. (1926). "The Emerald Table of Hermes Trismegistus. Three Latin Versions Which Were Current among Later Alchemists". Journal of Chemical Education. 3 (8): 863–875. doi: 10.1021/ed003p863. Caiazzo, Irene (2004). "La Tabula smaragdina nel Medioevo latino, II. Note sulla fortuna della Tabula smaragdina nel Medioevo latino". In Lucentini, P.; Parri, I.; Perrone Compagni, V. (eds.). La tradizione ermetica dal mondo tardo-antico all'umanesimo. Atti del Convegno internazionale di studi, Napoli, 20–24 novembre 2001[ Hermetism from Late Antiquity to Humanism]. Instrumenta Patristica et Mediaevalia. Vol.40. Turnhout: Brepols. pp.697–711. doi: 10.1484/M.IPM-EB.4.00122. ISBN 978-2-503-51616-5. filled with Light of the Sun ODarkness of Earth, but Light of the Spirit, guides for ye when my day The Secretum Secretorum was translated into Latin in a shortened version by Johannes Hispalensis or Hispaniensis (John of Seville) around 1140, and then in a longer version by Philip of Tripoli around 1220. It became one of the most famous books of the Middle Ages. [18]

It was perhaps written between the sixth and eighth centuries, as conjectured by Ruska 1926, p.166. Faivre, Antoine (1988). Présences d'Hermès Trismégiste. Cahiers de l'Hermétisme. Éditions Albin Michel. The tablet states its author as Hermes Trismegistus ("Hermes the Thrice-Greatest"), a legendary Hellenistic combination of the Greek god Hermes and the ancient Egyptian god Thoth. [47] Like most other works attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, the Emerald Tablet is very hard to date with any precision, but generally belongs to the late antique period (between c. 200 and c. 800). [48] The oldest known source of the text is the Sirr al-khalīqa wa-ṣanʿat al-ṭabīʿa ( The Secret of Creation and the Art of Nature, also known as the Kitāb al-ʿilal or The Book of Causes), an encyclopedic work on natural philosophy falsely attributed to Apollonius of Tyana ( c. 15–100, Arabic: Balīnūs or Balīnās). [49] This book was compiled in Arabic in the late eighth or early ninth century, [50] but it was most likely based on (much) older Greek and/or Syriac sources. [51] In the frame story of the Sirr al-khalīqa, Balīnūs tells his readers that he discovered the text in a vault below a statue of Hermes in Tyana, and that, inside the vault, an old corpse on a golden throne held the emerald tablet. [52] That which is below is like that which is above and that which is above is like that which is below The introduction to the Book of the Secret of Creation is a narrative that explains, among other things, that "all things are composed of four elemental principles: heat, cold, moisture, and dryness" (the four qualities of Aristotle), and their combinations account for the "relations of sympathy and antipathy between beings." Balînûs, "master of talismans and wonders," enters a crypt beneath the statue of Hermes Trismegistus and finds the emerald tablet in the hands of a seated old man, along with a book. The core of the work is primarily an alchemical treatise that introduces for the first time the idea that all metals are formed from sulfur and mercury, a fundamental theory of alchemy in the Middle Ages. [8] The text of the Emerald Tablet appears last, as an appendix. [9] It has long been debated whether it is an extraneous piece, solely cosmogonic in nature, or if it is an integral part of the rest of the work, in which case it has an alchemical significance from the outset. [10] Recently, it has been suggested that it is actually a text of talismanic magic and that the confusion arises from a mistranslation from Arabic to Latin. [11]Mandosio, Jean-Marc (2003). "La Tabula smaragdina e i suoi commentari medievali". In Paolo Lucentini; Ilaria Parri; Vittoria Perrone Compagni (eds.). Hermetism from late antiquity to humanism. Brepols. pp.681–696. Slightly different versions of the Emerald Tablet also appear in the Kitāb Usṭuqus al-uss al-thānī ( The Second Book of the Element of the Foundation, c. 850–950) attributed to Jabir ibn Hayyan, [53] in the longer version of the Sirr al-asrār ( The Secret of Secrets, a tenth century compilation of earlier works that was falsely attributed to Aristotle), [54] and in the Egyptian alchemist Muhammed ibn Umail al-Tamimi's (ca. 900 – 960) Kitāb al-māʾ al-waraqī wa-l-arḍ al-najmiyya ( Book of the Silvery Water and the Starry Earth). [55] True, without falsehood, certain, and most true: What is below is like what is above, and what is above is like what is below, to accomplish the miracles of one thing. And as all things were derived from one by the meditation of one, so all things are born from this one thing by adaptation. The Sun is its father, the Moon is its mother, the Wind has carried it in its belly, its nurse is the Earth. The father of all telesms of the whole world is here. Its power is whole if it is converted into Earth. You will separate the Earth from the Fire, the subtle from the dense, gently and with great skill. It ascends from Earth to Heaven, and then it descends again to Earth, and receives the power of the superiors and the inferiors. Thus, you will have the glory of the whole world; and all darkness will flee from you. This is the strong force of all forces, overcoming every subtle thing and penetrating every solid thing. Thus, the world was created. From this, marvelous adaptations will arise, of which the manner is here. Therefore, I am called Hermes Trismegistus, having the three parts of the philosophy of the whole world. What I have said about the operation of the Sun is accomplished and ended." Comments [ edit ] The discovery of the Emerald Tablet in Aurora consurgens.

Detailed record for Arundel 164". British Library, Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts. A transcription is given by Selwood 2023. Ascendit a terra in coelum, iterumque descendit in terram, et recipit vim superiorum et inferiorum. Today, various interpretations on the legendary Emerald Tablet can be seen in works of fiction from novels to films and television series. In Science From the Latin translation of the pseudo-Aristotelian Sirr al-asrār ( Secretum secretorum) [ edit ] The story reflects the Egyptian belief that the gods' knowledge is not meant for humans to possess. [7] In popular culture [ edit ]

The fictional Book of Thoth appears in an ancient Egyptian short story from the Ptolemaic period, known as "Setne Khamwas and Naneferkaptah" or "Setne I". The book, written by Thoth, contains two spells, one of which allows the reader to understand the speech of animals, and one which allows the reader to perceive the gods themselves. [5] The author is the obscure Dr. M. Doreal a member of the "Brotherhood of the White Temple" who has connections to the "Great White Lodge". Upon further inspection, I found out that actually his real name was Claude D. Dodgin and he is the founder of the Brotherhood of the White Temple. The Doctor title he holds I could not confirm, unfortunately. The other society I mentioned, the Great White Lodge, is not real in a physical sense of things but is the name given by some new agers to a society of ascended masters who are watching over humans' spiritual progress and evolution.