- Also called:
- Tabula Smaragdina
Emerald Tablet
What is the Emerald Tablet?
What are the main themes of the Emerald Tablet?
How did Isaac Newton engage with the Emerald Tablet?
How did Carl Jung interpret the Emerald Tablet?
Emerald Tablet, short, cryptic text traditionally attributed to Hermes Trismegistus. It became foundational within the alchemical and Hermetic traditions of the medieval Islamic world and later of medieval and Renaissance Europe. Prior to the Scientific Revolution, the text was understood among alchemists to contain compressed teachings about nature, particularly the structure of the cosmos, the nature of reality, processes of transformation and change, and the attainment of the philosopherâs stone. After modern science rendered alchemy functionally obsolete, the Emerald Tablet was reinterpreted by some 19th- and 20th-century thinkers as an esoteric or psychological work.
The earliest known version of the Emerald Tablet appears in an Arabic text called Book of the Secret of Creation, thought by some to have been written in the 9th century ce. About the 12th century, the Emerald Tablet was translated into Latin and subsequently into many modern languages.
Various legends surround the origins of the text, including claims that it was discovered by Sarah, the wife of Abraham, near Hebron; uncovered by Apollonius of Tyana in a cave beneath a statue of Hermes; or found by Alexander the Great during his journey to the oracle of Amon at Siwa. However, no reliable evidence supports an origin earlier than the medieval Arabic period.
" height="20" alt="HEW Logo">
The Emerald Tablet has attracted interest from such thinkers as Isaac Newton, who produced an English translation as part of his engagement with alchemical and Hermetic thought; Helena Blavatsky, who popularized the text as a work of esoteric spirituality; and Carl Jung, who interpreted it as a symbolic description of psychological processes.
For a full treatment of the history of alchemy, see alchemy.
Text of the Emerald Tablet
| Latin (Vulgate) | English (modern) | English translation of Isaac Newton |
|---|---|---|
| Verum sine mendacio, certum, certissimum. | This is true, without lying, certain, entirely certain. | Tis true without lying, certain & most true. |
| Quod est superius est sicut quod inferius, et quod inferius est sicut quod est superius. | That which is above is like that which is below, and that which is below is like that which is above. | That which is below is like that which is above & that which is above is like that which is below. |
| Ad preparanda miracula rei unius. | To produce the miracles of the one only thing. | To do ye miracles of one only thing. |
| Sicut res omnes ab una fuerunt meditatione unius, et sic sunt nate res omnes ab hac re una aptatione. | As all things came from the one through the meditation of the one, so all things were born from this one thing through adaptation. | And as all things have been & arose from one by ye mediation of one: so all things have their birth from this one thing by adaptation. |
| Pater ejus sol, mater ejus luna. | The sun is its father, the moon its mother. | The sun is its father, the moon its mother. |
| Portavit illuc ventus in ventre suo. Nutrix ejus terra est. | The wind carries it in its womb, the earth is its nurse. | The wind hath carried it in its belly, the earth its nourse. |
| Pater omnis Telesmi tocius mundi hic est. Vis ejus integra est. | This is the source of all perfection in the world, its power is intact. | The father of all perfection in ye whole world is here. Its force or power is entire, |
| Si versa fuerit in terram separabit terram ab igne, subtile a spisso. | If it is turned towards the earth, it separates earth from fire, subtle from solid. | if it be converted into earth. Seperate thou ye earth from ye fire, ye subtile from the gross. |
| Suaviter cum magno ingenio ascendit a terra in celum. Iterum descendit in terram, et recipit vim superiorem atque inferiorem. | Smoothly, skillfully, it arises from earth to heaven, then descends again to earth, taking in the power of both above and below. | Sweetly with great indoustry it ascends from ye earth to ye heaven and again it desends to ye earth and receives ye force of things superior & inferior. |
| Sicque habebis gloriam claritatis mundi. Ideo fugiet a te omnis obscuritas. | In this way, you gain a clear understanding of the world, and all obscurity falls away. | By this means you shall have ye glory of ye whole world & thereby all obscurity shall fly from you. |
| Hic est tocius fortitudinis fortitudo fortis, quia vincet omnem rem subtilem, omnemque rem solidam penetrabit. | This is the greatest of all powers, because it overcomes everything that is subtle and penetrates everything that is solid. | Its force is above all force. For it vanquishes every subtile thing & penetrates every solid thing. |
| Sicut hic mundus creatus est. | In this way, the world was created. | So was ye world created. |
| Hinc erunt aptationes mirabiles quarum mos hic est. | In this way, miraculous transformations occur. | From this are & do come admirable adaptations whereof ye means (or process) is here in this. |
| Itaque vocatus sum Hermes, tres tocius mundi partes habens sapientie. | Thus I am called Hermes Thrice Great, possessing the three parts of the knowledge of the whole world. | Hence I am called Hermes Trismegist, having the three parts of ye philosophy of ye whole world. |
| Et completum est quod diximus de opere solis. | And completed is my teaching concerning the working of the sun. | That which I have said of ye operation of ye Sun is accomplished & ended. |
Textual history
Arabic alchemical texts
Three principal versions of the Emerald Tablet survive in medieval Arabic literature. The earliest is in the Book of the Secret of Creation, often tentatively dated to the 9th century and traditionally attributed to âBalinas,â a name commonly identified with Apollonius of Tyana, though the attribution is generally regarded as inaccurate. A second, shorter version of the text appears in a work known as the Second Book of the Element of the Foundation, sometimes attributed to JÄbir ibn កayyÄn. This version omits several lines found in the Book of the Secret of Creation, and the precise relationship between the two texts remains uncertain. A third version appears in the Secret of Secrets, a widely circulated work framed as a letter from Aristotle to Alexander the Great during the latterâs campaign in Persia. It combined advice on ruling with astrology, medicine, and natural inquiry. This version closely resembles the version found in the Book of the Secret of Creation.
Latin and European transmission
The Emerald Tablet entered medieval Europe through several Latin transmission routes. The Book of the Secret of Creation was translated into Latin in the 12th century by Hugo of Santalla (who is thought to have been a priest active in northern Spain), though this translation appears to have circulated narrowly. Far more influential was the Latin translation of the Secret of Secrets by Philip of Tripoli, which became one of the most widely read books of the Latin Middle Ages. From the late 12th century onward, a separate Latin version of the Emerald Tablet began to circulate independently in alchemical compilations and was later translated into various European vernacular languages. Owing to its widespread use, this version became known as the Vulgate. Although its translator is unknown, it became the standard Latin form of the text.
The trusted destination for professionals, college students, and lifelong learners.
SUBSCRIBE
Interpretations of the text
Medieval interpretations
In medieval Europe the Emerald Tablet was widely regarded as an authoritative but enigmatic relic of ancient wisdom. Although medieval readers interpreted the text in a variety of ways, a dominant approachâparticularly from the 13th century onwardâunderstood it as a literal but cryptic guide to alchemical practice, encoding laboratory procedures for the creation of the philosopherâs stone. This interpretation is evident in an influential early 14th-century commentary attributed to Hortulanus, which read the tabletâs references to the sun and moon as symbolic designations for gold and silver.
Renaissance interpretations
During the Renaissance interpretations of the Emerald Tablet increasingly shifted away from laboratory-oriented readings toward philosophical and cosmological ones, in the context of renewed engagement with Greek and Roman thought. Rather than treating the text as a coded set of instructions, Renaissance readers came to understand it as a statement of metaphysical principles. The tabletâs âone thingâ was interpreted as a unifying source comparable with the Pythagorean monad, the anima mundi of Greco-Roman philosophy, or gnostic models of emanation in which multiplicity unfolds from an original unity. This approach to the Emerald Tablet was exemplified through the work of figures such as Johannes Trithemius and John Dee.
Isaac Newton
In the late 17th and early 18th centuries Isaac Newton devoted significant attention to alchemy and the Hermetic tradition, an interest that began in his undergraduate years. He copied and studied numerous alchemical texts by hand, treating them as valuable sources of insight into the workings of nature. The tension between mechanical natural philosophy and Hermetic thought supplied the fundamental theme of Newtonâs scientific career. He produced an original translation of the Emerald Tablet and preserved it among his alchemical manuscripts, suggesting a significant intellectual engagement with the text, although he left behind no extended commentary on its interpretation.
Helena Blavatsky
In the late 19th century Helena Blavatsky played a key role in reintroducing the Emerald Tablet to a modern audience. By this time alchemical texts were no longer widely read as sources of knowledge about the natural world. Blavatsky incorporated the Emerald Tablet into the framework of theosophy, a religious and philosophical system she co-developed that drew on elements of Western esotericism as well as selected concepts from Hindu and Buddhist traditions. In her book Isis Unveiled, Blavatsky interprets the âone thingâ of the Emerald Tablet as âthe universal, magical agent, the astral light.â
Carl Jung
In the 20th century Carl Jung interpreted the Emerald Tablet as a symbolic text reflecting psychological processes. For Jung, the idea of moving between âaboveâ and âbelowâ described in the Emerald Tablet represented the integration of the conscious and unconscious minds and the development of psychic wholeness. In his view the alchemical idea of turning lead into gold was a metaphor for individuation, the inner process through which the personality becomes integrated and fully realized.