Emerald Tablet: The Translation of the Ultimate Source of Alchemy

[Humans Are Free]: Considered the original Source of Hermetic Philosophy and Alchemy, The Emerald Tablets is regarded as one of the most mysterious ancient texts on Earth.

Believed to have been originally carved by Hermes on tablets of Emerald and placed inside the Great Pyramid’s Kings Chamber, the true author of this mysterious text remains a mystery, and scholars believe that the legend of the Tablet and Hermes are probably apocryphal in nature.

This ancient text is well-known among researchers of the occult, philosophers and so-called alchemists since at least the eighth century.

Depending on what source we look at, the Emerald Tablets is said to have been composed by either Hermes Trismegistus or an ancient author from Arabia, who is believed to have ‘penned down’ the enigmatic text between the sixth and eighth centuries.

Hermes Trismegistusis a legendary Hellenistic, combination of the ancient Greek God Hermes, and the Ancient Egyptian God Thoth.

The Emerald Tablets was first translated into Latin in the twelfth century, after which numerous translations and interpretations followed.

The oldest documentable source of the text is the “Kitab Balaniyus al-Hakim fi’l-`IlalKitāb sirr al-ḫalīqa....<<<Read The Full Article Here>>>...

The Key Of Time

Forth I came from out of my body,
moved in the movements that changed me in time.
Strange were the sights I saw in my journeys,
many the mysteries that opened to view.
Aye, saw I man's beginning,
learned from the past that nothing is new.


(Extract From The Emerald Tablets of Thoth)

The Seven Hermetic Principles

The Kybalion is a study of Hermetic Philosophy based on doctrines that were kept secret for centuries, seen only by the eyes of initiates of Mystery Schools in Egypt and India. This work is helpful to earnest seekers of Arcane Truths and Occult wisdom. The Emerald Tablet of Hermes began appearing during the twelfth century, in many different languages in the Alchemical libraries in Europe. At that time its concepts were considered too difficult to be understood by the average person. It was finally decided that a statement of Truth was necessary to reconcile bits of occult knowledge, and place them in the hands of students. The Hermetic Laws act as a key to open inner doors in the Portal already entered by those whom have already dared to enter the “Temple of Knowledge.”

The Hermetic teachings have come down to us over tens of centuries since the life of its founder, Hermes Trismegistus, “The Scribe of the gods.” During this period in history, only certain learned men knew how to write, and were in high demand to make copies of philosophical studies. Men and gods dwelt in Old Egypt when man’s present race was in its infancy. Hermes was believed to be a contemporary of Abraham of the Hebrew Bible. All esoteric traditions embedded in basic teachings of every race may be traced back to Hermes, even the ancient teachings of India. From there, occultists travelled to Egypt and obtained the Key which reconciled divergent views, while sitting at the feet of Hermes. Then Hermes was regarded as “The Great Great and Master of Masters.” Although many teachers have wandered on different pathways throughout different lands, there is still a basic resemblance underlying the theories taught by occultists of many lands today. Any student of Comparative Religions will notice the influence of the Hermetic teachings in every religion....Read More...

The Principles of the All

You do not have to be an occultist in order to see the wisdom in the Seven Hermetic Principles, you do not have to dive into the realms of obscure mysticism or spend the rest of your life studying any ancient secrets to understand them. Nor is it necessary to know one Hermes Trismegistus, whether he might be a variation of an ancient god - Hermes, Thoth, Enoch, whoever - or merely a kind of medieval superman of the occult revived in the Victorian fascination for pompous myths.

On the contrary, it's always healthier to have a good grain of salt at hand when the 'initiated' authors get a tad to melodramatical.. ;) Nevertheless, the Seven Hermetic Principles contain a good glance at the thought of ancient philosophy, thus embodying an universal truth, independent from any belief, based merely on the nature of 'things' - such as the world, the life, the being, the ALL. They neither contradict philosophy or phsics, and when you think of it, not even copmmon sense.

The Seven Hermetic Principles, as simple and few as they seem, are a set of axioms whose understanding will ultimately refine your view on life and being - doubtlessly an inalienable basic to get behind the depht of Tarot.

Below you find a short list of the Seven Hermetic Principles:

1. The Principle of Mentalism The All is mind; the Universe is mental
2. The Principle of Correspondence As above, so below; as below, so above
3. The Principle of Vibration Nothing rests; everything moves; everything vibrates
4. The Principle of Polarity Everything is Dual; everything has poles; everything has its pair of opposites; like and unlike are the same; opposites are identical in nature, but different in degree; extremes meet; all truths are but half-truths; all paradoxes may be reconciled
5. The Principle of Rhythm Everything flows, out and in; everything has its tides; all things rise and fall; the pendulum-swing manifests in everything; the measure of the swing to the right is the measure of the swing to the left; rhythm compensates
6. The Principle of Cause and Effect Every Cause has its Effect; every Effect has its Cause; everything happens according to Law; Chance is but a name for Law not recognized; there are many planes of causation, but nothing escapes the Law
7. The Principle of Gender Gender is in everything; everything has its Masculine and Feminine Principles; Gender manifests on all planes (Raven's Tarot Site)

Healing in the Hermetic Tradition

There has always been a long tradition of Healing in the Western tradition (and indeed in other Mystery Traditions). Indeed, what are now known as “Esoteric” healing methods were widely used by exoteric medical practitioners at least until the end of the Renaissance, and the beginning of the so-called Enlightenment. From that point on, esoteric healing methods were driven underground by the scientific community, as indeed were a lot of occult practices. It is only in the present era that they are beginning to be publicly mentioned again.

The general principle behind esoteric healing methods from ancient times to the present day may be stated thus: physical effects do not solely come about through purely physical causes. Moreover, to successfully treat a condition, all of the causes must be dealt with.

These two sentences are fundamentally at variance with modern medical practice, which generally confines itself to the physical. In addition, modern medicine does not necessarily treat the cause of the injury or disease, but often only the effect thereof.

The correct (i.e. esoteric) approach to healing should be both Holistic and Integral. Holistic (from the Greek Holos, means to treat the whole. The Holistic Healer, when examining the patient, asks:

Is there a physical cause?

Is there an emotional cause? Is there what esotericists would call an etheric or astral cause?

Is there a mental cause?

Is there a spiritual cause?

Remember that in each case one is searching for causes and not merely effects. For example, the effect of Eczema is a painful skin condition. However the cause is a liver condition which sends poisons out through the skin, which cause the skin to become irritated. The Holistic healer would then go to work by treating the liver - and by treating whatever caused the liver to fall into that condition in the first place – as opposed to treating the skin, which at best would only alleviate the symptoms of the disease.

The holistic healer also recognises that causes do not just occur within the patient, but also within the patient’s environment. This may include emotional, mental or spiritual causes as well. For example, if the healer determined that the patient’s condition was caused by a troubled relationship, the healer would address the problem of what to do about that relationship. The healer would not rule out looking at paranormal factors: astral influences, karmic influences, and more. For although scoffed at by conventional science, often these are only too real to the patient, and so they deserve to be treated seriously by the healer.

The Holistic Healer then prescribes a course of treatment that deals with all of the causes identified. This leads to another undeniable truth when it comes to healing: ultimately, the Patient must take responsibility for his,[1] own well-being and health. The Holistic Healer cannot do all the work himself – because in many cases the only effective ways to treat all of the causes are for the patient to put changes into effect in his own life. The Healer facilitates, helps, encourages, and shows the way – and the patient actively assists the Healer to do so.

True Healing is also said to be Integral, in that treatment at higher levels both transcends and includes treatment at lower levels – including conventional medicine. Conventional medicine does have its place in relieving injuries and illnesses that really are physically caused. However, the ideal form of healing is one that integrates all levels at once, wherever necessary: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. Note well that there are practitioners of supposedly Holistic forms of healing, such as Homeopathy, who are not Integral in their outlook, because they criticise conventional medicine with as much fanaticism as sceptics criticise them. The wise approach is to appreciate all that is useful in all forms of healing. (jwmt.org)

Hermeticism

Essentially, Hermeticism is the ancient philosophy, theory and practice of the inner secrets of man, nature and spirit. It's origins are lost in the mists of prehistory. Its revivals in the Hellenistic, Renaissance and modern times have often been pale reflections of its real nature. Though much of its records are lost, it has re-risen from the flames like the Phoenix under many different guises. Fragments of this great primal teaching are distributed throughout the world.

Hermes Trismegistus, its legendary founder, has been called the originator of writing, the sciences and arts, as well as the patron of esoteric teachings and magick. He has been equated as one and the same as Tehuti, Thoth, Enoch and Idris, among many other spiritual teachers at the dawn of human history.

Hermetic teachings have been transmitted through a long line of masters and teachers throughout the ages. Its survival throughout the ages has been accomplished by means of guardians of the holy mysteries. These guardians have emerged from time to time to disclose precious fragments of these timeless teachings.

As Above, So Below

“As above, so below" -- a "great word,” a sacramental phrase, a saying of wisdom, an aphorism, a mystic formula, a fundamental law - or a two-edged sword of word-fence, that will probably do the wielder serious damage if he is not previously put through careful training in its handling?

Whether this famous “word” is of Hermetic origin or no, we will not stay formally to enquire. In essence it is probably as old as human thought itself. And as probably, the idea lying underneath it has been turned topsy-turvy more frequently than any other of the immortal company.

“As above, so below” doubtless enshrines some vast idea of analogical law, some basis of true reason, which would sum up the manifold appearances of things into one single verity; but the understanding of the nature of this mystery of manifoldness from the one - all one and one in all—is not to be attained by careless thinking, or by some lucky guess, or by the pastime of artificial correspondencing. Indeed, if the truth must out, in ninety-nine cases of a hundred, when one uses this phrase to clinch an argument, we find that we have begged the question from the start, ended where we began, and asserted the opposite of our logion. Instead of illumining, not only the subject we have in hand, but all subjects, by a grasp of the eternal verity concealed within our saying, we have reversed it into the ephemeral and false proposition: “As below, so above,” Deus, verily, inversus est demon; and there's the devil to pay. But fortunately there is some compensation even in this in an illogical age; for, as all the mystic world knows, Demon is nothing else but deus inversus.

Yes, even along our most modern lines of thought, even in propositions and principles that are, with every day, coming more and more into favour in the domain of practical philosophizing, we find our ageless aphorism stood upon its head with scantiest ceremony.

In the newest theology, in the latest philosophy, we find a strong tendency to revive the ancient idea that man is the measure of the universe - whether we call this concept pragmatism or by any other name that sounds “as sweet”. “As below,” then, “so above.” In fact we do not seem to be able to get away from this inversion. We like it thus turned upside down; and I am not altogether sure that, even for the keenest-minded of us, it is not an excellent exercise thus to anthropomorphize [In the sense of Anthropos of course, and not of his carcase.] the universe, and to fling the shadow of his best within on to the infinite screen of the appearance of the things without. For is not man kin really with all these - worlds, systems, elements, and spaces, infinitudes, and times and timelessness? (More ...)

Defining Hermeticism

Defining Hermeticism is not easy. It is a little like trying to define religion, or art. One could say that Hermeticism is the Wisdom Tradition of the West, an esoteric tradition not necessarily limited to any one religion or mystical path, and that embraces both the theoretical and the practical. The following are two overlapping yet quite different approaches to and definitions of Hermeticism; the magickal/occult and the academic. Of course, Hermeticism is not necessarily limited to these definitions.

The diagram above is modified from a diagram on a Hermetic Fellowship page - The Opening of the Ways to the Hermetic Temple. The various circles represent the variety of spiritual Paths in the Western Esoteric Tradition. Clockwise from the top you have Theurgy, Qabalah, Rosicrucianism, Gnosticism, Grail Quest, Alchemy, Wiccan and NeoPaganism (pentagram), and the Ancient Mystery Religions (ankh).

A Look at Hermes Trismegistus

Hermes Trismegistus might also be explained in Euhemerist fashion as a man who was the son of the god, and in the Kabbalistic tradition that was inherited by the Renaissance, it could be imagined that such a personage had been contemporary with Moses, communicating to a line of adepts a parallel wisdom. A historian, however, would leave such speculation to the history of alchemy and the nineteenth-century history of occultism.

Both Thoth and Hermes were gods of writing and of magic in their respective cultures. Thus the Greek god of interpretive communication was combined with the Egyptian god of wisdom as a patron of astrology and alchemy. In addition, both gods were psychopomps, guiding souls to the afterlife.

The majority of Greeks, and later Romans, did not accept Hermes Trismegistus in the place of Hermes. The two gods remained distinct from one another.

The Hermetic literature added to the Egyptian concerns with conjuring spirits and animating statues that inform the oldest texts, Hellenistic writings of Greco-Babylonian astrology and the newly developed practice of alchemy. In a parallel tradition, Hermetic philosophy rationalized and systematized religious cult practices and offered the adept a method of personal ascension from the constraints of physical being, which has led to confusion of Hermeticism with Gnosticism, which was developing contemporaneously Dan Merkur, "Stages of Ascension in Hermetic Rebirth".

As a divine fountain of writing, Hermes Trismegistus was credited with tens of thousands of writings of high standing, reputed to be of immense antiquity. Plato's Timaeus and Critias state that in the temple of Neith at Sais, there were secret halls containing historical records which had been kept for 9,000 years. Clement of Alexandria was under the impression that the Egyptians had forty-two sacred writings by Hermes, encapsulating all the training of Egyptian priests. Siegfried Morenz has suggested (Egyptian Religion) "The reference to Thoth's authorship...is based on ancient tradition; the figure forty-two probably stems from the number of Egyptian nomes, and thus conveys the notion of completeness." The Neo-Platonic writers took up Clement's "forty-two essential texts".

The so-called "Hermetic literature", the Hermetica, is a category of papyri containing spells and induction procedures. In the dialogue called the Asclepius (after the Greek god of healing) the art of imprisoning the souls of demons or of angels in statues with the help of herbs, gems and odors, is described, such that the statue could speak and prophesy. In other papyri, there are other recipes for constructing such images and animating them, such as when images are to be fashioned hollow so as to enclose a magic name inscribed on gold leaf.

During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus known as Hermetica enjoyed great credit and were popular among alchemists. The "hermetic tradition" therefore refers to alchemy, magic, astrology and related subjects. The texts are usually distinguished in two categories the "philosophical" and "technical" hermetica. The former deals mainly with issues of philosophy, and the latter with magic, potions and alchemy. Among other things there are spells to magically protect objects, hence the origin of the term "Hermetically sealed".

The classical scholar Isaac Casaubon in De Rebus sacris et ecclesiaticis exercitiones XVI (1614) showed, by the character of the Greek, the texts that were traditionally written at the dawn of time, to be more recent: most of the "philosophical" Corpus Hermeticum can be dated to around AD 300. However, flaws in this identification were uncovered by the 17th century scholar Ralph Cudworth, who argued that Casaubon's allegation of forgery could only be applied to three of the seventeen treatises contained within the Corpus Hermeticum. Moreover, Cudworth noted Casaubon's failure to acknowledge the codification of these treatises as a late formulation of a pre-existing (possibly oral) tradition. According to Cudworth, the text must be viewed as a terminus ad quem and not a quo.

Modern occultists continue to suggest that some of these texts may be of Pharaonic origin, and that "the forty two essential texts" that contained the core work of his religious beliefs and his life philosophy remain hidden away in a secret library.

Hermes: God of Magic & Luck

Hermes/Mercury was originally a god of the flock. Because at that time wealth was measured in sheep, he became the god of prosperity, and as the culture became more sophisticated, the god of commerce and all its associative skills and concerns: travel, messages, persuasive speech, prudence, shrewdness, and luck. By the Classical period, his role had blossomed. He became the god of wisdom, magic, oratory, writing, skill, and trickery; the messenger of Zeus; and as the guide to the souls of the dead, the "Psychopomp", the ultimate god of travel.

Of all the Roman gods, the Celts identified the most with Mercury. They amalgamated him with their local deities to form Mercury Arvernus, Mercury Artaios, and many others. As was common with Celtic deities, he was given a female consort. Her name was Rosmerta. In Ireland he was equated with the god Lugh.

In Helenistic Egypt, Hermes was equated with the Egyptian god Thoth, to become Hermes Trismegistus - the thrice great Hermes. In ancient Alexandria philosophers and mystics signed his name to their writings to give him credit as the source of their wisdom. These Hermetic texts are at the root of Western alchemy, magic, and mysticism.

His winged sandal, the "talarius", was the symbol of his swiftness, as he fulfilled his role as messenger and as protector of travelers and athletes. His winged hat was called a "petasus", a traveler's hat. Its symbolism was the same as the talarius, but it additionally became the symbol of inspiration, because as psychopomp, he was likewise the guide of the mystic. His herald's staff, the "caduceus," was a magic wand that could change lead into gold and cure any illness; therefore it became the symbol of modern medicine. (The Alchemic Egg)