The Emerald Tablet
The following translation of the Emerald Tablet is a modern translation by J.F. Ruska.
- In truth certainly and without doubt whatever is below is like that which is above, and whatever is above is like that which is below, to accomplish the miracles of one thing.
- Just as all things proceed from One alone by meditation on One alone, so also they are born from this one thing by adaptation.
- Its father is the sun and its mother is the moon. The wind has borne it in its body. Its nurse is the earth.
- It is the father of every miraculous work in the world.
- Its power is perfect if it is converted to earth.
- Separate the earth from the fire and the subtle from the gross, softly and with great prudence.
- It rises from earth to heaven and comes down again from heaven to earth, and thus acquires the power of the realities above and the realities below. In this way you will acquire glory of the whole world, and all darkness will leave you.
- This is the power of all powers, for it conquers everything subtle and penetrates everything solid.
- Thus the little world is created according to the prototype of the great world.
- From this and in this way, marvelous applications are made.
- For this reason I am called Hermes Trismegistus, for I possess the three parts of wisdom of the whole world.
- Perfect is what I have said of the work of the sun.
As you can see, the tablet is a bit like a riddle. What is “it” referred to in its contents? “It” is thought.