Emerald Tablet 101: The Birth of Alchemy As above; so below. As within; so without. As with the universe; so with the soul.” ~ Hermes Trismegistus The story of the Emerald Tablet reads like the syllabus for an ancient civilization college course, with Egyptian pharaohs, Greek conquerors and philosophers, and travels through long-gone countries. While no one in the modern world has seen it, accounts of the Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus describe a slab of brilliant, crystalline green stone covered with bas-relief Phoenician text. Some believe the tablet holds the secrets of the universe. Considered the original source of hermeticism, gnosticism, Western alchemy and science, the tablet is inseparable from the elusive Hermes Trismegistus, an ancient philosopher, healer and sage. References to Trismegistus can be found in Renaissance, Christian, Islamic, Roman and Greek literature. No one knows what became of the original tablet — what remains are translations and translations of translations, along with a historic timeline punctuated with disconnects and gaps. The tablet appears and disappears across the ancient world, before and after the birth of Christ, with periods of revival, including the Italian Renaissance. Dennis William Hauck, author of the classic “The Emerald Tablet,” wrote, “One of the most mysterious documents ever put before the eyes of man, the Emerald Tablet has been described as everything from a succinct summary of Neoplatonic philosophy to an extraterrestrial artifact or a gift from Atlantis.” The tablet’s premise that “All is One,” and that direct experience of the Divine is possible through meditation and psychological exercise, became the foundations of Freemasonry, and later Theosophy and esoteric schools including The Golden Dawn. https://www.gaia.com/article/emerald-tablet-101-the-birth-of-alchemy The Emerald Tablets of Thoth the Atlantean translated by Dr. Doreal Publisher's Summary: The history of the Emerald Tablets is strange and beyond the belief of modern scientists. Their antiquity is stupendous, dating back some 36,000 years B.C. The author is Thoth, an Atlantean Priest-King who founded a colony in ancient Egypt, wrote the Emerald Tablets in his native Atlantean language which was translated by Dr. Michael Doreal. This edition of the Emerald Tablets is unique in that it includes both the translation and interpretation by Dr. Doreal. Because of the tablet's reference to the Egypt and sacred geometry they became a priority reference for those studying the Flower of Life and the Merkaba meditation.