The Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus is an ancient document that is the core text of Hermeticism and laboratory alchemy. The Emerald Tablet was originally said to be just that – a text written on a slab of emerald, or an emerald-like material. In seven highly symbolic passages of writing, hidden in layers of enigmatic code, the text is said to outline the entirety of the Magnum Opus (Great Work). It instructs the aspirant how to understand the operations of nature in order to create the Lapis Philosophorum – the legendary Philosopher’s Stone. The tablet is a true distillation of the fundamental principles and cosmology of Western Esoteric Tradition. It also explores the operations of the mysterious Prima Materia (One Thing), a primordial, fundamental energy that pervades everything – from the densest matter to the most rarefied consciousness.

Much debate has taken place over time between practising alchemists and academics alike as to the true origin of the document. History places the oldest surviving copies of the Tablet between 7th-9th century Arabia, while alchemical lore place its origins in the thriving alchemy scene of Alexandrian Egypt, or even much earlier – perhaps truly being authored by the Great alchemical priest-sage of the Corpus Hermeticum, Hermes Trismegistus. Whatever the true origin, the mere existence of the tablet and its impact on the practice of alchemists through the ages is important enough to warrant a serious, thorough examination of both the theory and practice that it outlines.