Tis true without lying, certain and most true.
That which is below is like that which is above
and that which is above is like that which is below
to do the miracles of one only thing
And as all things have been and arose from one by the mediation of one:
so all things have their birth from this one thing by adaptation.
The Sun is its father,
the moon its mother,
the wind hath carried it in its belly,
the earth is its nurse.
The father of all perfection in the whole world is here.
Its force or power is entire if it be converted into earth.
Separate thou the earth from the fire,
the subtle from the gross
sweetly with great industry.
It ascends from the earth to the heaven
and again it descends to the earth
and receives the force of things superior and inferior.
By this means you shall have the glory of the whole world
and thereby all obscurity shall fly from you.
Its force is above all force,
for it vanquishes every subtle thing and penetrates every solid thing.
So was the world created.
From this are and do come admirable adaptations
where of the means is here in this.
Hence I am called Hermes Trismegist [sic],
having the three parts of the philosophy of the whole world
That which I have said of the operation of the Sun is accomplished and ended.
Hermeticism, which is relying on Hermes Trismegistos, has appeared as a
spiritual and intellectual movement probably in the 2nd century within the Hellenistic circle, and it has very important influence on the occult component of
protochemistry and alchemy. This spiritual movement took various ideas from
almost all philosophical schools of that time. However, by statements of some
historians of science, hermeticism has not been a coherent philosophical system. Its
relationship with protochemistry and alchemy is based on the common practice in
the use of language for the explanation of the world. Umberto Eco (1932–2016)
has suggested that Hermeticians have considered that every text could have
indefinite number of interpretations [3]. Perhaps, this was a reason that Origen of
Alexandria has lectured in Museum simultaneously “in seven languages”. In this
frame, Tabula could have also indefinite number of interpretations. From the point
of view of modern chemist, it is also possible to discover in Tabula a real chemical
experimental procedure.
The irrelevance of authorship can clearly be seen from the history of the name of
Jabir, (Abu Musa Jabir ibn Hayyan, 725–815) to whom the alchemical work
4 Alchemy
41
That which is below is like that which is above
and that which is above is like that which is below
to do the miracles of one only thing
And as all things have been and arose from one by the mediation of one:
so all things have their birth from this one thing by adaptation.
The Sun is its father,
the moon its mother,
the wind hath carried it in its belly,
the earth is its nurse.
The father of all perfection in the whole world is here.
Its force or power is entire if it be converted into earth.
Separate thou the earth from the fire,
the subtle from the gross
sweetly with great industry.
It ascends from the earth to the heaven
and again it descends to the earth
and receives the force of things superior and inferior.
By this means you shall have the glory of the whole world
and thereby all obscurity shall fly from you.
Its force is above all force,
for it vanquishes every subtle thing and penetrates every solid thing.
So was the world created.
From this are and do come admirable adaptations
where of the means is here in this.
Hence I am called Hermes Trismegist [sic],
having the three parts of the philosophy of the whole world
That which I have said of the operation of the Sun is accomplished and ended.
Hermeticism, which is relying on Hermes Trismegistos, has appeared as a
spiritual and intellectual movement probably in the 2nd century within the Hellenistic circle, and it has very important influence on the occult component of
protochemistry and alchemy. This spiritual movement took various ideas from
almost all philosophical schools of that time. However, by statements of some
historians of science, hermeticism has not been a coherent philosophical system. Its
relationship with protochemistry and alchemy is based on the common practice in
the use of language for the explanation of the world. Umberto Eco (1932–2016)
has suggested that Hermeticians have considered that every text could have
indefinite number of interpretations [3]. Perhaps, this was a reason that Origen of
Alexandria has lectured in Museum simultaneously “in seven languages”. In this
frame, Tabula could have also indefinite number of interpretations. From the point
of view of modern chemist, it is also possible to discover in Tabula a real chemical
experimental procedure.
The irrelevance of authorship can clearly be seen from the history of the name of
Jabir, (Abu Musa Jabir ibn Hayyan, 725–815) to whom the alchemical work
4 Alchemy
41