‘Not as above, not as below’ – by john gilbert

The subtitle is, appropriately, How We Got the Emerald Tablet Wrong. It would not be an overstatement to say that this unassuming little book might overthrow over a thousand years of accepted lore!

It takes a particular type of scholar with an unusual but eclectic set of skills to approach something as hallowed and accepted as the wording of the Emerald Tablet and challenge the very core of its message. John Gilbert is just such a man.

For most, the Emerald Tablet with its famous axiom ‘As Above So Below’ has been a cornerstone of Esoteric and especially Hermetic traditions for time immemorial. It was quoted by many an early scholar and mystic, retranslated by Sir Isaac Newton, and quoted by Madame Blavatsky, the co-founder of the Theosophical Society. The Kybalion, perhaps one of the first books every student new to the esoteric arts reads, cites it as “The great Second Hermetic Principle”, and that it “embodies the truth that there is a harmony, agreement, and correspondence between the several planes of Manifestation, Life and Being.”

What if it were wrong?

Since the earliest appearances of the Emerald Tablet are in Arabic, it requires a person well-versed in the Western esoteric mystery schools and Hermetic thought, who can not only read Arabic but have a strong appreciation of the nuances of the language and how it has developed over time, and also a strong grasp of how Arabic handles philosophical thought. As one may imagine, this limits the number of people able to bring this particular skill set to the table to a very small number.

This book takes us through the process of understanding how the original versions of the Emerald Tablet were misinterpreted, and how, with the burgeoning interest in Hermetic thought in Victorian times, this misinterpretation was popularized to such an extent that, even though a more correct translation has been available since at least 1923, the incorrect one has prevailed until now.

Perhaps this book will provide the impetus for a rectification of the wording of the Emerald Tablet, and we will finally come to understand what it is truly trying to say. The subtitle is, appropriately, How We Got the Emerald Tablet Wrong. It would not be an overstatement to say that this unassuming little book might overthrow a thousand years of accepted lore!

It takes a particular type of scholar with an unusual but eclectic set of skills to approach something as hallowed and accepted as the wording of the Emerald Tablet and challenge the very core of its message. John Gilbert is just such a man.

For most, the Emerald Tablet with its famous axiom ‘As Above So Below’ has been a cornerstone of Esoteric and especially Hermetic traditions for time immemorial. It was quoted by many an early scholar and mystic, retranslated by Sir Isaac Newton, and quoted by Madame Blavatsky, the co-founder of the Theosophical Society. The Kybalion, perhaps one of the first books every student new to the esoteric arts reads, cites it as “The great Second Hermetic Principle”, and that it “embodies the truth that there is a harmony, agreement, and correspondence between the several planes of Manifestation, Life and Being.”

What if it were wrong?

Since the earliest appearances of the Emerald Tablet are in Arabic, it requires a person well-versed in the Western esoteric mystery schools and Hermetic thought, who can not only read Arabic but have a strong appreciation of the nuances of the language and how it has developed over time, and also a strong grasp of how Arabic handles philosophical thought. As one may imagine, this limits the number of people able to bring this particular skill set to the table to a very small number.

This book takes us through the process of understanding how the original versions of the Emerald Tablet were misinterpreted, and how, with the burgeoning interest in Hermetic thought in Victorian times, this misinterpretation was popularized to such an extent that, even though a more correct translation has been available since at least 1923, the incorrect one has prevailed until now.

Perhaps this book will provide the impetus for a rectification of the wording of the Emerald Tablet, and we will finally come to understand what it is truly trying to say.