Emerald Tablet of Hermes Explained

The Emerald Tablet of Hermes, also known as the Smaragdine Tablet, or Tabula Smaragdina, is a compact and cryptic piece of the Hermetica reputed to contain the secret of the prima materia and its transmutation. The text of the Smaragdine Tablet gives its author as Hermes Trismegistus (“Hermes the Thrice-Greatest”), a legendary Hellenistic combination of the Greek god Hermes and the ancient Egyptian god Thoth. For this reason, it is sometimes called the emerald tablet of Thoth which should not be confused with the Emerald Tablets of Thoth, a newer and much longer text.