Some people claim the Emerald Tablet to be the oldest scripture known to man. Very intelligent people, like Sir Isaac Newton, have studied the text and translated it into the languages of their times. If you’d like additional information regarding the tablet, an Internet search will provide weeks of reading material. As a starting point, here is the complete translation that I prefer.
For the purpose of this blog entry, I’d like to focus on the following Emerald Tablet citation, which I have changed only slightly in the hopes of adding clarity:
What is above is below. What is below is above.
Stop right there. Don’t read this important message too quickly. Try to process it. It’s like a “loop”. What does it mean? That’s exactly what I asked myself. I didn’t completely understand it until I found a way to relate the concept to something with which I’m very familiar. I can’t connect the dots for you personally, some things you’ll need to discover on your own, but I’d like to share some information that helped me reach a higher level of comprehension. With any luck, my illustration will jumpstart your thought processes and lead to the quick illumination of your own personal light bulb.
I have been using the Internet for almost 16 years (half my life). I have witnessed it’s amazing growth and watched in awe as it turned into what it is today. I also deal with its technical side every day, as that’s how I make a living. I won’t be overly technical, so if you’d like my take on how the Internet sheds light on the Emerald Tablet, read on.
When you open your web browser and type in the address of your favorite website, do you understand how the Internet manages to display that site on your computer screen? The website itself is really just data. That data is stored on a server. That server might be located down the street from you or across the globe. No matter where it is on earth, the Internet will instantaneously know how to get the data from the server to your computer or smartphone, which will then transform the data into the website you see. But how?
When you ask your computer to show you a certain website, your computer sends a request for that data. That request travels through the Internet to the server where the website lives. That server, having received the request, sends the website through the Internet to your computer. But how does your request find the server and how does the server’s response find your computer?
It would be easy if you had a cable connected directly from your computer to the server. But can you imagine how many cables would be required? Too many. Stringing a cable from your computer to every server on the Internet is impossible.
Let’s take a trip to the Caribbean. Can you hear the steel drums? Can you taste the rum? Are you there now? Good. You’re on Sparrow Island. Wiggle your toes in the sand and look out across the beautiful water. You see the Island of Swann on the horizon and you decide that it would be nice to be able to communicate with the people living there. So you run a cable from Sparrow to Swann, and the Sparrowites and the Swannese are in constant communication.
One day, you receive the wonderful news that a new cable has been installed, this time from the Island of Swann to Turner Island. Additionally, the Island of Swann has offered to be the go-between for any communication between Sparrow Island and Turner Island. This is exciting news because while there is no cable running directly from Sparrow Island to Turner Island, the lines of communication are now open thanks to the cooperation of the Island of Swann.
This is exactly how the Internet works. A group of computers at one company (one island) connects with another island (company) and that island with another and so on and so forth. Some islands install multiple connections to several different islands. What does all this mean? It means that any device connected to the Internet can find any other device connected to the Internet.
You are an island, too. Even if you have only one computer connected to the Internet, in this example, you’d be a tiny island. Your computer doesn’t know the route to the website you’ve asked to see. And it doesn’t have to. Your computer sends the request to the island to which it is directly connected and that island decides to which other island it should go. The request may pass through many different islands before reaching it’s destination. Once a request reaches a destination, the process starts in reverse and the requested data finds your computer. This process happens at incredibly fast speeds and is exactly what took place in order for you to read this blog. These words, the ones you are reading right now, were sent to you from Los Angeles, California.
Now that we have the basic concept, let’s go back to the Emerald Tablet: “What is above is below. What is below is above.”
The Internet is “below”. So what mirrors the Internet “above”? We do. I’m certainly not the first to assert that we are all one. One some higher level, we are all connected to one another. It is no stretch of the imagination to see that we created the Internet in our image. What is above is below. We are all created from and remain connected to the same source energy. Whether we are aware of it or not, each of us has access to and can communicate with all others sharing our connection.
Having this knowledge should benefit all of us here on the lower level where we suffer from the illusion that we are separated. We could rise above war, pride in nations, fighting over religions, and habits that destroy our planet. Understanding that every other human being is you can only bring more peace and love to our world.
I encourage you to expand your awareness and look for examples from your own life that support the Emerald Tablet’s affirmation. I promise that you’ll find many in which the statement holds true. Only through personal experience will you recognize truth. I invite you to think. The rewards are enormous.
Eric Schneider
Dear Michael,
Thank you for the fantastic article and the non-technical way in which you have explained a Big Subject.
Since we never left the Caribbean, I’m off to find myself a mojito, which I’ll enjoy in a hammock strung between two palm trees, listening to the ocean waves and pondering the message you have provided.
I have no doubt that I’ll find a few examples from my personal experiences that support the Emerald Tablet citation, even if it takes a few more mojitos =)
– Eric
March 15, 2010 at 2:10 pm
Bertie
Good to see real expertise on display. Your coronibutitn is most welcome.
January 21, 2017 at 9:12 pm