EMERALD TABLE OF HERMES TRISMEGISTUS - p30/30
GEOMETRY DESCENDANT OF THE PHAISTOS DISK
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THE EMERALD TABLE?
CONTAINMENT OF GEOMETRICAL ARRANGEMENTS

Geometry is like a spiritual component of the physical world because it exists in potentia and is "invoked" like spirit when we begin connecting points with lines. Knowing these religious sciences as well as s/he did, the creator of the Phaistos Disk (Daedalus?) might have conceived of this clever way to invoke images, by connecting pictographs (dots) with lines, that was both astounding to those who saw it and instructive as well. Most likely, the creator of the disk was highly educated in the study of containment of geometrical arrangements, their relationship to numbers (below), and the development of "method of exhaustion."

Method of exhaustion shows how to 'exhaust' the area of a circle by means of an inscribed polygon; if we successively double the number of sides in the polygon, we will eventually reduce the difference between the area of the polygon (known) and the area of the circle (unknown) to the point where it is smaller than any magnitude we choose. This method made it possible to calculate the area of a circle to any desired degree of accuracy; with a little further development, it could be used to calculate the area within (or under) other curves as well and to calculate the area bounded by certain spirals, and the surface area and volume of a sphere. (David C. Lindberg, The Beginnings of Western Science, pp.88, 89)

The method of exhaustion was probably borrowed by Euclid from his predecessor Eudoxus, (Ibid) (400-355 BCE), a Greek astronomer and mathematician credited with this inventive method of calculating proportion. The Phaistos Disk, containing the geometry of a pentagram inside a heptagon (the big star Sirius), seems to show exhaustion in use 1200 years before Eudoxus.

The number philosophy, shown in the table below, makes of a circle, in the mystical sense and in terms of mysticism of a much later period, an alchemical vessel, a Mixing Bowl, in which can be seen and analyzed the alchemical stages in the action of the Absolute in differentiating Self into a phenomenal universe through geometry. Each alchemical stage is introduced with 1-13 of the 13 precepts of the Emerald Table of Hermes Trismegistus, a legendary alchemical enigma and text puzzle from a much later period in history. Various cultures claim to have discovered the Emerald Table-Tabula Smaragdina. In one account of discovery, Alexander the Great found the table in the tomb of Hermes (Thoth). In another account, Sarah the wife of the biblical Abraham, found the entombed Hermes holding in his hands his table. Alternately, the precepts may have been written in Syriac.

These precepts of Hermes were cherished with a kind of religious fervour by the adepts (of alchemy), who looked upon them as summarising in a concealed form the fundamental secrets of alchemy and of the Philosopher's Stone. (John Read, F.R.S., From Alchemy to Chemistry)

In this geometry theology, ultimate reality is numerical, number is the key to the universe, and triangles are the fundamental building blocks of the cosmos; therefore, geometry is sacred. Included in the table are the precepts of Hermes.

Point
The number One
The Point within the Circle

   " I speak not fictitious things, but that which is certain and true."

Diameter
The number Two
Diameter
The Cross within the Circle

   " What is below is like that which is above, and that which is above is like that which is below, to accomplish the miracles of one thing."

Triangle
The number Three
Triangle
The Hearth of the Universe

   " And as all things are produced by the one word of one Being, so all things were produced from this one thing by adaptation."

Square
The number Four
The Square within the Circle

   " Its father is the Sun, its mother the Moon; the wind carries it in its belly, its nurse is the earth."

Pentagon Pentagram
The number Five
Pentagon, pentagram

   " It is the father of perfection throughout the world."

Hexagon Hexagram
The number Six
Hexagon, hexagram

   " The power is vigorous if it be changed into earth."

Heptagon Heptagon
Heptagram
The number Seven
Heptagon, heptagram

   " Separate the earth from the fire, the subtle from the gross, acting prudently and with judgment."

Octagon Octagram
Octagram
The number Eight
Octagon, octagrams

   " Ascend with the greatest sagacity from the earth to heaven, and then again descend to the earth, and unite together the powers of things superior and things inferior. Thus you will obtain the glory of the whole world, and obscurity will fly far away from you."

Enneagon Enneagram
Enneagram Enneagram
The number Nine
Enneagon, enneagrams

   " This has more fortitude than fortitude itself, because it conquers every subtle thing and can penetrate every solid.

Dekagon Dekagram
Dekagram
The number Ten
Dekagon, dekagrams

   " Thus was the world formed."

Endekagon Endekagram
Endekagram
The number Eleven
Endekagon, endekagrams

   " Hence proceed wonders, which are here established."

Dodekagon Dodekagram
Dodekagram Dodekagram
The number Twelve
Dodekagon, the dodekagrams

   " Therefore, I am called Hermes Trismegistus, having three parts of the philosophy of the whole world."

Precept 13. "That which I had to say concerning the operation of the sun is completed."


Geometry seems to have originated with the study of the vertex-vortex and involved, pre-eminently, the triangle and its uses in describing the properties of a circle and the geometry of the sphere for use in astronomy. Traditionally, we attribute this knowledge to the ancient Egyptians and credit them with the early work in geometry that involves this science of containment of geometrical arrangements. But to attribute all this knowledge to the Egyptians and to say that the Minoans had no knowledge of this, or were not major contributors to this early geometry, is to deny their brilliance and creative genius, which no right-minded person would do that took the time to look at the rest of their mighty civilization. The Phaistos Disk proves the Minoan's accomplishments in this science.

Astronomical Measuring Device Pig Canis Major AxeThe properties of a circle are described efficiently by pi, 3.1416. The symbol for pi on the Phaistos Disk might be the "Y" sign, repeated 3 times on Side 1. The short line of the symbol is the radius (r) of a circle and the long line is the diameter (d). The ratio of the circumference of a circle (c) to its diameter (d=2r) is a constant number called pi, which equals c divided by 2r+3.1416. 2r with a vertex is a triangle = 3. A lingering association with the number 14 of 3.1416 could come from Egyptian mythology, in which the god Typhon, out pig hunting (2nd left) with his dogs (3rd left), chopped his brother Osiris into 14 pieces with an axe (4th right).

Crab Sharp-Snout Fish TriangleThe Egyptian goddess Isis found all the pieces of Osiris that Typhon had scattered, except for his "generative member." Unfortunately, it was eaten by the Nile crab and the "sharp-snout" fish. As a result, the crab and the sharp-snout were venerated by the Egyptian priests and declared taboo to eat, along with the pig that ate some other pieces of Osiris. The crab appears once on Side 1, the sharp-snout appears four times in Side 2 and twice on Side 1, and the pig once on side 1. The tsunami also hit the coast of Egypt, which might explain why the crab and the sharp-snout are on seen swirling in the spirals of the Phaistos Disk. The four sharp-snout fishes on side 1, when connected, produce an image like a "sharp-snout fish triangle" (right), which may be indicative of the Minoan reinterpretation of the sharp-snout symbol.

Right Triangle Daedalus Wings of IcarusIn this geometry theology, the triangle is "sacred" because it represents the "plain of truth," the "hearth of the universe" and thesis-antithesis-synthesis. In mysticism of a much later time, gnosis (knowledge of holy things) is beyond reach unless one's feet have crossed the "plain of truth," meaning the study of Sacred Geometry and the triangle, particularly the magic 3-4-5 triangle, the perfect right triangle (left), revealed by connecting the 3 Daedalus Wings of Icarus pictographs on side 1 of the Phaistos Disk (2nd left).

The sacred 60 is also significant because long before 1600 BCE the 60-system of counting was used by the Mesopotamians, who were avid astronomers as were the Egyptians. The application of the sexagesimal (60-system) system in astronomy was continued by Greek and Hindu astronomers until about 500 CE. Since most of the constellation names originated in Crete and Greece, it is safe to say that because of the symbols on the disk and the knowledge of the use of the 60-system by Greek astronomers much later, the 60-system was employed by the Minoans in their astronomical calculations. The three 60's--the 60 soul types of the vertex-vortex, the 60 of the 3-4-5 triangle (3x4=12x5=60), and the 60-system of counting in astronomy--are inseparable syncretisms, in terms of symbolisms found on the disk.

And they (crocodiles of the Nile) lay sixty [eggs] and hatch them out in as many days, and the longest-lived of them live as many years-which is the first of the measures for those who treat systematically of celestial [phenomena]. (Timaeus of Plato, in Thrice-Greatest Hermes, G.R.S. Mead, Vol.3, p.198)

That is (re: the celestial phenomena), presumably, either the 60 of the Chaldaeans, or the 3x4x5 of the 'most perfect' triangle of the Mathematici. (Israel Regardie, The Golden Dawn)

The most perfect triangle, the right triangle, "has its perpendicular [side] of 'three', its base of 'four,' and its hypotenuse of 'five...' (The Cosmopolite in Les Mystere des Cathedrales, Fulcanelli;)

And one might conjecture the Egyptians [also revered] the fairest of triangles, likening the nature of the universe especially to this... (Regardie)

The Egyptians, millennia before Pythagoras, employed the magic 3-4-5 triangle of the Pythagorean Theorem, c2=a2+b2. The result, 25, was the number of letters in the Egyptian alphabet. (W. Marsham Adams in Mead)

And five makes a square equal to the number of letters among Egyptians, and a period of as many years as the Apis lives. (Mead)

Again, by the relative position of its (the ibis') legs to one another, and [of those] to its beak, it forms an equilateral triangle... (Wallace Budge in Mead)

Not only the number 60 but also the number five was sacred because it symbolized the hypotenuse of the "perfect" 3-4-5 triangle, the right triangle of the Pythagorean Theorem, divinized on the Phaistos Disk 1200 years or so before Pythagoras proved it.

For the 'three' is the first 'odd' and perfect; while the 'four' is square from side 'even' two; and the 'five' resembles partly its father and partly its mother, being composed of 'three' and 'two.' (Plutarch in Mead, Vol.1, p.234)

We must, accordingly, compare its (right triangle) perpendicular to male, its base to female, and its hypotenuse to the offspring of both; and [conjecture] Osiris as its source, Isis as receptacle, and Horus as result. (Plutarch in Mead, Vol.1, p.234)

And panta [all] is only a slight variant of pente [five]; and they (the Egyptians) call counting pempasasthai [reckoning by fives]. (Plutarch in Mead, Vol.1, p.234)


SITEMAP - HOME

Page 1 - Antique Science of Containment | Many Hidden Patterns

Page 2 - The Tablet | Who Created It? | How to Solve It

Page 3 - Constellation Argo - The Ferry | Khufu Ship | Rope Truss
      Argo Sails Backwards for 2,300 Years!

Page 4 - North Star | Enochian Language
     Linear "A" for Argothic? | Egyptian Influences

Page 5 - Great Pyramid Exterior

Page 6 - Pyramid Interior | Pyramid Goddess
      Archaeoastronomy Site | Vault Technology

Page 7 - Minoan Warriors

Page 8 - Apex and Base

      Minoan Symbols for Star and Constellation

Page 9 - Pyramid Geometry

Page 10 - Maze Solution | Phi Spiral

Page 11 - Conclusion | Unidentified Patterns | Ships of the Sky

Page 12 - Minoan Calendars | Minoan LuniSolar Calendar
      Minoan Zodiac Stellar Calendar | Minoan Sothic Calendar
     Minoan 366-Day Year Calendar

Page 13 - Brilliant Lost World

Page 14 - Origins of the Phaistos Disk | How Was it Made?

Page 15 - Evans Pictographs

Page 16 - Pictographs Numbered | Entire Inscription

Page 17 - It's Full of Stars! | Hoax Defense | Infamous Letter
     Wrong Motivation | Conclusion

Page 18 - Galileo on Philosophy | The Crater of the Whorl
     Remembering the Whorl | Planeism |Tree of Life
     The Arktype Astrology | Waking Whorl and Dream Whorl

Page 19 - The Phaistos Disk | Hidden Patterns | Emerald Table

     Astronomer-Artist | As Above, So Below | Planeism

Page 20 - Crete Invents Modern Astrology

     sexagesimal System | Phi Spiral | Astronomical Ages

     Birthing Stone of Zeus | Watcher Unseen

Page 21 - Phaistos Disk Color Animations

Page 22 - Phaistos Disk Maze of Daedalus
     Daedalus, Cunning Artificer | Palace of Knossos
     Daedalus Invents Images

Page 23 - Animated Geometry
Page 24 - Shield of Achilles

Page 25 - Great Pyramid on the Phaistos Disk

Page 26 - Constellation Argo Sail Backwards for 2,300 Years

Page 27 - North Star, Sirius, the Planets and Stars

Page 28 - 3,600 Year-Old Animation

Page 29 - Phaistos Disk Clay Pictographs

Page 30 - Emerald Table of Hermes Trismegistus


Copyright Notice - Disk of the World - Text and images copyrighted March 21, 1993-2023, Claire Grace Watson, B.A., M.S.T., U.S. Copyright and under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, All rights reserved.