The Emerald Tablet by Dennis William Hauck

The Emerald Tablet
Alchemy for Personal Transformation
by Dennis William Hauck

Paperback
452 pages
(March 1999)
Penguin USA
ISBN: 0140195718

Bookshelf Categories

Alchemy & Hermeticism

* ORDER THIS BOOK *

Synopsis:

The Emerald Tablet--an ancient document that contains the essence of the alchemical teachings--has had an important influence on many Western spiritual and religious traditions. Ostensibly concerned with turning base metals into gold, alchemy was in fact dedicated to transforming the lead of self into the gold of spirit. This brilliant history of alchemy traces its sources back to ancient Egypt, and presents alchemy as a useful, practical system of self-transformation. Each of the seven steps of alchemical transformation is explained, with hands-on techniques and exercises, treating alchemy as a living discipline for achieving a spiritual awakening.

Reviews:

Just alright; not spectacular

7/24/2000

Reviewer: A reader from CA

I'm hardly an expert in alchemy; as a matter of fact, I justrecently developed an interest in it, but this book seemed to me likeit could have been condensed into half the pages and given the same information. This guy talks like he's just such an expert, when I would be very interested to see if he's really accomplished much along the lines of true alchemy. Nevertheless, everyone has different inspirations, and I did get the sense that he offered some true inspirations, so the book doesn't seem to me totally useless. Unfortunately, a lot of it sounds like the typical new age drivel that one can read in a hundred thousand other books on occult or obscure subjects, and he repeats a lot of the same ideas over and over. Since I am new, it did offer me some insight into the actual stages of alchemy; calcination and coagulation and such because it was basically about those stages in a psychological point of view. It did offer a unique insight into those stages I'm sure, but still seems like the ideas could have been condensed a bit. He talks a lot about his and other's (famous people such as william shatner, cat steven's, etc.) personal life experiences and relates them to the stages of alchemy, ufo's (which although I don't at all disregard such subjects exactly, a lot of ufo stuff is exagerrated and made up and/or delusional which makes me question his credibility a bit and stick him a little in with the fanatical, new age types), and just seems to have a lot of exposition in his writing style that I might have been happier without. The book has a very psychological/self-helpish aura about it rather than having the aura of a tome of wisdom. Another insight of the author's that ringed true to me somehow, though, was something he wrote about the one thing and a meditation one can do where the energy is often perceived like a color in the upper color spectrum... an ultraviolet light. That struck me as having truth because I've experienced something like it in my own meditation before I read the book. So, this book is not entirely useless. It's more like you have to weed out the substance from the clutter... starting to sound alchemical? hehe Well, that's kind of ironic. The author also resorts to drugs at times it seems, which I've personally learnt are rather useless and delusional although such methods might seem like a way to attain real truth. I think the ultimate way to attain universal truths are by using one's natural abilities such as meditation and dreams and not such crutches as drugs because crutches like that often backfire in some way. The problem with books about these kinds of subjects is that people talk like they know so much when really their knowledge is extremely superficial or unverified/delusional. I mean, how many of them can actually show me that they know anything? It seems to me a really useful book about alchemy might be very difficult to find. So this one has some stuff to offer. I guess it depends what you're looking for. Inside the book it gives the author's webpage, so if you want to know more, I suppose you could check it out. I haven't been there, but have been meaning to visit...

Inspired,insightful...truly alchemical!

12/8/1999

Reviewer: FLORIN from Saskatoon,SK,Canada

This is a rare book combining knowledge with a hands on approach intending to initiate the reader into alchemy as a way of life.Very well researched, written and also 'experienced'-the author presents his own alchemical journey-it can also be a good starting point for those interested in pursuing further this fascinating topic.As for alchemy's relevance for our times,D.W.Hauck's 'The Emerald Tablet'provides a very strong case indeed.

Great Theory, Weak Practice

6/27/1999

Reviewer: Scott from Eugene, OR

The first section of the book was exciting and kept me on the edge of my seat. The author's discussions on the Tabula Smaragdina and the Azoth bear much re-reading and were a sort of meditation in themselves. I was somewhat disappointed by the exercises, being comprised of breath-work and visualizations. A lot of the exercizes in the book could be found in Israel Regardie's "One Year Manual" that was written 23 years ago. Another minus in the exercizes, is that they were scattered here-and-there throught a chapter with no real structure. No description of how long one should use a particular procedure or how to tell when you have accomplished the goal. Each chapter gives a number of exercizes and it is difficult to tell if these are complimentary or only one should be used at a time.

Enjoyable book that may start your own personal alchemy

5/24/1999

Reviewer: A reader

This book is well put together and gives you a mixture of history, myth, alchemy, drawings, and the authors own personal experience in alchemy of self. I found it interesting and will probably try to use the info on my own life journey. There is GOLD to be found within and ussually an interesting set of interactions that bring you to discovery. Alchemy is Transformation.

[Bookshelf Home] [Magazine Home] [New Vision Home] [New Books]

[Review a Book] [Suggest a Book]

Just alright; not spectacular	7/24/2000
Reviewer: A reader from CA
I'm hardly an expert in alchemy; as a matter of fact, I justrecently developed an interest in it, but this book seemed to me likeit could have been condensed into half the pages and given the same information. This guy talks like he's just such an expert, when I would be very interested to see if he's really accomplished much along the lines of true alchemy. Nevertheless, everyone has different inspirations, and I did get the sense that he offered some true inspirations, so the book doesn't seem to me totally useless. Unfortunately, a lot of it sounds like the typical new age drivel that one can read in a hundred thousand other books on occult or obscure subjects, and he repeats a lot of the same ideas over and over. Since I am new, it did offer me some insight into the actual stages of alchemy; calcination and coagulation and such because it was basically about those stages in a psychological point of view. It did offer a unique insight into those stages I'm sure, but still seems like the ideas could have been condensed a bit. He talks a lot about his and other's (famous people such as william shatner, cat steven's, etc.) personal life experiences and relates them to the stages of alchemy, ufo's (which although I don't at all disregard such subjects exactly, a lot of ufo stuff is exagerrated and made up and/or delusional which makes me question his credibility a bit and stick him a little in with the fanatical, new age types), and just seems to have a lot of exposition in his writing style that I might have been happier without. The book has a very psychological/self-helpish aura about it rather than having the aura of a tome of wisdom. Another insight of the author's that ringed true to me somehow, though, was something he wrote about the one thing and a meditation one can do where the energy is often perceived like a color in the upper color spectrum... an ultraviolet light. That struck me as having truth because I've experienced something like it in my own meditation before I read the book. So, this book is not entirely useless. It's more like you have to weed out the substance from the clutter... starting to sound alchemical? hehe Well, that's kind of ironic. The author also resorts to drugs at times it seems, which I've personally learnt are rather useless and delusional although such methods might seem like a way to attain real truth. I think the ultimate way to attain universal truths are by using one's natural abilities such as meditation and dreams and not such crutches as drugs because crutches like that often backfire in some way. The problem with books about these kinds of subjects is that people talk like they know so much when really their knowledge is extremely superficial or unverified/delusional. I mean, how many of them can actually show me that they know anything? It seems to me a really useful book about alchemy might be very difficult to find. So this one has some stuff to offer. I guess it depends what you're looking for. Inside the book it gives the author's webpage, so if you want to know more, I suppose you could check it out. I haven't been there, but have been meaning to visit...

Inspired,insightful...truly alchemical!	12/8/1999
Reviewer: FLORIN from Saskatoon,SK,Canada
This is a rare book combining knowledge with a hands on approach intending to initiate the reader into alchemy as a way of life.Very well researched, written and also 'experienced'-the author presents his own alchemical journey-it can also be a good starting point for those interested in pursuing further this fascinating topic.As for alchemy's relevance for our times,D.W.Hauck's 'The Emerald Tablet'provides a very strong case indeed.

Great Theory, Weak Practice	6/27/1999
Reviewer: Scott from Eugene, OR
The first section of the book was exciting and kept me on the edge of my seat. The author's discussions on the Tabula Smaragdina and the Azoth bear much re-reading and were a sort of meditation in themselves. I was somewhat disappointed by the exercises, being comprised of breath-work and visualizations. A lot of the exercizes in the book could be found in Israel Regardie's "One Year Manual" that was written 23 years ago. Another minus in the exercizes, is that they were scattered here-and-there throught a chapter with no real structure. No description of how long one should use a particular procedure or how to tell when you have accomplished the goal. Each chapter gives a number of exercizes and it is difficult to tell if these are complimentary or only one should be used at a time.

Enjoyable book that may start your own personal alchemy	5/24/1999
Reviewer: A reader
This book is well put together and gives you a mixture of history, myth, alchemy, drawings, and the authors own personal experience in alchemy of self. I found it interesting and will probably try to use the info on my own life journey. There is GOLD to be found within and ussually an interesting set of interactions that bring you to discovery. Alchemy is Transformation.