According to Greek mythology, Hermes moved freely between the worlds of the mortal and the divine and it was his job to conduct souls into the afterlife. He was quick and cunning, often outwitting other gods for his own satisfaction or for the sake of humankind. When the Greeks learned that the Egyptians had a god Thoth, or Tehuti, who specialized in wisdom and learning, they named him “Hermes Trismegistus” or “the thrice greatest Hermes.” Supposedly, Hermes Trismegistus was the “scribe of the gods” who authored the sacred “hermetic” works that described workings of the material world as well as the quest for spiritual perfection. This is just what the alchemists were interested in, so it comes as no surprise that they latched onto Hermes Trismegistus as their patron. The alchemists often used distillation in their attempts to change matter from one form to another, a process that required making a glass tube airtight. The method they used to accomplish this was attributed to their legendary patron, Hermes Trismegistus, and hence the description, “hermetically sealed.”
Hermetic seals are airtight seals that prevent the passage of gases or liquids. For example, airplanes in flight have to be hermetically sealed to prevent air from escaping, and submerged submarines have to be protected from entry of water. The space station obviously has to be hermetically sealed and astronauts carrying out spacewalks have to be similarly protected. Double paned windows contain argon gas sealed in hermetically for insulation, and the food industry relies on hermetically sealed packaging for excluding air that can lead to deterioration. Airtight foil packaging used for salmon is an example. Hermetic seals are used in electronic equipment to keep out moisture as well as for archiving significant historical items such as the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights and the Declaration Of Independence. In 1951, these were hermetically sealed with the inert gas helium in glass cases for display in the U.S. national Archives in Washington. In 2003, the documents were transferred to new cases in which they were hermetically sealed with argon.
In some forms of the legend, Hermes Trismegistus was not a god but an ancient Egyptian alchemist who had taken his name from Hermes and was buried in an obscure chamber in the great Pyramid of Giza. Some of the powerful secrets of alchemy were supposedly found inscribed on an  that was clutched in the hands of his mummy. This mysterious tablet was thought to be the key for transmuting base materials to precious metals and gems. There is no record of the actual tablet existing, but it is widely described in the alchemical literature, first appearing in an Arabic book written sometime between the sixth and eight centuries. It was also described by the 8th century alchemist Jabir ibn Hayyan, from whose name our term “gibberish” is derived reflecting the confusing writings of the alchemists.
Alchemists believed in transmutation, that is in the conversion of certain substances to gold. Jabir himself was convinced that yellow sulfur and silvery mercury would combine to form gold under the right conditions. He carried out many such experiments and like other alchemists, recorded his results in elaborate codes to protect his intellectual property. Anyone reading his writings would see them as "gibberish." But Jabir gave us more than gibberish. In his attempts to make gold he mastered the techniques of sublimation and distillation and learned to prepare many simple chemicals. He also argued that alchemy should be taught at universities. This ran against the teachings of the Church which maintained that alchemy was sinful because its practitioners sought the divine power of creation. But Jabir argued that if humans had the wisdom to create new substances, it was because God had given them the ability to do so.Â
As far as the “Emerald Tablet” goes, an English translation was provided by Isaac Newton who was infatuated with alchemy and possibly even experienced mercury poisoning is his attempts to produce gold. Newton once commented “that which is below is like that which is above and that which is above is like that which is below to do the miracles of one only thing and as all things have been and arose from one by the mediation of one, so all things have their birth from this one thing by adaptation.” It isn’t hard to see why alchemical writings are regarded as gibberish. Newton’s possible mercury poisoning is attested to by the finding of high levels of mercury as well as lead in a sample of his hair that is kept at Trinity College, Cambridge. Hopefully the sample is hermetically sealed to keep it from deteriorating.
