THE CLAVICLE OF HERMETIC SCIENCE

WRITTEN BY A NORTHERN RESIDENT
IN HIS LEISURE HOURS

1732

TO NATURE, UNSOILED VIRGIN,
AND TO THE ART THAT FOLLOWS IT AS ITS GUIDE

I very humbly consecrate my evening relaxations,
I, who am a speck of dust from Paradise,

A MAN

TO THE VOLUNTEER READER

IT seems to me that I hear you scolding at the sight of this brochure, you are surprised that we are not in the mood to allow another source to dry up, which has provided enough to fill so much paper and so many books. Really will you say, it is indeed from the North, where the sources of Helicon have long been covered by the ice, that we should expect something new on this matter? It is from there, no doubt, that must come to the Egyptian Goddess Isis, and to her ancient Mysteries, the re-establishment of their first luster and of their former splendor. If you still consider the name, the amusements, and the occupations of the author, how will you not be deceived in your expectation, and how strange will you not consider this undertaking? If you yourself are fair, suspend your judgment in a case of which you are not yet sufficiently instructed. Schytia once had its Abarides and its Xamolxides. If you claim that we are in error, because we do not sing the same song as fabulous antiquity: read everything & you will perhaps say with the Poet:

Felices errore suo, quos despicit arctos.

For I cannot persuade myself that Nature's cornucopia is so exhausted that she, that others have called a good Mother, is us, those who live in these climates, a Stepmother, and that she did not want us to recognize her as Mother by any merit or benefit on her part towards us. I'm wrong, or she also opens her bosom to us; if you love this breast, white as snow, full of milk, and breathing a sweet warmth, risk something like children do by simple, flattering, and full of affection manners. I hope that in reading these few pages you will find things that others have not mentioned; if they amuse you usefully I will believe my wishes accomplished; & it will excite me to try something more important:

THE AUTHOR.

The Most High, to put the crown on creation, formed man & endowed him with qualities so different & so beautiful that he did not hesitate to admit that he was made according to his image. Holy Scripture testifies & the Christian Religion sufficiently persuades us of how many blessings God showered on him afterwards, although he was rebellious & his enemy; & that he did not even spare his only son for the salvation of the human race. These testimonies are above all exceptions. And although faith believes many things that reason does not understand, they nevertheless both agree in this, that man is the noblest of all creatures. This truth is so clear, & made such an impression on the ancients, who were not enlightened by Revelation; that the very avid Egyptians of the sciences made their principal study of the art of knowing oneself.

The Greeks, who drew their dogmas from the Egyptians, having brought back to their country this same rule which they regarded as the basis of all wisdom, had these words placed on the doors and walls of their famous Temple of Delphi.

Consule te ipsum, nofce termet
And ambula ab intra.

After a long experience had shown the harmony there is between man and the universe, it was believed to be the epitome of everything, or rather the little world. This is the key to the seal of this great Hermes whose emblem is a hand, which holds a sphere, or else a small world with this inscription:

What is above is the same as what is below.

I do not trouble myself with the daydreams of the Alchemists, who do violence to these words to make them serve to confirm their chimeras. It is enough that their great chief drew this from the most hidden Mysteries of Nature. How does the same say in Asclepius:

It is for this, O Aesculapius, that man is a great
Miracle, an animal that we must honor & adore.

One could sometimes think of wanting to dispute this prerogative with man, by alleging the miserable fate of humans, much inferior to that of other animals in the three kingdoms of Nature, as much in relation to the way of life and clothing, as to the force or vigor of the vital spirits, senses, etc. so that if I turn my eyes on myself, I learn nothing else except to recognize my extreme imperfection, and I am threatened with seeing a deluge of evils descend on my head; but I do not claim to decide whether this confederation is opposed to the aim of our axiom, or whether its utility is more manifest in Theology and in Moral Philosophy. May I be allowed to anticipate this question by another one, which is as follows: Who taught you that you are the most miserable of all creatures? This is undoubtedly your reason and the strength of our rule. But if the force of our rule reveals your misery to you, self-preservation commands you to seek remedies against this same misery; consequently my rule is useful and salutary to you. But if it is reason, tell me, in what creature except man do you find reason? Therefore the reasoning creature is the most excellent of all. Venerable antiquity did not judge the excellence of man by his bodily, earthly and elementary parts, which daily experience teaches us to be subject to numberless calamities, & that what comes from the elements must be returned to them; but she judged of it by the admirable connection and concurrence of the superior and inferior virtues which are found in man, as in their center. These great men, seeing that the other animals were composed of only two parts: an organized body and the vital spirit, noticed in man a third thing, which remained after death, and which they called sometimes soul, sometimes celestial fire, or else genius or spirit. Deprived of the Revelation they have formed different ideas on the fatherland & origin of man, which they judged to differ totally from the rest of the Creatures, by its operations; among which they counted intelligence, will, sound reason, wisdom, love for mathematical truths, who cannot deceive, & by the other notions, which are not found in the Brutes. In this way they assured themselves of the existence of the soul; but as they were uncertain of its essence, and of what it became after the ruin of the body, they placed some souls among the number of Gods and Demi-Gods, especially those of Heroes and Sages. But we who are better instructed in these things by the very author of the soul, we not only know the reasons that the Pagans knew, but we still discover in them every day by Faith new and surer operations: Faith that the Christian soul conceives but that the Brutes are entirely ignorant of. In this way they assured themselves of the existence of the soul; but as they were uncertain of its essence, and of what it became after the ruin of the body, they placed some souls among the number of Gods and Demi-Gods, especially those of Heroes and Sages. But we who are better instructed in these things by the very author of the soul, we not only know the reasons that the Pagans knew, but we still discover in them every day by Faith new and surer operations: Faith that the Christian soul conceives but that the Brutes are entirely ignorant of. In this way they assured themselves of the existence of the soul; but as they were uncertain of its essence, and of what it became after the ruin of the body, they placed some souls among the number of Gods and Demi-Gods, especially those of Heroes and Sages. But we who are better instructed in these things by the very author of the soul, we not only know the reasons that the Pagans knew, but we still discover in them every day by Faith new and surer operations: Faith that the Christian soul conceives but that the Brutes are entirely ignorant of. especially those of Heroes & Sages. But we who are better instructed in these things by the very author of the soul, we not only know the reasons that the Pagans knew, but we still discover in them every day by Faith new and surer operations: Faith that the Christian soul conceives but that the Brutes are entirely ignorant of. especially those of Heroes & Sages. But we who are better instructed in these things by the very author of the soul, we not only know the reasons that the Pagans knew, but we still discover in them every day by Faith new and surer operations: Faith that the Christian soul conceives but that the Brutes are entirely ignorant of.

If the Creator had not granted us this Soul directly & habitually, man would not be any more fit than other animals to have some ideas of God, or to receive the Gospel & the truths of the Christian Religion, when they were preached to him a thousand times. This itself shows that there is something hidden in man, which awakens as from a sleep by the notions presented to it. If it were not, man would be condemned unjustly by the just Judge to eternal punishment for having neglected truths which he was as incapable of knowing as is the ox, the grass, or the stone. It would also be unfair for a Creditor to demand the repayment of a sum which he had not lent. But if a Debtor loses or negligently neglects the sum entrusted to him, he is rightly punished for it, unless the Creditor pardons him. It is to this Creature alone that the eternal Creator has entrusted something eternal.

Man therefore differs from other animals in that he is endowed with a rational and immortal soul; so that he rather deserves to be placed above them than to be counted among them. By this the other inhabitants of the elements know, & the subjection & the inferiority of the man; & its dominion & its excellence. To which I add sound reason, understand that it is a weak ray of the lost divine image. The ancient Chaldean, Egyptian and Hebrew philosophers made every effort to repair by the knowledge of very wise nature this ray which the fall of our first Fathers had left almost extinguished. They knew that Adam had been cast out of Eden, but nowhere did they find that Eden was taken from the earth, on the contrary, they knew that access to it was very carefully guarded, like a Palace whose doors are firmly closed, which does not prove, however, that the building no longer exists or that the hidden treasures are no longer there. They therefore addressed themselves to their Isis, Nature, & finding her endowed with so much wisdom, riches & generosity, they were so astonished that they made it their only study to know her. And as this chaste Virgin does not easily put off those who truly love her, provided that they seek her after having obtained her Father's permission, & that they are not animated by a false & mad love for Aristotle & logical & scholastic subtleties, but devote themselves entirely to her; they knew how to gain his good graces so much,

All the Books & the writings of the happy & thrice happy sages & ancient scholars show how far they have come by this way, & the Marvelous monuments, which still remain to us, testify in a palpable way that neither our wealth, nor our strength, nor all our knowledge in Mathematics & Architecture, Mechanics, Sculpture, Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry, Magic, etc. cannot reach the point of sublimity where science had reached in the past, much less be compared to it. Anyone who doubts this or wishes to know more can consult Herodotus, Plato, Democritus, Joseph, Pancirolle, Morhoff, Borrichius & many others.

But in order that this medium which there is between man and nature which they have named the great chain, and this Divine Science which they had acquired by so much care and pain, would not be lost with them and would not fall into oblivion, they took great care to transmit it to posterity, on columns, on marble, wood, stone, and in books in hieroglyphic and sacred characters, so that the worthy sons of the art would be the only ones instructed in it. its & the vulgar excluded. But the sciences have suffered the same fate as great Kingdoms, cities & entire Nations. The desire to reign has given rise to discord and quarrels; the Philosophers were then exiled, the monuments of genius buried under the ruins of the fatherland, and nature become a widow, so to speak, shut himself up in his own virtue. To this succeeded ignorance, oblivion, barbarism, ferocity with contempt & hatred for the arts & sciences. History reports that the Emperor Diocletian ordered, under penalty of life, to collect all the books of the wise men of Egypt, who had escaped the insults of time & to destroy & burn them, so that this people extremely inclined to revolt did not draw again from these books of the riches, of which the predecessors of this Prince had so often stripped it.

But as Wisdom has this in common with Truth, that it may well be persecuted for a time, but not quite oppressed or destroyed, there remained, despite its bad fortune, so many traces of its former luster that when the Arabs entered Egypt in the following centuries, it knew how to attach their Kings and their Princes. Some Greeks and Latins, at least in the first centuries of Christianity, when the Mysteries of Ceres were brought from Egypt, had in the meantime the happiness of approaching her; but they were so few in number that, except for one or the other, and this excellent master himself, the names of the others are hardly known. The Arabs and the Saracens, enriched by this science, not only made themselves masters of great kingdoms, but still became illustrious in a short time by the large number of Philosophers they had: this is what the superb monuments, which still exist in the Kingdoms of Granada & Murcia; & elsewhere, where the barbarity of the Turks has spared them, are authentic. Witness the most respectable authors who confirm it by their testimonies.

It is deplorable that this people have been so envious as to want to possess Wisdom alone, so that a small number of them, far from indicating in their books the simple way of nature, have supposed, to divert those who wanted to know it, falsehoods which destroy it rather than help it and straighten it out. And as they were not unaware that the insatiable thirst for gold possesses man, they become attached solely with a view to attracting him more and at the same time leading him out of the simple path of nature, which in my opinion is the only true one, to throw him into an infinity of other particular paths, they have, I say, attached themselves solely to the mineral and metallic kingdom, maintaining that gold could not be made without gold, just as a cow came from a cow. & of a horse a horse, &c. The foundations of this rule are very real; for it is not possible for nature to produce gold without a seed of gold, and it will likewise not be possible for the greatest philosopher to dissolve it philosophically, and to reduce it to a seed of gold, without our means, and without the balance of nature. But here is the difficulty, it is to find the means of procuring us the entry of this royal & closed Palace. The Arabs took great care to hide it from us, saying nothing about it, and their disciples and supporters, the Philosophers of our century, have done the same: they have nevertheless disguised her so much by masking her & dressing her in foreign garments, that hardly Hermes himself could recognize her. I have no intention of breaking a lance with these great men, nor of refuting their arguments, or the contrary, I make much of their skill and their precaution in hiding the secrets of nature. However, allow me to say this time that as long as you follow the traces marked in their books, you will never achieve the goal you have set for yourself. Anyone who does not lead you directly to the home of Nature does not hold the true path, but leads you away from it. However, I want to give you some advice, provided that you can obtain from yourselves that after you have read a few authors, whose sincerity is proven, you seriously erased from your mind any desire to visit raw metals & minerals of all kinds; & if, on the contrary, you apply yourself only to the generations of Nature, & to examine them, you can be quite persuaded that you have entered the royal road. Here is what I found through my research: you can judge for yourself by my opinion on this subject, and which I am going to communicate to you frankly, whether I have made progress or not. If you don't like my opinion, please look for a better one & share it with me with the same frankness. The route that I will indicate to you will not at least commit you to incur great expense, nor useless labors in the manner of the Philosophers; since in addition to the ordinary expenses, which you are obliged to make for your maintenance,

My matter is neither animal, nor vegetable, nor mineral, but it participates in all three. It is universal & more common in the world than anything else. She must be named out of microcosmic sympathy, and she deserves it. It is always and everywhere to be found, both in the depths of the Indies and in the middle of Rome, both day and night, in Summer as in Winter. It can be had with very little & much danger, & no mortal can do without it. It is never at rest, but always in action & in motion, never exposed but always hidden from view. The mine where it is located is deep & covered with thick darkness, because it is enclosed in narrow places & the bowels of the Earth, from where my matter is drawn & suddenly manifested by the Artist.

Its origin is from Earth & its life from Heaven. Hence it is that it is animated and not dead. This Mercury is indeed vulgar, but by no means common. Common is cold fluid, mine is hot fluid. Many things and work are needed to purify this one, while mine requires only one work and which is proper to me. Mine dwells & is found only in one body, although all that lives under the sky is jealous of it. He has the same color at the end that he had at the beginning, although he is infinitely exalted. It is formed from an infinity of other materials, from which it indicates by analysis, being believed, the affinities it has with the three kingdoms. Although it is not possible for me to compose it, I don't mind it; for Nature gives it to me prepared and composed as much as it must be for my purpose. He is very vile & very abject, but also very precious & very cherished, even before the first operation. His name is well known to everyone, but his virtues are more than unknown & inexperienced. He deceived several people, who promised themselves great things from his excellence and his celestial origin; & who have made every effort to perfect it, unaware of its true & friendly concoction. Whence it has happened that great Philosophers have rejected & condemned it, even with reason, since it cannot be dissolved, nor die, nor be quickened, nor perfected, except in itself & by itself, in one truly natural, proper manner, hidden & philosophical. All elemental fire, even the least, whatever name one gives it, drives it out or kills it, at least renders it incapable of being resurrected philosophically. So that matter is more useless than one would think without an exact knowledge of fire, of the vase, and of the athanor.

The authors help us less than nothing to discover these things, because they have so carefully erased the traces of them, that they make give to the left the very young people who suspect your truth. By boasting like so many oracles of their errors, their minutiae and their daydreams, they cause those who believe them to lose infinite trouble and a lot of money; & cause them to fall into labyrinths from which they often only emerge after having dissipated all their goods. Should we be surprised then if this noble science, and these researches for the most perfect preparation that exists in Nature, are today so hated and find a great number of enemies? I doubt very much that the necessity that the Philosophers claim to hide these things can justify their conduct, since it seems that it is better to be silent than to deceive. For me I maintain that nature is the only guide & the mistress in this work; for remembering its author, it cannot deceive itself or others.

The material being thus known to me, I still have to consider & research how it should be corrected & refined. This is not done by any elemental or artificial fire, in any vase or furnace, but by his own fire which the Creator gave from the beginning, immediately to Nature & which we inherit. The plowman knows it despite the coarseness of his genius, and the most expert alchemist is entirely ignorant of it. We feel his virtue all the time, but we do not know where he lives after he retires. It is invisible but not insensitive, soft, vaporous, continuous, equal, & rests around bare matter. By this very fact it is maintained, nourished & dissolves, it dies, becomes corrupted, germinates, greens, flowers, & is vivified, corrected, perfected, increased & multiplies. Its search is much more difficult than that of the matter itself, since it can never be found in books. That is why the knowledge of this fire must be much preferred to that of matter; for the knowledge of matter alone contributes little to that of fire, whereas the latter being once known, the knowledge of the other can hardly remain hidden.

The vase too is neither artificial nor made by hand, but natural & homogeneous, oblong with a neck, closed & open, according to necessity, opaque & obscure. In this one, which is alone & unique on earth, matter begins, is baked & perfected. It can be had everywhere & at any time, & it does not cost as much as fire, the material of which costs many people a lot. It closes itself hermetically & opens. He does not receive more than is appropriate & refuses the superfluous; so that one has no need to bother with the proportion or the quantity; Nature is not unaware of how much she needs provided that the necessary help is provided. I also have only one stove, which is earthen but natural, & in the construction of which art has no part. It is provided with two ventilators, the sides are opaque, however it is so mobile that I can easily transport it from one place to another, and even take it with me on long journeys, without any embarrassment or fear of being betrayed. subsists; it nevertheless breaks & is destroyed by the slightest elemental fire or a Lamp. You can convince yourself by this how much it differs from an artificial vase. however, it is so mobile that I can easily transport it from one place to another, and even take it with me on long journeys, without any embarrassment or fear of being betrayed. it nevertheless breaks & is destroyed by the slightest elemental fire or a Lamp. You can convince yourself by this how much it differs from an artificial vase. however, it is so mobile that I can easily transport it from one place to another, and even take it with me on long journeys, without any embarrassment or fear of being betrayed. it nevertheless breaks & is destroyed by the slightest elemental fire or a Lamp. You can convince yourself by this how much it differs from an artificial vase. & that it is by his virtue that he subsists; it nevertheless breaks & is destroyed by the slightest elemental fire or a Lamp. You can convince yourself by this how much it differs from an artificial vase. & that it is by his virtue that he subsists; it nevertheless breaks & is destroyed by the slightest elemental fire or a Lamp. You can convince yourself by this how much it differs from an artificial vase.

What makes this work difficult is:

1. The knowledge & the care of the hours of childbirth, because this work strongly resembles the generation of man in that it has its hours of conception & childbirth.

2. The government of fire, in which those who do not employ the required precautions often sin & thereby ruin the whole building; a pitfall that can easily be avoided when one is attentive & circumspect.

3. The secret of the art which I learned promptly by going back to its first source. The rest is easy & by no means unpleasant, except for the stinky smell that strikes at the beginning. The colors are three in number, black, white which equals snow, and the third which resembles ruby, although the mixture of these three produces still others.

I leave it to everyone to examine, by what has just been said, if this excellent work is so painful & so difficult that it should be entirely despised & rejected, or treated as madness like the chimera of a troubled brain. I rather believe that it is so easy and so easy that it can be done just as well by one of my peasants who is completely ignorant in chemistry (provided that I have whispered a word in his ear beforehand) as by the most excellent Philosopher. But here is the first & true cause why Nature has hidden this open & royal Palace from so many Philosophers, even from those of a very subtle mind; it is that deviating, from their youth, from the simple path of Nature by conclusions of Logic and Metaphysics, and that deceived by the illusions of the very best books, they imagine & swear that this art is deeper & more difficult than any Metaphysics whatsoever; although ingenuous Nature walks in this, as in all her other operations, with a straight and very simple step. We have only one matter, a simple coction. Matter, vase, furnace & fire are one & the same thing. What need to seek in distant lands, what we have enough at home? But abject & despised Nature is not an object fit to attract the attention & esteem of these great Philosophers. And even if they knew it, it would not seem worthy to people of such merit to make it their occupation and their study; people who despise self-knowledge,

But in vain do we wait for a line of the dead. The superb idols of the vulgar enjoy no privilege above the others in our work. They need our water as soon as they sow, and will delight those who work on the sun with their fruit. This, however, is not the main end of a true Philosopher. He regards the race of this Prince of the Planets as an amusement, and as the first rudiments of his knowledge. What does it matter to him, who can make and acquire wealth at will, which surpasses that of the two Indies, to have a great heap of gold and silver? The possession of these goods causes those who possess them daily care and concern, and exposes them to various dangers. You have to finally let them go & hardly do they bring any other advantage to their possessors than that which is common to them with most mortals; I mean to satisfy the hunger & quench the thirst. Finally, pale death knocks as much at the door of a Palace as at that of a Cabin. But to him to whom the door of Nature is open, he lacks nothing more than to know its almighty Author. It is to acquire this knowledge that he devotes himself with all his strength who sees before his eyes that everything tends to his glory, and it is not surprising that, despising & abandoning all things of the earth, he gives himself up only to love and desire which leads him towards the Author & the Master of the Universe.

He who has acquired a taste for eternity wishes with ardor to leave this life to be put in possession of it, and he who has lived in exile & as a foreigner in distant countries, although free & safe, does not hesitate to return to his fatherland. This provides an answer to those who ask why one so rarely sees that Philosophers who usually succeed in everything, and who have such exact knowledge of Medicine, do not live longer than the rest of men, it is because they have nothing mortal left to desire. The Most High has put two terms on our days; one accidental & the other natural. No mortal, not even the Philosopher, can pass this one. For the other, what the science of the Magi teaches us, can be prolonged, by the divine will & the removal of obstacles. Our early Fathers & those who lived before the Flood furnish examples of this, as do several Philosophers. The first of these two terms is ordinary & common to all the mortals of our century; this will appear more clearly by the example of a lighted lamp or candle; which burns as long as the wick lasts, that is, until the second term, unless it is extinguished by some accidental cause, which makes the first term. The candle or the lamp of our life would also burn until its matter or its vital oil was consumed, if it were not extinguished by age, or by some violent accident, by a weak constitution or by intemperance, debauchery and softness, from which come many diseases, or by some other accidental cause.

But to return to our subject, we find a lot of things in the books concerning the three distinct works; that is to say the animal, the vegetable, & the mineral: the great & the small work: the work of Saturn: the wet & dry path. I have no intention of diminishing the authority of such excellent personages nor of resisting it, and fighting so many oracles. However, I doubt very much whether by all these names they did not mean to designate the same thing; & if they are not different degrees in the operation; if all by so many names did not aim at the same end. I have no difficulty in believing that several of them, after having obtained the true Mercury, have sought various ways to abbreviate, since the patience of the moderns hardly extends to bringing this excellent but long work to that last degree of perfection, which is permitted to art and to nature. However, I have never been able to convince myself that any of the Philosophers has been able to push his work to an end desired by any other Mercury than by matter, of which I have spoken above, & by my method, in which only Nature has hidden the keys to its treasure; & in which finally there is nothing superfluous, but where the whole is transformed by an assiduous coction into a glorious Elixir. of which I spoke above, & by my method, in which only Nature has hidden the keys to her treasure; & in which finally there is nothing superfluous, but where the whole is transformed by an assiduous coction into a glorious Elixir. of which I spoke above, & by my method, in which only Nature has hidden the keys to her treasure; & in which finally there is nothing superfluous, but where the whole is transformed by an assiduous coction into a glorious Elixir.

This is the wet & dry path, this is the animal, vegetable & mineral work at the same time. For daily experience teaches us that Nature can, according to her good pleasure, & the disposition of matter, produce an animal as well as a plant, a mineral & a metal. Diets & colors put before our eyes, in the course of the work itself, the true seeds of all the planets. From this great work come, like streams from a spring, several particular things that I will not recount, although they are very short, because they are very far from the perfection of this universal, and they are moreover very difficult, uncertain and vain if the slightest error slips into them. The path of Aquarius of the sages is perhaps also known to me; but I never undertook to work on it, because the work is infinite & very unpleasant, & because it requires the exact maneuver of a man accustomed to blowing coal. When in my work I have once entrusted my broth, well contained, to its fire and its oven, I no longer need any other master or any other guide than Nature itself. This is never idle, it is always working & tending step by step to a new resurrection, & to the highest perfection. Even if the artist sometimes makes a mistake, she immediately rectifies her error. Only one thing to regret is that it requires so much time, because it would hardly be able, in the space of two years, to lead to a useful and fruitful rotation. It still requires an artist attentive & free from all other cares, lest by his negligence or the impediment of other affairs, the fruit of several months' labor should be lost in a moment. My distractions, caused by public affairs, have been the cause, for example, that on three different occasions I have begun this work again without success & that I have not been able to complete what I saw at my master's house, what I heard there & handled with my hands. If you have more patience, detention & leisure, be happy & in a cheerful mood, pray without ceasing until the end, & you can be sure to have found on earth the sovereign long after God. This is what restores health, strengthens youth, increases goods &c., & preserves to the last breath the desirable tranquility of mind.

It is the Golden Fleece of the Greeks, the Light & Justice of the Hebrews, the resplendent star of the Magi, which led them in the search for knowledge of the Lord of Nature & the uncreated Word.

I end by recommending to you that before anything else you take care to conciliate the grace of the Author of Nature, and not to approach these mysteries against his will, because he takes them away and gives them to whoever he wants: with him we can do everything, and without him we can do nothing. Pray to him with all your heart that he will let you know how the heavens & their armies tell of his glory.

To him be honor and glory forever!

CABAL OF THE PYTHAGORIAN TABLE

Yes

Chaos or Matter, the number Ir. & the circle O by which the Soul

II
of the World O or the Sun by R the Moon its Matrix B makes

III
Spirit, soul & body

These three principles of Nature, being still intellectual, give after having added the first number to them, a perfect compound of the four Elements.

IIII
PONM

That is to say or our Earth.

From there this imperscrutable divine number Ternary magic, after having overcome the two by the help of the four, advances with glory towards the first, from where it becomes perfect.

Hence this ineffable

The Tetragrammaton of the Greeks & the Schemhammephorasch of the Hebrews.

Each line of which expresses the name of the Lord, & as it is composed of pure vowels, & as no word in the world can be pronounced without a vowel, in the same way no thing in the world can exist nor subsist without God; whence comes this word of the Egyptians: Jupiter fills everything.

The same Pythagoras wanted to signify the same thing by his divine table Which he had brought from Egypt or Palestine.

I
II
III
IIII

These units together give the perfect number X, which dissected anatomically through the middle, the left horn being erected perpendicularly, gives the letter L, but the two horns together the letter V, & in full the letter X, from which comes LVX, which makes a single word by which it has pleased God to leave some idea of ​​it to man.

COROLLAR

The Surveyor learns from there, the squaring of the Circle, & the perpetual movement, to know by the circulation of the four elements.

The Arithmetician the production of sensible number by purely intellectual things.

The Grammarian the origin of Letters.

END