THE PRECIOUS GIFT OF GOD

by Georges Aurach

Transcribed by Albert Poisson from an undated manuscript,
which this author believed to be from the 17th century.


Nota Bene:
The following changes have been made to this document:

1. Common spelling mistakes have been corrected in the version below, although Albert Poisson thought it best to leave them in his transcription. On the other hand, some sentences still contain syntax errors, which are only the reproduction of those of the manuscript.

2. The color plates described by this manuscript are similar to those of a manuscript dating from the end of the 16th century. Those included in this document did not appear in Albert Poisson's manuscript.

3. Words beginning with a capital letter have retained it, even if current usage does not require it.

4. The punctuation remained unchanged.

V2.0

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One only has to read this little treatise with great attention to have a perfect knowledge of the most beautiful of all Sciences. The author promises to develop there this great mystery that all the ancient philosophers have made so obscure and so enigmatic, either that they wanted to disgust those who apply themselves to it, or that they wanted to impose on them and deceive them.

Be very persuaded, says our Philosopher, that I will teach you this great art in such a clear and intelligible way that even the most ignorant will understand very easily all that I will say and that I will not propose anything that I have not seen and that I did it myself.

It should be known in the first place that those who work on anything other than nature are mistaken, because everything else flees and is not suitable for our art. After all, to make a man you need a man, and a beast can only be born from a beast; each thing making its similar and nothing can give to another what it does not have itself.

Now I advise those who do not have a complete knowledge of this art, not to embark on it, if they do not want to make up their minds to incur great expenses, the end of which will perhaps be only an unfortunate one. begging, and a cruel despair.

The thing is indeed very difficult to find and many have gone mad looking for it, but also when you know it you are quite rich. It does not need several things, only one is enough, it costs little because there is only one stone, one medicine, one vessel, one diet and one disposition, and this Science is very real. No, the Philosophers would never have been able to speak of so many different colors, and say how they follow one another, if they had not seen them and if they had not done the Work, but I repeat it ,

Our stone is made of a thing, and is made of an animal, vegetable and mineral thing. Cling therefore solely to nature, because nature and art are not perfected in a multitude of things, and although it is given several different names, it is always only one thing, the same thing, so agent and patient must be in kind of one and the same thing, and different things in kind, just as woman is different from man, and matter is what is called patient, because it suffers and receives the action and the form is what is called the agent because it acts and imprints the action in the matter that it makes itself similar and that This naturally and passionately calls for and desires form because without it, matter would be imperfect.

So learn to know the Nature of things, if you want to succeed, because I cannot tell you the name of our Stone, what I have said should suffice to let you know what it is that philosophers call the stone. everything and they are telling the truth. For of itself and in itself it contains all that is necessary for perfection; the poor have it as well as the rich, it is found everywhere, it is composed of body, soul and spirit, and it changes from nature to nature until it is in its perfection.

The philosophers have said that our stone is made of one thing and this is true, because all our magisterium is made with our water which is the sperm of all metals and all metals are reduced and resolved in it, because the body imperfect is converted into this water and these Waters joined with our Water, make a clean and clear Water, which purifies all things, and it is this precious and useful Water from which and with which our Magisterium is made.

If one has little experience, one knows well enough the order that must be kept in the steps of the fire; it must be strong in the Solution, mediocre in the Sublimation, moderate in the Putrification, a little greater when the Work is white, and strong in the red. But if by misfortune or by ignorance you miss in the fire, you must despair of succeeding, it is therefore necessary that renouncing any other occupation you give yourself without sharing and with great assiduity in our operation.

But to come back to our matter of stone, make use of venerable nature, for it only perfects itself in its very nature. Do not add anything foreign to it, either powder or anything else, because different natures cannot perfect our stone, and there is nothing that does not come out of itself, and if we add something as a foreigner, first it becomes corrupted and one can do with it what one wishes; from there you see that you still hold nothing if in the beginning of the Cooking the composition is not made of similar things, without any operation of the hands.

Also, so that those who seek this precious secret do not tire themselves unnecessarily, he declares that this magisterium is nothing other than cooking quicksilver and sulfur until they become the same thing. Quicksilver keeps Sulfur from burning, and Sulfur keeps quicksilver from blowing away and dissipating; if the vessel is tightly closed, this is easy to understand by the following Example, that which cooks in common water cannot burn, while there remains water, but as soon as the water is consumed , what was with it inevitably burns, that is why the philosophers have recommended so much that care was taken to close the vessel well, so that our holy water does not evaporate.

I therefore order that in the beginning we make a very gentle fire in order to accustom our water to the fire without worrying that it is there, It is therefore the water which whitens, which reddens, which dissolves, which freezes, which rots and which then makes new and different things grow, so I advise you to apply yourselves entirely to cooking without being bored with the slowness of our work and without worrying about anything else.

Our water demands everything from you; cook it gently, little by little in the putrefaction until it changes color to color, and becomes perfect; take good care in the beginning not to burn its greenness and its flowers, do not rush our work, take care that the vessel is well closed, lest the spirit which is there, does not evaporate, and with the help of God, be sure to succeed; nature does its work slowly, apply yourself well to imitate it, make serious reflections on the way in which bodies are generated in the bowels of the earth, by what fire they cook themselves, whether it is violent or gentle. Conduct our work in the same way and you will certainly succeed.

Know this water well, it makes white for white and red for red.

It is therefore necessary that we draw our Stone of nature from two bodies, before making a perfect Elixir of it, because it is necessary that the elixir be purer and more perfect than silver and that gold, since it must change imperfect bodies into the gold of the philosophers and the silver of the philosophers; what neither gold nor silver can do except as much as if they gave to another body their perfections; they would be imperfect, nothing being able to redden except as much as it is red and nothing can whiten as as much as it is white, but our Elixir in its perfection can perfect absolutely all the imperfect Bodies.

If you want to understand this treatise well, read each part carefully one after the other, you will discover marvels in it; if I had not seen and touched them I would never have been able to write and depict them. I have not spoken of all that is seen in this operation and the things that are necessary therein, for there are certain things that man is not permitted to explain. I have however given to know all things up to their perfections, and know that we have never seen such a treatise and that it is impossible to possess it, if God does not reveal it to you or if some masters do not teaches it.

The Work is long, so be prepared for great patience; there are certain charlatans who boast of knowing how to make common gold drinkable gold, which they say is very precious for health, but this is only an illusion and a pure deception, gold and money prepared in their own way being more harmful than beneficial to a sick person. Our medicine is the true and only drinkable gold, capable of removing from men as well as from metals all their superfluities and imperfections and if vulgar gold gave perfection to another, it would be imperfect.

Here is the explanation of the following twelve figures.

The first which represents a green lion contains the real matter and makes known what color it is and is called Adrop or Azoth, atropum or duenech.



In the second and in the third one sees how the Bodies dissolve in quicksilver, of the philosophers, that is to say in the water of our Mercury, and a new body is made.




In the fourth one sees the putrefaction of the philosophers which has never been one in our days, and it is called Sulphur.



In the fifth one sees how the greater part of this Water has become a black and muddy earth of which all the philosophers speak.



In the sixth one sees this earth which in the beginning was raised on the Water, precipitates little by little and falls in the bottom of the vessel.



In the seventh we see how this earth is dissolved a second time in Water of the color of oil and then it is called oil of the philosophers.



In the eighth we see how the dragon was born in darkness, that it feeds on its own mercury, that it serves itself and that it submerges itself in its mercury, and the water becomes a little white, it is the elixir.



In the ninth we see how the water is completely purified of its blackness and that it remains in the color of milk, several colors appear in the blackness.



In the tenth one sees how all these little spots which were above the water go down into the Body from which it came.



In the eleventh one sees how this ash has become white and shiny like marble and it is the elixir for the white and the Ash is made.



In the twelfth we see how this whiteness has changed into a beautiful red like rubies and this is the Elixir for red.



The Matter of the stone is thick water and the agent is the Heat or a cold which freezes this Water and learn that the stones which proceed from animal things are more precious than the others.

You cannot however prepare any kind of stone without the green and liquid duenech, such as one finds it in our mines. Consider these high mountains which are to the right and to the left, climb them, you will find our Stone there, because everything is born there.

The stone necessary in this work is of an animated thing, you will find it everywhere in the valleys, in the mountains and in the Waters, the poor like the rich.

It is very useful and very precious, it feeds on flesh and blood, oh how precious it is for the one who possesses it! O blessed greenness that engenders all things!

O blessed nature, which by its work makes what is of itself imperfect become very perfect; also it is necessary that you do not use this nature that it is not pure, clear, raw, soft, terrestrial, and very pure,

Our stone is a body which is neither malleable nor sounding, which mortifies and which purifies.

Take care not to put anything contrary with our stone, it alone is the only subject.

Join the slave with her fragrant Sister and they will do all the work between them, for as soon as the white woman is married to the red husband, they embrace and unite very closely they dissolve by themselves and by they also perfect themselves, from two bodies that they were they become a single body.

Learn who, there are three perfect Colors from which several others proceed.

The first is black, the second is white and the third is red.

There are several other Colors which often appear in front of white, but you shouldn't worry about it; there the conjunction of two Bodies takes place and it is necessary, because if there were in our Stone only one of these two Bodies, it could never give the necessary tincture, consequently the junction of these two bodies is absolutely necessary .

The Philosopher said that the wind carried the stone in its bosom, we must know that the wind is the air; it is the Life and the Life is the Soul, ie the oil and the water.

Change the Nature of the four Elements and you will find what you seek.

Changing Natures is nothing other than giving back what is Body, Spirit; this is what one does in the work, for the gross is made subtle and what is Body is dissolved into Water, and therefore one changes the nature of a dry Body into Water, and then one changes that Water.

into a body so that what is bodily becomes spiritual, and what is spiritual becomes bodily, and therefore the natures are changed. Now bodies being dissolved, they become of the nature of spirits, and like water mixed with water, they cannot be separated from each other. To speak sincerely the whole work is nothing but a fixed water which contains in itself all that we are looking for.

So study this Water well with these excellent operations, it is she who makes white to white, and red to red, it is the same thing which has in itself the soul, the air, the heat and the four Elements to which it is subject; the other Elements are here of no consideration.

Bake our brass with a fire as gentle as a brooding hen's, until her body is done and the dye is drawn. Don't pull it all at once, but little by little each day, because it should only be in its perfection after a certain time which is a bit long.

I am the Black of the white and the red white, however I am green and I do not lie and learn that the head of art is the crow that flies in the darkness of the night and in the light of the day, because one shoots the Color of the bitterness which is in his throat and the red takes hold in his body like the arc (Illegible word: art (?), the line (?)) pure from his back.

Understand therefore the gift of God, receive it and hide it carefully from the foolish, for it was drawn from the caves of metals, its stone is mineral and animal, shining in color, high mountain and a vast sea. truth ; when it begins to darken, we call that the key of the Work, because without the blackness, nothing succeeds there.

For this blackness is the dye we seek and with which we dye all bodies, it was hidden in its brass, as the soul is in the human body, so when you work, make sure you have this black color, because then you will be assured of putrefaction and you will only have to continue our work in all assurance, but we must banish from our Magisterium impatience and haste as temptations of the devil; o blessed nature, blessed is also your operation because you make what is imperfect, the perfect even with a real putrefaction which is black and dark, then you produce new and different things and with your greenness you will appear of different colors .

because then you will be assured of putrefaction and you will only have to continue our work in all assurance, but we must banish from our Magisterium impatience and haste as temptations of the devil; o blessed nature, blessed is also your operation because you make what is imperfect, the perfect even with a real putrefaction which is black and dark, then you produce new and different things and with your greenness you will appear of different colors .

because then you will be assured of putrefaction and you will only have to continue our work in all assurance, but we must banish from our Magisterium impatience and haste as temptations of the devil; o blessed nature, blessed is also your operation because you make what is imperfect, the perfect even with a real putrefaction which is black and dark, then you produce new and different things and with your greenness you will appear of different colors .

Those who have closely and diligently studied the operations of the Work have noticed in Putrefaction that matter thickens and becomes earth, which in the beginning stands high above the water, and which thickens from more and more falls little by little and rushes into the water, at the bottom of the vessel, where it is under the water, they also noticed that this earth is yellowish black and muddy and they assured that then putrefaction is done.

Ignite your philosophical fire in the furnace and dissolve all matter into Water. Give it in the beginning a low fire until the greater part is converted into black earth, which is done in twenty-one days.

Never forget that it only takes one thing, that it must completely corrupt and turn black.

Be assiduous in this operation, until the dye appears on the water, which dye must be black in color and when you see this dye appear above the water, be sure that the whole Body is melted. , and then it is necessary to continue the soft fire until it rises from the matter of the dark vapors, because the intention of the philosophers is that the Body which is first dissolved in black powder, returns in its Water and that only one whole is made of it, that is to say that all matter must be reduced to water, otherwise you will not succeed at all.

One asks how long it takes for the stone to turn black and what is the assured mark that the dissolution of the stone is completely done.

The Philosopher replies to this that as soon as blackness appears for the first time it is a sure sign of the Putrefaction and dissolution of the Stone, and that when blackness no longer appears at all, it is an infallible mark of the Stone.

entire putrefaction and dissolution of the Stone.

It is also asked if the black vapors last in the stone for forty days.

The Philosopher answers that yes, and sometimes more and sometimes less time, according to the quantity of the material and according to whether the workman has more or less industry; for it does not take longer to dissolve a large mass than a small one, and a learned worker is more capable of leading the Work than another less skilful.

The earth is putrefied and purified in forty days more or less, depending on whether there is more or less matter. Gold is dissolved in order to reduce it to its first material, that is to say so that it becomes truly Sulfur and quicksilver, because when the gold is changed into this first material, it becomes capable of making good silver and good gold, so it must be purified and washed until it is truly Sulfur and quicksilver, which according to the philosophers are the proper matter of all metals.

That one, then, will be highly commendable who will know how to marry and conceive the woman and who will have the industry to mortify the species and to verify them, to illuminate, to whiten their face, because some will be born by favor of a fire. sweet an illustrious son, because the vapors will rejoin the bodies from which they came. So continue your gentle fire until the matter is dissolved in impalpable Water and all the tincture has come out in black color, which is the mark of dissolution.

The Dragon eats its wings and it produces many different colors, because it will change color many times and in many different ways until it catches the white one.

The animal should only be given food when it is hungry and thirsty and it has none after three days. Here was born the dragon, darkness is his abode and darkness reigns there. Now death and darkness are driven out of this sea, the dragon stops the rays of the Sun there and our Son who is dead will rise again; the King will come from the fire and marry. Finally the hidden things will be seen and our quickened son will rise above the fire and the dyes.

In the blackest of all blacks, in which many different colors will appear, the Virgin's milk will grow white, and our quickened Son will resist the fire and rise above the tincture; pure bright silver sublimated with brass from which all things are made, it is clear water and the true tincture which strips the brass of its blackness, for it is the white Sulfur which alone can whiten the brass which binds spirits and prevents it from dissipating. Learn that the neck of the Vaisseau is the head of the crow that you will kill and the Dove will be born and then the phoenix, then consider yourself perfectly happy, our Magisterium, namely the white and the red, is understood in these few words.

Here the precious ashes are made, because the black vapors and of different colors have joined their Bodies whence they had risen, and the water and the earth have joined together. Now, as Nature has no other movement than that which fire gives it, if you know how to handle fire well, water is enough for you. For both cleanse, purify and nourish the Body and remove rust and Blackness from it; and the water which is in the brass attaches and unites with the earth as naturally as the iron with the magnet. So do the same operation four times with the same fire and finally fix our earth by calcining it and then you will have sufficiently given the Precious Earth of the Stone all its ways.

But calcining is nothing other than drying and reducing to powder, so do not be afraid to continue the fire until the Ashes are made, and then be convinced that you have made a happy mixture of your materials.

Do not therefore neglect this Ash, but take care to unite to it the sweat and the vapor which has come out of it.

The Water being therefore completely dried up and changed into earth, will be putrefied for a few days on a gentle fire, until the white color appears on it. When the humidity has dried up we will be able to see in the ship all the colors imaginable. Bring back into the Body what has come out of it and make them fixed and inseparable, that is to say that the Blackness which is separated from the Body comes back into it and there is only one body left.

I am the Elixir for the white, a single part suffices to change into silver more excellent than that of the mines, a thousand parts of the less perfect metals.

Whiten the brass and tear up your books, because our matter is a small thing and it only needs a little help, whoever knew how to whiten me will also blush me.

The White and the Red have only one same source and what is done in the white is also done in the red.

When you see these marvels, you will feel secretly filled with awe and admiration.

Bake, pulverize, repeat, and do not bother repeating, although the whole work takes a long time, because it is only done by a long firing.

Know that the flower of the Sun is the Stone of the stone. So cook it until it becomes like shiny marble. Then you will lead it to red, but first it must become citrine, which is a color made by mixing black with white. So whiten the black and redden the white, that's the whole Magisterium.

I am the Elixir for the Red which transforms the imperfect bodies into gold more exquisite than that which is extracted from the mines. We have the experience that a part of this powder projected on a thousand parts of quicksilver congeals it and changes it into very pure gold.

At the end appear the king Crowned with his diadem resplendent like the Sun and shining like a carbuncle. It will melt like wax in the sun, it will resist fire, it will penetrate, bind and fix quicksilver. Now the Color will come to him by means of fire, as the Blood is made in man only by means of the heat which resides in the liver; so cook our white, it will turn red, but cook it with a suitable fire, that is to say stronger until it is red like Cinnabar, and there is no need to add anything to it , either water or something else, until the white has become perfectly red by a long decoction, then you will possess the Stone.

It remains to speak of the hour of the day and of the season when one should begin this work, for one would be wasting one's time and one's money if one undertook to do it otherwise.

So I say that you have to take the stone with all its substance from which you have to choose what is purest and most subtle and put it in the philosophical vessel which you have to close philosophically and put it in the furnace at sunset on Monday, and from mid-December until mid-January, the Sun being in the sign of Capricorn.

Une accendatur ignis physieus et regatur more philosophorum ab initio operis usque ad albedinem incipientem otum hoc regimen vocatur purificatio lapidis; in hac purification non potest esse tempus determinatum nisi secundum quod artifex bene laboret eum (quum?) lapis noster positus est in vase nostro et felt calorem Solis, statim solvitur in aquam, hujs artis scientiam ab qua cum lumine vanis (visis?) et cum lumine genita es, et quae tenebrosam nebulam peristi quae omnium Mater est.
Finis libri qui intitulatus pretiosissimum donum Dei, seripti per Georgium Aurach de argentina et etiam depieti propriis ejus manibus, sub anno reparatae humanae Salus 1479, the same author wrote another treatise entitled: Hortus divitiarum.

Translation of the last paragraph:

Then we will kindle the physical fire and we will govern it in a philosophical way from the beginning of the Work until the beginning of whiteness. This whole diet is called stone cleansing. One cannot determine in a precise way the duration of the purification, that depends on the way in which the artist works assiduously. When our stone is enclosed in our vase and feels the heat of the sun, it immediately dissolves into water. O science of our art, you live in the light and you were begotten in the light, you drove out the nebulous darkness which is the mother of all things.
End of the book entitled the very precious gift of God, written by Georges Aurach of Strasbourg and painted with his own hand in the year 1415 of the salvation of redeemed humanity.