EGYPTIAN AND GREEK FABLES PART 2

Unveiled & reduced to the same principle,
with

AN EXPLANATION OF THE
HIEROGLYPHS,
AND OF
THE TROJAN WAR:

By Dom Antoine-Joseph Pernety, Benedictine Religious of the Congregation of Saint-Maur.

Populum Fabulis pascebant Sacerdotes Ægyptii; ipsi autem sub nomimbus Deorum patriorum philosophabantur. Orig.li contra Celsum.


1787

CHAPTER III.

History of Osiris.

Osiris & Isis, having become husbands, gave all their care to making their subjects happy. As they lived in perfect union, they worked together; they applied themselves to polishing their people, to teaching them agriculture, to giving them laws, and to teaching them the arts necessary for life (Diodorus of Sicily, 1.I. c. I. & Plutarch of Iside & Osiride.), they taught them, among other things, the use of instruments and mechanics, the manufacture of weapons, the cultivation of vines and olive trees, the characters of writing which Mercury, or Hermes, or Thaut had given them. educated.

Isis built, in honor of her fathers Jupiter & Juno, a Temple famous for its grandeur & magnificence. She had two other small ones built of gold, one in honor of Jupiter the celestial,the other lesser in honor of Jupiter the earthly, or King his father, whom some have called Ammon. Vulcan was too commendable to be forgotten: he also had a superb Temple, and each God, continues Diodorus, had his Temple, his worship, his Priests, his sacrifices.

Isis & Osiris also instructed their subjects in the veneration they should have for the Gods, and the esteem they should have for those who had invented the arts, or who had perfected them. In the Thebaid there are workers in all sorts of metals. Some forged weapons for hunting animals; the instruments & tools specific to the cultivation of the land & to the other arts; Goldsmiths made small Temples of gold, and placed there statues of the Gods, composed of the same metal.The Egyptians even claim, adds our Author, whom Osiris particularly honored & revered Hermes, as the inventor of many useful things in life.

It was Hermes, they say, who first showed men how to put their thoughts in writing, and how to put their expressions in order, so that a continuous discourse would result. He gave proper names to many things; he instituted the ceremonies which were to be observed in the worship of each god. He observed the course of the stars, invented music, various bodily exercises, arithmetic, medicine, the art of metalwork, the three-stringed lyre; he regulated the three tones of the voice, the treble taken from Summer; the grave taken from Winter, and the medium from Spring.The same taught the Greeks how to interpret the terms, whence they gave him the name of Hermes, which means interpreter. Finally, all those who in the time of Osiris made use of the sacred letters learned of it from Mercury.

Osiris having thus arranged everything wisely, and rendered his States flourishing, conceived the plan of making the whole Universe participating in the same happiness. He assembled a large army for this purpose, less to conquer the world by force of arms, than by gentleness & humanity, convinced that by civilizing men, & teaching them the cultivation of the land, the education of animal servants, & so many other useful things, there would remain to him an eternal glory.

Before leaving for his expedition, he settled everything in his Kingdom. He gave the regency of it to Isis, and left Mercury near her for his council, with Hercules, whom he constituted intendant of the Provinces. He then divided his Kingdom into various governments. Phenicia and the maritime coasts fell to Busiris; Libya, Ethiopia, & some neighboring countries in Anthée. He then left, and was so happy in his expedition that all the countries he went to submitted to his empire.

Osiris took with him his brother whom the Greeks call Apollo, the inventor of the laurel. Anubis & Macedon, sons of Osiris, but of a very different value, followed their father; the first had a dog for sign, the second a wolf. The Egyptians therefore took the opportunity to represent one with a dog's head, the other with a wolf's head; & to have great respect & reverence for these animals.

Osiris was also accompanied by Pan, in whose honor the Egyptians later built a city in the Thebaid, to which they gave the name of Chemnim, or Size of bread. Maron & Triptoleme were still in the game; one to teach people the culture of the vine, the other that of grain.

Osiris therefore left, and it is noted that he paid particular attention to the upkeep of his hair, until his return. He took his way through Ethiopia, where he found Satyrs, whose hair fell to the waist. As he was very fond of music and dancing, he brought with him a large number of musicians; but we particularly noticed nine young girls under the guidance of Apollo, whom the Greeks called the nine Muses, and said that Apollo had been their master; whence they gave him the name of musician, and inventor of music.

At that time, say the Authors, the Nile at the birth of the Dog Syrius, that is to say, at the beginning of the heat wave, flooded the greater part of Egypt, and that in particular to which Prometheus presided. This wise Governor, outraged with pain at the sight of the desolation of his country and its inhabitants, wanted in despair to kill himself. Hercules fortunately came to the aid, and did so much by his advice and his work, that he made the Nile return to his bed. The rapidity of this river, and the depth of its waters, gave it the name of Eagle.

Osiris was then in Ethiopia, where seeing that the danger of such a flood threatened the whole country, he had dikes erected on both banks of the river, so that by containing the waters in their bed, these dikes nevertheless let escape as much water as needed to fertilize the soil. From there he crossed Arabia, and reached the extremities of the Indies, where he built several cities, to one of which he gave the name of Nysa, in memory of the one where he had been brought up, and planted ivy there, the only shrub that is raised in these two towns.

He traveled through many other countries in Asia, and then came to Europe via the Hellespont. While crossing Thrace, he killed Lycurgus, Barbarian King, who opposed his passage, and put the old man Maron in his place.He made Macedon the son King of Macedon, & sent Triprolême to Attica to teach agriculture there. Osiris left marks of his benefits everywhere, brought back men, then entirely savages, to the comforts of civil society; taught them to build towns and villages, and finally returned to Egypt by the Red Sea, overwhelmed with glory, after having erected in the places where he had passed, columns and other monuments on which his exploits are believed to be engraved.

This great Prince finally left men to enjoy the society of the Gods. Isis & Mercury awarded him the honors, & instituted mysterious ceremonies in the cult that was to be paid to him, to give a great idea of ​​​​the power of Osiris. then entirely savage, to the pleasures of civil society;taught them to build towns and villages, and finally returned to Egypt by the Red Sea, overwhelmed with glory, after having erected in the places where he had passed, columns and other monuments on which his exploits are believed to be engraved.

This great Prince finally left men to enjoy the society of the Gods. Isis & Mercury awarded him the honors, & instituted mysterious ceremonies in the cult that was to be paid to him, to give a great idea of ​​​​the power of Osiris. then entirely savage, to the pleasures of civil society; taught them to build towns and villages, and finally returned to Egypt by the Red Sea, overwhelmed with glory, after having erected in the places where he had passed, columns and other monuments on which his exploits are believed to be engraved.

This great Prince finally left men to enjoy the society of the Gods. Isis & Mercury awarded him the honors, & instituted mysterious ceremonies in the cult that was to be paid to him, to give a great idea of ​​​​the power of Osiris. columns & other monuments on which his exploits are believed to be engraved. This great Prince finally left men to enjoy the society of the Gods.

Isis & Mercury awarded him the honors, & instituted mysterious ceremonies in the cult that was to be paid to him, to give a great idea of ​​​​the power of Osiris. columns & other monuments on which his exploits are believed to be engraved. This great Prince finally left men to enjoy the society of the Gods.Isis & Mercury awarded him the honors, & instituted mysterious ceremonies in the cult that was to be paid to him, to give a great idea of ​​​​the power of Osiris.

Such is the story of the expedition of this pretended King of Egypt, according to what Diodorus of Sicily relates, who doubtless relates it in the manner in which it was told in the country. The manner of death of this Prince is no less interesting; we will mention it hereafter, when we have made some remarks on the principal circumstances of his life.

It is not surprising that Osiris (Diod. loc. cit.) was supposed to be very religious & full of veneration towards Vulcan & Mercury; he took from these gods all that he was. According to the Author quoted, Vulcan was His ancestor, inventor of fire, & the principal agent of Nature, while Osiris himself believes in a hidden fire. But of what fire was Vulcan supposed to be the inventor? Do we think that this is the one Diodorus speaks of in these terms?

“Lightning having set fire to a tree during the winter, the flame spread to neighboring trees. Vulcan rushed there, & feeling warmed, recreated & revived by the heat, supplied the fire with new combustible materials, & having maintained it by this means, he called for others;men to be witnesses of this spectacle, and advocated its inventor. I don't think we adopt this sentiment of Diodorus. This fire is none other than that of our kitchens, which was well known even before the Flood. Cain & Abel used it in their sacrifices; Tubalcain made use of it in works of iron, copper and other metals.

It cannot be said that Vulcan, Diodorus or the Egyptians had Cain or Abel in view. This fire, the invention of which is attributed to Vulcan, was therefore different from that of our forges, although Vulcan is commonly regarded as the God of Blacksmiths. This fire, according to the ideas of Hermes, was the fire of which the Philosophers make such a great mystery;that fire whose invention, according to Artephius, requires a skillful man, ingenious & learned in the Science of Nature; this fire which must be administered geometrically following the same Artéphius & d'Espagnet; clibanically if we believe Flamel, & by weight & measure in the report of Raymond Lully.

One can say of such a fire that it was invented, and not of that of our kitchens, which is known to all, and which, according to all appearances, was so from the beginning of the world. The people of Egypt, from whom Diodorus had doubtless borrowed what he said of Vulcan, knew no other fire than the common; he could therefore only speak of that one.The Priests, the Philosophers instructed by Hermes, knew this other fire which is the principal agent of the Sacerdotal or Hermetic Art; but he was careful not to explain himself about her, because it was part of the secret entrusted to them. Vulcan was this very fire personified by them, and in fact found himself by this means the ancestor of Osiris, or of the fire hidden in the stone of the Philosophers, which d'Espagnet calls the mine of fire.

To reconcile all the apparent contradictions of the Authors on the genealogy of Osiris, it is necessary to put before our eyes what happens in the Hermetic work, and the names that the Philosophers have given in all times to the different states and to the various main colors of matter in the course of operations. This matter is composed of a thing which contains two substances, one fixed & the other volatile, or water & earth. They have called one male, the other female, from these two united a third is born, who is their son, without differing from his father and his mother, whom he contains within himself, as to the radical substance. The second work is similar to the first.

This matter put in the vase in the Philosophical fire called Vulcan, or invented, it is said, by Vulcan, dissolves, putrefies & becomes black by the action of this fire. She is then the Saturn of the Philosophers, or Hermetic, who consequently becomes the son of Vulcan, as Diodorus calls him. This black color disappears, the white and the red successively take their place, the matter becomes fixed, and forms the stone of fire of Basile Valentin (Char. triumph. de l'Antim.), the fire miner of d'Espagnet, the hidden fire signified by Osiris.

So here is Osiris son of Saturn. It is no less easy to explain the feeling of those who make him a son of Jupiter, and here is how. When the black color fades, matter goes through gray before arriving at white,& the Philosophers gave the name of Jupiter to this gray color. If we reflect a little seriously on what I have just said, we will find no embarrassment or difficulty in conceiving how Osiris & Isis could be brother & sister, husband & wife, son of Saturn, son of Vulcan, son of Jupiter, how even Osiris could have been the father of Isis, since Osiris being the hidden fire of matter, it is he who gives it the form, the consistency, and the fixity that it acquires in the Suite. In two bits, the Egyptians meant by Isis & Osiris both the volatile substance & the fixed substance of the material of the work, as well as the white & red color it takes on in operations.

one will find no embarrassment or difficulty in conceiving how Osiris & Isis could be brother & sister, husband & wife, son of Saturn, son of Vulcan, son of Jupiter, how even Osiris could have been father of Isis, since Osiris being the hidden fire of matter, it is he who gives it the form, the consistency, and the fixity that it acquires in the Suite. In two bits, the Egyptians meant by Isis & Osiris both the volatile substance & the fixed substance of the material of the work, as well as the white & red color it takes on in operations.one will find no embarrassment or difficulty in conceiving how Osiris & Isis could be brother & sister, husband & wife, son of Saturn, son of Vulcan, son of Jupiter, how even Osiris could have been father of Isis, since Osiris being the hidden fire of matter, it is he who gives it the form, the consistency, and the fixity that it acquires in the Suite.

In two bits, the Egyptians meant by Isis & Osiris both the volatile substance & the fixed substance of the material of the work, as well as the white & red color it takes on in operations. the consistency, and the fixity that it acquires in the Suite. In two bits, the Egyptians meant by Isis & Osiris both the volatile substance & the fixed substance of the material of the work,the consistency, and the fixity that it acquires in the Suite. In two bits, the Egyptians meant by Isis & Osiris both the volatile substance & the fixed substance of the material of the work, as well as the white & red color it takes on in operations.

These explanations, someone will say, do not agree with the fable, which makes Vulcan the son of Jupiter and Juno, and who consequently could not be the father of Saturn. I reply to this that these contradictions are only apparent; we will be convinced of this when we have read the chapter which concerns Vulcan in particular, to which I refer the Reader, to return to Osiris and his expedition.

At the mother telling of this story, there is no sensible man who does not recognize it as a fiction. Form the plan to go and conquer the earth by road, assemble for that an army composed of men and women, satyrs, musicians, dancers; make up your mind to teach men what they already know: that is not already too well planned.

But to suppose that a King, with an army of this kind, has traversed Africa, Asia, Europe to their extremities; that there is not even a place where he has not been, following this inscription: I am the eldest son of Saturn, born of an illustrious stem, and of generous blood; cousin of the day: there is no place where I have not been, and I liberally spread my benefits over all mankind (Diodorus of Sicily).

The fact is not probable, and one would not conceive how M. l'Abbé Banier (Mytholog. TI) could have related it with such great coolness, if one did not know that he willingly adopts, without much criticism, everything that is favorable to his system, and even what authors report, of which he says in more than one place that one should not make much of it.

It is at least useless to have recourse to the expedition of Osiris to fix the time when people began to cultivate the lands in Attica, and the other countries of Asia and Europe.

The Holy Scriptures, the oldest & truest book of all history, teach us that agriculture was known before the Flood itself. Without pointing out the falsehood and the somewhat ridiculousness of such a story taken literally, it suffices to present it to a man who is versed in the reading of the Hermetic Philosophers, for him to decide at the first account that it is one. tangible symbol. But as I must suppose that many readers do not have all the operations of this art present enough, I will review all the main circumstances of this story.

Isis & Osiris are, as we have said, the agent & the patient in the same subject. Osiris leaves for his expedition, & directs his route first through Ethiopia, to reach the Red Sea, which bordered Egypt, as well as Ethiopia. It was not the shortest way, but it is the road which it is necessary to take in the operations of the great work, where the color black & the color red are the two extremes.

The blackness first manifests itself in the beginning of the operations signified by the journey of Osiris to the Indies; for whether d'Espagnet, Raymond Lully, Philalethes, &c. have alluded to this voyage of Osiris, or to that of Bacchus, or for other reasons, they tell us that one cannot succeed in the work if one does not travel through the Indies.It is therefore necessary to go first to Ethiopia, that is to say, see the color black, because it is the entrance & the key to the Hermetic art.

“These things are created in our land of Ethiopia, say Flamel (Desire desire.) & Rasis (Book of Lights.), whiten your crow; if you want to do it with the Nile of Egypt, it will take, after passing through Ethiopia, a whitish color; then leading him through the secrets of Persia with that & with that, the color red will manifest as is that of the poppy in the desert. » a whitish color; then leading him through the secrets of Persia with that & with that, the color red will manifest as is that of the poppy in the desert. » a whitish color;then leading him through the secrets of Persia with that & with that, the color red will manifest as is that of the poppy in the desert. »

Osiris being in Ethiopia, had dykes erected to protect the country, not from the overflowing of the Nile, but from a flood capable of ravaging the country: because the water of this river is absolutely necessary to make the country fertile. D'Espagnet says on this Subject (Can. 88.); “The movement of this second circle (of the circulation of the elements, which takes place during solution & darkness) must be slow, particularly at the beginning of its revolution, lest the little crows find themselves inundated & submerged in their nest, & that the nascent world is not destroyed by the deluge.

This circle must distribute the water on the ground by weight, by measure, & in geometrical proportion.It is therefore necessary to build dykes, either to bring the river back into its bed, as Hercules did in the territory of Prometheus,

The Author of the feigned story of Osiris has forgotten nothing of what was necessary to hieroglyphically give an idea both of what makes up the work, and of the operations required and the demonstrative signs. He first points out that during the stay of Osiris in Ethiopia, the Nile overflowed, and that this Prince had dykes erected to protect the country from the damage that its flooding would have caused. This Author wanted to designate by this the resolution of matter into water, just as by the overflowing of the Nile in Egypt, in the territory of which Prometheus was King or Governor.

The Artist of the great work must take care that Ethiopia was not flooded, and that the Government of Prometheus was. It is that the part of the terrestrial matter which putrefies & blackens,floats the dissolution; whereas the fixed which contains the innate fire, which Prometheus stole from heaven to share with men, remains at the bottom of the vessel, and is found submerged.

The attentions that the Artist signified by Hercules must have on this occasion, is very well expressed in the note below (Leges motus hujus circuli funt utientè & paulatim decurrat, ac because essundat, ne festinando à mensurâ cadat, & aquis obrurus ignis Insitus, Operis Architectus Hébescat, AUT ETIAM EXTANGUATUR: UT Alternis VICIBUS CIBUS & POTUS ADMISTERTUR quo Melior Fiat Digestio, AC Optimum Sicci & Humidi Temperamentum; indissolubilis eniuiu utriusque colligatio finis ac scopus is Operis; Propterea empty ut too much ECERIT, quo restauratio corroborando deperditarum vitium tantum restituat ,quantum evacuatio debilitando abstulerit. D'Espagnet, Can. 89.).

We will explain in the chapter of Bacchus, book. 5. what should be understood by the Satyrs; & one will find in that of Orestes what concerns the hair of Osiris. The nine Nymphs or Muses, & the Musicians who follow Osiris, are the volatile parts, or the nine Eagles that Senior says are required with a fixed part designated by Apollo. We will talk about them more at length in the chapter of Perseus, where we will explain their genealogy, and their actions. & the Musicians who are following Osiris, are the volatile parts, or the nine Eagles that senior says are required with a fixed part designated by Apollo.

We will talk about them more at length in the chapter of Perseus, where we will explain their genealogy, and their actions. & the Musicians who are following Osiris, are the volatile parts, or the nine Eagles that senior says are required with a fixed part designated by Apollo. We will talk about them more at length in the chapter of Perseus, where we will explain their genealogy, and their actions.

Triprolême presides over the sowing of the grains, he is charged by Osiris with instructing the peoples in all that relates to Agriculture. There are no allegories more common in works dealing with Hermetic art than that of Agriculture. They constantly talk about the grain, the choice that must be made of it, the soil where it must be sown, and the way to go about it. Examples of this will be seen when we speak of the education of Triptolemen by Ceres in the fourth book. Raymond Lully (Testam. Codic. liv. de la quintess. & elsewhere.), Riplée & many other Philosophers call their mercurial water, white wine & red wine.

Although Osiris knew perfectly the prudence and the capacity of Isis to govern his States during his expedition, he nevertheless left Mercury near her for her advice. He felt the need for such an adviser, since Mercury is the Mercury of the Philosophers, without which nothing can be done at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of the work; it is he who, in concert with Hercules or the Artist appointed Governor General of the whole empire, must direct everything, lead everything & do everything. Mercury is the principal interior agent of the work; it is hot & humid; it dissolves, it putrefies, it disposes to generation; & the Artist is the external agent.This will be found explained in detail throughout the course of this work, particularly in the chapter of Mercury, book third,

If we examine carefully all the particularities of the expedition of Osiris, we will clearly see that there is not a single one which has not been placed at the right time and on purpose, even the ceremonies of the cult. returned to Osiris, instituted, it is said, by Isis, aided by the advice of Hermes. It would have been more true if this institution had been attributed only to Hermes alone, since there is every likelihood that he was the inventor & of the story of Isis & Osiris, & of the mysterious cult paid to them in Egypt.

But what good was this mystery, if it were only a question of telling a real story, and of instituting ceremonies to recall its memory? The simple account of the facts, the celebrations, the triumphs would have been more than enough to immortalize one & the other.It would have been much more natural to recall its memory by representations taken from the depths of the thing itself. Since we wanted all the people to be informed of it, we had to put everything within reach, and not invent hieroglyphics, of which only the priests would have the key. This mystery must therefore have led to the suspicion of some secret hidden under these hieroglyphs, which were only revealed to initiates, or to those whom one wanted to initiate into the Sacerdotal Art.

The two works which are the subject of this Art are understood, the first in the expedition of Osiris; the second in his death & his apotheosis. By the first one makes the stone; by the fecund one forms the elixir. Osiris in his journey traversed Ethiopia, then the Indies, Europe, & returned to Egypt by the Red Sea, to enjoy the glory he had acquired; but he found death there. It's as if we were saying: in the first work, the material passes first through the color black, then through various colors, the gray, the white, and finally comes the red, which is the perfection of the first work, and that of the Philosophical stone or sulphur.

These varied colors were declared more openly,& designated more clearly by the Leopards & the Tigers that the Fable supposes to have accompanied Bacchus in a journey similar to that of Osiris; because everyone agrees that Osiris & Bacchus are only the same person, or, to put it better, two symbols of the same thing.

The Second Work is very well represented by the type of death of Osiris & the honors paid to him. Let's listen to Diodorus on this subject. We have, he says, discovered in the ancient secret writings of the Priests who lived in the time of Osiris, that this Prince reigned with justice and equity over Egypt; that his impious & villainous brother, named Typhon, having assassinated him, had cut him into 26 parts, which he had distributed to his accomplishments, in order to make them more guilty, to attach them more to himself, & to have them as holders & for support in his usurpation.

That Isis, sister & wife of Osiris, to avenge the death of her husband, called to her aid her son Horus;killed in battle Typhoon & his accomplishments, & put himself with his son in possession of the crown. The battle took place along a river, in the part of Arabia, where is located the city which took the name of Anthée, after Hercules of the time of Osiris had killed there a tyrant Prince who bore the name of this city. Isis having found the scattered members of her husband's body, picked them up carefully, but having searched in vain for certain parts, she consecrated the representations; hence the use of the Phallus which has become so famous in the religious ceremonies of the Egyptians.

From each member Isis formed a human figure, by adding aromatics and wax.She assembled the Priests of Egypt, & entrusted to each of them in particular one of these deposits, assuring them that each had the entire body of Osiris; expressly recommending them never to tell anyone that they possessed this treasure, and to render to it and cause to be rendered the worship and the honors prescribed for them.

Whether the Priests, convinced of the merits of Osiris (it is always Diodorus who speaks) or whether these benefits of Isis had engaged them there, they did all that she had recommended to them; & each of them still flatters himself today to be the owner of the tomb of Osiris. They honor the animals that had been consecrated to this Prince from the beginning; & when these animals die, the Priests renew the tears & the mourning that we made at the death of Osiris. They sacrifice the sacred Bulls to him, so one bears the name of Apis, the other that of Mnevis; the first was maintained at Memphis, the second at Heliopolis: all the people revere these animals as gods.

Isis, following the tradition of the Priests, swore, after the death of her husband, that she would not remarry. She kept her word, and reigned so gloriously, that none of those who wore the crown after her surpassed her. After her death she was awarded the honors of the gods, and was buried at Memphis in the forest of Vulcan, where her tomb is still shown.

Many people, adds Diodorus, think that the bodies of these gods are not in the places where they are sold to the people that they are; but that they were deposited on the mountains of Egypt and Ethiopia, near the island which is called the gates of the Nile, because of the field consecrated to these gods. Some monuments favor this opinion;one sees in this Island a Mausoleum erected in honor of Osiris, and every day the Priests of this place fill three hundred and sixty urns with milk, & recall the mourning of the death of this King & this Queen, by giving them the titles of God & Goddess.

This is why no foreigner is allowed to land on this Island. The inhabitants of Thebes, which passes for the most ancient city of Egypt, regard as the greatest oath that which they make by Osiris who dwells in the clouds; claiming to have in possession all the members of the body of this King that Isis had picked up. They count more than ten thousand years, some say nearly twenty-three thousand, from the reign of Osiris & Isis, to that of Alexander of Macedonia, who built a city of his name in Egypt.

The inhabitants of Thebes, which passes for the most ancient city of Egypt, regard as the greatest oath that which they make by Osiris who dwells in the clouds; claiming to have in possession all the members of the body of this King that Isis had picked up. They count more than ten thousand years, some say nearly twenty-three thousand, from the reign of Osiris & Isis, to that of Alexander of Macedonia, who built a city of his name in Egypt.

The inhabitants of Thebes, which passes for the most ancient city of Egypt, regard as the greatest oath that which they make by Osiris who dwells in the clouds; claiming to have in possession all the members of the body of this King that Isis had picked up.They count more than ten thousand years, some say nearly twenty-three thousand, from the reign of Osiris & Isis, to that of Alexander of Macedonia, who built a city of his name in Egypt.

Plutarch (De Isid, & Osir.) teaches us how Typhon caused Osiris to lose his life. Typhon, he said, having invited him to a superb feast, proposed after the meal to the guests, to measure himself in a chest of exquisite workmanship, promising to give it to one who would be of the same size. Osiris having set about it in his turn, the conspirators got up from the table, closed the chest, and threw it into the Nile.

Isis, informed of the tragic end of her husband, began to look for his body; & having learned that he was in Phenicia, hidden under a tamarind where the waves had thrown him, she went to the Court of Byblos, where she put herself in the service of Astarré, for the convenience of discovering him. She finally found him, and made such great lamentations that the son of the King of Byblos died of regret; which touched the King her father so deeply, that he allowed Isis to carry off this body, and to retire to Egypt.

Typhon, informed of the mourning of his sister-in-law, seized the chest, opened it, tore the body of Osiris to pieces, and had the limbs carried to different places in Egypt.Isis carefully picked up these scattered limbs, locked them in coffins, & consecrated the representation of the parts she could not find. Finally, after having shed many tears, she had him buried in Abyde, a city situated west of the Nile. That if the Ancients place the tomb of Osiris in other places, it is because Isis had one erected for each part of her husband's body, in the very place where she had found him.

I have reported this from Plutarch only to show that the Authors are in agreement on the substance, although they vary on the circumstances. This servitude of Isis with the King of Byblos could well have given rise to that of Ceres with the father of Triptoleme at Eleusis; since we agree that Isis & Ceres are only one person.

Let's admit it in good faith: even if the Holy Scriptures and the Historians would not convince us of the falsity of the chronological calculation of the Egyptians, does the rest of this story have an air of verisimilitude? Is it likely that a Queen as illustrious and as well known as Isis would have gone into service with a King her neighbour?

that the son of this King dies of regret to see her lament over the body of her lost husband? that finally she finds him under a tamarind, & brings him back to Egypt, &c. ? Such stories do not deserve to be refuted; their absurdity is so palpable that it is surprising that Plutarch has designed to keep it for us, and even more astonishing that learned authors support it.But far from these circumstances of the death of Osiris, and what followed it, presenting anything absurd, if we take them in the allegorical sense of Sacerdotal Art, they contain on the contrary very great truths. Here is the proof, by the simple exposition of what happens in the operation of the elixir.

This Second operation being similar to the first, its key is the solution of matter, or the division of the limbs of Osiris into many parts. The chest where this Prince is locked up is the hermetically sealed Philosophical vessel. Typhoon & his accomplishments are the agents of dissolution; we will see why below in the story of Typhoon.

The dispersion of the members of the body of Osiris, is the volatilization of the Philosophical gold, the meeting of these members indicates the fixation. It is done by the care of Isis, or the Earth, which, like a magnet, say the Philosophers, attracts to itself the volatilized parts;then Isis, with the help of her son Horus, fights Typhoon, kills him, reigns gloriously, and finally reunites with her dear husband in the same tomb; that is to say, matter dissolves, coagulates,

Horus, son of Osiris & Isis, is recognized by all Authors to be the same as Apollo; we also know that Apollo killed the snake Python with arrows, Python is only the anagram of Typhon. But this Apollo must be understood as the Sun or Philosophical gold, which is the cause of coagulation and fixation. This will be explained in more detail in the third book of this Work, chapter of Apollo.

Osiris was finally put in the rank of the Gods by Isis his wife, & by Mercury, who instituted the ceremonies of his cult. Two things should be noted in this respect: 1°. that the gods, to whose rank Osiris was placed, can only be gods made by the hand of men; that is to say, the Chemical or Hermetic Gods. Mercury Trimegiste says it positively (In Asclepio.); we have already reported his words on this Subject. 2°. That Mercury is also the name of the Mercury of the Philosophers, and of Hermes Trimegiste.

Both worked with Isis on the deification of Osiris; the Philosopher by acting in the vase in concert with Isis, and the Philosopher by conducting the operations externally; this is what gave one and the other the title of Counselor of Isis who undertook nothing without them. It was therefore Trimegiste who determined his cult, and who instituted the mysterious ceremonies, to be symbols and permanent allegories both of matter and of the operations of the Hermetic or Sacerdotal Art, as we will see later.

CHAPTER IV.

Story of Isis.

When we do the genealogy of Osiris, we are familiar with that of Isis, his wife, since she was his sister. It is commonly thought that she was the symbol of the Moon, as Osiris was that of the Sun; but it was also taken for Nature in general, and for the Earth, according to Macrobius. From there comes, says this Author, that one represented this Goddess having the body completely covered with breasts. Apuleius is of the same sentiment as Macrobius, & makes the following painting of it (Metam. 1. II.),

"A long & well furnished hair fell in waves on her divine neck: she had in her head a crown varied by its form & by the flowers so she was adorned.In the middle on the front appeared a kind of globe, in the form almost of a mirror, which cast a brilliance and silvery light, like that of the Moon. To the right and left of this globe rose two undulating vipers, as if to enshrine and support it; & from the base of the crown emerged ears of wheat.

A fine linen dress covered her entirely. This dress was so dazzling, sometimes by its great whiteness, sometimes by its saffron yellow, finally by a color of fire so vivid, that my eyes were dazzled by it. A simarre remarkable for its great blackness passed from the left shoulder below the right arm there & floated in several folds down to the feet; it was bordered with knots & varied flowers, & dotted with stars throughout its extent.In the midst of these stars showed the Moon with rays resembling flames.

This Goddess had a citizen in her right hand, which, by the movement she gave it, made a shrill sound, but very pleasant; on the left she carried a golden vase whose handle was formed by an asp, which raised its head threateningly; the shoe that covered his ambrosial exuding feet was made of a fabric of victorious palm leaves. This great Goddess, whose sweetness of breath surpasses all the perfumes of happy Arabia, condescended to speak to me in these terms:

I am Nature, mother of things, mistress of the elements;the beginning of the centuries, the Sovereign of the Gods, the Queen of the ghosts, the first of the celestial natures, the uniform face of the Gods & Goddesses: it is I who govern the luminous sublimity of the heavens, the salutary winds of the seas, the silence gloomy hell. My single divinity is honored by all the Universe, but under various forms, under various names, & by various ceremonies. The Phrygians, the first born of men call me the Pessinontian mother of the gods: the Athenians, Minerva Cecropian; those of Cyprus, Venus Paphienne, those of Crete, Diana Dictynne; the Sicilians who speak three languages, Proserpine Scygienne; the Eleusinians, the ancient Goddess Ceres, others, Juno; others, Bellona; some, Hecate;a few others, Rhamnusia.

But the Egyptians who are instructed in the ancient doctrine, honor me with ceremonies which are proper and proper to me, and call me by my true name, Queen Isis. » the ancient Goddess Ceres, others, Juno; others, Bellona; some, Hecate; a few others, Rhamnusia. But the Egyptians who are instructed in the ancient doctrine, honor me with ceremonies which are proper and proper to me, and call me by my real name, Queen Isis. » the ancient Goddess Ceres, others, Juno; others, Bellona; some, Hecate; a few others, Rhamnusia.But the Egyptians who are instructed in the ancient doctrine, honor me with ceremonies which are proper and proper to me, and call me by my real name, Queen Isis. »

Isis was better known by her own name in countries outside of Egypt, than was Osiris, because she was looked upon as the mother & nature of things. This universal feeling should have opened the eyes of those who regard her as a true Queen of Egypt, and who therefore claim to adapt her feigned history to the real history of the Kings of that country.

The Priests of Egypt reckoned, according to the testimony of Diodorus, twenty thousand years from the reign of the Sun to the time when Alexander the Great passed through Asia. They also said that their ancient gods each reigned more than twelve hundred years, and that their successors reigned no less than three hundred: what some hear of the course of the Moon, and not that of the Sun, counting even months for years.

Eusebe,which mentions the chronology of the Kings of Egypt, place Ocean, the first of all, around the year of the world 1802, time in which Nimrod first began to claim superiority over other men. Eusebe gives Ocean as successors, Osiris & Isis. The Pastors then reigned for 103 years, then the Dynasty of the Polytans for 348 years, the last of which was Miris or Pharaoh, called Menophis, around the year of the world 2550.

This Dynasty was succeeded by that of the Larthes, which lasted 194 years; then that of the Diapolytans which was 177 years. then the Dynasty of Polytans during 348 years, of which the last was Miris or Pharaon, known as Menophis, approximately the year of the world 2550.then that of the Diapolytans which was 177 years. then the Dynasty of Polytans during 348 years, of which the last was Miris or Pharaon, known as Menophis, approximately the year of the world 2550. then that of the Diapolytans which was 177 years.

But if we remove one thousand & twenty years from the years of the world until the reign of Alexander, the reign of the Sun or of Horus who succeeded Isis, will fall on the year of the world approximately 2608, time at which, according to Eusebius, reigned Zerus, immediate successor of Miris. Thus, by this calculation, we find no place to put the reigns of Osiris, Isis, Sun, Mercury, Vulcan, Saturn, Jupiter, Nile & Ocean.

I know, however, says Diodorus, that some writers place the tombs of these god-kings in the city of Nysa in Arabia, whence they gave Dionysius the surname of Nisea. As the chronology of the Kings of Egypt does not enter into the purpose of this work, I leave to others the care of removing all these difficulties of chronology;& I return to Isis, as the general principle of Nature,

The portrait of Isis, which we have given after Apuleius, is an allegory of the work, palpable to those who have carefully read the works dealing with it. His crown & the colors of his clothes indicate everything in general & in particular. Isis passed for the Moon, for the Earth & for Nature. Its crown, formed by a globe shining like the Moon, announces it to everyone. The two serpents which support this globe are the same as those of which we spoke in the first chapter of this book, when explaining the monument of A. Herennulcius Hermes.

The globe is also the same as the egg of the same monument.The two ears that come out of it show that the matter of Hermetic art is the same as that which Nature uses to make everything vegetate in the Universe. Are not the colors which occur to this matter during the operations expressly named in the enumeration of those of the garments of Isis?

A simarre or long dress, striking in its great blackness, palla n'igerrima splendescens atro nitore, covers the body of Isis so much that it only reveals from above another fine linen dress, first white, then saffron. , finally in the color of fire. Multicolor bysso tenui prœstexta, nunc albo candore lucida, nunc croceo flore lutta, nunc roseo rubore Flammea.

Apuleius had doubtless copied this description from some philosopher;because they all express themselves in the same way on this subject. They call the color black, black blacker than black itself, nigrum nigro nigrius. Homer gives one similar to Thetis, when she prepares to go and solicits the favors & protection of Jupiter for her son Achilles (Iliad. I. 9.4. v. 93.). There was not in the world, says this Poet, a dress blacker than his. The white color succeeds the black, the saffron the white, and the red the saffron, precisely as reported by Apuleius. One can consult on this the treatise of the work which I have given above. D'Espagnet in particular conforms perfectly to this description of Apuleius, and names these four colors the demonstrative means of the work.It seems that Apuleius wanted to tell us that all these colors are born from each other; that white is contained in black, yellow in white, and red in yellow; that is why the black covers the others.

It could perhaps be objected that this black dress is the symbol of the night; & that the thing is sufficiently indicated by the crescent of the Moon placed in the middle with the stars with which it is all strewn; but the other accompaniments do not suit it at all.It is not surprising that a crescent was placed on the dress of Isis, since it was taken for the Moon, but as the night makes it impossible to distinguish the color of objects, Apuleius would have said very inappropriately that the four colors of Isis' clothing distinguished him and each threw off such great brilliance that he was dazzled by it. Besides, this Author makes no mention of the night or the Moon; but only of Isis as the principle of all that Nature produces; which cannot follow the celestial Moon, but only at the Philosophical Moon; since one notices in the celestial only the white color, and not the saffron and the red.

The ears of wheat prove that Isis & Ceres were one and the same symbol; the cistern & the vase or small seal, Are the two things required for the work, that is to say, the Philosophical brass & the mercurial water; for the citern was commonly a brass instrument, and the rods which passed through it were also of copper, sometimes of iron. The Greeks then invented the fable of Hercules, who hunts the birds of Lake Stymphalus, making noise with a brass instrument. Both must be explained in the same way. We will talk about it in the labors of Hercules, in the fifth book.

Isis was usually represented not only holding a citern, but with a seal or other vase in her hand, or near her, to mark that she could do nothing without the mercurial water, or the mercury that was given to her. given for advice. She is the earth or the brass of the Philosophers; but brass can do nothing by itself, they say, if it is not purified & bleached by nitrogen or mercurial water. For the same reason Isis was very often represented with a jug on her head; often also with a cornucopia in hand, to signify in general Nature which provides everything abundantly, & in particular the source of happiness, health & wealth, which one finds in the Hermetic work.

In the Greek monuments (What I say here about the attributes of Isis is proven by the ancient monuments brought back in Antiquity explains by D. Bernard de Montfaucon.) we sometimes see her surrounded by a snake, or accompanied by this reptile. , because the serpent was the symbol of Aesculapius, God of Medicine, so the Egyptians attributed the invention to Isis.

But we have more reason to regard it as the very substance of Philosophical or Universal Medicine, which the Priests of Egypt used to cure all sorts of illnesses, without the people knowing how or with what; because the way to make this remedy was contained in the books of Hermes, which the Priests alone had the right to read, & alone could hear, because everything there was veiled under the darkness of the hieroglyphs.

We must therefore not believe Diodorus, nor the popular tradition of Egypt, according to which he says that Isis not only invented many remedies for the cure of illnesses; but that she contributed infinitely to the perfection of Medicine, and that she even found a remedy capable of procuring the immorality which she used for her son Horus, when he was put to death by the Titans, and returned him to immortal effect.

You will agree with me that all this must be explained allegorically; and that, according to the explanation provided by the Hermetic art, Isis contributed much to the perfection of Medicine, since she was the material from which the most excellent remedy that was ever in Nature was made. But it would not be such if Isis were alone;she must necessarily be married to Osiris,

The journey of Isis to Phenicia to fetch the body of her husband there; the tears she sheds before finding him, the tree under which he was hidden, everything is marked in the corner of Sacerdotal Art. Indeed, Osiris being dead, is thrown into the sea, that is to say submerged in the mercurial water, or the sea of ​​the Philosophers; Isis sheds, it is said, because the matter which is still volatile, represented by Isis, rises in the form of vapours, condenses & falls back in drops. This tender wife searches for her husband with anxiety, with tears & groans, & can only find him under a tamarind tree; it is that the volatile part units with the fixed one only when the whiteness supervenes;then the redness where Osiris is hidden under the tamarind, because the flowers of this tree are white & the roots red.

Isis survived her husband, and after reigning gloriously, she was numbered among the gods. Mercury determined his cult, as he had done that of Osiris; because in the second operation called the second work, or the second arrangement by Morien (Entrée, du Roi Calid.), the Moon of the Philosophers, or their Diana, or matter in white, signified also by Isis, appears again after the solution or the mon of Osiris; she is thereby placed in the rank of the Gods, but of the Philosophical Gods, since she is their Diana or the Moon, one of the principal Goddesses of Egypt; we can clearly see why this deification is attributed to Mercury.

But if this whole story is not a fiction, as M. l'Abbé Banier claims (Mytol. TI p. 483. 484. & elsewhere.), since he says that he believes that Osiris is the same as Mesraim, son of Ham , who populated Egypt some time after the Flood. He even adds that, despite the obscurity that reigns in the history of Osiris, scholars are obliged to agree that he was one of the first descendants of Noah by Ham, and that he governed Egypt where his father had withdrawn... let Diodorus of Sicily assures us that this Prince is the same as Menes, the first King of Egypt, and that this is what we must stick to; I would ask all these scholars to tell me why all the ancient authors who spoke of Mesraïm & Menés, made no mention, in speaking of them,

SATURN, THE YOUNGEST OF ALL THE GODS, WAS MY FATHER. I AM OSIRIS, KING;

I HAVE TRAVELED THROUGHOUT THE UNIVERSE, TO THE EXTREMITIES OF THE DESERTS OF INDIA, FROM THERE TOWARDS THE NORTH TO THE SOURCES OF THE ISTER; THEN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD TO THE OCEAN:

I AM THE ELDER SON OF SATURN, FROM AN ILLUSTRATED STEM, AND FROM GENEROUS BLOOD, WHICH HAD NO SEMEN. THERE IS NO PLACE WHERE I HAVE NOT BEEN. I HAVE VISITED ALL THE NATIONS TO TEACH THEM EVERYTHING OF WHICH I WAS THE INVENTOR..

I do not believe that we can attribute to any King of Egypt all that this inscription bears, particularly the generation without seed, whereas this very last article is found in the Hermetic work, where we mean by Saturn the black color, from which are born the white or Isis, & the red or Osiris: the first called Moon, the second Sun or Apollo.

It is no less difficult, or rather it is impossible to be able to apply to a Queen, the following inscription taken from a column of Isis, & reported by the same Authors.

I, ISIS, AM THE QUEEN OF THIS COUNTRY OF EGYPT, AND I HAD MERCURY FOR PRIME MINISTER. NO ONE CAN REVOKE THE LAWS WHICH I HAVE MADE, AND PREVENT THE EXECUTION OF WHAT I HAVE ORDERED.

I AM THE ELDER DAUGHTER OF SATURN, THE YOUNGEST OF THE GODS.

I AM THE SISTER AND WIFE OF OSIRIS.

I AM THE MOTHER OF KING ORUS.

I AM THE FIRST INVENTOR OF AGRICULTURE.

I AM THE SHINING DOG AMONG THE STARS.

THE CITY OF BUBASTE HAS BEEN BUILT IN MY HONOR.

JOIN, O EGYPT! WHO FEEDED ME.

But if we explain this from the matter of the Sacerdotal Art; if we compare these expressions with those of the Hermetic Philosophers, we will find them so consistent that we will be, so to speak, obliged to agree that the Author of these Inscriptions had in view the same object as the Philosophers. Diodorus says that one could read in his time only what we have reported, because the rest was erased from obsolescence.

It is not even possible, he adds, to have any clarification on this; for the Priests keep inviolably the secret of what has been confided to them; preferring that the truth be ignored by the people, than running the risk of suffering the penalties imposed on those who divulge these secrets. But again, what were these highly recommended secrets?Those who, with Cicero, say that it consisted in not saying that Osiris had been a man, do they think well of what they say? The alleged conduct of Isis with regard to the Priests was alone capable of betraying these secrets; that of the priests towards the people revealed it even more.

What! they will want me to believe that Osiris was never a man, and they show me his tomb? fear even that I doubt his death, & as if they wanted me not to lose sight of it, they multiply this tomb? each Priest tells me that he is his possessor? let us admit that this secrecy would be badly concerted. And what good, after all, is this inviolable secrecy about the tomb of a King ardently loved by his subjects?what is the point of hiding the tomb of Osiris? If it were said that Hermes had advised Isis to hide her husband's tomb, in order to deprive the people of an occasion for idolatry, because they clearly felt that the great love that the people had conceived for Osiris, because of the benefits they had received from him, could lead them to adore him by acknowledgment; this feeling would be very much in conformity with the ideas that we must have of the true piety of Hermes.

But far from hiding this tomb, Isis making one for each member, & wanting to persuade that the whole body of Osiris was in each of these tombs, it would have been on the contrary to multiply the stone of scandal & stumbling block.Holy Scripture teaches us that Joshua took a completely different course with regard to the Israelites, when Moses died (Deuter. 34.), to prevent doubtless that the Hebrews still imitated the Egyptians in this kind of idolatry. because he well felt that the great love which the people had conceived for Osiris, because of the benefits which they had received from him, could lead them to adore him out of gratitude; this feeling would be very much in conformity with the ideas that we must have of the true piety of Hermes.

But far from hiding this tomb, Isis making one for each member, & wanting to persuade that the whole body of Osiris was in each of these tombs, it would have been on the contrary to multiply the stone of scandal & stumbling block.Holy Scripture teaches us that Joshua took a completely different course with regard to the Israelites, when Moses died (Deuter. 34.), to prevent doubtless that the Hebrews still imitated the Egyptians in this kind of idolatry. because he well felt that the great love which the people had conceived for Osiris, because of the benefits which they had received from him, could lead them to adore him out of gratitude; this feeling would be very much in conformity with the ideas that we must have of the true piety of Hermes.

But far from hiding this tomb, Isis making one for each member, & wanting to persuade that the whole body of Osiris was in each of these tombs, it would have been on the contrary to multiply the stone of scandal & stumbling block.Holy Scripture teaches us that Joshua took a completely different course with regard to the Israelites, when Moses died (Deuter. 34.), to prevent doubtless that the Hebrews still imitated the Egyptians in this kind of idolatry. could lead him to adore her out of gratitude; this feeling would be very much in conformity with the ideas that we must have of the true piety of Hermes. But far from hiding this tomb, Isis making one for each member, & wanting to persuade that the whole body of Osiris was in each of these tombs, it would have been on the contrary to multiply the stone of scandal & stumbling block.

Holy Scripture teaches us that Joshua took a completely different course with regard to the Israelites, when Moses died (Deuter. 34.), to prevent doubtless that the Hebrews still imitated the Egyptians in this kind of idolatry. could lead him to adore her out of gratitude; this feeling would be very much in conformity with the ideas that we must have of the true piety of Hermes. But far from hiding this tomb, Isis making one for each member, & wanting to persuade that the whole body of Osiris was in each of these tombs, it would have been on the contrary to multiply the stone of scandal & stumbling block.

Holy Scripture teaches us that Joshua took a completely different course with regard to the Israelites, when Moses died (Deuter. 34.), to prevent doubtless that the Hebrews still imitated the Egyptians in this kind of idolatry. & wishing to persuade that the whole body of Osiris was in each of these tombs, it would have been on the contrary to multiply the stone of scandal & stumbling block. Holy Scripture teaches us that Joshua took a completely different course with regard to the Israelites, when Moses died (Deuter. 34.), to prevent doubtless that the Hebrews still imitated the Egyptians in this kind of idolatry. & wishing to persuade that the whole body of Osiris was in each of these tombs, it would have been on the contrary to multiply the stone of scandal & stumbling block.Holy Scripture teaches us that Joshua took a completely different course with regard to the Israelites, when Moses died (Deuter. 34.), to prevent doubtless that the Hebrews still imitated the Egyptians in this kind of idolatry.

It was therefore not to hide the alleged humanity of Osiris from the people that his tomb was made a secret; if one forbade under rigorous penalties to say that Isis & her husband had been men, it is because they never were in fact. This defense, which in no way agreed with the public demonstration of their tomb, should have raised suspicion of some mystery hidden beneath this contradiction; the great secrecy observed by the Priests should still have aroused curiosity. But the people do not dare to sound things out so scrupulously; he takes those which are given to him without much examination.

And what secret, moreover, could relate to a tomb and what it contains? Let's take it allegorically;read the Philosophers, and we will see there tombs just as mysterious. Basil Valentine (12 Clefs.) employs this allegory twice or believe times: Norton (Ordinale.) says that the King must be put to death & buried. Raymond Lully, Flamel, Le Trévisan, Aristee dans la Tourbe, & so many others express themselves more or less in this sense; but all hide the tomb and what it contains with great care; that is to say, the vase & the matter contained therein.

Trevisan says (Philosoph. of Metals.), that the King comes to bathe in the water of a fountain; that he loves this water very much, and that he is loved by it, because he came out of it, that he dies there, and that it serves as his tomb.It would take too long to relate all the allegories of the Authors which prove to those who do not allow themselves to be blinded by prejudice, that this secret was that of the Sacerdotal Art, so strongly recommended to all Adepts.

The Preaches instructed by Hermes therefore had another goal in view than that of history, with which all the different qualities of mother and son, of husband and wife, of brother and sister, could not agree. of father & daughter, found in the various stories of Osiris & Isis; but which are very well suited to the Hermetic work, when one takes its unique matter from different points of view. Let us reflect a little on certain features of this story.

Why does Isis pick up all the limbs of Osiris' body, except the natural parts? why, after the death of her husband, does she wear not to marry another? why is she being buried in the forest of Vulcan? what are these natural parts,if not the black and starchy terrestrials of the Philosophical matter in which it was formed, where it originated, which must be rejected as useless, and with which it cannot unite, because they are heterogeneous to it? If Isis keeps the oath, it is because after the perfect solution, designated by death, she can no longer by any artifice be separated from Osiris.

We will see later why it is said that she was buried in the forest of Vulcan. We will know, in the meantime, that (See above Philalethes, Enarratio methodica, & d'Espagnec quoted so often.) Philosophical burial is nothing other than the fixation, or the return of volatilized parts, & their union with the fixed & igneous parts from which they had been separated;this is why Isis & Osiris are said to be grandsons of Vulcan.

Is it any wonder, after what we have said so far, that it was supposed that Osiris & Isis had Vulcan & Mercury in great veneration? We look at Mercury as the inventor of the arts and hieroglyphic characters, because Hermes invented them on the subject of the Philosophical Mercury. He taught Rhetoric, Astronomy, Geometry, Arithmetic & Music, because he showed how to speak of the work, the stars contained therein, the proportions, weights & measures that must be observed in order to imitate those of Nature.

Which made Raymond Lully say (Théor. Métam. c. 50.): “Nature contains within itself the Philosophy & the Science of the seven liberal arts, it contains all the geometric shapes & their proportions; it ends all things with arithmetic calculation,by the equality of a certain number; & through reasoned & rhetorical knowledge, it leads the intellect from power into action. »

This is how Mercury was the interpreter of everything, and served as counsel to Isis. She could do nothing without Mercury, because it is the basis of the work, and without it nothing can be done. We cannot reasonably attribute to Mercury or Hermes the invention of everything in any other sense, since we know that the arts were known before the Deluge; & after the Deluge the Tower of Babel is a new proof.

Isis, following Diodorus, built temples all in gold, delubra aurea, in honor of Jupiter and the other gods. In what place in the world, & in what century does history teach us that a single one like it was raised? Never was mined gold so common as it is today; and in spite of this abundance, what is the people who could suffice there?

was it not meant that these Temples were of the same nature as the Gods they contained? & is it not to be believed that they were none other than Temples & Hermetic Gods, that is to say, the aurific matter & the colors of the work that Isis actually builds, since is the very matter of it? For this same reason it is said that Isis highly regarded the Artists in gold and other metals.She was a Golden Goddess, the golden Venus of all Asia.

As for the Chronology of the Egyptians, it is also mysterious. They do not seem to agree among themselves, not that they are not in fact, but because they wanted to hide and embarrass it on purpose; & not as many ignoramuses claim, because they wanted to establish the eternity of the world. It is with them as it has been with the Adepts in all times, because the latter have always followed the wanderings of the former.

One says it only takes four days to do the work; the other assures us that it takes a year; this one a year and a half, this one fixes this time at three years, another pushes up to Seven, another up to ten years; to hear them speak so differently, wouldn't one believe that they are all opposites?but he who knows the facts will know how to tune them, said Maier. Just be careful that one speaks of one operation, the other treats of another; that in certain circumstances the years of the Philosophers are reduced to months. According to Philalethes (Enarrat. method. 3. Physician. Gebri.), months into weeks, weeks into days, &c. ; that the Philosophers count the days sometimes in the vulgar way, sometimes in their own: that there are four seasons in the common year, and four in the Philosophical year: that there are three operations to push the work at its end; namely, the operation of the stone or sulfur, that of the elixir, and multiplication; that these three each have their seasons; that they each make up a year;& that the three reunited also only last a year, which ends in autumn, because it is the time to pick the fruits & to enjoy one's work.

CHAPTER V.

History of Horus.

Several Authors have confused Horus or Orus with Harpocrates; but I will not discuss here the reasons which may have determined them there. The most received feeling is that Horus was son of Osiris & Isis, & the last of the Gods of Egypt, not that he was so in merit, but for the determination of his cult, & because he is indeed the last of the Chemical Gods , being the Hermetic gold, or the result of the work. It is this Orus or Apollo, for whom Osiris undertook such a great journey, and endured so much work and fatigue.

It is the treasure of the Philosophers, Priests & Kings of Egypt; the Philosophical child born of Isis & Osiris, or if better loved, Apollo born of Jupiter & Latona. But Authors, it will be said, looked at Apollo,Osiris & Isis as children of Jupiter & Juno; Apollo cannot therefore be the son of Isis & Osiris. Some Authors even say that the Sun was the first King of Egypt, then Vulcan, then Saturn, finally Osiris & Horus. All this, I admitted, could cause embarrassment and present insurmountable difficulties in a historical system; but as for the Hermetic work, there is none; new proof that she was the object of all these fictions.

The agent & the patient in the work being homogeneous, unite to produce a third similar to them, proceeding from both; the Sun & the Moon are his father & mother, says Hermes, & the other Philosophers after him. These names of Sun & Moon given to several things,cause an ambiguity which causes all these difficulties; it is from this source that came all the qualities of father, mother, son, daughter, grandfather, brother, sister, uncle, husband & wife; & so many other similar names, which serve to explain the so-called incests, & the adulteries so often repeated in ancient Fables, one would have to be a Hermetic Philosopher or a Priest of Egypt to develop all this; but Harpocrates recommends secrecy, and one should not expect it to be violated at least clearly.

What can be concluded from the good faith & ingenuity rather than from the indiscretion of some Adepts, is, that the material of the work is the radical principle of everything; but that it is in particular the active & formal principle of gold;this is why it becomes Philosophical gold by the operations of the work imitated from those of Nature. This matter is formed in the bowels of the earth, & is carried there by the water of the rains mimicked by the Universal Spirit, diffused in the air, & this spirit draws its fecundity from the influences of the Sun & the Moon, which by this means becoming the father & the mother of this matter.

The earth is the matrix where this seed is deposited, and therein lies its nurse. The gold that forms is the terrestrial Sun. This material or the subject of the work is composed of two substances, one fixed, the other volatile: the first igneous & active; the second wet & passive, to which we gave the names of Heaven & Earth, Saturn & Rhea; Osiris & Isis;Jupiter & Juno; & the igneous principle or fire of nature which is contained therein, has been named Vulcan, Prometheus, Vesta, &c. In this way Vulcan & Vesta, which is the fire of the humid & volatile part, are properly the father & mother of Saturn, as well as the sky & the, earth, because the names of these Gods are not given only to the material still raw & indigestible taken before the preparation given to it by the Artist in concert with Nature; but also during the preparation and the operations which follow it. Whenever this matter becomes black, it is the Philosophical Saturn, son of Vulcan and Vesta, who are themselves children of the Sun, for the reasons we have given.When matter becomes gray after black, it is Jupiter: when it becomes white, it is the Moon, Isis, Diana; & when it has reached red, it is Apollo, Phoebus, the Sun, Osiris. Jupiter is therefore son of Saturn, Isis & Osiris son of Jupiter.

But like the. gray color is not one of the main features of the work, most Philosophers do not mention it, & suddenly passing from black to white, Isis & Osiris Are closer to Saturn, & become naturally his first-born children, according to the inscriptions which we have brought back. Isis & Osiris are therefore brother & sister, whether we consider them as principles of the work, or whether we consider them as children of Saturn or Jupiter. Isis is even the mother of Osiris,But, it will be said, how are they husband & wife?

If we pay attention to all that we have said, we will see that they are all so from the points of view in which they can be considered; but they are so more openly in the production of the Philosophical Sun called Horus, Apollo, or Sulfur of the Sages; since it is formed of these two fixed and volatile substances, united in a fixed whole and called Orus, when one disregards the preparation, or first operation of the work, (which is quite customary among the Philosophers, who do not begin their treatises on the Sacerdotal or Hermetic Art until the second operation) as Philosophical gold is already made, and must be used as the basis of the second work; then the Sun finds himself the first King of Egypt;it contains the fire of nature in its bosom: and this fire acting on matter, produces putrefaction, & blackness, here again is Vulcan son of the Sun, & Saturn son of Vulcan. Osiris & Isis will come next; finally Orus, for the reunion of his father & his mother.

It is to this second operation that we must apply these expressions of the Philosophers: we must marry the mother to the son; that is to say, after the first coction it must be mixed with the raw matter so it came out, & cook it again until they are united, & become one.

During this operation, the raw matter dissolves & putrefies the digested matter: it is the mother who kills her child, & puts it in her womb to be reborn & resuscitate. During this dissolution, the Titans kill Orus, and his mother then brings him back from death to life. The son then less affectionate towards his mother than she was towards him, say the Philosophers (The Peat.), puts his mother to death, and reigns in her place.

That is to say, that the fixed or Orus fixes the volatile or Isis y who had volatilized it; for to kill, to bind, to close, to bury, to freeze, to coagulate or to fix, are identical terms in the language of the Philosophers; just as to give life, to resuscitate, to open, to loosen, to travel, mean the same thing as to volatilize.

Isis & Osiris are therefore rightly reputed to be the main Gods of Egypt with Horus who indeed reigns last, since he is the result of all priestly Art. This is perhaps what caused him to be confused by some with Harpocrates, God of secrecy, because the object of this secrecy was none other than Orus, who was also rightly called the Sun or Apollo, since he is the Sun or Apollo of the Philosophers . If the Antiquaries had studied the Hermetic Philosophy, they would not have been at a loss to find the reason which led the Egyptians to represent Horus under the figure of a child, often even swaddled. They would have learned there that Orus is the Philosophical child born of Isis & Osiris, or of the white woman & the red man (The Truth Code. );this is why we often see him in the monuments between the arms of Isis who suckles him.

These explanations will serve as torches to the Mythologists, to penetrate into the obscurity of the Fables which mention adultery, incest of the father with his daughter, such as that of Cynire with Myrrha; of the son with his mother, as reported from Oedipus; of brother with sister, like that of Jupiter & Juno, &c. The parricides, matricides, &c. will only be intelligible & unveiled allegories, & not actions that horrify humanity, & that should not have found a place in history. Lovers of Hermetic Philosophy will find there how to understand the following texts of the Adepts.

“Make the wedding,” said Geber, “put the bridegroom with the bride in the nuptial bed; for on them a celestial dew:when he grows up, he will conquer his enemies, and will be crowned with a red diadem”. “Come, son of Wisdom, says Hermes (Sept. chap.), & let us rejoice from this moment, death is conquered, our son has become King, he has a red coat, & he has taken his tincture from the fire.

A monster disperses my members (Belin in the Peat.) after separating them, but my mother reunites them. I am the torch of mine; I manifest on the way the light of my father Saturn”. “I confess the truth, says the Author of the great secret, I am a great sinner; I have the habit of courting and amusing myself with my mother who carried me in her bosom; I embrace her with love;she conceives & multiplies the number of my children, she increases my fellow men, according to what Hermes says; my father is the Sun, & my mother is the Moon.” “We must,” says Raymond Lully (Codic. 4.), that the mother who had begotten a son be buried in the womb of this son, and that she be begotten in her turn. »

If Osiris flatters himself with an excellence far superior to that of other men, because he was begotten of a father without seed; the Philosophical child has the same prerogative, and his mother, in spite of his conception and his childbirth, always remains a virgin, according to this testimony of d'Espagnet (Can. 58.): “Take, he says, a winged virgin ; impregnated with the spiritual seed of the first male, yet retaining the glory of her virginity intact, despite her pregnancy. » I would not finish, if I wanted to give all the texts of the Philosophers which have a palpable relationship with the particularities of the history of Osiris, Isis & Horus. These will suffice for those who want to take the trouble to compare them and apply them.

CHAPTER VI.

History of Typhoon.

Diodorus (LI c. 2.) gives birth to Typhon of the Titans. Plutarch (De Iside & Osiride.) said brother of Osiris & Isis: some others argue that he was born of the Earth, when Juno irritated struck her with her foot; that the fear which he had of Jupiter, made him save in Egypt, or not being able to support the heat of the climate, it precipitated in a lake where it perishes.

Hesiod gives us a most dreadful picture of it (Theog.), which Apollodorus seems to have copied. The Earth, they say, outraged with fury that Jupiter had struck down the Titans, joined with Tartarus, and making a last effort, she gave birth to Typhoon. This terrible monster had a size & a strength superior to all the others put together.Its height was so enormous that it surpassed by far the highest mountains, and its head penetrated to the stars. His outstretched arms touched from east to west, and from his hands issued a hundred furious dragons, who incessantly darted their three-pointed tongue.

Numberless vipers issued from his legs and his thighs, and retracted by different convolutions, extended over the whole length of his body, with such horrible hissings that they astonished the most intrepid. His mouth exhaled only flames; his eyes were hot coals, with a voice more terrible than thunder; now he lowed like a bull, now he lowed like a lion; & sometimes he barked like a dog.The whole upper part of its body was bristling with feathers, and the lower part was covered with scales.

Such was that formidable Typhoon to the; Gods themselves, who dared to throw rocks and mountains against the sky, making terrible howls; the Gods were so terrified by it that, not believing themselves to be safe in Heaven, they fled to Egypt, and took shelter from the pursuits of this monster, by hiding there under the form of various animals.

We have sought to explain morally, historically & physically what the ancient Authors said of Typhon. The applications that have been made of it have sometimes been quite successful; but it has never been possible for the Mythologists to explain his whole fable in the same system. His marriage to Echidna made him the father of various monsters, worthy of their origin, such as the Gorgon, the Cerberus, the Hydra of Lerna, the Sphinx, the Eagle which devoured the unfortunate Prometheus, the Guardian Dragons of the Fleece of 'gold & of the Garden of the Hesperides, &c.

The Mythologists, to get out of the embarrassment into which this fable threw them which became for them one of the most obscure mysteries of Mythology (M. l'Abbé Banier. Mythol. TI p. 468.), took it into their heads to say that the Greeks and the Latins, ignorant of the origin of this fable, only obscured it further, by wanting to transfer it, according to their custom, from the history of Egypt into theirs. Based on the traditions, which they had learned through their trade with the Egyptians, they made Typhon an equally horrible & bizarre monster, which the jealous Juno had brought out of the earth to take revenge on her rival Latona.

What Diodorus (Liv. I.) & Plutarch (In Iside.) tell us about it is not to Abbé Banier's taste; no doubt because they are not in this respect favorable to his system. These two Authors, he says (TI p. 468.), “did not fail, according to the genius of their nation, to mingle in what they relate several ridiculous fictions; & moreover not very exact in the chronology, & knowing only very confusedly the first stories of the renewed world after the Deluge, among which is undoubtedly that which MI explain (of Typhoon), they are guides that he should only be followed with great care . Although M. l'Abbé Banier is right to think that these Authors were not aware of the substance of the story of Typhoon, it is no less true that they had collected what they say about it,of the tradition preserved among the Egyptians.

If they mixed some circumstances to adapt it to the fables, of their country, they preserved the bottom of it, which is also fabulous. In vain Gerard Vossius (De Idol. 1. l. 26.) claims that Og, King of Bashan, is the same as Typhon, on the resemblance of the two names; for, he says, that of Typhoon comes from uro, scendo, and that of Og, signifies ussit, ustulavit. In vain does M. Huet (Demonst. Ev. prop.) make him the legislator of the Hebrews, who had become odious to the Egyptians through the loss of their eldest sons: M. l'Abbé Sevin is no more right to put him instead of Chus; nor M. l'Abbé Banier to that of Sebon, following on this occasion the sentiment of Plutarch, who relies on the authority of Manethon.

It would not be possible to reconcile Plutarch with himself. Bochart has done better (Chan.) than all the Authors above, in thinking that Typhoon is the same as Enceladus; but he guessed without knowing why, since he did not know the reason which induced the Poets to name them indifferently one for the other, and to cause them both to perish in the same way. The Poets, much better than the Historians, have preserved for us the true substance of the fables, and have, properly speaking, less disfigured them than the Historians, because they were content to relate them, sometimes embellishing them in truth, but without bothering to discuss why, how & in what time these things could have been done;whereas the historians, seeking to accommodate them to history, have suppressed features of them, mixed in their conjectures, sometimes substituted other names, &c. ) than all the above Authors, thinking that Typhoon is the same as Enceladus; but he guessed without knowing why, since he did not know the reason which induced the Poets to name them indifferently one for the other, and to cause them both to perish in the same way.

The Poets, much better than the Historians, have preserved for us the true substance of the fables, and have, properly speaking, less disfigured them than the Historians, because they were content to relate them, sometimes embellishing them in truth, but without bothering to discuss why, how & in what time these things could have been done;whereas the historians, seeking to accommodate them to history, have suppressed features of them, mixed in their conjectures, sometimes substituted other names, &c. ) than all the above Authors, thinking that Typhoon is the same as Enceladus; but he guessed without knowing why, since he did not know the reason which induced the Poets to name them indifferently one for the other, and to cause them both to perish in the same way.

The Poets, much better than the Historians, have preserved for us the true substance of the fables, and have, properly speaking, less disfigured them than the Historians, because they were content to relate them, sometimes embellishing them in truth, but without bothering to discuss why, how & in what time these things could have been done;whereas the historians, seeking to accommodate them to history, have suppressed features of them, mixed in their conjectures, sometimes substituted other names, &c. thinking that Typhoon is the same as Enceladus; but he guessed without knowing why, since he did not know the reason which induced the Poets to name them indifferently one for the other, and to cause them both to perish in the same way.

The Poets, much better than the Historians, have preserved for us the true substance of the fables, and have, properly speaking, less disfigured them than the Historians, because they were content to relate them, sometimes embellishing them in truth, but without bothering to discuss why, how & in what time these things could have been done;whereas the historians, seeking to accommodate them to history, have suppressed features of them, mixed in their conjectures, sometimes substituted other names, &c. thinking that Typhoon is the same as Enceladus; but he guessed without knowing why, since he did not know the reason which induced the Poets to name them indifferently one for the other, and to cause them both to perish in the same way.

The Poets, much better than the Historians, have preserved for us the true substance of the fables, and have, properly speaking, less disfigured them than the Historians, because they were content to relate them, sometimes embellishing them in truth, but without bothering to discuss why, how & in what time these things could have been done;whereas the historians, seeking to accommodate them to history, have suppressed features of them, mixed in their conjectures, sometimes substituted other names, &c. since he did not know the reason which induced the Poets to name them indifferently one for the other, and to cause them both to perish in the same way.

The Poets, much better than the Historians, have preserved for us the true substance of the fables, and have, properly speaking, less disfigured them than the Historians, because they were content to relate them, sometimes embellishing them in truth, but without bothering to discuss why, how & in what time these things could have been done;whereas the historians, seeking to accommodate them to history, have suppressed features of them, mixed in their conjectures, sometimes substituted other names, &c. since he did not know the reason which induced the Poets to name them indifferently one for the other, and to cause them both to perish in the same way.

The Poets, much better than the Historians, have preserved for us the true substance of the fables, and have, properly speaking, less disfigured them than the Historians, because they were content to relate them, sometimes embellishing them in truth, but without bothering to discuss why, how & in what time these things could have been done;whereas the historians, seeking to accommodate them to history, have suppressed features of them, mixed in their conjectures, sometimes substituted other names, &c. much better than the historians, have preserved for us the true substance of the fables, and have, strictly speaking, less disfigured than the historians, because they contented themselves with reporting them, sometimes embellishing them in truth, but without embarrassed to discuss why, how & in what time these things could have been done; whereas the historians, seeking to accommodate them to history, have suppressed features of them, mixed in their conjectures, sometimes substituted other names, &c.much better than the historians, have preserved for us the true substance of the fables, and have, strictly speaking, less disfigured than the historians, because they contented themselves with reporting them, sometimes embellishing them in truth, but without embarrassed to discuss why, how & in what time these things could have been done; whereas the historians, seeking to accommodate them to history, have suppressed features of them, mixed in their conjectures, sometimes substituted other names, &c. how & in what time these things could have been done; whereas the historians, seeking to accommodate them to history, have suppressed features of them, mixed in their conjectures, sometimes substituted other names, &c. how & in what time these things could have been done;whereas the historians, seeking to accommodate them to history, have suppressed features of them, mixed in their conjectures, sometimes substituted other names, &c.

But what can we conclude from so many different feelings? that we must look for what we must think of Typhon in the traits with which the Historians, the Poets and the Mythologists agree, or in which they differ little. The Poets and the Mythologists all say in concert that Typhon was thrown under Mount Etna, and the Ancients who did not place his tomb there thing sulphurous places for that, and known by subterranean fires, as in Campania. , or near Mount Vesuvius, as Diodorc claims (L. 4.), or in the Phlegean fields, as Strabo relates (L. 5.), or in a place in Asia, whence he comes earth sometimes water, formerly fire, according to Pausanias (In Arcad.). In a word, in all the mountains, and all the other places where there were sulphurous exhalations.

Let's connect all this with some circumstances of Typhoon's life; & unless we want to stubbornly close our eyes to the light, we will be forced to agree that the whole story of this so-called Monster is only an allegory, which is part of that which the Egyptian Priests, or Hermes himself even had invented , to veil the Sacerdotal Art; since, according to the Abbé Banier himself (Mythol. TI p. 478.), the Greek and Latin Poets and Historians have preserved for us among their most absurd fables, the traditions of Egypt, it is to these primitive traditions that we must stick to.

They tell us that Typhoon was brother of Osiris; that he persecuted him unto death in the way we have said; that he was then defeated by Isis, rescued by Horus;& that he finally perishes by fire. Historians also report that the Egyptians held the Sea in abomination, because they believed that she herself was Typhon, & called her foam or saliva of Typhon (Kirch. Obelis. Pamph. p. 155.), names which they also gave sea salt. Pythagoras, taught by the Egyptians, said that the Sea was a teardrop from Saturn. The reason they had for it was that the Sea, according to them, was a principle of corruption, since the Nile which procured them so many goods, was vitiated by its mixing with it. These traditions also teach us that Typhon caused Orus to perish in the Sea where he threw him, and that Isis his mother resuscitated him after having pulled him out.

Leaflet. p. 155.), names they also gave to sea salt.Pythagoras, taught by the Egyptians, said that the Sea was a teardrop from Saturn. The reason they had for it was that the Sea, according to them, was a principle of corruption, since the Nile which procured them so many goods, was vitiated by its mixing with it. These traditions also teach us that Typhon caused Orus to perish in the Sea where he threw him, and that Isis his mother resuscitated him after having pulled him out. Leaflet. p. 155.), names they also gave to sea salt. Pythagoras, taught by the Egyptians, said that the Sea was a teardrop from Saturn. The reason they had for it was that the Sea, according to them, was a principle of corruption, since the Nile which procured them so many goods, was vitiated by its mixing with it.These traditions also teach us that Typhon caused Orus to perish in the Sea where he threw him, and that Isis his mother resuscitated him after having pulled him out.

We have said that Osiris was the igneous, gentle & generative principle that Nature employs in the formation of the mixtures; & that Isis was its radical moist; for one must not be confused with the other, since they differ from each other like smoke & flame, light & air, sulfur & mercury. The radical humor is in the mixtures the seat and the nourishment of the innate heat, or the natural and celestial fire, and becomes like the bond which unites it with the elementary body; this igneous virtue is like the form and the soul of the mixture.

This is why it performs the function of male, & the radical humor performs, as humid, the function of female; they are therefore like brother & sister, and their reunion constitutes the basis of the mixture.But these mixtures are not composed of the radical humor alone; in their training, homogeneous, impure & earthly parts join it to complete the body of the mixed; & these gross & earthly impurities are the principle of its corruption, because of their combustible, acrid & corrosive sulphur, which constantly acts on the pure & incombustible sulphur. These two sulfurs or fires are therefore two brothers, but enemy brothers; & by the daily destruction of individuals, we have reason to convince ourselves that the impure outweighs the pure.

These are the two good & bad principles we talked about in the first & second chapters of this book. which constantly acts on the pure & incombustible sulphur.These two sulfurs or fires are therefore two brothers, but enemy brothers; & by the daily destruction of individuals, we have reason to convince ourselves that the impure outweighs the pure. These are the two good & bad principles we talked about in the first & second chapters of this book. which constantly acts on the pure & incombustible sulphur. These two sulfurs or fires are therefore two brothers, but enemy brothers; & by the daily destruction of individuals, we have reason to convince ourselves that the impure outweighs the pure. These are the two good & bad principles we talked about in the first & second chapters of this book.

This granted, it is not difficult to conceive why Typhon was made into a frightful monster, always ready to do harm, and who had the audacity even to make war on the Gods. The metals abound in this impure and combustible sulphur, which corrodes them by turning them to rust, each in its own kind. The gods had given their names to the metals; & this is why Herodotus (In Euterpe.) says that the Egyptians initially counted only eight great Gods, that is to say, the seven metals, & the principle of which they were composed.

Typhoon was born from the earth, but from the coarse earth, being the principle of corruption. He was the cause of the death of Osiris, because corruption only occurs through the solution that we explained when speaking of the death of this Prince.The feathers which covered the upper part of Typhon's body, & its height which carried its head to the clouds, indicate its volatility & its sublimation in vapours. Her thighs, her legs covered with scales & the snakes that come out of them on all sides, are the symbol of her corrupting & putrefactive wateriness. The fire he throws out through his mouth marks his corrosive adustibility, and designates his alleged brotherhood with Osiris, because the latter is a natural and vivifying hidden fire, the other is a tyrannical and destructive fire. This is why d'Espagnet calls him the tyrant of Nature, and the fratricide of natural fire, which suits Typhon perfectly.

Serpents are among the Philosophers the ordinary hieroglyph of dissolution and putrefaction,also we agree that Typhon does not differ from the serpent Python, killed by Apollo. We also know that Apollo & Horus were taken for the same God.

This monster was not satisfied with having killed his brother Osiris, he also threw his nephew Horus into the sea, after having seized him with the help of a Queen of Ethiopia. One could not more clearly designate the resolution in water of Horus or the Philosophical Apollo, than by saying that he was thrown into the sea; the blackness which is the mark of the perfect solution, and of the putrefaction called death by the Adepts, is seen in this Queen of Ethiopia.

This corrupted & putrefied matter is precisely this foam or saliva of Typhon, in which Orus was precipitated & submerged. It is truly a tear of Saturn, since the black color is the Philosophical Saturn. Isis finally resuscitated Horus;that is to say, that the Philosophical Apollo, after having been dissolved, putrefied & turned black, passed from blackness to whiteness called resurrection & life, in the Hermetic style.

The father & the mother then met together to fight Typhoon, or corruption, & after having defeated him they reigned gloriously, first the mother or Isis, that is to say, the whiteness, & after her Orus his son, or redness. Without resorting to so many explanations, the only supposed tombs of Typhon let us hear what was thought of this Monster, father of so many others, which we will explain in the chapters which concern them. Some say that Typhoon threw himself into a swamp where he perished; others that he was struck down by Jupiter, and that he perished by fire.

These two kinds of death are very different; & only Hermetic Chemistry can grant this contradiction; Typhoon indeed perishes there, & by water & by fire at the same time: for the Philosophical water, or the fetid menstruation, or the sea of ​​the Philosophers, which is only one and the same water formed by the dissolution of matter, is also a marsh, since being enclosed in the vase it has no course. This water is a true fire, say almost all the Philosophers, since it burns with much more force & activity than does elemental fire. The chymists burn with fire, & we burn with water, say Raymond Lully & Riplée.

Our water is a fire, adds the latter (12 Port.), which burns & torments the bodies much more than the fire of hell.When it is said that Jupiter struck him down, it is because the gray color or the Jupiter of the Philosophers is the first Chemical God who triumphs over the Titans, or who emerges victorious from darkness and corruption. Then the natural fire of the stone begins to dominate. Horus comes to his mother's rescue, & Typhon remains defeated. It is enough to compare the history, or rather, the fable of Python with that of Typhon, to see clearly that the explanations which I have just given express the true intention of the one who invented these allegories. Indeed, the Serpent Python was born in mud & silt, & Typhoon was born from the earth; the first perished in the very mire which saw him born, after having fought against Apollo;the second dies, it is said, in a swamp, after having made war on the Gods, and particularly on Horus who is the same as Apollo, and by whom he was defeated. These facts do not require explanation. & Typhoon remains defeated.

It is enough to compare the history, or rather, the fable of Python with that of Typhon, to see clearly that the explanations which I have just given express the true intention of the one who invented these allegories. Indeed, the Serpent Python was born in mud & silt, & Typhoon was born from the earth; the first perished in the very mire which saw him born, after having fought against Apollo;the second dies, it is said, in a swamp, after having made war on the Gods, and particularly on Horus who is the same as Apollo, and by whom he was defeated.

These facts do not require explanation. & Typhoon remains defeated. It is enough to compare the history, or rather, the fable of Python with that of Typhon, to see clearly that the explanations which I have just given express the true intention of the one who invented these allegories. Indeed, the Serpent Python was born in mud & silt, & Typhoon was born from the earth; the first perished in the very mire which saw him born, after having fought against Apollo;the second dies, it is said, in a swamp, after having made war on the Gods, and particularly on Horus who is the same as Apollo, and by whom he was defeated.

These facts do not require explanation. to see clearly that the explanations I have just given express the true intention of the one who invented these allegories. Indeed, the Serpent Python was born in mud & silt, & Typhoon was born from the earth; the first perished in the very mire which saw him born, after having fought against Apollo; the second dies, it is said, in a swamp, after having made war on the Gods, and particularly on Horus who is the same as Apollo, and by whom he was defeated.

These facts do not require explanation.to see clearly that the explanations I have just given express the true intention of the one who invented these allegories. Indeed, the Serpent Python was born in mud & silt, & Typhoon was born from the earth; the first perished in the very mire which saw him born, after having fought against Apollo; the second dies, it is said, in a swamp, after having made war on the Gods, and particularly on Horus who is the same as Apollo, and by whom he was defeated. These facts do not require explanation. & particularly to Horus who is the same as Apollo, & by whom he was defeated. These facts do not require explanation. & particularly to Horus who is the same as Apollo, & by whom he was defeated. These facts do not require explanation.

CHAPTER VII.

Harpocrates.

There is only one feeling in all the Authors on the Subject Harpocrates taken for the God of silence; it is true that in all the monuments where he is represented, his attitude is to put his finger on his mouth, to mark, says Plutarch (De Isir. & Osir.) that the men who knew the Gods, in whose temples Harpocrates was placed, should not talk about it rashly.

This attitude distinguishes him from all the other gods of Egypt, with whom he often has some connection through the symbols with which he is accompanied. From there comes that many Authors have confused him with Horus, & one says son of Isis & Osiris.In all the temples of Isis and Serapis another idol was seen with the finger on the mouth, and this idol is undoubtedly the one of which St. Augustine speaks (De Civ. Dei. 1. 18.c.5.) d'after Varro, who said that there was a law in Egypt forbidding, on pain of life, to say that these gods had been men. This idol can only be Harpocrates, whom Ausone calls Sigaleon.

By confusing Horus with Harpocrates, we find ourselves in the necessity of saying that they were both symbols of the Sun; & to tell the truth some figures of Harpocrates adorned with rays, or seated on the lotus, or carrying a bow & a case or quiver, have given rise to this error. In this case it would be necessary to say that the Egyptians had quite a different idea of ​​the discretion of the Sun than the Greeks had.

If Harpocrates was the God of silence, & was at the same time the symbol of the Sun in the first, he could not be one & the other in the second; since Apollo or the Sun, according to the Greeks, could not keep secret the adultery of Mars & Venus. However, they both had the same idea of ​​Harpocrates,& looked upon him as the God of the secret who preserves himself in silence, & vanishes by revelation. Harpocrates therefore was not the symbol of the Sun, but the hieroglyphics which accompanied his figure had a symbolic relationship with the Sun; that is to say, the Philosophical Sun therefore Horus was also a hieroglyph.

The authors who tell us that Harpocrates was the son of Issis & Osiris are telling the truth, because they got him from the priests of Egypt; but these Authors took this generation in the natural sense, whereas the Philosopher Priests said it in an allegorical sense. since all the Greeks & the Latins were convinced that these Priests always mixed the mysterious in their words, their gestures, their actions, their stories & their faces, which were all regarded as symbols, it is surprising that these Authors took to the letter so many things that they tell us about the Egyptians.

Their own testimonies condemn them in this respect. Our Mythologists & our Antiquaries should have paid this attention. The secret therefore Harpocrates was the God,was, in truth, the general secret that we must keep about all that is confided to us. But the Harpocrates attributes tell us the object of the particular secret so it was in question among the Priests of Egypt. Isis, Osiris, Horus, or rather what they symbolically represented, were the object of this secret. They were its matter; they provided the subject, they gave birth to it; he therefore derived his existence from them; & one could therefore say that Harpocrates was the son of Isis & Osiris.

they gave birth to him; he therefore derived his existence from them; & one could therefore say that Harpocrates was the son of Isis & Osiris. they gave birth to him;he therefore derived his existence from them; & one could therefore say that Harpocrates was the son of Isis & Osiris.

If, as the illustrious Mr. Cuper has claimed to prove in his Treatise on Harpocrates, this God should only be regarded as one and the same person with Orus, why did all the Ancients distinguish them? why did Orus never pass for God of silence? & why don't we see it in any monument represented in the same way & with the same symbols?

I see only one resemblance; it is that both are found under the figure of a child; but still they differ, in that Orus is almost always swaddled, or on the knees of Isis who nurses him; whereas Harpocrates is very often a young man, and even a mature man.

The owl, the dog, the serpent were never symbols given to Orus; & all that they could have in common are the rays that have been placed around the head of Harpocrates, & the cornucopia, such as we see several of them in the Antiquity explained by Dom Bernard de Montfaucon . But it is worth noting that Harpocrates is never represented with a radiant head.

Without adding any other symbol. Be that as it may, the serpent, the owl & the dog are all symbols which perfectly suit the God of secrecy, & in no way to Orus taken for the Sun. The owl was the bird of Minerva, Goddess of wisdom: the serpent was always a symbol of prudence, and the dog a symbol of fidelity. I leave it to the reader to apply it.

The other symbols given to Harpocrates signified the very object of the secret which he recommended by putting his finger to the mouth; that is to say, gold or the Hermetic Sun, by the lotus flower on which we sometimes find him seated, or which he wears on his head, by the rays with which his head is surrounded, and finally by the cornucopia he holds; since the result of the great work or the Philosophical elixir is the true horn of Amalthea, being the source of wealth & health.

Plutarch is right to say that Harpocrates was placed at the entrance to the temples, to warn those who knew who these gods were, not to talk about them rashly; it therefore did not concern the people, who took literally what was said of these gods, and who consequently did not know what it was about. The priests always had the God of silence before their eyes, to remind them that they had to take care not to divulge the secret entrusted to them. Moreover, they were obliged to do so on pain of death, and there was prudence in making this law. Egypt would have been in great danger if the other Nations had been informed with certainty that the Egyptian Priests possessed the secret of making gold, and of curing all the diseases which afflict the human body.They would have had bloody wars to fight.

Peace would never have made its sweetness felt there. Even the Priests would have been liable to lose their lives on the part of the Kings by divulging the secret, and on the part of those of the people to whom they would have refused to tell it, when they would have been pressed to do so . One felt, moreover, the consequences of such a revelation which would have become extremely unfortunate for the State itself. There would have been no more subordination, no more society; the whole order would have been upset.

These well-considered reasons have always made such a great impression on the Hermetic Philosophers that all the Ancients did not even want to declare what was the object of their allegories and the fables they invented. We still have a large quantity of works where the great work is described enigmatically, or allegorically; these works are in the hands of everyone, and only the Hermetic Philosophers read in them in the sense of the Author, while the others do not even dare to suspect him.

From there so many Saumaises have exhausted their erudition to make comments there that do not satisfy sensible people, because they feel that all the senses presented to them are forced. We must judge the same of almost all the ancient authors who speak to us of the worship of the gods of Egypt.They speak to us only according to the people who were not up to date. Even those, like Herodotus & Diodorus of Sicily, who questioned the Priests, & who speak from their answers, do not give us any further clarification.

The Priests gave them the change, as they gave it to the people; it is even reported that an Egyptian priest, named Leo, used it in this way towards Alexander, who wanted to have the Religion of Egypt explained to him. He answered that the Gods whom the people adored were only ancient Kings of Egypt, mortal men like other men.Alexander believed it as he was told, and sent it, it is said, to his mother Olympias, recommending that she throw his letter into the fire, so that the people of Greece, who adored the same gods, would not be not educated, and that the fear that had been inculcated in him of these Gods, kept him in order and subordination. who wanted to have the Religion of Egypt explained to him. He answered that the Gods whom the people adored were only ancient Kings of Egypt, mortal men like other men.

Alexander believed it as he was told, and sent it, it is said, to his mother Olympias, recommending that she throw his letter into the fire, so that the people of Greece, who adored the same gods, would not be not educated, and that the fear that had been inculcated in him of these Gods, kept him in order and subordination. who wanted to have the Religion of Egypt explained to him. He answered that the Gods whom the people adored were only ancient Kings of Egypt, mortal men like other men.Alexander believed it as he was told, and sent it, it is said, to his mother Olympias, recommending that she throw his letter into the fire, so that the people of Greece, who adored the same gods, would not be not educated, and that the fear that had been inculcated in him of these Gods, kept him in order and subordination.

Those who had made the laws for the succession to the throne had had, for all the reasons we have deduced, the wise precaution of obviating all these disorders by ordering that the Kings should be taken from the number of Priests, who did not communicate this secret. only to those of their children, and to others only, Priests like them, or who would be deemed worthy after a long trial. This is also what induced them to forbid the entry of Egypt to foreigners for so long, or to oblige them by affronts and by the dangers they ran for their lives, to leave it, when they had penetrated.

Psammetichus was the first king who allowed his subjects to trade with foreigners; & from that time some Greeks, eager to learn, moved to Egypt,where, after the required trials, they were initiated into the mysteries of Isis, and carried them to their homeland under the shadow of fables and allegories imitated from those of the Egyptians.

This is also what some priests of Egypt did, who at the head of several colonies went to establish themselves outside their country; but all scrupulously kept the secret entrusted to them, and without changing its object, they varied the crazy stories in which they veiled it. From there came all the fables of Greece and elsewhere, as we will see in the following books. who at the head of several colonies went to settle outside their country;but all scrupulously kept the secret entrusted to them, and without changing its object, they varied the crazy stories in which they veiled it.

From there came all the fables of Greece and elsewhere, as we will see in the following books. who at the head of several colonies went to settle outside their country; but all scrupulously kept the secret entrusted to them, and without changing its object, they varied the crazy stories in which they veiled it. From there came all the fables of Greece and elsewhere, as we will see in the following books.

The secret has always been the prerogative of the wise, and Solomon teaches us that we must not reveal wisdom to those who can misuse it, or who are not fit to keep it with prudence and discretion. This is why all the Ancients only spoke in riddles, parables, symbols, hieroglyphs, etc. so that only the Sages could understand something.

CHAPTER VIII.

Anubis.

Diodorus of Sicily (Lib. I.) says that Anubis was one of those who accompanied Osiris on his expedition to India; that he was the son of this same Osiris; that he wore a dog's skin for war clothing, and that he was, according to the interpretation of M. l'Abbé Banier (Mythol.TIp496.), Captain of the Guards of this Prince.

The first of these Authors relates what he had learned in Egypt, and tells the truth; but the second is wrong to accuse Greek Mythology of having confused Anubis with Mercury Trimegist, so famous in Egypt for these beautiful discoveries, for the invention of characters, and for the prodigious number of books he composed on all kinds of science.

Those who transport the Mythology from the Egyptians to the Greeks, such as Museo, Orpheus, Melampe, Eumolpe, Homer, &c. did not deviate from the ideas of the Egyptians, & never confused Anubis with Trimegiste, but with another Mercury unknown to M. l'Abbé Banier, at least in the sense that these promulgators of Mythology had of it.

The little knowledge we had of this Mercury, which indeed accompanied Osiris on his journey, has occasioned the false reasonings that most Authors have made about Anubis; it is therefore not on their testimony that one must establish one's conjectures and base one's judgments.Father Kircher (Obelisc. Pamph. p. 292.), is one of those who wrongly confused with the decisive tone which is usual for him, Mercury Trimegiste with Anubis, & who falsely persuaded himself that the Egyptians represented under the figure of Anubis.

Unde posteri virum tam admirandâ scientiâ preditum inter Deos relatum divinis honoribus coluerunt, eum Anubin vacantes, hoc est, canem, ob admirabilem hujus in rebus, quâ inveniendis, qua investigarnis sagacitatem: he was doubtless deceived by the explanations of the Egyptian hieroglyphs, given by Horapollo (Liv. l. Explicat. 39.), who says that the dog was the symbol of a Minister, a Counselor, a Secretary of State, a Prophet, a Scholars, &c.Plutarch may also have contributed to deceiving our Mythologists, by giving this God the name of Herm-Anubis, which means Mercury Anubis. Apuleius, however, could have gotten them out of error, if they had reflected on the description he gave of it in these terms: “Anubis is the interpreter of the Gods of Heaven, and of those of hell.

His face is sometimes black, sometimes golden in color. He holds high his great dog's head, carrying a caduceus in his left hand, and a green palm in his right, which he seems to be waving. An Antique, which Boissard has preserved for us, which is also found in P. Kircher (Loc. cit. p. 294.), in the Antiquity explained by Dom de Montfaucon, T, II. P. II. p.314 & elsewhere, & following the inscription, dedicated by a high priest, named Isias, clearly shows what the Egyptians meant by Anubis.

This Isias dedicates this hieroglyph to the brother Gods, & says that these Gods, that is to say, Serapis or Osiris, Apis & Anubis are the synthrone Gods of Egypt, or participants in the same throne in Egypt. Isias shows by this inscription that he was more aware of the nature of these Gods & of their genealogy, than many ancient Greek & Latin Authors were, & than our Mythologists still are today. The brotherhood of these three Gods undermines the foundations of all their explanations;she contradicts Plutarch, who believes that Anubis was the son of Nephthe, who gave birth to him, according to him, before term, by the terror she had of Typhon her husband, and that it was he who, although still very young, learned to Isis her aunt the first news of the death of Osiris.

It does not agree with Diodorus, who makes Anubis son of Osiris. But if our Mythologists penetrated into the ideas of Isias, they would soon see that these contradictions are only apparent, and that these three Authors really speak of a single and unique subject, although they express themselves differently. Diodorus & Plutarch relate the Egyptian traditions, as they had learned them without knowing what they meant, whereas Isias was instructed in the mysteries they contained.This will be judged by the following explanation.

There were two Mercurys in Egypt, one nicknamed Trimegist, inventor of the hieroglyphs of the Gods of Egypt, that is to say, Gods made by men, & who were the subject of Sacerdotal Art; the other Mercury called Anubis, who was one of those Gods, in view of whom these hieroglyphs were invented. Both of these Mercurys were given as counsel to Isis; Trimegist to govern externally, & Anubis for internal government. But how could this be done, one will say, since Diodorus reports that Anubis accompanied Osiris on his expedition? Here is the way to reconcile these contradictions; & we will see that Anubis is his, as well as brother of Osiris.

We said that Osiris & Isis were the symbol of the matter of the Hermetic Art; that one represented the fire of Nature, the igneous & generating principle, the male & the agent; that the other or Isis signified the radical humor, the earth, or the womb & the seat of this fire, the passive principle or the female; & that both formed only one same subject composed of these two substances. Osiris was the same as Serapis or, Amun, some say Amon & Ammon, represented by a Ram's head, or with Ram's horns; because this animal, according to the authors (Kirch. Obel. Pamph. p. 295.) quoted by P. Kircher, is of a hot and humid nature.

We saw Isis with a bull's head, because she was taken for the Moon,whose crescent is represented by the horns of this animal; and that, moreover, it is heavy and earthly. Anubis in the Antiquity of Boissart, is placed in ink Serapis & Apis, to make it understood that he is composed of both, or that he comes from them; he is therefore the son of Osiris & Isis, & this is how.

This material of the Priestly Art, put in the vase, dissolves in mercurial water; this water forms the Philosophical Mercury or Anubis. Plutarch says that, although very young, he was the first who announced to Isis the death of Osiris, because this Mercury does not appear until after the dissolution and putrefaction designated by the death of this Prince.And as Typhon & Nephté are the principles of destruction & the causes of this dissolution, we say that Anubis is the son of this monster & his wife. So here is Anubis son of Osiris & Isis in reality, & born of them generatively.

Typhon & Nephté are also his father & mother, but only as occasional causes. Raymond Lully expresses himself in this sense (Vade mecum.), when he says: My son, our child has two fathers & two mothers. This water is called the water of wisdom, because it is all gold and silver, and it contains the spirit of the quintessence which does everything, and without it nothing can be done.

This fire, this earth, and this water which are found in this same matter of the work, are brothers as the elements are among themselves, which causes Isias to call them by this name. He also says that they are synthrone gods of Egypt, or gods equally revered by the Egyptians, participants in the same throne & the same honor, to make us understand that the three are only one, and that they signify only the same thing, although they have different names. This unity or these three principles which reunite to make only one whole, is palpably declared by the triangle which is seen in this monument.

Having said what Anubis is, it is easy to guess how he could accompany Osiris on his journey, since the Philosophical Mercury is always in the vase; whether he goes through black or Ethiopia, white, &c. ; we have seen the rest in the chapter of Osiris. As for the head of a dog given to Anubis, we have seen that the Egyptians took the dog as the symbol of a Minister of State; which suits the Mercury of the Philosophers very well, since it is he who conducts the whole interior of the work.

The caduceus alone makes it known for Mercury; does not the sometimes black, sometimes golden face given to it by Apuleius clearly indicate the colors of the work?The text of Raymond Lully that we quoted, shows that Osiris, Isis & Anubis, or Serapis, Apis & Anubis are included in the same subject, since Osiris, symbol of the Sun, & Isis, symbol of the Moon, are found in mercurial water; because the Philosophers call indifferently Sun or gold their perfect red sulfur, & Moon or silver, their matter fixed to whiteness.

The crocodile, amphibian animal, on which Isias had Anubis represented standing, designates that Mercury or the God Anubis is composed or is born of earth and water; & so that there is no mistake, he has placed near a presericula & a peg, which are vases where one puts water or other liquors.The bundle which Father Kircher has not explained, and which D. de Montfaucon takes for a bandaged cushion, admitting that he does not know how to use it, signifies the trade which is carried on by means of gold, of which the globe that Anubis carries in his right hand is the symbol.

We often see the globe in the Egyptian hieroglyphs, because they had the Sacerdotal Art for their object. when this globe is joined to a cross, it is to show that gold is composed of the four elements so well combined that they do not destroy each other. When the globe is winged, it is the gold that must be volatilized in order to give it the transmutative virtue.A globe surrounded by a serpent, or a serpent leaning on a globe, is a sign of the putrefaction through which it must pass before it becomes volatile. We even find it sometimes winged, with a serpent attached below (Kirch. Obel. Pamph. p. 399.), & then it designates putrefaction, & the volatilization which is its consequence. But be careful that I speak of the Philosophical gold, or Hermetic Sun,

CHAPTERIX.

canopy.

The Mythologists have ventured many physical, astronomical and moral conjectures on the Canopies; there are even some quite ingenious ones: but we are not clearer after that, and each one has turned the allegory to the side which most struck his imagination, without however anyone having reached the goal that was intended. were proposed the Egyptians in the invention & the representations of the God Canopus.

If they'd followed my system, they wouldn't have had to rack their brains so hard to figure out what that jug God meant. They would only have needed eyes, and they would not have wasted their time stealing in vain. If a Hermetic Philosopher is shown a Canopus, he will not hesitate to say what it is, had he never heard of the Canopus of Egypt,nor hieroglyphs so they are covered; because he will recognize in it a symbolic representation of all that is necessary for the work of the Sages. In fact, isn't this God always represented in Egyptian monuments in the form of a vase surmounted by the head of a man or near as one caps a bottle, to prevent the liquor from fanning or evaporating?

Must one therefore be an Oedipus to divine a thing which manifests itself by itself? A Canopus is nothing other than the representation of the vase in which the material of the Sacerdotal Art is placed; the neck of the vase is designated by that of the human figure; the head & the hairstyle show the way in which it must be sealed, & the hieroglyphs with which its surface is filled,announce to the spectators the things that this vase contains, & the different changes of shapes, colors & ways of being of matter. “The vase of Art, says d'Espagnet (Can. 113.), must be round or oval in shape, having a neck the height of a palm or more, the entrance will be narrow.

The Philosophers have made it a mystery, and have given it various names. They called it cucurbite, or blind vase, because its eye is closed with the Hermetic seal, to prevent anything foreign from entering it, and preventing spirits from evaporating from it. » the entrance will be narrow. The Philosophers have made it a mystery, and have given it various names.They called it cucurbite, or blind vase, because its eye is closed with the Hermetic seal, to prevent anything foreign from entering it, and preventing spirits from evaporating from it. » the entrance will be narrow.

The Philosophers have made it a mystery, and have given it various names. They called it cucurbite, or blind vase, because its eye is closed with the Hermetic seal, to prevent anything foreign from entering it, and preventing spirits from evaporating from it. »

Mythologists wrongly persuaded themselves that the God Canopus was only the hieroglyph of the element of water. Those which are pierced with small holes, or which have breasts through which the water flows, were made in imitation of the Canopuses, not to simply represent the element of water; but to indicate that the mercurial water of the Philosophers contained in the Canopis, is the moist & fertilizing principle of Nature.

It was this water that was spoken of when Plutarch was told that Canopus had been the pilot of the ship of Osiris; because the mercurial water conducts & governs all that happens within the vessel.The bite of a serpent, with which Canopus was attacked, marks the putrefaction of mercury, and the death which follows indicates the fixation of this volatile substance. All this is very well signified by the hieroglyphs of the Canopies. As I have already explained most of them in the previous chapters, the Reader will be able to use them. As for animals, we will talk about them later.

At one of the mouths of the Nile was a town called Canopus, where this god had a superb temple. S. Clement of Alexandria (Strom, 1. 6.) says that there was in this city the most famous Academy of Sciences of all Egypt: that one learned there all the Egyptian Theology, the hieroglyphic Letters; that the Priests were initiated there into the Sacred Mysteries, and that there was no other place where they were explained with more attention and accuracy; it is for this reason that the Greeks made such frequent trips there.

Doubtless that in giving instructions on the God Canopus, we found ourselves in the necessity of explaining at the same time all the mysteries veiled under the shadow of the hieroglyphs, with which the surface of this God was filled;whereas in the other cities where Osiris & Isis, &c. were adored.

These are the main gods of Egypt, in which we include all the others. Herodotus (L. 2.) also names Pan as the oldest of all the gods of this country; & says that in the Egyptian language it was called Worlds. Diodore (L.1.p. 16.) assures us that he was in such great veneration in that country, that one saw his statue in all the temples, and that he was one of those who accompanied Osiris in his expedition to India.

But as this God indicates nothing other than the generating principle of everything, and as he is consequently confused with Osiris, I will say nothing more about it. We will say these two words of Serapis in the third section. The honors of worship were also bestowed upon Saturn, Vulcan, Jupiter, Mercury, Hercules, &c.We will deal with it in the following books, when we explain the Mythology of the Greeks.

SECOND SECTION.

Kings of Egypt and Monuments erected in that country.

History teaches us Nothing more certain about the first Kings of Egypt than about those of Greece and other Nations. Royalty was not hereditary among the Egyptians, according to Diodorus. They elected for Kings those who had made themselves recommendable, either by the invention of some useful arts, or by their benefits to the people.

The first of this kind, if we are to believe the Arabs, was Hanuch; the same as Enoch son of Jared, who was also named Idris or Idaris, & that Fr. Kircher says (Œdip. Ægypt. TIp 66. & seq.) to be the same as Osiris, on the testimony of Abenephi & of some other Arabs.But without amusing ourselves with discussing whether these Arabs & Manetho I. or the Sybennite tell the truth about what preceded the Deluge, it is from this remarkable period that we must date. Several Authors are even persuaded that Manetho, who was a Priest of Egypt, formed his Dynasties, and wrote many other things only in accordance with the tables which had been invented and divulged long before him.

This feeling is all founded the better, as these fables contained the story of the alleged succession of the Kings of the country, to hide their real object, which the Priests made a mystery, and a secret which they were forbidden to reveal under penalty of life. Manetho, as a priest, was therefore obliged to write in accordance with what was told to the people.

But the secrecy to which he was bound, not obliging him to disfigure what was true in the story, he was able to preserve it for us at least in part. & wrote many other things only in accordance with the tables which had been invented & disclosed long before him. This feeling is all founded the better, as these fables contained the story of the alleged succession of the Kings of the country, to hide their real object, which the Priests made a mystery, and a secret which they were forbidden to reveal under penalty of life. Manetho, as a priest, was therefore obliged to write in accordance with what was told to the people.

But the secrecy to which he was bound, not obliging him to disfigure what was true in the story, he was able to preserve it for us at least in part.& wrote many other things only in accordance with the tables which had been invented & disclosed long before him. This feeling is all founded the better, as these fables contained the story of the alleged succession of the Kings of the country, to hide their real object, which the Priests made a mystery, and a secret which they were forbidden to reveal under penalty of life.

Manetho, as a priest, was therefore obliged to write in accordance with what was told to the people. But the secrecy to which he was bound, not obliging him to disfigure what was true in the story, he was able to preserve it for us at least in part.that these fables contained the story of the alleged succession of the Kings of the country, to hide their true object, which the Priests made a mystery, and a secret which they were forbidden to reveal under penalty of life. Manetho, as a priest, was therefore obliged to write in accordance with what was told to the people.

But the secrecy to which he was bound, not obliging him to disfigure what was true in the story, he was able to preserve it for us at least in part. that these fables contained the story of the alleged succession of the Kings of the country, to hide their true object, which the Priests made a mystery, and a secret which they were forbidden to reveal under penalty of life.Manetho, as a priest, was therefore obliged to write in accordance with what was told to the people. But the secrecy to which he was bound, not obliging him to disfigure what was true in the story, he was able to preserve it for us at least in part.

The discussion of the succession of the Kings of Egypt would involve me in a dissertation which does not enter into the plan which I proposed to myself. I leave that to those who wish to undertake the history of that country. It suffices, to fulfill my object, to report the Kings whom the Authors cite as having left monuments which prove that the Sacerdotal or Hermetic Art was known and in force in Egypt.

The first who settled there after the Flood was Ham, son of Noah, who, according to Abenephi (Kirch. loc. cit. p. 85.), was named Zoroaster & Osiris, that is to say, widespread fire in all Nature. Mesraim was succeeded by Cham. The chronicle of Alexander (L. 1.) gives the nickname Zoroaster to this one, & Opmecrus names him Osiris.

The portrait that the Authors make of Cham & of Mesraïm or Misraïm, is that of an idolatrous, sacrilegious Prince, addicted to all sorts of vices & debauches, & cannot suit Osiris, who was only occupied in putting back the true worship of God in force, to make Religion and the Arts flourish, and to make its peoples happy under the prudent, wise and religious guidance of the incomparable Hermes Trimegiste.This contrast alone should make those who maintain that Ham,

The chronicle of Alexandria makes Mercury successor of Misraïm, & says that he reigned 35 years; she adds that he left Italy to go to Egypt, where he was philosophizing under a robe braided with gold; that he taught there an infinity of things, that the Egyptians proclaimed him God, and called him the Golden God, because of the great riches he procured for them. Plutarch (From Iside & Osiride.) gives Mercury 38 years of reign. It is doubtless this same Mercury who, according to Diodorus, was given as advice to Isis.

But if things are so, where will we place the kingdom of the Gods? If Vulcan, the Sun, Jupiter, Saturn, &c. were Kings of Egypt, and that each did not reign less than twelve hundred years, as we have said above; it is not possible to reconcile all that, even though it seems that these names of the Gods were only nicknames given to true Kings.

The thing will become even less probable, if we refer to the chronicle of Alexandria, which gives Vulcan as successor to Mercury, and the Sun as successor to Vulcan. After the Sun she puts Sosin, or Sothin, or Sochin. After Sosin, Osiris, then Horus, then Thulen, who could be the same as Eusebe calls Thuois, & Herodotus Thonis. Diodorus upsets the whole order of this pretended succession;& the confusion that arises from it, forms a labyrinth of difficulties so it is not possible to get away. But in the end you have to stick to something; this is why we will say with Herodotus & Diodorus (Diod. 1. lp2.cI), that the first King who reigned in Egypt after the Gods, was a man called Menas or Menes, who taught the peoples the worship of the Gods & the ceremonies to be observed there.

Thus began the reign of men in Egypt, which lasted, according to some, until the hundred and eightieth Olympiad, the time at which Diodorus was in Egypt, and at which reigned Ptolemy IX, surnamed Denis.

Menas gave the Egyptians laws in writing, which he said he had promulgated by order of Mercury, as the principle & cause of their happiness. We see that Mercury is everywhere, either during the reign of the Gods, which the Authors make last a little less than eight thousand years, and therefore the last was Horus, or during the reign of men, which began at Menas; from which one must conclude, against the sentiment of Father Kircher (Oedip. TI p. 93.), that this Menas cannot be the same as Mythras & Osiris, since the latter was the father of Horus. But let us follow Diodorus.

The race of Menas gave 52 kings in 1040 years. Busiris was then elected, and eight of his descendants succeeded him.The last of the eight, who was also called Busiris, built the city of Thebes, or the city of the Sun. It was one hundred and forty stadia in enclosure; Strabo gives it eighty in length: it had a hundred gates, two hundred men passed through each with their chariots & their horses (Homer. Iliad. 9.v.381.). All the buildings were superb & of a magnificence beyond what one can imagine. The successors of this Busiris took pride in contributing to the ornament of this city.

They decorated it with temples, statues of gold, silver, ivory of colossal size. They erected there obelisks of a single stone, and finally made it superior to all the cities of the world. These are the words of Diodorus of Sicily, who agrees with Strabo in this.9.v.381.). All the buildings were superb & of a magnificence beyond what one can imagine. The successors of this Busiris took pride in contributing to the ornament of this city. They decorated it with temples, statues of gold, silver, ivory of colossal size.

They erected there obelisks of a single stone, and finally made it superior to all the cities of the world. These are the words of Diodorus of Sicily, who agrees with Strabo in this. 9.v.381.). All the buildings were superb & of a magnificence beyond what one can imagine. The successors of this Busiris took pride in contributing to the ornament of this city. They decorated it with temples, statues of gold, silver, ivory of colossal size.They erected there obelisks of a single stone, and finally made it superior to all the cities of the world. These are the words of Diodorus of Sicily, who agrees with Strabo in this. & finally made it superior to all the cities of the world. These are the words of Diodorus of Sicily, who agrees with Strabo in this. & finally made it superior to all the cities of the world. These are the words of Diodorus of Sicily, who agrees with Strabo in this.

This city, which had become famous throughout the world, and of which the Greeks, knowing nothing for a long time except by hearsay, could only speak of it in a very suspicious way, was built in honor of Orus or Apollo, the same as the Sun, last of the Gods who were Kings in Egypt; & not in honor of the star that bears this name, as the monuments that we saw there testify.

A city so opulent, so filled with gold & silver, brought into Egypt by Mercury, who, as we have said from the Authors, taught the Egyptians how to do it, isn't it a convincing proof of the science of the Egyptians, as to Hermetic Philosophy or Art? There were in this same city, Diodorus continues, forty-seven mausoleums of kings, of which seventeen still remained in the time of Ptolemy Lagus.

Busiris, founder of this city, was the son of a king, therefore a philosopher educated in the Sacerdotal Art; he was even a Priest of Vulcan. Entrance was forbidden to strangers. This was no doubt one of the reasons which induced the Greeks to decry so loudly this Busiris, the same one mentioned in the labors of Hercules. But what is not envy, jealousy capable of? The Greeks could only bark after these riches which they saw only in perspective.

The Obelisks alone would suffice to prove that those who erected them were perfectly conversant with the Hermetic Art. The hieroglyphs therefore they were coated, the excessive expenditure that had to be made, and even the material, or rather the affected choice of the stone, reveal this science.

I will not even bring in proof what Father Kircher says, that we owe the first invention of Obelisks to a son of Osiris, whom he calls Meframuthisis, who made his residence at Heliopolis, and who raised it the first, because he was instructed in the sciences of Hermes, and he usually frequented the priests. I will only say with the same Author, that so that all was mysterious in these Obelisks, the inventors of the hieroglyphic characters even made choice of a material suitable for these mysteries.

“The stone of these Obelisks, says the same Author (Loc. sit), was a kind of marble whose different colors seemed to have been thrown drop by drop; its hardness did not yield to that of porphyry, which the Greeks call , the Latins Stones of Thebes, and the Italians Granito rosso. The quarry from which this marble was taken was near that famous city of Thebes, where the Kings of Egypt formerly resided, near the mountains which overlooked Ethiopia, and the sources of the Nile, drawing towards the south. There is no kind of marble that Egypt does not supply;

I do not see why the Hieromysts chose this one rather than another for the Obelisks. There was certainly some mystery hidden there, & it was no doubt in view of some secret of Nature.It will perhaps be said that the hardness, the tenacity made this marble preferred to any other, because it was fitted to resist the ravages of time. But porphyry, so common in that country, was just as solid, and consequently just as durable. Besides, why didn't people look at it so closely when it was a question of erecting other monuments, larger or smaller than the Obelisks, and other kinds of marble were then used?

I therefore say, add the same Author, that these Obelisks being raised in honor of the Solar Divinity, one thing, to make them a material in which one knew some properties of this Divinity, or which had some analogy of resemblance to it. . But porphyry, so common in that country, was just as solid, and consequently just as durable.Besides, why didn't people look at it so closely when it was a question of erecting other monuments, larger or smaller than the Obelisks, and other kinds of marble were then used? I therefore say, add the same Author, that these Obelisks being raised in honor of the Solar Divinity, one thing, to make them a material in which one knew some properties of this Divinity, or which had some analogy of resemblance to it. .

But porphyry, so common in that country, was just as solid, and consequently just as durable. Besides, why didn't people look at it so closely when it was a question of erecting other monuments, larger or smaller than the Obelisks, and other kinds of marble were then used?I therefore say, add the same Author, that these Obelisks being raised in honor of the Solar Divinity, one thing, to make them a material in which one knew some properties of this Divinity, or which had some analogy of resemblance to it. . & we then used other species of marble? I therefore say, add the same Author, that these Obelisks being raised in honor of the Solar Divinity, one thing, to make them a material in which one knew some properties of this Divinity, or which had some analogy of resemblance to it. . & we then used other species of marble?I therefore say, add the same Author, that these Obelisks being raised in honor of the Solar Divinity, one thing, to make them a material in which one knew some properties of this Divinity, or which had some analogy of resemblance to it. .

Father Kircher was right to suspect mystery in the preference given to this marble, the colors of which were always four in number. He didn't even get it wrong when he said it was because of a kind of analogy with the Sun; he could have ensured the thing, if he had followed our system, to guide him in his explanations. For he would have clearly seen that the colors of this marble are precisely those which occur in the matter which is employed in the operations of the great work, to make the philosophical sun, in honor and in whose memory these Obelisks were erected.

One will judge of it by the following description that the same Author makes of it (Ibid. p. 50.): “Nature has mixed four substances for the composition of this Egyptian Pyrite;the main one, which makes it like the base & the background, is of a dazzling red, in which are as if encrusted pieces of crystal, others of amethysts, some of an ashy color, others blue, others finally black, which are sown here and there throughout the substance of this stone. The Egyptians having therefore observed this mixture, judged this material as the most appropriate to represent their mysteries.

A Hermetic Philosopher would express himself no differently than Father Kircher; but he would have very different ideas. We do, and we have repeated it often enough, that the three main colors of the work are black, white and red. Are they not those of this marble?Is not the ashen color that which the Philosophers call Jupiter, which is intermediate between the black called Saturn, & the white one called Moon or Diana? Doesn't the red which dominates in this marble clearly designate that which, in the books of the Hermetic Philosophers, is compared to the color of the poppies of the fields, & constitutes the perfection of the Sun or Apollo of the Sages?

Isn't the blue the one that precedes the blackness in the work, which Flamel (Explic. des figs. hieroglyp.) & Philalethes (Enarrat. Method. 3. Gebri Medic.) say is a sign that putrefaction n isn't perfect yet? We will talk about it more at length in the chapter of Ceres in the 4th century.Book, when we explain what Lake Cyanea was, by which Pluto escaped by carrying off Proserpina. & constitutes the perfection of the Sun or Apollo of the Sages? Isn't the blue the one that precedes the blackness in the work, which Flamel (Explic. des figs. hieroglyp.) & Philalethes (Enarrat. Method. 3. Gebri Medic.) say is a sign that putrefaction n isn't perfect yet? We will talk about it more at length in the chapter of Ceres in the 4th century.

Book, when we explain what Lake Cyanea was, by which Pluto escaped by carrying off Proserpina. & constitutes the perfection of the Sun or Apollo of the Sages?Isn't the blue the one that precedes the blackness in the work, which Flamel (Explic. des figs. hieroglyp.) & Philalethes (Enarrat. Method. 3. Gebri Medic.) say is a sign that putrefaction n isn't perfect yet? We will talk about it more at length in the chapter of Ceres in the 4th century. Book, when we explain what Lake Cyanea was, by which Pluto escaped by carrying off Proserpina.

That's the whole mystery revealed. This is the reason for the preference that the Egyptians gave to this marble to form the Obelisks, & it was, as we see, with good reason, since it was a question of raising them in honor of Horus or of the Philosophical Sun, & to represent on their surfaces hieroglyphs, under the darkness of which were buried & the matter of which Horus was made, & the operations required to achieve it. I do not claim, however, that this was the sole object of the erection of these Obelisks & Pyramids.

I know that all the Philosophy of Nature was there hieroglyphically contained in general, and that Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, and most of the other Greek Philosophers drew their Science from this dark source, where one could not penetrate,unless the priests of Egypt carry there the torch of their instructions; but I also know that the Philosophers say (Cosmop. novum lumen Chemic. D'Espagnet, Raymond Lully, etc.) that the knowledge of the great work gives that of all Nature, and that we see there all its operations and its processes like in a mirror.

Pliny does not agree with Diodorus on the King of Egypt who was the first to raise Obelisks. Pliny (L. 36. c. 8.) attributes its invention to Mitrès or Mitras: Trabes ex os fecêre Reges, quodam certamine Obeliscos vocantes Solis Numini sacratos; radio sum ejus argumentum in effigie est, & ita significat in nome Ægyptio. Primns omnium id institute Mitres, qui id urbe Solis (Heliopoliseu Thebis intellige) primus regnabat, somnio jussus, & hoc ipsum scriptum in eo. But no doubt this difference comes only from the fact that Mitres or Mithras signified the sun, & Menas the Moon.

There is even great likelihood that this Mithras & this Menas were the same as Osiris & Isis; not that they actually raised Obelisks,but because it was in their honor that they were brought up. Their real existence is no better proved by saying that they built Memphis (Herodotus in Euterp.) or some other city in Egypt; since Vulcan, Neptune & Apollo are not less fabulous characters for having built the city of Troyes, as we will prove in the course of this Book, & particularly in the 6th century. Books.

Without scrupulously attaching myself to the chronological succession of the Kings of Egypt, since their entire history does not enter into my plan, I pass on to some of those who left particular monuments of the Hermecian work, and II hold on to Diodorus of Sicily for avoiding discussions.

Simandius, according to Hecataeus and Diodorus, did surprising things at Thebes, and surpassed his predecessors in this respect. He erected a monument admirable for its grandeur, and for the art with which it was worked. It had ten stadia, the gate by which one entered it was two arpents long, and forty-five cubits high. On this monument was an inscription in these terms:

I AM SIMANDIUS KING OF KINGS.

IF ANYONE WANTS TO KNOW WHAT I HAVE BEEN AND WHERE I AM, PLEASE CONSIDER MY WORKS.

I omit the description of this superb monument; we can see it in the Authors quoted; I will only say with them, that between the paintings and the sculptures placed on one of the sides of this famous peristyle, one saw Simandius offering to the Gods the gold and the silver which he made every year; the sum was marked, & amounted to 131200000000 minae, according to the same Diodorus.

Near this monument was the Sacred Library, on the door of which was written REMEDY OF THE SPIRIT. On the back was a beautiful house, where you could see 20 baskets or small beds set up for Jupiter & Juno, the statue of the King & his tomb. Around were distributed various apartments decorated with paintings, which represented all the animals revered in Egypt, and all seeming to direct their steps towards the tomb.

This monument was surrounded by a circle of solid gold, one cubit thick, and its circumference was 365. Each cubit was a golden cube, and marked by divisions. On each were engraved the days, the years, the rising & setting of the stars, & all that this meant according to the astrological observations of the Egyptians. This circle was removed, they say,

What we have just reported of the magnificence of Simandius, shows sufficiently, both by the material of which these things were made, and by the form they were given, for what reason and for what purpose they were thus made. Whatever interpretation the historians may give it, how can they suppose that Simandius could have obtained, either from the mines or from the taxes, such a prodigious quantity of gold? And when one could imagine it, would Simandius have had the right to pride himself on it, and to speak of it as his work?

If the other Kings had the same income, they could boast about it like him.It would have been madness to have it engraved on his tomb that he held these riches only from his exactions, and childishness to have the sum of the riches he drew annually from the earth marked. Such a large sum seems incredible indeed; but it is not so to those who know what can transmute a bulk of powder of projection multiplied in quality as much as it can be.

The inscription placed above the door of the Library announces how useful reading is; but it appears to have been placed there only to mark the treasure which was enclosed there; that is to say, the books which the Egyptians called sacred, or those which contained in allegorical terms, & in hieroglyphic characters all the Hermetic Philosophy or the art of making gold, & the remedy to cure all diseases; since the possession of this art makes vanish the source of all the illnesses of the mind, ambition, avarice, and the other passions which tyrannize it.

This science being that of Wisdom, one can say with Solomon (Sap. 7.), gold is only base sand in comparison with wisdom, & silver is only mud. Its acquisition is worth more than all the trade in gold and silver;its fruit more precious than all the riches of the world: all that one desires in it cannot be compared to it. Health & long life is on his right (Prov. c. 3.), glory & infinite riches are on his left. His ways are beautiful operations, commendable & not to be despised; they are not made with haste or haste, but with patience & attention during a long work: it is the tree of life to those who possess it & happy are those who have it in their power!

His ways are beautiful operations, commendable & not to be despised; they are not made with haste or haste, but with patience & attention during a long work: it is the tree of life to those who possess it & happy are those who have it in their power!His ways are beautiful operations, commendable & not to be despised; they are not made with haste or haste, but with patience & attention during a long work: it is the tree of life to those who possess it & happy are those who have it in their power!

We commonly explain these words, wisdom & piety, but although we possess everything when we possess Jesus Christ, & that we are faithful to observe his law, the experience of all times shows us that the health, length of life, glory & riches are not the prerogative of all Saints. Why wouldn't Solomon have said so about Hermetic wisdom, since everything fits in perfectly, and is properly its definition?

The eighth King of Egypt after Simandius, or Smendes, also called Osymandnas, was Uchorens, following Diodorus (Lib. I. p. 2. c. I.), whom I have proposed to follow. He built Memphis, gave it a circuit of one hundred and fifty stadia, and made it the most beautiful city in Egypt, the Kings his successors chose it for their stay. Miris, the twelfth of his race, reigned afterwards, and built at Memphis the northern vestibule of the temple, the magnificence of which was not inferior to what his predecessors had done.

He also had Lake Moeris dug three thousand six hundred stadia in circumference, and fifty fathoms deep, in order to receive the waters of the Nile, when they overflowed with too much abundance, and to be able to distribute them in the fields of the surroundings , when the waters failed to flood the country. Each time these waters were given exit or entry, it cost fifty talents. In the middle of this kind of lake, Miris erected a mausoleum with two pyramids each one stadium high, one for himself, the other for his wife, to whom he gave for his toilet all the proceeds of the tax put on the fish that were caught in this lake. On each pyramid was a stone statue, seated on a throne, all of exquisite workmanship.

Sesostris then took the crown, and surpassed all his predecessors in glory and magnificence. After he was born, Vulcan appeared in a dream to his father, and told him that Sesostris his son would command the whole Universe. He therefore brought him up with a number of other children of the same age; forced him to the same tiring exercises, and did not want him to have any other education than them, both so that frequenting them would make them more bonded, and to harden him to work.

To reconcile the attachment of everyone, he employed kindness, presents, gentleness, impunity even with regard to those who had offended him. Assured of the goodwill of the leaders and the soldiers, he undertook this great expedition, the memory of which the historians have preserved for us.Back in Egypt he did an infinity of beautiful things at great expense, in order to immortalize his name. He began by building in each city of his states a magnificent temple in honor of the God who was worshiped there; & caused an inscription to be placed in all the temples, announcing to posterity that he had raised them all at his own expense, without having levied any contribution on his people.

He piled up land in the form of mountains, built towns on these elevations, and populated them with the inhabitants he drew from the lower towns, too exposed to being submerged in the overflows of the Nile. By his orders, a great number of channels of communication were dug, both to facilitate trade and to defend the entry into Egypt from its enemies.He built a ship of cedar wood, 280 cubits long, entirely gilded on the outside, and silvered on the inside, which he offered to the God who was particularly revered in Thebes. He placed in the temple of Vulcan at Memphis his statue and that of his wife, made of a single stone, thirty cubits high, and those of his children twenty high.

He finally acquired so much glory, and his memory was held in such veneration, that several centuries later, Darius, father of Xerxes, having wanted to have his statue placed before that of Sesostris in the temple of Memphis, the Prince of the Priests opposed it, representing to him that he had not yet done so many and such great things as Sesostris.Darius, far from being angry at the freedom of the High Priest, answered him that he would do his utmost to achieve it, and that if Heaven preserved his life, he would make sure not to yield to him in any way. & silver inside, which he offered to the God who was particularly revered in Thebes.

He placed in the temple of Vulcan at Memphis his statue and that of his wife, made of a single stone, thirty cubits high, and those of his children twenty high.He finally acquired so much glory, and his memory was held in such veneration, that several centuries later, Darius, father of Xerxes, having wanted to have his statue placed before that of Sesostris in the temple of Memphis, the Prince of the Priests opposed it, representing to him that he had not yet done so many and such great things as Sesostris.

Darius, far from being angry at the freedom of the High Priest, answered him that he would do his utmost to achieve it, and that if Heaven preserved his life, he would make sure not to yield to him in any way. & silver inside, which he offered to the God who was particularly revered in Thebes.He placed in the temple of Vulcan at Memphis his statue and that of his wife, made of a single stone, thirty cubits high, and those of his children twenty high. He finally acquired so much glory, and his memory was held in such veneration, that several centuries later, Darius, father of Xerxes, having wanted to have his statue placed before that of Sesostris in the temple of Memphis, the Prince of the Priests opposed it, representing to him that he had not yet done so many and such great things as Sesostris.

Darius, far from being angry at the freedom of the High Priest, answered him that he would do his utmost to achieve it, and that if Heaven preserved his life, he would make sure not to yield to him in any way. which he offered to the God who was particularly revered at Thebes.He placed in the temple of Vulcan at Memphis his statue and that of his wife, made of a single stone, thirty cubits high, and those of his children twenty high. He finally acquired so much glory, and his memory was held in such veneration, that several centuries later, Darius, father of Xerxes, having wanted to have his statue placed before that of Sesostris in the temple of Memphis, the Prince of the Priests opposed it, representing to him that he had not yet done so many and such great things as Sesostris.

Darius, far from being angry at the freedom of the High Priest, answered him that he would do his utmost to achieve it, and that if Heaven preserved his life, he would make sure not to yield to him in any way. which he offered to the God who was particularly revered at Thebes.He placed in the temple of Vulcan at Memphis his statue and that of his wife, made of a single stone, thirty cubits high, and those of his children twenty high. He finally acquired so much glory, and his memory was held in such veneration, that several centuries later, Darius, father of Xerxes, having wanted to have his statue placed before that of Sesostris in the temple of Memphis, the Prince of the Priests opposed it, representing to him that he had not yet done so many and such great things as Sesostris.

Darius, far from being angry at the freedom of the High Priest, answered him that he would do his utmost to achieve it, and that if Heaven preserved his life, he would make sure not to yield to him in any way.He placed in the temple of Vulcan at Memphis his statue and that of his wife, made of a single stone, thirty cubits high, and those of his children twenty high. He finally acquired so much glory, and his memory was held in such veneration, that several centuries later, Darius, father of Xerxes, having wanted to have his statue placed before that of Sesostris in the temple of Memphis, the Prince of the Priests opposed it, representing to him that he had not yet done so many and such great things as Sesostris.

Darius, far from being angry at the freedom of the High Priest, answered him that he would do his utmost to achieve it, and that if Heaven preserved his life, he would make sure not to yield to him in any way.He placed in the temple of Vulcan at Memphis his statue and that of his wife, made of a single stone, thirty cubits high, and those of his children twenty high. He finally acquired so much glory, and his memory was held in such veneration, that several centuries later, Darius, father of Xerxes, having wanted to have his statue placed before that of Sesostris in the temple of Memphis, the Prince of the Priests opposed it, representing to him that he had not yet done so many and such great things as Sesostris.

Darius, far from being angry at the freedom of the High Priest, answered him that he would do his utmost to achieve it, and that if Heaven preserved his life, he would make sure not to yield to him in any way. & those of his children high of twenty.He finally acquired so much glory, and his memory was held in such veneration, that several centuries later, Darius, father of Xerxes, having wanted to have his statue placed before that of Sesostris in the temple of Memphis, the Prince of the Priests opposed it, representing to him that he had not yet done so many and such great things as Sesostris.

Darius, far from being angry at the freedom of the High Priest, answered him that he would do his utmost to achieve it, and that if Heaven preserved his life, he would make sure not to yield to him in any way. & those of his children high of twenty.He finally acquired so much glory, and his memory was held in such veneration, that several centuries later, Darius, father of Xerxes, having wanted to have his statue placed before that of Sesostris in the temple of Memphis, the Prince of the Priests opposed it, representing to him that he had not yet done so many and such great things as Sesostris.

Darius, far from being angry at the freedom of the High Priest, answered him that he would do his utmost to achieve it, and that if Heaven preserved his life, he would make sure not to yield to him in any way. the Prince of the Priests opposed it, representing to him that he had not yet done so many and such great things as Sesostris.Darius, far from being angry at the freedom of the High Priest, answered him that he would do his utmost to achieve it, and that if Heaven preserved his life, he would make sure not to yield to him in any way. the Prince of the Priests opposed it, representing to him that he had not yet done so many and such great things as Sesostris. Darius, far from being angry at the freedom of the High Priest, answered him that he would do his utmost to achieve it, and that if Heaven preserved his life, he would make sure not to yield to him in any way.

Sesostris having reigned thirty-three years died, & his son who succeeded him, did nothing remarkable in terms of magnificence, if not two obelisks each of the same stone, cubits high & eight wide, which he erected in honor of the God of Heliopolis , that is to say, the Sun or Horus. Herodotus (L.2.c.3.) names Pheron this son of Sesostris, & gives him Protheus as successor, whereas Diodorus puts several among them, & names none until Amasis, who had as successor Actisanes Ethiopian, then Menides, whom some call Marus. It was he who had this famous labyrinth made, with which Daedalus was so enchanted, that he built a similar one in Crete during the reign of Minos. The latter no longer existed in the time of Diodorus, and that of Egypt survived in its entirety.

Cétès, that the Greeks call Prothée, reigned after Menide, Cétès was expert in all the arts. It is the Protheus of the Greeks, who changed into all sorts of figures, and who took the form sometimes of a lion, then of a bull, of a dragon, of a tree, of fire. We will explain why in the following books.

The ninth who wore the crown in Egypt after Prothée, was Chembis, who reigned 50 years, and had the largest of the three pyramids erected, which are listed among the wonders of the world. The largest covers seven acres of land from its base, its height is six, and its width on each of the four sides, which decreases as the pyramid rises, is sixty-five cubits.

The whole work is of extremely hard stone, very difficult to work. One cannot recover from the astonishment which seizes at the sight of such an admirable building. Some assure us, continue Diodorus, that it is more than three thousand years since this enormous mass of building was raised, it nevertheless still exists in its entirety.These Pyramids are all the most surprising, as they are in a sandy ground, very far from all kinds of quarries, & that each stone of the largest of these Pyramids was no less than thirty feet across. According to the report of Herodotus (Lib.2.).

The tradition of the country was that these stones had been transported from the mountains of Arabia. An inscription engraved on this pyramid teaches that the expenditure made in onions, garlics & raves given for living to the workmen who had worked in its construction, amounted to sixteen hundred talents of gold; that three hundred and sixty thousand men were employed there for twenty years, and that it cost twelve million gold to transport the stones, cut them and place them.According to Ammien Marcellin, no less was spent on the Labyrinth. How much should it have cost, says Herodotus, for the iron, the workmen's clothes, and the other necessities? According to the report of Herodotus (Lib.2.).

The tradition of the country was that these stones had been transported from the mountains of Arabia. An inscription engraved on this pyramid teaches that the expenditure made in onions, garlics & raves given for living to the workmen who had worked in its construction, amounted to sixteen hundred talents of gold; that three hundred and sixty thousand men were employed there for twenty years, and that it cost twelve million gold to transport the stones, cut them and place them.According to Ammien Marcellin, no less was spent on the Labyrinth. How much should it have cost, says Herodotus, for the iron, the workmen's clothes, and the other necessities?

According to the report of Herodotus (Lib.2.). The tradition of the country was that these stones had been transported from the mountains of Arabia. An inscription engraved on this pyramid teaches that the expenditure made in onions, garlics & raves given for living to the workmen who had worked in its construction, amounted to sixteen hundred talents of gold; that three hundred and sixty thousand men were employed there for twenty years, and that it cost twelve million gold to transport the stones, cut them and place them.According to Ammien Marcellin, no less was spent on the Labyrinth. How much should it have cost, says Herodotus, for the iron, the workmen's clothes, and the other necessities? An inscription engraved on this pyramid teaches that the expenditure made in onions, garlics & raves given for living to the workmen who had worked in its construction, amounted to sixteen hundred talents of gold; that three hundred and sixty thousand men were employed there for twenty years, and that it cost twelve million gold to transport the stones, cut them and place them.

According to Ammien Marcellin, no less was spent on the Labyrinth. How much should it have cost, says Herodotus, for the iron, the workmen's clothes, and the other necessities?An inscription engraved on this pyramid teaches that the expenditure made in onions, garlics & raves given for living to the workmen who had worked in its construction, amounted to sixteen hundred talents of gold; that three hundred and sixty thousand men were employed there for twenty years, and that it cost twelve million gold to transport the stones, cut them and place them. According to Ammien Marcellin, no less was spent on the Labyrinth. How much should it have cost, says Herodotus, for the iron, the workmen's clothes, and the other necessities? & that it cost twelve million gold to transport the stones, cut them & place them.

According to Ammien Marcellin, no less was spent on the Labyrinth.How much should it have cost, says Herodotus, for the iron, the workmen's clothes, and the other necessities? & that it cost twelve million gold to transport the stones, cut them & place them. According to Ammien Marcellin, no less was spent on the Labyrinth. How much should it have cost, says Herodotus, for the iron, the workmen's clothes, and the other necessities?

Chabrée & Mycerin who reigned after Chembis, also had superb pyramids erected, with proportionate but immense costs, Bocchorus came next; Sabachus, who abdicated the crown, & retired to Ethiopia. Egypt after that was ruled by twelve Peers for fifteen years, at the end of which one of the twelve named Psammeticus made himself King.

He was the first to attract foreigners to Egypt (Herodot. I. 2. c. 154.), & procured for them all the safety which they had not enjoyed under his predecessors, who put them to death or reduced them to servitude.The cruelty which the Egyptians exercised towards foreigners under the reign of Busiris, gave occasion to the Greeks, says Diodorus, to invective against this King, in the manner that they did in their fables, although ruthed what they report is contrary to the truth.

After the death of Psammericus began the fourth race of Kings of Egypt, that is to say, of Apries, who having been attacked by Amasis, chief of the revolted Egyptians, was taken & strangled. Amasis was elected in his place around the year of the world 3390, which was that of the return of Pythagoras to his homeland Greece. During the reign of Amasis' successor, Cambyses, King of Persia, subjugated Egypt about the third year of the sixty-third Olympiad. Ethiopians, Persians, and Macedonians also wore the crown of Egypt; & among those who reigned there, there are six women.

A few reflections on what we have reported from Diodorus will not be out of place. The superb monuments which time had destroyed, or which still existed when this Author was in Egypt; the immense expense with which they had been brought up; the custom of choosing Kings from the number of Priests, & so many other things that come to mind, are very convincing proofs of the Chymico-Hermetic science of the Egyptians.

Diodorus speaks as a Historian, and cannot be suspected as to this priestly Art, to this Chemistry which he was unaware of, according to appearances, having been in force in that country. He did not even suspect that one could have gold anywhere but the mines. What he says (Rer. Antiq. 1.3. c. 2.) of the manner of drawing it from the frontier lands of Arabia & Ethiopia; the immense work which was required for that, the great number of people who were occupied there, gives enough to understand that he did not believe that it was drawn from elsewhere. Also he had not been initiated into the mysteries of this country. It doesn't even appear that he had a special affair with the Priests. He reports only what he had seen or learned from those who, like him, doubtless suspected nothing mysterious in it: he admits, however, sometimes that what he reports has all the air of fable; but he does not dare to want to penetrate into their obscurity.

He says that the Priests kept inviolably a secret which they confided to each other successively.But he was one of those who thought they could see clearly where they could not see; & who imagined that this secret had no other object than the tomb of Osiris, & perhaps what was meant by the ceremonies of the worship of this God, of Vulcan & of the others.

If he had paid attention to the particular cult that was paid to Osiris, Isis, Horus, who were considered only men; that of Vulcan, whose temple at Memphis all the kings made it their duty to embellish, the particular ceremonies which were observed in this cult; that the Kings were called Priests of Vulcan, while among the other Nations, Vulcan was regarded as a wretched God, driven from heaven because of his ugly face, and condemned to work for them.If Diodorus have reflected on the attention that the Kings of Egypt had before Psammeticus, to prevent the entry of their country to the other Nations, he would have easily seen that they did not do it without reason.

The foreign trade, being able to bring in Egypt the riches abundances which it carries in the other countries, it would have been madness with the Egyptians to prohibit it, Diodore agrees however with all the Authors, that the Egyptians were the wisest of all Peoples ; and this idea cannot be appropriate to these puerilities introduced into their worship, unless one does not suppose that they contained sublime mysteries, and in conformity with the idea that one had of their high wisdom.Since commerce brought neither gold nor silver to Egypt, they no doubt had another resource for finding these metals at home: but supposing with Diodorus that at least gold was drawn from a black earth , & a white marble; can we think that they provided enough for these excessive expenses that the Kings made for the construction of these wonders of the world?

could these metals become common enough for the people to have this abundance of them, therefore the scripture mentions, concerning the following of the Hebrews from Egypt? If these mines had been so rich, would it have required so much labor to exploit them? I would be tempted to believe that Diodorus speaks of these mines only by hearsay.This black earth, this white marble from which gold is drawn, seems to me to be none other than the black earth and the white marble of the Hermetic Philosophers; that is to say, the color black, from which Hermes & those he had instructed, knew how to draw Philosophical gold. This was the secret of the priestly Art, of the Art of the Priests from which the Kings were drawn;

so Diodorus says that the invention of metals was very old among the Egyptians, and that they had learned it from the first kings of the country. That the Metallurgists of our day follow in the work of the mines the method that Diodorus details so well, and that they then tell us what success their work will have had.Father Kircher was well aware of his insufficiency, and the impossibility of the thing, when, to prove that the Hermetic Philosophy or the art of making gold was not known to the Egyptians, he brings the testimony of Diodorus in proof that these peoples extracted it from the mines, and finally sees itself obliged to resort to a secret that they had of extracting this metal from all sorts of materials.

This secret therefore assumes that gold is found in all mixtures. The Hermetic Philosophers say, it is true, that it is there potentially; this is why their matter, according to them, is found everywhere, and in everything; but Father Kircher did not understand it in this sense: & the secret of actually extracting gold from all the mixtures is an unfounded supposition.The Hermetic science, the priestly Art, was the source of all these riches of the Kings of Egypt, and the object of these mysteries so hidden behind the veil of their pretended Religion.

What other motive could have led them to explain themselves only by hieroglyphics? Does a thing as essential as Religion require to be taught by figures unintelligible to other than Priests? That the basis of Religion or rather the object are mysteries, there is nothing astonishing: everyone knows that the human mind is too limited to conceive clearly all that concerns God and his attributes; but far from wanting to make them even more incomprehensible by presenting them under the almost impenetrable darkness of hieroglyphics.

Hermes & the Priests who proposed to give the people the knowledge of God, would have taken means more within their reach, which did not agree in any way, & which would have even been contradictory with this secret which had been recommended to them,& which they guarded so inviolably. It would have been precisely to take the means not to succeed in their design.

I know that from some of the Egyptian fables one could form a model of morality; but the others were in no way suitable. It is therefore very likely that they had another object than that of religion. An infinity of systems have been invented to explain both hieroglyphs and fables;

Mr. Peluche (Hist. du Ciel.), following the ideas of some others, claimed that they had no other connection than with the seasons, and that they were only instructions that one gave to the people for the cultivation of the land: but what connection can this have with all these superb monuments, these immense riches of which we have spoken, those Pyramids from which the Authors assure us that the ancient Greek Philosophers drew their Philosophy?These sages thus saw there what the inventors of these hieroglyphs had not intended to put there, let us say rather that the fabricators of the system of Mr. Peluche themselves saw nothing there.

A people who had been occupied only with the cultivation of the land, and who exercised no trade with other Nations, would he have found, by plowing, these treasures which provided for so many expenses? How will Mr. Cuddly adapt this highly recommended secret to his system? Would there have been any mystery to represent hieroglyphically, which would then have been explained openly to everyone? Can we at the same time hide & discover the same thing? That would have been the secret of comedy.It is not probable that one would not only have made a mystery of what everyone knows, but that one would have forbidden, under penalty of life, to divulge it. Let us see some of these hieroglyphs, & by the explanations that we will give of them drawn from the Hermetic Philosophy, we will have reason to be convinced of the illusion of Mr. Peluche & of so many others.

SECTION THREE.

ANIMALS REVERED IN EGYPT AND HIEROGLYPHIC PLANTS.

FIRST CHAPTER.

Beef Apis.


All historians who speak of Egypt mention the Sacred Ox. “We will add to what we have reported from the worship rendered to animals, the attentions & the care that the Egyptians have for the sacred Bull, which they call Apis. When this Ox is dead (Diodor. lic 4.), & it has been magnificently buried, Priests appointed for this purpose seek a similar one, & the mourning of the people ceases when this Bull is found.

The priests to whom this care is entrusted lead the young animal to the city of the Nile, where they feed it for forty days. They then introduce him into a covered vessel, in which a golden lodging has been prepared for him, and having conducted him to Memphis with all the honors due to a God, they lodge him in the temple of Vulcan.During all this time only women are allowed to see the Ox; they stand before him in a very indecent way. That's the only time they can see it." Strabo (Geogr. I. last.) says that this Ox must be black, with a single white mark shaped like a crescent moon, on the forehead or on one of the sides. Pliny is of the same sentiment (LEc46.) Herodotus (L. III. C. 28.) speaking of Apis, whom the Greeks call Epaphus, says that he must have been conceived by thunder ; mark on the forehead, the figure of an eagle on the back, that of a snail on the palate, & double-tailed hair (Herod. 1.3.c.28.).) says that this Ox must be black, with a single white mark shaped like a crescent moon, on the forehead or on one of the sides.

Pliny is of the same sentiment (LEc46.). Herodotus (L. III. C. 28.) speaking of Apis, whom the Greeks call Epaphus, says that he must have been conceived by thunder; that he must be all black, having a square mark on the forehead, the figure of an eagle on the back, that of a snail on the palate, & double-tailed hair (Herod. 1.3.c.28.). ) says that this Ox must be black, with a single white mark shaped like a crescent moon, on the forehead or on one of the sides. Pliny is of the same sentiment (LEc46.). Herodotus (L. III. C. 28.) speaking of Apis, whom the Greeks call Epaphus, says that he must have been conceived by thunder;that he must be all black, having a square mark on the forehead, the figure of an eagle on the back, that of a snail on the palate, & double-tailed hair (Herod. 1.3.c.28.).

Pomponius Mela agrees with Herodotus as to the conception of Apis, as does Aelian. “The Greeks, says the latter, call him Epaphus, and claim that he derives his origin from Io the Argive, daughter of Inaque; but the Egyptians deny it, and prove it false, by assuring that the Epaphus of the Greeks came many centuries after Apis. The Egyptians regard him as a great God, conceived from a Cow by the impression of lightning”. They fed this Bull for four years, after which they led him with great solemnity to the fountain of the Priests, in which he was made to drown, to then bury him in a magnificent tomb.

Several Authors mention the superb Palaces, and the magnificent apartments that the Egyptians built in Memphis to lodge the Sacred Bull. We know the care that the priests took for his upkeep, and the veneration that the people had for him. Diodorus informs us that in his time the cult of this Ox was still in force, and adds that it was very old. We have proof of this in the Golden Calf that the Israelites made in the desert.

These people came out of Egypt, and took with them their penchant for Egyptian idolatry. Many centuries had elapsed from Moses to Diodorus, who lived, according to his own testimony, in the time of Julius Caesar, & was in Egypt under the reign of Ptolemy Aulete, about 55 before the birth of JC

The Egyptians, at the time of this Author's journey, were probably unaware of the true origin of the worship they rendered to Apis, since their feelings varied on this article. Some, he says, think that they adore this Ox, because the soul of Osiris, after his death, passed into the body of this animal, and from this one into his successors.

Others tell that a certain Apis picked up the scattered limbs of Osiris killed by Typhon, put them in a wooden Ox, covered with the white skin of an Ox, and that for this reason the city is given the name of Busiris. This Historian reports the feelings of the people; but he himself admits that the Priests had another secret tradition, preserved even in writing.The reasons that Diodorus deduces, according to the Egyptians, for the worship they rendered to animals, seemed to him fabulous to himself. & are in fact so improbable that I thought I had to pass them over in silence. It is not surprising that the People and Diodorus did not know the truth, since the Priests, obliged to an inviolable secrecy on this article, had taken good care to declare them to them.

It is these bad reasons which cast such ridicule on the worship which the Egyptians rendered to animals. Considered in all times as the wisest, the wisest, the most industrious of men, the very source from which the Greeks and the other Nations drew all their Philosophy and their Wisdom, how could the Egyptians have given into such great absurdities? ?Pythagoras, Democritus, Plato, Socrates, &c. knew well without doubt that they contained some mysteries of which the people were ignorant, but whose priests were perfectly instructed. This worship was in itself so puerile, that it could not have fallen into the mind of so great a man as the school Hermes Trimegiste, its inventor, if he had not had later views, that he did not think it appropriate to demonstrate to anyone other than the Priests, thinking that the instructions that were given to the people to make them know the true God, and to preserve the worship of Him, would be enough to prevent them from falling in idolatry.

Hey, despite the daily instructions that are given of the true Religion, and of the religious worship which must accompany it, how many people do not introduce superstitions into it? I do not believe, says M. l'Abbé Banier (Myth T, I. p. 512.), that there was any religion in the world which was exempt from this reproach.

The secret confided to the priests of Egypt did not therefore have as its object the worship of the true God; & the cult of animals was relative to this secret. Intimidated by the death penalty, and knowing moreover the disastrous consequences of the disclosure of this Secret, they kept it inviolably. The people, ignorant of the true causes of this so-called animal worship, could only give frivolous, conjectural and fabulous reasons.

It would have been necessary to learn them from those who had been initiated, and they did not say them. Historians who were not of this number found themselves in the same situation as Diodorus.One glimpses only through the clouds of these fabulous traditions, a few rays of light which the Priests and the Philosophers had let escape. Horus Apollo himself only followed popular ideas in his interpretation of Egyptian hieroglyphics. It is therefore not to the explanations given by these Authors that we must confine ourselves, since we know very well that they were not among the number of initiates, and that the Priests did not have revealed their secret. We must examine only the simple narrative that they make of things, and see if there is a way to find a basis on which all this can roll, an object to which & the animals taken in themselves, & the ceremonies of their alleged cult, can tend & relate in everything, at least in their primitive institution.

All those who, like Fr. Kircher, wanted to give their own ideas, or base their interpretations on those of Historians who were not up to date, clearly proved by their forced explanations, that one should not rely on them. The basis I have spoken of is the Hermetic Philosophy; & the object of this cult is none other than the matter required of the Sacerdotal Art, & the colors that occur to it during the operations, which, for the most part, are indicated by the nature of the animals, & by the ceremonies that observed in their worship. In order to convince those who still would like to doubt it, let us examine each thing in particular. are indicated by the nature of the animals, and by the ceremonies observed in their worship.In order to convince those who still would like to doubt it, let us examine each thing in particular. are indicated by the nature of the animals, and by the ceremonies observed in their worship. In order to convince those who still would like to doubt it, let us examine each thing in particular.

A black Bull was needed, having a white mark on the forehead or on one of the sides of the body, this mark must have the shape of a crescent, according to some Authors; this Taurus must even have been conceived by the impressions of lightning. One could not better designate the matter of the Hermetic Art than by all these characters.

As to its conception, Haymon says in express terms that it is engendered among lightning & thunder. Black is the indubitable character of true matter, as all the Hermetic Philosophers unanimously say, because the black color is the beginning and the key to the work. The crescent-shaped white mark was the hieroglyph of the white color which succeeds the black, and which the Philosophers named Moon.Taurus by these two colors had a relationship with the Sun & the Moon, that Hermès (Emerald Table.) says to be the father & mother of matter.

Porphyry confirms this idea, saying that the Egyptians had consecrated the Taurus Apis to the Sun & the Moon, because he bore their characters in his black & white colors, & the scarab that he must have had on his tongue. Apis was more particularly the symbol of the Moon, both because of its horns which represent the crescent, and because the Moon not being at its full, always has a dark part indicated by black, & the other part white, clear & resplendent, characterized by the white mark, or crescent-shaped.

because it bore its characters in its black and white colors, and the beetle it must have had on its tongue.Apis was more particularly the symbol of the Moon, both because of its horns which represent the crescent, and because the Moon not being at its full, always has a dark part indicated by black, & the other part white, clear & resplendent, characterized by the white mark, or crescent-shaped.

because it bore its characters in its black and white colors, and the beetle it must have had on its tongue. Apis was more particularly the symbol of the Moon, both because of its horns which represent the crescent, and because the Moon not being at its full, always has a dark part indicated by black, & the other part white, clear & resplendent, characterized by the white mark, or crescent-shaped.

These reasons were sufficient to cause a Taurus of this species to be chosen for hieroglyphic character in preference to any other animal; but the Priests had still others, the motive of which was no less reasonable.

The Sun produces this matter, the Moon generates it; the earth is the matrix where it feeds, it is what provides it to us, like the other things necessary for life, & the Ox is the most useful to man, by its strength, its docility, its work in agriculture, the allegory of which the Philosophers constantly use to express the operations of the Hermetic Art.

It is for this reason that the Egyptians said allegorically that Isis & Osiris had invented agriculture; & that they made it the Symbols of the Sun & the Moon.Osiris & Isis were not badly designated by the Ox, even following the ideas that some Authors attribute to the Egyptians in this respect. Osiris means hidden fire, the fire which animates everything in Nature, and which is the principle of generation and of the life of the mixed.

The Egyptians thought, according to the testimony of Abenephi, that the genius and the soul of the world dwelt in the Ox; that all the signs or distinctive marks of Apis were so many symbolic characters of Nature; the Egyptians, according to Eusebius, also said that they noticed many solar properties in the Ox, and that they could not better represent Osiris or the Sun than by this animal. & which is the principle of the generation & of the life of the mixed.The Egyptians thought, according to the testimony of Abenephi, that the genius and the soul of the world dwelt in the Ox; that all the signs or distinctive marks of Apis were so many symbolic characters of Nature; the Egyptians, according to Eusebius, also said that they noticed many solar properties in the Ox, and that they could not better represent Osiris or the Sun than by this animal. & which is the principle of the generation & of the life of the mixed. The Egyptians thought, according to the testimony of Abenephi, that the genius and the soul of the world dwelt in the Ox; that all the signs or distinctive marks of Apis were so many symbolic characters of Nature;the Egyptians, according to Eusebius, also said that they noticed many solar properties in the Ox, and that they could not better represent Osiris or the Sun than by this animal.

But if it is true, it will be said, that the Priests of Egypt did not claim to give the Apis people a God, why award him a cult and ceremonies? I answer to this, that the worship was not a latria worship or a true adoration, but only relative, & ceremonies such as those which are in use in public festivals, or about as one gives incense to living persons, or to the figures which are represented on their tombs. It is a pure mark of veneration for their rank, or for their memory, and we do not claim to render them the same honors as to the Divinity.

The Priests had two plausible reasons for doing so. Penetrated with gratitude to the Creator, for such a special grace as that of the knowledge of the Sacerdotal Art,they wanted not only to give him special thanks for it, but they also wanted to urge the people to add their own, since they benefited from this grace, although without knowing it, by the advantages they derived from the productions of Hermetic Art. Consequently, the most useful and necessary animal was presented to this people, who hardly ever act except by the senses, to induce them to think of the Creator and to have recourse to him, by giving them the opportunity to reflect on its benefits. He couldn't see God.

Fully occupied with earthly things, he needed a sensitive object that would remind him of this constantly, and in particular at certain times, that is to say, on feast days and pomps instituted for that.This is the idea that one must have of the Priests of Egypt in this respect; & I believe that one must think with Father Kircher, & many other scholars, that these Priests who were the masters of these Philosophers, to whom posterity has consecrated the name of sages par excellence, were too sensible to literally believe the fables of Osiris, Isis, Horus, Typhoon, etc. & to render such extravagant worship to animals or other symbols of the Divinity.

The testimonies of Hermes Trimegiste even, of Iamblichus on the mysteries of the Egyptians, what Plotinus says in his third book of the Hypostases, Herodotus, Diodorus of Sicily, Plutarch, &c. are more than enough to fix what we should think of it.Let us beware of Greek & Latin Authors, who were not always sufficiently well instructed in the mysteries of the Egyptians,

The second reason is that the secret of the Priestly Art being of a nature not to be communicated without having tested the discretion and the prudence of those whom it was proposed to initiate, the young Priests who were there. disposed by instructions, always having these hieroglyphs in front of their eyes, felt their curiosity awakened, and found themselves animated, by their presence, in search of what they might signify.

They spent their seven-year novitiate receiving these instructions, & practicing on what these animals represented, in order to know the theory perfectly before devoting themselves to the practice.

It was also necessary to have regard to the little, the one who did not want to instruct the bottom of the mystery, and to use feigned explanations, but with an air of verisimilitude, which can at least prevent him from suspecting the real bottom of the thing. Without this address, the Priests could not have quietly kept a secret of which the people would have felt all the advantage. The ideas of religion which these people subsequently accommodated there also became a curb which they themselves put on their curiosity. The perpetually burning fire in Vulcan's temple might well have irritated him; but the simulated explanations, the allegorical fables that were told on this subject, prevented us from paying attention to its true object.

The matter of philosophical Art was therefore designated by Osiris & Isis, whose hieroglyphic symbol was the Bull, in which the Egyptians said that the souls of these Gods had passed after their death; which made him give the name of Serapis, and committed them to pay him the same honors as to Osiris and Isis. We will say two words about it below.

The Greeks, instructed by the Egyptians, also represented the Philosophical matter by one or more Bulls, as we see in the fable of the Minotaur, enclosed in the Labyrinth of Crete, vanquished by Theseus, with the help of Ariadne's net; by the Oxen which Hercules took away from Gerion; those of Augeas; by the Oxen of the Sun, which grazed in Trinacria, those whom Mercury stole; by the Bulls that Jason was forced to put under the yoke, to achieve the removal of the Golden Fleece, & many others that can be seen in the Fables.

All these Oxen were not black and white as Apis must have been, since those of Gerion were red; but it must be observed that the color black & the white which succeeds it in the operations of the work,are not the only two that occur to matter; the color red also comes after the white, and those who invented these fables had these different circumstances in mind.

The sails of Theseus' ship were black, even after he had defeated the Minotaur, and those of Ulysses' ship were black, too, when he set out to bring Chryseis back to her father; but he took white ones for his return, because the two circumstances were very different, as we shall see in their histories. when he left to bring Chryseis back to his father; but he took white ones for his return, because the two circumstances were very different, as we shall see in their histories. when he left to bring Chryseis back to his father;but he took white ones for his return, because the two circumstances were very different, as we shall see in their histories.

Apis must have been a young, healthy, bold Taurus; this is why the Philosophers say that it is necessary to choose fresh matter, new and in all its vigor; do not take it unless it is fresh & raw, says Haimon (Epistle.). Apis was only kept for four years, and his lodgings were in the temple of Vulcan. After that time he was drowned in the fountain of the Priests, and a new one was sought quite similar to succeed him, it is because the first work being finished in the Philosophical furnace, it is necessary to begin the second similar to the first. According to the testimony of Morien (Maintenance of King Calid.).

The secret furnace of the Philosophers is the temple of Vulcan, where a perpetual fire was maintained, to indicate that the Philosophical fire must also be kept without interruption, that is why they named their secret furnace Athanor. We know that Vulcan means only fire. If this fire were extinguished for a moment, and the material felt the slightest cold, Philalethes, Raymond Lully, Arnaud de Villeneuve, and all the Philosophers assure us that the work would be lost. They bring to this subject the example of the brooding hen: if the eggs cool for only a moment, the chick will perish.

The four seasons of the Philosophers, and the four principal colors which must appear in each work, are indicated by the four years of maintenance of Apis;these four years, taken even in the natural sense, also meant something; but when the Philosophers speak of the time that each disposition lasts, to use Morien's term, they speak of it as mysteriously as of the rest, & won't declare why Taurus is drowned in the fifth year. We will give some clarification on this, when we deal with the festivals and games of the Ancients, in the fourth book of this Work.

Just as the Bull was the Symbol of Philosophical chaos, so also the other animals signified or the different qualities of matter, such as its fixity, its volatility, its ponticity, its resolving, devouring virtue, its varied colors, according to the different progress of the work, its properties relative to the elements & to the nature of these animals.

The people having seen them carved or painted near Osiris, Apis, Isis, Typhon, Horus, &c. at first began to have only a certain respect for them, relative to the so-called gods, with whom they saw them. This respect grew stronger little by little; superstition took part, and it was believed that they deserved a particular cult like Apis had his.No more difficulties were seen, and no more extravagance was found in worshiping an Aries, to worship an Ox; the Lion was well worth the Aries, it was awarded its own, & so with the others, according to whether the people were affected. Superstitions smolder, they take root in such a way that it is almost impossible to destroy them.

The Priests are often informed of it only when the remedy would become capable of souring the evil. Progress continues on its way, it grows stronger and stronger. The successors of Hermes could well disabuse the people of Egypt of these errors;they did it without doubt: we have a proof of it in the answer that the High Priest made to Alexander, in the instructions that they gave to the Greeks and to the other Nations, who went to take lessons in Egypt: but it was necessary for these Priests circumspection & prudence; by undeceiving the people, they ran the risk of revealing their secret.

If, for example, in explaining the expedition of Osiris, they had said that one should not hear it from a real expedition, & that the alleged teachings that he gave to the different Nations on the way to cultivate the lands, to sow them, and to pick the fruits of them, should be understood as the cultivation of a field very different from that of the common lands; we would have asked them what this field was?would they have said, without violating their oath, that this field was the leafy ground of the Philosophers (Maïer Atalenta fugiens, Embl.VI), where all the Adepts say that their gold must be sown? Basil Valentin made it the emblem of his eighth key. They would then have had to say what they meant by this leafy earth.

This error of the people, with regard to animals, led them imperceptibly into those ridiculous cults for which the Egyptians are reproached. Ignorance caused the symbol to be taken for reality; thus from superstitions to superstitions, from errors to errors, the evil always increased, and infected almost everyone; each city took the opportunity to choose a God at its whim, and took its name, as if some God; in the form of this animal, had been its founder.

We then saw Bubaste, so named of Boeuf, Leoncopolis of Lion, Lycopolis of Wolf, &c. Strabo (Georg. 1. 17.), speaking of the worship which the Egyptians rendered to animals, says that the Saites and the Thebans particularly adored the Ox; the Latopoltians, the Latus, fish of the Nile;the Lycopoluains, the Wolf; the Hermopolitans, the Cynocephalus, the Babylonians, the whale. Those of Thebes also adored the Eagle; the Mendesians, the Goat & the Goat; the Atribites, the Rat, the Spider. We will only speak of a few, such as the Dog, the Wolf, the Cat, the Goat, the Ichneumon, the Cynocephalus, the Crocodile, the Eagle, the Sparrowhawk, and the Ibis: we will be able to judge others by these .

CHAPTER II.

Of the Dog & the Wolf.

This animal was consecrated to Mercury, because of its fidelity, its vigilance and its industry. He was even the hieroglyphic character of this God; this is why he was represented with the head of a dog, and he was called Anubis; which made Virgil say:

Omnigenumque Deum monstra & latrator Anubis.

Horus-Apollo gives a reason why the Egyptians took the Dog as a symbol of Mercury; it is, he says (a), that this animal gazes fixedly at the simulacra of the Gods, which the other animals do not do; & that the Dog is with them the hieroglyph of a Secretary or Minister.

Although this first reason does not seem to have a visible & palpable relationship with the Sacerdotal Art, the Hermetic Philosophers would hardly express themselves otherwise in their enigmatic style. They all say that their Mercury is the only one which can have an action on their metals, to which they give the names of the Gods or the Planets; that their Mercury is an Eagle which gazes fixedly at the sun without blinking its eyes, and without being dazzled by it;they give to their Mercury the names of Dog of Corascene, & Dogs of Armenia. We have given other reasons for this in chap. of Anubis.

The Wolf having much resemblance to the Dog, and being, so to speak, only a wild Dog, it is not surprising that he participated in the same honors as the Dog. He also had some connection with Osiris, since the Egyptians thought that Osiris had taken the form of Wolf to come to the aid of Isis & Horus against Typhoon.

This fable seems ridiculous to a man who seeks only history in it; but it is not so in the Philosophical sense, since the Hermetic Philosophers hide, under the name of Wolf, their matter perfected to a certain degree. Basil Valentin (12 Keys, Key I.) says that you have to take a lovely & hungry Wolf who runs in the desert, always looking for something to devour.

Whoever will pay attention to what we said in the chapter of Osiris,& of the fight of Isis against Typhon, will easily see the analogy which is found between Osiris & the Wolf in certain circumstances of the work; & why the Egyptians spouted this fiction. It suffices, to put things back on track, to point out that the Wolf was consecrated to Apollo; which caused him to be named Apollo Lycius. The Fable also said, according to the report of some Authors, that Latona, to avoid the pursuits & the effects of the jealousy of Juno, had hidden herself under the form of a She-wolf, & had, under this form, placed Apollo in the world. We know that Osiris & Horus were hieroglyphs of Apollo; which must be understood as the Sun or Philosophical gold.

“Our Wolf, says Rhasis (Epistle.), is in the East,They bite each other, become enraged, and kill each other. From their corruption is formed a poison, which subsequently changes into theriac. The anonymous author of German Rimes also says: "The Philosopher Alexander teaches us that a Wolf & a Dog were raised in this clay, & that they both have the same origin." This origin is marked in the fiction of the expedition of Osiris, where it is said that this Prince was accompanied there by his two sons, Anubis in the form of a Dog, & Macedon in that of a Wolf.

These two animals therefore represent hieroglyphically only two things taken from the same subject, or from the same substance, so one is more treatable, the other more ferocious.Isis, according to the inscription of her column, says herself, that she is this shining Dog among the Stars which we call the Heat wave. The anonymous author of German Rimes also says: "The Philosopher Alexander teaches us that a Wolf & a Dog were raised in this clay, & that they both have the same origin." This origin is marked in the fiction of the expedition of Osiris, where it is said that this Prince was accompanied there by his two sons, Anubis in the form of a Dog, & Macedon in that of a Wolf.

These two animals therefore represent hieroglyphically only two things taken from the same subject, or from the same substance, so one is more treatable, the other more ferocious.Isis, according to the inscription of her column, says herself, that she is this shining Dog among the Stars which we call the Heat wave. The anonymous author of German Rimes also says: "The Philosopher Alexander teaches us that a Wolf & a Dog were raised in this clay, & that they both have the same origin." This origin is marked in the fiction of the expedition of Osiris, where it is said that this Prince was accompanied there by his two sons, Anubis in the form of a Dog, & Macedon in that of a Wolf.

These two animals therefore represent hieroglyphically only two things taken from the same subject, or from the same substance, so one is more treatable, the other more ferocious.Isis, according to the inscription of her column, says herself, that she is this shining Dog among the Stars which we call the Heat wave. & that they both have the same origin.” This origin is marked in the fiction of the expedition of Osiris, where it is said that this Prince was accompanied there by his two sons, Anubis in the form of a Dog, & Macedon in that of a Wolf.

These two animals therefore represent hieroglyphically only two things taken from the same subject, or from the same substance, so one is more treatable, the other more ferocious. Isis, according to the inscription of her column, says herself, that she is this shining Dog among the Stars which we call the Heat wave. & that they both have the same origin.”This origin is marked in the fiction of the expedition of Osiris, where it is said that this Prince was accompanied there by his two sons, Anubis in the form of a Dog, & Macedon in that of a Wolf.

These two animals therefore represent hieroglyphically only two things taken from the same subject, or from the same substance, so one is more treatable, the other more ferocious. Isis, according to the inscription of her column, says herself, that she is this shining Dog among the Stars which we call the Heat wave. These two animals therefore represent hieroglyphically only two things taken from the same subject, or from the same substance, so one is more treatable, the other more ferocious.Isis, according to the inscription of her column, says herself, that she is this shining Dog among the Stars which we call the Heat wave.

These two animals therefore represent hieroglyphically only two things taken from the same subject, or from the same substance, so one is more treatable, the other more ferocious. Isis, according to the inscription of her column, says herself, that she is this shining Dog among the Stars which we call the Heat wave.

CHAPTER III.

Du Chat or Ælurus.

The Cat was in great veneration among the Egyptians, because it was consecrated to Isis. This animal was commonly represented on the top of the citizen, an instrument that is often seen in the hand of this Goddess. When a Cat died, the Egyptians embalmed it, and carried it in deep mourning to the city of Bubaste, where Isis was particularly revered.

It would be surprising if the cat had not had the same honors as many other animals among a people who had made such a particular study of the nature of things, and of the relationships they have, or seem to have between them. Isis being the symbol of the Moon, could they choose an animal that would have more relationship with this Star, since everyone knows that the figure of the apple of the Cat's eye seems to follow the different changes that happen to the Moon, in its growth or decline. The eyes of this animal shine at night like the Stars of the firmament.

Some Authors have even wanted to persuade us that the female of the Cat produced as many young people in a year as there were days in a lunar month.These traits of resemblance doubtless gave occasion to say that the Moon or Diana hid herself in the form of the Cat, when she fled to Egypt with the other gods, to put herself under cover from the pursuits of Typhon.

Fele foror Phoebi (Ovid. Metam. 1. 5.). These traits of resemblance doubtless gave occasion to say that the Moon or Diana hid herself in the form of the Cat, when she fled to Egypt with the other gods, to put herself under cover from the pursuits of Typhon. Fele foror Phoebi (Ovid. Metam. 1. 5.). These traits of resemblance doubtless gave occasion to say that the Moon or Diana hid herself in the form of the Cat, when she fled to Egypt with the other gods, to put herself under cover from the pursuits of Typhon. Fele foror Phoebi (Ovid. Metam. 1. 5.).

All these traits of resemblance were more than sufficient to determine the Egyptians to take the Cat as a symbol of the celestial Moon; but the Priests who had a later intention, specified this symbol by attributes, so the mysterious meaning was known only to them. This God Cat is represented in different monuments, sometimes holding a citern in one hand, & carrying, like Isis, a vase with handles in the other, sometimes seated, & holding a cross attached to a circle. We know that the cross among the Egyptians was the symbol of the four elements; as for the other attributes we explained them in the chapter of Isis.

CHAPTER IV.

From Leo.

This animal held one of the first ranks in the worship that the Egyptians gave to animals. He passes for their King by his strength, his courage, and his other qualities which are far superior to those of the others. The throne of Horus had Lions for supports.

Elien says that the Egyptians dedicated the Lions to Vulcan, because this animal is of a fiery nature & full of fire. The idea he gives of Vulcan confirms the one we have given. Eos ideo Vulcano consecrant, (est autem Vulcanus nihil aliud, nisi ignea quœdam solis subterranei virtus, & fulgure elucescens ) quod sint naturœ vehementer ignita, atque ideo exteriorem ignem, ob inierioris vehementiam œgerrimè intuentur.This interpretation of Elien shows well enough what the idea of ​​the Priests of Egypt was, in consecrating the Lion to Vulcan. All the explanations that I could give relate entirely to it, since we said that Vulcan was the Philosophical fire. The Lion has been taken by almost all the Philosophers for a symbol of the Hermetic Art. There is hardly an animal that is mentioned so often in the works that deal with it, and always in the sense of Aelian. We shall have occasion to speak of it so often in the sequel, that it is useless to extend ourselves here any longer on this article.

CHAPTER V.<.

Du Bouc.

All Nations have agreed to look at the Goat as the symbol of fertility, he was that of Pan, or the fertilizing principle of Nature; that is to say, the innate fire, principle of life and generation. The Egyptians had, for this reason, consecrated the Goat to Osiris.

Eusebius (De præp. Ev. 1. 2. c. I.), in bringing us back an Egyptian hieroglyph, gives us to understand the ideas that this people had of it. According to the interpretation he gives of it; but by paying a little attention to the description he makes of this hieroglyph, one must see in our system the hidden meaning which the Priests attached to it.“When they want, he says, to represent the fertility of Spring, and the abundance of which it is the source, they paint a child seated on a Goat, and turned towards Mercury.

I would rather see in it with the Priests the analogy of the Sun with Mercury, and the fecundity of which the matter of the Philosophers is the principle in all beings; it is this matter, corporate universal spirit, principle of vegetation, which becomes oil in the olive, wine in the grape, gum, resin in the trees, &c. If the sun by its heat is a principle of vegetation, it is only by exciting the dormant fire in the seeds, where it remains as if numb until it is awakened and animated by an external agent.

This is also what happens in the operations of the Hermetic Art, where the Philosophical mercury works by its action on fixed matter, where this innate fire is as if in prison; he develops it by breaking its bonds, and puts it in a position to act, to lead the work to its perfection, This is this child seated on the Goat, & at the same time the reason why he turns to Mercury. Osiris being this innate fire does not differ from Pan; also the Goat was consecrated to one and the other. It was also one of the attributes of Bacchus, for the same reason.

CHAPTER VI.

Of the Ichneumon & the Crocodile.

This animal was regarded as the sworn enemy of the Crocodile, and not being able to defeat it by force, being only a species of Rat, it used skill. When the Crocodile sleeps, the ichneumon insinuates itself, it is said, into its gaping mouth, descends into its intestines, and gnaws them. Something somewhat similar happens in the operations of the work.

The fixed, which at first seems like little, or rather the fire it contains seems to have no strength, it seems for a long time dominated by the volatile; but as it develops, it insinuates itself into it in such a way that it finally takes over, & kills it, that is to say, fixes it like itself. We spoke of the Crocodile in the chapter of Anubis; but we will say a few more words about it.

The Crocodile was a natural hieroglyph of Philosophical matter, composed of water & earth, since this animal is amphibious: also we often see it accompanying the figures of Osiris & Isis. Eusebius (Prœpar. Evang. 1.3. c. 3.) says that the Egyptians represented the sun in a ship as Pilot, & this ship carried by a Crocodile, to signify, he adds, the movement of the sun in the humid; but rather to mark that the matter of the Hermetic Art is the principle or the base of the gold or Philosophical Sun; the water where the Crocodile swims is this mercury or this matter reduced to water; the ship represents the vase of Nature, in which the Sun or the igneous & sulphurous principle is like Pilot, because it is he who directs the work by his action on the humidity or the mercury.

CHAPTER VII.

From the Cynocephalus.

Nothing among the hieroglyphics of the Egyptians; is more frequent than the Cynocephalus, because it was properly the figure of Anubis or Mercury: for this animal has a body almost similar to that of a man, and the head to that of a dog. S. Augustine (L. 2. of the City of God, ch. 14.) mentions it y & Thomas de Valois dit, liv. 3. ch. 12. & 16, that Saint Augustine heard of Mercury or Egyptian Hermes through the Cynocephalus.

Isidore (L. 8.c.last.) says that Hermes had a dog's head. Virgil, Ovid, Propertius, Prudence, Amian, all give it the epithet of barking. The Egyptians had noticed so much relationship of the Cynocephalus with the Sun & the Moon, that they often used it as a symbol of these two Stars, if we believe Horapollo.This animal urinated once every hour of the day & night in the time of the equinoxes (LIc l6.). He became sad and melancholy during the first two or three days of the Moon, because then, not appearing to our eyes, he wept for her as if she had been snatched from us.

The Egyptians also supposing that the Cynocephalus had indicated to Isis the body of Osiris that she was looking for, often placed this animal near this God & this Goddess. All these reasons are strictly allegorical; the truth of all this, is that the Cynocephalus was the hieroglyph of Mercury & of the Philosophical mercury, which must always accompany Isis, as her Minister, because, as we have said in the chapters of these Gods, without the mercury, Isis & Osiris cannot do anything in the work.

Hermes or Mercury Philosopher having given occasion, by his name, to confuse him with the Philosophical Mercury, of which he is supposed the inventor, it is not surprising that the Egyptians, and the Authors who were not in the know, have confused the invented thing with its inventor, since they bore the same name; & that they consequently took the hieroglyph of the one for the hieroglyph of the other. When the Cynocephalus is represented with the caduceus, some vases, or with a crescent, or with the lotus flower, or something aquatic, or volatile, then it is a hieroglyph of the Mercury of the Philosophers; but when we see him with a reed, or a roll of paper, he represents Hermes, who is said to be the inventor of writing & the sciences, & moreover secretary & Counselor of Isis.The idea of ​​taking this animal as a symbol of Hermes came from the fact that the Egyptians thought that the Cynocephalus naturally knew how to write the letters that were in use in their country; this is why when a Cynocephalus was brought to the Priests to be fed with the others in the Temple, he was presented with a piece of cane or rush suitable for forming the characters of writing, with ink and paper, in order to know if he was of the race of those who knew writing, and who knew how to write.

Horapollo mentions this usage in 14°. chapter of the first book of his interpretation of the Egyptian Hieroglyphs, & says that it is for this reason that the Cynocephalus was dedicated to Hermes.came from the fact that the Egyptians thought that the Cynocephalus naturally knew how to write the letters which were in use in their country; this is why when a Cynocephalus was brought to the Priests to be fed with the others in the Temple, he was presented with a piece of cane or rush suitable for forming the characters of writing, with ink and paper, in order to know if he was of the race of those who knew writing, and who knew how to write.

Horapollo mentions this usage in 14°. chapter of the first book of his interpretation of the Egyptian Hieroglyphs, & says that it is for this reason that the Cynocephalus was dedicated to Hermes. came from the fact that the Egyptians thought that the Cynocephalus naturally knew how to write the letters which were in use in their country;this is why when a Cynocephalus was brought to the Priests to be fed with the others in the Temple, he was presented with a piece of cane or rush suitable for forming the characters of writing, with ink and paper, in order to know if he was of the race of those who knew writing, and who knew how to write.

Horapollo mentions this usage in 14°. chapter of the first book of his interpretation of the Egyptian Hieroglyphs, & says that it is for this reason that the Cynocephalus was dedicated to Hermes. he was presented with a piece of cane or rush suitable for forming the characters of writing, with ink and paper, in order to know if he was of the race of those who knew writing, and who knew to write.

Horapollo mentions this usage in 14°.chapter of the first book of his interpretation of the Egyptian Hieroglyphs, & says that it is for this reason that the Cynocephalus was dedicated to Hermes. he was presented with a piece of cane or rush suitable for forming the characters of writing, with ink and paper, in order to know if he was of the race of those who knew writing, and who knew to write. Horapollo mentions this usage in 14°. chapter of the first book of his interpretation of the Egyptian Hieroglyphs, & says that it is for this reason that the Cynocephalus was dedicated to Hermes.

CHAPTER VIII.

From Aries.

The nature of Aries, which was considered hot and humid, corresponding perfectly to that of the Philosophical mercury, the Egyptians did not forget to include this animal among their principal hieroglyphs. They later recounted the fable of the flight of the Gods into Egypt, where they said that Jupiter hid himself in the form of Aries, and having represented him accordingly with a head of this animal, they gave him the name of Amun. or Ammon.

Duxque gregis dixit, sit Jupiter, unde rccurvis

Nune quoque formatus Lybis est, cum cornibus Ammon.

Ovid. Metamorph. 1. 5.

All the other fables that the Ancients told on this subject do not deserve to be reported. One of them will suffice to show that they were in fact only invented to indicate the mercury of the Philosophers. Bacchus, it is said, being in Libya with his army, found himself extremely pressed with thirst, and invoked Jupiter for help against such a pressing evil.

Jupiter appeared to him in the form of an Aries, & led him through the deserts to a fountain where he quenched his thirst, & where, in memory of this event, a Temple was erected in honor of Jupiter, under the name of Jupiter Ammon , and this God was represented with a ram's head. What confirms my feeling is that this animal was one of the symbols of Mercury (Pausan. in Corint.).

Aries appears to Bacchus in Libya;because Libya means a stone from which flows water, coming from I distill, mercury whose nature is hot & humid is only formed by the resolution of Philosophical matter into water. “Seek, says the Cosmopolite (Nov. Lum. Chem.), a material from which you can draw water that can dissolve gold without violence, and without corrosion, but naturally.

This water is our mercury, which we draw by means of our magnet which is in the belly of Aries. Herodotus (L.2.c.42.) says that Jupiter appeared to Hercules in the same form; and that it is for this reason that Aries was consecrated to this father of Gods and men, and that he is represented with the head of this animal. This favor that Jupiter granted to the entreaties prayers of Hercules,precisely characterizes the violent desire that all Hermetic Artists have to see the Philosophical Jupiter, which can only show itself in Libya, that is to say, when matter has passed through dissolution; because then they have the mercury for which they have longed so long.

We will prove in the fifth Book, that both in Egypt and in Greece, Hercules was always the symbol of the Hermetic Artist or Philosopher. The allegory of the fountain was used by several Adepts, & in particular by the Trevisan (Philoso. Des Métaux), & by Abraham Jew, in his hieroglyphic figures reported by Nicolas Flamel. We will talk about Aries again in book 2, when we explain the fable of the Golden Fleece. Aries was a victim that was sacrificed to almost all the Gods, because Mercury,of which he was the symbol, accompanies them all in the operations of the Sacerdotal Art; but it was said that Mercury, although Messenger of the Gods, was more especially so of Jupiter, and in particular for gracious messages, whereas Isis was hardly sent except for sad matters, for wars, fights, etc.

The reason for this is quite natural for a Philosopher, who knows that we must understand by Isis only the varied colors of the rainbow, which manifest themselves on matter only during the dissolution of matter, the time at which the fight between the fixed and the volatile takes place. whereas Isis was only sent for sad business, for wars, combats, &c.

The reason for this is quite natural for a Philosopher, who knows that we must understand by Isis only the varied colors of the rainbow, which manifest themselves on matter only during the dissolution of matter, the time at which the fight between the fixed and the volatile takes place. whereas Isis was only sent for sad business, for wars, combats, &c. The reason for this is quite natural for a Philosopher, who knows that we must understand by Isis only the varied colors of the rainbow, which manifest themselves on matter only during the dissolution of matter, the time at which the fight between the fixed and the volatile takes place.

CHAPTERIX.

Of the Eagle and the Sparrowhawk.

These two birds are quite related by their nature; both are strong, bold, enterprising, of a hot, fiery, boiling temperament; & the reasons which, according to Horus, had determined the Egyptians to insert the Sparrowhawk in their hieroglyphs, agree very well with those which have led the Philosophers to borrow the name of this bird, to give it to their material which has reached a certain level of perfection, where it acquires an igneousness which particularly characterizes it; I mean, when it became Philosophical sulphur; it is in this state that Raymond Lully (Lib. Experim. 13.) calls it our Epervier, or the first fixed matter of the two great luminaries.

The Eagle is the King of the birds, & consecrated to Jupiter, because it was a happy omen for this God, when he went to fight his father Saturn, & because it provides arms to the same Jupiter, when he defeated the Titans, &c . His chariot is harnessed by two Eagles, and one hardly ever represents this God without placing this bird beside him.

However little one has read the works of the Hermetic Philosophers, one is aware of the idea of ​​those who invented these fictions. All call Eagle their mercury, or the volatile part of their matter. This is the most common name they have given it in all time. The Adepts of all Nations agree on this. With them the lion is the fixed part, and the eagle the volatile part.They only talk about the fights of these two animals.

It has been rightly claimed that the Eagle was a good omen to Jupiter, since matter volatilizes in the time that Jupiter wins the victory over Saturn, that is to say, when the gray color takes the place of the black. It provides for the same reason weapons to this God against the Titans, as we will prove in the third book in the chapter of Jupiter, where we refer the explanation of this fact. The same reason made say that the chariot of this God was harnessed by two Eagles.

But why was Osiris represented with a sparrowhawk's head? Those who have paid attention to what we have said of this God will easily guess it. The Sparrowhawk is a bird which attacks all the others, which devours them, and transforms them, in its nature by changing them into its own substance, since they serve it as food. Osiris is an igneous & fixed principle, which fixes the volatile parts of matter designated by the birds. The text I quoted from Raymond Lully proves the truth of my interpretation. I also said that Osiris was the gold, the Sun, the Sulfur of the Philosophers, & the Hawk is a symbol of the Sun. Homer (Odyss.) calls him the Messenger of Apollo, when he relates that Telemachus being ready to return to Ithaca, saw one devouring a dove;whence he conjectured that he would have the upper hand over his rivals.

There is no one who fails to see how fabulous such a fact is; but we must feel that we did not invent it without reasons. It will doubtless be said that the Priests spouted such a fable, to give more respect to the people, by making them believe that some God had sent this bird charged with this commission. But they would not have agreed with themselves, since they published at the same time that Hermes with Isis were the inventors & the teachers of this cult, & of the ceremonies observed there.

There would have been a contradiction, at least apparent; because basically everything was in perfect harmony.The alleged book was written in red letters, because the Philosophical magisterium, the perfect Elixir of the Sacerdotal Art, Osiris, of which the hawk was the symbol, or the Apollo of the Philosophers, is red, & a field poppy red .

The ceremonies of their cult were written there, since they were an allegory of the operations, and of everything that happens from the beginning of the work to its perfection, the time at which the hawk appears; that is why it was said that this bird had brought this book, that is the fiction. Hermes on the other hand had instituted these ceremonies, and having established Priests, to whom he had confided his secret, to observe them, that is the truth.Isis was involved in this institution because she had indeed a good part in it, being the object, and as matter she had given rise to it. Those among the Egyptians who were responsible for writing what concerned this cult, wore, according to Diodorus' report (LIc4.), a red hat with a hawk's wing, for the reasons above.

There seems to be another contradiction in what I have just said, consistent however with what the Egyptians said. Osiris & Horus were not the same, since one was the father, the other the son. It is however agreed that one & the other were the symbol of the Sun, or of Apollo.

I ask the Mythologists how, according to their different systems, they can solve this difficulty. Can two different people, two Kings who reigned successively, so that there was even the reign of Isis in between, be considered the same person? Even the fabulous history of the reign of the Gods in Egypt does not teach us that the Sun reigned twice. She tells us that Osiris died by the perfidy and maneuver of Typhon; but she does not say that he rose again.Osiris was however the same as the Sun, Horus the same as Apollo, & the Sun does not differ from Apollo.

So I don't see how our Mythologists could get out of this maze. But what clearly proves the truth of my system is that by following it, the Egyptians could not combine this story in any other way.

Without deviating from the truth, I mean, without changing the order of what happens successively in the progress of the work. In fact, there are two operations, or, if you will, two works which follow one another immediately. In the first, says d'Espagnet (Can. 121.), sulfur is created, and in the second one makes the elixir; the sulfur & the lively gold of the Philosophers, their Sun or Osiris.In the second work, this Osiris must be put to death, by dissolution & putrefaction, after which reigns Isis or the Moon, that is to say, the color white, called Moon by the Philosophers.

This color disappears to make way for the saffron yellow & it is Isis who dies & Horus who reigns, or the Apollo of the Hermetic Art, it is useless to expand further on this, we have explained it enough at length, both in the treatise on this Art, and in the chapters of this book which concern these Gods.

CHAPTER X.

From the Ibis.

Herodotus (Lib.2.c.75. & 76.) reports that there are two species of Ibis in Egypt, one quite black which fights against the winged serpents, & prevents them from entering the country, when 'in the spring they come in troops from Arabia; the other is white & black.

It is this second species that we use to represent Isis. Herodotus does not say that he saw these winged serpents; but only heaps of snake skeletons. He therefore reports that these reptiles are winged only on hearsay. It might well happen that the thing was not real as regards this circumstance: but when it were, the allegory would be all the more just. Elien, Plutarch, Horapollo, Abenephi, Plato, Cicero, Pomponius Mela, Diodorus of Sicily, & so many other Authors speak of the Ibis,

The great services that this bird rendered to all Egypt, either by killing the snakes of which we have spoken, or by breaking the eggs of the crocodiles, were very proper to determine the Egyptians to pay it the same honors as to the other animals. But they had other reasons for inferring it among their hieroglyphics. Mercury, fleeing before Typhon, took the form of Ibis: besides, Hermes in this form took care, according to Abenephi (De cultu Ægypt.), of the preservation of the Egyptians, and instructed them in all the sciences.

They also noticed in her color, her temperament & her actions, a lot of relationship with the Moon, so Isis was the symbol. This is why they gave this Goddess the head of an Ibis; & why it was at the same time consecrated to Mercury.Because one sees between Isis & Mercury such a great analogy & such an intimate relationship, that one hardly ever separates them; also it was supposed that Hermes was the adviser of this Prince, & that they always acted in concert: it was with good reason, since the Moon & the Philosophical Mercury are in certain cases only the same thing, & the Philosophers name them interchangeably.

"Whoever would say that the Moon of the Philosophers, or, what is the same thing, their Mercury is the vulgar Mercury, would want to deceive knowingly, says d'Espagnet (Can. 44 & 24.), or he would be mistaken Those who establish sulfur and mercury as the material of the stone, understand common gold and silver by Sulfur, and by mercury the Moon of the Philosophers.

”that they were hardly ever separated; also it was supposed that Hermes was the adviser of this Prince, & that they always acted in concert: it was with good reason, since the Moon & the Philosophical Mercury are in certain cases only the same thing, & the Philosophers name them interchangeably. "Whoever would say that the Moon of the Philosophers, or, what is the same thing, their Mercury is the vulgar Mercury, would like to deceive knowingly, says d'Espagnet (Can. 44 & 24.), or he would be mistaken Those who establish sulfur and mercury as the material of the stone, understand common gold and silver by Sulphur, and by mercury the Moon of the Philosophers.

” that they were hardly ever separated;also it was supposed that Hermes was the adviser of this Prince, & that they always acted in concert: it was with good reason, since the Moon & the Philosophical Mercury are in certain cases only the same thing, & the Philosophers name them interchangeably. "Whoever would say that the Moon of the Philosophers, or, what is the same thing, their Mercury is the vulgar Mercury, would like to deceive knowingly, says d'Espagnet (Can. 44 & 24.), or he would be mistaken Those who establish sulfur and mercury as the material of the stone, understand common gold and silver by Sulfur, and by mercury the Moon of the Philosophers.

”& that they always acted in concert: it was with reason, since the Moon & the Philosophical Mercury are in certain cases only one and the same thing, & the Philosophers name them indifferently one for the other. "Whoever would say that the Moon of the Philosophers, or, what is the same thing, their Mercury is the vulgar Mercury, would want to deceive knowingly, says d'Espagnet (Can. 44 & 24.), or he would be mistaken Those who establish sulfur and mercury as the material of the stone, understand common gold and silver by Sulfur, and by mercury the Moon of the Philosophers. ”& that they always acted in concert: it was with reason, since the Moon & the Philosophical Mercury are in certain cases only one and the same thing, & the Philosophers name them indifferently one for the other.

"Whoever would say that the Moon of the Philosophers, or, what is the same thing, their Mercury is the vulgar Mercury, would want to deceive knowingly, says d'Espagnet (Can. 44 & 24.), or he would be mistaken Those who establish sulfur and mercury as the material of the stone, understand common gold and silver by Sulfur, and by mercury the Moon of the Philosophers. " or , what is the same thing, their Mercury is the vulgar Mercury, would want to deceive knowingly, says d'Espagnet (Can. 44 & 24.), or would deceive himself.

Those who establish sulfur and mercury as the material of the stone, understand common gold and silver by Sulfur, and by mercury the Moon of the Philosophers. or , what is the same thing, their Mercury is the vulgar Mercury, would want to deceive knowingly, says d'Espagnet (Can. 44 & 24.), or would deceive himself. Those who establish sulfur and mercury as the material of the stone, understand common gold and silver by Sulfur, and by mercury the Moon of the Philosophers. »

By the black and white colors of the Ibis, she sees the same relationship with the Moon as the Taurus Apis, and thereby became the symbol of the matter of the Sacerdotal Art. The all-black Ibis which fought & killed the winged serpents, indicated the combat which takes place between the parts of matter during dissolution; the death of these serpents signified the putrefaction which is a consequence of this dissolution, where the matter becomes black.

Flamel supposed in this case the combat of two Dragons, one winged, the other without wings, from which results the mercury. Several others have used similar allegories. After this putrefaction the matter becomes partly black, partly white, the time at which the mercury is made;it is the second species of ibis, from which Mercury borrowed the form.

Such are the simple & natural reasons that the Egyptian Priests had for introducing animals into their apparent cult of Religion, & into their hieroglyphics. They invented a quantity of other figures, such as one sees them on the pyramids, & the other Egyptian monuments. But roads had some close or remote relation with the mysteries of the Hermetic Art.

In vain will great comments be made to explain these hieroglyphs in a sense other than the Chemical. If Vulcan & Mercury are not the basis of all these explanations, we will find at each step insurmountable difficulties, & when by dint of having tortured ourselves to find plausible ones, in imitation of Plutarch, Diodorus, & other ancient & modern Greeks, we will always feel that they are drawn from afar,that they are forced, finally that they do not satisfy. We will always have before our eyes this Harpocrates with his finger on his mouth, who will constantly announce to us that all this worship, these ceremonies, these hieroglyphs contained mysteries, that not everyone was allowed to penetrate, that it was necessary to meditate on them in silence, that the people were not informed of them, and that they were not revealed to these people that the Priests were persuaded to have come to Egypt only to satisfy their curiosity.

Historians are of this number, and they are no more credible, in the interpretations they give, than were the people of Egypt, who extended the honors of worship to animals, because they had been told that the gods had taken their form.We will always have before our eyes this Harpocrates with his finger on his mouth, who will constantly announce to us that all this worship, these ceremonies, these hieroglyphs contained mysteries, that not everyone was allowed to penetrate, that it was necessary to meditate on them in silence, that the people were not informed of them, and that they were not revealed to these people that the Priests were persuaded to have come to Egypt only to satisfy their curiosity.

Historians are of this number, and they are no more credible, in the interpretations they give, than were the people of Egypt, who extended the honors of worship to animals, because they had been told that the gods had taken their form.We will always have before our eyes this Harpocrates with his finger on his mouth, who will constantly announce to us that all this worship, these ceremonies, these hieroglyphs contained mysteries, that not everyone was allowed to penetrate, that it was necessary to meditate on them in silence, that the people were not informed of them, and that they were not revealed to these people that the Priests were persuaded to have come to Egypt only to satisfy their curiosity.

Historians are of this number, and they are no more credible, in the interpretations they give, than were the people of Egypt, who extended the honors of worship to animals, because they had been told that the gods had taken their form.that not everyone was allowed to enter, that it was necessary to meditate on them in silence, that the people were not instructed in them, and that they were not revealed to these people that the Priests were convinced to have come to Egypt only to satisfy their curiosity.

Historians are of this number, and they are no more credible, in the interpretations they give, than were the people of Egypt, who extended the honors of worship to animals, because they had been told that the gods had taken their form. that not everyone was allowed to enter, that it was necessary to meditate on them in silence, that the people were not instructed in them, and that they were not revealed to these people that the Priests were convinced to have come to Egypt only to satisfy their curiosity.Historians are of this number, and they are no more credible, in the interpretations they give, than were the people of Egypt, who extended the honors of worship to animals, because they had been told that the gods had taken their form.

Huc quoque terrigenam vensse Typhona narrate,

Et se mentitis superos celasse figuris.

Duxque gregis dixit, sit Jupiter, unde recurvis

Nunc quoque trainer Libyci cum cornibusAmmon,

Delius in corvo est, proles Semeeia capro,

Fele soror Phoebus, nivei Saturnia vacca,

Pisce Venus laiuit, Cyllenius Ibidis alis.

Ovid. Metam. 1. 5.

CHAPTER XI.

Lotus & Egyptian Bean.

The Lotus is a species of lily which grows in abundance after the flooding of the Nile (Herod. L.2.c.92.). The Egyptians, after having cut it, dried it in the sun, and from a part of this plant, which resembles the poppy, they made bread. Its root is round, the size of an apple, and very good to eat.

The same Author says (book. 4. c. 177.) that the fruit of the Lotus resembles that of the lentisk, as pleasant to the taste as that of the palm tree. The Lotus-eaters, so named because they used this fruit for all food, made wine from it. The Egyptians, according to Plutarch (De Isis & Osir.), painted the Sun rising from the Lotus flower, not, he says, that they believed he was born thus, but because they represent allegorically most things.

M. Mahudel read at the Académie des inscriptions & Belles Lettres, in 1716, a very judicious and very detailed memoir on the different plants of Egypt which are found in the monuments of that country, and which serve as ornaments or attributes to Osiris, Isis , &vs.

According to him, the Lotus is a species of Nymphea, which differs from the Egyptian bean only by the color of its flower, which is white, while the other is of a crimson red, which suits the idea that Herodotus gives us in the place we have cited. It is useless to look for a description of them in Theophrastus, Pliny & Dioscorides, who had not seen these plants in their native place. If Mr. Mahudel had suspected that the color of the fruit & of the root of the Lotus & of the Egyptian bean, would have deserved his mentioning it,he would not have forgotten to detail it; but he saw only the fruit and the flower in the monuments; he was particularly attached to that.

The leaf also entered for something in the hieroglyphic ideas of the Egyptians, since it represents in some way the Sun by its roundness, and by its fibers, which from a small circle, placed in the center of this leaf, spread from all sides like spokes to the circumference. The blooming flower represents much the same thing. But this flower is of all the parts of the plant, the one that is most commonly noticed on the head of Isis, Osiris and even the Priests who were in their service.The relationship that the Egyptians believed that the Lotus flower had with the Sun, because at the rising of this Star it appeared on the surface of the water, & plunged back into it as soon as he lay down, was not precisely the only one who had had it consecrated to him.

If the Antiquaries had been able to distinguish, or at least if they had had the attention to examine what was the color of the flowers that were placed on the head of Osiris, and those that were placed on that of Isis, they would no doubt have seen that the incarnate flower of the Egyptian bean was never found on the head of Isis, but only the white flower of the Locus, and which was first assigned to Osiris.The complete resemblance of these two plants prevented us from suspecting mystery in the choice, and from noticing this difference. One will be able to find in the continuation, or one has perhaps already some colored Egyptian monuments, on which one will see this distinction. was not precisely the only one who had had it consecrated to him.

If the Antiquaries had been able to distinguish, or at least if they had had the attention to examine what was the color of the flowers that were placed on the head of Osiris, and those that were placed on that of Isis, they would no doubt have seen that the incarnate flower of the Egyptian bean was never found on the head of Isis, but only the white flower of the Locus, and which was first assigned to Osiris.The complete resemblance of these two plants prevented us from suspecting mystery in the choice, and from noticing this difference. One will be able to find in the continuation, or one has perhaps already some colored Egyptian monuments, on which one will see this distinction. was not precisely the only one who had had it consecrated to him.

If the Antiquaries had been able to distinguish, or at least if they had had the attention to examine what was the color of the flowers that were placed on the head of Osiris, and those that were placed on that of Isis, they would no doubt have seen that the incarnate flower of the Egyptian bean was never found on the head of Isis, but only the white flower of the Locus, and which was first assigned to Osiris.The complete resemblance of these two plants prevented us from suspecting mystery in the choice, and from noticing this difference. One will be able to find in the continuation, or one has perhaps already some colored Egyptian monuments, on which one will see this distinction. or at least if they had had the attention to examine what was the color of the flowers that were placed on the head of Osiris, and of those that were placed on that of Isis, they would have seen without doubt that the incarnate flower of the Egyptian bean was never found on the head of Isis, but only the white flower of the Locus, and which was first assigned to Osiris.

The complete resemblance of these two plants prevented us from suspecting mystery in the choice, and from noticing this difference.One will be able to find in the continuation, or one has perhaps already some colored Egyptian monuments, on which one will see this distinction. or at least if they had had the attention to examine what was the color of the flowers that were placed on the head of Osiris, and of those that were placed on that of Isis, they would have seen without doubt that the incarnate flower of the Egyptian bean was never found on the head of Isis, but only the white flower of the Locus, and which was first assigned to Osiris.

The complete resemblance of these two plants prevented us from suspecting mystery in the choice, and from noticing this difference. One will be able to find in the continuation, or one has perhaps already some colored Egyptian monuments, on which one will see this distinction.they would no doubt have seen that the incarnate flower of the Egyptian bean was never found on the head of Isis, but only the white flower of the Locus, and which was first assigned to Osiris. The complete resemblance of these two plants prevented us from suspecting mystery in the choice, and from noticing this difference. One will be able to find in the continuation, or one has perhaps already some colored Egyptian monuments, on which one will see this distinction.

they would no doubt have seen that the incarnate flower of the Egyptian bean was never found on the head of Isis, but only the white flower of the Locus, and which was first assigned to Osiris.The complete resemblance of these two plants prevented us from suspecting mystery in the choice, and from noticing this difference. One will be able to find in the continuation, or one has perhaps already some colored Egyptian monuments, on which one will see this distinction.

The inventors of hieroglyphics do not admire any which had no connection with the thing signified. Plutarch (Loc. cit.) glimpsed it in the color of the fruit of the plants we are talking about, which has the shape of a ciborium cup, and which bore its name among the Greeks. Seeing a child represented sitting on this fruit, he said that this child was dusk, in relation to the resemblance of the color of this beautiful time of day to that of this fruit.

It was therefore appropriate to pay attention to the very color of these attributes, in order to be able to give correct interpretations of them, and in conformity with the ideas of their teachers. It must have been remarked up to now that the color yellow & red were particularly those of Horus & Osiris, & the white that of Isis;because the first two were the colors of the Sun, & the white one that of the Moon, in the Hermetic system itself.

It is therefore probable that the Egyptians used the Lotus & the Egyptian bean in their hieroglyphics, because of their different color, since being similar for all the rest, one of these two plants would have sufficed. Most of the vases, on the cup of which we see a child seated, are the fruit of the Lotus.

CHAPTER XII.

From Colocasia.

The Colocasia is a species of Arum or calf's foot, which grows in aquatic places. Its leaves are large, nervous below, attached to long & thick tails: its flower is of the kind of calf's foot flowers, made in the shape of donkey's ears or cone, in which the fruit is placed, composed of different red berries, piled up like a cluster along a kind of pestle which rises from the bottom of the flower. The Arabs trade extensively in its root, which is good to eat.

We recognize this flower on the head of several Divinities, and more often on that of some Harpocrates; not that she was a symbol of fertility, as some say; but because the red color of its fruits represented Hermetic Horus, with whom Harpocrates has often been confused, and because this God of silence was invented only to mark the silence that we had to keep about this same Horus.

CHAPTER XIII.

From Persea.

It is a tree that grows around Greater Cairo. Its leaves are very similar to those of the laurel, except that they are larger. Its fruit has the shape of a pear, & contains a stone, which has the taste of a chestnut.

The beauty of this tree which is always green, the resemblance of its leaves to a tongue, and that of its core to a heart, had caused it to be consecrated to the God of silence, on whose head we see him more usually than on that of any other deity.

It is sometimes whole, other times open to reveal the kernel; but always to announce that one must know how to control one's tongue, and keep in one's heart the secret of the mysteries of Isis, Osiris, and the other golden Divinities of Egypt. It is for this reason that it is sometimes seen on the radiant head of Harpocrates, or placed on a crescent (Antiq. Explicat. De Montfaucon, T. II.p2.pl.124.fig.8.& 10. ).

CHAPTER XIV.

Musca or Amusa.

Some Botanists & several Historians have called it a tree, although it is branchless. Its trunk is usually the size of a man's thigh, spongy, covered with several barks or scaly leaves, lying one on top of the alders; its leaves are broad, obtuse, & their length sometimes exceeds seven cubits (Mém. de l'Acad. des Inscript. & Bell. Lett. T.III.).

They are strengthened by a thick and wide rib, which reigns in the middle all along; from the top of the stem are born red or yellowish flowers. The fruits which succeed them are of a pleasant taste, and rather resemble a golden cucumber. Its root is long, thick, black outside, fleshy & white inside. When you make incisions in this root, it yields a white juice, which then turns red.

Mr. Mahudel, with several Antiquaries, see in this plant only its beauty, capable of having determined the Egyptians to devote it to the local Divinities of the country, where it grew with more abundance; but since everything was a mystery among this people, since they used it in their hieroglyphs, no doubt they attached some particular idea to it, and they had noticed in this plant some connection with these Divinities.

The feathers of Osiris & his Priests; those of Isis, where these leaves are sometimes found; the cut fruit that can be seen between the two leaves that form the plume; Finally, Isis who presents the flowering stem of this plant to her husband, are things that the Isiac Table puts before our eyes more than once,will we believe that the only beauty of this plant is the reason for it? is it not more natural to think that such a mysterious people did not do this without having some other object in view?

So there could be some mystery there, and there was indeed some; but a mystery very easy to unveil for him who, after having made some reflections on what we have said, will see in the description of this plant the four principal colors of the great work. Black is found in the root, as the color black is the root, the base, or the key to the work; if we remove this black bark, we discover the white; the pulp of the fruit is also of this last color; the flowers that Isis presents to Osiris are yellow & red, & the skin of the fruit is golden.

The Moon of the Philosophers is matter that has reached white; the saffron yellow color and the red which succeed the white, are the Sun or the Osiris of art; it was therefore right to represent Isis in the posture of a person offering a red flower to Osiris. Finally, we can observe that the attributes of Osiris all participate in whole or in part in the color red or yellow, or saffron; & those of Isis, black & white taken separately, or mixed, because the Egyptian monuments represent these Divinities to us, according to the different states in which the material of the work is found during the course of the operations.

We can therefore meet Osiris of all colors; but it is then necessary to pay attention to the attributes which accompany it.If the author of the monument was aware of the mysteries of Egypt, & that he wanted to represent Osiris in his glory, the attributes will be red or at least saffron: in his expedition to India, they will be varied in different colors; what was indicated by the tigers & the leopards who accompanied Bacchus in Ethiopia, where dead, the colors will be either black or violet, but we will never find unmixed white there, just as we will never see any purely red attribute of Isis. It would be desirable, when one finds some old colored monument, that one recommends to the Engraver to emblazon all that is represented there; or that whoever gives the description to the Public, had the attention to designate the colors exactly.

It would be no less appropriate to oblige the engravers to represent the monuments as they are, not to leave them the freedom to change the proportions & the attitudes of the figures, under the pretext of making up for the ignorance of the old Artists, & to give a more graceful form to these figures. Accuracy is very important, especially for attributes. A work on the Antiquities, brought to light a few years ago, obliges me to make this observation.

The Greeks and the Romans, who regarded as barbarian all that was not born in Rome or Athens, excepted the Egyptians from such an unjust imputation; & their best Authors, far from imitating Juvenal, Virgil, Martial, & especially Lucien, who deploy the finest raillery against the superstitions of the Egyptians, are filled with the praise they give to their politeness & their knowledge.

They confessed that their great men had drawn from it all this fine knowledge, with which they later adorned their works. If we cannot absolutely justify the people of Egypt on the absurdity and the ridiculousness of the worship they rendered to animals, let us not attribute to the Priests and scholars of that country excesses, therefore their wisdom and their knowledge made them incapable.Traditions sometimes grow darker the further they are from their source. The hieroglyphs so multiplied may in the course of time have been interpreted by people who have little or no knowledge of their true meaning. The Authors who tapped into this impure source could only transmit it in the way they received it, or perhaps even more disfigured.

It even seems Herodotus, Diodorus of Sicily, Plutarch, and a few others seek to excuse the Egyptians, by providing probable reasons for the worship they rendered to animals. They say that they adored in these animals the Divinity whose attributes were manifested in each animal, like the Sun in a drop of water which is struck by its rays (Plutarq. de Isid. & Osir.).

It is certain, moreover, that not all worship is religious worship, and even less true adoration; & all that is placed in the temples, even to be the object of public veneration, is not in the rank of the gods. Historians could therefore have been mistaken in the account they gave of the Gods of Egypt, even as regards what concerned the worship of the people, and a fortiori for what concerned the Priests and the Philosophers, of whom they ignored the mysteries.

The symbolic writing, known as hieroglyphics, was not contrary to the purpose the Egyptians had to work for posterity. M. le Comte de Caylus (Recueil. D'Antiq. pag. 2.) did not enter into their ideas in this respect.

These hieroglyphs were a mystery at the very time of their institution, as they still are, and always will be for those who seek to explain them by means other than those which I propose. The intention of their teachers was not to make knowledge of them public, and by engraving them on their monuments to preserve them for posterity, they acted like the Hermetic Philosophers, who write in some way only to be heard. of those who are acquainted with their science, or to give a few strokes of light absorbed, so to speak, in such great darkness,

Most of the Egyptian antiquities are therefore of a nature that we cannot flatter ourselves with clearing them up perfectly. All the explanations that we will try to give to bring them back to history, will be reduced to conjectures, because everything reflects the mystery that reigned in this country, and that, to base its reasonings on the sequence of facts, we find that the first link of the chain which binds them, results in fables.

It is therefore to these fables that we must have recourse; & looking at them as such, make efforts to penetrate their true meaning. When you find a system that develops them naturally, you have to take it as a guide. All those we have followed up to now are recognized as insufficient by all the Authors who have written on Antiquities.At every step there are obstacles that cannot be overcome. They are therefore not the real nets of Ariadne which will help us to get out of this labyrinth; they must therefore be abandoned.

By conducting oneself on the principles of the Hermetic Philosophy, and by studying them enough to put oneself in a position to make correct applications of them, there are few hieroglyphs that cannot be explained. We would not be in the position of admitting as historical facts those which are purely fabulous, and of rejecting from these facts circumstances which particularly characterize them, under the pretext that they were sewn therein to embellish the narration, and increase its value. marvelous. This last method was followed by M. l'Abbé Banier in his Mythologie;& whatever facility it has procured for him,

OVEN SECTION.

Of the Egyptian Colonies.

Hermetic Philosophy was not always enclosed within the bounds of Egypt, where it seems that Hermes had made it flourish. The inhabitants of that country having multiplied too much, some took the decision to leave it to go and settle first in the neighborhood, and then in more distant countries.

Several heads of families led colonies there, and brought learned priests with them. Belus, who fixed his stay near the Euphrates, established some in Babylon, who were surnamed Chaldeans. They became famous for the knowledge they acquired by observing the stars in the manner of Egypt.

Scholars believe that Sabism, or that kind of idolatry, which has for its object of worship the Stars and the Planets, began in Chaldea, where these Egyptian Philosophers had settled;but it is much more likely that they brought it there from Egypt whence they came, and where the Sun and the Moon were adored under the name of Osiris and Isis; since Herodotus says that Astrology originated in Egypt, where it is agreed that it was cultivated there from the most remote times.

The name of Chaldaic science, which it has borne for a long time, proves at most that the Astrologers of Chaldea became more famous than those of other Nations. Babylon, capital of the country, although the most idolatrous of all the cities of the world, according to the idea given to us by the Prophet Jeremiah (Ch. 50.), calling it a land of idols, terra sculptilium, seems to have drawn its gods from Egypt, from which it had preserved even the monsters; & in porteis gloriantur.The Priests, instructed in the same sciences as those from whom they had just separated, no doubt also knew what to expect with regard to the worship of these Idols; but bound to the same secrecy as those of Egypt, they successively made it their duty not to divulge it. The names of Saturn and Jupiter given to Belus prove quite clearly that the genealogy of the Hermetic gods of the Egyptians was known in Chaldea.

Danaiis also attempted an establishment outside his country. He left Egypt, his homeland, and left with fifty daughters he had had by several women, with all his servants, and a few Egyptians who wanted to follow him. He released, it is said, first at Rhodes, where, after having consecrated a statue to Minerva, one of the great Divinities of Egypt, he embarked & arrived in Greece, where, if we believe Diodorus, he built the city of Argos and in Lydia that of Cypre, in which he erected a Temple to Minerva, and doubtless established there Priests for the service of the same cult that was rendered in Egypt to this Goddess.

The name of Beleides given to the daughters of Danaiis proves that he had some affinity with Belus;& some Authors have indeed looked upon this Belus as the father of Danaiis. The allegories that the Poets made on the torture of the Danaides, and on the massacre of their husbands, is a new proof that they were imitated from Egypt, where Diodorus relates (L. 2. c. 6.) that 360 Priests of Achante used to draw water from a pierced vessel. We will explain these allegories in the following Books.

Cecrops came from Egypt and settled in Attica. He carried there with the laws of his country the cult of the Gods who were adored there, and especially that of Minerva, honored in Sais his homeland, that of Jupiter and the other Gods of Egypt: this fact is attested by all the Antiquity. Eusebius (Prep. Evang. 1. 10. c. 9.) says that it was he who first gave the name of God to Jupiter, erected an altar to him, & erected a statue in honor of Minerva. S. Epiphanius repeats the same thing, & Pausanias had said it before them; but the latter (In Attic. 1. 8.) remarks that he only offered inanimate things in his sacrifices. Athens, the triumph of the arts and sciences, the seat of politeness and scholarship, owes its beginnings to Egypt.

Whatever this story may be, the Athenians agreed, and gloried in having descended from the Saites; some said that Dipetes, father of Mnestaeus, King of Athens, was Egyptian, as well as Erictheus, who first brought them the grains of Egypt, and the way of cultivating them, which made him establish King.

He also taught them the ceremonies of Ceres Eleusine, following those observed by the Egyptians; this is why the Athenians thought that this King was contemporary with Ceres. Diodorus, in reporting this, was probably unaware that Ceres & Isis were only one and the same Divinity. He should have remembered that he had said the same thing about Triptolemen. We will speak of the nature of these grains, and of all this history in the fourth Book.

The inhabitants of Colchis were also a colony of Egypt, according to Diodorus & Herodotus (L. 2.c. 104. & seq.), which brings in evidence many reasons, among others that they have their children circumcised, as who brought this custom from Egypt. He was doubtless ignorant of the Holy Scriptures which mark for us so positively the origin of circumcision. Diodorus concluded, for the same reason, that the Jews, inhabitants between Arabia and Syria, had come from Egypt, but he only speaks of these Jews after their servitude in this country, and this is the occasion to his mistake.

This flight of the Jews is remarkable for all the events that preceded and followed it;that which is most relevant to our subject is the prodigious quantity of gold and silver which was then found among the Egyptians. Moses told the Jews to borrow from their Hosts all the gold and silver vessels they could obtain. And who were these Hosts? common people. To whom did they lend these vases? to Jewish slaves, despised, hated, destitute, people who could hardly be unaware of having the intention of leaving the country, and fleeing to escape servitude; & if the people were so well supplied with it, how many must have the King & the Priests who, as Herodotus tells us, had buildings built to preserve it?

& to flee to escape bondage;& if the people were so well supplied with it, how many must have the King & the Priests who, as Herodotus tells us, had buildings built to preserve it? & to flee to escape bondage; & if the people were so well supplied with it, how many must have the King & the Priests who, as Herodotus tells us, had buildings built to preserve it?

Cadmus was from Thebes of Egypt. Having been sent in search of his sister by Agenor his father, King of Phenicia, he found himself exposed to a furious storm, which obliged him to put down in Rhodes, where he erected a Temple in honor of Neptune, & in entrusted the service to Phoenicians whom he left in this Isle. He offered Minerva a very beautiful copper vase, and of ancient shape, on which was an inscription, which stated that the Isle of Rhodes would be ravaged by serpents.

This inscription alone indicates that this whole story is an allegory of the Sacerdotal Art. For why offer Minerva an antique vase, and of copper? Cadmus must be supposed to have lived in very remote times: how old could this vase have been?It appears that consideration must be given to matter, and not to form.

This matter is the earth of Rhodes, or the Philosophical red earth, which must be ravaged by serpents, that is, dissolved by the water of the Philosophers, which is often called serpent. Cadmus, aware of these mysteries, had no great difficulty in predicting this devastation.

Was the present of a copper vessel, even an antique one, of such great consequence that it deserved to be presented to the Goddess of Wisdom? Gold, precious stones would have been more worthy of her. But no doubt there was some mystery there; a vase of copper was needed, not of the vulgar, but of Philosophical brass, which the favorites of Minerva, the Wise Philosophers commonly call laton for leton. Whiten the brass, says Morien (Entret. du Roi Calid.), & tear up your books.Nitrogen & brass are enough for you.

The whole story of Cadmus will always be considered a pure fable, which will appear ridiculous to any man of good sense, as soon as he does not explain it in accordance with Hermetic Chemistry.

What an idea indeed to follow an Ox of different colors, to build a city where this Ox stops, to send his companions to a fountain, who are devoured there by a horrible dragon, son of Typhon & Echidna; which dragon is then slain by Cadmus, who pulls out its teeth, sows them in a field as one sows grain, from which men are born who attack Cadmus; and who finally, on the occasion of a stone thrown between them, destroy each other without leaving a single one? We will prove later in this work,

M. l'Abbé Banier (Mythol. T. L p. 67. & T. II. p. 262.) says that Cadmus carried to Greece the mysteries of Bacchus & Osiris. The Fable tells us, however, that Bacchus was the grandson of Cadmus. It is true that this Mythologist introduces another Bacchus, son of Semele, in order to adjust his story; but on what basis? Is it permissible to introduce new characters on one's own initiative in order to get out of trouble?

Orpheus, by transposing the Egyptian Fables into Greece, dressed them in the Greek way, & supposed a Denis, who does not differ from the Osiris of the Egyptians, & from the Bacchus of the Latins: but this Denis or Osiris was famous in Egypt long before that it was a question of Cadmus.This is why the Egyptians laughed at the Greeks when they heard them say that Denis was born among them.

Others attribute to Mélampe the institution of the ceremonies of the cult of Denis in Greece, the story of Saturn, and the war of the Titans. Daedalus, it is said, was the architect of the famous vestibule of the Temple erected at Memphis in honor of Vulcan.

But the Greeks, die Diodorus, having learned the stories and allegories of the Egyptians, took the opportunity to invent others on these models. Indeed, the Poets & Theologians of Paganism seem to have copied only these fables from Egypt, transported to Greece by Orpheus Museum, Melampe, & Homer. The Legislators have formed their laws on those of Lycurgus; the Princes of the philosophical sects drew their system from Pythagoras, Plato, Eudoxus, & Democritus.And if they were so different from each other, it was because they were not all familiar with the Egyptian mysteries,

The columns of Mercury, from which these first Philosophers will draw their science, by the explanations that the Priests of Egypt gave them, could well be those of Osiris & Isis, therefore we have spoken; perhaps the obelisks which are still seen in Rome, which are known to have been transported there from Egypt, & therefore the surface is filled with triangles, circles, squares, & hieroglyphic figures. More than one Author has taken pains to explain them:

Father Kircher has made a treatise on purpose; but, in spite of his decisive tone, supported by a very extensive science, he was not taken on his word. It is in the ancient Authors who drew their science in Egypt, that we should seek the interpretation;but to hear most of them, one would also need the help of an Oedipus,

Having therefore no reliable guides, the most famous Authors are all different from each other. According to Bochard, Mercury is the same as Chanaan, & according to M. Huet, the same as Moses. One says that Hercules is Samson, and the other that it is Joshua; One that Noah is Saturn, the other that he is Abraham.

One maintains that Ceres was a Queen of Sicily; the other that she does not differ from Isis who was never in that country. The oldest Authors do not even agree among themselves; & besides the contradictions found there, how many gratuitous things do we see there, to say nothing more.As for the parallels with which the books of some modern scholars are filled, I would ask if one is accepted in saying that Thamas-Kouli-Cham is the same as Tamerlane,

I believe that we can draw much light from the ancient Greek authors, to penetrate into the obscurity of fables; not that one should precisely rely on them on the true origin of ancient peoples, since what they say about them is almost entirely fabulous; but because they copied the Egyptians, who were the first inventors of the Fables, and because by drawing a parallel between the ancient Fables of Greece and those of Egypt, it is easy to see that they all came from the same source, and that they resemble a traveler, who dresses in each country he travels, according to the fashion that is in use there.

The Egyptian works, which could have given us some ideas of their way of thinking, those of Hermes & other Philosophers have escaped us over time,& we will always weep over the sad ashes of the Library of Alexandria. We no longer have any other resource than that of the Greeks, disciples of the learned priests of Egypt; it is therefore to them that one must have recourse, persuaded that they entered into the ideas of the masters from whom they had received lessons.

I am surprised that Father Banier agrees so little with himself in this respect, that after having said (Ibid.p. 55.& seq.) & having even used all possible reasons to prove that it is not among the Greek Writers that we must seek the origin of the ancient Peoples, nor of the other monuments of Antiquity, this scholar brings them in proof of what he establishes throughout the course of his work.

It is true that he pays particular attention to choosing everything that the Authors have put forward that is favorable to his system, and to rejecting as fable everything that may be contrary to it. He even decides on this with the tone of a Judge in the last resort;but since he is not always true to himself, and since he declares in more than one place that his guarantors must be held suspect, he restores us to our rights,

I would be enough of Diodorus' opinion, as to the names of some ancient cities, mountains, rivers, &c. This Author says that the ancient Philosophers took most of these names from their doctrine, and named the places according to the relationships they saw there with some features of this science.

It is therefore a question of knowing what this doctrine was. Now no one doubts that it was the one they learned in Egypt; Jamblichus (Des mysteries des Egyptiens.) assures us that this science was engraved on the columns of Hermes. Josephus (Des Antiq. des Juifs.) speaks of two columns, one of stone, the other of brick, erected before the Flood, on which the principles of the Arts were engraved.Bernard, Comte de la Marche Trévisane (Philos. des Métaux.), educated by reading ancient books, says that Hermes found seven tables in the valley of Hebron, on which were carved the principles of the Liberal Arts. But whether Hermes found them or invented them, it is very likely that these principles were there only in hieroglyphs; that this way of teaching marked that the substance of this science was a mystery that we did not want to reveal to everyone: consequently that the terms & names used were also part of this mystery, from which we must conclude that the names given to the places by the ancient Philosophers, belonged in some place to the mysteries of the Egyptians.

it is very likely that these principles were there only in hieroglyphics;that this way of teaching marked that the substance of this science was a mystery that we did not want to reveal to everyone: consequently that the terms & names used were also part of this mystery, from which we must conclude that the names given to the places by the ancient Philosophers, belonged in some place to the mysteries of the Egyptians.

it is very likely that these principles were there only in hieroglyphs; that this way of teaching marked that the substance of this science was a mystery that we did not want to reveal to everyone: consequently that the terms & names used were also part of this mystery, from which we must conclude that the names given to the places by the ancient Philosophers, belonged in some place to the mysteries of the Egyptians.

Any mind that will not want to remain stubbornly attached to its prejudice, must see in what we have said, what was the object of these mysteries. The magnificence of the Kings of Egypt, who, if we believe Pliny (L. 2.6. ch 12.), did not raise these wonders of the world, that to employ their immense wealth, is a palpable proof God of the 'Hermetic Art .

Semiramis had a Temple erected in Babylon in honor of Jupiter, at the top of which she placed three golden statues, one of this God, the second of Juno, and the third of the Goddess Ops. That of Jupiter, according to Diodorus, still survived his time, was 40 feet high, and weighed a thousand Babylonian talents. The statue of Ops, of the same weight, can still be seen in the golden room.

Two lions, adds this Author,& silver snakes of enormous size are placed near. Each figure is the weight of thirty talents. The Goddess holds a serpent's head in her right hand, and in her left a stone scepter. In the same hall is also a golden table 40 feet long, 12 feet wide, and weighing 50 talens. The statue of Juno is of the weight of 800.

Diodorus & the other Historians report many things which prove the immense wealth of the Egyptians & the Babylonians, who by Belus drew their origin from them. But what should have struck these Historians, & all those who saw the statue of Ops, is its attitude & its attributes. I would like our scholars to explain to me why a stone scepter had been placed in one of the hands of this Goddess, and a serpent in the other?

Do you make scepters of stone to a statue of gold? wouldn't such an idea pass for ridiculous in the eyes of those who see nothing allegorical in it? But the Goddess Ops being taken hermetically, it was natural to represent her thus, because the gold of the Philosophers is called stone, and their mercury serpent.Ops or the Earth which was its matter, held these two symbols in her hand to indicate that she contained these two principles of the Art. And as this Art was the source of wealth, Ops was looked upon as its Goddess.

One had even designated the thing more particularly by placing near Ops two lions & two serpents, because the Philosophers ordinarily employed the allegory of these animals, to signify the material principles of the work, during the course of the operations.

Jupiter & Juno brother & sister, husband & wife, were in this room with their grandmother, & in front of them a golden table common to the three, because they come from the same aurific principle, from which we extract two things, an aerial & mercurial humidity, & a fixed, igneous earth, which together make one & the same thing, called Hermetic gold, common to the three, since it is composed of them; & the true remedy of the spirit, of which we have spoken, to which Diodorus gives the name of Nepentes, because it is made of the so-called herb of that name, hence Homer (Odiss. 1.4. v. 221. & Sec .) says that one composes in Egypt the remedy which makes forget all the evils, & makes the man carry out a life exempt from pain & sorrow; vaunted properties of Hermetic gold.The same Poet adds that this remedy was that of Helen, daughter of Jupiter, the one who caused the Trojan War.

We will see its reasons for this in the sixth Book. The Egyptian origin & of the remedy, & of the manner of making it, is a proof that Homer gives us in passing, that he was informed of the nature of this remedy, of its properties, & of the place where it was in vogue . He was therefore able to take it as the subject of his allegory of the capture of the city of Troye, or at least to have taken the occasion of a war, of a real siege, to form an allegory of the great work, as we have seen. will prove by discussing all the circumstances of this seat;I hardly see on what M. l'Abbé Banier is based, to say (Ibid. TIp67.) that there had been poets before Homer who had treated the subject of the Trojan war, & who had made Iliads; the only reason that this scholar gives is that Greek poetry would not have begun with masterpieces.

I leave it to the reader to judge the soundness of this reasoning. The work of this Abbot, although very learned and very well concerted, teems with proofs of this temper. If Homer, to give an air of verisimilitude to his fiction, introduced the names of existing towns & peoples, we are obliged to admit that we do not know Ithaca, the Cimmerians, the Isle of Calypso, & many other things, than in his works. Where do we ever live the Arimaspes, Issedons, Hyperboreans, Acephales, &c.? But it is agreed that the fables derive their origin from Egypt and Phenicia; it is thus by those which were sold in these countries, that it is necessary to judge of the others,

I don't think I will find any opponents to this article; but will one agree with me that all the monuments, of which I have spoken, are convincing proof that the Hermetic Art was known & practiced among the Egyptians? Scholars, however slightly in agreement with each other, have by their works fortified the prejudice which originated in the accounts of the ancient historians. We believed that being closer than we are to these dark times, we could do better than follow the path they traced for us, convinced that they were aware of all this.

It was known however, & these Ancients say themselves, that the Priests of Egypt kept an inviolable secret on the true meaning of their Hieroglyphs; but we haven't done enough thinking about it.It would therefore be a matter of stripping away any prejudice in this respect; to examine things without prejudice, & to compare the explanations that Antiquarians or Mythologists have given of Hieroglyphs & Egyptian Fables, with the one that I give, & then judge the truth of both. By this method one will find oneself in a position to decide whether Morality, Religion, Physics & History have provided material for these Fables & these Hieroglyphs; or if it is not simpler to give them a single and unique object, such as a secret as precious and of as great consequence as that which preserves humanity in such a perfect state therefore she is susceptible, by providing her with the source of wealth and health.& to compare the explanations that Antiquaries or Mythologists have given of Hieroglyphics & Egyptian Fables, with the one I give, & then judge the truth of each. By this method one will find oneself in a position to decide whether Morality, Religion, Physics & History have provided material for these Fables & these Hieroglyphs;

or if it is not simpler to give them a single and unique object, such as a secret as precious and of as great consequence as that which preserves humanity in such a perfect state therefore she is susceptible, by providing her with the source of wealth and health. & to compare the explanations that Antiquaries or Mythologists have given of Hieroglyphics & Egyptian Fables, with the one I give, & then judge the truth of each.By this method one will find oneself in a position to decide whether Morality, Religion, Physics & History have provided material for these Fables & these Hieroglyphs;

or if it is not simpler to give them a single and unique object, such as a secret as precious and of as great consequence as that which preserves humanity in such a perfect state therefore she is susceptible, by providing her with the source of wealth and health. & then judge the truth of each other. By this method one will find oneself in a position to decide whether Morality, Religion, Physics & History have provided material for these Fables & these Hieroglyphs;or if it is not simpler to give them a single and unique object, such as a secret as precious and of as great consequence as that which preserves humanity in such a perfect state therefore she is susceptible, by providing her with the source of wealth and health. & then judge the truth of each other.

By this method one will find oneself in a position to decide whether Morality, Religion, Physics & History have provided material for these Fables & these Hieroglyphs; or if it is not simpler to give them a single and unique object, such as a secret as precious and of as great consequence as that which preserves humanity in such a perfect state therefore she is susceptible, by providing her with the source of wealth and health.

BOOK II.

Allegories that have a more tangible relationship with Hermetic Art.

Never was a country more fertile in fables than Greece. Those she had received from Egypt were not enough for her, she invented an infinite number. The Egyptians only properly recognized as Gods Osiris, Isis & Orus, but they multiplied their names, & thereby found themselves engaged in multiplying their historical fictions.

From there came twelve main Gods, Jupiter, Neptune, Mars, Mercury, Vulcan, Apollo, Juno, Vesta, Ceres, Venus, Diana & Minerva, six males & six females. These 12 only considered great Gods were represented in golden statues. Subsequently, others were imagined, to whom the name of demi-gods was given, which were not known in the time of Herodotus, or at least of which he does not mention them under this title.Their figures believe carved in wood, or stone, or earth.

The first of the Greeks who passed into Egypt, are, according to Diodorus of Sicily, Orpheus, Muteus, Melampe, & the others of whom we have spoken in the preceding book. They drew from it the principles of philosophy and the other sciences, and transported them to their country, where they taught them in the manner in which they had learned them; that is to say, under the veil of allegories and fables. Orpheus found there the subject of his Hymns on the Gods, and the Orgies (M. l'Abbé Banier. Myth. T. II. p. 273.).

That these solemnities derive their origin from Egypt is a fact which is also agreed upon by Mythologists and Antiquaries, and which does not need to be proven.This Poet introduced into the cult of Dionysius the same ceremonies that were observed in the cult of Osiris. Those of Ceres related to those of Isis. He was the first to mention the punishments of the impious, the Champs Elysees, and gave rise to the use of statues. He pretended that Mercury was destined to lead the souls of the dead, & became the imitator of the Egyptians in an infinity of other fictions.

When the Greeks saw that Psammeticus protected foreigners, & that they could travel to Egypt without risking their lives or their freedom, they landed there in large numbers, some to satisfy their curiosity about the marvels they had learned of that country, the others to learn . Orpheus, Museum, Linus, Melampe & Homer passed through it successively.

These five with Hesiod were the propagators of the Fables in Greece, by the Poems full of fictions which they spread there. Doubtless these great men would not have adopted and spread in cold blood so many apparent absurdities, if they had not at least suspected a hidden, reasonable meaning, and a real object shrouded in this darkness. Would they, derisively and maliciously, wanted to deceive the Peoples?& if they seriously thought that these characters were Gods, whom they should represent as models of perfection & conduct, would they have attributed to them adulteries, incests, parricides, & so many other crimes of all kinds? ? The tone in which Homer speaks of it suffices to show what his ideas were in this regard.

It is therefore much more probable that they had a presentiment of these fictions only as symbols & allegories, which they wanted to make more perceptible by personifying & deifying the effects of Nature. They accordingly assigned a particular office to each of these deified characters, reserving only the universal Empire of the Universe to one and only true God. Orpheus explains himself quite clearly; we it,saying that they are all one and the same thing understood under various names.

For such are its terms: “The Messenger interpreter Cyllenian belongs to all. The Nymphs are water; Ceres the grains; Vulcan is fire; Neptune the Sea; March the war; Venus peace; Themis justice; Apollo, darting his arrows, is the same as the radiant Sun, whether this Apollo be regarded as acting from afar or near, or as the Diviner, Augur, or as the God of Epidaurus, who heals diseases. All these things are one, although they have many names.

Hermesianax says Pluto, Persephone, Ceres, Venus & Cupids, Tritons, Nereus, Thetis, Neptune, Mercury, Juno, Vulcan, Jupiter, Pan, Diana & Phoebus are just the same God.“The Cyllenian Interpreter Messenger is for all. The Nymphs are water; Ceres the grains; Vulcan is fire; Neptune the Sea; March the war; Venus peace; Themis justice; Apollo, darting his arrows, is the same as the radiant Sun, whether this Apollo be regarded as acting from afar or near, or as the Diviner, Augur, or as the God of Epidaurus, who heals diseases. All these things are one, although they have many names.

Hermesianax says Pluto, Persephone, Ceres, Venus & Cupids, Tritons, Nereus, Thetis, Neptune, Mercury, Juno, Vulcan, Jupiter, Pan, Diana & Phoebus are just the same God. “The Cyllenian Interpreter Messenger is for all. The Nymphs are water; Ceres the grains;Vulcan is fire; Neptune the Sea; March the war; Venus peace; Themis justice; Apollo, darting his arrows, is the same as the radiant Sun, whether this Apollo be regarded as acting from afar or near, or as the Diviner, Augur, or as the God of Epidaurus, who heals diseases. All these things are one, although they have many names.

Hermesianax says Pluto, Persephone, Ceres, Venus & Cupids, Tritons, Nereus, Thetis, Neptune, Mercury, Juno, Vulcan, Jupiter, Pan, Diana & Phoebus are just the same God. is the same as the radiant Sun, whether this Apollo be regarded as acting from afar or near, or as a Diviner, Augur, or as the God of Epidaurus, who heals diseases. All these things are one, although they have many names.Hermesianax says Pluto, Persephone, Ceres, Venus & Cupids, Tritons, Nereus, Thetis, Neptune, Mercury, Juno, Vulcan, Jupiter, Pan, Diana & Phoebus are just the same God. is the same as the radiant Sun, whether this Apollo be regarded as acting from afar or near, or as a Diviner, Augur, or as the God of Epidaurus, who heals diseases. All these things are one, although they have many names. Hermesianax says Pluto, Persephone, Ceres, Venus & Cupids, Tritons, Nereus, Thetis, Neptune, Mercury, Juno, Vulcan, Jupiter, Pan, Diana & Phoebus are just the same God.

All the offices of Nature therefore became gods in their hands; but gods subject to one supreme God, according to what they had learned in Egypt. These different attributes of Nature, however, concerned particular effects, unknown to the People, and known only to the Philosophers.

If some of these fictions had the Universe in general for their object, it cannot be denied that the greater number had a particular application; and several of them are so specially determined that one cannot mistake them.

It suffices to review the principal ones, in order to be in a position to pass judgment on the others. I will therefore speak first of the expedition of the Golden Fleece: of the golden apples: of the garden of the Hesperides, & some others which show more clearly that the intention of the Authors of these fictions was to wrap the mysteries of Hermetic Art.

Orpheus is the first to mention the expedition of the Golden Fleece, if we are to admit the works of Orphie as belonging to this first of the Greek poets; but I do not enter into this discussion of scholars: whether these works are true or supposed, matters little to me; it is enough for me that they started from a very old, scholarly pen, and familiar with the mysteries of the Egyptians and the Greeks. S. Justin in his Parenet; Lactantius, & S. Clement of Alexandria, in his Discourse to the Gentiles, speak; of Orpheus in that tone.

This Poet has given this fiction an air of history which has made it look upon it as such even by our modern mythologists, despite the impossibility in which they find themselves of adjusting the circumstances. They preferred to fail in it, than to see in it the hidden and mysterious meaning that it presents, and that the Author himself has manifested quite visibly by quoting, in the course of this fiction, some other of his works; namely, a treatise on small stones, and another on the air of Mercury as the source of all good. It is easy to see which Mercury he means, since he presents it as part of Jason's object in the conquest of the Golden Fleece.

FIRST CHAPTER.

History of the conquest of the Golden Fleece.

There are few ancient authors who do not speak of this famous conquest. It has exercised the minds of our scholars, who have written many dissertations on this subject, & M. l'Abbé Banier, who has included several in the Memoirs of the Académie des Belles Lettres, regards this fact as so constant. , that one cannot, he says (Mytlolog T. III. P.198.), detach it from the ancient history of Greece, without reversing almost all the genealogies of that time. We have a Poem on this under the name of Orpheus;

but Vossius claims that this Poet is not the Author, and that this Poem is no older than Peisistratus (Vossius de Poëti Græcis & Latinis, cap.9.). It is attributed to Onomacritus, and it is said that it was composed around the 50th century. Olympiad.It could well be that this Onomacritus was not the Author, but only the restorer, or that he had collected all the scattered fragments, like Aristarchus those of Homer.

Apollonius of Rhodes composed one on the same material about the time of the first Ptolomeia. Pindar makes a long detail of it in the fourth Olympic, & in the third Isthmic; many other Poets make frequent allusions to this conquest. But what proves the antiquity of this fable is that Homer says two words about it in the twelfth Book of the Odyssey M. l'Abbé Banier finds an error in this place of this last Poet, and says that he makes Circe speak of certain wandering rocks as situated on the strait which separates Sicily from Italy, and that they are in fact at the entrance to Pont-Euxin.

To adjust this expedition to the ideas of M. l'Abbé Banier, these rocks could not in truth be found in the place marked in Homer; but I would have believed that it was more appropriate to seek means of reconciling the Abbé Banier with Homer, than to accuse this Poet of error, in order to elude the difficulties which this place gave rise to. It is easy to get out of trouble when you have recourse to such resources. Homer no doubt had his reasons for placing these wandering rocks there; because most of the errors that one finds in this Poet, & in the other inventors of fables, seem to be put there with affectation, as if to indicate to posterity that they are pure fictions that they are spouting, & not real stories. The places that the Argonauts are shown,the places where they are approached are so far from the road that they should have & could hold; there is even such a manifest impossibility that they kept the one of which Orpheus speaks, that it is clearly seen that the intention of this Poet was only to tell a fable.

The difficulties that crowd in on a Mythologist who wishes to find a real story in this fiction, have not discouraged most scholars. Eustathius (On verse 686 of Dionysius Perigete.) among the Ancients, regarded it as a military expedition, which, besides the object of the Golden Fleece, that is, according to him, the recovery of the goods that Phryxus had taken to Colchis, had still other motives, such as that of trading on the coasts of Pont-Euxin, and of establishing some colonies there to ensure the trade.

Those who wanted to bring most of the ancient Fables back to Sacred History, like Father Thomasin & M. Huet, imagined seeing there the story of Abraham, Hagar & Sara, Moses & Joshua. By following such ideas, there are no fables,

Eustathius, to accredit his opinion, says that there were a number of ships united in a fleet, of which the Ship Argo was as its Admiral; but that the Poets only spoke of a single vessel, and named only the leaders of this expedition. I do not think that we believe this Author on his word, since he has no other guarantor than the reason of convenience, which required that things were thus so that his sentiment could be sustained.

M. l'Abbé Banier, who follows Eucasthe quite well in this kind of proof, boldly decides that this expedition is not the mystery of the great work. Did he speak knowingly? had he read the Philosophers? did he even have the idea of ​​the great work that one should have?I would answer that he only knew the name, but not the principles.

To give a fair idea of ​​this fiction, it would be necessary to take the thing from its origin, to explain how this pretended Golden Fleece was carried into Colchis, and to give the whole history of Athamas, of Ino, of Nephele, of 'Helle & de Phryxus, de Léarque & de Mélicette; but as we will have occasion to speak about it in the fourth Book, by explaining the Isthmian Games, we will only enter in the detail of this forwarding, by following what Orpheus & Apollonius brought back from it.

Jason had Eson for father, Cretheus for ancestor, Aeolus for great-grandfather, & Jupiter for great-grandfather. His mother was Polimede, daughter of Autolycus, others say Alcimede, which is also appropriate for the background of the story, according to my system. Tyro, daughter of Salmoneus, brought up by Cretheus, brother of the latter, pleased Neptune, & had Neleus & Pelias; she did not fail then to marry Cretheus her uncle, by whom she had three sons, Eson, Pheres & Amithaon.

Cretheus built the city of Iolcos, so he made the capital of his states, and left the crown to Eson when he died. Pelias, to whom Cretheus had given no establishment, as not belonging to him, made himself powerful by his intrigues, and dethroned Eson.Jason, who came into the world in the meantime, gave Pelias jealousy and anxiety, who therefore sought every means of putting him to death. But Eson, with his wife, having penetrated the evil designs of the usurper, carried the Young Jason, who was then called Diomede, into the lair of Chiron, son of Saturn and the Nymph Philyra, who dwelt on Mount Pelion, & entrusted him with his education. The Centaur passed for the wisest and most skilful man of his time. Jason learned Medicine and the Arts useful to life there.

This young Prince, grown up, introduced himself into the Court of Iolcos, after having carried out from point to point all that the Oracle had prescribed to him. Pelias had no doubt that Jason would soon acquire the favor of the People and the Great. He became jealous of her, and only looking for an honest pretext to get rid of her, he offered her the conquest of the Golden Fleece, persuaded that Jason would not refuse such a favorable opportunity to acquire glory. Pelias, who knew all the risks, thought he would perish there. Jason himself foresaw all the dangers he had to run. The proposal was nevertheless to his liking, and his great courage did not permit him not to accept it.

He therefore arranged everything for this purpose, and following the advice of Pallas, he had a ship built, to which he put a mast made of a speaking oak from the forest of Dodona. This vessel was named the Argo Ship; & the Authors do not agree on the motive which caused it to be so named. Apollonius, Diodorus of Sicily, Servius & some others claim that this name was given to him, because Argus proposed the design; and there are still many variations on this Argus, some taking him for the same one that Juno employed to guard Io, son of Arustor; but Meziriac (On the Ep. Hypsiphile to Jason.) wants it to read in Apollonius of Rhodes, son of Alector, instead of son of Arestor.Without going into the details of the different feelings about the naming of this ship, which can be seen in several Authors,

Prolémée Ephestion says, with the report of Photius, that Hercules himself was the builder of it. The reason that Father Banier gives for rejecting this opinion is not at all conclusive in this respect. As for the form of this vessel, the Authors are no more in agreement among themselves.

Some say it was long, others round; those, that he had twenty-five oars on each side; these he had thirty; but it is generally agreed that it was not made like the ordinary vessels. Orpheus & the most ancient Authors who have spoken of it, having said nothing of this form, all that the others relate to it is founded only on conjecture.

All the circumstances of this alleged expedition suffer from contradiction. We vary & on the Chief & according to the number of those who accompanied him. Some assert that Hercules was first chosen as Chief, and that Jason did not become one until after Hercules had been abandoned in the Troad, where he had gone down to earth to seek Hylas.

Others claim that he had no part in this enterprise; but the common feeling is that he embarked with the Argonauts. As to the number of these, nothing certain can be established, since Authors name some of which the others make no mention. There are commonly fifty, all of divine origin. Some sons of Neptune, others of Mercury, Mars, Bacchus, Jupiter.One can see the names & the abbreviated history in the Third Volume of the Mythology of M. l'Abbé Banier, page 211 & Seq. where he explains everything in accordance with his ideas, and decides as usual that he must reject what he cannot adjust to it. He admits, for example, in the number of these Argonauts, Acastus, son of Pelias, & Neleus, brother of this one.

Is there any likelihood, if this expedition was a true fact, that one would have supposed that Pelias, persecutor & sworn enemy of Jason; that same Pelias who engaged this nephew in this perilous expedition only because he regarded his loss as certain, would have allowed Acastus to accompany him there, he who only sought to kill Jason to preserve the crown for this son?There would be no lack of reason to reject others that this learned Mythologist admits on the faith of other Authors; & it would be easy to prove that they could not have been there, according to the system of this scholar; but it would require a discussion which does not enter into my plan.

When everything was ready for the voyage, the troop of Heroes embarked, and the wind being favorable, they set sail, and first landed at Lemnos, in order to make themselves favorable Vulcan. The women of this Isle having, it is said, disrespected Venus, this Goddess, to punish them, having attached an unbearable odor to them, which made them contemptible to the men of this Isle.

The stung Lemnians plotted among themselves to murder them all while they slept. The only Hypsiphile preserved the life of her father Thoas, who was then King of the Isle, Jason acquired the good graces of Hypsiphile, & had children.

Coming out of Lemnos, the Tyrremen gave them a bloody fight, where all these Heroes were wounded, except Glaucus who disappeared, & was numbered among the Gods of the sea (Pausis in Athen. 1. 7. c. 12.), From there they turned towards Asia, landed at Marsias, at Cius, at Cyzicus, in Ibelia: they then stopped at Beblycia, which was the ancient name of Bithynia, if we are to believe Servius (On the 5th book of the Aeneid, v. 373.), Amycus, who reigned there, used to challenge those who arrived in his states to the battle of the cestus. Pollux accepted the challenge, and caused him to perish under his blows. Our travelers arrived after that towards the Sirtes of Libya, by which one goes to Egypt. The danger there was in crossing these Sirtes,made Jason and his companions decide to carry their vessel on their shoulders for twelve days, across the deserts of Libya; at the end of which time having returned to the sea, they put it back afloat. They also went to visit Phineus, a blind Prince, & constantly tormented by the Harpies, from which he was delivered by Calais & Zethès, children of Boreas, who had wings.

Phineus, soothsayer & more clairvoyant of the eyes of the spirit than of those of the body, showed them the route they were to take. We must, he told them, first approach the Inès Cyances (which some have called Symplegades, or pitfalls which collide). These Isles cast a lot of fire; but you will avoid the danger by sending a dove there.From there you will pass into Bithynia, and leave the Isle Thyniad next to it. You will see Mariandynos, Acheruse, the City of Enetes, Carambim, Halym, Iris, Themiscyre, Cappadocia, the Calybes, & you will finally arrive at the river Phasis, which waters the land of Circea, & from there in Colchis where the Fleece is. Golden. Before arriving there the Argonauts lost their Pilot Tiphis, & put Ancaeus in his place.

The whole troop finally landed on the lands of Ætes, son of the Sun & King of Colchos, who gave them a very gracious welcome. But as he was extremely jealous of the treasure he possessed, when Jason appeared before him, and he had been informed of the motive which brought him, he seemed to consent with good grace to grant his request; but he gave her the details of the obstacles which opposed her desires. The conditions he prescribed for him were so harsh that they would have been able to make Jason desist from his plan.

But Juno, who cherished Jason, agreed with Minerva that it was necessary to make Medea fall in love with this young Prince, so that by means of the art of enchantments of which this Princess was perfectly instructed, she would rescue him from the perils to which he would expose himself for succeed in his business. Medea indeed took a tender interest in Jason; she raised his courage, and promised him all the help that depended on her, provided he pledged to give her his faith.

The Golden Fleece was suspended in the forest of Mars, enclosed by a good wall, and one could enter it only by a single door guarded by a horrible Dragon, son of Typhon and Echidna.

Jason was to put under the yoke two Bulls, a gift from Vulcan, who had feet and horns of bronze, and who threw whirlwinds of fire and flames through their mouths and nostrils; harness them to a plow, make them plow the field of Mars, and sow there the teeth of the Dragon, who must have been killed beforehand. From the teeth of this sown Dragon were to be born armed men, whom it was necessary to exterminate to the last, and that the Golden Fleece would thus be the reward of his victory.

Jason learned from his lover four ways to succeed. She gave him an ointment with which he anointed his whole body, to protect himself against the venom of the Dragon, and the fire of the Bulls. The second was a soporific composition that would put the Dragon to sleep as soon as Jason threw it into his mouth. The third clear water to quench the fire of the Bulls; the fourth finally a medal, on which the Sun and the Moon were represented.

The next day Jason, armed with all this, appears before the Dragon, throws the enchanted composition at him; he dozes off, falls asleep, becomes swollen & bursts. Jason cuts off his head and pulls out his teeth. No sooner had he finished than the Bulls came to him, sending forth a rain of fire. He guarantees himself by throwing his clear water at them.

They tame each other instantly; Jason seizes them, puts them under the yoke, plows the field & sows the teeth of the Dragon there. Immediately sees fighters coming out of it; but following, always the good advice of Medea, he moves away from them a little, throws a stone at them which infuriates them; they turn their weapons against each other, and all kill each other.Jason delivered from all these perils, runs to sixteen the Golden Fleece, returns victorious to his vessel, and leaves with Medea,

Such is the abbreviated narrative of Orpheus, or, if you will, of Onomacritus. M. l'Abbé Banier says that the Argonaut Orphée had written an account of this voyage in the Phoenician language. I do not see on what this Mythologist bases this supposition. Orpheus was not Phoenician; he accompanied Greeks, and he wrote for Greeks.

Brochart will no doubt have provided him with this idea, because he claimed to find the explanation of these fictions in the etymology of Phoenician names. But this system cannot take place with regard to the expedition of the Argonauts, whose names all make Greeks and not Phoenicians.If Onomacritus wrote his Greek Poem on the Phoenician Poem of Orpheus, and if he did not understand this last language, as M. l'Abbé Banier claims, Could Onomacritus have followed Orpheus? If I was presented with a Chinese Poem that I did not understand, could I translate it or imitate it?

The relation of Apollonius of Rhodes, and that of Valerius Flaccus hardly differs from that of Orpheus; but several ancients have added circumstances which it is useless to relate.

Those who have read these Authors have seen that Medea, fleeing with Jason, massacred her brother Absyrthe, cut him to pieces, and scattered his limbs on the road, to delay the steps of her father, and of those who pursued her. ; that having arrived in the country of Jason, she rejuvenated Eson, father of her lover, and performed many other wonders.

They will have read there that Phryxus crossed the Hellespont on a Ram, arrived at Colchos, there sacrificed this Ram to Mercury, and suspended the Fleece, gilded by this God, in the forest of Mars;that finally of all those who undertook to sixteen it, Jason was the only one to whom Medea lent his aid,

Before going into the detail of the Hermetic explanations of this fiction, let us see briefly what some accredited scholars have thought of it. The greatest number have regarded it as the report of a real expedition, which contributed much to clear up the history of a century, the study of which is accompanied by innumerable difficulties. M. le Clerc (Bibliot. Unîv. c.21.) took it for the account of a simple journey of Greek merchants, who undertook to trade on the eastern shores of Pont-Euxin.

Others claim that Jason was in Colchos to claim the real riches that Phryxus had taken there, others that it is an allegory. Many have imagined that this so-called Golden Fleece must be understood as gold from the mines carried away by the torrents of the country of Colchos,which were picked up with Ram's fleeces; which is still practiced today in different places. Strabo is of this last feeling. But Pliny thinks with Varro that the beautiful wools of that country gave rise to this journey, and to the fables that have been made of it. Palephate, who wanted to explain everything to his fancy, imagined that under the emblem of the Golden Fleece, one had wanted to speak of a beautiful statue of this metal, which the mother of Pelops had had made, and which Phryxus had taken with him to Colchis.

Suidas believes the Golden Fleece was a parchment book that contained the Hermetic Art, or the secret of making gold. Tollius wanted, says Abbé Banier, to revive this opinion, and was followed by all the Alchemists.It is true that Jacques Tollius in his Traite Fortuita adopted this sentiment; aim. Abbé Banier, by saying that all Alchemists think like him, gives a very convincing proof that he has not read the works of the Hermetic Philosophers, who look at the fable of the Golden Fleece, not as Suidas & Tollius, but as an allegory of the great work, and of what happens in the course of the operations of this Art. We will be convinced of this if we want to take the trouble to read the works of Nicolas Flamel, Augurelle, d'Espagnet, Philalethe, &c. Some Authors have attempted to give this fable a purely moral meaning;but they failed: others finally forced by the evidence admitted that it was an allegory made to explain the secrets of Nature, & the operations of the Hermetic Art, Noël le Comte is of this feeling (Mythol. 1 6. c. 8.) , as to this fiction, without however admitting it for the others. Eustathius among the Ancients explains it in the same way in notes on Dionysius the Geographer.

Let us examine these different opinions slightly, the reader will then be able to judge which is the best founded. However different and extravagant may be, at least in appearance, the accounts of the Authors, both of the going and the return of the Argonauts, it is claimed to draw from the real existence of these places that they are made to travel a proof of the reality.

of this expedition. Serious historians have consequently adopted them in whole or in part, such as Hetacea of ​​Miletus, Timagete, Timaeus, &c. Even Sirabon, who does not believe it, mentions the monuments found in the places cited by the Poets. But don't we know that a fiction, a novel, only has grace insofar as what it leads on stage approaches the real thing? Likelihood makes them take for stories;without this quality, one would see there only a pure fable, as childish & as tasteless as Fairy Tales.

The real existence of the places of these countries could not besides form a proof, not even a presumption to establish the reality of this history, since Diodore of Sicily (Liv. a. ch. 6.) assures positively that the most of the places in Greece have taken their names from the doctrine of Museum, Orpheus, &c. Now the doctrine of these Poets was that which they learned from the Priests of Egypt, and we have seen above that those of the Priests of Egypt was the Philosophy of Hermes, or the Sacerdotal Art, called since the 'Hermetic Art. ) positively assures that most of the places in Greece have taken their names from the doctrine of Museum, Orpheus, &c.

Now the doctrine of these Poets was that which they learned from the Priests of Egypt, and we have seen above that those of the Priests of Egypt was the Philosophy of Hermes, or the Sacerdotal Art, called since the 'Hermetic Art. ) positively assures that most of the places in Greece have taken their names from the doctrine of Museum, Orpheus, &c. Now the doctrine of these Poets was that which they learned from the Priests of Egypt, and we have seen above that those of the Priests of Egypt was the Philosophy of Hermes, or the Sacerdotal Art, called since the 'Hermetic Art.

But what clearly proves that the story of the Argonauts is not true is that the time, the people and their actions, together with the circumstances that are reported, do not at all conform to the truth. If we pay attention to the time, it will be easy to see how many mistakes were made by those who wanted to determine the time. The scholars have found such a great embarrassment on this subject, that they have not been able to agree among themselves.

Almost all have taken the event of the Trojan War as their fixed point, because Homer in his Iliad names some of these warriors, or their sons, or their grandsons as having assisted in this second expedition.But in order to have a fixed pole, with which one could make a comparison, the very epoch of the Trojan War would have had to be determined; which is not, as we will demonstrate in the sixth book. These two epochs being therefore as uncertain as the other, they cannot make use of reciprocal proofs; & all the reasons that our scholars make in consequence fall of themselves.

All the scholarship that we spread on this subject, is only powder that we are thrown in front of our eyes. That Castor & Pollux, Philoctetes, Euryalus, Nestor, Ascalaphus, Jalmenus & some others are supposed to have been on both expeditions, we would at most prove by that that they were not very far from each other; but that would not determine the precise time.Some, with Eusebius, place between these two events a distance of 96 years, others, with Scaliger, count only 20; &M. Father Banier, to share the disagreement,

Apollodorus kills Hercules 55 years before the Trojan War (Clem. d'Alex. Strom. 1.I.). Herodotus counts only about 400 years from Homer to him, & nearly 500 from Hercules to Homer, although he puts only about 160 years of interval between the latter & the siege of Troy.

Hercules, according to Herodotus, would have died more than 500 years before this siege; we must therefore conclude that Hercules having been one of the Argonauts, this expedition must have preceded the taking of Troy by 300 years. But, according to this calculation, how could any of the Argonauts, or their sons, have been on this last expedition?Hélène, who is said to have been the subject of it, would then have been a very outdated beauty, and hardly capable of being the reward of the judgment of Paris.

This difficulty seemed so difficult to remove, that some Elders, to get out of trouble, imagined that Helen, as the daughter of Jupiter, was immortal. All the Argonauts being sons of some God, or descended from them, could they not have had the same privilege? Herodotus speaks truthfully of this siege of Troy; but the difficulties and the objections he makes to himself about his reality, and the answers he gives to them, sufficiently prove that he did not believe it to be true. We will discuss all this in the sixth Book. sufficiently prove that he did not believe it to be true.We will discuss all this in the sixth Book. sufficiently prove that he did not believe it to be true. We will discuss all this in the sixth Book.

Another difficulty, no less difficult to resolve, presents itself in Theseus & his mother Æthra. Theseus had kidnapped Ariadnee, & abandoned her in the Isle of Naxo, where Bacchus having married her, had Thoas, who became King of Lemnos & father of Hypsiphile, who received Jason in this Isle;

Theseus could then have been the ancestor of Hypsiphile, Æthhra his great-grandfather. How could she have found herself a slave to Hélène at the time of the capture of Troye? It is not possible to agree on all these facts, even admitting with Fr. Banier only 35 years of distance between these two events.

Theseus was at least 30 years old when he undertook the journey to the Isle of Crete, to deliver his country from the tribute he paid to Minos; since he had already done almost all the great deeds attributed to him; & that he had been recognized King of Athens.

Æthra must therefore have had at least 45. From this voyage of Theseus to that of the Argonauts, about 40 years must have elapsed; since Thoas was born of Ariadne, became great, even reigned in the isle of Lemnos, and had among other children Hypsiphile, who reigned in this Isle, when Jason landed there. The Authors even say that Jason told Hypsiphile the story of Theseus, like a story from the old days.

New difficulty. All of antiquity agrees that Theseus, at least fifty years old and already famous for a thousand fine deeds, having heard news of Helen's beauty, resolved to kidnap her. She must have been nubile, since ancient authors assert that Theseus, after having kidnapped her, left her pregnant in the hands of her mother Æthra; from where she was then withdrawn by her brothers Castor & Pollux.

This fact must necessarily have preceded the conquest of the Golden Fleece, which these two brothers attended. Let our Mythologists remove all these difficulties, and so many others that it would be easy to do to them.And even if they came to the end of it in a way to satisfy the most difficult minds, could they flatter themselves with having determined the aforesaid period of the Argonauts' voyage? Far from Mr.

Let's come to the thing itself. Can we regard as a real story, an event that seems to have been imagined only to amuse children? Will we persuade sensible people that we have built a ship of talking oaks; that Bulls throw whirlwinds of fire through their mouths and nostrils; that from the teeth of a Dragon sown in a plowed field, there are immediately born armed men who kill each other for a stone thrown in their midst; finally so many other puerilities which are without exception all the circumstances of this famous expedition?

Is there indeed a single one that is not marked in the corner of the Fable, & of a Fable even rather badly concerted, & very insipid, if we do not consider it from an allegorical point of view?This is undoubtedly what struck those who looked at this relationship as an allegory taken from the mines that were supposed to be in Colchis. They approached nearer to the true, & still nearer those who interpreted it to a parchment book which concerned the manner of making gold. But who is the man who for such an object would want to expose himself to the perils which Jason surmounted?

Of what use could Medea's advice be to them, her ointments, her water, her enchanted pharmaques, her Sun & Moon medal, etc.? What connection had Oxen vomiting fire, a Guardian Dragon at the gate, armed men rising from the ground, with a book written in parchment, or gold that one picks up with Sheep's Fleeces?Was it therefore necessary that Jason (meaning Physician) was raised for this under the discipline of Chiron? What relation would still have with that the rejuvenation of Eson by Medea after this conquest?

I know that the Mythologists have endeavored to explain all these circumstances. We have explained the chariot of Medea drawn by two Dragons, from a ship called Dragon; & when we could not succeed in giving it even a forced meaning, we thought we had cut the knot of the difficulty by saying with M. l'Abbé Banier (Mythol. T. III. p. 259.): C' is here again a fiction devoid of any foundation. Happy resource! could one imagine one more likely to make disappear all that is embarrassing for a Mythologist?

But is it capable of satisfying a sensible man, who must naturally think that the Authors of these fictions undoubtedly had their reasons for introducing all these circumstances? Almost all the explanations given by the Mythologists, or relate to nothing,

It is therefore obvious that one must look at the account of the conquest of the Golden Fleece as an allegory. Let's examine each thing in particular What was Jason? his name, his education, and his actions announce it sufficiently. His name means Physician, & Healing. They put him under the discipline of Chiron, the same; who also took care of the education of Hercules & Achilles, two Heroes, one of whom showed himself invincible in the Trojan War, & the other made to deliver the earth from the monsters that infested it.

Thus Jason had two masters, Chiron & Medea. The first gave him the first instructions & the theory, the second guided him in the practice by his assiduous advice.Without their help an Artist would never succeed, and would fall from error to error. The detail that Bernard Trévisan, & Denis Zachaire (Philos. des Métaux,

Jason was of the race of the Gods. But how could he be raised by Chiron, if Saturn; father of this one, & Phyllire his mother never existed in person? It is said that Medea, wife of Jason, was granddaughter of the Sun & of the Ocean, & daughter of Ætes, brother of Pasiphaé, & of Circe the enchantress. Let's admit that such parents perfectly suited Jason, for all the circumstances of the events in his life. Everything about him is divine, even the very companions of his journey.

There are also many things to observe in this fiction. The Ship Argo was built, according to some, on Mount Pelion, of the speaking oaks of the forest of Odone; at least one was put there, either to serve as a mast, or at the stern or at the prow. Pallas or wisdom presided over its construction. Orpheus was designated the Pilot, with Typhus & Ancaeus, following some Authors. The Argonauts carried this Vessel on their shoulders for twelve days through the deserts of Libya. Jason, having taken shelter from the Vessel Argo, which was falling into disrepair, was crushed and perished under its ruins. Finally, the Ship was placed in the rank of the Stars.

All these things obviously indicate that Orpheus was its builder & pilot; that is to say, that this Poet declares himself as the Author of this fiction, and that he placed the Vessel among the Stars, in order to better preserve the memory of it for posterity. If he governed it to the sound of his lyre, it was to convey that he composed the story in verse that was sung. He built it following the advice of Pallas, because Minerva or Pallas was regarded as the Goddess of the Sciences, and one must not, as they say, get it into their head to want to rhyme despite Minerva.

The oak which was employed in the construction of this Ship, is the same as that against which Cadmus slew the serpent which had devoured his companions;it is this hollow oak, at the foot of which was planted the rosebush of Jewish Abraham, of which Flamel speaks (Explicat. Hierogl.); the same still which surrounded the fountain of Trevisan (Philos. Des Métaux, 4 part.), & that therefore of Spaint makes mention in the 114th. Canon of his Treatise.

This oak trunk must therefore be hollow; what made him give the name of Vessel. It has also been claimed that Typhis was one of the Pilots, because fire is the conductor of the work; because sumum excito in flammo. He was given Ancaeus as an assistant, to indicate that the fire must be the same as that of a brooding hen, as the Philosophers say; for Ancaeus comes from ulnae.It has also been claimed that Typhis was one of the Pilots, because fire is the conductor of the work; because sumum excito in flammo.

He was given Ancaeus as an assistant, to indicate that the fire must be the same as that of a brooding hen, as the Philosophers say; for Ancaeus comes from ulnae. It has also been claimed that Typhis was one of the Pilots, because fire is the conductor of the work; because sumum excito in flammo. He was given Ancaeus as an assistant, to indicate that the fire must be the same as that of a brooding hen, as the Philosophers say; for Ancaeus comes from ulnae.

Now let's follow Jason on his expedition. He lands first at Lemnos, & why? to make himself, it is said, favorable Vulcan. What relation & what relation has the God of fire with Neptune God of the sea? If the Poet had wanted to make us understand that the account he gave us was indeed mistaken that of a sea expedition, would he have fallen into such a gross.

He was no doubt aware that it was to the God of the waters that one should address one's wishes. But it was Vulcan that needed to be favored, because fire is absolutely required, & what fire? a fire of corruption & putrefaction. The Argonauts recognized its effects at Lemnos; they found women there who exhaled a stinking and unbearable odor.Such is that of Philosophical matter, when she fell into putrefaction. All putrefaction being caused by humidity and the internal fire which acts on it, it could not be better signified than by women, who in the Hermetic style are its ordinary symbol.

Morien says (Talk of King Calid.) that the smell of matter is like that of corpses; & some Philosophers have given to matter in this state the name of Assafoetida. The massacre that these women had made of their husbands signifies the dissolution of the fixed by the action of the volatile commonly designated by women. Volatilization is indicated more particularly in this circumstance of the voyage of the Argonauts, because Thoas, father of Hypsiphile, who comes from, celery, celeriter moveo.And by his daughter whose name means, who loves heights. It is thus that Mr. Abbé Banier & several others always call her, although Homer (Iliad. 1. 7. v. 469.) & Apollonius (Argonaut. 1. I. v. 637.) call her Hypsiphile.

Which also suits the volatile part of matter, which rises up to the entrance or the mouth of the sealed vessel, & closed like a bricked up & well-clad door.

The Argonauts enjoyed themselves in this Isle, & seemed to have forgotten the reason for their trip, when Hercules awoke them from this slumber, & determined them to leave this stay (Apoll. ibid. v. 864.).

No sooner had they left the shore than the Tyrrhenians gave them a bloody fight, in which all were wounded, and Glaucus disappeared. It is the combat of the volatile & the fixed, which is succeeded by blackness which was preceded by the color blue. So Apollonius adds, c. 922.

Illinc profunda nigri pelagi handed over transmiterunt.

Ut hac Thracum tellurem, hac contrariam

Haberent superius imbrum.

And as the Philosophers also give the names of night, darkness to this darkness, the same Author continues:

........... At sole convenience

Occaso becomeunt ad precurrentem peninsulam.

The Argonauts having landed on a certain Isle, they erected an Altar of small stones (Ibid.v.1123. & siuv.) in honor of the mother of the Gods or Cybele Dindymene, that is to say, the Earth. Titye & Mercury, who alone had aided & favored our Heroes, were not forgotten.

It was not without reason. When matter begins to settle, it changes into earth, which becomes the mother of the Hermetic Gods. In the state of blackness, Saturn is the first of all. Cybtle or Rhée his wife is this first Philosophical earth, which becomes mother of Jupiter or of the gray color that this earth takes. Tirye was that famous Giant, son of Jupiter & the Nymph Elate, whom Jupiter hid in the earth to save it from the wrath of Juno. Homer says Titye son of the very Earth:

And Tityum vidis terrae gloriosae filium,

Presiratum in solo.

Odys.I. 11.v. 575.

As the volume of the Philosophical earth always increases as the water coagulates and fixes itself, the Poets have pretended that this Titye was always increasing, so that it became of an enormous size. He wanted, it is said, to attack the honor of Latona, mother of Apollo and Diana, who killed him with an arrow.

That is to say, this Philosophical earth, which is not yet absolutely fixed, and which is designated by Latona, as we will see in the following Book, becomes fixed, when the whiteness, called Diana or the Moon of the Philosophers, & the redness or Apollo appear. As for the honors rendered to Mercury, we know the reason, since he is one of the principal agents of the work.Apollonius only puts these three as the only protectors & the only guides of the Argonauts (Lib. I. v. 1125.): indeed,

After our Heroes had traveled the coasts of little Mysia & Troad, they persisted in Bebrycia, where Pollux killed Amycus who had challenged him to the fight of the cestus; that is to say, the matter began to settle after its designated volatilization by the fight.

It is even more particularly indicated by the Harpies, who had hooked hands & wings of bronze, driven out by Calais & Zeres son of Boreas; for the Philosophers give the name of bronze or laton or leton to their matter in this state: Dealbate latonem & rumpite libre, ne corda vestra. disrumpantur (Morien & nearly all Adepts.). The Argonauts having left Bebrycia, landed in the country where Phineus, son of Agenor, soothsayer and blind, was constantly molested by these Harpies.They removed the meat that was served to him, & infected those they left behind. To volatilize is to remove.

Calais, which is the name of a stone, & Zealous drove them out & confined them to Isle Plote, that is to say, which floats or swims, because matter, by coagulating, forms an Isle floating, like that of Delos, where Latona gave birth to Diana. The two sons of Boreas are expressed in Basil Valentine in these terms (12 Clefs, Cl. 6.) “Two winds must then blow on matter, one called Vulturnus, or East wind, the other Notus, south wind. These winds must therefore blow unceasingly, until the air has become water; then have confidence, and count that the spiritual will become corporeal, that is to say, that the volatile parts will be fixed.

All the names given to Harpies express something volatile and dark. Next Brochart, Occipete, who flies; Celeno, darkness, cloud; Hello, storm; from which he concluded that they only meant locusts. They were daughters of Neptune & Earth; that is to say, of the earth & the mercurial water of the Philosophers. They say the Harpies sisters of Isis, and they are right; since Isis is none other than the colors of the rainbow, which appear on matter after its putrefaction, and when it begins to volatilize.

According to Apollonius, Phineus was the son of Agenor, & lived on a coast opposite Bithynia. Father Banier called him the son of Phoenix, King of Salmidesse, without telling us where this Phoenix was descended from. It would be quite difficult for Phineus to have lived until the time of the Argonauts, and even for him to have been in Thrace, for two centuries must have elapsed, according to the calculation of Abbé Banier himself, since Agenor. until the Trojan War; therefore, according to him, Phineus would then have been at least 165 years old.

If he is said to be the grandson of Agenor by Phoenix, this Mythologist will not be less embarrassed since he says (T. III. p. 57.), according to Hygin (Fab. 178.), that Phoenix settled in Africa, when he was looking for his sister Europe.Phineus was blind; what was added to mark the blackness called night & darkness, since it is always night for a blind man. The Harpies tormented him only after Neptune had taken away his sight; that is to say, the mercurial water had caused the putrefaction. These monsters, symbols of the volatile parts, had wings and a woman's face, to mark their lightness, since, according to an Ancient;

Quid levius fumo? flamen. What about flame? ventus.

What about wind? Muller. What about mussel? nihil.

When we say that Phineus was a diviner, it is because darkness being the key to the work, it announces success to the Artist, who, knowing the theory of the rest of the operations, sees everything that will happen next.

To convince the reader of the correctness and the truth of the explanations that I have just given, it suffices to put before his eyes what Flamel says on this subject (Explicat. de ses fig. ch. 4.); he will see these Harpies there under the name of Winged Dragons; the infection & the stench they produced on the seas of Phineus, & finally their flight. He will be able to compare it with the portraits that Virgil (En. I. 3.) & Ovide (Foest. L. 6.) make of it; he will conclude that the name Dragon suits them perfectly.

"The cause why I painted these two sperm in the form of Dragons, said Flamel, is because their stench is very strong, as is that of Dragons, & the exhalations which rise in the matrass are dark, black & blue, yellowish, as are these Painted Dragons; the strength of which & the dissolved bodies is so venomous, that truly there is no greater venom in the world because it is capable by its strength & its stench of causing death & killing all living things. The Philosopher never smells this stench, if he does not break his vessels; but only he judges her, such by the sight and the change of colors which come from the rotting of her garments. "

“At the same time matter dissolves, corrupts, blackens & conceives in order to engender, because all corruption is generation, & one must always wish for this blackness. She is also that black veil, with which the Ship of Theseus returned victorious from Crete, which was the cause of the death of her father. Also, the father must die, so that from the ashes of this Phoenix, another will be reborn, and the son may be King. »

“Certainly who does not see this darkness at the beginning of his operations, during the days of stone! what other color he sees, the magisterium lacks it entirely, & can no longer perfect it with this chaos. Because it does not work well, it does not putrefy, especially since if one does not rot, one does not corrupt or breed: & truly I tell you once again, that even if you would work on the real materials;

if at the beginning, after having put the confections in the Philosophical egg, that is to say, some time after the fire has irritated them, you do not see this black crow's head of the very black black, you must start again . That therefore those who will not have this essential omen withdraw early from operations, so that they avoid an assured loss....

Some time later,the water begins to thicken & coagulate more, coming like very black pitch; & finally comes body & earth, which the envious have called fetid & stinking earth. Because then, because of the perfect putrefaction which is as natural as any other, this earth is stinky, and gives off an odor similar to the stench of sepulchers filled with rotting and bones still charged with natural humor. This land was called by Hermes the land of leaves; nevertheless its proper & true name is the laton or brass which must then be whitened.

The ancient Cabalist sages described it in the metamorphoses under different stories, among others under that of the serpent of Mars which had devoured the companions of Cadmus, who killed him by piercing him with his spear against a hollow oak tree.Note this, Oak.

One cannot therefore have a more happy omen in the first forty days, than this darkness or blind Phineus; that is to say, the matter which in the first work had acquired the color red, & so much splendor & brilliance, that it had deserved the names of Phoenix & Sun, is found in the beginning of the second. , obscured, eclipsed, & without light; which could hardly be better expressed than loss of sight. Phineus had, it is said, received the gift of prophecy from Apollo; because Phineus was himself the Apollo of the Philosophers in the first work, or the first preparation.

Flamel says positively that what I have just reported from him must refer to the second operation.“So here I am painting two bodies for you, one male and the other female,” he continues at the beginning of chapter V, to teach you that in this second operation you truly, but not yet perfectly, have two conjoined & married natures , the masculine & the feminine, or rather the four elements. »

Orpheus, or the inventor of this account of the voyage of the Argonauts, being aware of the work. it was not difficult for him to get Phineus to tell them the route they were to take, and what they were to do next; also the wise & prudent Pilot Orpheus leads them to the sound of his guitar, & tells them what to do to protect themselves from the dangers so they are threatened by the Syrtes, the Sirens, Scylla, Carybdis, the Roches Cyanées, & all the other pitfalls.

These last two are two heaps of rocks at the entrance to Pont-Euxin, of an irregular shape, part of which is on the side of Asia, the other of Europe; & which leave between them, according to Strabo (Book 7.), only a space of twenty stadia.The Ancients said that these rocks were mobile, and that they approached to engulf the ships,

These two pitfalls had something to surprise our Heroes; the portrait that Phineus had made of them would have been capable of intimidating them, if it had not at the same time taught them how they should get out of it. It was to release a dove on that side, and if it flew beyond, they had only to continue their journey, otherwise they had to decide to return.

One cannot praise the inventor of this fiction too highly for the care he took not to omit almost a single remarkable circumstance of what happens in the progress of the operations. When the black color begins to lighten, the material takes on a dark blue color, which participates in black & blue; these two colors, although distinct from each other, seem, however, at a certain distance, to form only one violet.

This is why Flamel says (Loc. cit.); “I had the field where these two azure & blue figures are painted, to show that matter is only beginning to come out of the very black darkness.For the azure & blue is one of the first colors that the obscure woman lets us see, that is to say, the humidity yielding a little to the heat & the dryness... When the dryness will dominate, everything will be white . Can we not see in this description the Cyanated rocks, since we know that their very name signifies a blackish blue color. It was necessary before crossing them to pass a dove over them; that is, to volatilize matter; it was the only way, because you can't succeed without it.

Beyond the Cyanean rocks, our heroes were to leave Bithynia on the right, touch only Isle Thyérée, and approach the Mariandinians. The tombs of the Paphlagonians, over which Pelops had reigned formerly, and from which they flatter themselves to have descended, are not far from there, Phineus tells them (Apoll. Argon. 1. 2. v. 356. ). He was right; since matter then only leaves the color black, designated there by Pelops. It is also from this color which comes from putrefaction that the Philosophers have taken the opportunity, says Flamel, to make their allegories of tombs, and to give it their name. Opposite to the Big Dipper rose in the sea a mountain called Carambim, above which the Aquilon excited storms.

Jewish Abraham used this symbol to mean the same thing; we find it in its hieroglyphic figures, reported by Flamel: (Explic. des figs. Avant-propos. ) "On the other side of the fourth sheet, was a beautiful flower at the top of a very high mountain, shook very roughly.

It had the blue stem, the white & red flowers, the leaves shining like fine gold, around which the Aquilonian Dragons & Griffons made their nest & their home. Not far from there, continues Apollonius, the little river Iris rolls its silvery waters , and will throw itself into the sea.Jupiter the hospitable, you will descend to an uninhabited Isle, from which you will hunt all the birds that are there in large numbers.You will find a Temple there that the Amazons Ottera & Antiope had built in honor of Mars, after their expedition. Don't miss it, I implore you, for you will be presented from the sea with a thing of inexpressible value. On the other side live the Philyres, above the Macrones, then the Byzeres, & finally you will arrive in Colchis.

You will pass through the Cytaic territory, which extends to the mountain of Amaranthe, then through the lands watered by the Phasis, from the mouth of which you can see the palace of Ætes, and the forest of Mars. , where the Golden Fleece hangs. I conjure you, for you will be presented there from the sea with a thing of inexpressible value.On the other side live the Philyres, above the Macrones, then the Byzeres, & finally you will arrive in Colchis. You will pass through the Cytaic territory, which extends to the mountain of Amaranthe, then through the lands watered by the Phasis, from the mouth of which you can see the palace of Ætes, and the forest of Mars. , where the Golden Fleece hangs.

I conjure you, for you will be presented there from the sea with a thing of inexpressible value. On the other side live the Philyres, above the Macrones, then the Byzeres, & finally you will arrive in Colchis.You will pass through the Cytaic territory, which extends to the mountain of Amaranthe, then through the lands watered by the Phasis, from the mouth of which you can see the palace of Ætes, and the forest of Mars. , where the Golden Fleece hangs.

This is the whole route that Phineus prescribes for them, and it is not wrong that he assures them that he has forgotten nothing (Apollonius, 1. 2. v. 392.). After the black color comes the grey, to which succeeds the white or the silver, the Moon of the Philosophers; Phineus indicates it by the silvery waters of the little river Iris; it marks its igneous quality by the river Thermodon. After the white comes the color of iron rust, which the Philosophers call Mars.

Phineus designates it by the residence of the Calybes iron workers, by the Isle & the Temple of Mars raised by the Amazons Otrera & Antiope, that is to say, by the action of the volatile parts fur the fixed, that the must be recognized by the term of the expedition which had preceded.It was necessary to chase all the birds from this Isle, that is to say, that everything that is volatile must be fixed; because when the material has acquired the color of rust, it is absolutely fixed, and all it needs is to fortify itself in color; this is why Phineus says that they will pass through the Cytaic territory, or the color of the pomegranate flower, which leads to Mount Amaranthe.

We know that the amaranth is a purple-colored flower, and which is a species of everlasting. It is the color which indicates the perfection of the stone or sulfur of the Philosophers. All these colors are announced in a few words by d'Espagnet (Can.53.): “We must, he says, look for & necessarily find three kinds of very beautiful flowers in the Garden of the Wise Men.Purple violets, lilies & immortal amaranths. The violets are found at the entrance. The golden river that waters them, makes them take on a sapphire color; industry and labor then lead to the lily, which is imperceptibly succeeded by the amaranth. Do we not recognize in these few words the whole journey of the Argonauts? What more did they have to do? It was necessary to enter the river Phasis, or which bears gold. They indeed entered it, the sons of Phryxus welcomed our Heroes perfectly;

Jason was conducted to Aetes, son of the Sun, who had married the daughter of the Ocean, by whom he had had Medea.The son of the Sun is therefore the possessor of this treasure, and his granddaughter provides the means to acquire it; that is to say, the perfect preparation of the material principles of the work is completed; & that the Artist has reached the generation of the son of the Sun of the Philosophers. But there are three labors to complete the whole work; the first is represented by the journey of the Argonauts to Colchis; the second because Jason did so to seize the Golden Fleece, and the third by their return to their homeland.

We have explained the first long enough to give an idea of ​​​​the others; that's why we'll be shorter on the next two.

An infinity of obstacles and perils present themselves in Jason's footsteps. A Dragon the size of a ship with fifty oars is the guardian of the Golden Fleece; it must be conquered, and who would dare to undertake it without the protection of Pallas and the bow of Medea? It is this Dragon of which so many Philosophers speak, and from which it suffices to relate only a few texts. “It is necessary, says Raymond Lully (Theor. ch. 6.), to extract from these three things, the great Dragon, which is the radical and principal beginning of the permanent alteration. And further down (chap. 10.) “For this reason it must be said allegorically that this great Dragon came out of the four elements. » (chap. 9. ) «

The great Dragon is rectified in this liquor.(chap. 52.) "The Dragon dwells in all things, that is to say, the fire in which is our aerial stone." This property is found in all the individuals of the world, (chap. 54.) The unnatural fire is contained in the fetid menstruation, which transmutes our stone into a certain venomous, vigorous and voracious Dragon, which impregnates its own mother. »

There are few philosophers who do not employ the allegory of the Dragon: more than sufficient proofs of it will be found throughout this work. This Dragon being a fire, according to the expression of Raymond Lully, it is not surprising that it was pretended that that of the Golden Fleece threw fire through its mouth and nostrils. One can only succeed in killing it by throwing into its mouth a narcotic and soporific composition; that is to say, that the putrefaction of fixed matter can only be brought about by the aid and action of mercurial water, which seem to extinguish it by dissolving it. It is only by this means that one can tear out his teeth, that is to say, the seed of Philosophical gold, which must then be sown.

Each operation being only a repetition of that which preceded it, as to what manifests itself in progress, it is easy to explain one when one has an understanding of the other. This, then, begins, like the preceding, with putrefaction; the type of death of this Dragon, and the accidents that accompany it are expressed in the Testament of Arnaud de Villeneuve D'Espagnet says (Cant. 50.) also that one can only overcome the Philosophical Dragon by bathing him in water. It was this clear water that Medea gave to Jason.

But it is not enough to have killed the Dragon; Bulls also present themselves vomiting fire; they must be tamed by the same means, and put under the yoke. I have sufficiently explained in the chapter of Apis what must be understood by the Bulls, that is to say, the true primordial matter of the work; it is with these animals that one must plow the Philosophical field, and throw there the prepared seed which suits it.

Jason used the same stratagem to defeat the Dragon & the Bulls; but the principal means which he employed was to provide himself with the medal of the Sun and the Moon. With this pantacule, one is sure to succeed. It is in the preceding operations that we find it;and there is nothing of which the Philosophers make more mention than of these two luminaries.

Scarcely are the Dragon's teeth in the ground when armed men come out and kill each other. That is to say, as soon as the auric seed is put on the earth, the fixed and volatile natures act on each other; there is a fermentation caused by the material fixed in stone; the fight begins; the vapors rise and fall, until everything precipitates, and a fixed and permanent substance results, the possession of which procures that of the Golden Fleece. Virgil speaks of these Bulls (Georg. 2.) in these terms:

Haec loca non Tauri spirantes naribus ignem

Invertere, fatis immanis dentibus hydri,

Nec galeïs, densique virum, seges horruit hastis.

Some say that this Fleece was white, others purple in color; but the Fable teaches us that it had been gilded by Mercury, before it was suspended in the forest of Mars. It had consequently passed from the color white to yellow, then to the color of rust, and finally to the color of purple. Mercury had gilded it, since the citrine color which is intermediate between white and rusty, is an effect of mercury.

It is appropriate to point out with Apollonius (Argonaut. 1. 3. v. 996.), that Medea & Ariadne, one & the other granddaughters of the Sun, provide Theseus & Jason with the means to conquer the monsters they want to fight against. The resemblance which is found in the expeditions of these two Princes proves that these two fictions were imagined with the same object in mind.

They both begin with a few companions, Theseus arrived and finds a monster to fight, the Minotaur; Jason also has Bulls to defeat. Theseus, to reach the Minotaur, is obliged to go through all the detours of a labyrinth always in danger of perishing there; Jason has a no less difficult road ahead, through pitfalls & enemies.Ariadne falls in love with Theseus, & against the interests of her own father, furnishes her lover with the means of emerging victorious from the dangers to which he must expose himself; Medea finds herself in the same situation; & in such a circumstance, she provides Jason with everything he needs to win;

Ariadne leaves her father, her homeland, & flees with Theseus, who then abandons her in the Isle of Naxo, to marry Phaedra, by whom he had Hippolytus & Demophoon, after having had, according to some Authors, Oenopion & Staphilus from Ariadne. Medea also flees with Jason, who had had two children, left her to take Creusa. The children of one and the other perished miserably like their mothers;Theseus died precipitated from the top of a rock in the sea, Jason perished under the ruins of the Ship Argo. Medea abandoned by Jason married Aegeus, Ariadne Bacchus. It is finally visible that these two fictions are only the same thing explained by allegories, whose circumstances we wanted to vary to make two different stories.

If the Mythologists would take the trouble to reflect on this resemblance, could they prevent themselves from opening their eyes to their error; & would they go to such lengths to relate to history what is palpably only pure fiction? These are not the only two fables that have an immediate connection; that of Cadmus no less resembles that of Jason.The same Dragon that must be slain, the same teeth that must be sown, the same armed men who are born from it and kill each other: there is a Bull whom Cadmus follows; here of Bulls that Jason fights. If we finally wanted to bring together all the old Fables,

Return of the Argonauts.

The Authors are even less in agreement on the whole that the Argonauts held to have returned to Greece, than they are on the other circumstances of this expedition; also it is not for mother Historians, or Poets who are unacquainted with the Hermetic Philosophy, to describe what happens in the progress of the operations of this Art.

Herodotus (L. 4.) does not detail it long enough for Abbé Banier to be able to say (T. III. p. 242.) with reason that this Historian alone provides enough to rectify the relationship of the others; one could only surmise from what he says of it, that the Argonauts followed in returning about the same course they had taken in going. Hecataeus of Millet wants these Heroes to have passed from the river Phasis into the Ocean, from there into the Nile, then into the Tyrrhenian Sea, or the Mediterranean, and finally into their country.

Arthemidore of Ephesus refutes this Author, and brings as proof that the Phasis does not communicate with the Ocean. Timagete, Timaeus & several others maintain that the Argonauts passed through all the places mentioned by Orpheus, Apollonius of Rhodes, &c.because they claim that in their time one still found in these places monuments which attested to this passage. As if such monuments, doubtless imagined on the relations themselves, or quoted by these Poets, because they came about in the circumstances that they inserted into their fictions, could make possible what is not.

Olpheus makes the Argonauts travel the eastern coasts of Asia, cross the Cimmerian Bosphorus, the Palus Meotids, then a strait that never existed, by which they entered after nine days the northern ocean; from there they arrived at the isle Peuceste, known to Pilote Antée; then to that of Circe, then to the columns of Hercules, returned to the Mediterranean, skirted Sicily, avoided Scylla & Carybdis, by the help of Thetis, who was interested in the life of Peleus her husband, landed in the land of the Phaeacians , after having been saved from the Sirens by the eloquence of Orpheus, on leaving there they were thrown on the Syrtes of Africa, from which a Triton guaranteed them by means of a tripod. Finally they reached Cape Malea, and then Thessaly.

It seems that Orpheus wanted to openly declare that his relationship was absolutely feigned, by the lack of likelihood that he put into it; but Apollonius of Rhodes has outdone Orpheus much more. The Argonauts, according to him, having remembered that Phineus had recommended them to return to Greece by a different route from which they had taken in going to Colchis, and that this route had been marked by the Priests from Thebes in Egypt, entered a great river which failed them.

They were obliged to carry their ship for twelve days until they found the sea again, with Absytche, brother of Medea, who pursued them, and so they defeated themselves, cutting it into pieces.Then the oak of Dodona pronounced an oracle which predicted to Jason that he would not see his homeland again until he had submitted to the ceremony of atonement for this murder. The Argonauts therefore took the road to Aea, where Circe, sister of the King of Colchos, & aunt of Medea, was staying. She performed all the ceremonies used in expiations, and then sent them away.

Their navigation was fortunate enough for some time; but they were thrown on the Sirtes of Africa, from where they withdrew only with difficulty, and on the conditions reported by Orpheus.

It is obvious that these relations are absolutely false. We excuse these Authors on the lack of knowledge of geography & navigation which was not yet sufficiently perfected in those times. But these errors are so gross & so palpable, that M. l'Abbé Banier, with many other Mythologists who admit the truth of this expedition, could not help saying (T. III. p. 242. ) that it was the height of ignorance & a childish fiction, that these Authors only used to spread what was known in their time about the Peoples who inhabited these distant lands. This learned Mythologist also admits that most of these Peoples are unknown, & did not even exist at the time of Orpheus, or Onomatrice:

It was however necessary to find in these Poets some things on which M.Abbé Banier could establish his historical system. Apollonius provided him with a very flimsy foundation for the truth. They are supposed columns of Colchis, on which this Poet says that all the roads known at that time were engraved. Sesostris is precisely the one who, according to this Mythologist, had these columns erected. unfortunately Sesostris did not come into the world until long after this alleged expedition, even admitting the reality of this journey at the time when this scholar fixes the time.

But this difficulty was of no consequence to him. Apollonius, he says, doubtless possessed the history of Sesostris;& although he was posterior to the expedition of the Argonauts, he was able in anticipation to speak of the monuments that this conqueror left in Colchis. I leave it to the Reader to judge the strength of this evidence. For my part, I prefer to explain Apollonius by himself, and to say with him that the route which he makes the Argonauts take is the same which had been marked out for them by the Priests of Egypt. This is to insinuate quite clearly that the whole thing is pure fiction, & an allegorical account of what happens in the operations of Priestly or Hermetic art.

It was from these very Priests that Orpheus, Apollonius, & many others had learned the road that must be taken to reach the end that is proposed in the practice of this Art.It is therefore very likely that these so-called columns were of the same nature as those of Osiris, Bacchus, and Hercules; that is to say, stone to white & stone to red, which are the two terms of the journeys of these Heroes. The faults against Geography which are reproached to these Poets, are faults only when one considers them from the point of view which would present a true history, but by no means in an allegory of this kind, since everything is perfectly suited to it.

The places which would have been found naturally on the road to Colchis in Greece, would not have been suitable for expressing the allegorical ideas of those Poets, who, without much thought of conforming to Geography, sacrificed its truth to what they had in mind.

Going from Greece to Colchis, everything was arranged as it should be; Lemnos presented itself first, after that came the Cyaneas, & all the rest; but Phineus had been right to prescribe another route for the return, because the operation represented by this return, having to be similar to that which was represented by the journey to Colchos, they would not have found a Lemnos at the exit from Phasis, nor the Cyanea rocks. That would have been reversing the order of what must happen in this last operation.

The dissolution of matter, the black color which is to follow it, & putrefaction having been designated by Lemnos & the bad smell of the women of this Isle, would then have been found in the relation at the end of the work, instead of They must appear from the beginning, since they are the key. It was therefore necessary to imagine another allegory, at the risk of deviating from the plausible as far as Geography is concerned.

This dissolution was designated in the return, by the murder of Absyrthe, and the division of its members, by the loan that Eurypile made to Jason; that is to say, a clod of earth that fell into the water, where Medea having seen it dissolve predicts many things favorable to the Argonauts.

This land is that of the Philosophers, which was formed from water; in order to succeed, it must be reduced to its first matter, which is water; this is why it has been pretended that a son of Neptune had made the present, and that he had been given as a guardian to Euphemus, son of the same God, and of Mecioni, or Oris, daughter of the river Eurotas; others give her for mother Europe, daughter of the famous Titye. Apollonius of Rhodes & Hygin (Fab. 14.) praise Euphemia much for his lightness in running, which was such, they said, that while running on the sea, he hardly wet his feet. Pausanias (In Eliac.) attributes to him great skill in driving a chariot.

Apollonius made such a big deal out of it,that he honors him with the same epithets Homer gives to Achilles in the Iliad; so they were sons, one of Thetis, daughter of Nereus, the other of Osiris, daughter of the river Eurotas, that is to say, of the water. The proof that these two Poets had the same idea of ​​these Heroes, is that Apollonius also brings Thetis, to save the Argonauts from the pitfalls of Scylla & Carybdis, because of her husband Peleus who was among them.

The manner therefore this Poet recounts the event of the clod of earth, clearly proves to those who have carefully read the preceding explanations, that it is a very pure allegory of what is happening in the work since the dissolution of the matter until it becomes earth again, and takes on the color white. The Argonauts being on the isle of Anaphe, one of the Sporades, close to that of Thera, Euphemia remembered a dream he had had the night after the interview with Triton, and Eurypilus. ,

who had given him the clod of earth, and told it to Jason and the other Argonauts. He had seen in a dream that he was holding the clod of earth in his arms, and that he saw flowing from his bosom over it a quantity of drops of milk which, as they soaked it,made her imperceptibly assume the form of a very amiable young girl. He had fallen in love with her as soon as she seemed perfect to him, and had had no trouble getting her to consent to what he wanted; but he had repented at the time of an intercourse which he believed to be incestuous. The girl had reassured him by telling him that he was not his father; that she was the daughter of Triton & Libya, & that she would one day be the nurse of her children.

She had added that she lived around the island of Anaphe, and that she would appear on the surface of the waters, when the time came. To bring the reader up to speed, it suffices to remind him of what we have said above of the floating isle, that of Delos, where Latona gave birth to Diana.When we know that matter begins to volatilize after its dissolution,

It is apropos to notice that the Tripod which Jason made a present to the Triton, was of copper, which he put in his Temple. I make this observation to show how all these circumstances agree with the operations of the Hermetic Art, when they have arrived at the point of which we speak; as the Philosophers also give the name of copper to their material in this state, saying whiten the leton.

The Goddesses of the sea and the Genii that Apollonius makes appear to the Argonauts are therefore not the inhabitants of the coasts of Libya; & the winged horse unhitched from the chariot of Neptune, a vessel of Eurypilus (M. l'Abbé Banier, T. III, p. 245.); but the aqueous & volatile parts which sublimate. The ship Argo being only the matter which swims in or on the sea of ​​the Philosophers, that is to say, their mercurial water, it was not difficult for them to carry their ship, and to conform it at the same time to the orders they had to follow in the footsteps of that winged horse which went as fast as the lightest bird. To bring the fables together here, let it be remembered that a Hero also presented Minerva with an antique copper vase.Diodorus of Sicily, who also speaks of the Tripod,

The Authors tell many other things of the return of the Argonauts, but I believe that the explanations which I have given exempt me from entering into any longer detail; it would be necessary, so to speak, to make a commentary, with notes on all that advances these Authors. I therefore confine myself to saying a few words about what happened after Jason's return.

All agree that Medea, having arrived in her lover's country, rejuvenated Eson there, after having cut him into pieces and cooked him. Aeschylus says the same of the nurses of Bacchus. The same is said of Denis & Osiris. The Hermetic Philosophers agree with these Authors, and attribute to their medicine the property of rejuvenating; but we take them literally, and we fall into error.

Balgus (The Peat.) is going to teach us who this Old Man is: “Take, he says, the white tree, build it a round house, dark and surrounded by dew; put inside with him an old man of a hundred years old, and having closed the house exactly so that neither the rain nor even the wind can enter, leave them there for 80 days. I tell you with truth that this Old Man will continue to eat of the fruit of the tree until he is rejuvenated.

O how wonderful is Nature which transforms the soul of this Old Man into a young and vigorous body, and which makes the father become a son! Blessed be God our Creator. »

These last words explain the fact of Medea with regard to Pelias, reported by Ovid & Pausanias (I Arad.); to know, that Medea, to deceive the daughters of Pelias, after rejuvenating Aeson, took an old Ram which she cut into pieces, threw it into a boiler, cooked it, and withdraw it transformed into a young Lamb.

The daughters of Pelias, convinced that the same would happen to their father, dissected him, threw him into a pot of boiling water, where he was so consumed that no part remained capable of burial. Medea after this blow mounted her chariot drawn by two winged dragons, and fled into the air. Here are the Winged Dragons of Nicholas Flamel; that is, the volatile parts.This is why this flight was preceded by the death of Pelias, to mark dissolution and darkness.

Such a perilous expedition, such a painful navigation, the route which the Argonauts followed either in going or in returning, required more time than some Authors count. Some assert that everything was completed in a year; which cannot be reconciled with Jason's two-year stay on the isle of Lymnos. It would then take three years; time taken by the ships of Solomon to fetch gold from the Isle of Ophir. But in vain would the Mythologists try to determine the duration of the navigation of the Argonauts. If Jason was young when he left for Colchis, it is certain that Eson was not old, nor Pelias. The Authors, however, represent them to us as decrepit old men on the return of the Argonauts.


Creteus had Tryp

Aeson had Alcimede

Jason

Aeolus

had a son Atamas of Nephele

Phryxus, Hell Argos, Phrontis, Melas, Cylindus.


Salmonée had

Tiro had Neptune



Neleus, Pelias

Acaste.

We see from this that Pelias, Eson & Phryxus must have been about the same age. Calciope, wife of Phryxus, was Medea's sister, & did everything in her power to foster Jason's passion for her sister. Phryxus was young when he married Calciope, who must not have been old, when Jason, in his twenties, arrived in Colchos, since his sister Medea was also young. It is therefore necessary that the Mythologists conclude either that the expedition of the Argonauts lasted many years, or that Pelias & Eson were not so old as the Authors say.

This difficulty put in all its light would not be easy to solve for the Mythologists. But it appears that the authors of the accounts of the voyage to Colchis did not trouble themselves much about those which might result from it.

Those who were familiar with the Hermetic Art knew well that these alleged difficulties would disappear in the eyes of the Philosophers, whose way of counting months and years is very different from that of ordinary Chronologists. We have seen in the Treatise on this Sacerdotal Art that the Adepts have their seasons, their months, their weeks, and that their way of counting the duration of time even varies according to the different arrangements or operations of the work.This is why they do not seem to agree among themselves when they fix the duration of the work, some at one year, others at fifteen months, others at eighteen, others at three.

We even see some who push it up to ten and twelve years. One can say in general that the work is completed in twelve months or four seasons which make the Philosophical year; but this duration, although composed of the same seasons, is infinitely shortened in the work of the multiplication of the stone, and each multiplication is shorter than that which preceded it. We will explain these seasons in the Mytho-Hermetic Dictionary, which forms a necessary sequel to this work. It is in this sense that we must explain the duration of the voyages of Osiris, of Bacchus;we must also be careful that each Fable is not always an entire allegory of the complete work. Most Authors have only one part for their object, & more commonly the two works of sulfur & elixir,

Let us admit it in good faith, when one has read the stories of Athamas, Ino, Nephele, Phryxus & Hellé, Léarque & Mélicerte, which gave rise to the conquest of the Golden Fleece; when we reflected on those of Pelias, Eson, Jason & the voyage of the Argonauts; Do we find in the very turn of Abbé Banier, and in the explanations that this Mythologist and the other scholars have given, enough to satisfy a mind free from prejudice?

It seems that the doubts multiply as they strive to clear them. They are constantly forced to admit that such and such circumstances are pure fictions; & if we took away from these stories all that they declare fiction, there would perhaps not remain a single circumstance which could reasonably be explained historically.Here is the proof. The story of Nephele is a fable, says M. l'Abbé Banier, Tom. III. p. 203.

That of the transport of the Golden Fleece in Colchis is also, since he says: “To explain circumstances so obviously false, the ancient Mythologists invented a new fable, & said, &c. (ibid.) "There can be no doubt that Jason's journey from Mount Pelion to Iolcos, the loss of his shoe, his crossing of the river Anaurus or Enipeus, according to Homer (Odys.l. II.v.237.), on the shoulders of Juno, are also marked at the same corner. You certainly won't believe that the Argo ship was built of talking oaks.Almost all the traits that make up the history of Jason's companions, each in particular, are recognized as fabulous, either in their genealogy, since they are all or sons of the Gods, or their descendants. It would take too long to go into detail in this look.

This is what preceded the departure; see navigation. The general infection of the women of Lemnos, occasioned by the wrath of Venus, is not likely, even making the wrath of the Goddess disappear; that would be to have a very bad idea of ​​the delicacy of the Argonauts, who were well worth the Lemnians; & far from staying on this Isle for two years, how could they have spent two days there? The abandonment of Hercules in the Troad, who goes to seek Hylas kidnapped by the Nymphs;the Giants of Cyzicus, each of which had six arms and six legs; the fountain which the mother of the gods caused there to come out of the ground, so that Jason might atone for the involuntary murder of Cyzicus,

The general infection of the women of Lemnos, occasioned by the wrath of Venus, is not likely, even making the wrath of the Goddess disappear; that would be to have a very bad idea of ​​the delicacy of the Argonauts, who were well worth the Lemnians; & far from staying on this Isle for two years, how could they have spent two days there? The abandonment of Hercules in the Troad, who goes to seek Hylas kidnapped by the Nymphs; the Giants of Cyzicus, each of which had six arms and six legs;the fountain which the mother of the gods caused there to come out of the ground, so that Jason might atone for the involuntary murder of Cyzicus,

The general infection of the women of Lemnos, occasioned by the wrath of Venus, is not likely, even making the wrath of the Goddess disappear; that would be to have a very bad idea of ​​the delicacy of the Argonauts, who were well worth the Lemnians; & far from staying on this Isle for two years, how could they have spent two days there? The abandonment of Hercules in the Troad, who goes to seek Hylas kidnapped by the Nymphs; the Giants of Cyzicus, each of which had six arms and six legs;the fountain which the mother of the gods caused there to come out of the ground, so that Jason might atone for the involuntary murder of Cyzicus, even removing the wrath of the Goddess; that would be to have a very bad idea of ​​the delicacy of the Argonauts, who were well worth the Lemnians; & far from staying on this Isle for two years, how could they have spent two days there?

The abandonment of Hercules in the Troad, who goes to seek Hylas kidnapped by the Nymphs; the Giants of Cyzicus who each had six arms and six legs; the fountain which the mother of the gods caused there to come out of the ground, so that Jason might atone for the involuntary murder of Cyzicus, even removing the wrath of the Goddess;that would be to have a very bad idea of ​​the delicacy of the Argonauts, who were well worth the Lemnians; & far from staying on this Isle for two years, how could they have spent two days there?

The abandonment of Hercules in the Troad, who goes to seek Hylas kidnapped by the Nymphs; the Giants of Cyzicus, each of which had six arms and six legs; the fountain which the mother of the gods caused there to come out of the ground, so that Jason might atone for the involuntary murder of Cyzicus, who fetches Hylas kidnapped by the Nymphs; the Giants of Cyzicus who each had six arms and six legs; the fountain which the mother of the gods caused there to come out of the ground, so that Jason might atone for the involuntary murder of Cyzicus,who fetches Hylas kidnapped by the Nymphs; the Giants of Cyzicus who each had six arms and six legs; the fountain which the mother of the gods caused there to come out of the ground, so that Jason might atone for the involuntary murder of Cyzicus,

The visit paid to Phineus, constantly molested by the Harpies, chanced by the son of Boreas, is a fiction which doubtless hides some truth (Abbé Ban. loc. cit. p. 229.); the clink of the Cyanea rocks, or Syinpiegades, is a fable (ibid. p. 151. ). The fixation of these rocks, the dove which loses its tail there in the journey, are not truer. The birds of the isle of Arecia, which cast murderous feathers from afar, at the Argonauts, never existed.

At last they are in Colchis; & everything that happened there are fables as extraordinary as they are difficult to explain. (ibid. p. 233.) The Enchantress Medea, the Dragon & the Bulls with feet of bronze, the armed men rising from the ground, the enchanted herbs, the prepared beverage, Jason's victory, his departure with Medea; one can only say that all these fables are only a pure play of the imagination of the Poets. (ibid. p. 235.)

Let's come to the return of the Argonauts. The Poets imagined the murder of Absyrthe. (ibid. p. 238. ) The accounts of this return are extravagant. That of Onomacritus is not probable, and that of Apollonius is even less so. (ibid. p, 240.) It is a fiction, p. 241. The peoples cited by these Authors are either unknown, or did not exist at the time of these Poets, or are placed at random. (p. 242.) What happened at Lake Tritonide is a tale to be told, little background. (p. 244.) The history of Jason and that of Medea are finally mixed with so many fictions, which even destroy each other, that it is very difficult to establish anything certain about them. (ibid. p. 253.)

Shouldn't we be surprised that after such confessions, M. l'Abbé Banier undertook to give these fables for real stories, and that he wanted to take the trouble to bear the cost of the proofs that he brings? I did not propose to discuss all his explanations; I leave them to the judgment of those who do not allow themselves to be dazzled by great scholarship.

CHAPTER II.

History of the Removal of the Golden Apples from the Garden of the Hesperides.

After the story of the conquest of the Golden Fleece, there is hardly one that comes better to our subject than that of the expedition of Hercules to get possession of these famous fruits known to so few people. , that the Authors who have spoken of it have not even agreed on its true name.

The ancient poets gave free rein to their imagination on this subject; and the historians who have spoken of it only according to these fathers of fables, after having sought in vain the place where this Garden was, the name and the nature of these fruits, are almost all contrary to each other. And how could they have said something certain about a fact that never existed?

It is useless to make dissertations to favor the sentiment of one rather than another, since they are all equally in error in this respect. It is therefore with reason that one can regard as hollow and chimerical ideas the explanations of the majority of Mythologists who have wanted to relate everything to history, however ingenious and however brilliant they may be, and although they have illustrious guarantors.

I am here only retorting against the Mythologists the argument that one of them (M. l'Abbé Massieu, Memoires des Belles-Lettres, T. III. p. 49.) made against Michel Maïer; it will be judged whether I am justified in doing so, by the explanations that we will give below.

We must not judge the first Greek poets as those who were, so to speak, only their imitators, either for having treated only the same subjects, or for having worked on others, but in the taste of the first. These, instructed by the Egyptians, took from this People the subjects of their Poems, and disguised them in Greek fashion, according to the genius of their language and their nation.

Struck by the greatness of the object which they had in view, but which they did not want to reveal to the People, they endeavored to treat it by allegories, the marvelousness of which excited admiration and surprise, often without no regard for plausibility, so that sensible people do not take it for a real story, which was only a fiction;& that they feel at the same time that these allegories bear on something real.

The Poets who appeared later, and who were unaware of the point of view of the first, only saw in their works the marvelous. They treated matters according to their genius, and abused the privilege they had of daring everything.

...... Pctoribus attacks Poëtis

Quidlibet audendi semper follows œqua potestas.

Hor. Art. Poet.

On this principle, when they chose for the material of their works subjects already treated, they kept the substance, but they added to it, or cut out circumstances, or made some changes to their fancy, and did not apply themselves, for so to speak, only to excite admiration and surprise, by the marvels that they spread there, without having any other aim than that of pleasing. It is therefore not surprising that we find in them traits which can be explained by the object which their predecessors had in mind. But as a subject is capable of a thousand different allegories, each Poet has treated it in his own way.

I therefore do not claim that all Fables can be explained by my system, but only the old ones, which are based on Egyptian & Phoenician fictions;since we know that the most ancient Greek poets drew theirs from it, as it would be easy to prove by making a concordance, which would clearly prove that they all have the same object.

Fables are therefore not all ingenious lies, but only those which have no other object than to please. The one in question here, & almost all those of Orpheus, Homer & the oldest Poets are allegories that hide instructions under the veil of genealogy, & of the alleged actions of the Gods, Goddesses or their descendants.

When one wants to reduce the fable of the Hesperides to history, one does not know how to go about determining something precise. Each Historian claims that he should be believed in preference to any other, and yet gives no solid proof of his opinion. They are divided into so many different opinions that one cannot settle for anything. Herodotus, the oldest of historians, and very knowledgeable in all fables, makes no mention of that of the Hesperides, nor of many others; doubtless because he regarded them as fictions.

Traditions being always purer the closer they approach their source, he would have been in a better position than the other historians to leave us something less doubtful, although he is accused of having been a little too credulous. .Will it be to Paléphate that it will be necessary to refer to it? all the Mythologists agree that he is a very suspect Author, accustomed to forging explanations, and to giving to his imagination the existence of persons who have never been (M. l'Abbé Banier, Myth. T. III 283.).

He says (chap. 19.) that Hesperus was a rich Milesian, who went to settle in Caria. He had two daughters, named Hesperides, who had many flocks of sheep, which were called Golden Sheep, because of their beauty. They entrusted the guardianship of it to a Shepherd, named Dragon; but Hercules passing through the country kidnapped the Shepherd & the flocks.

Nothing could be simpler than this explanation of Palephate; all admiration, all the marvelousness of this fable would be reduced to so little, that it would certainly not deserve to be counted among the famous works of the son of Jupiter and Alcmene.

There are no fables which cannot be explained so easily, by imitating Palaphates; but is it permitted to change names, places, circumstances of facts, and the very nature of things? Despite the lack of solidity of the reasoning of this Author; despite the lack of conformity which is found between his explanation & the fact reported by the Poets, Agroetas, another Historian quoted by the ancient Scholiastes, seems to have followed Paléphate, & said in the third book of Libyan things, that they were not Apples , but sheep, which were called golden sheep, because of their beauty. And the Shepherd who had custody of it was not a Dragon, but a man so named, because he had the vigilance and ferocity of this animal. Varro & Servius adopted these ideas.

This opinion, however, has not had so many partisans as that of those who have adhered to the proper terms of the Poets. These claimed that the others had been deceived by the ambiguity of the term, which also means Sheep & Apple, and we do not see any other reasons that could have made them deceive.

Those who have looked at these fruits as real fruits have been no less embarrassed when it came to determining their species. Golden apples do not grow on trees; but they were, they say, so called, because they were excellences; or because the trees which carried them were of great value; or finally because these fruits had a color approaching that of gold.These claimed that the others had been deceived by the ambiguity of the term, which also means Sheep & Apple, and we do not see any other reasons that could have made them deceive. Those who have looked at these fruits as real fruits have been no less embarrassed when it came to determining their species.

Golden apples do not grow on trees; but they were, they say, so called, because they were excellences; or because the trees which carried them were of great value; or finally because these fruits had a color approaching that of gold. These claimed that the others had been deceived by the ambiguity of the term, which also means Sheep & Apple, and we do not see any other reasons that could have made them deceive.

Those who have looked at these fruits as real fruits have been no less embarrassed when it came to determining their species. Golden apples do not grow on trees; but they were, they say, so called, because they were excellences; or because the trees which carried them were of great value; or finally because these fruits had a color approaching that of gold. were hardly less embarrassed when it came to determining its species. Golden apples do not grow on trees; but they were, they say, so called, because they were excellences; or because the trees which carried them were of great value; or finally because these fruits had a color approaching that of gold.were hardly less embarrassed when it came to determining its species. Golden apples do not grow on trees; but they were, they say, so called, because they were excellences; or because the trees which carried them were of great value; or finally because these fruits had a color approaching that of gold.

Diodorus of Sicily (Bibliot. 1. 5. c. 13.), uncertain about the side he should take, leaves the freedom to think what you want, & says that they were fruits or Sheep. He fabricates a story in this respect absolutely contrary to what the Poets had said. M. l'Abbé Massieu (Mém. des Belles-Lettres, T. III p. 31.) regards this story as the most solid thing that remains to us on the subject we are examining, although there is no mention of the orders of Eurystée, nor of what preceded the removal of these fruits, nor of any of the circumstances of this expedition. According to Diodorus, chance led Hercules to the shore of the Atlantis Sea, on the return from some of his expeditions.

There he found the daughters of Atlas whom a Pirate had kidnapped by order of Busiris;he killed the corsairs, & brought the Hesperides back to their father, who out of gratitude presented Hercules with fruits, or sheep that his daughters kept or cultivated with extreme care. Atlas, who was well versed in the Science of the Stars, also wanted to initiate the Hero into the principles of Astronomy, and gave him a sphere. This, in substance, is the story of Diodorus, who places this fact in the most western part of Africa, instead of Palephate in Caria.

Pliny the Naturalist (Book 5.) does not know where to place it; as it follows the feeling of those who admitted fruits, it was also necessary to find the Garden where they grew. In his time, some put him in Bérénice, a city in Libya, others in Lixe, a city in Mauritania. An arm of the sea which winds around this city gave, he says, to the Poets the idea of ​​their Dragon. Scholars hold for the latter place.

This difference of feelings proves the uncertainty of historians on this subject. We do not know which side to take, even after having brought together & confronted their testimonies. Palephate admits only two Hesperides, daughters of Hesperus Milesian;

Diodorus says they were seven daughters of Atlas in Mauritania. According to some Hercules came at gunpoint to remove the golden apples. According to others, he only appeared there as a liberator.There are those who claim that a ferocious and brutal man guarded these Sheep: if we are to believe the others, it was not a man, nor a dragon, but an arm of the sea. something historical to conclude from all this, everything would be reduced to saying that there were sisters named Hesperides, who cultivated beautiful fruits, or who took care of beautiful sheep, & that Hercules took some away or took some to Greece.

This little thing would not even be without difficulty; it would then be a question of knowing if the son of Alcmene was ever in Mauritania; if he lived in the time of Atlas, & even if Atlas lived in the time of Busiris. Each article would still require a dissertation, from which one could conclude nothing more certain.

Admitting for a moment that these golden apples were fruits, scholars, as uncertain of their species as of where they grew, have raised great disputes among themselves. Budée (Comment, on Théophr.) claims that they are dies; Saumaise & Spanheim, that it was oranges, & several scholars, that it was lemons. The first bases his opinion on the term which means apples of gold, a name which has often been given to wedges.

But this name proves no more for wedges than for oranges & lemons, which also have the color of gold; & those who are for these last fruits, rely on the same proof; they add a few other equally flimsy ones, which is why I won't report them. And besides, were these fruits so rare,that they had to be entrusted to the guard of a monstrous dragon? It is surprising that Palephate, and those who adopted his opinion, thought of such an unnatural explanation. The ambiguity of the term cannot excuse it, since the sheep are not born on the trees, like the fruits. As for those who take these apples for oranges or lemons, they should have been careful that the Poets do not say that they were golden apples, but golden apples, & even the very trees. who wore them.

Arborea fronds, says Ovid. radiant auro nitentes,

Ex auro ramos, ex auro poma ferebant.

Metam. 1. 4.

Let us therefore see what the Poets have said of this famous Garden; the place inhabited by the Hesperides was a Garden where all that nature has of beauty was gathered. Gold shone there on all sides; it was the abode of delights and fairies. Those who lived there blood admirably well (Apoll. Argonaut. 1. 4. v. 1396. & seq.). They liked to take on all sorts of figures, and to surprise the spectators with sudden metamorphoses.

If we believe the same Poet, the Argonauts visited the Hesperides; they addressed themselves to them, conjuring them to show them some source of water, because they were extremely pressed by thirst. But instead of answering them, they instantly turned to earth and dust:

Orpheus, who was aware of the prodigy, was not disconcerted by it; he conjured again these daughters of the Ocean, and redoubled his prayers. They listened to him favorably; but before answering them, they were first metamorphosed into herbs, which grew little by little from this earth.

These plants grew imperceptibly, branches and leaves formed in them, so that in a moment Hespera became Poplar, Erytheis an Abalone, Egle found a Willow.The other Argonauts, seized with astonishment at this spectacle, did not know what to think or what to do, when Eglé, in the form of a tree, reassured them, and told them, that fortunately for them an intrepid man had come the day before, who without respect for them had killed the Dragon guardian of the golden apples, & had escaped with these fruits of the Goddesses, that this man had a proud look, his face hard, that he was covered with a lion's skin, armed with a club and a bow with arrows, which he had used to kill the monstrous dragon.

This man was also burning with thirst, and did not know where to find water. But in the end, either by industry or by inspiration, he stamped the earth with his foot, and there sprang forth an abundant spring, from which he drank in long drafts.The Argonauts having noticed that Egle during his speech had made a gesture of the hand, which seemed to indicate to them the source of water issuing from the rock, they ran there, and quenched their thirst there, giving thanks to Hercules for this that he had rendered such a great service to his companions, although he was not with them. which he had used to kill the monstrous Dragon. This man was also burning with thirst, and did not know where to find water. But in the end, either by industry or by inspiration, he stamped the earth with his foot, and there sprang forth an abundant spring, from which he drank in long drafts.

The Argonauts having noticed that Egle during his speech had made a gesture of the hand, which seemed to indicate to them the source of water issuing from the rock, they ran there, and quenched their thirst there, giving thanks to Hercules for this that he had rendered such a great service to his companions, although he was not with them. which he had used to kill the monstrous Dragon. This man was also burning with thirst, and did not know where to find water. But in the end, either by industry or by inspiration, he stamped the earth with his foot, and there sprang forth an abundant spring, from which he drank in long drafts.The Argonauts having noticed that Egle during his speech had made a gesture of the hand, which seemed to indicate to them the source of water issuing from the rock, they ran there, and quenched their thirst there, giving thanks to Hercules for this that he had rendered such a great service to his companions, although he was not with them.

After having made enchantresses of these daughters of Atlas, all that remained for the Poets was to make them Divinities; the Ancients had perhaps not had the idea, but Virgil provided for it (Aeneid. L. 4.). He gave them a Temple & a Priestess, formidable for the sovereign empire she exercises over all Nature. It is she who is the guardian of the sacred branches, and who feeds the Dragon; she commands black sorrows, she stops the rivers in their course, she makes the stars retrograde, and compels the dead to come out of their tombs.

Such is the portrait that the Poets make of the Hesperides, and if they do not all agree either on the number of these Nymphs, or on the place where this famous Garden was located, at least they all agree in saying that it was golden apples & not sheep; that the Garden was guarded by a Dragon, that Hercules killed it & removed these fruits. Juno, it is said, brought as a dowry from her marriage to Jupiter trees which bore these golden apples.

This God was enchanted; & as he had them infinitely at heart, he sought the means to protect them from the attacks of those to whom these fruits would envy, he entrusted them for this purpose to the care of the Hesperides Nymphs, who enclosed the place with walls. where these trees were planted, & placed a Dragon to guard the entrance.

Only three Hesperides Nymphs are commonly admitted, daughters of Hesperus, brother of Atlas, and their names were Eglé, Arethuse & Hesperethuse. Some Poets add a fourth which is Hespera; others a fifth which is Erytheis, & others finally a sixth under the name of Vesta, Diodorus of Sicily makes them go up to seven. Hesiod (Theogon. v. 315.) gives them the night for mother; Father Massieu is surprised, and cannot, he says, guess why this Poet gives such an ugly mother to such beautiful daughters.

We will find a good reason for this below. Chèrétcrate makes them daughters of Phorcys & Cero, two Divinities of the sea. As for the Dragon, Phérécyde says he is the son of Thyphon & Echidna, & Pisandre of the earth, which is the same thing in my system.The lack of agreement that there is between the Authors on the situation of the Garden of the Hesperides, proves in some way that it never existed. Most poets place it near Mount Atlas, on the western coasts of Africa.

Oceani finem juxtà, solemique cadentem

Ultimus Ethyopum locus est, ubi maximus Atlas

Axent humero torquet stellis ardentibus aptum.

Eneid. 1. 4.

Historians place them near Lixe, a town in Mauritania on the borders of Ethiopia; a few at Tingi, with Pliny (L. 5.c. 5.). But Hesiod transports it beyond the ocean, and others, following his example, place it in the Canaries or the Fortunate Isles, doubtless for the reason which made Bochart conjecture (Myth. 1. 7. c. 7.) that these Apples or Sheep meant only the rich of Atlas;

because the Phoenician word Melon, from which the Greeks made Malon, also means rich & apples. This last sentiment approaches a little closer to the truth than the others, because it has a more immediate connection with the true meaning of allegory. But still, since historians cannot conclude anything certain from this variety of opinions, then they should agree that it is fiction.

They have a good reason, since the Historians speak of it only according to the Poets; and that even if there were something historical in them, he is so absorbed by what is only pure fiction that it is impossible to tellangle him. The affectation that we notice in them to make the facts improbable, must naturally make us think that they never intended to preserve for us the memory of really historical facts.

Among those who looked at this fable as an allegory, Noël le Conte saw in it the finest morality in the world. He claims (Chan. 1.IcI) that the supervising Dragon who guarded the Golden Apples is the natural image of the misers, hard and ruthless men, who do not close their eyes day or night; & who, eaten away by their mad passion, do not want others to touch a gold of which they make no use.

Tzetzez, & after him Vossius (De orig. & progr. Idol. 1.2. p. 384.), find in this fable the Sun, the Stars & all the luminous bodies of the firmament. The Hesperides are the last hours of the day. Their Garden is the firmament. The Golden Apples are the stars.

The Dragon is or the horizon, which except below the line, cuts the equator at oblique angles; or the zodiac, which extends obliquely from one tropic to another. Hercules is the sun, because his name means the glory of the air. The Sun appearing on the horizon makes the stars disappear, it is Hercules who removed the Golden Apples.

When you do so much as explaining something, you have to make sure that the explanation fits all the circumstances. However ingenious and brilliant it may be, it lacks foundation and solidity, if some of these circumstances cannot suit it. This is precisely the case where the Mythologists & Historians find themselves in relation to the fable in question here, as we will see below.

It would be wrong to blame those who take the trouble to seek means of explaining fables: their motive is very laudable; the Moralists work to form more; historians to clarify some points of ancient history. Both contribute to the public utility, so we should be grateful to them.Although we do not see any connection between Golden Apples which grow on trees, & stars placed in the firmament, between Hercules who kills a Dragon, & the sun which traverses the Zodiac; Between these Apples brought to Eurystheus, & the Stars that remain in Heaven, Tzeczez is no more blameworthy than those who cut & slice this fable into pieces to take only those that can suit their system.

If this is an unfavorable prejudice against the truth of their explanations, the care that I will take not to leave a single circumstance of this fable unexplained, must tip the scales on the side of my system. Let's get into it. & the Stars that remain in Heaven,If this is an unfavorable prejudice against the truth of their explanations, the care that I will take not to leave a single circumstance of this fable unexplained, must tip the scales on the side of my system. Let's get into it. & the Stars that remain in Heaven, Tzeczez is no more blameworthy than those who cut & slice this fable into pieces to take only those that can suit their system. If this is an unfavorable prejudice against the truth of their explanations, the care that I will take not to leave a single circumstance of this fable unexplained, must tip the scales on the side of my system. Let's get into it.

Themis had predicted to Atlas that a son of Jupiter would one day remove these apples (Ovid. Metam. 1. 4.): this enterprise was attempted by many, but it was reserved for Hercules to succeed. Not knowing where this Garden was located, he decided to go and consult four Nymphs of Jupiter & Themis, who were staying in a lair.

They addressed it to Nérée; this one sent him back to Prometheus, who, according to some Authors, told him to send Atlas to seek these fruits, and to undertake to support Heaven on his shoulders until his return, but according to other Hercules having taken advice to Prometheus went straight to the Garden, killed the Dragon, seized the apples, and carried them to Eurystheus, following the order he had received.It is therefore a question of discovering the core hidden under this envelope, of not taking the terms literally,

Aurea mala decem misi, cras altera mittam.

The Apples referred to here grow on the trees that Juno brought as her dowry when she married Jupiter. They are golden fruits, and which produce golden seeds, trees whose leaves and branches are of this same metal; the same branches that Virgil mentions in the sixth book of his Aeneid, in these terms:

Accipe quae per agenda prius latet sports opacâ,

Aureus & soliis, & lento vimineramus,

Juno iinferne dictus sacer,

……………………………….

………….primo avulso, no deficit to go

Aureus, & imitation frondescit virga, metallo.

We have seen above that Ovid says as much of the apple trees in the Garden of the Hesperides. It is therefore useless to resort to sayings, to oranges, to wedges, to sheep, to have a simple and natural explanation of this fable, which, like many others, was imitated from the Egyptian Fables.

To show the forgery of the story that Diodorus fabricated, it suffices to say that Busiris being contemporary with Osiris, it is not possible that he was also contemporary with the Greek Hercules, to whom we attribute this expedition, since this one did not come into the world until many centuries after Bursiris.

It will doubtless be answered that this Tyrant, killed by Hercules, was different from the one who wanted to have the daughters of Atlas removed;but it is very likely that Diodorus, and our moderns after him, having transported Atlas (M. l'Abbe Banier, Myth. t. II. p. III.) from Phenicia or neighboring countries on the western coasts of Africa, it was no more difficulty for them to bring Busiris from there, and to establish him as King of Spain. Diodorus is the first of the Ancients to mention it.

But finally Mount Atlas, famous in those days, as it still is, produces many kinds of minerals, and abounds in earthy matter, from which gold is formed. It is therefore not surprising that the Garden of the Hesperides was placed there. The same reason led to the saying that Mercury was the son of Maïa, one of the daughters of Atlas: for the mercury of the Philosophers is composed of this primitive matter of gold.It was therefore nicknamed Atlantiade. Diodorus is the first of the Ancients to mention it.

But finally Mount Atlas, famous in those days, as it still is, produces many kinds of minerals, and abounds in earthy matter, from which gold is formed. It is therefore not surprising that the Garden of the Hesperides was placed there. The same reason led to the saying that Mercury was the son of Maïa, one of the daughters of Atlas: for the mercury of the Philosophers is composed of this primitive matter of gold. It was therefore nicknamed Atlantiade. Diodorus is the first of the Ancients to mention it. But finally Mount Atlas, famous in those days, as it still is, produces many kinds of minerals, and abounds in earthy matter, from which gold is formed.

It is therefore not surprising that the Garden of the Hesperides was placed there. The same reason led to the saying that Mercury was the son of Maïa, one of the daughters of Atlas: for the mercury of the Philosophers is composed of this primitive matter of gold. It was therefore nicknamed Atlantiade. one of the daughters of Atlas: for the mercury of the Philosophers is composed of that primitive matter of gold. It was therefore nicknamed Atlantiade. one of the daughters of Atlas: for the mercury of the Philosophers is composed of that primitive matter of gold. It was therefore nicknamed Atlantiade.

The summit of Mount Atlas is almost always covered with clouds, so that it cannot be seen, it seems that the peak rises to the sky; Was more needed to personify him, and to pretend that he carried Heaven on his shoulders? Add to this that Egypt & Africa enjoy a serene Sky, & that there is no place in the world better suited to the observation of the Stars, particularly Mount Atlas, because of the great elevation.

It is therefore not necessary to make him an Astronomer, inventor of the sphere; and it is pretended with even less probability that he was King of Mauritania, metamorphosed into this mountain in the aspect of the head of Medusa that Perseus presented to him. I will give the reason for this fiction when I speak of Perseus.

Several Authors have confused the Pleiades with the Hesperides, and have regarded them all as daughters of Atlas; but the first numbered seven, so the names were Maïa, mother of Mercury, Electre, mother of Dardanus, Taygete, Asterope, Merope, Alcyone & Céléno, are properly daughters of Atlas, & the Hesperides daughters of Hesperus.

I find in this genealogy a new proof which shows quite clearly that this alleged history of the Hesperides is only a fiction. All Mythologists agree that Electra was mother of Dardanus, founder of Dardante, & first King of the Trojans. Atlas was therefore ancestor of Dardanus.Which would almost agree with the calculation of Theophilus of Antioch (Liv. 3. adv. Ant.), to the report of Tallus, who positively says that Chronos or Saturn, brother of Atlas, lived 321 years before the capture of Troye .

If we do not want to grant that this Electra was the same as Electra daughter of Atlas, because the mother of Dardanus is called Nymph, daughter of Ocean and of Thetis, we will at least agree that the daughter of Atlas was niece of Saturn ( Diod. of Sicily.). M. l'Abbé Banier assures us (T. II p. III.) that he believes he must stick to the testimony of Diodorus in this respect. This learned Mythologist nevertheless recognizes that Electra, mother of Dardanus, was daughter of Atlas;& says (Ibid. p. 15.) that the Jupiter who dealt with her must have lived about 150 years before the Trojan War.

So when we were to abandon Théophile d'Antioch to follow the calculation of Diodore, or even that of M. l'Abbé Banier, it would not be possible that Hercules, son of Alcmene, would have been the Author of the removal of the Golden Apples from the Garden of the Hesperides, since, according to this Mythologist, the Jupiter, father of Alcide, whoever he was, lived only 60 or 80 years before the capture of Troy (ibid.).

It is true that this Author is subject to falling into contradiction with himself, and that one should not count much on what he assures even positively;because if we want to believe it on the article of Hercules, this Hero died only about 30 years before the capture of this city, & having lived only 52 years, could he have seen Atlas & the Hesperides?

But let's skip a discussion that would take us too far: we wouldn't finish if we wanted to compare all the epochs that it determines. lived only 60 or 80 years before the capture of Troye (Ibid.). It is true that this Author is subject to falling into contradiction with himself, and that one should not count much on what he assures even positively; because if we want to believe it on the article of Hercules, this Hero died only about 30 years before the capture of this city, & having lived only 52 years, could he have seen Atlas & the Hesperides?But let's skip a discussion that would take us too far: we wouldn't finish if we wanted to compare all the epochs that it determines.

lived only 60 or 80 years before the capture of Troye (Ibid.). It is true that this Author is subject to falling into contradiction with himself, and that one should not count much on what he assures even positively; because if we want to believe it on the article of Hercules, this Hero died only about 30 years before the capture of this city, & having lived only 52 years, could he have seen Atlas & the Hesperides? But let's skip a discussion that would take us too far: we wouldn't finish if we wanted to compare all the epochs that it determines. & having lived only 52 years, could he have seen Atlas & the Hesperides?But let's skip a discussion that would take us too far: we wouldn't finish if we wanted to compare all the epochs that it determines. & having lived only 52 years, could he have seen Atlas & the Hesperides? But let's skip a discussion that would take us too far: we wouldn't finish if we wanted to compare all the epochs that it determines.

Mount Atlas comprises almost all the mountains which reign along the western coast of Africa, as are generally called Mount Taurus, the Alps, the Mont d'Or, the Pyrenees, &c. a chain of mountains, and not a single mountain; the small mountains that are adjacent to Mount Atlas & Hesperus, seem to be born from them, which may have given rise to looking at them as their children; that is why they are called Atlantis.

But Maïer was mistaken when he said (Arcana arcaniss. 1.2.), in explaining this fable, that these Hesperides mountains were called, and that they were said to be guardians of the Golden Apples, because the material proper to form this metal is found on these small mountains.He would not have fallen into this error, if he had taken care that the Mercury of the Philosophers, son of Maia, one of them is not born on these mountains, but in the vessel of Sacerdotal or Hermetic Art.

The three names of the Hesperides have been given them only because they signify the three principal things which affect the matter of the work before it is properly Philosophical gold. Hesper is the daughter of Hesperus, or of the end of the day, consequently night or darkness. Hesperethuse or Hesperthuse, took this name from the matter which volatilizes during & after this darkness, from diei finis, & from impetu feror.Egle means the whiteness which follows the blackness, from splendor, fulgor, because the matter having reached white, is brilliant, and has a lot of brilliance.

We see from this why Hesiod says that night was mother of the Hesperides; but M. l'Abbé Massieu was careful not to guess the reason, since he doubtless only knew the name of the Hermetic Art, and in no way what happens in its operations. By accusing Maïer of chimera, he announces to everyone his ignorance in this Art, and proves, by thus judging without knowledge of the facts, that he allowed himself to be led by prejudice.

Apollonius of Rhodes confederated in the names he gives to the Hesperides, only the three main colors of the work, the black under the name of Hespera, the white under that of Eglé, & the red under that of 'Erytheis, which comes from rubor . He even seems to have wanted to indicate it more particularly by the metamorphoses he reports from them.

From Nymphs that they were, they changed into earth and dust at the approach of the Argonauts. Hermes (Emerald Table.) says that the force or power of the matter of the work is entire, if it is converted into earth. All the Hermetic Philosophers affirm that we will never succeed if we do not change water into earth. Apollonius mentions a second metamorphosis. From this earth swarmed, he says, three plants,and each Hesperides found itself imperceptibly changed into a tree which suited its nature.

These trees grow more readily in humid places, poplar, willow & abalone. The first or black poplar is the one whose figure Hesper took, because it indicates the color black. The author of the fable of the descent of Hercules into hell, also claimed that this hero found there a poplar, whose leaves were black on one side and white on the other, in order to make it understood that the white color succeeds black; Apollonius designated this whiteness by Eglé changed into a willow, because the leaves of this tree are woolly and whitish.

Erytheis or the red color of the Philosopher's Stone could hardly be better indicated than by elm, so the wood is yellow when green,& gradually takes on a reddish color as it dries. This is what happens in the operations of the work, where citrine succeeds white, and red citrin, according to the testimony of Hermes. Finally, those who put a Vesta in the number of the Hesperides, had regard to the igneous property of the mercurial water of the Philosophers, which made them say, we wash with fire, and we burn with water. “Our moist fire, says Riplée (12 Port.), or the permanent fire of our water, burns with more activity & force than ordinary fire, since it dissolves & calcines gold; what common fire cannot do. »Finally, those who put a Vesta in the number of the Hesperides, had regard to the igneous property of the mercurial water of the Philosophers, which made them say, we wash with fire, and we burn with water.

“Our moist fire, says Riplée (12 Port.), or the permanent fire of our water, burns with more activity & force than ordinary fire, since it dissolves & calcines gold; what common fire cannot do. Finally , those who put a Vesta in the number of the Hesperides, had regard to the igneous property of the mercurial water of the Philosophers, which made them say, we wash with fire, and we burn with water. “Our moist fire, says Riplée (12 Port.), or the permanent fire of our water, burns with more activity & force than ordinary fire, since it dissolves & calcines gold;what common fire cannot do. »

The Pleiades, daughters of Atlas, announce rainy weather in the ordinary course of the seasons, and the Philosophical Pleiades are in fact the vapors which rise from matter, condense at the top of the vase, and fall back into rain, which the Philosophers call May or Spring dew, because it manifests itself after the putrefaction and dissolution of matter, which they call their Winter.

One of these Pleiades, Electra, wife of Dardanus, hid herself at the time of the capture of Troy, & appeared no more, says the Fable; not that in fact one of these celestial Pleiades disappeared a little before the siege of Troy, which never took place; but because a part of this rain, or Philosophical dew, changes into earth, it is to disappear that it no longer shows itself in a known form.This land is the origin of the city of Troye.

While still in water form, she was the mother of Dardanus, founder of the Trojan Empire. The very time when water changes into earth is the time of the siege; we will explain all this more fully in the sixth Book. But it will be observed that this earth is designated by the very name of Electra, since the Philosophers call it their Sun, when it has become fixed. Several Hermetic Authors, among others Albert the Great & Paracelsus, give the name of Electra to the matter of Art. since the Philosophers call it their Sun, when it has become fixed. Several Hermetic Authors, among others Albert the Great & Paracelsus, give the name of Electra to the matter of Art.since the Philosophers call it their Sun, when it has become fixed. Several Hermetic Authors, among others Albert the Great & Paracelsus, give the name of Electra to the matter of Art.

The entrance to the Garden of the Philosophers is guarded by the Dragon of the Hesperides, known as d'Espagnet (Can. 52.) What is remarkable is that this Dragon was the son of Typhon & Echidna, by consequent brother of him who kept the Golden Fleece; brother of him who devoured the companions of Cadmus; of the one who was near the oxen of Geryon, Cerberus, the Sphinx, the Chimera, & so many other monsters of which we will speak in their places.

All these events, however, took place in very different countries, and at times very distant from each other. How could the inventors of these fictions have agreed so well, & have pretended precisely the same thing in similar circumstances, if they had not had the same object in view?This reason alone should have caused the Mythologists to make some reflections, & determine them to agree also in their explanations.

But when they wanted to do it, could they have succeeded? The different feelings between which they shared themselves did not allow it. They are too divided among themselves to be able to agree; they fight each other; therefore their opinions cannot be sustained; every divided State tends to its ruin. To know the nature of these monsters, it would have been necessary to know that of their common father. Considering Typhon as a Prince of Egypt, it was not possible that one could regard him as the father of these monsters, whatever explanation one could imagine.So they were forced to admit that it was all fiction. It was enough to read Hesiod's Theogony to be convinced. The genealogy he makes of Typhoon,

It is not so with a Philosopho-Hermetic explanation. We see in Typhon an active, violent, sulphurous, fiery, dissolving spirit, in the form of an impetuous and poisonous wind which destroys everything.

One recognizes in Echidna a corrupt water, mixed with a black, stinking earth, under the portrait of a Nymph with black eyes. Could such fathers beget anything other than monsters, and monsters of the same nature as themselves; that is to say, a Hydra of Lerna, begotten in a swamp; fire-vomiting Dragons, because they are of an igneous nature like Typhon; finally the plague, and the destruction of the places they inhabit, to mark their dissolving, resolving virtue, and the putrefaction which is its consequence.

It is from there that the Hermetic Philosophers, in agreement with the Poets whom they understood well, drew their allegories. It is the Babylonian Dragon of Flamel (Desired Desire.), the two Dragons of the same Author, one winged, like those of Medea & Ceres, the other wingless, like that of Cadmus & the Fleece of gold, of the Hesperides, &c . It is also Basil Valentine's Dragon (12 Keys.), and so many others that it would take too long to relate.

Some chemists have thought they saw these dragons in the arsenical parts of minerals, and have consequently regarded them as the matter of the stone of the philosophers. Philalethes has confirmed many in this idea, because he says about it in his Introitus apertus ad occlusum Regis palatium, cap. de investigatione Magisterii, in which it appears to clearly designate antimony;

but Artephius, Synesius, & many other Philosophers are content to say that this matter is an antimony, because it has the properties. “They take care to warn that arsenic, vitriols, atramens, borax, alums, nitre, salts, large, medium and low minerals, and metals alone, says Trevifan (Philos. of Metals.), are not the subject required for the Magisterium .

One can hardly see a description, or rather a picture painted with more vivid colors than that which Apollonius makes of the Dragon of the Expiring Hesperides (Argonaut. 1. 4, v. 1400. & seq.). “Ladus,” he said, “this serpent which yesterday still guarded the Golden Apples, of which the Hesperides Nymphs took such great care, this monster, pierced with the features of Hercules, is stretched out at the foot of the tree; the tip of its tail is still wagging; but the rest of his body is motionless & lifeless.

The flies flock together on his black corpse, to suck the corrupted blood of his wounds, and the bitter gall of the Hydra of Lerna, whose arrows were dyed.The Hesperides, desolate at this sad spectacle, lean their faces covered with a white veil bordering on yellow on their hands, and weep, uttering lamentable cries. »

If the description of Apollonius pleases by the beauty of the picture it presents to the eyes of those who are not familiar with the object of this allegory, how much must it not please a Hermetic Philosopher who sees in it, as in a mirror, what happens in the vase of his Art during & after the putrefaction of matter? Yesterday again this Ladus, this earthly serpent, who guarded the golden apples, and whom the Nymphs fed, lay dead, pierced with arrows.

Isn't it as if we were saying: This terrestrial & fixed mass, so difficult to dissolve, & which for this reason kept obstinately & with care the aurific seed or the golden fruit which it contained, is found today now dissolved by the action of the volatile parts. The tip of his tail is still wagging,but the rest of his body is motionless & lifeless; the flies gather in flocks on his black corpse, to suck the corrupted blood from his wounds; that is to say, the dissolution is nearly perfect; the putrefaction & the black color already appear; the volatile parts circulate in large numbers, and volatilize with them the dissolved fixed parts.

The desolate Nymphs weep & lament, their heads covered with a yellowish-white veil. The dissolution in water is done, these volatilized aqueous parts fall back in drops like tears, and the whiteness begins to manifest itself. the dissolution is nearly perfect; the putrefaction & the black color already appear;the volatile parts circulate in large numbers, and volatilize with them the dissolved fixed parts. The desolate Nymphs weep & lament, their heads covered with a yellowish-white veil.

The dissolution in water is done, these volatilized aqueous parts fall back in drops like tears, and the whiteness begins to manifest itself. the dissolution is nearly perfect; the putrefaction & the black color already appear; the volatile parts circulate in large numbers, and volatilize with them the dissolved fixed parts.

The desolate Nymphs weep & lament, their heads covered with a yellowish-white veil. The dissolution in water is done, these volatilized aqueous parts fall back in drops like tears, and the whiteness begins to manifest itself.

The portrait and the power that Virgil attributes to the Priestess of the Hesperides, announce to us precisely the properties of the mercury of the Philosophers. It is he who feeds the Philosophical Dragon; it is he who makes the stars retrograde, that is to say, who dissolves the metals, and reduces them to their first matter.

It is he who brings the dead out of their tombs, or who, after having made metals fall into putrefaction, called death, resuscitates them by making them pass from the black color to the white called life; or volatilize its fixedness, since fixity is a state of death in the language of the Philosophers, and volatility a state of life: we will find an infinity of examples of one and the other in this work.

But let's follow this fable, in all these circumstances. Hercules will consult the Nymphs of Jupiter & Themis, who were staying in a lair on the banks of the Eridan River, known today as the Po in Italy, which means dispute, debate. At the beginning of the work the aqueous mercurial parts excites a fermentation, consequently a debate, here are the Nymphs of the river Eridanus.

These Nymphs were four in number, because of the four elements, of which the Philosophers say that their matter is like the epitome quintessential by nature, according to its weights, its measures & its proportions, which the Artist or Hercules must take for models. This is why they are called Nymphs of Jupiter & Themis. Now that an Artist must consult Nature,& to imitate its operations to succeed in those of the Hermetic Art, all the Philosophers agree, & even assure that one would work in vain without it.

Geber & the others say that any man who ignores Nature & its processes will never reach the end he proposes, if God or a friend does not reveal the whole to him. And although Basile Valentin (Second addit to the 12 Keys) says: "Our matter is vile & abject, & the work, which one leads only by the regime of fire, is easy to do,.... you do not need other instructions to know how to govern your fire, & build your stove, as he who has flour does not take long to find an oven, & is not much embarrassed to bake bread.

The Cosmopolitan also tells us (Nov. Lum. Chemic .) that when the Philosophers assert that the work is easy, they should have added, to those who know it. And Pontanus (Epist.), teaches us that he erred more than two hundred times while working on true matter, because he was ignorant of the fire of the Philosophers. The embarrassment is therefore, 1° to find this material, & it is on this that Hercules will consult the Nymphs, who send him back to Nereus the oldest of the Gods, according to Orpheus, son of the Earth & Water, or of the Ocean & of Thetis; the same one who predicted the ruin of Troye in Paris, and who was the father of Thetis, mother of Achille. Homer (Iliad. 1. 18. v. 36.) calls him the Old Man; & its name means wet. Here, then, is that matter which is so common, so vile, so despised.when Hercules presented himself to him, he could not recognize him & get the better of him, because he found it each time in a new form; but at last he recognized him, and pressed him with so much insistence, that he obliged him to declare everything to him.

These metamorphoses are taken from the very nature of this material, which Basile Valentin (12 Clefs), Haimon (Espit.) & many others say has no determined form, but is capable of all; that it becomes oil in nuts and olives, wine in grapes, bitter in absinthe, sweet in sugar, poison. in one subject, theriac in the other. Hercules saw Nereus in all these different forms; but it was not under those that he wanted to see him.He therefore did so much that at last he discovered it in this form, which presents nothing graceful or specified, such as Philosophical matter is. It is therefore necessary to have recourse to Nereus; but as it is not enough to have found the true and immediate matter of the work, to reach its end, Nereus sends Hercules to Prometheus, who had stolen fire from Heaven to share it with men, it that is to say, to the Philosophical fire, which gives life to this matter, without which nothing could be done. Prometheus was always regarded as the igneous Titan, friend of the ocean. He had a common Altar with Pallas & Vulcan, because his name means farsighted, judicious; which suits Pallas, Goddess of Wisdom & Prudence;& that the fire of Prometheus was the same as Vulcan. We also wanted to mark by this the prudence and the skill that an artist needs to give this fire the right regime.

This judicious Titan urged Jupiter to dethrone Saturn his father, Jupiter followed his advice, and succeeded. But he nevertheless believed he had to punish him for the theft he had made, & condemned him afterwards to be tied to a rock of Mount Taurus, & to have his liver constantly torn by a Vulture, so that his liver would be reborn. as the Vulture there would devour.

Mercury was in charge of this expedition; & the torture lasted until Hercules, out of gratitude, killed the Vulture, or the Eagle, according to some, & delivered him. As this fable forms an episode, and it is explained elsewhere in this work, we will only say a few words about it.Prometheus or the Philosophical fire is the one which operates all the variations of the colors that the material takes successively in the vase.

Saturn is the first or the black color; Jupiter is the gray that succeeds him. It is therefore by the advice and help of Prometheus that Jupiter dethrones his father; but this Titan steals fire from Heaven, and is punished for it. This stolen fire is that which is innate in matter. She was imbued with it as if by attraction; it was infused into it by the Sun & the Moon its father & mother, according to the expression of Hermes (Tab. Samarag.), pater ejus is Sol, & mater ejus Luna; this is what gave it the name of celestial fire.

Prometheus is then attached to a rock: isn't it like saying that this fire concentrates, & attaches itself to matter which begins to coagulate into stone after the gray color, & that this is done by the operation of the mercury of the Philosophers ? Could the volatile part which constantly acts on the igneous & fixed homeland, so to speak, be better designated than by an Eagle, or a Vulture, & this concentrated fire, than by the liver? These birds are carnivorous and voracious, the liver is, so to speak, the seat of natural fire in animals. The volatile therefore acts until the Artist, of whom Hercules is the symbol, has killed this Eagle, that is to say, fixed the volatile.

These colors which follow one another are the Gods & the Metals of the Philosophers, who gave them the names of the Seven Planets. The first among the main ones is the black one, the lead of the Sages, or Saturn. The gray one that comes after is assigned to Jupiter, and bears his name. The color of the Peacock's tail at Mercury, white at the Moon, yellow at Venus, reddish at Mars, and purple at the Sun; they even called reign the time each color lasts.

Such are the Philosophical metals, and not the vulgar ones, to which the Chemists have given the same names. Let's reflect on this.A compound of two things, one aqueous & volatile, the other terrestrial & fixed, being put in a vase, if there occurs a fermentation & a dissolution, it will appear colors or which will follow one another, or which will manifest mixed like those of the Peacock tail or the Rainbow. I imagine that a man of wit, of genius, of a fertile imagination, takes it into his head to personify the matter of the compound and the colors that occur there, that being then perfectly aware, by his observations, of the combats which are given between the fixed & this volatile, & of the different changes, or the variations of colors that they produce, it takes him to create a fable, an allegorical fiction, a novel, which he will fill with actions of feigned persons, whom his imagination will furnish him with;will it be difficult for him to make this fiction look like a believable story? since according to the testimony of Horace: with a fertile imagination, takes it into his head to personify the matter of the compound & the colors that occur there, that being then perfectly aware, by his observations, of the battles that take place between the fixed & this volatile, & the different changes, or variations of colors that they produce, it takes him to fabricate a fable, an allegorical fiction, a novel, which he will fill with the actions of feigned people, which his imagination will furnish him with; will it be difficult for him to make this fiction look like a believable story?

since according to the testimony of Horace:with a fertile imagination, takes it into his head to personify the matter of the compound & the colors that occur there, that being then perfectly aware, by his observations, of the battles that take place between the fixed & this volatile, & the different changes, or variations of colors that they produce, it takes him to fabricate a fable, an allegorical fiction, a novel, which he will fill with the actions of feigned people, which his imagination will furnish him with; will it be difficult for him to make this fiction look like a believable story?

since according to the testimony of Horace:& from the different changes, or variations of colors that they produce, he feels like making a fable, an allegorical fiction, a novel, that he will fill with the actions of feigned people, that his imagination will provide him with; will it be difficult for him to make this fiction look like a believable story? since according to the testimony of Horace: & from the different changes, or variations of colors that they produce, he feels like making a fable, an allegorical fiction, a novel, that he will fill with the actions of feigned people, that his imagination will provide him with; will it be difficult for him to make this fiction look like a believable story? since according to the testimony of Horace:

. . . . Cui lecta patenter erit res,

Nec facuitdia deseret hunc, nec lucidus ordo.

In Art. Poet.

Will it not suffice, in order to achieve this goal, to bring in known places, which will agree in one way or another with what one wants to express allegorically? who will prevent even supposing the expedition to a distant & unknown place? & if the Author of the Fable wants it to be taken only for an allegory, then he will no longer be bothered by the plausible; he can give into the marvelous as long as he pleases. He will suppose if he wants places & peoples that never existed, & will only try to please, while always preserving an exact allusion in the events pretended as well in the character suitable to the actors, as in the continuation of the variations of state and colors that its material undergoes in the operations.

This is the origin of the Fables; & as a fiction of this kind can be varied to infinity by one or more people of genius, the Fables have multiplied extremely. Hence so many allegorical works composed on the theory and practice of the Hermetic Art. The Cosmopolitan felt well how easy it is to invent on such fruitful material, when he says (Præsat, in Ænigma Philosop.): Vobis dico ut sitis simplices, & non nimium prudentes, donec arcanum inveneritis, quo habito necessario aderit prudentia , tunc vobis non described libros infinitos, scribendi facilitas. The Reader will please excuse this digression; if it is out of place, it is not out of place.

Let us return to the fable of the Hesperides; she has all the characteristics of which I have just spoken. Hercules having seen & taken advice from Nereus, & Prometheus, is no longer embarrassed to succeed; he takes the road to the Garden of the Hesperides, and instructed in what he must do, he sets about carrying out his undertaking. No sooner had he arrived than a monstrous dragon appeared at the entrance. He attacks it, kills it, & this animal falls into putrefaction in the way that I brought it back.

The allusion would not have been exact, if this monster had not been supposed to have been killed at the entrance, darkness, the result of corruption, being the key to the work, as Synesius proves (De l'Œuv . des Sages.) : “When our Hylec matter begins to no longer rise & fall, when it takes on substance, smokes, & putrefies, it becomes dark, what is called black dress, or the head of the raven....

This also means that there are only two formal elements in our stone, namely, earth & water; but the earth contains in its substance the virtue and dryness of fire; & water includes air with its moisture.... Notice that blackness is the sign of putrefaction (which we call Saturn);& that the beginning of the dissolution is the sign of the conjunction of the two materials.... Now, my son, you already have by the grace of God, an element of our stone, which is the black head, the crow's head , which is the foundation and the key of all the Magisterium, without which you will never succeed. Morien expresses himself in the same sense, & says (Entret. du Roi Calid.):

"Know now, O magnificent King, that in this Magisterium nothing is animated, nothing is born, & nothing grows except after the darkness of putrefaction , & after having suffered, by a mutual combat, alteration & change. What made say to the wise man, that all the force of the Magisterium is only after the rot. »

Nicolas Flamel (Explicat. des figs.), who used the allegory of the Dragon, also says: “At the same time matter dissolves, corrupts, blackens, & conceives in order to generate; because all corruption is generation, and one must always wish for this darkness.... Surely who does not see this darkness during the first days of stone! what other color he sees, the Magisterium lacks entirely, & can no longer perfect it with this chaos; for it does not work well, not putrefying.

Basil Valentine deals with it in his twelve Keys; Riplée in its twelve Doors, finally all the other Philosophers that it would take too long to quote. The Ancients having observed that dissolution was effected by humidity and putrefaction, or black being their Saturn,they used to put a Triton on the Temple of this son of Heaven & Earth; & we know that Triton had an immediate relationship with Néree. Maïer (Arcana arcanissima. 1. 2.) assures us that the first coins were minted under the auspices of Saturn, and that they bore a sheep and a ship as their imprint; which alluded to the Golden Fleece & the ship Argo.

Authors who have claimed that Hercules did not use violence to carry away the Golden Apples, but that he received them from the hand of Atlas, have no doubt not noticed that the Fable positively says that To achieve this, it was necessary to kill this dreadful Dragon which guarded the entrance to the Garden. But & those who are of this feeling, & those who are of a contrary opinion, are also right. The roles full of trickery that Perecide (Schol. Apollon. I. 4. Argon.) makes Hercules & Atlas play on this occasion, are too unworthy of them, & too badly combined to deserve mention. Hercules used violence in slaying the Dragon, in the sense & manner we have said; & one can also say that he received the Apples from the hand of Atlas,

But what reason did the ancient and modern philosophers have for feigning Golden Apples? This idea must come quite naturally to a man who causes the veins of the mines to extend underground much like the roots of trees. The sulphurous & mercurial substances meeting in the pores & veins of the earth & the rocks, coagulate to form the minerals & the metals, just as the earth & the water impregnated with different fixed & volatile salts, contribute to the development germs, & to the growth of plants. This allegory of metal trees is therefore taken from the very nature of things.

Almost all the Hermetic Philosophers have spoken of these mineral trees. Some have explained themselves in one way, others in another; but in such a way that all contribute to reach the same goal. “The fixed grain, says Flamel (Loc. cit.), is like the apple, and the mercury is the tree; it is therefore not necessary to separate the fruit from the tree before its maturity, because it could not succeed there for lack of food..... & nobler, which will provide more nourishment to the fruit in a day than the first earth would have provided in a hundred years, because of the continual agitation of the winds.

The other earth being close to the Sun, perpetually heated by its rays, and constantly watered with dew, causes the tree planted in the Philosophical Garden to vegetate & grow abundantly. However marked may be the relation of this allegory of Flamel with that of the Garden of the Hesperides, that of the Cosmopolitan is even more precise. “Neptune, he says (Parable), led me into a meadow, in the middle of which was a Garden planted with various very remarkable trees. He showed me seven among the others which had their particular names, & pointed out to me two of these seven, much more beautiful & loftier: one bore fruits which shone like the Sun, & its leaves were like gold;the other produced fruits of a whiteness surpassing that of lilies, and its leaves resembled the finest silver. Neptune called the first solar tree, and the other lunar tree. Another Author has titled his treatise on this subject: Arbor solaris. It is found in the sixth volume of the Chemical Theater.

After such a palpable relationship, could one be persuaded that these ancient and modern allegories do not have the same object? & if they did not indeed have it, how could it have happened that the Hermetic Philosophers having used them to explain their operations & the matter of the Magisterium, they are so consistent with each other? It will perhaps be said, it is not the Poets who drew their fables from the Philosophers; it is the latter who have taken their allegories from the fables of the Poets.

But if things were like this, and the Poets only had in view ancient history, or morality, how would the successive sequence of all the circumstances of the actions reported by the Poets,& are the circumstances of almost all the fables precisely suited to explaining allegorically all that happens successively in the operations of the work? & how can one be explained by the other? If there were only one or two fables which could be related to it, one would say perhaps that by giving them torture in the manner of the Mythologists carried for the historical or the moral, one could make them come to the great work somehow; but that there is not a single one of the ancient Egyptians and Greeks which cannot be explained down to the very circumstances which seem the least interesting to the other Mythologists, and which are necessary in my system; it is an argument that our Mythologists would have great difficulty in resolving.

Orpheus & the ancient Poets did not, however, set out to describe allegorically the entire sequence of the work in each fable, & several Hermetic Philosophers also only described the part that struck them the most. One had in view only to allude to what happens in the work of sulfur; the other in the operations of the elixir; a third spoke only of multiplication.

Sometimes, to deceive them, the latter have intermingled operations from one and the other work. This is what makes them so unintelligible to those who do not know how to make this distinction; this is also why we often find apparent contradictions in their works, when we compare them with each other. For example, a Hermetic Philosopher,speaking of the materials that enter into the composition of the elixir, says that several are needed, and the one who speaks of the composition of sulfur, assure us that only one is needed.

They are both right; it would suffice to harmonize them, to take care that they do not speak of the same circumstances of the work. What contributes to confirming the idea of ​​​​contradiction that we notice there is that the description of the operations is often the same in one & in the other; but they are also right in this, since Morien, one of them, assure us with many other philosophers, that the second work, which he calls disposition, is quite similar to the first as regards operations. They are both right;it would suffice to harmonize them, to take care that they do not speak of the same circumstances of the work.

What contributes to confirming the idea of ​​​​contradiction that we notice there is that the description of the operations is often the same in one & in the other; but they are also right in this, since Morien, one of them, assure us with many other philosophers, that the second work, which he calls disposition, is quite similar to the first as regards operations. They are both right; it would suffice to harmonize them, to take care that they do not speak of the same circumstances of the work. What contributes to confirming the idea of ​​​​contradiction that we notice there is that the description of the operations is often the same in one & in the other;but they are also right in this, since Morien, one of them, assure us with many other philosophers, that the second work, which he calls disposition, is quite similar to the first as regards operations.

We must judge fables in the same way. The labors of Hercules taken separately, do not allude to all the labors of the work; but the conquest of the Golden Fleece encloses it in its entirety. This is why we see reappearing several times in this last fiction of facts which are different in themselves as to places and actions, but which, taken in the allegorical sense, signify only the same thing. The places through which it was quite natural for the Argonauts to pass on their way back to their country, being no longer fit to express what Orpheus had in view, he feigned others which never existed, or feigned that they had passed through known places, but that it was impossible for them to find on their way. This remark holds for the others, as we shall see later.

The property that Midas had received from Bacchus to change everything he touched into gold is only an allegory of the projection or transmutation of metals into gold. Art furnishes us every day in the vegetable kingdom with examples of transmutation, which proves the possibility of that of metals. Do we not see that a small eye taken from a hard tree, and grafted onto a wildling, bears fruits of the same species as those of the tree from which the eye was taken?

Why shouldn't art succeed in the mineral kingdom by also supplying the metallic eye to the wildling of Nature, & by working with it. Nature employs a whole year to make an apple tree produce leaves, flowers and fruits.But if at the beginning of December before the frosts, we cut from an apple tree a small fruiting branch, & that having put it in water in an oven, we will see it in a few days grow leaves & flowers. What do the Philosophers do?

they take a branch from their Hermetic apple tree; they put it in their water, & in a moderately warm place: it gives them flowers & fruits in its time. Nature, aided by art, therefore shortens the duration of its ordinary operations. Each kingdom has its processes, but those which Nature puts into use for one justifies those of the other, because it always acts by a simple and straight way; art must imitate it: but it employs various means when it is a question of attaining different ends.What do the Philosophers do?

they take a branch from their Hermetic apple tree; they put it in their water, & in a moderately warm place: it gives them flowers & fruits in its time. Nature, aided by art, therefore shortens the duration of its ordinary operations. Each kingdom has its processes, but those which Nature puts into use for one justifies those of the other, because it always acts by a simple and straight way; art must imitate it: but it employs various means when it is a question of attaining different ends. What do the Philosophers do?

they take a branch from their Hermetic apple tree; they put it in their water, & in a moderately warm place: it gives them flowers & fruits in its time.Nature, aided by art, therefore shortens the duration of its ordinary operations. Each kingdom has its processes, but those which Nature puts into use for one justifies those of the other, because it always acts by a simple and straight way; art must imitate it: but it employs various means when it is a question of attaining different ends. because it always acts in a simple & straight way; art must imitate it: but it employs various means when it is a question of attaining different ends. because it always acts in a simple & straight way; art must imitate it: but it employs various means when it is a question of attaining different ends.

The fable of the Hesperides is proof that the Hermetic Philosopher must consult Nature before working, and imitate the procedures in his operations, if he wants, like Hercules, to succeed in removing the Golden Apples. It was in this same garden that the apple, the first seed of the Trojan War, was picked. Venus also took from it those which she presented to Hippomenes to stop Atalanta in her court. We will explain this last fable in the following Chapter, and we reserve the other for the sixth Book.

CHAPTER III.

History of Atalanta.

The fable of Atalanta is so linked with that of the Garden of the Hesperides, that it absolutely depends on it, since Venus took there the Apples which she gave to Hyppomene; Ovid had no doubt learned from some ancient Poet that Venus had picked these apples in the Danusean field of the Isle of Cyprus (Meram. 1.10. Fab. II.). The inventor of this circumstance alluded, to the effect of these apples, since the name of the field where they are supposed to grow, means, to overcome, to tame, from SUBIGO, domo, quality that apples have. of gold from the Philosophical Garden; which is taken from the very nature of the thing, as we shall see below.

We have varied on the parents of this Heroine, some saying it with Apollodorus, daughter of Jasus, and the other daughters of Schæneus, King of Arcadia. Some Authors have even supposed another Atalanta, daughter of Metalion, whom they say was so light in running that no man, however vigorous he was, could reach her.

M. l'Abbé Banier seems to distinguish her from the one who assisted in the hunt of the Boar of Calydon, but the Poets commonly make her the daughter of Schænée, King of Schytre. She was a virgin, and surprisingly beautiful. She had resolved to preserve her virginity (Ovid. Loc. cit.), because having consulted the Oracle to know whether she should marry, he answered her that she should not bind herself to a husband, but that however, she could not avoid it . Her beauty attracted many lovers to her; but she kept them all away by the hard conditions she imposed on those who pretended to marry her.

She proposed to them to dispute with her at the race, on condition that they ran unarmed;that she would follow them with a javelin, and that those she could hit before reaching the goal, she would pierce them with this weapon; but that the first to arrive there before her would be her husband.

Several attempted it, and perished there. Hyppomene, great-grandson of the God of the Waters (Ibid.), struck himself by the known value, the beauty of Atalanta, was not put off by the misfortune of the other pursuers of this brave girl. He invoked Venus, and obtained from her three golden apples. Armed with this help, he presented himself to run with Atalanta on the same conditions as the others.As the lover, according to convention, passed in front of it, Hyppomene running skillfully dropped these three apples at some distance from each other, & Atalanta having amused herself by picking them up, he always had the lead, & got to the goal first .

This stratagem having thus rendered him victorious, he married this Princess. Since she was very fond of hunting, she often took this exercise. One day, when she was very tired there, she felt violently thirsty near a Temple of Aesculapius. She struck a rock, says the fable, and caused a spring of fresh water to protrude from it, from which she quenched her thirst. But having subsequently profaned with Hyppomene a Temple of Cybele, he was changed into a Lion, & Atalanta into a Lioness.

Whatever desire one may have to regard this fiction as a true story, all the circumstances look so fabulous that M. l'Abbé Banier himself has contented himself with reporting what various Authors have to say about it. without making any application.

Those who find rules for morals in all fables, do they succeed better in saying that this is the portrait of avarice and voluptuousness? that this running speed indicates the inconstancy which can only be fixed by the lure of gold? & that their metamorphosis into animals shows the stupefaction of those who give themselves up without moderation to voluptuousness? However plausible these explanations are, how many other circumstances are there in this fiction which contradict them? and who cannot adjust to it?But there is none that become trouble in my system.

Atalanta has Schænce for father, or a plant that grows in the marshes, of juncus; she was a virgin & of surprising beauty, so light in the short, that she seemed to Hyppomene to run as fast as an arrow or a bird flies;

. . . . . . . Dum talia secum

Requires Hyppomenes, passu volat alite virgo.

Quæ quanquàm Scylthica non, segnius ire fagitta,

Aonio visa is young.

Ovid. loc. cit.

The mercurial water of the Philosophers has all these qualities; it is a winged virgin, extremely beautiful (Espagnet. Can. 58.), born of the marshy water of the sea, or of the Philosophical lake. She has ruddy cheeks, and is descended from royal blood, such as Ovid, in the quoted place, represents Atalanta:

Inque puellari corpus candore, ruborem Traxerat.

Nothing is more volatile than this mercurial water; so it's no surprise that she outruns all of her Lovers in the race. The Philosophers even often give it the names of arrows and birds. It was with such arrows that Apollo killed the Serpent Python; Diana employed them in hunting, & Hercules in the fights he had to sustain against certain monsters;the same reason led to the supposition that Atalanta killed with a javelin, and not with a pike, those who ran in front of her, Hyppomene was the only one who defeated her, not only because he was descended from the God of the Waters, consequently from same race as Atalanta, but with the aid of the golden apples of the Garden of the Hesperides, which are nothing other than gold or the fixed and fixative matter of the Philosophers.

This gold alone is capable of fixing the mercury of the Sages by coagulating it, and changing it into earth. Atalanta shorts; Hyppomene runs because of her, because it is a condition without which he could not marry her. Indeed, it is absolutely required in the work that the fixed be first volatilized, before fixing the volatile;& the union of the two cannot consequently be done before this succession of operations; this is why it was claimed that Hyppomene had dropped her apples from distance to distance.

before fixing the volatility; & the union of the two cannot consequently be done before this succession of operations; this is why it was claimed that Hyppomene had dropped her apples from distance to distance. before fixing the volatility; & the union of the two cannot consequently be done before this succession of operations; this is why it was claimed that Hyppomene had dropped her apples from distance to distance.

Atalanta finally fell in love with her conqueror, marries him, & they live together on good terms; they are even inseparable, but they still devote themselves to hunting; that is to say, after the volatile part is reunited with the fixed, the marriage is made; this famous marriage of which the Philosophers speak in all their Treatises (D'Espagnet. Can. 58. Morien, interview of King Calid. 2. part. Flamel. Desired desire. The anonymous Author of the Treatise, Consilium conjugii massoe Solis & Lunae ; Thesaurus Philosophiae &S so many others.).

But as matter is not then absolutely fixed, we suppose Atalanta & Hyppomene still addicted to hunting. So Atalanta's thirst is reached,is the same as that which Hercules & the Argonauts burned near the Garden of the Hesperides; and this so-called Temple of Aesculapius differs from it at most only in name. Hercules in the same case brought out, like Atalanta, a source of living water from a rock, but in the manner of the Philosophers, so the stone changes into water. For, as Synesius says (On the work of the Philosophers.), all our art consists in knowing how to draw water from stone or from black earth, and to put this water back on its earth. Riplée explains himself in roughly the same terms: “Our art produces water from the earth, and oil from the hardest rock.

“If you do not change our stone into water, says Hermes (Sept Chap.), & our water into stone, you will not succeed.Here is the Trevisan fountain, and the running water of the Sages. Synesius whom we have just quoted, had recognized in the work an Atalanta & a Hyppomene, when he said (Loc. cit.): of our rich metal, they would be mistaken, and would work in vain. But, if they know the natures which flee, and those which follow, they will be able, by the grace of God, to arrive where their desires tend. Michel Maïer wrote a treatise on Hermetic emblems, which he consequently entitled Atalanta fugiens, &c.

But, if they know the natures which flee, and those which follow, they will be able, by the grace of God, to arrive where their desires tend. Michel Maïer wrote a treatise on Hermetic emblems, which he consequently entitled Atalanta fugiens, &c.But, if they know the natures which flee, and those which follow, they will be able, by the grace of God, to arrive where their desires tend. Michel Maïer wrote a treatise on Hermetic emblems, which he consequently entitled Atalanta fugiens, &c.

Those of the Ancients who said Hyppomene was the son of Mars are not fundamentally contrary to those who say he was descended from Neptune, since the Philosophical Mars is formed from the earth originating from the water of the Sages, which they also call their sea. This fixed matter is properly the God of the Waters; from it is composed the Isle of Delos, which Neptune, it is said, fixed to favor the retirement & the childbirth of Latona, who gave birth there to Apollo & Diana;

that is to say, the white stone and the red stone, which are the Moon and the Sun of the Philosophers, and which do not differ from Atalanta changed into a Lioness, and from Hyppomene metamorphosed into a Lion.They are both of an igneous nature, and of a strength to devour the imperfect metals represented by animals weaker than them, & to transform them into their own substance, as does the powder of projection to the white & to the red, which transmutes these base metals into silver or gold, according to its quality. The Temple of Cybele, where the desecration which occasioned the metamorphosis took place, is the Philosophical vessel, in which is the land of the Sages, mother of the Chylmic Gods.

Although Apollodorus followed a tradition a little different from that which we have just reported, the substance is the same, and is just as easily explained. According to this Author, she was exhibited from her birth in a deserted place, found & raised by hunters; which made him acquire a great taste for hunting. She found herself at that of the monstrous Boar of Calydon, and then at the combats and games instituted in honor of Pelias, where she fought against Peleus, and won the prize. She later found her parents, who urging her to marry, she agreed to marry whoever could beat her in the race, as has been said.

The desert where Atalante is exhibited is the very place where the matter of the Philosophers, daughter of the Moon, is found, according to Hermès (Tab. Smarag.): In depopulatis terris invenitur, Sol est ejus pater, & mater Luna, comme Atalanta had Menalion for mother, which seems to come from Luna. & of seges. The hunters who found it, are the Artists to whom Raymond Lully (Theorica Testam. C. 18.) gives the name of Hunters in this very circumstance.

Cùm venatus fueris eam (materiam) à terra noli ponere in ea aquam, aut puverem, aut aliam quamcumque rem. The Artist takes care of it, he puts it in the vase, and gives it the taste for hunting, that is to say, disposes it to volatilization;when she was old enough to endure fatigue, and when she was exercised, she assisted in the hunt for the Boar of Calydon, that is to say, to the combat which takes place between the volatile and the fixed, where the first acts on the second, and overcomes it as Atalanta wounded the first with an arrow the proud animal, and was the cause of its capture, which is why it is awarded the head and the skin.

This combat is followed by dissolution and darkness, represented by the combats instituted in honor of Pelias, as we shall see in the fourth Book. Finally, after winning the prize there against Pelée, she found her parents;that is to say, after the black color has disappeared, the matter begins to fix itself, & to become Moon & Sun of the Philosophers, who are the father & mother of their matter. The rest has been explained above. What I have just said of the Calydonian War would seem to require me to enter into greater detail on this Subject; but this fable not being of the nature of those which I have not proposed to explain in this second Book, because of their more apparent connection with the Hermetic Art, I will not make a more extensive mention of it.

CHAPTER IV.

The Doe with the Golden Horns.

THE STORY of the taking of the Deer with the horns of gold and the feet of bronze, is so obviously a fable, that no Mythologist, I think, will take it into his head to treat it otherwise. M. l'Abbé Banier (T. III. p. 276.) felt himself that horns, and what is more golden horns given to a Biche, who does not wear any of any kind, formed a circumstance which makes the story at least allegorical, & that the feet of brass must have alluded to something; but he simply reported the fact of the horns without giving any explanation, however much he wanted to give this fiction for a true story.

He would have done well to be silent also on the feet of bronze. “Hercules,” he said, “having pursued for a year a Hind whom Eurystheus had ordered him to bring to him alive,it was subsequently published that she had feet of bronze; figurative expression, which marked the speed with which she ran. Will the Reader agree with this Mythologist that feet of bronze are very suitable for giving lightness to an animal and increasing its speed?

For me, if I wanted to explain this fable in the system of this scholar, I would have supposed, on the contrary, that the Author of this fiction had feigned these brazen feet to make the fact more believable; not as to the feet of brass themselves, but to imply figuratively, that this Hind was of a much heavier nature than Hinds commonly are; consequently much less light in the race, & easier to be taken by a man who was pursuing her.

which marked the speed with which she ran.Will the Reader agree with this Mythologist that feet of bronze are very suitable for giving lightness to an animal and increasing its speed? For me, if I wanted to explain this fable in the system of this scholar, I would have supposed, on the contrary, that the Author of this fiction had feigned these brazen feet to make the fact more believable; not as to the feet of brass themselves, but to imply figuratively, that this Hind was of a much heavier nature than Hinds commonly are; consequently much less light in the race, & easier to be taken by a man who was pursuing her. which marked the speed with which she ran. Will the Reader agree with this Mythologist that feet of bronze are very suitable for giving lightness to an animal and increasing its speed?

For me, if I wanted to explain this fable in the system of this scholar, I would have supposed, on the contrary, that the Author of this fiction had feigned these brazen feet to make the fact more believable; not as to the feet of brass themselves, but to imply figuratively, that this Hind was of a much heavier nature than Hinds commonly are; consequently much less light in the race, & easier to be taken by a man who was pursuing her. Will the Reader agree with this Mythologist that feet of bronze are very suitable for giving lightness to an animal and increasing its speed?

For me, if I wanted to explain this fable in the system of this scholar, I would have supposed, on the contrary, that the Author of this fiction had feigned these brazen feet to make the fact more believable;not as to the feet of brass themselves, but to imply figuratively, that this Hind was of a much heavier nature than Hinds commonly are; consequently much less light in the race, & easier to be taken by a man who was pursuing her. Will the Reader agree with this Mythologist that feet of bronze are very suitable for giving lightness to an animal and increasing its speed? For me, if I wanted to explain this fable in the system of this scholar, I would have supposed, on the contrary, that the Author of this fiction had feigned these brazen feet to make the fact more believable; not as to the feet of brass themselves, but to imply figuratively, that this Hind was of a much heavier nature than Hinds commonly are;consequently much less light in the race, & easier to be taken by a man who was pursuing her.

that the Author of this fiction had feigned these brazen feet to make the fact more believable; not as to the feet of brass themselves, but to imply figuratively, that this Hind was of a much heavier nature than Hinds commonly are; consequently much less light in the race, & easier to be taken by a man who was pursuing her. that the Author of this fiction had feigned these brazen feet to make the fact more believable; not as to the feet of brass themselves, but to imply figuratively, that this Hind was of a much heavier nature than Hinds commonly are; consequently much less light in the race, & easier to be taken by a man who was pursuing her.

But this difficulty removed, there still remains that of the golden horns, that of the pursuit of a whole year; that of not being able to be killed by any weapon, nor caught in the race by any man but a Hero such as Hercules, finally all the other circumstances of this fiction. A story of this kind would become a puerile tale, and a fact very unworthy of being numbered among the works of such a great hero, if it did not contain some mysteries.

This Biche was, it is said, consecrated to Diana. She lived on Mount Menale, it was not permitted to hunt her with dogs, nor with a bow; she had to be taken on the run, alive, and without loss of blood. Eurystée commanded Hercules to bring it to him. Hercules pursued it relentlessly for a whole year, and finally caught it in the forest of Artemis, consecrated to Diana, when this animal was about to cross the Ladon river.

The Doe is one of the fastest running animals, and no man could flatter himself of reaching it. But this one had horns of gold & feet of bronze; it was less nimble, and consequently easier to take; & despite that, a Hercules was needed. In any other circumstance, whoever would take it into his head to take a Deer consecrated to Diana, in the woods of this Goddess, &c. would infallibly have incurred the indignation of Apollo's sister, extremely jealous of what belonged to her, & severely punishing those who failed her.

But in this one Diane seems to have acted in concert with Alcide, although she seemed to do to furnish matter for the labors of this Hero. The Nemean Lion, the Erymante Boar are proof of this.Hercules who shot arrows at the very Sun, would he have to fear Diane's wrath? but however reckless he might have been, he who was in the world to purge it of the monsters and malefactors who infested it, would they have dared to attack the Gods, if he had regarded these Gods as real, & if he had not known that they were of such a nature as to be able to be attacked with impunity by men?

He braves Neptune, Pluto, Vulcan, Juno. Everyone tries to harm him, to embarrass him, and he gets away with it. But such are the Gods fabricated by Hermetic Art, they give pain to the Artist; but the latter suddenly pursues them with arrows or clubs, and manages to do with them what he proposes.

In his pursuit of this Doe, he employs no such weapons;but the very gold of which the horns of this animal are made, & his brazen feet favor his enterprise. This is indeed what is needed in the Chemical Art, where the volatile part, represented by the light running of the Doe, is poultry to the point that nothing less than a fixed matter like iron is needed. gold to fix it. The Author of the Rosary figuratively used expressions which mean the same thing, when he said: "Volatile quicksilver is useless, if it is not mortified with its body, this body is of the nature of the Sun. “Two animals are in our forest , says an ancient German philosopher (Rythmi German.), one lively, light, alert, handsome, tall & robust; it is a stag; the other is the Unicorn.

"that nothing less than a fixed matter like gold is needed to fix it. The Author of the Rosary figuratively used expressions which mean the same thing, when he said: "Volatile quicksilver is useless, if it is not mortified with its body, this body is of the nature of the Sun. “Two animals are in our forest , says an ancient German philosopher (Rythmi German.), one lively, light, alert, handsome, tall & robust; it is a stag; the other is the Unicorn . " that nothing less than a fixed matter like gold is needed to fix it.

The Author of the Rosary figuratively used expressions which mean the same thing, when he said: "Volatile quicksilver is useless, if it is not mortified with its body, this body is of the nature of the Sun.“Two animals are in our forest, says an ancient German philosopher (Rythmi German.), one lively, light, alert, handsome, tall & robust; it is a stag; the other is the Unicorn. » alert, handsome, tall & robust; it is a stag; the other is the Unicorn. » alert, handsome, tall & robust; it is a stag; the other is the Unicorn. »

Basil Valentin, in an allegory on the Magisterium of the sages, expresses himself thus: “A donkey having been buried, has become corrupt and putrefied; there came a deer with horns of gold and feet of bronze, beautiful and white; because the thing whose head is red, eyes black & feet white, constitutes the Magisterium. The Philosophers often speak of the laton or leton that must be whitened.

This laton, or matter that has reached black through putrefaction, is the basis of the work. Whiten the brass, & tear up your books, says Morien; Azoth & Laton are enough for you. It has therefore been rightly claimed that this Doe had feet of bronze. Of this brass were those ancient vases which some heroes of the fable offered to Minerva;the Tripod which the Argonauts presented to Apollo; the instrument by which Hercules chased the birds from the Stymphalian Lake; the tower in which Danae was enclosed, &c.

Everything in this fable has an immediate relationship with Diana. La Biche is dedicated to him; she dwells on Mount Menale, or stone of the Moon, of luna, and of lapis; it was taken in the Artemisia forest which also means Diana. The Moon and Diana are one and the same thing, and the Philosophers call Moon the volatile or mercurial part of their matter. Lunam Philosophorum sive eorum mercurium, qui mercurium vulgarem dixerit, aut sciens fallit, aut ipse slitur (D'Espagn. Can. 44.).

They also call Diana their material which has reached whiteness: Viderunt ïllam sine veste Dianam hisce elapsis annis (sciens loquor) multi & supremœ & infinœ sorted homines, says the Cosmopolite in the Preface to his twelve Treatises.It is then that the Biche lets herself be taken, that is to say, the volatile matter that she was becomes fixed.

The river Ladon was the end of its short course, because after the long circulation it rushes to the bottom of the vase in the mercurial water, where the volatile and the fixed unit. This fixity is designated by the present that Hercules makes of it to Eurystheus; for Eurystheus comes from latus, amplus, & from sto, maneo. As we made firmiter stans, or potens, from latus, & from robur. It is therefore as if we said that the Artist, after having worked to fix the lunar matter for the required time, which is that of a year, he succeeds in making it their Diana, or in reaching white, & then gives it the last degree of fixity signified by Eurysteus.This term of a year must not be understood as a common year, but as a Philosophical year, whose seasons are not the vulgar seasons either.

This year-long pursuit should have raised suspicion of some mystery hidden beneath this fiction. But the Mythologists not being aware of this mystery, could only see the fabulous.

Everything has a fixed and determined time to reach its perfection. Nature always acts at length, and although Art can shorten the operations, it would not succeed if it rushed the processes too much. By means of a gentle heat, but more intense than that of Nature, we can prematurely mature a flower or a fruit; but too violent a heat would burn the plant before it could produce what was expected of it. The Artist requires more patience and time than work and expense, says d'Espagnet (Can. 35.). Riplée also assures us (12. Portes.), & many others,that it takes a year to achieve perfection from stone to white, or the Diana of the Philosophers, which this Author calls lime.

“It takes us, he says, a year for our lime to become fusible, fixed, and take on a permanent color. Zacharie & the greatest number of Philosophers say that it takes 90 days, & as many nights to push the work to red after the true white, & 275 days to reach this white; which makes a whole year, to which Trevisan adds seven days. & 275 days to achieve this blank; which makes a whole year, to which Trevisan adds seven days. & 275 days to achieve this blank; which makes a whole year, to which Trevisan adds seven days.

Some Mythologists have made a rather extraordinary application of this fable. Hercules, they say, represents the Sun, which makes its course every year. But when it must be said that she is this Deer that the Sun is pursuing, they stay on the way, so true is it that any false explanation always goes wrong somewhere.

CHAPTER V.

Midas.

Although the fable of Midas does not contain a single circumstance that one can with foundation regard as historical, M. l'Abbé Banier maintains that all of it is true (Mythol. T. II. p. 596.).

“It is thus, says this Mythologist, that the Greeks took pleasure in disguising history into ingenious fables. I tell the story, because it is a real one. The Authors of this fiction could they not say of M. l'Abbé Banier with more reason: It is thus that this scholar disguises into history what was never more than a fruit of our imagination; for the alleged story of Midas is pure fable. Indeed, aren't all the Actors in the imaginary play?We have given Cybele, mother of Midas, as mother of the Gods, & it pleases this Mythologist to make her a Queen of Phrygia, daughter of Dindyme & Meon, King of Phrygia & Lydia.

Silenus was for us the nourisher of the God Bacchus who never existed, he metamorphoses him into a Philosopher as famous for his science as for his drunkenness. I know very well that several ancient Authors are of his opinion, and that they regard this intoxication of which so much has been said, only as a mysterious intoxication, which meant that Silenus was deeply buried in his speculations. Cicero, Plutarch & many others still had conceived of him a somewhat similar idea;but some speak only according to others, and when we go back to the source, we only see Silenus as a real drunkard, foster father of the God Bacchus.

I know very well that several ancient Authors are of his opinion, and that they regard this intoxication of which so much has been said, only as a mysterious intoxication, which meant that Silenus was deeply buried in his speculations. Cicero, Plutarch & many others still had conceived of him a somewhat similar idea; but some speak only according to others, and when we go back to the source, we only see Silenus as a real drunkard, foster father of the God Bacchus.I know very well that several ancient Authors are of his opinion, and that they regard this intoxication of which so much has been said, only as a mysterious intoxication, which meant that Silenus was deeply buried in his speculations.

Cicero, Plutarch & many others still had conceived of him a somewhat similar idea; but some speak only according to others, and when we go back to the source, we only see Silenus as a real drunkard, foster father of the God Bacchus. Plutarch and many others still had conceived of him a somewhat similar idea; but some speak only according to others, and when we go back to the source, we only see Silenus as a real drunkard, foster father of the God Bacchus. Plutarch and many others still had conceived of him a somewhat similar idea;but some speak only according to others, and when we go back to the source, we only see Silenus as a real drunkard, foster father of the God Bacchus.

The very singularity of the adventure which delivered Silenus to Midas and what resulted from it can only be regarded as pure fiction. Is it likely that Midas, as the stingiest of men, would have washed wine so much as to fill a fountain with it, to induce Silenus to drink it to excess, and have it in his possession? Wouldn't a miser have found a way more in line with his avarice, & was it necessary to use such a costly stratagem to obtain such an easy thing? The ways in which Midas used it towards Silenus, according to what M. l'Abbé Banier relates (Loc. cit. p, 395.), even absolutely destroy the idea of ​​reality.

“Silene, says this Mythologist, roamed the country, riding his donkey, & often stopped near a fountain to sleep off his wine, & rest from his fatigues.The occasion seemed favorable to Midas: he had wine thrown into this fountain, and laid some peasants in ambush. Silenus drank one day of this wine to excess, and these peasants who saw him drunk, threw themselves on him, bound him with garlands of flowers and thus led him to the King.

This Prince, who was himself initiated into the mysteries of Bacchus, received Silenus with great marks of respect, & after having celebrated the Orgies with him for ten days & ten consecutive nights, & having heard him discourse on several subjects, the led back to Bacchus.

This God, charmed to see his foster father again, whose absence had caused him much concern, ordered Midas to ask him anything he wanted.Midas, who was extremely miserly, wished he could convert everything he touched into gold; what was given to him. & ambushed some peasants. Silenus drank one day of this wine to excess, and these peasants who saw him drunk, threw themselves on him, bound him with garlands of flowers and thus led him to the King.

This Prince, who was himself initiated into the mysteries of Bacchus, received Silenus with great marks of respect, & after having celebrated the Orgies with him for ten days & ten consecutive nights, & having heard him discourse on several subjects, the led back to Bacchus.

This God, charmed to see his foster father again, whose absence had caused him much concern, ordered Midas to ask him anything he wanted.Midas, who was extremely miserly, wished he could convert everything he touched into gold; what was given to him. & ambushed some peasants. Silenus drank one day of this wine to excess, and these peasants who saw him drunk, threw themselves on him, bound him with garlands of flowers and thus led him to the King.

This Prince, who was himself initiated into the mysteries of Bacchus, received Silenus with great marks of respect, & after having celebrated the Orgies with him for ten days & ten consecutive nights, & having heard him discourse on several subjects, the led back to Bacchus.

This God, charmed to see his foster father again, whose absence had caused him much concern, ordered Midas to ask him anything he wanted.Midas, who was extremely miserly, wished he could convert everything he touched into gold; what was given to him.

and these peasants who saw him drunk, threw themselves on him, bound him with garlands of flowers and thus led him to the King. This Prince, who was himself initiated into the mysteries of Bacchus, received Silenus with great marks of respect, & after having celebrated the Orgies with him for ten days & ten consecutive nights, & having heard him discourse on several subjects, the led back to Bacchus.

This God, charmed to see his foster father again, whose absence had caused him much concern, ordered Midas to ask him anything he wanted. Midas, who was extremely miserly, wished he could convert everything he touched into gold;what was given to him. and these peasants who saw him drunk, threw themselves on him, bound him with garlands of flowers and thus led him to the King. This Prince, who was himself initiated into the mysteries of Bacchus, received Silenus with great marks of respect, & after having celebrated the Orgies with him for ten days & ten consecutive nights, & having heard him discourse on several subjects, the led back to Bacchus.

This God, charmed to see his foster father again, whose absence had caused him much concern, ordered Midas to ask him anything he wanted. Midas, who was extremely miserly, wished he could convert everything he touched into gold; what was given to him. »who was himself initiated into the mysteries of Bacchus, received Silenus with great marks of respect, & after having celebrated the Orgies with him for ten days & ten consecutive nights, & having heard him discourse on several matters, brought him back to Bacchus . This God, charmed to see his foster father again, whose absence had caused him much concern, ordered Midas to ask him anything he wanted.

Midas, who was extremely miserly, wished he could convert everything he touched into gold; what was given to him. »who was himself initiated into the mysteries of Bacchus, received Silenus with great marks of respect, & after having celebrated the Orgies with him for ten days & ten consecutive nights, & having heard him discourse on several matters, brought him back to Bacchus . This God, charmed to see his foster father again, whose absence had caused him much concern, ordered Midas to ask him anything he wanted.

Midas, who was extremely miserly, wished he could convert everything he touched into gold; what was given to him. whose absence had caused him much concern, ordered Midas to ask him anything he wanted. Midas, who was extremely miserly, wished he could convert everything he touched into gold; what was given to him. »whose absence had caused him much concern, ordered Midas to ask him anything he wanted. Midas, who was extremely miserly, wished he could convert everything he touched into gold; what was given to him. »

If we are to believe the same Author, Silenus was therefore a very learned Philosopher, whose enlightenment Midas employed for the establishment of the Religion, and the changes he made in that of the Lydians. And to have a guarantor of the truth of this alleged story, he quotes Herodotus (L. lc 14.), to whom he makes say what he does not say in effect. The other explanations are so unnatural, and depart so far from the probable, that I do not think I have to report them.

If Silenus was a Philosopher, what reason can he have had for supposing him to be the nurse of Bacchus? Isn't Philosophy incompatible with drunkenness? A man habitually addicted to this vice is by no means fitted for the profound speculations which this Science demands.

since this so-called Philosopher was in the habit of going to sleep off his wine near the fountain where he was caught, was it necessary to take so many deaths to sixteen it? Will we think with Aristophanes' Scholiaste & M. l'Abbé Banier, that we only pretended that Midas had donkey ears, because this Prince had spies everywhere whom he interrogated & listened to? carefully?

Will it be said with this Mythologist, that he communicated his aurific virtue to the Pactolus river,because he forced his subjects to collect the gold that the waters of this river carried away? And if it is true that he was extremely rude & stupid (T. II, p. 227.), how had he enough wit to undertake to give laws to the Lydians, & to institute religious ceremonies (Ibid. p. 398.) ? To accredit himself among your peoples, and make himself looked upon as a second Numa? To conduct a business in such a way as to become so opulent that it was pretended that it turned everything into gold?

& be seen as a second Numa? To conduct a business in such a way as to become so opulent that it was pretended that it turned everything into gold? & be seen as a second Numa?To conduct a business in such a way as to become so opulent that it was pretended that it turned everything into gold?

Such are the explanations, or rather the contradictions of this learned Mythologist, who ingeniously knows how to make use of all the Authors to achieve his goal. In one place Midas reigns along the river Sangar; in the other, it is along the Pactolus river.

There, he is a coarse & stupid man who therefore deserves to be pretended that he had donkey ears: here, he is a man of intelligence, a vast & extended genius, capable of great enterprises, worthy of comparison with Numa; and who, having found the secret of knowing everything through his spies, had thereby given reason to pretend that he wore donkey's ears.

The Poets had not found such an ingenious ending to this fiction. Ovid (Metam. 1. II. Fab. 4.) tells us that Apollo thought he could not punish Midas better than to make him grow donkey's ears, in order to make known to everyone the lack of discernment of this man. King, who had adjudged the victory to Pan over this God of Music; which proves quite clearly that the Historians have entered into the minds of the Poets rather badly in wanting to give us Midas for a man of wit and genius.

But let's take it the way the Poets tell it. Midas was, they say, a King of Phrygia whom Orpheus initiated into the secret of the Orgies. Bacchus going one day to see that country, Silenus his foster-father separated from him, and having stopped near a fountain of wine in a garden of Midas,where the most beautiful roses in the world grew by themselves.

Silenus got drunk on it and fell asleep. Midas having noticed this, and knowing the anxiety into which the absence of Silenus had thrown the son of Semele; he seized Silenus, surrounded him with garlands of flowers of all kinds, and after giving him the most gracious welcome possible, he escorted him back to Bacchus. He was delighted to see his foster father again; & wanting to recognize this benefit of Midas, he promised to grant him everything he would ask of him. Midas asked that everything he touched should become gold: which was granted to him.

But such a property having become onerous to him, because the dishes which were served to him for his food, were converted into gold as soon as he touched them, and he was on the point of dying of hunger, he addressed himself to the same God to be delivered from such an inconvenient power. Bacchus consented to this, and ordered him for this purpose to go and wash his hands in the Pactolus. He did so, and communicated to the waters of this river the fatal virtue which he was getting rid of.

When we know what happens in the Hermetic work, when we work with the elixir, the fable of Midas represents it as in a mirror. We can remember that when Osiris, Dionysius or Bacchus of the Philosophers forms, he makes a land for himself. This land is Bacchus, who is pretended to visit Phrygia, because of its igneous, burning & dry virtue, because Phrygia, means terra torrida & arida, from torreo, arefacio.

It is assumed that Midas rules there; but to indicate clearly what one should understand by this pretended King, he is said to be the son of Cybele or of the Earth, the same one who was looked upon as the mother of the Gods, but of the Philosophical-Her-Mechanical Gods .

Thus Bacchus, accompanied by his Bacchantes & his Satyrs, therefore Silenus was the Chief, & Satyr himself, leaves Thrace to go towards Pactolus which descends from Mount Tmole; it is precisely as if we were saying the Philosophical Bacchus, or sulfur after having been dissolved and volatilized, tends to coagulation; since Thracia, comes from curro, or tumultuando clamo, which always designates a violent agitation, such as that of fixed matter when it becomes volatile after its dissolution. Coagulation could hardly be better expressed than by the name Pactolus, which comes naturally from compactus, compingo, to assemble, to bind, to join one to the other.

By this union is formed this Phrygian land, or igneous & arid, in which reigns Midas.What was then volatile is stopped by the fixed, or this earth. This is Silenus in the territory of Midas. The fountain near which this Satyr rests is mercurial water. It is pretended that Midas had put wine there, of which Silenus drank to excess, because this mercurial water, which the Trevisan also calls a fountain (Philosoph. des Métaux.), & Raymond Lully (In almost all your Works.) wine, becomes wine, red as this earth becomes more fixed.

The sleep of Silenus marks the rest of the volatile part, and the garlands of flowers with which he was girded to lead him to Midas, are the different colors through which matter passes before arriving at fixation.The Orgies they celebrated together before joining Bacchus are the last days preceding the perfect fixation, which is itself the end of the work. One could even believe that one wanted to express this term by the name of Dionysius given to Bacchus; since it can come from meta, the God who is the end or the term.

The Poets make admirable descriptions of the Pactolus; when they want to paint a fortunate region, they compare it to the country watered by the Pactolus, in the waters of which Midas deposited the fatal gift which had been communicated to him. Croesus would have been without the Pactolus only a Monarch limited in power, and incapable of arousing the jealousy of Cyrus.

According to M. l'Abbé Batthelemi, (Mém. de l'Acad. des Inscipt. & belles-Lettres for the year 1747. up to and including the year 1748. T.XXl.) the Pactole has never been 'a very mediocre river, issuing from Mount Tmolus, directed in its course across the plain, and even the city of Sardis, terminated by the river Hemus. Homer, a neighbor of these countries, does not speak of them any more than Hesiod, although he is careful to name the rivers of Asia Minor.

Long before Strabo the Pactolus no longer rolled gold, and all subsequent centuries have not recognized any riches in this stream so fortunate under the pen of the Poets.Although several serious historians attribute this property to it, I do not see on what Abbot Barthelemi can fix the period of this fertility of the Pactolus in the eighth century before the Christian Era, under the ancestors of Croesus, who lost his Kingdom 545 years before Jesus Christ.

Lydia could be rich in gold, independently of Pactolus, and the riches that Cyrus found there do not at all prove that they came from this river. No gold has ever been found on Mount Tmolus; no Historian speaks of the mines of this Mount. I therefore conclude from these reasons that the whole thing is a fable.

Pacchus is charmed to see his foster father again, & rewards Midas with the power he gives him to convert everything he touches into gold. This God could only give what he himself possessed; he was therefore an aurific God. This property should have caused the Mythologists some reflections, but as they only read the fables with a mind full of prejudices for the story or the moral, they saw only that. Gold is the object of the passion of the avaricious; it is pretended that Midas asks Dionysius for the power to do whatever he wants with him; we conclude that he is a miser, and the most miserly of men.

But if we had paid attention that it is to Dionysius that he makes this request, and that this God grants it to him with his full authority, without recourse either to Jupiter his father, nor to Pluto God of riches ; one would naturally have thought that Bacchus was a god of gold, an auric principle, who could transmute himself, and communicate to others the same power to convert everything into gold, at least everything that is transmutable.

when the Poets tell us that everything became gold in the hands of Midas, down to the dishes that were served to him for his food, we know very well that we can only understand this allegorically. So it is a natural continuation of what had preceded. Midas having led Silenus to Bacchus;that is to say, the Phrygian earth, having fixed a part of the volatile, everything has become fixed, & consequently the transmuting stone of the Philosophers.

He receives from Bacchus the power to transmute, he had it as regards money; but he cannot obtain this property as to gold, except from Bacchus, because this God is the red-hot stone, which alone can convert imperfect metals into gold. I explained it quite extensively in the first Book, speaking of Osiris, that everyone agrees to be the same as Dionysius or Bacchus.

One can also remember that I explained the Satyrs & the Bacchae of the volatile parts of matter, which circulate in the vase. This is the reason that made the inventors of these fictions say that Silenus was himself a Satyr, son of a Nymph or of Water, and the father of the other Satyrs; because one could not, it seems, better indicate the matter of the Hermetic Art, than by the portrait which one makes us of the good man Silenus.

Its coarse, heavy, rustic exterior, and made, it seems, to be ridiculed, apt to excite the laughing stock of children, hid however something very excellent, since the idea that they wanted to give us of it is that of a Consummate Philosopher .It is the same with the material of the Magisterium, despised by everyone, trampled underfoot, and sometimes even serving as toys for children, as the Philosophers say; it has nothing that catches the eye.

She is found everywhere like the Nymphs, in meadows, fields, woods, mountains, valleys, gardens: everyone sees her, & everyone despises her, because of her vile appearance, & that it is so common that the poor can have it like the rich, without anyone opposing it, and without using money to acquire it.

We must therefore imitate Midas, & give a good welcome to this Silenus, whom the Philosophers say is the son of the Moon & of the Sun, & that the Earth is his nurse, also Selene means the Moon, & one can very well have done Silenus of Selene, changing the first e to i, as we have done, lira, plico, aries & a hundred other similar words. (Vossius Etymolog.) The Ionians even changed the E quite often to I, so it would not be surprising if this change had been made for the name of Silenus.

This matter being the principle of gold, we are right to regard Silenus as the foster-father of an auriac God. She is even the nectar & the ambrosia of the Gods. She is, like Silenus, daughter of Nymph, & Nymph herself, since she is water; but a water, say the Philosophers, which does not wet the hands. The dry, arid & igneous earth, represented by Midas, drinks this water greedily; & in the mixture which is made of the two, different colors arise.

It is the welcome that Midas gives to Silenus, and the garlands of flowers with which he binds him.Instead of giving us Silenus for a great Philosopher, we would have met better, and we would have better entered into the mind of the one who invented this fiction, if we had said that Silenus was suitable for making Philosophers, being the very matter upon which the Hermetic Philosophers reason & work. And if Virgil (Eglog. 6.) makes him reason on the principles of the world. Its formation & those of the beings that compose it; it is doubtless because if we are to believe the disciples of Hermes, this matter is the same from which everything is made in the world.

It is a remnant of this first and shapeless mass which was the principle of everything (D’Espagnet, Ench. Phys. réstit. Can. 49.).It is Nature's most precious gift, & an epitome of the celestial quintessence. Elien (Variar. Hist. 1. 3. c.12.) said accordingly, that though Silenus was not numbered among the Gods, he was nevertheless of a nature superior to that of man. That is to say, in good French, that we had to look at him as a being as imaginary as the gods of fable,

Finally Midas gets rid of the inconvenient power to change everything into gold, and communicates it to the Pactolus by washing himself in its waters. This is precisely what happens to the Stone of the Philosophers, when it comes to multiplying it. One is then obliged to put it in mercurial water, where the King of the country, known as Trevisan (Philoso. Des Métaux, 4. part.), must bathe.

There he strips off his robe of fine gold cloth. And this fountain then gives to his brothers this robe, and his sanguine and vermilion flesh, so that they may become like him. This mercurial water is truly a water bucket, since it must partly coagulate and become Philosophical gold.

CHAPTER VI.

From the golden age.

Everything is an embarrassment, everything is a difficulty, and everything presents Mythologists with a labyrinth from which they cannot extricate themselves when it comes to relating to history what the Authors have transmitted to us about fabulous times.

There is not a single one who does not attribute the golden age to the reign of Saturn; but when it is necessary to determine & the place where this God reigned, & the epoch of this reign, & the reasons that may have led to him being named the golden age, we no longer know how to go about it.

It would have been much better to admit that all these so-called stories are nothing but rubbish; but we want to find reality in it, as if it were of great interest to justify today the excessive credulity of most of the Ancients.And one does not pay attention that by relying on the authority of several of them, whom one even holds as suspects, one proves to readers that one does not deserve to be believed any more.

If we had as guarantors contemporary Authors, or who had at least worked from assured monuments, and whose authenticity was well proven, we could believe them; but it is agreed that all these stories come to us from the Poets, who imitated the Egyptian fictions. We know that these Poets almost all drew on their imagination, and that Historians spoke of those times only according to them. Herodotus, the oldest we know, wrote only more than 400 years after Homer, & this one long after Orpheus, Lin, &c.

None of these say they have seen what they report, other than in their imagination. Their very descriptions are absolutely poetic. That which Ovid gives us (Metam, 1. I. Fab. 3.) of the golden age, is rather a portrait of an earthly Paradise, & of people who would have inhabited it, than of a time after the Flood, & of a land subject to the variations of the seasons. "The rules of good faith and justice were then observed," he said, "without being constrained by the law. Fear was not the motive that made men act: we did not yet know about torture.

In this happy century, it was not necessary to engrave on brass those threatening laws which subsequently served as a brake on license.At that time, one did not see criminals tremble in the presence of their judges: the security in which one lived was not the effect of the authority given by the laws. The trees drawn from the forests had not yet been transported into a world which was unknown to them: man lived only on the land where he was born, and did not use ships to expose himself to the fury of the waves.

Cities without walls or ditches were an assured asylum. The trumpets, the helmets, the sword were things that we did not yet know, and the soldier was useless to ensure citizens a sweet and quiet life. The earth, without being torn up by the plough, yielded all kinds of fruit;& its inhabitants, satisfied with the food it presented to them without being cultivated, fed on wild fruits, or acorns that fell from the oaks.

Spring reigned all year round; the soft zephyrs enlivened with their heat the flowers which were born from the ground: the harvests followed one another without there being any need to plow or sow. Streams of milk and nectar could be seen flowing from all sides; & honey flowed in abundance from the hollows of the oaks & other trees. »

To want to admit with Ovid a time when men lived in the way we have just reported is to feast on chimeras and beings of reason. But although this Poet has depicted him as he should have been for a golden age, this portrait is not to the taste of M. l'Abbé Banier. People who would have lived in this way, would have been, according to him (Mythol.T. II. p, 110.), people who led a savage life, without laws & almost without religion.

Janus presents himself, he assembles them, gives them laws; the happiness of life manifests itself, we see the birth of a golden age. The fear, the constraint occasioned by threatening laws had seemed to Ovid contrary to the happiness of life. They are a source of happiness for Father Banier.

But finally what reasons could the Ancients have had for attributing to the reign of Saturn, the life of a golden age? Never was a reign stained with more vices; wars, carnage, crimes of all kinds flooded the earth during all this time. Saturn ascended the throne only by driving out his father, after having mutilated him. What did Jupiter do more than Saturn, to have deserved that his reign should not be called the golden age?

Jupiter indeed treated him precisely & in the same way that Saturn had treated his father. Jupiter was an adulterer, a homicide, an incest, &c. But was Saturn worth more? Hadn't he also married his sister Rhée? Didn't he have Philyre as his concubine, without counting the others?Do we see a more inhuman King than the one who devours his own children?

It is true that he did not devour Jupiter; but he went there in good faith, and we should not be grateful to him for it: a pebble was presented to him; he swallowed it, and not being able to digest it, he returned it. This stone, according to Hesiod, was placed on Mount Helicon, to serve as a monument to men. Beautiful monument well suited to recall the memory of a golden century!

Isn't it surprising that such a paradox did not open the eyes of the Ancients, and that all agreed to attribute a golden age to the reign of Saturn? M. l'Abbé Banier gives it to that of Janus, who reigned jointly with Saturn. “This Prince, says this Mythologist (Loc. cit.), softened the ferocity of their mores, gathered them together in the cities and in the villages, gave them laws, and under his reign, his subjects enjoyed a happiness that they did not know: what made the time when he had reigned look like a happy time, and a golden age.

But there are no less difficulties in taking things from that side. It is not even possible to make Saturn live with Janus. The times don't agree at all.Theophilus of Antioch assures us, on the authority of Tallus (Lib.3.adv. Ant.), that Chronos, called Saturn by the Latins, lived three hundred and twenty-one years before the capture of Troy; which, admitting the calculation of the historians themselves, would suppose more than a century and a half between him and Janus.

From which we must conclude either that Saturn never went to Italy or that he went there long before the reign of Janus. All of Antiquity, however, attests to the contemporaneity of these two Princes. One could suppose, says M. l'Abbé Banier with some others, that it is about another Saturn, & that the one who was contemporary of Janus, was Stercés, father of Picus, who after his apotheosis was named Saturn.But these Authors do not notice that Janus did not share his crown with Serces; that the fable says that Janus reigned already, when Saturn came to Italy. It cannot therefore be said of Sterces, since he reigned before Janus.

This same Saturn which, according to Virgil (Eneid. I. 8.), gathered these savage men, this intractable race, dispersed over the mountains, which gave them laws, and which called this land latium, because it was hidden, to avoid the fury of his son, not perhaps Sterces, father of Picus, since this one was in a very tender age, when his father died. He therefore heard it from Saturn, father of the Jupiters.

Since it is not possible to reconcile this, it is natural to think that the inventor of this fable did not have history in view, but some allegory, the meaning of which historians have not suspected.

No, Saturn, Janus, Jupiter never reigned; because to reign, it is necessary to be a man, and all these Gods of which we speak never existed except in the minds of the inventors of these fables, which the majority of Peoples regarded as real stories, because their self-esteem was found him extremely flattered. It was infinitely glorious to them to have gods for the first of their ancestors, or for kings, or finally for founders of their cities.Each People prided itself on it, and believed itself to be superior to the others, in proportion to the greatness of the God, and to his antiquity. It is therefore necessary to look for other reasons which led to the so-called reign of Saturn being given the name of a century or a golden age.

I find more than one in the Hermetic Art, where these Philosophers call the reign of Saturn the time that darkness lasts, because they call this same darkness Saturn; that is to say, when the Hermetic matter put in the vase, has become like, melted pitch. This blackness being also, as they say, the entrance, the door & the key to the work, it represents Janus, who therefore reigns jointly with Saturn.We have searched and we will search for a long time yet the reason why the door of the Temple of Janus was opened when it was a question of declaring war, and that it was closed when peace was reached.

A Hermetic Philosopher finds it more simply than all these Mythologists. There she is. Darkness is a result of dissolution; dissolution is the key & the door of the work. It can only be made by the war which arises between the fixed and the volatile, and by the combats which take place between them. Janus being this door, it was only natural that one should open that of the Temple which was consecrated to him, to announce a declared war.

As long as the war lasted, it remained open, and it was closed at peace, because this war between the fixed and the volatile lasts until matter has become absolutely fixed. Then peace is made. This is why Peat says, fac pacem inter inimicos, & opus completum est.

The Philosophers have even said figuratively, to open, to untie, to say to dissolve, and to close, to bind, to say to fix. Macrobi says that the Ancients took Janus for the Sun. Those who misunderstood this denomination attributed it to the celestial Sun which regulates the seasons; instead, it had to be heard from the Philosophical Sun; & this is one of the reasons why his reign was called the Golden Age.

During the darkness thus we have spoken, or the reign of Saturn, the soul of gold, according to the Philosophers, joins with mercury; & they consequently call this Saturn, the tomb of the King, or of the Sun. It is then that the reign of the Gods begins, because Saturn is regarded as its father; it is therefore in effect the golden age, since this matter which has become black contains within it the aurific principle, and the gold of the Sages.

The Artist is moreover in the case of the subjects of Janus & Saturn; as soon as darkness appears, he is free from embarrassment and anxiety. until then he had worked tirelessly, and always uncertain of success. Perhaps he had wandered in the woods, the forests, & on the mountains, that is to say,worked on different materials not specific to this Art; perhaps he had even wandered almost two hundred times while working like Pontanus (Epist.) on the real matter, he then begins to feel a joy, a satisfaction & a real tranquility, because he sees his hopes founded on a solid foundation. Wouldn't this then be a truly golden age, in the very sense of Ovid, where man would live contentedly, and his heart and mind full of satisfaction?

CHAPTER VII.

Golden Rains.

The Poets have often spoken of golden rains, and some Pagan Authors have had the weakness to report as true that a golden rain fell at Rhodes, when the Sun set there with Venus. One would forgive the Poets for that; but that Strabo tells us (Book 14.) that it rained gold at Rhodes, when Minerva was born from the brain of Jupiter, we cannot do without him.

Several Authors assure us in truth, that at such and such a time it rained stones, blood, or some liquor resembling it, insects. Many people still protest today that they have seen little frogs raining down; that they fell in abundance on their hats, mingled with a rain of orange; that they had seen so many of them that the earth was almost covered with them.

Without going into the search for the physical causes of such phenomena, & without wanting to contradict or approve them, because they do not come to the subject that I treat, I will only say that it can be; but as for a shower of gold, it would be nice to certify it, I do not believe anyone credulous enough to believe it without having seen it. We must therefore look at this story as an allegory.

We can indeed call rain of gold, a rain which would produce gold, or a matter capable of making it, as the People quite commonly say that it is raining wine, when there comes a rain in the time that 'we want it, either to soften the grapes, or to make them fatter.

This is precisely what happens through the circulation of Philosophical matter in the vessel in which it is enclosed. It dissolves, and having risen in vapors to the top of the vase, it condenses there, and falls back in rain on that which remains at the bottom. This is why the Philosophers have sometimes given the name cloud water to their mercurial water.

They even called Venus this volatile part, & Sun the fixed matter. Nothing is so common in their works as these names."Our Moon," says Philalethes, "which performs the function of female in our work, is of Saturn race; hence some of our envious Authors have called her Venus. D'Espagnet spoke several times of this mercurial water under the name of the Moon and Venus, and perfectly expressed this conjunction of the Sun and Venus, when he said Can. 27.):

"The generation of children is the object and the end of legitimate marriage. But for children to be born healthy, robust & vigorous , both spouses must be healthy too, because a pure & clean semen produces a generation that resembles it. This is how the Sun & Moon must be before entering the nuptial bed.Then the marriage will be consummated, and from this conjunction will be born a powerful King, of whom the Sun will be the father, and the Moon the mother.

He had said (Can. 44) that the Moon of the Philosophers is their Mercury, & that they gave it several names (Can. 46.), among others those of subtle earth, eau-de-vie, ardent & permanent water, gold & silver water, finally of Venus Hermaphrodite. This epithet alone explains quite clearly of what nature & substance this pretended Goddess was formed, & the idea that should be attached to it, since the name of Hermaphrodite was made according to all the appearances of Hermes, Mercurius, & Aphros, Spunta, as if to say foam of mercury.

This is probably why the Fable says Hermaphrodite son of Mercury & Venus.It has been pretended that this conjunction of the Sun and Venus took place at Rhodes, because the union of the Philosophical Sun and Mercury only takes place when matter begins to redden; which is indicated by the name of this Isle, which comes from rosa. Fixed matter or Philosophical gold, which after being volatilized then falls back in the form of rain, has therefore rightly taken the name of golden rain; without this rain the Hermetic child would not be formed.

A similar rain was seen when Pallas was born from the brain of Jupiter, and for the same reason; for Jupiter could not have given birth to her, if Vulcan or the Philosophical fire had not served as his midwife. If one looks at Pallas on this occasion as the Goddess of Science & Study, one can say, as regards the Hermetic Art, that one would have in vain the best reasoned theory, & the very matter of the Magisterium called Virgin, daughter of the Sea, or of Water, or of Neptune, and of the Tritonis marsh, one will never succeed in doing the work if one does not employ the aid of Vulcan or of the Philosophical fire.

Some Poets have consequently claimed that Pallas having vigorously resisted Vulcan, who wanted to do him violence, the latter's seed having fallen to the ground, a monster was born from it, who was named Ericthon, having the human figure from the head to the belt , & that of a Dragon in the whole lower part. This Elicthon is the result of the operations of ignorant Artists, who set to work without knowing the principles, and want to work in spite of Minerva. They only produce monsters, even with help from Vulcan.

M. l'Abbé Banier claims (T. III. p.39.) that this Ericthonius was really a King of Athens, who succeeded a named Amphiction, his competitor, by whom he had been defeated. This Amphiction having succeeded Cranaus, & this one to Cecrops, who lived, according to the interpreters of the marbles of Arondel, the chronology of Censorin, & Dionysius of Halycarnasse, 400 years before the taking of Troye. M. l'Abbé Banier rejects this chronology, because it is not suitable to confirm his system, and assures us that these Authors put back too much the arrival of Cecrops in Greece.

He therefore determines this arrival at 330 years before the Trojan War (Ibid. p.37.).But this Mythologist forgot his own calculation a few pages later, where speaking of the arrival of Deucalion in Thessaly, he fixes the time at the ninth year of the reign of Cecrops, that is to say, says our Author (Ibid. p.42 .), around the year 215 or 220 before the Trojan war.

Which makes an error of at least 110 years in its very chronology. But when we pass this on to him, will we believe him on his word, when he says (Ibid. p.40.) that Ericthonius was only considered to be the son of Minerva and Vulcan, because had been exhibited in a dedicated Temple to them? Could such an exposition furnish matter for the Fable, which gives Ericthonius a most infamous origin? There is no circumstance in this fiction that has the slightest relation to this exhibition.The very sequel to the Fable, which says that Minerva seeing this child born with the legs of snakes, gave the care of it to Aglaure, daughter of Cecrops, who, against Minerva's defense, had the curiosity to look in the basket where he was locked up, & was punished for it by a passion of jealousy against her sister, with whom Mercury was in love.

That one day having wanted to prevent this God from entering the room where his Sister Hersé was, he struck her with his caduceus and changed her into a rock. This escape from fiction clearly shows that it is a pure fable, which can only be explained allegorically.Pallas, Vulcan, Mercury & the daughters of Cecrops cannot be supposed to have lived together, even if one would regard one & the other as real persons: I believe that one will not require that I give the proof of it. But if we pay attention to the relationship that this fable can have with the Hermetic Art, we first find there two Gods & a Goddess who belong to it so much, that they make it absolutely necessary, to know the science of this Art, & caution in the conduct of the fire regime & operations; second, the Philosophical, or Vulcan, fire; then the Mercury of the Sages.

If the Artist animates & pushes this fire too much, it is Vulcan who wants to do violence to Pallas, whom the Philosophers have often taken for matter.Despite the resistance of this virgin, Vulcan always acts, he opens the matter of the Philosophers, and dissolves it.

This dissolution can only be done by this kind of combat between the Philosophical matter, called Virgo, as we have proved it more than once, & the fire. But what does this mean? a monster, which is called Ericthonius, because this very name designates the thing, that is to say contestation and the earth. We will not be surprised that it is a monster, when we remember all the others from the Fable, Cerberus, the Hydra of Lerna, the different Dragons mentioned in the other Fables, and which signify the same thing as Ericthonius;that is to say, the dissolution, and the putrefaction, which is rightly said to be the son of Vulcan & of the Earth, since this putrefaction is that of the Philosophical earth itself, & an effect of Vulcan, or of the fire of the Wise.

It is thus the seed of Vulcan which produces Ericthonius. And if we say that Aglaurus was charged by Minerva to take care of it, without her being allowed to look at what the basket contained, we feel that a condition such as that, which made the impossible thing, can only have been invented with a view to an allegory, just like its metamorphosis into a rock.

It is indeed a continuation of the allusion to the progress of the Hermetic work. Aglaure lignifies brilliance, splendor, and the Philosophers call by this name their matter which has reached whiteness as it leaves darkness; this interval from white to black is the time of the education of Ericthonius. And if Mercury changed it into rock, it is because matter itself coagulates,& becomes stone when it reaches this state of dazzling whiteness of which we have just spoken; this is why the Philosophers then call it their White Stone, their Moon, &c. Mercury being the principal agent, produces this metamorphosis. This God is supposed to be in love with Hersé, sister of Aglaure, because hersé signifies the dew, and the Philosophical Mercury then circulates in the vase, and falls back like a dew.

From a third rain of gold was born a Hero; but a much more famous Hero than Ericthonius. Danae was confined in a bronze tower by her father Acrise, because he had learned from the Oracle that the child who would be born of his daughter would deprive him of the crown and of life, and he did not want to hear to any marriage proposal for her. Jupiter fell in love with this beautiful prisoner. The tower was well closed & well guarded; but love is ingenious. Jupiter accused to metamorphoses, was transformed into a shower of gold, and slipped by this means into the bosom of Danae, who from this visit conceived Perseus.

Persea quem pluvio Danae conceperat auro.

Ovid. Metam. 1. 6.

This son of Jupiter having become great, among other exploits, cut off the head of Medusa, and used it to petrify everything to which he presented it. From the drops of blood that flowed from the wound of Medusa, was born Chrysaor, father of Geryon, in his body; some say believe it.

The explanation of this fable will be very easy to whoever wants to remember those we have given of the other golden rains. It is easy to conceive that Danaë & the tower are the matter & the brass of the Philosophers which they call copper, laton, or brass; that the golden rain are the drops of golden water, or the aurific dew which rise in the circulation, and fall back on the earth, which is at the bottom of the vase.

One could even say with the Mythologists that Jupiter is taken for air; but it must be understood here of the gray color called Jupiter, because the golden rain manifests itself during the time that the matter passes from the black color to the gray. Perseus is the fruit born of this circulation. I don't see on what basis Mr.Abbé Banier derives the etymology of Perseus from the Hebrew word Paras; it is true that it means Jumper; & that Perseus rode on a horse. But why would the Greeks have sought in the Hebrew language the names which the Greek language furnished them abundantly?

From the drops of Medusa's blood was born Chrysaor, and from him Geryon. It is as if one said that from the red water of the Philosophers, which Pythagoras calls blood (And from the four parts rises bronze, rust, iron, saffron, gold, blood & poppy. our work has several names: iron, bronze, silver, sanguine red & very haughty red, etc. Peat.), with many other Adepts, & Raymond Lully with Riplée, red wine, gold is born, or sulfur philosophical. We also know that Chrysaor comes from the Greek aurum.This gold dissolved in its own water red as blood, produces the elixir or Geryon, with three bodies or three heads, because it is composed of the exact combination of the three principles sulphur, salt & mercury.

I will explain this fable more fully in the chapter of Perseus. I could have put a few others in this second Book; but by these one can judge others. I didn't set out to do an entire Mythology; it suffices, to prove my system, to explain the principal and oldest ones. I shall, moreover, have occasion to review a large number of them in the following Book, which will deal with the genealogy of the Gods. I will explain this fable more fully in the chapter of Perseus. I could have put a few others in this second Book;but by these one can judge others. I didn't set out to do an entire Mythology; it suffices, to prove my system, to explain the principal and oldest ones.

I shall, moreover, have occasion to review a large number of them in the following Book, which will deal with the genealogy of the Gods. I will explain this fable more fully in the chapter of Perseus. I could have put a few others in this second Book; but by these one can judge others. I didn't set out to do an entire Mythology; it suffices, to prove my system, to explain the principal and oldest ones. I shall, moreover, have occasion to review a large number of them in the following Book, which will deal with the genealogy of the Gods.


End of the first part & the second book.