Excerpt from a hermetic work

Jean TRITHEME

Johannes von Heidenberg said Jean Tritheme (1462-1516) Condé Museum, Chantilly, H Meister

“God is an essential and hidden fire, which resides in all things and especially in man. This fire breeds all things. He spawns them and will spawn them in the future; and what is begotten is the true divine light which exists from all eternity. God is a fire but no fire can burn, no light can manifest itself in nature without the addition of air which determines combustion; and likewise the Holy Spirit must act in us as divine 'air' or 'breath', causing a breath to spring from the divine fire upon the internal fire of the soul, so that the light appears, for the light must be fueled by fire , and that light is love, happiness and joy in eternal divinity.He who does not possess this light within him is immersed in a fire without light; but if this light is in him, then Christ is in him, incarnate in him, and he will know this light as it exists in nature.

All things as we see them are internally fire and light, where the essence of spirit is hidden. All things are a trinity of fire, light and air. In other words, "the Spirit", the "Father", is a superessential light; the “Son” is the manifested light; the "Holy Spirit" is a mobile, divine and superessential air. This fire resides in the heart and sends its rays through the whole body of man, and determines life there.But no light is born from the fire without the presence of the spirit of holiness… All things were made by the power of the divine word, which is the spirit or divine breath emanating from the principle of the divine fountain. This breath is the spirit or soul of the world and it is called “Spiritus Mundi”. At first it was like air, then it contracted into a mist or nebulous substance and finally transmuted into "water."

This "water" was first spirit and life, because it was impregnated and vivified by the spirit. Darkness filled the abyss; but by the utterance of the word, light was generated there, and the darkness was illuminated with light, and "the soul of the world" was born.This spiritual light, which we call “Nature”, or soul of the world is a spiritual body which, by means of Alchemy can be made tangible and visible; but as it exists in an invisible state, it is called “spirit”. It is a universal and living fluid, diffused everywhere in Nature, and which penetrates all beings. It is the most subtle of all substances, the most powerful because of its inherent qualities; it penetrates all bodies, and determines the forms in which it deploys its activity.

By its action, it frees the forms of all imperfections; it makes the impure pure, the imperfect perfect, and the mortal immortal, by fixing itself there.This essence or this spirit emanated from the center from the beginning, and was incorporated into the substance of which the universe is formed. It is the "Salt of the Earth", and without its presence, the grass would not grow, nor the meadows would green; and the more this essence is condensed, concentrated and coagulated in the forms, the more stability they have.

This substance is the most subtle of all things; incorruptible and immutable in its essence, it fills the infinity of space. The sun and the planets are only coagulates of this universal principle;from their throbbing hearts they distribute the abundance of their life, and send it out into the forms of the lower worlds and into all beings, working through their own center, and raising the forms on the way to perfection. The forms in which this living principle is fixed become perfect and durable, so that they do not alter, deteriorate or change on contact with the air; water can no longer dissolve them, nor fire destroy them, nor the earthly elements devour them.

This spirit is obtained in the same way as it is communicated to the earth by the stars; and this is done by means of water, which serves as its vehicle. It is not the Stone of the Philosophers; but this can be prepared by fixing the volatile.I advise you to pay great attention to the act of boiling water; don't let your mind be troubled by things of lesser importance.

Boil it slowly, then let it putrefy until it has reached the right color, because the wave of life contains the germ of wisdom. As it boils, the water will turn to earth. This earth will change into a pure crystalline fluid which will produce an excellent red fire; but this water and this fire, reduced to a single essence, produce the great Panacea, composed of gentleness and strength: the Lamb and the Lion are united. Boil it slowly, then let it putrefy until it has reached the right color, because the wave of life contains the germ of wisdom. As it boils, the water will turn to earth.This earth will change into a pure crystalline fluid which will produce an excellent red fire; but this water and this fire, reduced to a single essence, produce the great Panacea, composed of gentleness and strength: the Lamb and the Lion are united.

Boil it slowly, then let it putrefy until it has reached the right color, because the wave of life contains the germ of wisdom. As it boils, the water will turn to earth. This earth will change into a pure crystalline fluid which will produce an excellent red fire; but this water and this fire, reduced to a single essence, produce the great Panacea, composed of gentleness and strength: the Lamb and the Lion are united. "

Jean TRITHEME