FROM THE LIGHT OF NATURE

If we want to carry out the study of the secret philosophy usefully, we must strive to recognize and learn the light of nature, because it is it which opens our eyes and enables us to see the invisible and hidden nature. , as if it were perfectly visible and manifest. We can recognize its possibilities, no longer apply ourselves to vain research, squander our good and our possessions, because it is impossible to put into action what nature refuses, even after a millennium of effort. This is one of the main causes, which explains why so many seekers have lost their way in a perpetual and eternal labyrinth, when they enter our philosophy without observing the canon or respecting the rules. But since it is decisive to observe the light of nature, it is necessary to define it;to explain how to conform to it in this secret philosophy and in these mysteries, because it is a question of nothing but the visible power which all the creatures of this world conceal. Certainly we do not see it directly, but the effects are visible.

If we observe, for example, in the great world the generation of creatures and its different degrees, the light of nature shows us that each genus comes in creatures from the seed which is proper to it, which decides its birth, and not from a foreign seed. No pepper therefore can be produced outside the concordance of its anatomy, it requires the essential union of its qualities in the essential union of the two components. It is the same for the man who is born of his fellow man,in the concordant duality of its essential anatomy: otherwise monsters would be born, deformed beings completely contrary to the species, to the genus proper to the seed, beings devoid of form. The apple tree produces apples, the pear tree pears, the fig tree figs, and not pomegranates, for that would be contrary to the natural power. Every creature on the other hand has its predestined womb, from which it is born, because it is not born from an alien womb. The duality formed by the female seed united to the male seed is at the origin of an inseparable being. Third, the natural potency requires a fixed period of time, nine months, for the seed to come fully into human form. In order for it to reach its perfect form, it then needs a certain time again.

The same goes for wheat, from germination to precise harvest time. If an unreasonable harvester wanted to cut the wheat prematurely, he would find a sterile, unripe shoot. Roses, carnations, vines thus have their predestined time, like junipers which take three years to ripen their fruits. It is therefore greatly necessary to observe with the greatest attention the alternations of time on which everything depends, because this observation allows sufficient knowledge of the light of nature and it reveals it completely. If we can thus reconcile and identify the two species that grow in the earth and in the water, we can easily understand the philosophical writings that the sages have devoted to the transplantation of metals and minerals.Indeed, the writings of philosophers should not be understood literally, but respecting the possibilities of nature. It is then that the metaphors, the comparisons and the allegories by which the sages have occulted the mystery of our secret philosophy will be revealed.

Do not think, however, that it is simply possible to find the secret by our own trick. We must go to the school of the wise, that of the masters who have kept this mystery in the greatest and deepest secrecy, without putting themselves immediately under the rule of anyone, but only by caring of those whose rectitude, devotion and constancy they had appreciated and who had taken their secret to the grave without saying a word.Anyone who understands the said canon well can immediately separate the wrong from the right and the good from the bad, the kernels from the bark, like the bees that forage for honey in the flowers. He can then very easily know the perfect end of his work, as if he had put it a hundred times on his work and as if he had a global view of things. Thus he will arrive without difficulty and with all the more joy at the desired end of his work, he will easily understand all the sophisms, avoiding those who have caused inexpressible damage, by striving to practice an art that they didn't understand.To resolve and explain the question of whether metal transplantation should follow the course of nature - a question which leaves many researchers in doubt, for they fail to understand the natural possibility of it, we propose the following answer: experienced philosophers testify that the first matter is one and identical, the fusion of metals also proves it.

Transplantation is possible, because the difference of metals depends on two elements, their superfluity, and their proper digestion or maturation. Gold is indeed nothing but mercury that has matured just like silver. But this mercury is only half digested, as shown by an infallible sign, its color, and, as it is not perfectly digested, it still contains a superfluity.In short: imperfect metals are generated in the same way as gold, but they have been mixed with a superfluous matter that philosophers call: external sulphur. The said superfluity hinders and prevents digestion, and matter cannot attain perfection. The art therefore consists in separating this superfluity from the pure matter, so that the latter accomplishes the digestion which leads it to perfection, to maturation, to maturity. The light of nature explains this operation.

An essential fire is needed, as confirmed by the sun, whose heat spawns all the creatures of the great world. This fire separates the impurities from what is pure, in short, essential fire, it must have the same origin as the substance that one wants to transmute.Anything that actually serves the generation or destruction of a natural substance must agree with that substance in matter. We just talked a bit about the light of nature. Now let's talk a bit about the material of the stone, about our mercury. The mercury of the alchemists is not ordinary mercury, nor is it a mercury drawn from the imperfect metals, but it is the beginning and the root of all metals. It is not a body, but a metallic spirit balanced and uniform in its qualities and properties. This mercury is only a subtle, clear, pure and eternal substance of mercury, sulfur and salt, the mercury of the sun and the moon, in which nature begins to realize the sun and the moon.

Mercury from the sun and the moon, it is found in the minerals of the sun and the moon, which it dissolves into mercury. Let us therefore add this mercury, our mercury, to the ordinary sun and moon, for only in them can we obtain on earth the metallic energy capable of arousing the coagulating property of the sulfur of our mercury. Its preparation, its completion and fixation are impossible without these two components. The real astral influence which makes Mercury perfect is indeed present in the sun and in the moon. In a first operation, we must therefore add to our quite volatile mercury the moon which awakens the innate sulfur of mercury and which allows the coagulation of mercury in the moon.

This mercury cannot withstand great heat, so the operation must take place at very gentle heat. If we were content to add coal, if we wanted to obtain gold at a very high temperature, the mercury would be transformed into a non-volatile red sulphur, unsuitable for the work, which would be deprived of its radical humidity, which would be contrary to the principles of art. Wanting to fix red sulfur with gold would certainly be easier than wanting to fix white sulfur with silver. But one cannot pass without an intermediary from one extreme to the other. This mercury has in it the metallic property which confers the metallic form, but it does not have in it the necessary energy, unless a is generated by a digestion carried out with the addition of sun and moon.

Only then does it become active. Our metallic water cannot indeed produce a dye if it is not itself tinted. If it is not fixed by the fixed energy of the sun and the moon, it cannot mix constantly with the water of perfection. It is that our mercury is totally volatile, it is lost, whereas, if it is fixed, it adopts the metallic root of metals and is transformed into a constant substance. On the other hand, by this same mercury, by our mercury, the sun and the moon are dissolved to form the true first matter.

Just as the mercury cannot be coagulated without them, needing them to tint by the technique of spiritual art, so the body of gold and the moon has no power. , if the etching does not render them in a liquid state, allowing a real mixture with the metals, an essential, homogeneous and permanent coloration. Both components are necessary to obtain a result. We have said what our mercury is, but we do not yet know where to find it. It is certainly in the sun and in the moon, but they cannot be dissolved to extract the said mercury, which is necessary. The philosophers have kept this origin of mercury in the greatest secrecy and, out of a thousand people, hardly one is aware of it. I give the following instruction.When God created the earth, it was flat and solid, without valleys, without mountains, without stones or minerals. It is the solar heat which transforms it, which multiplies the colors, the ores, the minerals, the different types and metallic roots.

The very great fixed heat of the sun then engendered a sulphurous and humid heat which penetrated the earth to its depths, and the qualities of the four elements. But the earth had an internal moisture born of water. The mixture of heat and this water engendered a smoke, a vapour, a mist enclosed in the earth, which possessed the qualities of the four elements. This vapor developed, it grew stronger, like all vapor, it sought to rise, then swelling the earth, creating mountains and hills.It is in these mountains that the vapor reached with time its best state of mixture and balance, it is in them that it was best preserved. However, it is currently difficult to find an excellent quality vapor, because the mountain soil is extremely viscous, clayey and greasy in its depths. Now, if the said vapor takes hold of an aqueous vapor mixed with subtle and pure earth, nature, digesting and cooking this compound for a certain time, realizes the philosophical mercury, engendering a subtle, igneous and dry substance. These words show you the true path that allows you to seek our mercury or the beginning of our art. Now, although it is well enough known that this mercury is found in the mines, few people recognize it.It is indeed neither the sun, nor the moon, nor ordinary mercury, nor any other metal, ordinary sulphur, vitriol, antimony, marcasite, laminate, talc, bismuth. Philosophers claim that it is a vaporous, watery, pure substance, composed of the four elements.

Now, although it is found in metals or ores, it has not reached its degree of maturity in imperfect metals. It is in the sun and in the moon that we are most certain of finding it, for the moon has the same matter as the sun, but in addition a certain superfluity. When this is removed, silver becomes as compact as gold, whose density comes from compactness. This compactness comes from the great purity of any solar substance,purified by the operation of nature until it acquires the perfect essence of beryl. But another element is also necessary: ​​digestion, perfect maturation, which require enough time to allow the igneous element still hidden in the moon to manifest, to manifest and reveal the beautiful golden color capable of tinting gold.

The same goes for other metals, copper, iron, tin and lead. They all possess the pure raw material which generates gold. But tin and lead are still very coarse and immature. In copper and in iron, the first material is certainly better digested, but these metals still contain numerous impurities due to external sulphur, iron even more than copper, which explains why its fusion is more difficult.In order for them to be transplanted and transformed into the perfect substance of the sun, the external sulfur must be separated from them. But this impure and superfluous sulfur is so united to pure matter that it cannot be separated and dissociated from it without a secret, without a particular art. Otherwise when subjected to the test of fire, the impurities cannot withstand the attack, they become liquid, they are destroyed, but the mixture is so strong that the pure substance is carried away and the two destroyed components disappear into fire.This is why, in order to carry out the work of transplantation, in order to transform the destructible body, an igneous philosophical instrument is needed, let us mean an essential fire whose nature is fixed, whose essence is constant, capable of separating what is superfluous of what is pure, to bring what is pure to perfection in an hour, to accomplish a work that nature can hardly accomplish in a century in the viscera of the earth, in the body of the earth.

The natural heat that ripens metallic matter in the mountains is indeed a vapor, a passing wind, the ripening therefore is quite balanced and slow. In our art, this heat assumes a corporeal nature which allows a very rapid and very powerful operation.When we observe the different metals among themselves, we understand very easily which metals are more easily led to transplantation, which metals are suitable for transplantation. It then becomes manifest that silver is nearest to the sun, in its substance and in its energy, the most fit for generation, and that this generation can be accomplished by a particular, easy way: it suffices in fact to respect the concordance of its essential anatomy and to take care of its essential gender. It then suffices to give a small-scale aid to purification and digestion, which is impossible in the other imperfect metals. Their transformation cannot properly be accomplished without the universal arcana.Since we have just demonstrated the possibility of the transmutation of metals, I think it is not out of place to speak somewhat of the universal arcana that philosophers have held to be the most precious treasure in this corruptible world. He not only gives the leprous bodies of metals the purity and permanence of gold and silver, he also frees human bodies from all disease and disappointment, leprosy, attack, podagra, dropsy, epilepsy, calculus and convulsions and he maintains them in a permanent state of health until the prescribed term of death, while avoiding pain.Moreover, it so purifies the parts of the understanding that man can come by this means very easily and without the slightest difficulty to the knowledge of all human wisdom and art, while realizing many things.

Other marvels that should rather be considered as miracles of nature and as gifts from heaven. It is not only the metamorphosis of metals that becomes possible, but also that of precious stones, in large quantities, without any trouble or effort. The force and energy of this mystery reach quite remarkable, barely believable, barely expressible proportions, and Raimond Lully says: a You will take all the riches of this world for manure, when you see this divine and excellent magisterium. This is why this noblest and most mysterious art must be kept in the highest secrecy.If it had been written clearly enough for any cobbler, any tooth-puller, to understand, it would have been a scam. This art would no longer have been a mystery, but the source of many evils, of many acts manifestly contrary to the will of God, who refuses that the pearl be thrown to swine. The philosophers therefore addressed themselves to their only sons, to the children of doctrine and wisdom, to those who knew the light of nature, the only ones who could draw a lesson from their writings. But let the grown-ups also practice diligently, seriousness and continuity this most secret art of all, not to acquire wealth, but to restore life and health, because health is preferable to all the wealth and all the treasures of the world.How many potentates spend tons of gold on the construction of a fortress, on the maintenance of soldiers, the acquisition of cannons, military equipment, supplies and other accessories, to protect themselves in the case necessary of a visible enemy, to avoid a ball or a weapon! Should they not rather devote thousands of florins to the practice of this noble medicine, to maintain their life in good health until the appointed term, to protect it from all the invisible enemies who threaten it at all hours with eager insistence? , which provoke internal battles in the body, take the fortress by storm, destroy it, enemies so horrible and so appalling that we sweat blood and water at the sight of them?Potentates should practice the noble art, in order to maintain their body in full health, so that their body does not fall prematurely into the hands of this invisible enemy who is always on our heels.

Recently a young and powerful lord was torn from life in the full force of youth by this enemy, when he could have lived a long time, if he had possessed this medicine.In order not however that this universal mystery of the blessed stones be perverted, as far as we can describe it in writing, as far as we can summarize it in three chapters, so that it may serve as a teaching and instruction for lovers of said philosophy, I repeat three points: it is necessary to know in depth the true matter of the arcana, the preparation of this matter, which allows its maturation and ripening, thirdly the means of leading to perfection and repeating to the infinite the multiplication of this mystery. Anyone who understands these three chapters well can say that he has reached the end of the philosophical mystery. If he ignores a single chapter, he is far from the true goal, he is blind in his practice.But it is not enough to arrive by one's assiduity alone and by one's intelligence at the immutable comprehension of these three main points, in an instantaneous illumination: it is not so easy. It is also necessary to have, in order not to fail, the oral instruction of a faithful master, and long experience, a great knowledge of all natural creatures.

How many seekers devoted themselves to this art, practicing it for years, before they could discover the real matter and the subject of dyeing, who were knocked down after finding them by a storm that crushed their thoughts and their abilities, while breaking their decision- making power? When they found the first chapter, it was the second chapter that caused a lot of suffering! And the real hurricanes begin,when it comes to preparation, the most hidden part of the art. Among the philosophers the greatest confusion reigns about it, when all the cunning is there and the whole foundation of the edifice depends on it. The more one then meditates on the letter, the more one sinks into a veritable labyrinth. Bernard bears witness to this, who speaks of a researcher who possessed the mystery of tincture, but who was unaware of its multiplication. For seven years, he pursued Bernard, who confided nothing to him until he finally found out on his own. Let's look at a child whose limbs have not yet reached their perfect strength: isn't it a thin secret to find the degrees that allow the multiplication of this arcane?However, it is only orally that we can properly specify the secrets of these three chapters, it is impossible to reveal them in a really explicit way. Although we have said enough for an intelligent person, in fact nothing beats long-term experience if we are to gain true understanding.